Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

"Your Majesty, what did Prince Consort interrogate you about?"

Ji Gang originally wanted to ask, would the confession obtained by Ouyang Lun during the interrogation of Zhou Ji be counted?

But before he could finish his words, he was met with Zhu Yuanzhang's sharp gaze.

"Let us ask you, the Imperial Guards, to interrogate us. Don't you have the ability to do this?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Ji Gang trembled all over and even began to sweat on his back.

"Your Majesty, I will go and interrogate you right away!"

Ji Gang didn't dare to delay any longer and immediately bowed and left.

I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until I left Taile Palace.

I almost died just now!

He actually made such a big mistake. The Jinyiwei was independent of any power in the court and only took orders from the retired emperor. The question he asked clearly meant to get close to the son-in-law Ouyang Lun.

This undoubtedly violated the taboo of Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang.

Fortunately, I reacted quickly enough.

"call--"

Ji Gang exhaled a breath of foul air and said in a deep voice: "It seems that I must take out the real thing."

After saying that, Ji Gang returned to his stern look and headed for the Jinyiwei prison.

Inside the Jinyiwei prison, there was no sunlight at all, everything was dim and dark, as if one was in the abyss.

Zhou Ji was escorted in by two Jinyiwei.

"You two, I have confessed everything I should confess. The evidence of my crime is in the hands of my husband Ouyang Lun. If you have any questions, just ask him and you will know."

Zhou Ji said nervously.

The two Jinyiwei ignored him and just silently escorted him deeper into the prison.

"I am an official appointed by the imperial court, the chief secretary of the King of Xiang. You Jinyiwei have no right to punish me!"

"I want to see Ouyang Lun. He told me that as long as I answer honestly, I won't suffer!"

"You are offending Prince Consort Ouyang by doing this!"

Just as Zhou Ji was howling non-stop, he was taken to a cell.

Under the dim light of the prison, Zhou Ji saw a burly man sitting on a chair in the cell.

"Master Zhou, welcome to the Imperial Guard."

The burly man said slowly.

"Who are you?" Zhou Ji asked in fear, "I have told Prince Consort Ouyang everything I should say, you...you go find him!"

"My name is Ji Gang."

The burly man said coldly.

"Ji Gang, the commander-in-chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard!" Upon hearing this name, Zhou Ji's expression became more terrified and his voice rose several degrees.

Then Zhou Ji laughed bitterly and said, "I didn't expect that you would interrogate me personally."

"Zhou Changshi, actually this commander doesn't want to meet you, but the emperor thinks you haven't explained yourself clearly, so he asked this commander to interrogate you in person!" Ji Gang said slowly: "Since you know me, we don't need to waste words, tell me. Is there anything else you haven't said?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. I have already told Prince Consort Ouyang everything I should say!" Zhou Ji shook his head. "What else do you want me to say? Just give me a quick death!"

"You did say it, but you only said what the Prince Consort wanted to hear. You didn't say what the Emperor wanted to know." Ji Gang stood up from his chair. "The Emperor thinks you are still hiding something, so you must have something left unsaid."

"." Zhou Ji was dumbfounded, but still shook his head, "I have nothing to say."

"Since Zhou Changshi refuses to cooperate, you can't blame me." Ji Gang clapped his hands.

Two Jinyiwei immediately picked up Zhou Ji and tied him to the interrogation rack.

"Ji Gang, what are you doing?!"

Zhou Ji asked in horror.

"What? To entertain Mr. Zhou, of course!"

Following Ji Gang's order, the Jinyiwei punishment personnel began to torture Zhou Ji directly.

About half an hour later
Zhou Ji was tied to a wooden frame, his entire body was covered in blood, with not a single piece of good flesh left.

Ji Gang had already sat back in his chair, slowly fiddling with the red-hot iron.

"Taishi Zhou, please stop acting in front of me and think carefully about what else you haven't explained."

"As long as you say it, we will both feel relieved, right?"

Zhou Ji spat out a mouthful of blood and forced a smile, "They said that anyone who enters your Jinyiwei prison will never be able to walk out alive."

"You are forcing a confession under torture!"

Ji Gang neither admitted nor denied it, but smiled and said, "No matter what you say, this commander must know something today. Since Lord Zhou is unwilling to say it, this commander can only continue to entertain Mr. Zhou."

"continue!"

Following Ji Gang's order, two Jinyiwei immediately stepped forward, one held Zhou Ji's head, and the other forcibly pried open Zhou Ji's mouth and poured a pot of boiling chili water directly into Zhou Ji's mouth.

"what--!!"

A moment later, Zhou Ji's screams were heard in the prison.

