I am a temporary worker in Jinyiwei, how did I become a powerful official?

Chapter 210 A confession that could change the fate of the imperial court
Xu Pengju wielded absolute power in Nanjing.

If anyone could restrain him, it would be the eunuch stationed in Nanjing by the palace.

The "jian" in "zhenshou taijian" means both to monitor and to supervise.

Yang Jinshui was the garrison eunuch and also possessed an imperial edict. Xu Pengju had no choice but to abandon his plan to seize the person.

Xu Pengju bowed to Yang Jinshui and said, "Eunuch Yang, since there is an imperial decree, we will take our leave now!"

Before leaving, Luo Longwen glared at Lin Shisan.

Yang Jinshui asked Lin Shisan, "Where is the culprit Fang Youshan? Where did you hide him on Dachanggan Street?"

Lin Shisan smiled slightly: "Actually, Fang Youshan was not detained on Dachanggan Street. I had long expected that someone would come to Dachanggan Street to snatch him."

Yang Jinshui asked, "Oh? Where are you keeping him?"

Lin Shisan replied, "It's hidden on a pleasure boat on the Qinhuai River."

Whether Yang Jinshui was praising Lin Shisan or mocking him, he said, "You're getting more and more slick."

"You must interrogate Fang Youshan immediately. You must find out who is behind the instigation of the mutiny."

"Actually, there's no need for an investigation. Yan's faction is using the mutiny to sabotage the anti-Japanese resistance. Anyone in the court with a brain can guess who instigated the mutiny."

"Thirteen. The day this case is concluded will be the day you break with the Yan Party. At that time, the Yan Party will use every means to kill you. If they can't kill you openly, they will assassinate you."

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "At that time, my life will depend entirely on you, Eunuch Yang. You hold the Nanjing Five City Garrison Command in your hands. That's three thousand elite troops stationed in the city."

Yang Jinshui was Lü Fang's godson. Although he had the common flaws of eunuchs, such as jealousy and ruthlessness, he was a good person at heart who was devoted to public service.

Both for his own sake and for his own safety, he would do everything in his power to ensure Lin Shisan's safety in Nanjing.

Yang Jinshui immediately patted his chest and said, "If I let Eunuch Lü's nephew die in Nanjing, I'll be ashamed of myself."

"I can't guarantee anything elsewhere. But in Nanjing, hmph, whoever I want to protect, even the King of Hell can't take them away!"

Lin Shisan said, "Eunuch Yang, the pleasure boat is not a place for interrogation. Your town's mansion is much more secure. Please lend me five hundred soldiers to escort Fang Youshan to the town's mansion."

Yang Jinshui agreed: "That's right. If Nanjing is our own territory, then the town government is our own home. Shall we go?"

Lin Shisan gestured for him to enter: "Please."

Yang Jinshui and Lin Shisan led five hundred soldiers from the Bingma Division to the banks of the Qinhuai River in a grand procession.

This gave the brothel owners and madams on the Qinhuai River a huge fright. They thought the imperial court was short of money and was trying to embezzle funds from the sex industry again.

Lin Shisan led the group to one of the pleasure boats. He blew two whistles.

A moment later, Xue Yanwang brought Fang Youshan out. Fang Youshan was bound tightly, and a black cloth bag was covered over his head.

The group escorted Fang Youshan to the town's administrative office. The town's administrative office housed a unit of the Eastern Depot stationed in Nanjing. It was fully equipped with prison cells, interrogation rooms, and various instruments of torture.

The torture methods of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Eastern Depot were of the same origin. Xue Yanwang, an expert in torture, praised the instruments of torture: "Eunuch Yang, you have quite a complete set of tools here. This heart-piercing stool is even made of mahogany. It's too extravagant for the criminals to sit on."

"This meat comb is inlaid with silver. Huh? It even has chain-link feet."

Yang Jinshui said smugly, "Whatever your Jinyiwei prison interrogation room has, I have here too. Don't forget, besides being the supervisor of Nanjing, I'm also the head eunuch of the Eastern Depot."

