Chapter 126: Interrogation
“Gao Guangning, do you recognize who I am?” The scarred old man grabbed Gao Guangning’s hair.
The intense pain on his scalp immediately made Gao Guangning shudder fiercely. This was no dream—he had truly been captured by these two men before him!
“You are…” Gao Guangning carefully scrutinized that ferocious face, feeling it somewhat familiar yet unable to match it to anyone. “Where are Xiahou En and Xiahou Jun? Where are those two? Have them come talk to me!”
“Hahaha!” The scarred old man burst into loud laughter, his voice thick with mockery.
“Who exactly are you?” Gao Guangning was stunned by the laughter.
The handsome youth also laughed, then stepped aside, allowing Gao Guangning to see the two memorial tablets placed on the stone platform.
One memorial tablet read ‘Memorial for the Qianming Emperor, Imperial Father,’ and the other read ‘Memorial for the Renxiao Empress, Imperial Mother’!
Looking at the inscriptions on those two memorial tablets, Gao Guangning was instantly dumbfounded, his departed soul nearly fleeing!
“Now do you know who I am!” The scarred old man’s voice exploded in Gao Guangning’s ears!
“Twin Sabers Du Mao, you are Twin Sabers Du Mao…” Gao Guangning collapsed to the ground like he had seen a ghost, murmuring, “You’re actually still alive.”
“How could I possibly die without slaughtering you rebellious ministers and traitors!” The scarred old man’s ferocious laughter echoed in the cave, like ghostly wails and wolf howls, like the cuckoo weeping blood!
“Then who are you?!” Gao Guangning’s powerless gaze turned to the youth who was clearly Du Mao’s master.
“Idiot, whom else under heaven could my master Du Mao serve?!” Du Mao cupped his hands toward the youth and declared proudly, “This is the rightful son of the late Emperor and Empress, Crown Prince of Great Xuan!”
“Nonsense, the Crown Prince died in the fire ten years ago!” Gao Guangning was first stunned, then shook his head neurotically. “Du Mao, what is your real intention in fabricating another Crown Prince?!”
“You!” Du Mao flew into a rage and raised his hand to strike him, but was stopped by the youth.
“Uncle, calm down.” The youth was naturally Lu Yun. He looked coldly at Gao Guangning and said, “As long as Duke Huan of Qi lives, Lu will not be at peace. I hope Your Majesty will make a prompt decision and not deceive yourself.”
“…” Gao Guangning’s hair stood on end upon hearing this. His pupils contracted as he stared fixedly at Lu Yun, his voice trembling. “These are the exact words I secretly reported to the late Emperor ten years ago. Where were you at the time, and how did you hear them?” Not only word-for-word identical, but the voice was also perfectly mimicked!
“At that time, I was in Father Emperor’s embrace…” Lu Yun said faintly, “I remember you had a medicated patch on your forehead, looking quite ridiculous. But this phrase was forceful and resounding, so I have always remembered it.”
“Yes, at that time the late Emperor was holding the Crown Prince in the garden watching fish.” Gao Guangning thought carefully and rasped, “I had a boil on my forehead then and had applied a medicated patch to reduce the fire…” As he spoke, he suddenly looked up and stared fixedly at Lu Yun. Sure enough, he saw traces of the late Emperor and late Empress in his eyes and demeanor!
“You really are Huangfu Hua?” Gao Guangning stared fixedly at Lu Yun with rapid breathing, still unable to believe it. “Impossible, impossible…”
“Huangfu Hua…” Lu Yun was momentarily lost in thought. This name had not been called for so long that even he himself had become completely unfamiliar with it.
“Insolent!” Du Mao roared and gave Gao Guangning a heavy slap. “How dare you address His Highness by name?!”
Gao Guangning was knocked to the ground by the slap, blood trickling from his mouth. Yet he continued self-assuredly, “How could the Xiahou Clan possibly help you? If they knew you were still alive, they would definitely kill you at once!”
“Fool,” Du Mao sneered, “Xiahou En and Xiahou Jun are still staying in Luojing City. The two you saw were my lord and I in disguise!”
Lu Yun had seen Xiahou En and Xiahou Jun outside the secret passage in Bai Liu Village back then… They were following Xiahou Bubai to track the Imperial Seal, two of the five Xiahou Clan Earth Rank Grandmasters.
