Chapter 216: Strangling

"When did you start contacting Shangguan Xiao?"

"A few years ago."

"Specific time."

"..."

"How did you make contact?"

"..."

"Then what?"

"..."

"Continue."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Have you met Shangguan Xiao during this period?"

"No, but we have spoken on the phone and exchanged letters. Before the family head decided to use family resources to help Aunt become the First Seat of the Xingcheng Stop-Gong Office, Aunt wrote to me in advance to tell me about this, saying that we had been preparing for so many years, and now the opportunity had come!"

"When did you start planning to murder family head Zhang Zongyang?"

"I actually didn't know at all that Aunt was going to murder the family head!"

"You didn't know?"

"Aunt just asked me to find an opportunity to replace a painting hanging in the family head's study; I didn't know she was going to murder the family head!"

"And then?"

"..."

"Have you investigated the allies who cooperated with Shangguan Xiao? Do you know who those people are?"

"..."

"They murdered the head of your Zhang family and almost caused your Zhang family to be destroyed; aren't you afraid it's a conspiracy?"

"At first I was afraid, and I also suspected it. But later Aunt came back, and she helped our Zhang family overcome the difficulties little by little; isn't the Zhang family doing well again now? And in the future, the Zhang family will be completely under Aunt's control, and I will become the head of the Zhang family!"

"Is this Shangguan Xiao's promise to you?"

"Yes, her identity is not suitable to become the head of the Zhang family on the surface, so the head of the family on the surface in the future will be me; this was also decided when the two of us decided to cooperate at the beginning."

"Besides letters and phone calls, do you have any other way to confirm that the person cooperating with you is Shangguan Xiao?"

"Of course, she opened a Qingyuan Boxing Village in Xingcheng, and a few people inside have met with me; these people are all her confidants. After I became an executive officer, I even provided a lot of resources to the Qingyuan Boxing Village; I have detailed records of all these."

"You are leaving a way out to guard against her crossing the river and tearing down the bridge?"

"Heh, of course."

"Is the Green Face Ghost a person from the Western spies' side?"

"I don't know about this; this person suddenly appeared, and I have never found his background."

"..."

Qu Xun, Chief Supervisor of the General Inspectorate, walked out of the interrogation room somewhat exhaustedly.

The matter was of great importance, and he, the Chief Supervisor, even ran over to listen to the interrogation of Zhang Shiwei in person.

In order to avoid suspicion, the interrogation of Zhang Shiwei by the General Inspectorate was "open and transparent" throughout, allowing the General Inspectorate, the General Stop-Gong Office, the General Law Office, and the Government Building to send people to listen.

After the interrogation, a group of high-level officials of Datong Prefecture gathered together to hold a short meeting.

"What do you think?"

Qu Xun asked.

Chu Bo, Steering Envoy of the General Stop-Gong Office, took the lead in saying: "After all the contents Zhang Shiwei said are implemented and the evidence is mastered, if there is no problem, it shows that Shangguan Xiao, in order to control the Zhang family, colluded with Western spies and joined hands with Zhang Shiwei to murder Zhang Zongyang. Witnesses and material evidence are complete, and the motive, process, and result are all very clear."

Shangguan Xiao indeed had the motive to control the Zhang family, and ever since she returned to Datong Prefecture city, she had indeed gained the right to speak in the Zhang family little by little, possessing the opportunity to annex the entire Zhang family.

From the results, what Zhang Shiwei said was also correct.

Now they were just waiting to implement the witnesses and material evidence.

"I personally tend to believe that what Zhang Shiwei said is true; after so many years of cooperation, it couldn't be made up; if it were fake, it could be easily debunked."

Du Changhe, Chief Inspector of the General Inspectorate, said, "The most important thing is that this matter finally has a result."

The last sentence he said was meaningful, and the big shots present all understood.

In order to have a result for this matter and let the investigation team leave Datong Prefecture as soon as possible, a huge Great Martial Arts Sect disappeared just like that.

Therefore, having a result was very important to Datong Prefecture!

And this result was highly likely to be the truth.

Then what was the point of tossing and turning?

"Go and implement all the evidence."

Guan Zhao, Deputy Garrison Commander, said, "Shangguan Xiao also needs to be interrogated synchronously."

Once he said this, the tone of this matter was basically set...

May 19th, the ninth day of Li Fei's seclusion.

Shangguan Xiao was still in the General Stop-Gong Office and hadn't come out.

Although she hadn't been sent to prison yet, she had been detained, lost her freedom of movement, and had been cut off from contact with the outside world.

During these two days, she was interrogated again and again, all about the details of her cooperation with Zhang Shiwei and how she colluded with Western spies.

This made Shangguan Xiao realize that this trap was not temporary at all, but that the person behind the scenes had used many years to prepare slowly, specifically weaving a large net for her!

That night, she saw Fu Lang in the interrogation room again.

"Uncle Fu."

Shangguan Xiao looked at this uncle who had held her and taught her martial arts when she was a child, "If I really colluded with Zhang Shiwei, why would I deliberately set a trap to lure out the people behind him?"

