Shen Hao's face slowly broke into a smile.
These past two days had really put him in a grim mood. When facing Li Bing, he'd even had to put on a frightened act and actively avoid him—one could only imagine how stifled he felt.
Luckily, Wang Jian had come through. The information he'd just brought back was enough for Shen Hao to launch a deeper investigation.
"Alright, let's get this Wu Sanhe into our hands and see what kind of colors he shows."
"But, won't that alert the enemy?"
"So, we need a different method. Come here, lean in…"
...
One day later.
Early morning, East Market.
Wu Sanhe was now fifty-four this year, already serving as the Chief Steward of the Li Family's main branch. He'd climbed up from being a cook, and now on the street, even officials from the government office smiled and greeted him, "Steward Wu."
Wu Sanhe knew exactly who gave him his status, so he'd always served the family with all his heart and soul.
Three years ago, Old Master Li said he wanted to taste the brown sugar millet porridge Wu used to make as a cook. Since then, Wu personally prepared lunch for the old man every five days—all the ingredients handpicked at the East Market, just to show his sincerity.
Today's shopping list: tofu, spring onions, crucian carp, rapeseed greens, and some mild rice wine.
After making the rounds, Wu Sanhe had just stepped into the same rice wine shop he'd known for years when he immediately sensed something wrong. Two black-robed warriors sprang out from both sides of the shop. One slammed the door shut, while the other swiftly twisted Wu's arms behind his back. Whatever trick they used, he found himself unable to move a muscle.
"Do you know who I—mmmph, mmph—!"
Before he could finish, a filthy rag was jammed into his mouth, and then a black cloth hood was pulled right over his head.
It all took less than ten breaths. The two black-robed warriors marched Wu Sanhe out the shop's back door, shoved him onto a covered carriage, and changed routes all the way back to the Xuanqing Guard's Black Banner Battalion compound.
...
"General Flag, the person's been brought in."
"No mistakes?"
"None. We'd staked him out all day. Also bribed a Li Family servant ahead of time and found out Wu Sanhe would be shopping at East Market this morning. We grabbed him at the rice wine shop—and controlled its shopkeep and boy, too. We took all precautions on the way back. Even if the Li Family comes looking, it'll be tomorrow at the soonest."
"Good. Let's get moving. As long as we pry open Wu Sanhe's mouth, the case lands in our favor."
"Understood. Don't worry, General Flag. Even if Wu Sanhe were a stone, we'd make him talk." Wang Jian gave a sinister grin and strode off.
Poor Wu Sanhe was already scared silly.
Once the hood was yanked off, he saw he'd been tied naked to a cross pillar. On the left, a brazier was piled with red-hot Iron Walnuts. On the right stood a rack loaded with pliers, chisels, bamboo splinters, whips, spiked rods—so many torture tools he couldn't even name them all, but just looking sent chills down his spine.
This… this was an interrogation chamber?!
The Li Family's eldest son was a Flag Officer in the Xuanqing Guard. Wu Sanhe had heard plenty about the infamous interrogation chambers here. Now, his old heart felt like it might just stop beating.
"It's all a misunderstanding! You've got the wrong man, haven't you? I'm Wu Sanhe! The Chief Steward of Li Bing—Flag Officer Li's household! We're all on the same side here, brothers!"
"Tch. A pathetic money shop scammer still dares claim he's the Chief Steward for Flag Officer Li's house? Careful, you might sprain your tongue with all that wind!"
Two burly, shirtless men fiddled with the tools, casually preparing for the session, clearly not believing a word Wu Sanhe said.
"It's true! If you don't believe me, send someone to Li's to check—I really am their Chief Steward!"
"A Chief Steward buying groceries himself? Save your breath. Rest for now—you'll need your strength in a bit."
Just after a couple sentences, Wu Sanhe's mouth was stuffed again, this time not with a dirty rag, but with an Iron Walnut fitted with bindings. He couldn't even close his mouth, let alone speak.
The two men glanced over the interrogation checklist and silently got ready. They'd only been recruited into Black Banner Battalion yesterday, specialized just for torture work—technical experts, with a higher pay grade and much less to do than before.
So, after receiving the job, the two men were in top spirits. "Can't just take the money and not do the work, right? They want results today, we'll get it done in half a day! Let's show them real craftsmanship!"
"Brother Zhou, should we start with three light appetizers?"
"No, just one appetizer to warm him up. Then go straight to three rounds of heavy stuff—leave the top-rack toys out, this guy's body's not sturdy enough, if he dies it'll be a mess. And put a thick cushion behind his head, tie it steady—don't want him thrashing and hurting himself."
"Relax, Brother Zhou, you know how I work! I'll make sure he's well cared for!"
The two bantered like waiters in a tavern, chit-chatting as they set up their "work"—except their "job" was a live person.
Anybody gonna give a damn about the feelings of a stark-naked, gagged Wu Sanhe tied to a cross pillar?
He was about to piss himself!
Wu Sanhe was just a cook. Even after working up to Chief Steward, he was still an ordinary man at heart. His experiences may have been complicated, but he'd never had the tenacity of some crazy evil cultivator. So, when faced with torture, Wu Sanhe's expressions went limp fast.
Just a single "appetizer" was enough to have Wu Sanhe wailing for his father and mother. They'd only gotten halfway through the three lower-body "main dishes" when he started blinking frantically—his secret signal: "I'll tell you whatever you want, swear I'm not hiding anything."
"This guy's too soft. I was just getting into it and he gave in—boring."
"Enough talk. Get the confession to Wang Xiaoqi, and call someone to drag this guy out. Mop the floor too—goddamn, he pissed and shit himself everywhere, stinks like hell."
...
Shen Hao had just come back after lunch when Wang Jian strode in with a freshly inked confession statement.
"General Flag, that spineless bastard cracked. The batch of so-called 'Yulin Rice' coming in from Yunyang the other day was all made up—just to get the money shop to wave through some big transactions. After being passed through two hands, the money all ended up in the Li Family main branch's accounts."
Hearing this, Shen Hao abruptly stood from his chair.
"You're sure it hit the main branch's official accounts, not Li Bing's private stash?"
"Not private, official main branch accounts. I just double-checked. Wu Sanhe doesn't seem to be lying, and besides this Yunyang smuggling case we were digging into, he spilled a lot more. At least sixty percent of the dirty money Li Bing makes outside all gets funneled into the Li Family main branch accounts."
And not just income, but expenditures too. These past few years Wu Sanhe has been directing big cash gifts from the Li Family to many officials in Fengri City—supposedly in the name of maintaining good relations, but the sums are so enormous it clearly won't stand up to scrutiny. Even, even Households Commander Jiang has received plenty of "tribute" from the Li household."