When Liu Qiao gritted his teeth and threatened the tortured Gu Qingquan, Zheng Haizhu's eyes always fell on the corner of this secret room.
Compared with when she encountered the Spaniards attracted by Li Guozhu on Penghu Island and experienced a fierce battle, and compared with when she saw the human heads on the ground outside Fushun City, she can now restrain herself from the bloody scenes. The physiological reaction of wanting to vomit.
But she still couldn't bear to look at it.
Chess pieces are just chess pieces. Zheng Haizhu did not find it pleasant to see a chess piece that was alert and confident, moving diligently on the chessboard, being physically tortured by another party with a different stance.
But soon, the chess piece's faith seemed to collapse under another kind of torture.
The Jin Yiwei who was carrying out the execution brought over another bucket of cold water without the heat, soaked it with a large piece of cotton cloth, and covered Gu Qingquan's face with force. His partner, holding a wooden ladle, poured water on the cotton cloth one by one.
At first, Gu Qingquan's futile struggle was still a little intense, but it soon became slow.
Then, everyone smelled a strong smell of green grass.
The victim had nocturnal emissions.
Liu Qiao was obviously not happy to see this like a bloodthirsty shark.
He just turned his head and explained to Zheng Haizhu in a deep voice: "This is a water torture method commonly used in our prisons. The person's mouth and nose are blocked, and he has to inhale more and more horrifiedly. The water he inhales is not like a person who fell into the river and drowned. That much would choke him to death very quickly. It would be even more uncomfortable if it was poured into the lungs bit by bit, and the mind would lose control between life and death, and so would the next... Madam, from now on, if your own team has to review the talents of women, you can also use this method. "
Zheng Haizhu hummed noncommittally and watched as the two Jinyi guards stopped the execution and lifted the wet cotton cloth off Gu Qingquan's face.
The prisoner, who had lost all color, had blood-colored pink snot or saliva hanging from the corners of his nose and mouth. However, his mouth and nose were opened vigorously out of instinct, thirsting for the air that would bring him back to life.
Liu Qiaozhong leaned on the side of Gu Qingquan's head again and said word by word: "I don't want to do it again. It's worse than entering the Palace of Hell and worse than an animal, so I just tell the truth. What's your last name? What do you do at home?" ? It made me and Mrs. Zheng believe it, those two buckets of water have nothing to do with you."
Gu Qingquan's mouth returned to speaking mode and he spat out a few syllables.
Zheng Haizhu also leaned forward to listen.
"What? What censor?" Liu Qiao asked.
"Ye Qing, a descendant of Ye Xixian, the censor of Jianwen Supervision."
"No wonder the fake surname is Gu...Ye turns over. Help him up and feed him some milk." Liu Qiao stared at the prisoner Ye Qing and ordered his subordinates.
After a while, Ye Qing leaned back on the chair, his calamity-stricken face became slightly less distorted, and he wore a strange and weak smile that would appear after a calamity.
Zheng Haizhu walked up to him, pulled another chair and sat down, looking straight at Ye Qing.
"Mr. Ye, why did you touch Ma Xuanfu's cell? You came to Beizhen Fusi five years ago, and Ma Xuanfu was killed seven or eight years ago. The person you killed Ma Xuanfu in the imperial prison at that time was who?"
"It's Lao Yang who delivers meals to the prisoners in the kitchen."
"Why did you harm Ma Xuanfu?"
Ye Qingyu said with a hint of sarcasm in his loneliness: "Everyone knows that Ma Xuanfu was framed by the eunuch named Qiu for the sake of the people of Shu. But the people in Dongchang tortured him, and Jin Yiwei, who was also a warrior, was there. Watching from the side. Our Holy Lord admires Ma Xuanfu's righteousness and asked Lao Yang to persuade him that if he is willing to surrender to the Ming Lord, he will help him escape from the imperial prison and return to Sichuan..."
"I'm so admirable," Zheng Haizhu interrupted him, "but as soon as the imperial court's pardon came that day, you silenced Ma Xuanfu. Your Holy Lord is so benevolent and righteous. Your surname is Gu, and his surname is Xu. It’s also fake, right?”
When Ye Qing heard the word "Xu", the generosity he had just ignited dimmed again, and he only responded in a low voice.
"Where are the rebel forces?" Zheng Haizhu suddenly changed the question.
Ye Qing shook his head quickly and looked at the wooden bed where he had just been lying.
"I do not know I do not know……"
"Is it a patrol camp? Or the Kingo Yulin Forbidden Army? Or the team from Gyeonggi? Or which frontier army will come?" Zheng Hai asked like a barrage of questions.
.
"I don't know, I really don't know. I only care about Beizhenfu, and I'm keeping an eye on you. Girl, no, madam, you kill me, don't use waterboarding, don't use waterboarding!"
