Chapter 226
“General Hei and I have been investigating him. However, he didn’t answer us. Is Brother Lóng Wei sure that the man will open his mouth to tell him the truth?” Qiu Mu arched his eyebrows.
They both halted outside the gate of the prison. Qiu Mu told the soldier to open the lock. They both stepped in as soon as the door opened.
Lóng Wei found that the man was chained in shackles. Both his wrists were attached to the iron bar above him. He looked half-dead while his face and hands were covered in blood.
“His name is Zu Linghe. However, we didn’t find any records for this person’s name. Probably he has forged his name,” Qiu Mu told Lóng Wei. It confused Lóng Wei to find that the person told them his name. If he was an assassin, he would never have revealed his name. However, he wondered why he was quiet. If he told his name, then why didn’t he tell the reason behind his attack on the Crown Prince?
Qiu Mu glanced at the soldier who walked up to the man with a bowl of water and threw it at his face. Zu Linghe jolted and pried his eyes open.
Lóng Wei gestured to the soldier to leave. He bowed and walked out of the prison.
“I already said that I would not open my mouth. Kill me already!” Zu Linghe screamed at them.
Lóng Wei laughed and told him to lower his voice.”It will only waste your precious remaining energy in the body,” he opined.
.....
“Why did you try to kill the Crown Prince?” Lóng Wei inquired.”What personal grudge can a person like you hold against the Crown Prince? I believe that someone is behind all this. Trust me, the person who ordered you to attack the Crown Prince, won’t save you and your family from us,” he proclaimed.
Zu Linghe scoffed at him. “I have no family. No one ordered me,” he stated.
“He won’t confess, Brother Lóng Wei. Tomorrow, he will be given some brutal punishment. He will open his mouth anyhow.” Qiu Mu suggested to Lóng Wei not to waste time.
“Will the Second Prince leave the two of us alone?” Qiu Mu glanced at him in bewilderment. “It’s an order, not a request,” Lóng Wei clarified to Qiu Mu. He fisted his palm and walked out of prison. At that moment, he had to accept Lóng Wei’s every request and order.
“Did you see how I control people?” Lóng Wei asked and walked up to Zu Linghe. He put his hand on his shoulder and continued, “I will be direct. Was it the Prime Minister’s son?”
Zu Linghe gazed at him and chuckled. He shook his head and refused.
“Then, the person you work for is someone from the palace?” Lóng Wei inquired.
“No one is behind this attack. I, solely, am responsible for this,” Zu Linghe stated.
“How did you know that the Crown Prince would leave the palace today? How did you know where he headed to?! It is definitely someone from the palace,” Lóng Wei asserted.
“I am surprised that you do not love your life a bit. Ready to die for someone who will be caught soon. Only foolish people do so.” Lóng Wei provoked him because it was one of the easiest ways to find the truth.
“Can I ask who you are?” Zu Linghe asked.
“I am Lóng Wei.”
“The dragon’s son!” Zu Linghe remarked and smiled. Even his front teeth were coveted in blood.
“Yes,” Lóng Wei answered.
“Since when did the Sinned Prince become gentle? He only knows how to kill. So, he must use the sword and kill me,” Zu Linghe said.
“Why do you want to die?” Lóng Wei inquired. “If you will give me a valid reason, I,” he took out the dagger from his sash, unsheathed it, and pointed it at Zu Linghe’s neck, “will kill you now. I will end your miseries.”
His eyes fell on the black thread around Zu Linghe’s neck, which had a jade on it. “Your lover will miss you for a while, for a few years, but you don’t need to worry about her. Since she may die too after hearing the news of your death. You revealed your name, knowing the fact that an assassin never does that.”
Zu Linghe was astonished to find that Lóng Wei noticed too many things about him.
“How did you find out that I have a lover?” Zu Linghe asked.
“The jade in your neck. Usually, lovers give such pieces to each other,” Lóng Wei affirmed. “My question isn’t this. I want to know from you why I should kill you?”
Zu Linghe had no definite answer to that question. Lóng Wei pulled his hand back and put back the dagger inside the sheath. “You are such a loyal servant to your master but not to your lover. How could you think that your lover would live happily without you?”
Lóng Wei’s words made Zu Linghe question himself.
“Will you save my wife if I tell you?” Zu Linghe asked.
“Only if you tell me the name,” Lóng Wei stated.
“I need a guarantee,” Zu Linghe stated. “If my master finds out, then he will kill her,” he affirmed. The terrified look on his face was clear to show that his master was someone very powerful.
“If you have doubts, then you don’t need to tell me. You can wait for your death,” Lóng Wei suggested to him.
“It’s indeed someone from the palace. However, I have not seen the face. When I was summoned, I was blindfolded,” Zu Linghe affirmed.
“Is it a man or a woman?” Lóng Wei inquired.
“I was given the slip and taken to the adjacent dark room where only one candle was glowing. I read the message where it was mentioned that my wife was the person’s hostage. The person who brought me to the room, his face covered in a mask, so I could not see him either. I read the message and then it was burned in the candle’s flame. I got this order last evening,” Zu Linghe narrated everything to Lóng Wei.
“Where were you taken to and how did you find out that it was someone from the palace?” Lóng Wei skeptically gazed at him.
“I was invited to the biggest restaurant in the market. I heard the voice of the person who had blindfolded me, saying to the person that he/she would be late to reach the palace,” Zu Linghe replied.
“Why did you tell your false name to General Hei and General Qiu Mu?” Lóng Wei asked him the last question.
“The person told me to do so. My real name is Yi Xinze. I used to work in the military four years ago, but because of a knee injury, I left the military. I told the Prince everything that I knew. Please save my wife,” he pleaded with Lóng Wei.
“Now, you will do what I tell you,” Lóng Wei stated and smirked.