Yang Jinshui turned to Lin Shisan and said, "I've lent you the place and the equipment. The Emperor's decree is for you to interrogate Fang Youshan. I wasn't involved."

"I'll avoid this. Just tell me if you need anything."

After saying this, Yang Jinshui gracefully departed.

Trial begins!
A standard interrogation by the Embroidered Uniform Guard requires the presence of four people: the presiding judge, the juror, the executioner, and the recorder.

Lin Shisan readily took on the role of presiding judge. He appointed Li Gao, the Crown Prince's brother-in-law, as the jury supervisor. Xue Yanwang was appointed as the executioner. Zhang Bo served as the recorder.

Xue Yanwang stepped forward and tore off the black cloth covering Fang Youshan's head.

Lin Shisan asked, "Do you know who I am?"

Fang Youshan was surprised: "Lin Shisan? Aren't you the sworn brother of the Little Grand Secretary and Doctor Luo? Why are you arresting me?"

Lin Shisan said solemnly, "I am a commander of the Imperial Guard in Nanjing, Ming Dynasty, not anyone's sworn brother. What is the suspect's name? Place of origin? Age? Official rank?"

Fang Youshan said, "You want to interrogate me? Commander Lin, it's like the flood washed away the Dragon King's temple, you're not even recognizing your own family anymore! I'm just doing a job for Doctor Luo!"

Lin Shisan smiled slightly: "Handling something? What kind of business?"

Fang Youshan said anxiously, "Of course we'll do it."

At this point, Fang Youshan realized what was happening and stopped talking abruptly.

Lin Shisan said sternly, "I'll ask you one more time: the perpetrator's name? Place of origin? Age? Official position?"

Fang Youshan replied: "I am Fang Youshan, from Wucheng Village, Zhuqiao Township, Yexian County, Laizhou Prefecture, Shandong Province. I am forty-two years old. My official position is Assistant Director of the Treasury Department of the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing."

Lin Shisan said, "Why did you incite the Zhenwu Camp to mutiny? Were you acting under someone's orders? Who ordered you? Speak!"

Fang Youshan remained silent.

Lin Shisan gave Xue Yanwang a wink.

Xue Yanwang slowly and leisurely whistled the tune of "Eighteen Touches" as he placed more than a dozen instruments of torture in front of Fang Youshan.

Lin Shisan said, "Fang Youshan, there is an old saying in our Great Ming Dynasty: 'Those who understand the times are heroes.' I think these instruments of torture in front of us are enough to pry open your mouth."

Fang Youshan feigned ignorance: "That's nonsense."

Lin Shisan ignored Fang Youshan and said, "Old Xue, torture him."

King Yama Xue picked up the instruments of torture.

A moment later, Fang Youshan's painful wails echoed throughout the garrison eunuch's mansion.

In the study of the town's governor's office, Yang Jinshui was playing Go with a minor official.

The wails reached Yang Jinshui's ears, and he laughed, "They've started processing the orders over there."

After Yang Jinshui and Xiao Huan had played twenty rounds of Gomoku, half an hour had passed. The wailing had stopped.

Inside the interrogation room.

Fang Youshan had already fainted.

With a "splash," Xue Yanwang poured a basin of cold water over Fang Youshan's head.

Fang Youshan was awakened by the water.

Lin Shisan said, "Over the years, there have always been officials who have tried to challenge the tortures of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"It seems that apart from Yang Jisheng, no official has been able to withstand these tortures that make people wish they were dead."

"Fang Youshan, do you want to continue? You've only tried two of the eighteen kinds of torture in the Northern Garrison Prison."

"Ask yourself honestly, do you have the same iron will as Yang Jisheng?"

Fang Youshan said weakly, "I...I understand. You've been looking for something better and have turned against me. You've sided with Xu Jie?"

Lin Shisan spat out a mouthful of saliva: "Bah! Me, siding with the number one corrupt official of the Ming Dynasty?" Uncle Zhang coughed beside him, reminding Lin Shisan to be careful with his words.

Li Gao whispered, "Master, why did you tell the truth?"