"Let's torture again..." Zheng Haizhu said to Liu Qiao.
Liu Qiao made a gesture, and two of his men came over immediately.
Ye Qing was shaking like a sieve and begged for mercy: "Wait, wait. I really don't know who the soldiers are, but, let me talk about one more person, Li Sicheng of Honglu Temple..."
"Li Kezhuo?"
"Yes, Li Kezhuo. According to the arrangement of the Holy Lord, he pretended to seek refuge with Concubine Zheng, and waited for the emperor to indulge in sexual activities and become weak, so he could offer her red pills and kill the emperor in a matter of seconds."
"Nonsense!" Zheng Haizhu shouted, "The red lead pills are just a mixture of women's menstrual blood and cinnabar. Lord Jiajing has taken them. How could he die overnight?"
Ye Qing said breathlessly: "No, there will be two red pills. The first one is what the lady said. After taking it, the emperor will feel that his body and spirit suddenly become better, and then he will be given the second one. One pill, the second pill will contain Ah Piao Mu's ointment, and then mix it with strong medicine from overseas. The emperor is so confused that he will definitely not be able to bear it."
"It's still not right," Zheng Haizhu stared at him. "Even if you murder the emperor, and the eldest son of the emperor is over the age of maturity and can ascend the throne before his death, even if you can enter the Forbidden City and kill the eldest son and the fifth son of the emperor, the throne is still unfair. Do you think Was it the time of Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao?"
"The Holy Lord has thought of this, so when the emperor dies, there will be our people in the palace who will first seduce Concubine Zheng and that Xili, cover the prince, and then kill the prince. Concubine Zheng wanted her son to be the emperor. , No one in the world knows how she managed to escape her involvement."
"Then you will send troops, send out the imperial seal, and appear in the capital together with the descendant of Emperor Jianwen who is also named Zhu?"
"yes."
Zheng Haizhu and Liu Qiao looked at each other. Liu Qiao took the heavy and soaked cotton cloth from Jin Yiwei's hand and asked solemnly: "Who is in the palace?"
The horror gathered in Ye Qing's eyes almost burst out. He shook his head left and right, and the voice of a young and strong man suddenly became as sharp as a ghost crying: "I don't know, I don't know, how could the Holy Lord tell me everything? Mother, Mom, help!"
Liu Qiao stretched out his hand, blocked Ye Qing's mouth with cotton cloth, threw him back into the chair, turned around and walked out of the room with Zheng Haizhu, and whispered: "He must really not know, otherwise, just say Li Kezhuo, why bother?" Bite one more person in the palace?"
Zheng Haizhu nodded and looked at the Big Dipper, which was low in the mid-autumn night sky. As early as when she followed Yan Siqi on a night voyage on the sea, she learned how to tell the time by using the handle of a bucket.
"Director Liu, before the Yin hour passes, you should quickly take this Ye Qing's confession and go to the palace with Luo Shuai, so that you can report it to the emperor at dawn."
"Ma'am, won't you come with us?"
Zheng Haizhu said resolutely: "I won't go to the palace. We are still under curfew. I would like to ask the governor to ask two brothers to take me across the street to General Ma's house on Qipan Street."
Liu Qiao was slightly surprised.
It's a great achievement that this matter can be brought to light in the first place. This woman doesn't want it?
Why are you going to Ma Xianglin's house? Isn't General Ma in Shanhaiguan so anxious to tell Xianglin's wife who killed her father-in-law?
But Liu Qiao muttered and called the two royal guards in the courtyard: "According to Mrs. Zheng's instructions, we will escort you."
The rapid sound of horse hooves was particularly clear in the quiet night capital.
Perhaps someone who is sleeping soundly is awakened occasionally and hears the cries coming from the street in a daze. They are just the tramps of three or two horses. In an instant, they are far away and cannot be heard. They know that they are probably the guards or patrol officers, not the patrol officers. Something worthy of curious consideration, he turned over and fell asleep again.
The cold air of the autumn night hit her face. Even though Zheng Haizhu had learned to ride a horse, she no longer raised her head to face the wind and her posture was stiff, but she still felt the coolness in her head.
She stared at the back of the Jinyiwei who was leading the way, as if she had returned to the situation a few years ago when she was riding Ma Xianglin's favorite horse and rushed back to Songjiang from Jinshanwei.
After a moment, the scene in her mind changed again. It turned into Guan Ma Xianglin at the intersection of Qipan Street a month ago, heading for Shanhai. He said to her: "If anything happens to me, please take Fengyi and her son to the south."
. "
Zheng Haizhu finally understood that the coolness at the moment was not due to the wind, but due to the speculation he had heard this morning after hearing Luo Sigong's words, "There are defenders in Gyeonggi who can come, such as Juniper and Ma Xianglin in Shanhaiguan."
After interrogating Ye Qing just now, her frightening premonition became even stronger.
