Chapter 526: Torture (Part 2)
After the hysterical catharsis, what follows is physical and mental exhaustion.
And this fatigue became the last straw that broke the camel's back.
In a trance, Shopkeeper Wu couldn't even remember when he started to confess. He only vaguely remembered that he answered many tricky and strange questions, and almost without reservation!
It was not until Sun Shaozong appeared again and picked up the confession written in tiny calligraphy that Manager Wu woke up from his absent-minded state and cast a resentful look at him.
But it was just a look.
The courage to face death with indifference and to denounce the bandit leader had already been crushed in someone's palm along with that confession.
Sun Shaozong read the confession over and over again three times, confirming that most of the details matched each other. He then turned his attention to Shopkeeper Wu and said with a half-smile: "Shopkeeper Wu, you..."
"grown ups."
At this moment, Yang Licai's voice happened to be heard outside the door: "Please excuse me for a moment."
Sun Shaozong subconsciously stopped talking, but he had no intention of leaving. Instead, he raised his voice and ordered: "Manager Wu has now surrendered to the court. If you have anything to say, just come in and speak directly."
Yang Licai responded by pulling open the curtain and coming in. He first glanced at Shopkeeper Wu strangely, then bowed and said, "I am incompetent, but Xu still refuses to give in until now."
Still refusing to give in?!
With just these few words, Shopkeeper Wu seemed to have been hit by a club. He seemed to have grasped something in the numbness and pain, but he couldn't grasp the key point. He couldn't help but ask in a hoarse voice: "My wife... My wife..."
Halfway through his words, he didn't know what to ask, or rather, he didn't dare to ask any further.
"Shopkeeper Wu is truly blessed!"
At this time, Sun Shaozong raised his thumb and praised sincerely: "How many women in the world are there who are as capable as men?"
After hearing his praise, Shopkeeper Wu felt chest tightness and shortness of breath, as if a huge stone weighing a thousand pounds was pressing on him. He finally squeezed out a question from between his teeth: "You...you mean to say that my wife didn't...didn't confess?!"
"That's right."
"But...but she was clearly...clearly... "
"You mean that?"
Sun Shaozong spread his hands and said, "I ordered the people to investigate. Once they found that you two couldn't hold on any longer, they secretly made some noise. Who would have thought that you two would have a rift because of this?"
Damn it!
Damn it!
I actually fell into the trap of this traitor!
Shopkeeper Wu was already extremely remorseful, but he couldn't help but continue to question: "But I clearly saw in this room..."
"Are you sure you saw it clearly?"
Sun Shaozong sneered: "I deliberately asked her to put the oil lamp in front of you to dazzle your eyes. Otherwise, you should at least notice that the woman's buttocks are shriveled than your wife's."
Now Manager Wu couldn't even deceive himself. The stuffy feeling in his chest went straight to the Baihui acupoint. Not only did his face turn red and swollen, but even his pupils were covered with a layer of blood.
I heard him open his mouth and shout "you...you...you" three times, and suddenly a mouthful of blood spurted out, his head tilted and he became motionless!
Upon seeing this, Sun Shaozong hurriedly reached out and felt his carotid artery, and confirmed that he had just fainted. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief - he took the initiative to reveal the truth, not to piss this guy off to death.
"grown ups."
Just as he ordered his men to fetch some well water to wake up the shopkeeper Wu, Yang Licai at the side took the opportunity to ask, "Your methods really make me admire you very much, but there is one thing that I can't figure out no matter how hard I think."
"The wounds on the wrists of the couple didn't bleed much before they healed. No matter how frightened they were by the sound of dripping water, it shouldn't have taken just two or three hours for them to be seriously ill, right?"
Sun Shaozong answered casually: "Half of it is because of fear, and half of it is because of boredom."
"Boring?"
"That's right."
Sun Shaozong was not in a position to give him any scientific explanation, saying that the gases emitted during the decomposition of vegetables would cause hypoxia symptoms to occur in the vegetable cellar.
Therefore, he could only give the most rough explanation: "The cellar was already stuffy. Ordinary people would feel dizzy, chest tightness and shortness of breath if they stayed in there for a long time. What's more, they were already terrified and struggled desperately for a while."
To put it bluntly, the so-called blood experiment was just a pretext designed to increase the fear of the Wu couple - being suffocated to death was no match for the horror of hearing yourself bleed to death with your own ears.