Lin Shisan gave an awkward smile, then said, "Fang Youshan, it doesn't matter who I side with or which mountain I look up to."

"The important thing is whether you still want to experience the tortures of my Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Xue Yanwang picked up a boning knife: "Commander Lin, the third form of torture is called rib removal. Which rib of the offender do you want to remove first?"

Lin Shisan said, "Let's start by removing the third rib on his right side."

King Yama Xue said, "Alright! I'll draw my blade!"

Fang Youshan cowered: "Commander Lin, I don't care whose side you're on now. Please spare my life! I'll confess, I'll confess!"

Lin Shisan said, "Fine. Answer me, who instructed you to incite a mutiny?"

Fang Youshan replied, "Luo Longwen, the Director of the Arrest and Arrest Division of the Ministry of Justice. He promised me that as long as I used some tricks to cause a mutiny in the Zhenwu Battalion, he would support me to become the Copper Commissioner of Yunnan."

Lin Shisan said, "My second brother is so generous. That's a very lucrative official position."

Fang Youshan said, "Actually, the mutiny was not instigated by me alone. Doctor Luo sent people into Zhenwu Camp in advance to stir up trouble everywhere. Zhenwu Camp was already piled with dry firewood by him. I just lit the firewood by using paper money to pay the soldiers."

Lin Shisan asked, "And who assigned Luo Longwen?"

Fang Youshan looked terrified upon hearing this: "My dear Commander Lin, don't pretend you don't know the answer. You could guess it with your toes."

Lin Shisan said, "Interrogating criminals is not based on guesswork. Only when the presiding judge asks questions, the criminal confesses, and the recorder documents the confession, does it count."

Fang Youshan pleaded, "Commander Lin, if I reveal those two names, even a god couldn't save me. Just kill me, just kill me!"

Lin Shisan sneered: "Heh, the inability to live is not the ultimate pain, the inability to die is! Old Xue, continue the torture."

Xue Yanwang brandished the boning knife at Fang Youshan's chest, and suddenly, he plunged the tip of the knife into the flesh of Fang Youshan's chest.

Fang Youshan shouted, "No, no! I'll talk, I'll talk!"

Lin Shisan ordered Xue Yanwang: "Stop."

Fang Youshan said, "This is obvious. Doctor Luo is a man of Grand Secretary Yan and Grand Secretary Xiao. For a fifth-rank official like Luo to dare to do something as big as inciting a mutiny in the Zhenwu Camp, he must have been instructed by Grand Secretary Yan and Grand Secretary Xiao."

Lin Shisan said, "Nanjing is thousands of miles away from the capital. Why do you, Grand Secretary and Junior Grand Secretary, want to see the Zhenwu Camp mutiny? What benefit would the Grand Secretary and Junior Grand Secretary gain from the rebellion of the soldiers of the Zhenwu Camp?"

Fang Youshan was unaware that the Yan and Xu factions had jointly submitted a memorial requesting the reduction of the Japanese troops.

He said, "I guess that Grand Secretary Yan and his son do not want to see the Japanese pirates quelled. The Zhenwu Camp is a defense camp against the Japanese pirates, similar in nature to the Qi and Yu troops in Zhejiang. If the Zhenwu Camp mutiny occurs, Grand Secretary Yan and his son will have a reason to disband the Qi and Yu troops."

Lin Shisan instructed Zhang Bo: "Make a record of this."

Lin Shisan asked a question, and Fang Youshan answered it. An hour later, Uncle Zhang had written a lengthy confession of two thousand words.

If this confession is submitted, not only will Luo Longwen lose his head, but Yan Song and his son will also be implicated.

Lin Shisan instructed Zhang Bo: "Send the confession to the suspect for review. If the suspect has no objections, he/she should sign and affix his/her fingerprint."

Fang Youshan looked at the confession, signed his name, and affixed his fingerprint to it.

Lin Shisan put away the confession: "Take the suspect away temporarily."

Xue Yanwang escorted Fang Youshan out. Only Lin Shisan, Zhang Bo, and Li Gao remained in the interrogation room.

