Prince Liang laughed with exceptional satisfaction, as if venting all the frustration he had bottled up during this period.

Watching the frenzied Prince Liang, the household servants of the prince’s mansion couldn’t help but wonder—could such a person truly become the Crown Prince again? On second thought, with the Crown Prince dead, the Emperor only had Prince Liang left as a son. If Prince Liang didn’t become Crown Prince, who else could?

The mansion servants also became energized and earnestly advised: “Your Highness, the more things are like this, the more you must remain steady. If the Emperor sees you grieving for the Crown Prince, he will be gratified…”

Prince Liang blinked and took the advice to heart: “You’re right.”

With hope so close at hand, he could still manage this bit of restraint.

“Fourth Brother—” Prince Liang covered his face and began wailing loudly.

What followed was the standard funeral arrangements for the Crown Prince, which need not be elaborated upon. After three days of exhaustive searching that turned over every stone, they finally found the suspect in the Crown Prince’s murder.

Emperor Tai’an had given orders early on—once this person was found, bring him directly before the throne.

“Kneel!” Cheng Maoming kicked the man behind his knees.

The man fell to his knees with a thud, the heavy sound of contact with the ground making listeners’ scalps tighten.

Emperor Tai’an stared down at the man from his elevated position, his face completely icy.

“You’re the one who impersonated Yang Zhe and murdered the Crown Prince?” When asking this question, Emperor Tai’an struggled to keep his voice steady.

“Murdered the Crown Prince?” The man’s expression jolted with shock as he cried out his innocence at the top of his lungs: “This commoner is wronged! Even if you gave this commoner all the courage in the world, I wouldn’t dare harm the Crown Prince—”

Cheng Maoming gave him another kick without courtesy: “Still pretending! Before the Crown Prince’s incident, you slipped out from the Five Flavors Studio. You think no one saw you?”

The man’s voice trembled, appearing extremely panicked: “Five Flavors Studio is a famous tavern in the capital. This commoner went there out of admiration to sample the establishment’s fine dishes. How can you say I harmed, harmed the Crown Prince?”

Cheng Maoming stared at him, then suddenly sneered: “You may not know this, but Five Flavors Studio’s clientele consists mostly of regular patrons. If there’s a new face, the tavern staff remember them even more clearly. We asked long ago—you were not among the drinking guests that day!”

Hearing these words, the man’s eyes shifted slightly, his eyelids trembling.

Emperor Tai’an could watch no longer. He stood up abruptly: “Make him speak the truth. I’ll be waiting.”

Cheng Maoming understood. He escorted the man to the interrogation room and without a single wasted word, applied torture.

Thanks to generations of predecessors who had accumulated rich experience in torture methods, even trained individuals—truly, only one in a hundred could endure various cruel punishments.

Screams echoed endlessly in the airtight interrogation room. The whip lashed down again and again upon his body, while chili water seeped into the ghastly, curling wounds, bringing soul-piercing pain. Shortly after the third round of torture began, the man finally could endure no more.

“I’ll talk—”

Cheng Maoming raised his hand, and the torturers stopped.

With a whoosh, Minister Shen involuntarily exhaled a breath of stale air.

Meeting Cheng Maoming’s puzzled gaze, Minister Shen smiled awkwardly.

These old bones of his really couldn’t withstand such a bloody scene.

“It was… Yang Zhe who ordered me to do it…” The man spoke with difficulty, his forehead covered in sweat from the pain.

At these words, both Cheng Maoming and Minister Shen were shocked.

“Compiler Yang?” Minister Shen stared intently at the man and asked again, fearing he had misheard.

The man pulled at the corners of his mouth: “Yes…”

Cheng Maoming steadied himself, his face returning to calm: “You say Yang Zhe ordered you—then tell us who you people are and why you did this.”

Conflict flickered across the man’s face for a moment before he gritted his teeth: “We’re all people of Qi.”

