Chapter 961: You Were Told to Confess, Not to Die

Zhang Yulang really knows how to cry!

When Sun Daoning interrogated him, he clung to Old Sun’s legs, wailing incessantly that he was innocent.

Sun Daoning shoved him away hard, but he rolled two circles and clung back on, refusing to let go no matter what. It left Old Sun utterly exasperated. This kind of whining, rolling lump—born into a great clan, with a background so terrifying it could scare people to death—was truly hard to deal with.

Clearly, Zhang Yulang was using the same tactics he used on his father, mother, and grandmother against Old Sun.

Sun Daoning: …

Where could you even argue reason?

Unless you went full force—throw him into the interrogation chamber and beat him senseless—even the most defiant man would break under three blows.

But unfortunately…

The Zhang family had scattered money everywhere; the Ministry of Justice had received their bribes, and someone had even delivered a message on their behalf. You couldn’t take their money one moment and throw their man into the interrogation chamber the next.

You can’t run official business this way!

If you do, you’ll narrow your path—no friends left in the bureaucracy, only enemies.

That would be a terrifying situation.

Sun Daoning kicked Zhang Yulang over again. “Whether you’re innocent or not, I’ll investigate myself. First, tell me clearly what you know.”

Zhang Yulang looked up, innocent as ever. “My lord, I know nothing! I’m just a wastrel who can’t even understand books—how could I possibly be involved in a major examination fraud case? There must be some misunderstanding, some mistake in the process. May I ask, my lord, who accused me?”

“You want revenge?”

“My lord, you misunderstand! I only wish to confront the accuser and clear my name.”

“There’ll be time for that. You keep claiming you’re innocent—then why do you know the exam questions?”

“I don’t know! I just said it offhand!”

“You just happened to guess this year’s exam questions perfectly? Do you think I’d believe that?”

“I really did say it offhand! My lord, my family has deep scholarly roots—even if I’m uneducated, I can’t deny I’ve been immersed in it since childhood. I must know a little.”

“So you mean your family members are involved—your father, your elder brother…”

“My lord, how can you casually implicate the innocent, stir up trouble out of nothing, invent false charges against my Zhang family? If there’s any issue, come after me directly—it has nothing to do with my family!”

In an instant, Zhang Yulang transformed from a whining coward into a man who could shoulder responsibility. The shift was so sudden, Sun Daoning blinked, stunned for a moment, before finally adjusting.

Then he laughed. “Based on what you just said, I could send troops to arrest your entire Zhang family.”

Zhang Yulang broke into cold sweat, unusually tense. “My lord, how can you twist my meaning so?”

“Whether I twisted it or not doesn’t matter. What matters is—you just spoke. Hmph… If the Embroidered Uniform Guard had heard that, your Zhang family would already be in chaos, everyone terrified.”

Zhang Yulang’s face turned deathly pale. “What does my lord want?”

“I only want the truth! Don’t try to play the victim. If you keep crying and causing a scene, I won’t mind handing the credit over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard.”

Zhang Yulang sweated profusely. “But how should I speak? I really am innocent!”

“If you keep this up, Zhang Yulang, don’t say I didn’t warn you—your Zhang family isn’t invincible. Three blows, and you’ll die just like anyone else.”

Even Sun Daoning hadn’t expected that today’s interrogation would yield even a scrap of truth from Zhang Yulang. Truly, he’s too young, too inexperienced—his mind moves fast, his mouth moves faster. His mouth even moves faster than his mind.

If it were Wang Huaimin, that old fox—ha! You’d never get a single useful word out of him.

Young people are just easier to handle!

Sun Daoning felt triumphant—he was certain he’d won this round!

Then, when Zhang Yulang uttered a name, his face changed instantly—he turned pale with shock, visibly terrified, even more panicked than Zhang Yulang himself.

“Shut up! Shut up! Don’t say another word! Today, pretend you said nothing, and I heard nothing. Do you understand? Don’t say I didn’t warn you—if you want to live, if you want to save your Zhang family, keep your mouth shut. If you die in the Heavenly Prison one day, it’s your own fault.”

Zhang Yulang nodded frantically, thoroughly frightened.

He hurriedly added, “I can’t die! My lord, please instruct Chen Yucheng to protect my life!” Then he muttered under his breath, “I told you from the start I was innocent—you wouldn’t believe me, kept threatening me, forcing me to speak. Now that I’ve spoken, you tell me to shut up! You people—you’ve got two faces. So hard to please.”

“Shut up! Are you trying to provoke death?”

Sun Daoning, furious and desperate, kicked out—no restraint, didn’t care if he injured him—just venting his inner panic and unease.

“Is this how your Zhang family raised you? Blabbing everything, clueless fool!”

“You threatened my father and brothers—what else was I supposed to do?” Zhang Yulang sounded aggrieved. “I’m young, but I’m not stupid. I kept insisting I was innocent, yet you kept pressuring me for answers. Now look—we’re all on the same rope, tied together as grasshoppers.”

Sun Daoning was so enraged he wanted to kill. He drew the sword from the wall. “Say one more word, and I’ll kill you—even if it costs me punishment.”

Zhang Yulang turned pale with terror, scrambled and crawled into the corner. “I won’t speak! My lord, you can’t kill me! If you kill me, you won’t escape it either—my family will avenge me. You’ll lose your position!”

“Shut up! Still talking?”

Sun Daoning was so furious he nearly lost his reason—he slashed his sword down on the desk, rage exploding. The more he looked at Zhang Yulang, the more detestable he seemed.

At that moment, he remembered the virtues of Chen Guanlou.

Chen Guanlou also talked without restraint—but he was trustworthy. You never worried he’d leak secrets, never feared someone might eavesdrop. Utterly safe!

Zhang Yulang, with his loose lips, was like a bomb—any moment it might explode and drag countless others down with him.

He rubbed his temples, thought long and hard, then pointed at him. “Stay there. Don’t move.”

Then he opened the office door and called out: “Go fetch Chen Yucheng. I have orders for him.”

Moments later, Chen Guanlou arrived at the office.

He’d only overheard Old Sun’s conversation with Wang Huaimin, expecting some fiery exchange—only to find endless back-and-forth, not a single useful word.

As for Zhang Yulang, he hadn’t expected anything, so he hadn’t eavesdropped.

But now, this situation—seemed like they’d actually uncovered something real.

Dammit!

He’d missed it.

So Zhang Yulang really could spit out the truth!

He’d underestimated Brother Yulang!

Brother Yulang, you’ve hidden your depth well!

“My lord, you called for me?”

“Close the door first! No one is to eavesdrop—this concerns a matter of decapitation.” Sun Daoning whispered urgently.

Chen Guanlou understood instantly—he shut the door, activated the “anti-theft, anti-eavesdropping” function! Only a Grand Master could approach and listen.

“My lord, please give your orders!”

“Ah!” Sun Daoning sighed—a single breath, and he looked ten years older.

So exhausting.