Chapter 967: I've Imprisoned the Empress, How to Fix This! 20

Beside the Thousand Carp Pond, the palace gardens were filled with people kneeling on the ground.

At a glance there were about ten or more, all having passed layer after layer of screening, palace maids and eunuchs not registered for various reasons, and even the guards on duty.

Their reasons were all sorts of strange, yet none of the other screened-out people had any valid justification.

"Your Majesty, these people are all problematic. Official Song had already interrogated them earlier, but still got nothing out of them; several are real tough nuts."

"But we still need you to personally handle this; I, as a humble official, feel ashamed."

As one of the officials in charge of investigating the spy, Official Li kept cursing in his heart for having found nothing, yet still having to let his colleague Official Song report back.

They looked even more terrified than the kneeling people, fearing that if His Majesty thought they were incompetent, he would chop off their heads on the spot!

Jin Chen sat in the pavilion, glanced over everyone kneeling, and involuntarily furrowed his brows.

Still, without that tyrant, those not on the register must pass through many checks; that tyrant, on the contrary, could endure checks that could be called torture.

Was it just luck slipping through, or do they have their own undiscoverable method…

As Jin Chen pondered, he suddenly heard the person beside him softly let out a breath.

He turned his gaze to Wen Zhiheng, his eyes deepening.

"Huai Feng, can you tell anything?"

Wen Zhiheng gave him a faint smile, "Your humble servant is dull; just looking like this, I can't see anything."

But you clearly saw at a glance that that bastard's original self isn't among them; you know him so well… well, indeed you do.

Even if you're still affected by his past memories, you shouldn't care about him so much! I'm your top!

Damn it! Tyrant, go die!

Jin Chen's inner complaints came one after another; the angrier he felt inside, the calmer his face became.

Official Li, in the presence of the emperor and empress, re-interrogated the kneeling people; perhaps because they were before the Son of Heaven, those who had been stubborn yesterday couldn't hold out, and several voluntarily admitted their motives.

Actually, in Jin Chen's view, none of it was really a big deal.

They just wanted to squeeze some extra profit for their families, had reached the age to leave the palace, yet didn't want to just give up, so they used family connections to sneak upward layer by layer.

Or they had various hard-to-speak-of reasons, like liking someone, wanting to eat but unable to admit it, so they simply concealed it together.

Official Li was still deeply harmed by the original self's poison, considering all this a capital offense punishable by beheading, and he questioned them trembling with fear.

Listening to this, Jin Chen grew ever more drowsy.

But when it came to one of the "eunuchs," he heard this voice, suddenly interested, sat up, and carefully observed the eunuch's appearance and movements.

"You used to serve in the Shao Chun Palace; how did you suddenly become someone without a registry?"

He suddenly spoke, almost startling Official Li, then hastily flung his sleeve and demanded, "Why haven't you answered His Majesty's question!"

"Slave… after being transferred, I've had no registry ever since… so… ah!"

The sound of shattering pottery made the area beside the Thousand Carp Pond fall silent in an instant.

That eunuch's head was struck squarely, blood flowing from his forehead but he dared not wipe it, he knocked his head against the ground, his body trembling.

Wen Zhiheng's expression shifted slightly; he glanced covertly at Jin Chen, feeling that this temper was unusual.

Thus… he suddenly had a hint of the former Majesty's ruthlessness.

Jin Chen rubbed his wrist, a hint of killing intent leaked from the corner of his eyes, and he slowly rose to his feet.

At last we've found the spy, but we should properly vent our anger on this opportunity.

Otherwise we'd suffocate ourselves.

Jin Chen walked up to the fake eunuch who was really a spy, lifted his chin with his shoe tip, his eyes lowered without a ripple.

"If what you just said contains even a hint of falsehood, I will not spare you."

"... Slave, I dare not conceal anything from Your Majesty."

The spy's face beaded with sweat, streaming down in strands; his deathly pale complexion was awful, and one could even hear the thundering beat of his own heart.

"Good."

Jin Chen snorted, gave a low call, "An Feng."

A black shadow flashed, and the leader of the Dark Guard appeared before Jin Chen.

"Take him to the Thousand Carp Pond; if he doesn't speak the truth at once, keep dunking him."

"As you command."

An Feng seized the spy's collar and effortlessly lifted him up.

Amid the suppressed fearful gazes of the kneeling palace maids and eunuchs, the spy, already bound and helpless, was seized by An Feng, who pressed his head into the pond.

"Cough cough cough… let… let me go!"

Being submerged in the Thousand Carp Pond was not merely physical torment.

The palace maids and eunuchs, thinking that the pond still held the man-eating fish His Majesty had once kept, felt a chill rise from their soles.

Jin Chen waited a while, still hearing no truth from the spy, and raised his hand toward An Feng.

The dagger at his side slit the spy's face, blood staining his clothes; as he struggled and screamed, he was pressed down again.

Soon, a man-eating fish drawn by the scent latched onto the spy's wound, sucking tightly, its fine bone‑like spines piercing the injury, trying to burrow deeper.

He wished he were dead.

Already a palace maid overwhelmed by fright had fainted, thinking they all would have to go through this.

Official Li kept wiping the sweat from his forehead, thinking in his heart, "How did it come to this?" while also wondering, given His Majesty's temper, if he dared to plead for others he'd likely not survive himself.

"Empress, Empress…"

Another bold palace maid crawled kneeling to Wen Zhiheng's feet, kowtowing repeatedly, tears streaming, "Please, I beg you, I only don't want to be expelled from the palace, I don't want to die…"

"Please, please persuade His Majesty…"

Wen Zhiheng watched Jin Chen's state, faintly guessing that his anger might not be because of these servants.

But he didn't think he could persuade Jin Chen not to be angry.

Just like before, he could never persuade His Majesty not to execute the loyal ministers.

But Wen Zhi Heng still got up and went over, slowly walking up to Jin Chen and taking his hand.

「Your Majesty, it's just a group of palace maids and eunuchs who made a mistake; a punishment will do and then it's over. 」

「Why get so worked up about it? 」 His tone was gentle, just right.

But Wen Zhi Heng has already said this more than once.

He knows that saying this might not help, but in the Empress's position, he can only say this.

Otherwise it would be overstepping, and if serious, it might even implicate his family.

In the palace, before the emperor, it's naturally the case that the more you speak, the more mistakes you make.

「Since Huai Feng said that, I shouldn't be so impulsive. 」

Jin Chen actually just wants his wife to pay him a bit more attention, not to keep all her focus on that tyrant all day.

Once he was coaxed into happiness, of course it didn't matter anymore.

「An Feng, capture the person. 」

An Feng, who was guarding the shore, immediately seized the constantly sputtering spy and flung him to the ground like a dead fish.