By candlelight, Zhu Yan carefully examined the case files, her finger finally resting on the name of Liang Jiren, the head of the Liang family.
The next day, the Liang family’s property was confiscated. Shen Du, leading the Imperial Cabinet, listed various crimes of the Liang family, including old cases connected to the Buddha Swallowing Sin incident. Among them was the early plot to harm the second branch’s legitimate son, Liang Manling, causing his birth mother, Madam Wei, to go mad and call the Dripping Water Guanyin “Manling.” Later, they used the Dripping Water Guanyin to attempt to harm the eldest branch’s legitimate son, Liang Chenzhong but were ultimately killed by the then Madam Tang, who cut out their hearts. In truth, all of this was orchestrated by the Liang brothers, Jiren and Jifu, who sacrificed their two sons to the Firemoth Party behind Lai Luozhi. Even tigers don’t eat their cubs – how could humans be so cruel?
The Liang brothers were sentenced to immediate execution and taken to Wumen for public beheading, leaving no time for Lai Luozhi to react.
Seeing his obedient dog suddenly slaughtered by his opponents, Lai Luozhi was so enraged that he had someone burn the Liang family’s case files. He then went directly to the palace to present the matter to the Empress, filing a complaint against Shen Du.
The first accusation was that Shen Du had abused his power, killing innocents indiscriminately, causing terror among the people, and disrupting the peace of Great Zhou.
The second was that Shen Du was suspected of sheltering the Crown Prince. Despite the Crown Prince’s unforgivable crimes, the Imperial Cabinet had done nothing, neither publishing investigation results nor listing the trial progress.
The Empress, who was “ill,” passed this matter to Princess Chaoyang, who was acting as regent.
Princess Chaoyang listened to Lai Luozhi’s statement as per protocol, without expressing her stance. After Princess Yong’an said something beside her, Princess Chaoyang handed the matter over to Lai Luozhi to handle.
This was exactly what Lai Luozhi had been waiting for. With permission granted, he immediately arrested Shen Du and sent him to the Court of Justice. Crown Prince Li Zhong was also escorted to the Court of Justice. Jing Lin, Shen Du’s confidant, should have been arrested too but escaped and was now wanted throughout the city.
All members of the Imperial Cabinet were arrested. Those who refused to comply were directly executed. Shen Du, unable to bear this, angrily rebuked them, and only then did they obey and were thrown into prison together.
Entering the Court of Justice meant nine deaths and one life. Their deaths wouldn’t be mourned, but their willingness to comply was to accompany their leader to the end.
The entire capital sensed something unusual. The joy of entering the twelfth lunar month was overshadowed by this ominous cloud. In just a few days, the Crown Prince had gone from the Imperial Cabinet to the Court of Justice, and even the almighty “White King of Hell” Shen Du, who dared to challenge Lai Luozhi, had been imprisoned.
This had the rhythm of a dynastic change, but who would ultimately ascend to that position – the current regent Princess Chaoyang, another member of the Zhou clan, or Princess Yong’an – was unknown. Everything was uncertain.
But there was one who slipped through the net: Zhu Yan, the new director of the Ministry of Justice’s Department of Punishment. Lai Luozhi didn’t arrest her, but she couldn’t stay at Shen’s mansion and had to return to the Zhu family.
With Shen Du imprisoned, she truly felt the intricacies of court politics, as if walking on a knife’s edge with her head at stake. As for why Lai Luozhi had temporarily spared her, Zhu Yan soon had a guess and got confirmation.
Lai Luozhi asked Zhu Yan to give false testimony against Shen Du to convict him and silence the world.
“Unless I’m dead, I absolutely won’t,” Zhu Yan refused on the spot.
Lai Luozhi ominously raised a silk handkerchief to cover his lips: “You will agree.” With that, he left.
Turning away, Zhu Yan traversed the streets and alleys, using methods taught by Xu Xiangren to shake off her tail, and met with the local constables.
Unexpectedly, the one who came to meet her was Yunque. Zhu Yan didn’t say much, closely following Yunque to see Xu Xiangren.
