Chapter 694: Dilemma
When Sun Shaozong heard the words "Long live the present emperor", he knew that this was going to be trouble!
If this matter gets out of hand, no matter whether it is true or false, it will inevitably damage the emperor's reputation!
After all, almost everyone in the capital knew that the emperor had favored Buddhist and Taoist priests in recent years , and Jia Yuanchun happened to be pregnant...
I am afraid that even if the official verification shows that Yang Hancai lied, the public may not be convinced.
And once the emperor's reputation is hurt, how can I, the "active pusher", end up well?
But if he killed Yang Hancai immediately to prevent future troubles, he would inevitably appear guilty - if what he said was true, the emperor would definitely suspect that he had found out something.
Even if what he said was false, Yang Hancai still had a cousin who was a minister. If he was held accountable, he would still be in trouble!
After all, Yang Hancai was arrested this time on trumped-up charges. Torture was fine, but directly torturing him to death would be unacceptable.
This is really a dilemma!
Sun Shaozong cursed inwardly, but put on a disdainful expression on his face, sneering: "You are really tired of living, you even dare to make false accusations against His Majesty!"
Now that you are in a suspicious situation, you must find out whether this statement is true or not!
"False accusations? Ha...hahahaha..."
Yang Hancai squeezed out a dry laugh from his throat, and tried to stick his head forward with the iron hoop on it. He stared at him with two bloodshot eyes and said, "Do you think I'm telling you these things to absolve myself of guilt?"
"No! I'm not guilty at all, why should I escape the blame?!"
"If I hadn't collected the medicine for Your Majesty, the country of Great Zhou would have fallen into the hands of eunuchs!"
"The reason why I want to tell you the truth today is to let you know that I, Yang Hancai, am not some treacherous and evil person, but a meritorious official of the Great Zhou, a meritorious official who saved the Great Zhou country!"
"As long as I can protect the country of the Great Zhou Dynasty, even if I die, I, Yang Hancai, will die a worthy death!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
The wild laughter of a night owl, mixed with the rattling of chains, echoed back and forth in the small interrogation room.
Damn~
Sun Shaozong initially thought that Yang Hancai was trying to use the emperor as a pretext to gain influence.
Who would have thought that this guy would come to brag about his achievements!
Resisting the urge to smash his head with a punch, Sun Shaozong suddenly threw his head back and laughed. Yang Han stopped laughing madly and looked at him suspiciously.
Sun Shaozong then said disdainfully: "Not to mention that Your Majesty would never do such a cruel thing to the people, even if he really had such intention, why would he leave the Northern Pacification Office unused and choose a lowly official like you to take charge of this matter?"
"Such illogical nonsense is really ridiculous!"
As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves, turned around and pretended to leave.
"You don't believe it? You don't believe it?!"
Upon seeing this, Yang Hancai immediately began to struggle with excitement, and said without hesitation: "This matter was led by the Chief Secretary of the Zhongshun Palace. Could this be false?!"
It turned out to be the Prince Zhongshun's Mansion that was instigating this? !
As the power of the retired emperor gradually shrank in recent years, Prince Zhongshun's white glove identity became a well-known secret in the officialdom.
but……
According to the intelligence gathered by his eldest brother Sun Shaozu, Prince Zhongshun's activities of secretly collecting money for the inner treasury have gradually stopped over the past two years.
Obviously, as the situation changes, his identity as a white glove is gradually fading .
Was this horrific act instructed by the emperor to Prince Zhongshun, or did he do it on his own initiative to curry favor with the emperor?
Thinking in his heart, Sun Shaozong suddenly turned around, stared at Yang Hancai with burning eyes and asked: "Do you dare to confront Zhou Changshi about this?!"
Yang Han was startled, and slowly turned his gaze away. After a while, he moved back and looked at Sun Shaozong, saying word by word: "Don't forget who helped the Sun family to suppress the rebellion, and who promoted you two brothers to be officials. Now that things have come to this, do you really want to betray the emperor's grace and ruin the country?"
This guy is so hypocritical, as if he is the unforgivable criminal!
Sun Shaozong cursed inwardly, but his words were also righteous and awe-inspiring: "In my Great Zhou, there are benevolent rulers who care about the people, and there are heroic rulers who are feared by all, but there will never be a tyrannical ruler who eats people's hearts and livers!"
Having said that, he turned around and left the interrogation room without hesitation.
Yang Hancai watched the iron gate close again. He frowned for a while, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Sun Shaozong, you are still timid after all! Ha...hahahaha...you are timid! "
Just as he was laughing, Wu Shuigen pushed the door open and came in. Without saying a word, he took out the copper tongue depressor and stuffed it tightly into his mouth. Then he pursed his lips and said softly, "Since Lord Yang is unwilling to tell the truth, let's continue - don't be in a hurry, there is still plenty of time."
Yang Hancai struggled desperately, but how could he get free?
Let me explain this on two sides.
However, Sun Shaozong asked for the key to the "listening room" next door, and ordered Wu Shuigen to cover Yang Hancai's mouth. After continuing to torture him, he went into the "listening room" with a gloomy face.
He found a high-backed chair and sat down heavily, and the struggle between his conscience and his desires began to build again.
Judging from what Yang Hancai just said, it is basically a foregone conclusion that Prince Zhongshun's Palace is involved in this case.
But whether this was the emperor's intention or Prince Zhongshun's own decision was difficult to determine for the time being.
In fact, when he was in the interrogation room just now, he still had many details he wanted to clarify, but he was afraid that if he knew too much, he would fall into a greater crisis.
But the insufficient information made it difficult for him to make a decision.
Just when he was in a dilemma, he heard a sudden noise outside. Sun Shaozong frowned, pushed the door open and looked out. It turned out to be a group of kitchen servants carrying a lot of food.
The person leading the way was none other than the prison warden Wang Biao. Next to him was a charming woman, who was Wu Shuigen's wife, Xu.
Seeing Sun Shaozong coming out of the listening room, Wang Biao subconsciously took a few steps away, looking even more guilty. It was obvious that he had had a "connection" with Xu during that night.
Wu Shuigen didn't do anything to his own wife, and Sun Shaozong was too lazy to pay attention to all this nonsense. Instead, the large amount of wine and food attracted his attention.
He nodded his chin and asked suspiciously, "Are the meals in your prison always so sumptuous?"
"How is that possible!"
Wang Biao smiled and replied, "Isn't it because His Majesty is pregnant? He announced his grace this morning, and all prisoners in the capital will have extra meals."
Tsk~
No wonder Yang Hancai regarded himself as a hero. It turned out that the news leaked because of this.
Sun Shaozong cursed inwardly, took the food for eight people, and went back to the listening room to eat as much as he could while listening to Yang Hancai's painful groans.
After filling his stomach, he finally made up his mind: no matter whether this matter was true or false, he would pretend that he had never heard of it and go to the palace as usual to hand in the name card for an audience.
At that time, we will test it without leaving any trace to see how the emperor reacts, and then decide what to do next!
