Chapter 110 Telling the Truth
"Bring him in." Yuan Heng had experienced many ups and downs in her life. She thought that the death of her husband and son had reached the end of her life, but she didn't expect that she would be stabbed in the back again. She felt cold all over, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.
Zhang Qing quickly drove the mule cart straight into the second gate and stopped in front of the flower hall. He lifted the curtain and dragged a man and a woman out of the mule cart, one in each hand, and threw them into the yard.
The man and woman in the mule cart were tied up, their mouths stuffed with handkerchiefs to prevent them from speaking, and their eyes covered with black cloths. The man was unknown, but after the woman was thrown down, a maid in the mansion cried out, "...Yuqing?"
It was Yuqing, one of the maids sent by the Grand Princess to accompany and serve Huan Yanbo all the way.
Yuqing was in a state of disgrace and looked haggard, with old scars on her face, neck and hands. Someone came up to her and ripped off the blindfold and the handkerchief stuffed in her mouth. After untying the rope, she looked up and saw the Grand Princess, who thought she was captured by Yuan Heng's men. She was immediately trembling with fear and kowtowed with tears in her eyes: "My servant failed to protect the young master. Please forgive me, my master!"
The bearded man who took her away from the casino was a businessman from another place. He took her away from Changzi that day. She had no idea what happened in the casino afterwards.
It took Zhang Qing some effort to find her.
Yuan Heng used his remaining rationality to maintain his composure on the surface, and said in a cold voice: "Master Tang is very clever, finding this maid and torturing her severely, just to force her to confess and slander the Second Prince?"
Tang Ying laughed out loud: "Tsk tsk, look at what your Highness said, am I the kind of person who would torture someone into confessing? I just saw this maid, and the scars on her body have probably been there for some time, and they have already scabbed over and fallen off. They are not the work of your humble servant."
Yunniang raised her voice and asked, "Yuqing, who gave you the scars?"
Yuqing crossed her arms and trembled: "It was that foreign merchant." She did not dare to hide it, and only hoped that the Grand Princess would forgive her dereliction of duty: "I was lost by the young master to a foreign merchant. That man was a beast. He tied me up and left Changzi. I... I was worried about the safety of the young master and refused to submit to him. That beast locked me up and tortured and whipped me every day..."
The merchant was violent and cruel by nature. Ordinary weak women could not stand his torture. He liked strong-willed women the most. Yuqing was just what he wanted. He enjoyed abusing her along the way and did not stop even after bringing her home. If Zhang Qing had not gone to look for her, Yuqing's life would have been in danger.
The eldest princess stood in the yard, feeling difficulty breathing and her heart growing colder and colder, as if she had fallen into the mud of a lake. Her feet were on the soft mud at the bottom of the lake and she could not land on solid ground. The more she struggled, the deeper she fell. The water was about to cover her mouth and nose, but she was powerless to stop.
Tang Ying pulled off the blindfold of the man and said with a gentle smile, "Excuse me, Miss Yuqing, do you know this man?"
Yuqing turned her head and finally saw the "little friend" who had been riding in the same car with her recently. She was surprised and said, "Xu San? Isn't he in the Changzi gambling house?" She thought that Huan Yanbo's lingering in the gambling house was exposed, and the eldest princess wanted to hold him accountable. She also wanted to work hard to exchange for her own life. She gritted her teeth and cursed, "Since the young master met him in the gambling house, he has been lingering in the gambling house every day and refused to go back. He also listened to his instigation and used me to pay off my gambling debts! Master, he is not a good person!"
Xu San didn't expect to enter the Grand Princess's Mansion in Beijing as soon as he opened his eyes. He felt something was wrong. He couldn't blame him. The knockout drug of the Imperial Cavalry Division was real or fake. He was blindfolded and slept all the way. He didn't know who the kidnappers were.
"Nonsense, I don't know any young master!" The desire to survive prevailed. Xu San's mouth was torn open with cloth, and he hurriedly defended himself.
Tang Ying crossed her fingers and flexed her wrist bones, only to hear the bones crackling. She was eager to try: "Your Highness, this man is quite clever. I have learned a lot of skills from Aunt Chun, but I have never put them into practice. How about I interrogate this man today?"
Yuan Heng hated Tang Ying to death. She was eager to know Huan Yanbo's death and suppressed her hatred: "Yes."
Tang Ying ordered the maid of the Grand Princess's Mansion to bring over an official hat chair, and personally tied the man to sit on the chair. Without saying a word, she took off Xu San's shoes and socks, and smiled brightly and softly as if she was chatting with her family: "... Of course I know your name is not Xu San, let me guess your last name."
The man yelled at the top of his lungs: "Kidnap civilians in broad daylight, do you still have any law?"
Tang Ying pulled out a dagger from her boot, and gently slashed the tip of the knife across the man's foot. She smiled and said, "I guess your last name is Lang, right?"
The man's pupils constricted, and at that moment he felt a chill on his back, as if he had been stripped naked and thrown in public. He suddenly came to his senses and struggled: "Nonsense! My surname is not Lang!" The soles of his feet had been cut by the dagger, and a string of blood oozed out and soon fell to the ground.
The eldest princess came face to face with the man and clearly saw the panic in his eyes. She was on the verge of collapse and couldn't help but grab Yunniang's shoulders, as if she wanted to use her as a crutch so that she could straighten her back and stand here to watch Tang Ying's interrogation.