——
In the dungeon of the Court of Justice, the once-mighty leader of the Imperial Cabinet was now imprisoned as a major criminal.
Lai Luozhi was even more cautious, sending his deputy to deal with Crown Prince Li Zhong while he came to interrogate Shen Du.
The dungeon was dark and damp, with brick walls on all four sides. Footsteps echoed, but there were no other sounds. Without seeing daylight, even the toughest criminals eventually broke down and confessed.
Lai Luozhi got straight to the point, arrogantly saying: “Shen Du, you didn’t expect this day to come, did you? Now there’s no Mo Qianzhi to plead for you.”
With Lai Luozhi’s tacit approval, his deputies had used every torture instrument on Shen Du. Now, Shen Du had lost all his former glory. His hair was disheveled, his clothes in tatters, his body covered in whip marks. The whips had been laced with poison, preventing the wounds from healing. His chest, back, arms, and face were crisscrossed with lash marks, and the flesh turned outward, exposing bone. Yet they couldn’t scab over, blood flowing like small streams, unstoppable.
Due to excessive blood loss and severe torture, even the iron-willed Shen Du was on the brink of death. Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Lai Luozhi’s question. Shen Du struggled to raise his head, half-opening his blood-caked black eyes, and with a gruesome bloody smile, spat blood at the approaching Lai Luozhi.
“Hehe, still daring to provoke me at death’s door. Shen Du, you’re truly not smart,” Lai Luozhi wiped the blood from his face with a handkerchief, his gray pupils flashing darkly. He even tasted a bit of Shen Du’s blood, showing an addicted expression.
“Truly delicious.”
Shen Du, breathing heavily, couldn’t avoid it, but his disgust was clear.
“Bang!” A heavy fist suddenly struck Shen Du’s abdomen, causing the wound there to bleed faster. Shen Du let out a muffled groan, his whole body shaking in pain as if his internal organs were being stirred with iron tongs.
Shen Du was originally a person of extremely strong will. One can imagine the force Lai Luozhi used in this blow, intending to make Shen Du suffer.
Seeing Shen Du not begging for mercy at all, Lai Luozhi became somewhat impatient. He walked to the side and sat down, composing himself:
“If you had directly pledged allegiance to me, I wouldn’t have done these things. We could have cooperated seamlessly for mutual benefit. It’s all because you’re so unwise, daring to touch my people.”
Before he finished speaking, he noticed Shen Du had fainted from pain. Lai Luozhi personally took a basin of ice water mixed with special drugs and splashed it on Shen Du.
Shen Du slowly regained consciousness, feeling the intertwining of ice-cold and scorching heat pressing on his body. If he hadn’t gritted his teeth and endured, he might have broken down mentally and succumbed to Lai Luozhi’s will.
He sneered: “The Court of Justice truly lives up to its name. I, Shen Du, have experienced it. My life hasn’t been in vain.”
“Hehehe, you want to die? I won’t let you die. You’ll only die when I want you to.” Lai Luozhi spoke arrogantly, but everyone believed he had this ability.
He extended his finger and lightly stroked Shen Du’s face, his eyes complex: “You’re so handsome. If you had died back then, wouldn’t it have been a waste?”
As he spoke, his eyes showed a frenzy. He leaned close to Shen Du’s ear and breathed:
“Why don’t you follow me? From now on, you and I hand in hand, who in this world could do anything to us?”
This action was enough to give anyone goosebumps. Shen Du, in severe pain, forcibly turned his head away. He glanced at Lai Luozhi’s crotch and curled his lips:
“I sent people to Tongguan County to learn about Lord Lai’s past. Originally, it was to verify that Lai Luofu was already dead, but it led me to discover some unusual history. Is Lord Lai interested in hearing about it?”
Lai Luozhi’s gray eyes glanced at him: “What matter has Lord Shen so concerned?” He seemed unconcerned, not believing Shen Du could have obtained any powerful clues. Otherwise, he would have brought him down earlier, why wait until today?
So he might as well listen.