Chapter 62: Interrogating the Prince of Jin

Chen Kan reached up to scratch the back of his head, a faint smile dawning on his face.

He was genuinely looking forward to Zhu Di's expression during tomorrow morning's court session. He wondered what kind of mood the emperor would be in when he discovered that well over half of his imperial court was missing.

Presumably, Ji Gang would not escape a severe beating.

Well, bringing down the villainous Ji Gang was everyone's civic duty.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Chen Kan looked at Xing Fang and Fang Xu, who both wore the expressions of men who had just cheated death, and couldn't help laughing and scolding, "What's with those faces? Aren't there plenty of matters in the Brocade-Clad Guard that need attending to? Isn't that massive imperial prison waiting to be guarded? And doesn't someone need to be responsible for the safety of Lord Vice Commander?"

Xing Fang and Fang Xu exchanged a glance, each seeing a deep, unyielding resolve in the other's eyes.

Then, as if they had planned it beforehand, the two men simultaneously dropped to one knee before Chen Kan and murmured in low voices, "Thank you, My Lord, for sparing our lives."

"What life-saving grace are you talking about? You were innocent to begin with. That Li Yan only harbored a grudge and framed you because you chose to serve under my command. Now that the truth has come to light, get up and get back to work."

Chen Kan waved his hand dismissively and strolled leisurely toward the imperial prison, with Shi Wen trailing closely behind.

He knew that after today, he could finally consider himself as having established a solid footing within the Brocade-Clad Guard.

Catching up with Li Jinglong's footsteps, Chen Kan accompanied him on an inspection of the imperial prison.

The further Li Jinglong walked, the uglier his expression became.

At this moment, the Brocade-Clad Guard's prison held no fewer than six or seven hundred officials.

There were even more than a dozen high-ranking officials of the third rank among them.

Yet, Li Jinglong simply did not dare to release them.

Once they were freed, the hard-earned prestige that the Brocade-Clad Guard had just established among the civil and military officials would be completely ruined. If they ever wanted to carry out surveillance on the officialdom in the future, nobody would take them seriously.

However, if he refused to release them, Li Jinglong truly had no idea how he was going to answer to His Majesty during tomorrow morning's court session.

Was he supposed to tell the Emperor that all his ministers belonged to the Prince of Jin's faction and had therefore been rounded up by the Brocade-Clad Guard?

Before those partisans of the Prince of Jin could even lose their heads, his own head would likely be twisted off by the Emperor to be used as a nightsoil pot.

Right now, Li Jinglong utterly loathed Ji Gang from the bottom of his heart.

The bastard had run off to Huainan, leaving such a monumental mess behind for him to clean up. Curse your ancestors!

Chen Kan, on the other hand, was quite satisfied.

Although a minor accident had occurred in the middle, almost being ruined by a petty villain like Li Yan, things had ultimately unfolded precisely as Chen Kan had envisioned.

After accompanying Li Jinglong on a tour around the prison, Chen Kan knew it was time to proceed with the next phase of his plan.

And what was the next step? Naturally, it was to interrogate Zhu Jixi.

Hadn't the root cause of arresting so many officials in the first place stemmed from Zhu Jixi?

Without interrogating Zhu Jixi, how could they possibly find a pretext to release all those officials tomorrow?

Therefore, Chen Kan put on a troubled expression and said to Li Jinglong, "My Lord, with so many officials locked up here, we can't possibly keep them imprisoned until the end of days. And since the Commander has gone off to Huainan, this subordinate fears that His Majesty might vent all his fury upon us."

Hearing this, Li Jinglong grew even more exasperated and snapped irritably, "You think I don't know that? Then you tell me what we should do! Are we just supposed to release everyone without a word? What would that make our Brocade-Clad Guard look like?"

A contemplative look crossed Chen Kan's face. A moment later, he leaned in close to Li Jinglong's ear and whispered, "This subordinate does have an idea, though I'm uncertain whether I should voice it."

"Out with it! Is there any room for hesitation at a time like this? Treat a dead horse as if it were still alive!"

