Denghuangtai

The whip traced an arc in the air, and just as it was about to strike Pei Qingyan, Yun Zheng suddenly changed direction, lashing the whip at the wall behind him and snapping the quiver hanging there in two. Arrows scattered all over the ground, leaving a deep dent in the blue brick wall.

Pei Qingyan, who had been staring intently at the whip, now had his eyes closed, his head bowed, and his hair covering most of his face. He looked like a puppet with its strings cut, completely motionless.

Yun Zheng slammed the whip to the ground, the copper coins clanging against the blue bricks with a jarring sound. He raised his hand and pinched Pei Qingyan's chin, but with much gentler pressure than before. He slowly removed the handkerchief from Pei Qingyan's mouth. The handkerchief was damp with saliva, but he didn't care. He carefully folded it and put it inside his clothes.

Outside the door, Li Ji heard a loud noise coming from inside the house, and his heart trembled uncontrollably. Three years ago, when he first arrived in the capital, he had seen Yun Zheng teaching someone a lesson in a teahouse.

Yun Zheng pressed a young man in brocade robes onto the tea table, his fist slamming down with a whooshing sound. The young man's screams were heart-wrenching, and blood from his mouth and nose splattered all over the table.

Even so, Yun Zheng showed no sign of stopping, his punches landing with brutal force, so vicious that his knuckles bled.

At that moment, Li Ji unintentionally met Yun Zheng's gaze as he looked up. As the prefect of Wuyuan County, he had seen and interrogated many vicious people and had seen both fierce and cruel eyes. But to this day, only Yun Zheng's eyes made him feel terrified every time he thought about them.

From then on, Li Ji maintained a respectful but distant attitude towards Yun Zheng. Later, because Yun Zheng was appointed by the late emperor to preside over the trial of several imperial relatives in the Court of Justice, after witnessing Yun Zheng's methods, Yun Zheng became known as the "Living Yama" in Li Ji's mind.

Just as Li Ji was feeling a chill run down his spine, the door to the interrogation room suddenly opened, and Yun Zheng walked out expressionlessly. He raised his hand, his palm covered in blood.

Seeing this, Li Ji quickly handed over a clean handkerchief.

Yun Zheng slowly wiped the blood from his palm, his movements as calm as if he had only gotten a little dusty. After cleaning it, he instructed Li Ji, "Bring the person..."

Before he could finish speaking, hurried footsteps suddenly echoed through the narrow passageway.

"My lord."

The chief secretary of the Grand Minister's office quickly walked to Yun Zheng's ear and whispered something in his ear. Yun Zheng's already composed face became even more gloomy, and his brows furrowed tightly.

"Enter the palace," Yun Zheng ordered decisively.

Although Li Ji didn't know what had happened, upon hearing Yun Zheng's words, he hurriedly stepped forward, "The Grand Commandant is inside..."

"Take him back to his cell."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned around, his cloak billowing in the eerie winds of the imperial prison, his figure receding further and further into the narrow corridor.

"Come in."

Li Ji beckoned to the jailers, and the group entered the interrogation room. They saw Pei Qingyan with his head down, completely lifeless. Upon seeing this, Li Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly reached out to check Pei Qingyan's breath.

Fortunately, though faint, it still had a breath.

Li Ji's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, thank goodness, although that person was ruthless, he still had some sense of proportion and didn't really torture the person to death."

"Don't just stand there, quickly untie him and send him back," Li Ji ordered.

Two jailers, one on each side, untied Pei Qingyan's hands from the wooden stake, one lifting his head and the other his feet, and carried him out horizontally.

Before leaving, one of the jailers muttered, "Strange, there's no wound here, where did the blood come from?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ji snorted inwardly, "You're making a fuss over nothing. There are plenty of ways to torture people without leaving a wound." He glanced at the deep whip mark on the wall, then at the arrows scattered on the ground, and suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck. He quickly followed them out.

"My lord!"

Inside the carriage, Yun Zheng slowly lifted the sleeve of his outer robe. The dark cloak was thick and showed no signs of anything amiss until his inner garment was revealed. The snow-white sleeve was soaked in blood, a shocking sight.

Upon seeing this, the chief clerk's eyes widened instantly, and the sound of his exclamation caught in his throat. After a long pause, he managed to stammer, "My lord, you..."

"Shut up," Yun Zheng snapped, turning his head to scold, his tone tinged with impatience. "Bring me the wound medicine."

The chief clerk then seemed to snap out of his daze and frantically searched the hidden compartment of the carriage, quickly bringing out wound medicine, white silk, and a small pair of silver scissors. With trembling hands, he picked up the scissors and carefully cut open Yun Zheng's sleeve, which was stuck together with blood.

A wound several inches long was clearly exposed, with the flesh turned inside out and blood slowly seeping out.

"My lord, why did you do this?" The chief secretary asked with tears in his eyes, gently wiping the wound with a clean white silk cloth dampened with warm water. "If you're going to do an act, you don't have to hurt yourself so badly..."

Yun Zheng didn't speak, but just stared at the opening with calm eyes.

Before today, he had already thought about how to deal with the interrogation of Pei Qingyan. The handkerchief used to gag him had been sprinkled with anesthetic beforehand, so that as long as it was held in the mouth, it would make the person fall into a deep sleep.

In order to put on a show and set a trap, he deliberately tore a line on his arm, showing his blood-stained hand to everyone. Anyone would think that Pei Qingyan had fainted after being tortured, and would never suspect that there was something fishy going on.

The chief clerk applied medicine to his wound, and looking at the gruesome gash, couldn't help but tentatively ask, "My lord, with this injury... do you still need to go to the palace to see the Empress Dowager?"

"Go." Yun Zheng said decisively, "The matter in the North cannot be delayed."

When Yun Zheng learned that Pei Qingyan had surrendered and voluntarily come to the capital, he suspected that Pei Qingyan's trip to the capital was not out of desperation, but rather for some other purpose. Therefore, he sent people to secretly keep an eye on news from the north.

Just now, news came from the north that Pei Qingyan's troops who stayed behind to fight the Xiongnu suffered a major defeat and are now besieged in the city by the Xiongnu, and dare not come out to meet the enemy.

Whether this news is true or false, and whether there was a real defeat, is another matter. But to outsiders, it might seem that when this news reaches the capital and Empress Dowager Yun, she will spare Pei Qingyan's life for the sake of the border war.

However, as someone who was raised by Empress Dowager Yun since childhood, Yun Zheng was very clear about Empress Dowager Yun's personality.

Empress Dowager Yun was an extremely strong-willed woman with a deep and calculating mind. What she hated most in her life was being threatened by others.

Therefore, while other rulers might show leniency upon learning of the situation in the North, it was virtually impossible for Empress Dowager Yun to do so. The situation in the North would not be a turning point for Pei Qingyan, but rather her death knell.

This is why Yun Zheng rushed to Jianzhang Palace after hearing the news.

Such a battle report must be sent to the capital by express courier. He must meet the Empress Dowager before the report arrives and make some preparations to ensure that when the Empress Dowager learns of the battle report from the north, she will not immediately think that Pei Qingyan is making a fuss to threaten her.

Only in this way can he buy time for Pei Qingyan.

Yun Zheng gently lifted the carriage curtain, and the carriage sped away, the houses on both sides passing by quickly, but he still felt it was a bit slow.

Faster, faster...

The wheels rolled over the bluestone slabs, making a "rolling" sound, and finally stopped outside the green gate.

"Grand Commander, it's been a long time."

Before Yun Zheng could get out of the car, a cheerful voice came from outside.