“What!” Minister Shen was so shocked he nearly couldn’t catch his breath. He pointed at the man: “You’re from Qi?”

The man nodded.

“Compiler Yang is also from Qi?”

Not knowing what came to mind, the man actually laughed: “Otherwise, why would we kill Great Zhou’s Crown Prince?”

Minister Shen’s eyes widened, his beard quivering with each clench of his jaw.

Top Scholar Yang was actually from Qi—this, this was too absurd!

But if he weren’t from Qi, given how highly the Crown Prince valued Yang Zhe, he would have no reason whatsoever to murder the Crown Prince.

Minister Shen almost instantly believed the man’s words. However, after his initial shock, Cheng Maoming’s heart stirred.

Something’s wrong!

Others might not know, but he was well aware—this person’s disguise techniques and skill level were identical to those of the Jade Glaze maidservant, clearly from the same hand. And these people were clearly remnants of Emperor Pingle, not people of Qi.

Having endured such severe torture, why would this man lie and claim he and Yang Zhe were from Qi?

Cheng Maoming became suspicious, but to avoid alerting the enemy, his face remained impassive: “So you’re saying you and Yang Zhe are both spies cultivated by the State of Qi, and Yang Zhe is your superior?”

“Mm.”

Cheng Maoming looked the man up and down: “You’re one thing, but Yang Zhe was the top scholar. Starting from the county examination, personal statements, mutual guarantees, sworn declarations proving identity—none of these can be omitted. Could it be that Qi began laying this groundwork from his ancestors’ generation?”

Assuming the identity of an ordinary person wasn’t difficult, but once participating in the imperial examinations, the circumstances of one’s father and grandfather had to be crystal clear, with proof from locals. People of unknown origin couldn’t even pass the county examination level, let alone what came after.

The man’s face was pale. He didn’t evade Cheng Maoming’s challenge: “I wouldn’t know about that. I’m just someone who follows orders. My only mission was to cooperate with Yang Zhe in killing Great Zhou’s Crown Prince. My superiors wouldn’t tell me anything more.”

“Then where did you get your mask?”

“Yang Zhe gave it to me.” The man answered without hesitation.

“To set up such an elaborate scheme, it can’t be just the two of you, right?”

The man lowered his eyes, appearing dispirited and resigned: “As I said, I’m just a pawn following orders. The only comrades I know are Yang Zhe and the superior who instructed me to make contact with Yang Zhe. As for how many more of our people are in the capital and what arrangements come next, I have absolutely no idea.”

“Where is your superior?”

The man shook his head, the movement pulling at his wounds and making his face even paler: “He always contacts me through coded signals.”

“You’re pushing things off quite cleanly.” Cheng Maoming clicked his tongue.

The man weakly raised his eyelids: “I, I’ve said everything I know. If you don’t believe me, my lord, then there’s nothing I can do…”

“You’d better not be hiding anything, or what awaits you won’t be limited to just this.” After this warning, Cheng Maoming left the interrogation room together with Minister Shen.

The Emperor had been waiting all along. The two dared not delay and went directly to the imperial audience.

“What did you find out?” Seeing the two men, Emperor Tai’an immediately asked.

Cheng Maoming and Minister Shen exchanged glances.

“Minister Shen, you speak.”

Minister Shen took a deep breath and, with downcast eyes, related what the man had confessed.

Emperor Tai’an listened quietly as Minister Shen finished, then cast his deep, unfathomable gaze toward Cheng Maoming: “Send someone to Yang Zhe’s hometown and thoroughly investigate his background.”

“Yes.”

After a moment of silence, Emperor Tai’an suddenly asked: “What do you two make of this person’s confession?”

Minister Shen was taken aback.

From the Emperor’s tone, did he still have doubts about this person’s testimony?

Under the Emperor’s scrutiny, he carefully began: “This subject believes that this person’s confession under severe torture should be credible.”