Ji Gang seemed accustomed to this, and listened calmly until Zhou Ji calmed down a little, then stepped forward again and asked slowly: "Taishi Zhou, do you remember now?"

"May I remind you that I heard that you have a good relationship with Lord Han, the Duke of Korea, and even consider yourself a member of the Duke of Korea?"

"Have you never discussed these things you did with the Korean public?"

Hearing Ji Gang's words, Zhou Ji slowly raised his head, his face covered in blood, but he smiled grimly, "So you want me to bite the Duke of Korea!"

"I have already reported this to Prince Consort Ouyang Lun. I have never told Duke Han Guo about this matter."

Ji Gang frowned and placed the red-hot iron in his hand directly on Zhou Ji.

zizi——

"what--!"

"No one can deny me the answer I want!" Ji Gang said in a deep voice: "Continue to torture me!"

Then the Jinyiwei used various torture methods on Zhou Ji. Finally, Zhou Ji could no longer bear it and said, "I confess!"

Ji Gang then revealed a satisfied smile, waved his hand to signal his men to start recording, and asked Zhou Ji to sign after the recording was completed.

This side of Taile Palace.

After waiting for about an hour, Zhu Yuanzhang and Ouyang Lun finally saw Ji Gang coming back.

"Your Majesty, Zhou Ji has confessed!" Ji Gang walked in excitedly and presented a list of crimes. "As Your Majesty expected, Zhou Ji does have accomplices!"

Ouyang Lun frowned slightly when he heard Ji Gang's words. When he was interrogating Zhou Ji, that guy should have answered all the questions. How come there was still an accomplice? Could it be that he really didn't find out anything? !

Also a possibility.

Zhou Ji was very treacherous, and with the Jinyiwei's interrogation methods, it was normal to get more information out of him. However, no matter what information Zhou Ji uttered, it had little to do with him now, after all, his mission had been completed.

"Oh! Show us the charges!" Zhu Yuanzhang was very happy when he heard this, and even looked at Ouyang Lun with some pride, as if to say, see, the old ones are still the best, you, Ouyang Lun, did not interrogate him thoroughly!

Ouyang Lun simply ignored Zhu Yuanzhang's expression.

Zhu Yuanzhang began to read the contents of the charge, but after just one glance, his expression changed.

"Humph!"

"What a great Li Shanchang! His arm is really long!"

"We knew that this behind-the-scenes incident must be related to Li Shanchang! How dare he instigate our son to rebel? This is outrageous!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious at this moment.

Seeing this, Ji Gang was delighted, knowing that he had made the right judgment this time.

"Your Majesty, I will capture Duke Han right away!"

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and thought for a while, then waved his hand, "Although Li Shanchang has committed such a crime, he is still a founding minister after all, so give him some face!"

"Wang Zhong goes to convey his will and ask Li Shanchang to come to Taile Palace immediately!"

"We need to ask him carefully!"

"Yes!" After receiving the order, Wang Zhong immediately left the palace to convey the decree.

at the same time.

At the Duke of Korea’s residence.

Lan Yu, Huang Zicheng and other members of the Huaixi Party gathered together, and everyone looked very unhappy.

"Old Prime Minister, this Ouyang Lun is so treacherous. On the surface, he went there to travel and eat and drink all the way to Changsha, but he quelled the rebellion of the King of Xiang as soon as he arrived in Changsha, and also captured Zhou Ji!" Fu Youde's face was grim: "This Zhou Ji has always claimed to be the disciple of the old Prime Minister, but now it is said that the rebellion of the King of Xiang was planned by our Huaixi Party!"

"Bullshit! We in the Huaixi Party had no idea that Zhou Ji was going to rebel. In my opinion, this must be Ouyang Lun's conspiracy. In order to save the life of Prince Xiang, he pushed Zhou Ji out to take the blame! And by the way, he put the blame on us!" Lan Yu said in a deep voice.

After hearing Lan Yu's analysis and speculation, other members of the Huaixi Party also agreed.

"I think Duke Liang is right. This is Ouyang Lun's conspiracy!"

"Ouyang Lun's intentions are extremely sinister!"

Huang Zicheng also stood up and said, "Teacher, Zhou Ji instigated the King of Xiang to rebel, which was beyond our expectation. Regardless of whether Zhou Ji took the blame or not, he will definitely die this time. What I am worried about is that Ouyang Lun will use this incident to make a big fuss and put my Huaixi Party to death!"

"Then my Huaixi party will be in danger!"

Hey--

Li Shanchang sighed heavily, "When the news of the Xiang Prince's rebellion came, the Emperor asked Ouyang Lun to quell the rebellion. I thought this was an opportunity, but I didn't expect that disaster would come from the sky while I was at home!"