Tang Ying seemed very disappointed: "Oh, so your surname is not Lang? The steward Lang in the Second Prince's mansion is not your brother, the head of Langzhuang in the imperial farm outside the city is not your father, and Lang Ni'er who is going to get married in a few days is not your biological sister?" She looked up and said to Zhang Qing: "Brother, I'm sorry to have made you make a wasted trip. We also captured the head of Langzhuang and his wife and Lang Ni'er. It will be too troublesome to let them go. You can deal with them on the spot when you get back." She also comforted "Xu San": "It doesn't matter. The Forbidden Cavalry Division can deal with these people very efficiently. I guarantee that no one will find any flaws." The dagger flashed, and the little toe of the man's right foot had been cut off.
Zhang Qing: "Okay."
Lang Er screamed and cursed: "What's wrong with my last name being Lang? Everyone has their own responsibility. Let my parents and sister go."
The eldest princess swayed slightly, with most of her body falling on Yunniang, but she was still staring at the man in the yard who had lost a toe. However, the blood had completely drained from her face, as if her mouth and nose were submerged in the lake and she was almost suffocated.
"Oh, so you are Lang Er?" Tang Ying emphasized the words deliberately: "You are Lang Er, the son of the Second Prince's Mansion. You have been helping the Second Prince manage the shop in other places for many years. This time, in order to set a trap for Prince Huan, you sent a letter to transfer him back, right?"
Lang Er struggled even when he was about to die: "I am Lang Er, but I don't know any Prince Huan!"
Tang Ying didn't approve of his stubbornness: "Brother, this is not a decent thing to do." She turned around and asked Yu Qing who was already stunned: "Miss Yu Qing, tell me, is this person your son's brother in Changzi?"
Yu Qing hated "Xu San" so much that she stared at him and wished she could eat him alive: "Even if he turned into ashes, I would recognize him. It's him!"
Tang Ying raised her knife and cut off another toe. She said regretfully, "Look at you. You are not honest at all. You have to press your head before you tell the truth. I hate people like this the most. Can't you just confess?"
Lang Er was sweating profusely on his forehead due to the pain. He wanted to hold his feet and jump up. His face was pale with pain and he was struggling on the chair while breathing heavily. Zhang Qing pressed the chair firmly from behind, making him unable to move at all. He could only stare at Tang Ying with red eyes: "What do you want to do?"
Tang Ying said gently, "I'm a very easy person to talk to. If you don't tell the truth, I will cut off your toes one by one, just like cutting carrots. My knife is very sharp. If you don't talk, I will cut the tendons of your hands and feet. Don't worry, you won't die. The Forbidden Cavalry Division has 18 kinds of martial arts to test on you. Let's take our time. There's no rush."
Lang Er was shaking with pain, his heart was cold, and he stared at her, gasping for breath.
Tang Ying said, "You must think I'm vicious, right? This is just the beginning. If you don't tell me, I'll drag your parents and sister here and cut off their fingers and toes one by one in front of you. That scene must be very exciting. I wonder if they can endure the pain as well as you can."
Lang Er didn't know whether he was scared or in pain. He was shivering even though he was tied up and shouted angrily, "Kill me!" Big drops of cold sweat flowed down his forehead and he even bit his lips.
Tang Ying reached back and pulled out a handkerchief from under the armpit of Miss Yu Qing, who was kneeling beside her, and gently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, as if she were treating a peerless beauty with tenderness: "How can I bear to let you die?" She advised him sincerely: "You'd better tell the truth, at least let the Grand Princess know the truth about her son's death, otherwise the reward you get will not go to your family. I guarantee you that your family will definitely die a hundred times, a thousand times more tragically than Prince Huan..."
She said it seriously, and Lang Er couldn't stop shaking. In his heart, he already believed that the vicious woman in front of him would definitely do what she said. The safety of his family and the huge pain in his body finally made his psychological defenses collapse: "I said--"
Tang Ying interrupted him and said, "Don't worry, as long as you tell the truth, I promise to let your parents and sister go and send them back unharmed."
"I was the one who killed Huan Yanbo!" He dared not hide it anymore and confessed everything, including how he received the news from the Second Prince's mansion, how he appeared in Changzi in disguise, how he talked to Huan Yanbo in the casino, how he created chaos in the gambling house, killed Huan Yanbo in the chaos and then escaped.
When Yuan Heng heard the first sentence, she felt as if her spine was pulled out. She sat down softly. The panicked Yunniang hugged her around the waist. The master and servant sat down on the steps together. She stared at Lang Er stubbornly. Those words hit her mind like hail, making deep holes in her brain. She seemed to be stunned and could only mutter to herself: "How could it be? How could it be? Why would Yuan Lang lie to me? Why did he lie to me? Why did he attack my Yan'er? Yan'er... Yan'er is his cousin..."
In fact, she had already understood in her heart that there was no such thing as family affection in the royal family.
Lang Er didn't care about the eldest princess's loss of composure. He finished his confession and endured the severe pain in his feet: "Can you let my parents and sister go now?"
Tang Ying used Yu Qing's handkerchief to wipe the blood off her dagger: "Since you told me the truth, I can't lie to you, otherwise my conscience will not be at peace. To be honest, I have found out your details. As for your parents, they should be busy preparing a dowry for your sister at the farm. To express my apology," she asked Lang Er for his opinion: "How about... I send someone to deliver a gift in two days?"
Lang Er was so angry that he almost vomited blood and shouted hysterically: "Liar! You lied to me!"
"Thank you for the compliment, thank you so much!" She smiled brightly, turned around and bowed to the Grand Princess: "I'm sorry to bother Your Highness, but I still have official business to attend to. The prisoner is in your hands, and I can't help you with anything else. I'll take my leave now!" She actually swaggered out of the Grand Princess's mansion with Zhang Qing and the mule cart.
Fu Yingjun was still standing obediently at the door of the princess's mansion, and when he saw her he chirped with joy.
"Be good!" Tang Ying took out two candy beans from her purse and fed them to the dog, then jumped on the horse and rode away.
