After failing the imperial examination, he began to wield immense power after entering the palace!

The Eastern Depot, the torture chamber.

In the dark and damp passageway, the torches crackled.

The walls were covered with instruments of torture: clamps, branding irons, iron hooks, whips...

Each piece had a dull sheen and was covered in indelible bloodstains.

Inside the prison cell separated by iron bars.

Zhou Wenyuan was pinned to a wooden chair by two guards, his hands tied behind his back, his face as pale as a sheet of paper.

At this moment, his two mustaches drooped, completely unlike the arrogant and domineering demeanor he had displayed in front of the Zhou residence.

"well……"

Li Fan stood opposite him with his hands behind his back.

On the table beside him lay a thick file.

The case file was worn out from being turned over so many times that the writing on it was dense and detailed, with every piece of evidence clearly written.

"Zhou Wenyuan, you forcibly married a woman, murdered her first wife, fabricated the cause of death, and coerced her family..."

Li Fan tore a page from the case file and casually threw it in front of Zhou Wenyuan.

"Take a look at this evidence. Is there anything I've missed?"

Zhou Wenyuan looked down and saw that the black and white words on the paper were like knives, stabbing painfully into his eyes.

His hands began to tremble, so much so that the chair creaked.

Each piece of evidence is irrefutable and cannot be refuted.

"Sign it."

Li Fan took a pen from the table, dipped it in ink, and handed it to him with a gentle smile, like a boy next door.

"Signing and affixing their fingerprints, admitting guilt and accepting punishment, will make it easier for our family to explain ourselves."

Zhou Wenyuan did not take the pen.

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with terror and pleading.

then……

"thump!"

He slid off the chair, knelt on the ground, and slammed his head heavily against the blue bricks.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Three muffled thuds, and his forehead instantly turned purplish-blue.

"Eunuch Gao! Eunuch Gao, spare my life!"

Zhou Wenyuan's voice was as shrill as a pig being slaughtered, with a sobbing tone, and his face was covered in tears and snot.

"I know I was wrong! I really know I was wrong!"

"Please, sir, have mercy and spare my life!"

"I'm willing to give up everything I own, all of it, just to save my life!"

"Over the years, I've amassed quite a fortune, including silver, gold, jewelry, jade, and even a house!"

"There is a three-courtyard house in the south of the city, where three thousand taels of gold are hidden."

"There's a batch of jewelry and jade artifacts in the pawnshop in the east of the city, worth about five thousand taels."

"Back in my hometown, there's an estate. The land deed is hidden... hidden in a secret passage in the bedroom..."

He became more and more anxious as he spoke, as if he wanted to spill all the secrets of his ancestors for eight generations.

"Give it all to the father-in-law! Leave not a single penny!"

"From now on, I'll be your dog! If you tell me to go east, I'll never go west!"

"Please, sir, spare my life! Please, sir..."

Zhang Miaozhen stood behind Li Fan, her phoenix eyes slightly lowered, looking at Zhou Wenyuan kneeling on the ground.

She didn't say anything, but she wondered to herself, would Li Fan agree?

This person is ruthless and will use any means necessary, including money, power, and intrigue.

If he really did take Zhou Wenyuan's money, then let him go...

Then this beast will get away with it.

Who will seek justice for the husband who was beaten to death and the woman who was forced into marriage?

Li Fan looked at Zhou Wenyuan kneeling on the ground, his smile unchanged.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke, his tone casual:

"Where are all those silver, houses, and jewels you mentioned hidden?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Wenyuan suddenly raised his head, his eyes instantly lighting up.

He thought he had made the right bet.

That little eunuch is indeed greedy for money!

"I'll write! I'll write right now!"

He scrambled to the table, grabbed a pen, dipped it in ink, and began writing furiously on a blank sheet of paper.

"In the seventh lane of Tai'an Ward in the south of the city, in the third house, beneath the artificial hill in the backyard, lies three thousand taels of gold..."

"At Yongxing Pawnshop in the east of the city, on the third shelf of the storeroom, on the bottom shelf, there is a hidden compartment..."

"In the bedroom of my old family manor, behind the fifth brick on the east wall, hidden in a secret compartment, are the land deed and five hundred taels of silver notes..."

He wrote very quickly, afraid that if he was even a step too slow, the eunuch would change his mind.

Zhang Miaozhen stood to the side, the light in her phoenix eyes gradually dimming.

She watched as Li Fan took the paper, glanced at it, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

really.

I accepted it anyway.

An indescribable disappointment welled up in her heart.

This person is just like those corrupt officials.

What about meritorious service in investigating cases, what about fearlessness of powerful figures, what about standing up for the people...

In the end, it's all about money.

Zhang Miaozhen clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms, but she didn't say a word.

She simply turned her face away, no longer looking at Li Fan.

……

After Zhou Wenyuan finished writing the last word, he held the paper with both hands and respectfully handed it to Li Fan.

"Eunuch Gao, it's all written down, not a single detail is missing."

"My entire life and fortune are tied up in there."

He lowered his head, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips.

As long as I can leave the Eastern Depot alive, everything will be fine.

Once he gets out, he'll definitely find a chance to kill that dog of a eunuch.

How dare they arrest me and extort my family property?

who do you think You Are?

Once the Empress finds out about this, you're dead.

You little eunuch, you just wait.

……

"Squeak."

The door to the torture chamber was pushed open.

A slender figure walked in from outside, his steps unhurried, each step seemingly on a beat.

Feng Bao.

A polite smile graced his long face, but his deep-set eyes held a chilling light.

As soon as he entered the room, his eyes fell on the paper in Li Fan's hand.

"Oh, Eunuch Gao, what are you doing?"

Li Fan glanced at him, calmly folded the paper, and tucked it into his sleeve.

"Oh, Zhou Wenyuan bribed our family with gold and silver jewelry; this is yet another piece of evidence against him."

"what?"

Zhou Wenyuan was completely stunned.

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes wide open, his face filled with disbelief.

bribe?

Evidence?

Didn't you just imply that I should write it?

Didn't you want to take my money?

"Father...Father-in-law!"

Zhou Wenyuan's voice was trembling, and he was so anxious that tears were about to fall.

"That's not what you just told me!"

"You said...you said..."

He wanted to repeat the conversation, but when he got to the point of speaking, he suddenly realized that Li Fan had never said a single word like "I'll let you go after I take your money."

He simply asked, "Where are they all hidden?"

Then write it down yourself.

That's it.

It was just wishful thinking on my part that I believed he had accepted it.

Zhou Wenyuan's face changed from white to green, from green to purple, and finally turned ashen.

He finally understood.

From the very beginning, this little eunuch had no intention of letting him go.

He made himself write down the locations where the silver was hidden, not to accept bribes.

It's to... add another piece of evidence.

"You...you lied to me..."