The person speaking was none other than Xu Yong’s disciple, the Attendant Shunzi, who served before the Emperor.
"I beg the prince to show rcy and give this humble one a way to live. I am willing to confess everything, everything..."
After a brief silence, Feng Yun slightly turned her head to look at Pei Jue.
Pei Jue looked at her and faintly lifted his sleeve.
"Wei Zheng."
Wei Zheng’s heart skipped a beat, and his nerves beca taut as he respectfully bowed to Pei Jue with hands clasped.
"This subordinate understands."
Inside the dimly lit prison cell, a wooden desk and chairs were set up, along with tea.
Pei Jue sat squarely at the head of the table, without uttering a word.
Feng Yun quietly attended beside him, looking as if she were uninvolved in the affair, her face calm and even holding a trace of a smile.
The oil lamp in the prison cell cast a dim light and exuded a sour sll.
A cold breeze blew through the corridor, as if coming from hell itself.
The atmosphere all around was stagnant.
From the Attendants to the prison guards, each person held their breath as if walking on thin ice.
Only the couple, Feng and Pei, composed themselves leisurely.
Having opened up one avenue of inquiry, the interrogation that followed would be much simpler.
Facing certain death one way or another, it was better for soone else to die than oneself—
The Palace Attendants were fearful of speaking too slowly, not enough to alleviate their cris, and they rushed to confess ahead of one another.
Wei Zheng did not need to exert much effort to grasp all of their testimonies.
The testimonies all pointed to only two people—Xu Yong and the Female Historian Lin.
That day, all these Palace Attendants were at Yongshou Palace, but what happened before the Young Emperor fell down the steps, they all said they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes.
Because Xu Yong was the Chief Eunuch of the Inner Court, he ordered the Palace Attendants to guard the door, not letting anyone disturb His Majesty. They didn’t dare to disobey.
By the ti they heard the scream and ran over, the Young Emperor had already fallen down the steps.
Xu Yong said that His Majesty had slipped and fallen down the steps by accident.
He then threatened them to make sure their testimonies matched, not to spout nonsense implicating him.
Otherwise, if one person erred, the entire palace would be held accountable, and none would escape, being required to join the Young Emperor in death.
With further probing, the Female Historian Lin admitted to her affair with Xu Yong.
But she did not acknowledge any malicious intent towards the Empress Dowager and the Young Emperor.
"The Empress Dowager has always been kind to , harming her would be harming myself. I’m not foolish enough to do such a thing..."
"That day, Xu Yong had spur the Empress Dowager to go to Yongshou Palace. I was speaking up for the Empress Dowager’s sake, believing that the Emperor wasn’t caring enough for the Empress Dowager. It was all instigated by the Princess of Yonghuai, who would rather go worship her deceased biological mother than cherish her foster mother who had raised him for many years..."
"Out of indignation for the Empress Dowager, I spoke so unpleasant words in her ear..."
The Female Historian Lin’s protestations of innocence went on.
"I beseech the prince for discernnt, I have absolutely no intention of harming Your Highness or the Empress Dowager..."
Feng Yun exchanged a glance with Pei Jue and suddenly spoke, questioning the Female Historian Lin.
"Was the Empress Dowager’s sudden illness and fainting spell related to you?"
The Female Historian Lin banged her head on the floor frantically, shouting her innocence.
"I didn’t, I wouldn’t dare to plot against the Empress Dowager..."
Feng Yun: "Then recall carefully, was there anything unusual in the daily als of the Empress Dowager?"
"I don’t know—"
The Female Historian Lin was speaking when she suddenly seed to rember sothing, abruptly turning her head to look deeply at Xu Yong.
"Eunuch Xu offered the Empress Dowager a box of ginseng slices from Tutai Mountain, claiming it could nourish the heart and spleen’s blood and cure insomnia and irritability. The Empress Dowager tried it a few tis, slept better at night, and was quite satisfied with it, regularly taking it after that. Could it be..."
Before she could finish her sentence, in the midst of everyone’s rapt attention to her confession, Xu Yong, who was being forced to kneel by the prison guards, suddenly exerted strength, broke free from the guards, and charged toward the blade of their swords.
"Ah!"
No one expected him to seek death, screaming shrilly.
The guard hastily withdrew his blade, but as Xu Yong charged furiously and quickly toward it, it seed inevitable that he would collide...
With a clang!
A sword stroke from the side parried the guard’s waist blade.
The blade glided across Xu Yong’s chest...
Blood gushed forth, yet it did not strike any vital point.
Zuo Zhong re-sheathed his sword with an indifferent look and grabbed Xu Yong by the back of the neck, tossing him at Pei Jue’s feet.
Xu Yong’s face was ashen. He pursed his lips coldly and did not look up, his voice carrying a deadly spite.
"The Princess of Yonghuai has deep sches. What a pity, the fact remains the Emperor fell of his own accord. You can ask a thousand tis, ten thousand tis, it will not change..."
Feng Yun narrowed her eyes slightly, speaking slowly and forcefully, word by word.
"Xu Yong, in your youth, you were poor and mingled with bandits. In the second year of Xifeng, to survive, you castrated yourself and entered the palace, handling the lowest and most nial tasks in the Inner Court, suffering from people’s bullying. Later, by ingratiating yourself with Fang Fucai, you secured a minor post through the Central Regular Attendant... When Li Sangruo beca Empress, Fang Fucai gained her favor, took charge of affairs in Jiafu Hall, and rose to prominence, but you suddenly turned against him and instead clung to the powerless Noble Consort, beginning to frequent Fanglan Garden, until the Noble Consort rose to power, took over Changxin Hall, and began to influence state affairs. Only then did you rise high with the tides, taking sole control over the power of the Inner Court..."
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