Yang Licai seemed to understand what was said and wanted to ask in detail, but the officer who was ordered to fetch water had already come back running and poured half a bucket of water on the head of Shopkeeper Wu without saying a word.
“Hoo…Puff…”
Shopkeeper Wu shuddered, then took a breath, and then sprayed out some water.
His blank gaze swept across everyone's faces, and then gradually fixed on Sun Shaozong's face, radiating negative emotions such as regret, resentment, and fear.
Seeing that he was already filled with emotions, Sun Shaozong suddenly sighed and said helplessly: "Manager Wu, if you think that I told you the truth just to humiliate you, then my efforts are in vain."
A lot of effort?
Pooh!
If he hadn't been supported by the iron chain and hadn't had a ball gag in his mouth, Shopkeeper Wu would have definitely pounced on him and bit him a few times to vent his hatred!
Sun Shaozong did not expect him to believe it, and shook the confession in his hand again, and continued: "Your life is safe now, but if your wife continues to be stubborn, she will lose her life in vain - then, won't you and your wife be separated forever?"
"Why don't you go and persuade the lady to serve the court with you? I will consider it as a reward for your meritorious service while serving your sentence. What do you think?"
"Not only Madam, if you and your wife can make more contributions in the process of arresting the White Lotus rebels, not only will the death penalty be spared, but you may even have a future of the seventh or eighth rank."
"You will be able to enjoy endless wealth and splendor, and be addressed as Master and Sir in front of others. Isn't that a hundred times better than living in fear and hiding your head now?"
Having said that, seeing that Shopkeeper Wu had become somewhat uneasy, Sun Shaozong quickly took advantage of the situation and used his final trump card.
He patted the black dragon-swallowing cloud robe of the lieutenant beside him and said earnestly: "If you don't have this official robe to protect you, even if I firmly believe that you are loyal to the court, the brothers below may not have such insight."
"If someone is so blind as to be rude to Shopkeeper Wu or your wife, wouldn't that be a waste of your righteous act of abandoning evil and joining the light today?"
"Please think twice, Shopkeeper Wu."
After using all the threats and inducements, Sun Shaozong did not linger any longer. He ordered two dragon guards to help Manager Wu remove the shackles, and then led Yang Licai away.
And as he walked, he arrived at the stable in the front yard without stopping.
Seeing Sun Shaozong climb onto his mount, Yang Licai hurried to untie the reins, but Sun Shaozong glanced back at him and ordered, "You stay here."
After hearing this, Yang Licai thought that he was trying to take all the credit for himself. Although he was dissatisfied in his heart, he had no choice but to obey his orders.
Sun Shaozong turned his horse around and ordered, "Call the men who arrested the shopkeeper Wu and his wife this afternoon, and remember to have them bring their weapons."
After a pause, he remembered that there were several women inside, and added hurriedly, "Forget about those who are dressed as maids."
When Yang Licai heard this, he felt something was wrong and asked cautiously, "Sir, aren't you going to report this to the governor?"
"Of course not."
"But didn't the governor tell us to keep us informed at all times?!"
Yang Licai suddenly became anxious. Disobeying orders was a big taboo in the army, and in a secret agency like the Dragon Guards, it was an even greater crime!
Sun Shaozong bent down, took the large golden ring knife from the victory hook, and skillfully made a few knife moves on the horse. Seeing that this old friend, whom he had not seen for a long time, did not feel unfamiliar with the knife, he hung it back with satisfaction.
After testing the knife, he turned back to Yang Licai and said, "It is said that a general is not subject to orders from his master when he is away from home. Besides, you should also know that the last operation was sabotaged by a traitor. How can we repeat the same mistake now?"
"If the pacification envoy blames me, I will bear the responsibility myself! And if everything goes well on this trip, your contribution will definitely be indispensable!"
At this point, his face suddenly darkened, and he said grimly: "But if anyone here dares to leave his post without permission after I leave, I will have no choice but to ask all of you to go to the water dungeon!"
Seeing that Sun Shaozong was so determined and promised that they would share the benefits equally and take the blame alone, Yang Licai naturally did not dare to persuade him anymore.
He hurriedly called over the plainclothes spies - in fact, excluding the women, there were only six people in total.
When the six people came forward to salute, Sun Shaozong suddenly pulled the reins, and the man who was restraining the horse stood up. The horse's hooves kicked half a circle in front of the crowd before falling to the ground with a bang.
"It's OK. They are all with seeds."