"You should also know that Zhou Ji was indeed my former disciple, and he also helped my Huaixi Party do a lot of things, but I had no idea that Zhou Ji instigated the King of Xiang to rebel."

"It's just that it's useless to say these things at this time."

"If I say that I have nothing to do with the rebellion of the King of Xiang, no one will believe it except you."

"Now that Ouyang Lun has great power, and has the opportunity to do this, we can say that we have already become prey, and we are at the mercy of Ouyang Lun!"

"Let's wait and see what happens."

Lan Yu hurriedly said: "Old Prime Minister, it is not a solution for us to just sit there and wait for death!"

"I think we have to do something to prevent Ouyang Lun from taking action easily!"

Li Shanchang opened his eyes suddenly and said in a deep voice: "Lan Yu, have you ever thought that Ouyang Lun is waiting for us to take action, so that our participation in the rebellion of the King of Xiang will be completely confirmed!"

"Although I, Li Shanchang, have done many extraordinary things, my loyalty to the Emperor and the Ming Dynasty has never changed!"

"The closer it gets to this point, the more we need to stay calm!"

"And I also believe that the emperor will never trust Zhou Ji's words!"

As soon as Li Shanchang finished speaking, the housekeeper rushed in and said, "Master, someone is coming from the palace!"

Someone came to the palace at this time!
Lan Yu and the others' expressions immediately changed.

Li Shanchang calmed down, took a deep breath, and waved his hand, "Everyone, please step aside for now. Remember what I said, no matter what happens, you must stay calm!"

"Yes."

Lan Yu and others nodded, then walked to the back of the hall with worried looks on their faces.

Li Shanchang was tidying up his clothes when Wang Zhong walked in. "How is Duke Han?"

"Oh! Eunuch Wang, I didn't expect you to come in person! It's my fault for not welcoming you in person!" Li Shanchang said hurriedly.

"We are old acquaintances, so there is no need to be so polite. I am here to convey the emperor's oral instructions." Wang Zhong waved his hand.

"I accept your order!" Li Shanchang immediately knelt on the ground.

"The emperor asked you to come to the palace. If Duke Hanguo has nothing else to do, please come with me. We can't keep the emperor waiting for too long." Wang Zhong said slowly.

"Yes, yes, I will follow you into the palace right away!" Li Shanchang stood up from the ground, glanced towards the back of the hall, and then followed Wang Zhong.

After Li Shanchang and Wang Zhong left, Lan Yu, Huang Zicheng and others slowly walked out.

"Duke Liang, the old prime minister was recruited into the palace in such a hurry, I'm afraid it's not a good thing! What should we do?" An official from the Huaixi Party asked hurriedly.

"Duke Liang, now that the old prime minister is away, you are the head of our Huaixi Party. You have to make the decision!" another Huaixi Party official urged.

Hearing these words, Lan Yu's mouth corners slightly raised, but soon changed to a serious and angry face, "Everyone, don't worry, even if Zhou Ji really accused the old prime minister, we all believe that the old prime minister is innocent. If the emperor believes the slander and wants to punish the old prime minister, I will lead you to the palace to seek justice for the old prime minister!"

"Don't worry, as long as you listen to me, I promise that the Huaixi Party will only get better and better!"

After hearing Lan Yu's words, the officials of the Huaixi Party seemed to have found their center again.

Only Huang Zicheng looked at Lan Yu with great concern, opened his mouth to say something, but finally closed it.

Li Shanchang was walking on the avenue of the imperial palace, with a sparse drizzle falling from the sky.

Soon they arrived in front of Taile Palace.

Ji Gang was standing at the palace gate at the moment, seemingly waiting for Li Shanchang. "Duke Hanguo, please go in quickly. The Emperor has been waiting for you for a long time."

Ji Gang's tone was quite cold, as if he was looking at a dead person.

Li Shanchang took a deep breath, shook off the rain on his body, straightened his clothes, and then stepped into the Taile Palace.

"Your Highness, Li Shanchang, pays respect to the Supreme Emperor!"

Li Shanchang knelt on the cold marble, the chill passing through the marble into his palms and knees, but the entire hall was quite silent.

Ouyang Lun stood far away, looking just like a spectator.

Zhu Yuanzhang sat on the dragon throne with a gloomy face, staring at the kneeling Li Shanchang with his tiger eyes.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Yuanzhang's voice finally rang out in the hall.

"Li Shanchang, do you admit your guilt?!"

Li Shanchang was shocked when he heard this. Naturally, he guessed that he had been bitten by Zhou Jipan.

"I don't know." (End of this chapter)