Chapter 66 A Guilty Conscience

When Chen Kan crawled out of bed, it was already well past the morning peak.

Lying in bed, he struggled with whether or not he should go take a peek at the Brocade Guard.

However, Fang Xiaoru's parting words still echoed in his ears. What if Zhu Di went mad the moment he got there?

And he had no idea whether Zhu Di had left yet or not.

After hesitating for a long time, Chen Kan decided to go take a sneak peek—just one peek.

He got up, grabbed a bite to eat, took his identity plaque, and went out in disguise.

Walking over to the Brocade Guard headquarters, Chen Kan bypassed the main entrance and slipped in through the back door.

"Huh?"

"My Lord, why didn't you use the front door?"

"Shh—"

Chen Kan looked at Huang Gou'er and made a gesture for silence.

Pulling him into a corner like a thief, he asked, "Why are you here? Has His Majesty left?"

Huang Gou'er replied with a straight face, "Reporting to My Lord, today happens to be my day on duty, and His Majesty returned to the palace early this morning."

"That's a relief!"

Chen Kan's conscience was pricking him fiercely.

After causing such a huge commotion yesterday, he was skipping work right under Zhu Di's nose today.

He felt the intense nervousness of someone who took their pay without doing any work, and almost got caught by the boss in the act.

"By the way, what did His Majesty say?"

"This—this subordinate wouldn't know. I only saw that after His Majesty met with the Lord Commander, he returned to the palace in high spirits."

A look of difficulty appeared on Huang Gou'er's face. Being a mere nobody, he didn't even have the qualification to approach His Majesty; how could he possibly know what His Majesty had said?

"In high spirits?"

Chen Kan keenly caught the keyword in Huang Gou'er's words.

If he was in high spirits, then everything should be fine now, right?

"What about the officials who were arrested yesterday?"

"After His Majesty came this morning, the officials without any suspicion have already left with His Majesty. Those confirmed to be in collusion with the deposed Prince of Jin have been handed over to the Court of Judicial Review and will be executed shortly."

Having found out everything he wanted to know, Chen Kan dusted off his clothes and slipped back out through the back door. Before leaving, he glared at Huang Gou'er and threatened, "I was never here today."

"This subordinate understands."

Huang Gou'er wore a knowing look.

"Wahahaha..."

"What you seek is right before you, yet you search far and wide; how effortless it is to find!"

"How dare you trespass into the Brocade Guard grounds! Men, capture this madman for me. I suspect this fellow is a remnant party of the Jin rebels."

Before Chen Kan even had time to step outside, a burst of arrogant laughter rang out.

In the next instant, he was overwhelmed by a tide of Brocade Guard agents.

"My Lord, it's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

No matter how Chen Kan struggled, the Brocade Guard officers who held him tightly in their grip acted as if they heard nothing at all.

Li Jinglong slowly walked up to Chen Kan, flashed a sinister smile, and then waved a hand. "Come, drag this fellow to the imperial prison. I shall interrogate him personally."

Then, Chen Kan's feet left the ground as he was hoisted up.

Chen Kan cursed inwardly, but seeing the intense hatred in Li Jinglong's eyes, he softened his tone and pleaded, "Duke, Lord Duke, it's me, Chen Kan! I'm no remnant of the Jin rebels."

Li Jinglong acted as though he had heard the most absurd joke in the world, turning to ask those around him, "Chen Kan? Who is that? Do you guys know him?"

The Brocade Guard officers shook their heads in unison.

"Drag him into the imperial prison."

At Li Jinglong's command, Chen Kan was dragged into the prison and hung up on a wooden frame like a piece of cured meat.

Li Jinglong put on a show of picking up a red-hot branding iron and gesturing with it in front of Chen Kan's eyes. Even from a distance, Chen Kan could already feel his skin starting to smart from the heat.

"Duke, stay calm!"

With his hands bound and his body suspended from the frame, facing the unhinged Li Jinglong, Chen Kan could only kick his legs repeatedly in protest.

"My Lord, hear me out! This subordinate has his unspeakable difficulties."

Li Jinglong obediently put down the branding iron. Instead, he picked up a chilling, glittering long needle about half a foot in length, brushed it casually against Chen Kan's body, and said, "I hear that when this thing is jammed under your fingernails, it hurts so much people wish they were dead!"

Then came an iron whip, finger-crushing boards, and gold-melon mallets—a whole array of torture instruments were arranged in a circle beneath Chen Kan.

He was completely numb.

Knowing that Li Jinglong was just trying to scare him, Chen Kan stopped struggling. He looked at Li Jinglong and said earnestly, "Duke, this subordinate didn't mean to screw you over. If you take me down first, can this subordinate explain it all to you in detail?"

Li Jinglong raised his head, looked at Chen Kan, and sneered, "Do you have any idea how badly His Majesty chewed me out this morning?"

"I have no idea."

Chen Kan obediently shook his head.

Li Jinglong's eyes suddenly turned red, and he landed a punch right in Chen Kan's stomach, nearly knocking the stomach acid right out of him.

"For an entire morning, I knelt in the main hall of the Brocade Guard for an entire morning until my legs went completely numb. Do you know that?"

"Duke, this subordinate really didn't know."

As soon as Chen Kan opened his mouth, another punch from Li Jinglong struck his abdomen.

"Is there anything you couldn't have discussed with me beforehand? If you said you wanted to trap Ji Gang, would I have disagreed?"

"The situation was urgent at the time, and this subordinate had to act hastily..."

Chen Kan intended to offer a proper defense, but unceremoniously, Li Jinglong delivered yet another punch.

This time, Chen Kan couldn't hold it back; a mouthful of bile involuntarily spewed out.

As if anticipating this, Li Jinglong simply sidestepped to avoid it.

Chen Kan grew angry as well and snapped, "That's about enough! You'd better kill me today, because the moment I get the chance, I will definitely finish you off!"

"Oh ho, you dare threaten me!"

Li Jinglong raised his fist, but ultimately did not strike Chen Kan again.

He gestured to the Brocade Guard officers beside him, and Chen Kan felt the tension on his wrists loosen as he dropped straight to the floor.

Massaging his wrists, which were chafed and aching from the ropes, Chen Kan clutched his stomach and sat down nearby.

"Speak, then. How are we going to wrap this up? If you can't give me a one-two-three, even if your teacher is the Minister of Personnel, this Duke wouldn't mind picking a fight with him."

Li Jinglong walked over and squatted down in front of Chen Kan. If he still didn't know by now that yesterday's events were all Chen Kan's doing, he truly would have been a fool.

But matters had reached this point; it was impossible for him to actually kill Chen Kan. Giving him a beating to vent his anger was quite enough.

If they forged a mortal enmity, it would benefit neither of them.

Chen Kan glared at Li Jinglong with lingering resentment, then slowly said, "How does the Duke think this should be wrapped up?"

"I think? I think I should hand you over to Ji Gang to be killed so he can vent his anger, while I continue being my Commander. How does that sound?"

"It sounds terrible!"

Chen Kan rolled his eyes. "Judging by the current situation, His Majesty has already pinned yesterday's score on Commander Ji Gang. And since you interrogated Zhu Jiwei, it's equivalent to cutting off Commander Ji Gang's retreat. In other words, even if Commander Ji Gang kills me, the feud between you and him can never be resolved."

"Yeah, and that's precisely what I find so baffling. How the hell did I ever offend you, making you so determined to screw me over like this?"

Li Jinglong cupped his chin in his hand, his face a picture of pure bewilderment.