After Tang Ji sent Jiang Ran back to Linxi Lane, he immediately rushed to Prince You's Mansion.
This mansion is indeed the most luxurious and extravagant mansion in Huaizhou. There are two huge stone lions standing in front of the door. There is a bright gilt plaque on the vermilion door. The dark green roof tiles sparkle in the sun.
Shine.
Just the external structure is enough to put ordinary people beyond reach, let alone the internal structure. The front yard is very spacious, except for a pavilion on the side and nothing else. But this is just the outer yard. Inward there are the main hall, main hall, backyard and side yard.
etc.
Tang Ji had been dragged here by Li Yu several times before, so he was not very surprised and followed the palace steward to the backyard.
There are several bluestone paths in the backyard. Various flowers, grasses and green plants are planted on the roadside. There are bamboo forests and rockeries on one side. There is a small pavilion under the giant tree on the other side.
Li Yu was leaning on the column in the pavilion, feeling sleepy and humming a little tune. Suddenly he found that the light in front of him was blocked by someone. He lazily raised his hand and waved: "Give me a chance, don't be an eyesore."
"Where are the people?" Tang Ji asked, raising his brows lightly.
Hearing his voice, Li Yu suddenly opened his eyes, stood up and said, "A few people are here!"
"Recruited?" Tang Ji felt a little surprised. Logically speaking, the killer shouldn't confess so easily, but now he didn't care so much and continued to ask: "What did you say?"
"Except for that middle-aged man, everyone else is from Huaizhou and was recruited temporarily." After Li Yu answered, he yawned and added: "Just wait a little longer, Song Xiao is already interrogating that person.
The leader of the killer."
Tang Ji was speechless. As expected, apart from his identity as a prince, this guy has no other reliable qualities. He shook his head and continued: "I will interrogate him personally."
Hearing this, Li Yu touched his chin and nodded: "Okay, let's go."
Immediately, he stepped out of the pavilion and led Tang Ji towards the side courtyard.
The two of them turned several turns and walked to a row of stone steps. The stairs extended downward for more than twenty steps. The front section was partially open to the sky, and the last few steps were connected to a passage that gave off a faint light.
Tang Ji followed Li Yu and quickly entered the passage. The passage was not long, only about ten meters. At the end was a solid iron door, guarded by two men in black wearing swords.
When the guard saw Li Yu arriving, he cupped his fists and saluted, "Your Majesty."
Li Yu responded casually and ordered the two of them to open the cell door.
Tang Ji walked into the dungeon, and his brows suddenly furrowed. It was a little dark inside, and there was no sunlight. Only candles lit everywhere came out. There was a pungent smell in the air, and there was also a smell coming from the cell in front.
There was the sound of whips clashing, and he couldn't help but said to Li Yu beside him: "I didn't expect there was a prison in your house."
Ningguo's law clearly states that no one is allowed to imprison others privately, so it is against the law for him to ask Li Yu to take people over from the government. However, the top priority is to find out who is behind the scenes, but he did not expect that this kid's venue and equipment are so complete.
I definitely do a lot of bad things!
Sensing Tang Ji's strange gaze, Li Yu quickly explained: "This prison used to be used to imprison servants and maids who made mistakes in the palace, but I am kind-hearted and have never dealt with anyone, so it has been abandoned to this day. This can be regarded as the first prison."
One time use.”
Tang Ji seemed not to hear it and opened his mouth wide to express shock.
Beast!
Not even the maid is spared!
The two of them did not continue joking, because they had already walked outside the cell where the assassin leader was detained. Among them, Song Xiao was waving the long whip in his hand to beat the middle-aged man who was tied to the cross.
That man was the leader of the assassins. After being severely beaten by Sun Yufu, he had already lost the strength to resist. He lowered his head, looking half-dead, and allowed the whip to leave blood marks on his body.
After watching for a while, Tang Ji said: "Stop fighting."
Hearing this, several eyes in the cell focused on him, and the middle-aged man struggled with red eyes, as if he wanted to kill Tang Ji with his eyes.
Song Xiao finished the last whip and quickly opened the cell door: "Your Majesty, this person is unwilling to speak. Don't worry, if you give me some more time, I will definitely pry his mouth open."
Li Yu nodded slightly and then looked at Tang Ji.
The latter shook his head and said: "If we continue to fight like this, he will be dead before he even opens his mouth."
After listening to Tang Ji's words, Song Xiao curled his lips. He had interrogated many prisoners in Kyoto before. Although there were examples of prisoners who were beaten to death halfway, there were also many people who could not insist on confessing. He asked in a low voice: "What about Mr. Tang?"
How do you think the interrogation should be done?”
Tang Ji touched his chin and thought for a while, then waved his hand and said, "Bring the people out first, and I will interrogate them."
With so many people crammed into this small cell, the smell was unusually pungent.
But Song Xiao and several guards in the cell regarded this sentence as a provocation, as if to say, "You are not good enough, you still have to watch me." They all froze in place without making any move.
After a few breaths, seeing that they still didn't move, Li Yu raised his hand and said: "Go down."
"Yes!" These people are all guards of the prince's palace. They don't have to listen to Tang Ji's words, but they must carry out the prince's orders.
The five people quickly walked out of the cell and watched Tang Ji step into the cell. One of them lowered his voice and said, "We can't even find out. What else can he, a weak scholar, ask to find out?"
"Even so, I don't know why the prince is so partial to him." Another person replied in a low voice.
The man standing at the far side crossed his arms over his chest and said sarcastically: "You'll have to leave it to us later."
Song Xiao stared at Tang Ji's back, and actually had some expectations for this young master in his heart. He glanced at the men around him with sharp eyes and motioned for them to shut their mouths.
In the cell, Tang Ji looked indifferent, raised the corners of his mouth, and his upper eyelids slowly sank. After a moment of silence, he slowly opened them again and said, "Are you afraid of death?"
The middle-aged man covered with scars raised his head, gritted his teeth and shouted angrily: "I'm not afraid of death, but it's a pity that I didn't kill you. I'm really curious. I broke your heart last time, but my men prevented you from dying.
I specially added a palm, no one can survive in that situation, how on earth did you do it?"
Tang Ji did not answer his question, raised his eyebrows slightly, and continued: "Are you from Kyoto?"
"Give up, I won't tell you." The middle-aged man snorted coldly.
"Do you still have relatives at home?"
"..."
"How old is your child this year?"
"..."
"Your wife must be very beautiful, right?"
"..."
"..."
In this way, Tang Ji asked dozens of questions in a row, but received no reply. Even at the end, the middle-aged man spat at him impatiently.
The guard standing outside the cell once again questioned: "Is this kid crazy? How can he ask this without punishment?"
Li Yu blocked the man's mouth with a rag, then pinched his nose and complained: "Why are you asking so much nonsense? If he was willing to talk, he would have confessed long ago. Come on, this place stinks. Let's find him."
Let’s have a couple of drinks here and let Song Xiao continue to treat him to a whip.”
Tang Ji gently shook off his hand and said with a smile, "I think I've got the answer."