In the cold torture room of the Dali Temple, Zhou Huai was sitting on a cold torture chair in shackles. Because of the Emperor’s decree—no one was allowed to torture Zhou Huai, Zhou Huai had been fine for so many days after he came in. He had not even been tortured.

He refused to confess even when he was tortured, let alone when he wasn’t tortured. He sat there arrogantly like a lord. The minister of the Dali Temple was angered to death by this fellow, but there was a personal guard sent by the Emperor guarding him. He couldn’t even stab Zhou Huai secretly.

The minister took a sip of cold tea to suppress his anger. “Zhou Huai, how many times do I have to ask before you’re willing to confess?”

“What should I confess?” Zhou Huai said casually.

The minister said, “Has General Xiao not summoned Yan Congming alone since he obtained the list of spies?”

Zhou Huai snorted coldly. “You ask me? Then who should I ask?”

The minister of the Dali Temple was about to explode with anger. Young Master Yan had urged him for the results, but the Emperor refused to give it. Zhou Huai had clearly calculated the Emperor’s thoughts and was acting shamelessly in front of him.

The minister said, “As far as I know, the list of spies was obtained on the night of the attack on the Northwest Army Camp. From the time you infiltrated the enemy camp to the time you retreated into the snow mountain, you have been by General Xiao’s side. You know very well who he has seen and who he has not. I advise you to tell the truth. Otherwise, just the crime of resisting arrest many times is enough for you to spend half your life in prison!”

Zhou Huai snorted in disdain.

The minister of the Dali Temple clenched his fists and almost said the words “torture him”. He glanced at the Emperor’s personal guards at the side, stood up, walked to Zhou Huai’s side, and whispered, “Don’t think that I really can’t punish you. If I lure them away, I can kill you with a word.”

Zhou Huai looked at him calmly without any fear in his eyes. “Use all the torture tools on me. If I call out once, it’ll be my loss.”

The minister of the Dali Temple looked into his eyes and understood that he was not lying. Before they interrogated him, the minister of the Dali Temple had already investigated his background. He was an outlaw. He was only loyal to Xiao Yan in his life. A year ago, in order to spy on the Xiongnu enemies, he was captured by the Xiongnu people as bait. Those people’s methods were much crueler than the Dali Temple. They even drugged Zhou Huai, but he held on.

This was a tough bone that no one could chew. Even if the Emperor did not interfere, the minister of the Dali Temple was not confident that he could pry open his mouth.

The minister left angrily.

Zhou Huai sneered and smugly let someone escort him back to his cell.

The Emperor treated him quite well. Not only did he not let anyone torture him, but he also arranged for his closest guards to guard him. He did not doubt that this group of people would turn a blind eye even if he wanted to escape. However, he was not that stupid. Yan Huaijing already regretted locking him in the Dali Temple. The moment he went out, he would fall into his hands or Yan Jiuchao’s hands. In short, he was the most comfortable in the Dali Temple.

Zhou Huai fell asleep on the wooden board after eating his prison food.

That Yu fellow wanted him to testify for him? Dream on!

Zhou Huai quickly fell asleep.

In his half-asleep state, he felt the cell door being pushed open. His first reaction was that there was an assassin, but his second reaction was that there were the Emperor’s personal guards standing outside. Who could barge in without any regard for their lives? It was most likely to see if he was dead or not.

Zhou Huai fell asleep again in peace, but not long after, he felt a cold hand grab his throat.

His throat tightened. Following his instinctive reaction, he grabbed the hand, but there were only two cracking sounds as his arm was dislocated.

All of this happened too quickly for him to react.

One had to know that his martial arts were definitely not inferior to any secret guards. Even the sacrificial soldiers of the royal family might not be able to defeat him, but what happened just now? Before he could attack, his arm was dislocated.

He wanted to scream, but he realized that he could not make a sound in his throat. He tried to look at the other party, but he could not lift his head at all.

The hand grabbed his neck and dragged him out of the cell like a sack.

The guards outside the door had fallen at some point. The prisoners had fallen asleep. The corridor was quiet, leaving only the sound of themselves rubbing the floor.

The end of the corridor looked like the mouth of a giant beast.

Zhou Huai had never been afraid of anything in his life. However, at this moment, an ominous feeling surged in his heart.

Click.

The lock on the torture chamber had been twisted off.