Among those five Xiahou Clan Grandmasters, these two had builds similar to Lu Yun and Uncle Bao. Moreover, Xiahou En, who wielded the Judge’s Brush, was the leader of the five, pursuing Lu Yun all the way to the mountain top and constantly issuing orders. So Lu Yun remembered his voice and tone very clearly.
With slight disguise, taking Xiahou En’s signature Judge’s Brush, and altering his voice line with true qi to imitate Xiahou En’s voice and tone—even if Xiahou Clan members were present, they couldn’t distinguish true from false in the darkness.
.
Gao Guangning was extremely clever and instantly understood Lu Yun’s scheme, saying in realization, “You disguised as the Xiahou Clan, drove away the Investigative Bureau’s people, and lulled me and my servants into security, capturing me by surprise. After I die, you can frame the Investigative Bureau.” He praised, “What a fine scheme.” But then he changed tone. “However, if not for the fierce struggle between Your Majesty and the Xiahou Clan making me a sacrificial pawn, no matter how clever your scheme, it would be useless…”
“Is that so? So even now you still think it was Huangfu Yu dealing with you.” Du Mao sneered mockingly and rasped, “Let me tell you, Huang Yun’s account book was not handed over to Huangfu Yu by him! It was found by my lord from his outer residence before your incident, and he ordered me to secretly deliver it to the Investigative Bureau!”
“What?!” Gao Guangning was stunned.
“Going further back,” Du Mao’s mocking expression grew stronger as he said, “Those rumors about you, Gao Guangning, were also spread by me on my lord’s orders. Of course, every one was verified and not a false accusation!”
“…” Gao Guangning stared dumbfounded at Lu Yun and Du Mao. Only now did he realize the true reason for his misfortune. Moments later, he stared deeply at Lu Yun and said, “I believe you are the Crown Prince! Because Du Mao doesn’t have the brains for this, and he wouldn’t find someone to impersonate his own master…”
Du Mao chuckled. He hadn’t expected Gao Guangning to see through him so clearly.
“Who would have thought that I, Gao Guangning, would have the chance in this lifetime to die at the hand of the late Emperor’s son.” Gao Guangning burst into loud laughter. “Retribution indeed never fails. Old Heavens, you win!”
After laughing, he closed his eyes and said to Lu Yun, “I should have died ten years ago. Dying at Your Highness’s hand now can be considered justice from Heaven… Get on with it…”
“Wanting to die isn’t that easy!” Du Mao pressed down on Gao Guangning’s shoulders and gave Lu Yun a look.
Lu Yun nodded slightly. With one hand forming a spell incantation and two fingers of the other hand together, he struck Gao Guangning’s glabella with Soul Seizing Finger!
Gao Guangning immediately suffered splitting headache, his eyes filled with confusion.
“Now, you must answer every question I ask truthfully.” Lu Yun stared deeply at Gao Guangning.
Gao Guangning nodded blankly and said, “Answer truthfully.”
“Tell everything you know about the inner details of the Baoen Temple Incident!” Lu Yun controlled his emotions and said as calmly as possible.
Although Uncle Bao had told everything he knew, he had only been a deputy commander guarding the Empress back then. Limited by his status and position, he only knew the general outline of events ten years ago, but not the intricate details.
Gao Guangning, however, had been one of the Qianming Emperor’s most trusted confidants at the time. From his mouth, the truth of ten years ago could surely be restored!
“The Baoen Temple Incident happened ten years ago…” Gao Guangning’s gaze was confused as he slowly said, “At that time, the Qianming Emperor was greatly worried about the noble clans growing too powerful. He wanted to eliminate their power through reforms and reclaim authority for himself. By promoting lowborn men like me, remeasuring fields, conducting a census, and other measures, he vigorously shook the foundation of the noble clans.”
“Those noble clans naturally refused to sit idly by and were united by Xiahou Ba to oppose the late Emperor. The two sides soon became irreconcilable enemies. But at that time, the Imperial Family was very strong. Although unable to contend with the combined forces of the seven clans, the various clans were not of one mind, and some were unwilling to break with the Imperial Family, so the Xiahou Clan did not dare to act forcefully.”
“For the same reason, the Qianming Emperor was also uncertain how many noble clans would unite against him. To ensure victory, he secretly contacted Heavenly Master Dao, hoping Zhang Xuanyi would help him. But Heavenly Master Zhang refused without hesitation and solemnly warned the late Emperor that the noble clans were the foundation of the nation and must absolutely not be shaken!”
