Chapter 154: A Major Move

The next day, after Li Tingbiao entered the palace, he went straight to see the Chongzhen Emperor and requested that all eunuchs and palace maids under suspicion be taken to the Imperial Prison for rigorous interrogation.

Chongzhen felt that large-scale torture within the palace was somewhat inappropriate, so he approved Li Tingbiao's suggestion.

Under escort by the Embroidered Uniform Guard, large numbers of eunuchs and palace maids were sent to the Imperial Prison. Passing through the government office district along the Chengtian Gate line, it alarmed everyone—this young Majesty must have sensed the crisis and intended to investigate the matter thoroughly.

After strict screening by Li Tingbiao, half of the eunuchs and palace maids were released from the Imperial Prison the next day. These people, having escaped death by a hair's breadth, wept tears of joy one after another.

Based on identifications made by his planted informants within the palace, Li Tingbiao kept all eunuchs and palace maids who had colluded with the outer court or provided intelligence to outside officials—even those merely suspected were not let go.

In the Imperial Prison, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's interrogation of the remaining palace maids and eunuchs continued, with the sounds of leather whips striking, water being splashed, and a faint stench of scorched flesh coming from time to time.

Many had been beaten until their skin split open and they were unrecognizable as human. Some had fainted several times already, only to be splashed awake with cold water, then subjected to more torture, over and over again.

In one torture chamber, a eunuch was bound to a rack, with a brazier of charcoal before him containing several red-hot branding irons. An Embroidered Uniform Guard officer took one of the irons out and said with a vicious expression: "You'd better confess honestly!"

The searing iron was waved before the eunuch's face, its heat singeing several strands of his hair. The eunuch had already been tormented into numbness—his hair disheveled, his head hanging limply, as he muttered endlessly: "This slave didn't poison anyone... this slave is innocent..."

Hearing this, the guard officer flew into a rage: "Still playing dumb, are you?! I'm asking you—under the old cypress tree at Wenyuan Pavilion, what did you say to Wen Tiren?"

As he spoke, he viciously pressed the red-hot branding iron onto the eunuch's lower body, eliciting a heart-rending scream.

In the adjacent torture chamber, a palace maid lay trembling on the ground. Her clothes were in tatters, whipped into nothing but strips of cloth, with red welts of blood crisscrossing her arms and legs.

A Centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard crouched before her and said: "Look at this delicate body of yours, beaten to such a state. Just confess already, and spare yourself more suffering."

The palace maid's eyes brimmed with tears, but she remained motionless, which made the interrogating Centurion's temper flare. He waved his hand and said: "Bring out the finger press!"

The finger press, also known as squeezing the fingers, was a torture method commonly used by government offices on female offenders since the Tang dynasty. A woman's hands were usually nimble, and if they were injured or crippled, the harm to her would be great—and during the torture, the pain of ten fingers connected to the heart was extremely difficult to endure.

The guard picked up one of the palace maid's hands and praised softly: "Tsk tsk, look at these tender white knuckles and slender fingers. What a shame to ruin them."

As he spoke, he slowly placed the maid's fingers into the press. He glanced at her again, and seeing she still showed no reaction, the Centurion said coldly: "Apply the torture!"

The guards on either side pulled back with force simultaneously. The palace maid suddenly jerked her head up, let out a miserable scream, and fainted.

A ladle of cold water was quickly splashed onto her face. The maid shuddered violently where she lay, feeling her hands ache so badly that the hairs on her skin stood on end. In a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, she said: "I'll confess, I'll confess... I only had relations with Commander Luo once... I only told him once... His Majesty has caught a chill..."

The several guards exchanged stunned glances, each seeing a strange glint in the other's eyes. They hadn't expected to uncover a piece of scandalous gossip—and about the Guard Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, no less.

In the Imperial Prison, Li Tingbiao personally presided over the proceedings. Every day he processed the mountain of interrogation materials, categorizing and cross-referencing them to extract useful information.

He also selected several clever and reliable young guards from among his trusted associates, taught them, and had them assist him in organizing the materials—deliberately grooming these men so they could one day stand on their own.

The scope of the search for palace informants narrowed step by step, and the daily torture grew increasingly severe. Li Tingbiao showed not the slightest impatience—he firmly believed that no one who had committed wrongdoing had ever failed to spit out the truth in his hands.

In Kunning Palace, Zhu Cilang lay on his couch. His complexion had improved considerably, and he had long since stopped vomiting.

