"Don't worry, Lord Governor. I will be careful to let the prince hold on a little longer."
Canglang put down the branding iron with a smile, then walked to the torture rack to select tools for torture. The rack was so densely packed with all kinds of things that it made people shudder at the sight of it.
Xiao Yan turned around and walked out. Seeing that he didn't even look back and had no intention of continuing to question, King Chen was completely panicked. He was no longer sure that Xiao Yan was just trying to scare him.
Seeing Canglang holding a strange-looking hammer and waving it at his leg, he whispered, "Let's start from here..."
When the sharp weapon was raised high and smashed down towards his knee, King Cheng screamed with a pale face .
"Don't use torture, I say!!"
…
Xiao Yan came back and sat back in his previous place.
Canglang took a pen and paper and placed them on the table beside him. Next to him was the sharp weapon that almost broke King Cheng 's leg bone.
The previously open collar of Prince Cheng 's clothes was pulled up, covering the mottled wounds on his chest left by the torture, but the deep red blood seeped through the clothes, and he was tied to the rack with a pale face.
"The Thunder Crossbow was arranged by Hou Rui, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War, and Gong Jinghao, the supervisor of the Military Equipment Department, secretly built it for me. I gave them both a guarantee of 30,000 taels of silver each."
"In addition, each crossbow is charged an additional 10 taels of gold as 'work', which will be shared equally between the two of them, the craftsmen from the Arms Department, and those who helped cover up the counterfeit amount."
Canglang wrote on the paper quickly.
Prince Cheng lowered his eyes and whispered, "The ladder originally belonged to the four camps outside the capital, and was obtained from a captain named Wang by Hou Rui. I hid it in the mansion without any intention of disloyalty , but just wanted to be prepared for any eventuality."
"In case of what?" Xiao Yan asked in a calm voice.
"Master Xiao is so smart, can't he see the situation in the capital?"
Prince Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty is old, and the princes are fighting fiercely for the throne. Although I am a prince, Your Majesty is always on guard against me, so I have never had real power in all these years."
"I also want to find someone to get close to in advance, so that I can use my merits as a follower of the dragon to gain a stable life after the new emperor ascends the throne. Moreover, I have experienced the succession struggle in the past and witnessed the cruelty with my own eyes. If I don't prepare some trump cards for myself in advance, how can I protect myself if there is chaos in the capital in the future?"
What he said made sense, and the bitterness on his face was not false at all.
"I have met the Second Prince privately, and I also feel that he has the potential to be a wise ruler, so I secretly introduced him to the Cui and Feng families, thinking that I would surrender to him after he gained the support of the noble families, and use this opportunity to gain a better future. But who would have thought that the Second Prince would actually choose you."
"Do Cui Lin and the others know that you are the one who is pulling the strings?"
"I don't know. The Second Prince himself doesn't know either..."
Xiao Yan listened to King Cheng 's words and gently stroked the ring on his hand. He asked coldly, "I remember that Hou Rui became the Minister of War within four years of joining the Ministry of War. The Minister of War Xi Weifang is old and will definitely retire within three years. The position of Minister is likely to fall to Hou Rui. For a mere 30,000 taels of silver, you want him to give up his future and take risks for you?"
King Cheng paused and said , "But it was indeed he who acted as a matchmaker between me and the Arms Department..."
"Boom——"
Xiao Yan's fingers landed on the back of the chair, making a light sound. "Your Highness, you should know what I want to ask. You are a prince without any real power, and you don't have the ability to make Hou Rui work for you. If you don't tell the truth, then there is no need for me to talk to you."
Prince Cheng 's face turned pale.
Xiao Yan continued: "The mineral resources you hold came into your hands after passing through the hands of the Lu family. Their ships that previously transported goods in Jiangnan also transported goods several times for a merchant in Beijing called Fucheng Cloth Shop."
"The iron used to make the Thunder Crossbow is a controlled substance in the imperial court. Every bit of it must be fake. But the Arms Department was able to make so many crossbows for you. Where did the ore for refining the iron come from?"
"If I remember correctly, the Prince Cheng 's Mansion has many properties. Although the owner of the Fucheng Cloth Shop is surnamed Yu, he is a relative of your housekeeper. The cloth shop is also your property."
"The Lu family helped you transport the goods. You wouldn't tell me that the ship was only loaded with cloth, would you?"
King Cheng suddenly looked up, his eyes instantly panicked.
He didn't expect that Xiao Yan had investigated so deeply. Even Rong Yue didn't know about the cloth shop, and only the housekeeper was in charge of it over the years. It should not be known to others. Moreover, he even uncovered the fact that the Lu family was in charge of mineral resources.
King Cheng looked at Xiao Yan's cold eyes and said hoarsely, "The cloth shop is indeed mine, but I only have ordinary business dealings with the Lu family. I just used them to buy the mineral resources from others..."
"Really? But Hou Rui was promoted by the Lu family to join the Ministry of War."
King Cheng 's face changed drastically.
Xiao Yan leaned back and spoke coldly, "I am very curious, why would an official who was finally placed in an important position in the six ministries by the Lu family help you for no reason?"
"Moreover, you even told me about your attempt to support the Second Prince to seize the throne and bribed court officials. You did not hide anything from the Cui and Feng families, but you did not mention the Lu family at all. What exactly is going on between you and the Lu family?"
Prince Cheng 's heart was instantly in turmoil, and he felt that Xiao Yan's eyes were so sharp that they seemed to be able to see through people. He suppressed his panic and said, "What could this prince and the Lu family hide? Governor Xiao is overthinking."
"Hou Rui did accept the money and agreed to help me make connections. The mineral resources issue was just something I bribed a Lu family steward to do."
"Master Xiao has been fighting the Lu family for so long, it's impossible that he doesn't know about their clan's wealth. It's just two abandoned mines that are almost empty. The Lu family doesn't care about them at all, which is why I have the opportunity to get them."
"Besides, Governor Xiao is in charge of the Privy Council and the Black Armor Guards. You have eyes all over the capital. You should know that I have never had any contact with the Lu family in these years..."
Seeing that Xiao Yan didn't say anything , he felt a little flustered, and even couldn't maintain his expression due to anxiety , but he also knew that he must not reveal any flaws in front of him.
It's a pity that he forgot who the person in front of him was.
The more Prince Cheng wanted to distance himself from the Lu family, the more guilty he seemed. Even his face, which was forced to remain calm, seemed to show a layer of panic that could not be concealed.
Xiao Yan said indifferently: "Did you bring Xie Yin from the Lu family?"
King Cheng stared in horror.
"You tricked Princess Cheng into marrying you, but the people you really care about are in the Lu family?"
Prince Chen's heartbeat almost stopped and he couldn't hide his panic. Xiao Yan looked at him for a long while and suddenly sneered.
"So Xie Yin is not a bastard you picked up casually, but the blood of you and the Lu family?"