Chapter 40: Extracting A Confession
Outside the torture chamber, Xiao Yi turned to look. Nie Wenjin and Meng Ye were standing not far away under the corridor, talking in low voices. From their slightly tense posture and the solemn gazes they unconsciously cast, Xiao Yi judged that they had overheard the conversation inside.
This is good; he could completely clear himself of the suspicion of being framed as Shi Deyuan.
“General, I have fulfilled my mission,” Xiao Yi said, cupping his hands. “I have confirmed that the Talisman Seal was taken by a traitor within the Imperial Guard…”
“Find out who.”
“Zhang Mantun must know,” Xiao Yi said. “Could Shi Deyu be allowed to see Zhang Mantun and persuade him to cooperate with us?”
Nie Wenjin pondered for a moment and nodded, saying, “You are only allowed to say one sentence.”
“Agreed.”
The heavy sound of shackles echoed as two guards roughly dragged Zhang Mantun to see Shi Deyu.
These two were also burly, but they appeared small next to the towering Zhang Mantun.
Shi Deyu was only allowed to tremblingly utter one sentence, “Tie Ya, cooperate with the Imperial Court’s investigation,” before they dragged Zhang Mantun back to the original torture chamber.
But the loud clanging of the chains hitting the ground did not stop for a long time.
Zhang Mantun’s roars echoed through the Imperial Guard Headquarters.
“Meng Ye!”
“Meng Ye!”
“I curse your mother, Meng Ye!”
“What kind of skill is it to bully my eldest young master? Come on, shove me! See if I don’t break your twig!”
“Come on, you bastard! If you don’t dare shove me, then open your ass and wait, see if you can take my thrust, and I’ll thrust you to your ancestors for eighteen generations!”
“Fuck!”
“…”
Xiao Yi listened, paying attention to Meng Ye’s reaction.
To his surprise, Meng Ye’s eyes showed anger, but his face merely held a cold smile. He said leisurely, “General Nie, if you don’t get a confession today, hand this person over to me, and I will surely make him speak.”
Nie Wenjin smiled thinly and said, “If no confession is obtained, then we will trouble Officer Meng further.”
“It’s no trouble,” Meng Ye said with a smile. “I quite enjoy it.”
The surrounding personal guards heard this and couldn’t help but twitch their lips.
Nie Wenjin glanced at Xiao Yi and said, “Find out the whereabouts of the Talisman Seal.”
“Yes.”
“Right, Liu Zhu threatened Zhang Mantun with his family, and he also confessed that the Talisman Seal was taken by Second Young Master Shi.”
“False confession.”
Xiao Yi casually uttered two words and pushed open the door.
Zhang Mantun was no longer recognizable. His tattered clothes were soaked in blood, his skin was covered in crisscrossing whip marks, brands, and various bruises. His fingers were twisted, one eye was swollen shut, and the other still glared stubbornly.
Xiao Yi approached and saw his own reflection in one of Zhang Mantun’s glaring eyes.
“Brother Mantun.”
Zhang Mantun’s throat moved, and he swallowed the curses. He bared his teeth like a black bear.
He made a guttural sound and said, “Second Young Master? Second Young Master, you should leave quickly…”
Xiao Yi shook his head with self-mockery.
Everyone here loved to act, better than the protagonists he replaced. Each one wanted to act him to death.
He bowed to Nie Wenjin again, saying, “General.”
Before he could finish speaking, Nie Wenjin dismissed the others and ordered the door to be closed.
With a soft “click,” only the two of them remained in the torture chamber.
“I said ‘we’re even,’ why would Brother Mantun still frame me?”
“You say what you want, I didn’t admit it. You sell out your master for glory…”
“Slap!”
Xiao Yi raised his hand and gave Zhang Mantun a heavy slap.
“Don’t play these games with me. Let me tell you, I never considered the Shi family my master. Shi Hongzhao killed Li Song’s entire family and treated me like a servant. I endured hardships for the day I could exact revenge. I don’t owe the Shi family, and I certainly don’t owe you.”
By the end of his speech, he said, word for word, “Killing only Shi Deyuan was my mercy.”
Zhang Mantun stood there stunned, speechless.
Xiao Yi was certain that in Zhang Mantun’s simple values, his revenge for Li Song was another form of loyalty.
After a while, he sighed.
“In the situation that night, if I didn’t kill Shi Deyuan, would he have escaped? I gave him a quick end, wasn’t that better than him suffering like Shi Deyu?”
“Eldest Young Master… is too damn miserable…”
Zhang Mantun’s lips trembled, and the huge, fierce man was about to cry.
Xiao Yi said, “Tell us who took the Talisman Seal, and they can release Shi Deyu and your family. You can believe this, after all, Shi Deyu is already useless.”
Zhang Mantun shook his head and said, “If you kill Meng Ye, then I’ll talk.”
Xiao Yi’s gaze sharpened, staring intently at Zhang Mantun’s expression.
Clearly, Zhang Mantun could not possibly believe he could kill Meng Ye. Why would he say this, when Shi Deyu had ordered him to cooperate and his family was in danger?
There could only be one reason: he genuinely didn’t know who had taken the Talisman Seal.
Xiao Yi’s mind raced as he replied, “Alright, I promise you, as long as you ‘cooperate’.”
Zhang Mantun froze and shook his head again.
Xiao Yi suddenly grabbed his cheeks and said coldly, “Still not talking? Do you think I can’t guess who sent people? Is it Guo Wei?”