Seeing that none of the six people showed fear, Sun Shaozong nodded with satisfaction and said, "I summoned you in the middle of the night for no other reason than to take you to fight for a fortune!"
"I have already found out that the White Lotus Sect sent six people to the capital, and the leader in charge is the deputy leader who is second only to the leader!"
"As long as you take down this group of lawless rebels, I guarantee that you will all be promoted to higher positions!"
In fact, before learning that the leader of this team was the deputy leader of the White Lotus Sect, Sun Shaozong had never thought of acting arbitrarily.
But when he heard that it was such a big fish, Sun Shaozong became interested.
Ever since Sun Shaozong took the lead in the Crown Prince case, the pacification envoy Lu Hui praised him openly, but secretly showed some caution and rejection, no longer living up to the previous trust and winover.
Sun Shaozong had been thinking about it these days and roughly understood what he was thinking.
Although Lu Hui looks strong and sturdy, he is actually over fifty years old. He can only carry out the job of pacifying the Northern Pacification Office for another seven or eight years at most, and it is probably time for him to stop doing that.
Therefore, when he faced Sun Shaozong at first, he showed some care and concern as an elder, and even wanted to train Sun Shaozong to be his successor.
But the problem is that Sun Shaozong's growth rate far exceeded his expectations!
It had only been half a year, but he had accumulated merits and was promoted to the fourth rank - this was due to his considerable contributions, but he had not received any reward.
You know, the pacification envoy is only a fourth-rank official!
If this trend continues, it will probably not take three or two years before Sun Shaozong threatens Lu Hui's position as the pacification commissioner.
That's why he changed his strategy recently, from getting close to being cautious, and even suppressing - otherwise the mission of hunting down the White Lotus for the first time should have been handed over to Sun Shaozong.
In view of this, how could Sun Shaozong be willing to give up this God-given credit?
As for disobedience...
Not to mention that Sun Shaozong now has the support of the crown prince, the real helmsman of the Northern Pacification Office, Eunuch Dai, also favors him.
By then, as long as he has made contributions, how could Lu Hui dare to do anything to him?
Besides, Sun Shaozong's main powers are still within the civil service system. If they really fall out completely, the worst that can happen is that they will go their separate ways and no longer get involved in the work of the Northern Pacification Office.
Stop talking nonsense.
However, the leader among the six was only a seventh-rank general flag bearer. If he could achieve such a great achievement, what would it matter if he recommended a sixth-rank trial centurion?
It is possible that he could be promoted two levels directly!
Therefore, after hearing Sun Shaozong's promise, the six people were all very excited. They shouted and expressed their willingness to die for the captain.
But Sun Shaozong continued, "Of course I hope that everyone can come back alive to get promoted and make a fortune. But to avoid leaking the news, there are only seven of us tonight, and there are more than twenty remnants of the White Lotus, most of whom are good at fighting. If you don't want to take risks with me, it's not too late for you to withdraw now."
When they heard that there were more than twenty good fighters on the other side but only seven on their side, the Dragon Guards, who were used to bullying the weak with their numbers, became a little nervous.
He just threatened to commit suicide, who would have the nerve to back down now?
In silence, one of the flag bearers suddenly raised his head and said loudly: "I am willing to follow you through fire and water, sir!"
Once someone took the lead, no matter if they were willing or not, they all followed and said respectfully: "I am willing to follow you through fire and water, sir!"
“Okay, okay, okay!”
Sun Shaozong shouted "good" three times, and then laughed, "But it's not that serious. No matter how powerful the White Lotus bandits are, can they really defeat the government troops who have firearms and powerful bows and crossbows?"
"Don't forget, when I was in Jinmen Prefecture, I killed more than a hundred rebels by myself. Now that I have your help, what's the big deal about just twenty or so bandits?!"
When everyone heard this, their confidence increased immediately.
"Get on the horse!"
Following Sun Shaozong's order, the six people hurriedly found their mounts.
Seeing that the small flag was the first to get there, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but feel a sense of appreciation for his talent, so he specifically asked the small flag's name.
The little flag holder saluted on his horse and said proudly, "I am Wang Zhen, a native of Weizhou, Hebei. If I die today, please send my remains back to my hometown and bury them with my parents."
Oh my god!
Weizhou Wang Zhen? !
Sun Shaozong was really shocked by this title, and almost blurted out: Aren't you a eunuch? How did you get into the Dragon Guards? !
