Vice Minister Wang’s feet involuntarily straightened again. This time, he must have pressed down hard, because he let out a sharp scream, then immediately bit down hard on his own tongue, his face streaming with tears of pain.
Chen Ping went out to order people to bring in the Wang family members. Without saying a word or waiting for them to truly enjoy a family reunion and cry together, he raised his foot and kicked over an old woman, sending her flying several meters away. She clutched her chest and lay prostrate, unable to get up.
This was probably Vice Minister Wang’s mother, Old Madam Wang. Vice Minister Wang’s eyes widened as if they would pop out of their sockets. His hands, suspended from the hanging rings, clenched into fists. His knuckles cracked, and veins bulged on the backs of his hands.
Zhou Weizhao let out a cold laugh. So these people did have hearts after all. They could feel pain.
But when these people had conspired together in the past, working with Han Zhengqing and the Grand Princess Fan to put him to death, they hadn’t shown a shred of mercy. From childhood to adulthood, these people’s methods of harming others had emerged endlessly without pause. Even during that incident in Yangquan, the Grand Princess Fan had been fixated on wanting him dead.
Everyone should pay the price for their actions. If Vice Minister Wang refused to reveal the secrets between Han Zhengqing and the Fan family, the price he paid would be even heavier.
The group from the Wang family instantly became like startled birds. Some young women had already fainted. The others were all in a state of panic and anxiety. The crying and wailing were so loud it gave one a splitting headache. Vice Minister Wang looked at his family members with a complex expression, then closed his eyes.
Chen Ping glanced at Zhou Weizhao. Seeing that he hadn’t spoken and his expression remained unchanged, Chen Ping coldly reached out to grab the swaddled bundle being protected in a woman’s arms. From his gesture, he clearly didn’t care whether he might hurt the child.
Wails of pain and pleas for mercy filled the room. The woman holding the infant nearly collapsed in tears as she called out “Father,” holding the child and looking at Vice Minister Wang with eyes full of terror.
Vice Minister Wang swallowed with difficulty and finally shouted, “No!”
Chen Ping did indeed take the child into his hands. He held the bundle by the binding straps and brought the child before Vice Minister Wang. “This child is quite delicate-featured.”
The oblivious infant cried heartbreakingly, its face flushed bright red. Suddenly it spit up some milk and began coughing violently.
The young woman finally broke free from her husband’s restraint and charged forward desperately. She fell to her knees, eyes bloodshot, clutching her collar as she looked at Chen Ping and Vice Minister Wang, finally fixing her gaze on Vice Minister Wang. “Father! That’s your eldest grandson! He just turned one month old! Just one month!” Perhaps because the Imperial Guard’s reputation was too deeply ingrained, seeing her child held by Chen Ping in his flying fish robe made even breathing difficult. “Are you really going to watch all of us die?!”
Zhou Weizhao watched coldly from the side for a while before finally speaking. “Vice Minister Wang, you don’t have much time left. My patience is limited.”
Vice Minister Wang’s face was ashen. His feet had become numb from pain. Looking at the roomful of family members, young and old, staring at him, tears finally streamed down his aged face. He nodded.
Chen Ping still maintained his expression like the King of Hell or a judge, as if someone owed him several thousand taels of silver. He easily placed the child in the arms of the woman who was crying so hard she nearly fainted. This time his hands didn’t shake—he handed the child over steadily and safely. Only then did he personally go release Vice Minister Wang and throw him on the ground.
Vice Minister Wang opened his mouth to speak, but Zhou Weizhao first turned his head toward Chen Ping. “Take these people out first.”
Knowing less would allow them to truly live.
Vice Minister Wang called out to stop one of them. His wrists had been suspended for two days and had long since become congested, swollen, numb, and painful—he couldn’t move them at all. He paused, recovering from the pain in his hands before reaching out to point at an old woman who had just been called back and was now so frightened her legs were shaking. He asked Zhou Weizhao, “Does Your Highness remember her?”
Zhou Weizhao glanced at her, furrowed his brow in thought, then shook his head.
Vice Minister Wang then smiled. His hands finally had some strength, so he climbed up and sat cross-legged. “That’s Nanny Qi. She was one of the dowry attendants that Liangdi Fan brought to the capital back then, the same as Nanny Fang, but even more useful than Nanny Fang.” Seeing that Nanny Qi’s face had turned the color of earth, he paid no mind and continued looking at Zhou Weizhao. “When you were five years old and fell ill—the one who pushed you into the well outside the Crown Prince’s bedchamber was her.”
At these words, Nanny Qi, who had already been unable to stand, instantly turned ashen and collapsed to the ground, trembling.
Chen Ping looked at Zhou Weizhao, but saw that Zhou Weizhao was completely unmoved—neither filled with righteous indignation nor hatred or anger. He simply shook his head with a bland expression. “Is that so? I don’t remember.”
His beautiful, slender fingers curled up to lightly tap the table. “Get to the point.” He then tossed Vice Minister Wang a stack of paper. “Also, draw me a map of Han Zhengqing’s power distribution in Xibei. And I’ve heard that you’re the ones who actually pass messages to Han Zhengqing and Prince Gong? Write down everyone they still have in the capital—not a single one should be missed or wrong. Vice Minister Wang, not everyone has the good fortune I had back then to be rescued by a palace attendant who happened to run by. Be careful.”
Neither arrogant nor impatient, not at all swayed emotionally by the prisoner’s words—if he weren’t meant to be the Grand Prince and heir apparent, he’d make excellent Imperial Guard material. Chen Ping muttered this thought to himself.
Vice Minister Wang didn’t pick up the brush first. He pointed at Nanny Qi and laughed. “I am getting to the point. Didn’t you say you wanted to know about the relationship between Han Zhengqing and the Fan clan? Who knows it more clearly than her? Probably even Nanny Fang doesn’t know as much as she does. She’s the one who truly manages all of Liangdi Fan and Han Zhengqing’s major and minor affairs.”
Nanny Qi was already so frightened that tears and snot covered her face. She hadn’t expected that Vice Minister Wang would actually betray them, much less that she would be pushed forward.
The relationship between the Fan clan and Han Zhengqing… Seeing Chen Ping approaching her, she nearly fainted from lack of breath. She retreated and shrank back until there was nowhere left to retreat.
Zhou Weizhao called out to stop Chen Ping. “You watch him.” He glanced at Vice Minister Wang. “When he’s written down most of the names, go arrest them. Don’t miss a single one.”
He opened the door and went out. Before long, Qing Zhuo and Han Feng came in, grabbed Nanny Qi, and followed Zhou Weizhao out.
Nanny Qi dangled from Qing Zhuo’s hand, trembling so badly she nearly lost control of her bladder. It wasn’t until she was thrown to the ground that she felt the world spinning. She immediately knelt before Zhou Weizhao, desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy. People always fear death. She had struggled so hard to reach this day, still thinking she could follow Han Zhengqing to a good life in the future. Now even her life was in danger. She clenched her teeth tightly, her eyes stinging painfully. Trembling with fear, she prostrated herself on the ground, waiting for Zhou Weizhao’s interrogation.