Confusion flickered in Zhang Mantun’s eyes.
“It seems not.”
Xiao Yi recalled the intelligence he had seen in the Shi Residence’s study and began naming people.
At the same time, with each name he spoke, he used his fingers to count, signaling Zhang Mantun to look at his fingers.
“Wang Yin?”
“Murong Yanchao?”
“Guo Congyi?”
“Gao Xingzhou?”
“Fu Yanqing?”
“…”
After naming ten people, a look of realization gradually appeared in Zhang Mantun’s eyes.
Xiao Yi lowered his left hand and pressed two fingers of his right hand on Zhang Mantun’s neck, reminding him that he was the second name mentioned—Wang Yin.
This was his deduction.
Wang Yin was the second-in-command of the Imperial Guard and the most likely person to have taken the Talisman Seal, and also the most threatening.
However, it had to come from Zhang Mantun’s own lips.
“Brother Mantun, your eyes have already told me. I already know who it is.”
“Peh!”
Zhang Mantun spat out a mouthful of blood and said in a hoarse, broken voice, “So what? When General Wang brings troops into the city, they’ll kill all you dog monkeys!”
Hearing this, Xiao Yi inwardly exclaimed “Good.”
This brute seemed reckless, but at critical moments, he could still understand his message.
“Ha, so it was Wang Yin. He sent people to take the Talisman Seal? Why is there no movement?”
“Are you tricking me?” Zhang Mantun feigned anger and roared, “Monkey, how dare you trick me!”
“Wait.”
Xiao Yi had obtained the result he wanted and no longer asked, pushing the door open.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Nie Wenjin’s grim face.
“General, I have interrogated him… it’s a bad result.”
Xiao Yi stepped forward and cupped his hands to report, with a hint of appropriate exhaustion, recounting the interrogation process in detail.
“Wang Yin.”
Nie Wenjin uttered these two words.
For him, this was the worst news.
Wang Yin was the highest-ranking general of the Imperial Guard, stationed in the Capital Region. If he obtained the Talisman Seal, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Meng Ye’s face was unsightly as he muttered, “Who knows if Zhang Mantun isn’t lying to us, to make us turn against Wang Yin.”
Xiao Yi said, “Officer Meng, if you can verify the truth of his confession, please do so.”
Meng Ye glared at him hatefully, then turned to Nie Wenjin and asked, “If it’s truly in Wang Yin’s hands, what will you do, General? Will you send troops to demand it?”
Nie Wenjin did not answer, raising his hand to signal him to be quiet.
Xiao Yi said, “General, Officer Meng mentioned a frontal assault earlier, which is the worst possible strategy. It will inevitably cause great chaos in the Capital Region and interference from other regions. However, perhaps it can be done cleverly.”
“Cleverly? How?” Nie Wenjin asked in a deep voice.
Xiao Yi did not answer immediately, deliberately showing a thoughtful expression.
“Wang Yin’s subordinate took the Talisman Seal but did not act rashly. I believe we can still win him over.”
“How can we win him over?”
“Let Shi Deyu go.”
“What’s the use?”
“Send a team to pretend to rescue Shi Deyu and defect to Wang Yin, to probe the whereabouts of the Talisman Seal and his attitude. If he intends to raise an army in the name of the Shi family, kill him, or find an opportunity to retrieve the Talisman Seal; if he offers Shi Deyu as a token of loyalty to the Imperial Court, then send people to appease him and have him hand over the Talisman Seal.”
Nie Wenjin immediately shook his head, saying, “I fear Wang Yin will not be convinced.”
Xiao Yi said, “I can go.”
“You?”
“I am a former servant of the Shi family and have a token. In the pile of firewood in Pig Slaughter Alley, there is a Jade Pendant belonging to Second Young Master Shi. Furthermore, I am confident I can make Wang Yin believe that it was Zhang Mantun and I who rescued Shi Deyu.”
“Are Shi Deyu and Zhang Mantun willing to cooperate?”
“I can persuade them.”
Nie Wenjin’s brows furrowed even deeper, and he murmured to himself, “Is it feasible?”
“General, you can prepare for both possibilities. But this method has the lowest cost. Even if it fails, what is lost?”
The greatest loss would be the escape of the prisoners, but when vying for power, who would care about a few prisoners?
Nie Wenjin paced a few steps and asked, “What is the probability of success?”
Xiao Yi hesitated for a moment, then after a few breaths, he slowly spoke.
“If the General can promise me a future, I will exert all my effort, and death will be a small price to pay!”
“Are you blackmailing me?”
“No, I have offended Su Fengji, and it was he who framed Li Gongsong. My hatred for him is deep. Now that he is in power, I live in constant fear. If I can serve as a Guard by the General’s side, protecting him, it would be a great fortune.”
Seeing that he had made a request, Nie Wenjin’s expression actually softened a bit.
“You want to be my Guard?”
“Yes. If I am fortunate enough to be appreciated and protected by the General, I will definitely retrieve the Talisman Seal for you.”
Although he said this, it did not prevent Xiao Yi from defecting to Guo Wei as soon as he left the city.
Everything he had stated tonight was the truth, except for one thing: he firmly believed that Guo Wei had the most promising future.
Therefore, based on the facts, Nie Wenjin could not guess his intention to escape.
“Good. If you have the ability, why should you be relegated to a mere Guard? I will appoint you as Captain and let you lead a team.”