In truth, he had recovered that very first night—he had merely been feigning weakness the whole time, putting to use every acting technique he had learned from the later-era program *I Am an Actor*.

Upon learning that all the suspects in the palace had been sent to the Imperial Prison, he knew that Li Tingbiao had grasped his intent.

His purpose was simple: first, by using his poisoning as a pretext, he would make Chongzhen believe it was all part of a conspiracy by certain court officials, instilling fear in him and forcing him to halt any action against the Yongwei Camp.

Second, he would use this incident to conduct a thorough purge of the palace eunuchs and maids, rooting out every informant planted by court officials, and then use these informants to eliminate certain officials targeting him on charges of colluding with the inner court.

Given the current situation, resorting to force would mean seizing power prematurely—the timing was not yet ripe. So he could only wield this kind of soft knife, which was more thorough than having the Yongwei Camp kill people with muskets outright.

Sure enough, in recent days Chongzhen had felt that someone at court was plotting treason. Today, word came from Liu Yuanbin, the Yongwei Camp's military supervisor, that the camp's officers, upon learning of the Crown Prince's poisoning, were all fiercely indignant—the entire camp had made preparations to "purge the evils beside the throne," waiting only for the mastermind behind the poisoning to be found.

Chongzhen became extremely agitated. He desperately wanted Li Tingbiao to identify the culprit quickly, yet he also feared that once found, the Yongwei Camp would truly launch a "purge of the evils beside the throne."

After two days and two nights of tossing and turning, he finally decided on the final disposition of the Yongwei Camp mutiny affair.

At the court assembly, the Chongzhen Emperor, in his sovereign wisdom, issued a decree ordering the caning to death of all the censors who had slandered the Crown Prince and the Yongwei Camp in court!

At the same time, Huang Degong was stripped of his rank of second-rank Swift Cavalry General and demoted to third-rank Illustrious Valor General; Sun Yingyuan was stripped of his rank of second-rank Golden Guard General and demoted to third-rank Illustrious Martial General. Both men remained in service as Regional Commanders of the Capital Camps, in charge of the Yongwei Camp.

The Yongwei Camp stationed in the capital was to be led by Huang Degong and relocated to Daxing; the Yongwei Camp stationed at Xincheng was to be led by Sun Yingyuan and relocated to Langfang. The Duke of Ying, Zhang Zhiji, was appointed Governor-General of the Capital Camps, responsible for all defenses of the capital.

This series of imperial decrees caused an uproar among the assembled officials. Though many voiced opposition, Chongzhen turned a deaf ear, displaying unusual firmness.

Zhu Cilang was fairly satisfied with this outcome. The old man on the dragon throne still hadn't dared to touch the Yongwei Camp. Stripping Huang Degong and Sun Yingyuan of their Swift Cavalry General and Golden Guard General titles was merely a token gesture—those were equivalent to honorary military ranks, good for show only. The substantive military authority remained unchanged.

As for the garrisons—Langfang was eighty li from the Forbidden City, while Daxing was only forty li away. Should an emergency arise, a single day would suffice for troops to arrive at the city walls. The Yongwei Camp stationed at Daxing could reach the capital in just one or two hours on a forced march, and cavalry would be even faster.

On the day after the decree was issued, the court held a grand caning ceremony. More than twenty censors were dragged by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to the Meridian Gate for punishment.

Watched by the assembled officials, these censors howled desperately, screaming at the top of their lungs about the original purpose for which the Grand Ancestor Emperor had established the office of censor, crying out that the Chongzhen Emperor was unjust—their words were utterly piercing and mournful.

Some civil officials also pleaded desperately, accusing the Emperor of unjust punishment, but Chongzhen merely looked on coldly, unmoved in the slightest.

In the end, more than twenty censors were caned to death on the spot, finally realizing their long-cherished dream of being beaten at court. Even several of the civil officials who pleaded for mercy were crippled on the spot, destined to spend the rest of their lives lying on their couches writing memorials about affairs of state.

Having witnessed with their own eyes the censors—who normally spouted nothing but nonsense—beaten to death, Huang Degong and Sun Yingyuan kowtowed in gratitude before the Meridian Gate. That very day they led the Yongwei Camp out of camp and departed for their respective garrisons at Daxing and Langfang.

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Congratulations to reader 【JackieZXW】 for becoming the first alliance leader of this book! Thank you very much!

According to the rules, an alliance leader seems to warrant ten extra chapters.

I'm currently refining the detailed outline for the second volume, so I really don't have any saved drafts. I'll owe them for now and pay them back slowly.