Zhang Bo said, "Thirteen, if this confession is made public, Luo Longwen and the Yan family father and son will probably be in big trouble."

"Inciting a mutiny has always been a major taboo in all dynasties. No matter how well Your Majesty has used Yan Song and his son, they are doomed this time."

"On the other hand, even a centipede with a hundred legs will not fall down. Even if Yan Song and his son lose power, they still have a large number of followers in the court and in the provinces. Those people will definitely try every means to get rid of you and kill you."

Lin Shisan said, "Master, I've been thinking a lot lately about whether I should continue to be the 'jab-digger' in the eyes of the officials, or become a loyal and upright minister like Shen Lian and Yang Jisheng."

"The Yan family father and son disregarded the safety of the people in the southeast for their own selfish interests. They did not hesitate to plunge the people of the southeast into misery."

"If I were to continue acting as a dutiful son and grandson of the Yan family, would I still be considered a human being?"

"I can give up being a commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, I can give up being a royal messenger, but I cannot give up being a human being!"

"There is a difference between humans and beasts. Humans have at least a shred of conscience. Beasts don't!"

"I will present this confession truthfully to His Majesty. For the sake of the soldiers of Qi and Yu's troops; for Hu Zongxian's great cause of resisting the Japanese pirates; for the sake of the people of the Southeast!"

Zhang Bo nodded: "You have the same style as Lord Chang Feng, the chief of the Embroidered Uniform Guard during the Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns. Chang Feng was once on friendly terms with Liu Jin. Later, when Liu Jin seized power and made the court a mess, Lord Chang broke with Liu Jin without hesitation."

Li Gao said from the side, "Brother Lin, don't worry. Those bastards from the Yan faction are nothing! You are wholeheartedly working for the court and the people, and my brother-in-law will protect you."

Behind Li Gao was the Prince Yu's residence, and his attitude was equivalent to that of the Prince Yu.

Just then, a junior official entered: "Commander Lin, Governor Zhao Zhenji of Yingtian wishes to see you and is waiting in the living room."

Lin Shisan frowned: "Three-no-stick? His nose is quite sensitive, though."

Uncle Zhang asked, "Have you seen that fellow or not?"

Lin Shisan said, "I must see him. I want to see what Sanbuzhan is up to."

Lin Shisan entered the living room.

Zhao Zhenji was sitting opposite Yang Jinshui, drinking tea.

Yang Jinshui laughed and said, "Thirteen's here. You guys chat, I won't get involved."

After saying that, Yang Jinshui wisely left.

Lin Shisan cupped his hands and said, "Minister Zhao, you are not in Suzhou to oversee the flood control plan, but you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to come back to Nanjing to find a nobody like me. I suppose you have something to ask me to do?"

Zhao Zhenji smiled slyly: "You're not a nobody. I don't have the ability to assign you tasks."

"I've come to make a deal with you."

Lin Shisan said, "I would like to hear the details."

Zhao Zhenji said, "Would you be willing to serve as the Commander of the Guards of Prince Yu's Palace? If Prince Yu ascends the throne, his position as Commander of the Guards will definitely qualify him as the Grand Commander of the Five Armies—the highest military officer in the Ming Dynasty!"

Lin Shisan laughed and said, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. What are your terms?"

Zhao Zhenji said, "You have to hand Fang Youshan over to me. I guess you've already interrogated him. If there's a confession, give it to me as well."

Lin Shisan asked, "Is this Prince Yu's intention?"

Zhao Zhenji smiled without saying a word. A smile without saying a word is tacit agreement.

How could Lin Shisan let Zhao Zhenji deceive him? He said, "Li Fei's younger brother, Li Gao, has always been by my side. I haven't heard him mention that Prince Yu wants Fang Youshan."

In fact, Lin Shisan had already guessed that Zhao Zhenji was using Prince Yu's name to demand people from him.

Lin Shisan's unspoken message was: Don't try to pull a fast one. The Prince Yu's brother-in-law is always by my side. You can't fool me!

(End of this chapter)