Li Jinglong's eyes instantly lit up, much like a drowning man grasping at the final straw of salvation.

Looking somewhat hesitant, Chen Kan glanced around at the grim environment of the prison and said, "Lord Duke, the imperial prison is noisy and chaotic, hardly a suitable place for conversation. We should perhaps move to a different location."

Understanding his implication, Li Jinglong frowned and said, "Go to the cell where you were previously detained."

He then turned to instruct the guards standing nearby, "All of you, go patrol the cells. If any trouble arises, I'll strip the skin off your backs!"

With that, he strode off toward the cell where Chen Kan had been kept, and Chen Kan hurried to follow.

"Can you speak freely now?"

Chen Kan swept his gaze around and noticed that the nearest Brocade-Clad Guards were more than ten yards away, and even they were subordinates belonging to Shi Wen. Only then did he lower his voice and say, "My idea might very well offend the Commander."

"Enough, stop playing games. You might be afraid of Ji Gang, but this Duke certainly is not."

Li Jinglong deeply abhorred people who dragged out a mystery, and immediately offered him a reassuring promise. The subtext was clear: with me here, what on earth are you afraid of?

Hearing Li Jinglong display such backbone, Chen Kan finally felt completely at ease.

He lowered his voice further and said, "Didn't we make all these arrests on the grounds of deposing the Prince of Jin? If we can obtain a confession from the deposed Prince of Jin implicating his accomplices, won't we have a legitimate reason to release all the officials we've locked up?"

"Oh?"

Li Jinglong let out a soft exclamation of surprise before slowly nodding. "That makes sense. We only detained those who were under suspicion. Once their names are cleared of suspicion, we'll no longer have any excuse to keep holding them, and we'll be able to give His Majesty a proper account."

Chen Kan chimed in, "That is precisely the logic. But once you interrogate the deposed Prince of Jin, how are we going to answer to the Commander?"

As soon as Chen Kan posed this question, Li Jinglong's emotions flared up instantly.

Spitting as he spoke, he cursed furiously, "Answer to him? Why on earth should I answer to him? Dealing with the feudal princes was my responsibility to begin with. I haven't even blamed him for trying to steal the credit! He leaves me such a colossal mess while he runs off to Huainan to enjoy himself under the pretext of hunting down Jianwen remnants."

The more Li Jinglong talked, the more agitated he became, eventually pointing directly toward the direction of Huainan and launching into another tirade.

"Ji Gang, you dog of a bastard, I..."

Listening to the endless stream of foul language pouring from Li Jinglong's mouth, Chen Kan couldn't help but raise his hands to plug his ears.

Li Jinglong cursed the direction of Huainan for a full quarter of an hour. Perhaps growing tired from the exertion, he finally spat on the ground with a lingering sense of indignation.

Then he roared angrily, "Damned Zhu Jixi! You had nothing better to do than rebel? Weren't you just supposed to sit tight and wait to be stripped of your title?"

The corners of Chen Kan's mouth twitched, but he chose not to reply.

Sitting quietly and waiting to be stripped of one's title—wasn't that pure, utter foolishness?

"What are you standing there daydreaming for? Go interrogate Zhu Jixi!"

Chen Kan was momentarily taken aback, and instinctively asked in return, "Me?"

"Nonsense! Do I look like the kind of man who knows how to interrogate prisoners?"

Speechless and wearing a mournful, weeping expression, Chen Kan choked out, "This subordinate is a scholar, I've never interrogated a criminal in my life."

For a moment, the two men stood facing each other, questioning the meaning of existence.

"Lord Duke, this subordinate can recommend someone who certainly knows how."

An image of Xu Yuan's thoroughly repulsive face surfaced in Chen Kan's mind. As the saying goes, courtesy demands reciprocity. Who do you think you are, Xu Yuan, conspiring with Li Yan against a great transmigrator? I'll wipe out your entire family.

Li Jinglong instantly perked up. "Who?"

Chen Kan slowly spat out a single name: "Xu Yuan, the Guard Commander of the Northern Bureau of Military Intelligence."