Zhou Huai was dragged into the torture room and tied to a cold torture rack. Zhou Huai’s head was broken halfway, and blood flowed down and blurred his eyes. He could not see the other party’s appearance clearly, but he could vaguely guess why he was here.

He sneered. “If you want to force me to testify for Yu Shaoqing, then I advise you not to cause trouble. Even if I die, I won’t let that guy have an easy time!”

“Is that so?”

The other party spoke indifferently.

Zhou Huai’s expression froze.

A woman?

“I’ll ask you one last time. Do you want to testify for Yu Shaoqing?”

This voice was not loud and could even be said to be gentle, but it echoed in the empty torture room and inexplicably made one’s back turn cold.

Zhou Huai was stunned for a moment, but he quickly came back to his senses and said disdainfully, “Hmph, my answer is the same no matter how many times you ask. He deserves to be robbed of his military achievements! I want him to never be able to clear his name for the rest of his life! I want him to never be able to lift his head! He will be a sinner for the rest of his life!”

Sizzle—

It was the sound of a long saber slowly being unsheathed.

Zhou Huai laughed. “Do you want to chop off my hand or my foot? I might as well tell you that there’s no point in me living anymore since General Xiao is already dead. So what if you dismember me? Do you really think I’m afraid? If this method was useful to me, I would have long been subdued by the Xiongnu back then! You can punish me however you want!”

She said, “Who said I was going to torture you?”

Zhou Huai was stunned. “Then what are you going to do?”

Zhou Huai could not see clearly, but he inexplicably felt the other party smile gently at him. Then, his pants turned cold!

He was shocked. “What are you going to do?!”

“To castrate you,” she said with a smile.

Zhou Huai: “…!!”

… .

Before dawn, the minister of the Dali Temple was woken up by a servant.

“Master! Master! Zhou Huai… Zhou Huai is willing to confess!”

The minister did not know what Zhou Huai had experienced and why he had changed his mind in one night.

He went to the Dali Temple.

“Boohoo…” Zhou Huai cried like a child.

Uh… What happened to being fearless and not even blinking when he was tortured?

The minister took a deep breath. “Zhou Huai, you…”

Before he could finish, Zhou Huai said with snot and tears, “Boohoo… I’ll say… I’ll say everything… Don’t hit me…”

Especially don’t hit my balls…

Boohoo…

It hurts…

My balls hurt…

The minister of the Dali Temple, who didn’t know what was going on: “…”

No matter what, it was a good thing that Zhou Huai could confess. From the moment he saw Zhou Huai, he knew that Yu Shaoqing had been wronged. Since he had been wronged, he should clear his name. The minister of the Dali Temple immediately sorted out Zhou Huai’s confession. Zhou Huai could not wait to sign on it. After he signed it, he looked at him expectantly like a baby waiting to be praised.

“…” The minister patted his head awkwardly. “…Good, good.”

In the evening, the minister took Zhou Huai’s confession and entered the palace.

“Your Majesty, the minister of the Dali Temple requests an audience,” Eunuch Wang reported softly outside the imperial study.

“Come in,” the Emperor said flatly.

The minister walked into the study, cupped his hands, and bowed. He presented Zhou Huai’s testimony to the Emperor and said, “Your Majesty, Zhou Huai has confessed everything. Ever since General Xiao obtained the list of spies, he did not summon Yan Congming alone. Yan Congming has no chance of obtaining the list from General Xiao. However, General Xiao was saved by Yu Shaoqing before he died. It was Yu Shaoqing who accompanied General Xiao on his last journey. The list was undoubtedly entrusted to Yu Shaoqing by General Xiao.”

The Emperor said expressionlessly, “I understand. You can leave. Don’t let word of this leak out first. I have my own decision.”

The minister had done everything he could. What happened next was not something he could interfere with.

After the minister left, Eunuch Wang walked in with a pot of tea.

The Emperor unhurriedly tore up the testimony. “Hmph, do you think that just because you have testimony, it’s foolproof? This world is my world. Without my permission, I want to see who can avenge Yu Shaoqing!”

The Emperor returned to his bedchamber.

After suppressing Yu Shaoqing’s case, the Emperor was in a good mood. He flipped to the green card of a favored concubine and fell asleep in satisfaction.

The next day, Eunuch Wang came to wake the Emperor up as usual. Unexpectedly, just as he reached the door, he heard the scream of the favored concubine.