She had repeatedly emphasized this logic in previous interrogations, but unfortunately, those who interrogated her didn't care about it.

"..."

Fu Lang was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly, "The contents Zhang Shiwei said have now been confirmed for the most part. Two people were caught at the Qingyuan Boxing Village, and these two people have followed you for more than ten years; they have now confessed; this is the list and the confession."

As he spoke, he handed a document to Shangguan Xiao.

Shangguan Xiao took the document and glanced at the names on it.

Although they were not the veterans who had "started a business" with her from the beginning, these two people on the list had indeed followed her for more than ten years and held high positions in the Qingyuan Boxing Village, managing quite a few businesses.

And these two admitted in their confessions that Shangguan Xiao had instructed them to secretly cooperate with Zhang Shiwei many years ago.

The time, place, and content of the cooperation were all recorded in detail and matched Zhang Shiwei's confession.

"Many of the non-compliant resources obtained by the Qingyuan Boxing Village over the years were also provided by Zhang Shiwei; he has records of all of them, and we checked the bills, transportation records, and interrogated dozens of people involved in the intermediate links, including those from the Zhang family, the General Stop-Gong Office, and the Qingyuan Boxing Village. Everything matches..."

As he spoke, Fu Lang handed another document to Shangguan Xiao.

This document recorded the resources that the Qingyuan Boxing Village had obtained from Zhang Shiwei over the years: elixirs, firearms, protective suits...

Shangguan Xiao discovered that many of these resources were indeed related to the Zhang family, and she also knew that these resources were related to the Zhang family; she had guessed from the beginning that this was Zhang Zongyang secretly helping her.

Perhaps Zhang Zongyang did have this idea, but when he found out that someone in the family was already secretly helping Shangguan Xiao, he thought it was Shangguan Xiao who had taken the initiative to contact family members, so he acquiesced to this point.

So this trap not only used more than ten years to weave, but the layout person also understood the knots and tacit understanding between Zhang Zongyang and Shangguan Xiao, this pair of father and daughter, very well.

"Witnesses and material evidence are basically complete; it is very difficult for you to prove your innocence..."

Fu Lang said to Shangguan Xiao.

"Ha?"

Shangguan Xiao laughed dumbly, "Is it that it is very difficult for me to prove my innocence, or that those big shots above don't want me to prove my innocence anymore?"

She had thought a lot in these two days; the most vicious point of this trap was not that the other party spent so much time slowly weaving lies. Because as long as it is a lie, it can always be debunked and have loopholes found.

The key was the timing chosen by the other party.

When the investigation team from the provincial capital brought immense pressure to the officialdom of Datong Prefecture, in fact, the truth didn't matter so much anymore; the most important thing was how to produce a result that could be accounted for.

Directly saying that Gu Xianfeng wanted to murder Zhang Zongyang, and that there was no obvious interest relationship between the two sides, seemed a bit far-fetched and might not be able to directly convince the people of the investigation team. People would feel that Datong Prefecture was fooling them.

But if Shangguan Xiao was added, involving the internal interest struggle of the family, this immediately seemed very reasonable!

As for whether there was even a tiny possibility that Shangguan Xiao was wronged?

To put it bluntly, a Great Martial Arts Sect disappeared just like that, and even a Martial Arts Master died; what is a mere Foundation Establishment imperial official?

"Xiao'er."

Fu Lang looked at Shangguan Xiao with sorrowful eyes, "If this is really a trap aimed at you, then the person behind the scenes is likely not just after your life alone."

He was actually willing to believe Shangguan Xiao, but his belief alone was of no use...

Hearing Fu Lang's words, Shangguan Xiao clenched her fists violently.

Yes, weaving such a complex trap, first killing a Steering Envoy, then destroying a Great Martial Arts Sect, and causing the death of a Martial Arts Master—was it just to frame her, Shangguan Xiao?

Even if Shangguan Xiao thought highly of herself, she didn't think she was worth such a big effort from others.

Then what else did she have that was worth others planning so painstakingly?

A name emerged in Shangguan Xiao's mind.

Her eyes changed instantly.

"It seems you have already figured it out."

Fu Lang looked at the changes in Shangguan Xiao's eyes and said somewhat arduously:

"I just want to say, if you have already been unable to break free from this trap, then it is best to find a way not to involve more people, and don't let the conspiracy of the person behind the scenes succeed!"

Shangguan Xiao narrowed her eyes.

The person she cared about most in the past was Hao Yi, and now there was Li Fei.

Li Fei was tied together with her in the identity of the Green Face Ghost; if one thing was handled poorly, he was highly likely to be implicated by her this time!

Yes, no matter what, at least find a way not to implicate others.

"... I understand, thank you, Uncle Fu."

Shangguan Xiao gave a miserable smile.

"Is there anything else you need my help with?"

Fu Lang was silent for a while and asked.

"Yes!"

Shangguan Xiao nodded vigorously.

Seeking monthly tickets.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 217 =====