The Thief Prince

Annoyed by Huang Fuwen's sobbing, Li Zheng picked up the pen holder on the table and threw it at him.

"Go cry in the corner, and stop making a racket in my ear."

Huang Fuwen felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He scrambled to the corner of the hall, buried his face in his sleeves, and covered his ears tightly.

Seeing that the hall was quiet, Wu Anqing sighed and said, "But speaking of which, it is already a stroke of luck that Your Highness was able to escape from Zhao Qianshan's clutches."

Li Zheng's brow furrowed: "What makes you say that?"

Wu Anqing asked, "Does Your Highness not know his identity?"

Li Zheng shook his head: "All I know is that he is the eldest son of the Zhao family and Zhao Ji's successor."

Wu Anqing's expression turned serious: "Your Highness may not know, but Zhao Qianshan is incredibly skilled and is known as the 'Number One Warrior of the Great Zhou'."

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng's eyes flashed with a sharp light: "The number one warrior of the Great Zhou?"

That nickname is powerful; most people have three or four characters, but yours has a full six.

That's hot enough!

Wu Anqing nodded and said, "That year during the New Year celebrations, envoys from various countries provoked us in the palace, and each sent warriors to compete with our Great Zhou army generals."

"After the Great Zhou suffered several defeats, the Liao envoys became increasingly arrogant, and their words were quite disrespectful."

"Then Zhao Qianshan went to the palace and fought against envoys from five countries, winning all five battles."

Li Zheng was deeply moved: "Such strength? How come you're only a mere commander?!"

Wu Anqing said, "The position of Du Yuhou is already the fifth rank in the Palace Guard, which is not low, but it is indeed a waste of his talents."

"The reason for this is that the late emperor disliked Zhao Qianshan."

Li Zheng was even more surprised: "Such a fierce general, how could that old man not like him?"

Wu Anqing noticed that Li Zheng subconsciously showed no respect for the late emperor's title.

He thought to himself: This prince is indeed a kindred spirit, just like the Prince of Liang, he also disapproves of the late emperor's behavior.

He continued, "Because Zhao Qianshan attacked too heavily, four of the envoys from the five countries died on the spot, each with broken bones, their deaths extremely gruesome."

"The last one, though not dead, had all his bones shattered and would never be able to walk again."

"The situation became extremely tense that day, and the envoys lost face. The late emperor immediately reprimanded him for being 'too cruel and disrespectful to the nation,' and gave him a dressing down in the palace."

"However, since he had rendered meritorious service, he was still given a post in the Palace Guard."

Upon hearing this, Li Zheng felt it was utterly absurd.

That emperor is truly outrageous. Foreign envoys bully him, while his own warriors bring glory to the country, yet he only receives complaints.

He then thought about it again and realized there was another layer of meaning to it.

My memories of the night I transmigrated are hazy; I only remember that my entire family died and I became a teru teru bozu (a type of Japanese doll).

However, the original owner was indeed born with superhuman strength and had practiced martial arts since childhood, so her physique and reaction were far superior to ordinary people.

Even now, I'm afraid I wouldn't be a match for the original owner of this body.

Even so, he was still captured by Zhao Qianshan and hung on the roof beam, which shows how capable that Zhao was.

Seeing that he remained silent in thought, Wu Anqing whispered, "Your Highness, now that the Emperor has ascended the throne, how could he allow you to wander outside? He must have been misled and deceived by the Zhao family!"

Li Zheng nodded: "I'm also wondering if the Zhao family has already prepared a substitute to sit in the Eastern Palace under my name."

A murderous glint flashed in Wu Anqing's eyes: "The Zhao family is utterly depraved. Why don't I accompany Your Highness to sneak into the capital and expose their evil deeds to the Emperor face to face!"

Li Zheng waved his hand: "It's not that simple. Besides, there are advantages to being a wanderer."

"Besides, the situation in the court is unclear. If we go back rashly, we might just walk into a trap."

"Let's put that aside for now and deal with the present matter."

The two of them turned their heads at the same time and looked at Huang Fuwen.

Although Magistrate Huang was huddled in the corner, a few words occasionally slipped into his ears, scaring him half to death.

Seeing two pairs of eyes shooting towards him at the same time, he immediately felt that disaster was about to strike.

"Grandpas, I won't get involved in your important matters..."

Li Zheng scoffed, "You're just a nobody county magistrate, yet you think about so much."

"Come here, I'm here to talk to you about something else."

Huang Fuwen rolled over in a physical sense.

Li Zheng pulled a stack of letters from his pocket and slammed them in front of him: "I don't need to elaborate on the evidence of your collusion with the Liao people, do I?"

Huang Fuwen lay on the ground, his heart finally at ease; these deadly things had indeed fallen into their hands.

He wept uncontrollably, saying, "My lords, please understand! I am but a lowly seventh-rank official; how could such an important matter be of my authority?"

"These are all orders from above; I dare not disobey, I can only go with the flow!"

Li Zheng said impatiently, "I'm not an imperial censor, I don't care about your messy affairs."

"I only have one question for you: this letter only states the quantity of the transaction, why doesn't it specify the location?"

Huang Fuwen's body trembled, his lips moved twice, but he turned his head away.

Li Zheng was taken aback when he saw his appearance.

The incompetent magistrate who was so scared that he wet his pants just now dared to hold his tongue and not say a word.

He glanced at Huang Fuwen with interest, then sneered, "Magistrate Huang, do you think I won't kill you as long as you don't tell the truth?"

Huang Fuwen trembled and shrank back, saying, "My two grandfathers said so many deadly things to me, how could I possibly survive?"

"Either way, I'm going to die, this humble official... this humble official..."

Li Zheng waved his hand to interrupt him: "Magistrate Huang should know that there are many kinds of death. Sometimes, being able to die a quick death is actually a blessing."

Huang Fuwen remained silent, thinking to himself that he was a local official, how could he be intimidated by a few words?

At this point, we must hold on to the end. If we give in, we will lose our value and we will truly be facing death today.

Li Zheng ignored his reply and continued, "Have you ever heard of a cruel torture called 'Yama's Bolt'?"

Huang Fuwen's face turned ashen, and he dared not utter a word.

Li Zheng continued in a devilish whisper: "Make an iron hoop out of the finest wrought iron, tie a cowhide rope to the hoop, and put the hoop over the prisoner's head, with his eyes just peeking out from the two holes in the hoop."

"Then the two people, one on the left and one on the right, pulled the leather rope tightly and loosely, and the leather rope would cut into the flesh bit by bit."

"Until the prisoner's bones shattered, blood splattered, and eyes bulged out, his head was slowly constricted into the shape of a gourd."

"How does it taste?"

puff...

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zheng suddenly smelled a foul stench.

Upon closer inspection, Huang Fuwen finally couldn't hold back and defecated all over the ground.

Well, this room is no longer safe to stay in.