#23 - trial
When Wei Changtian pushed open the courtyard door with an old hen in his hand, the two chickens in the yard immediately began to squawk, offering him the warmest of welcomes.
“Ah! Young Master, why did you buy a chicken too?”
Yuan’er dodged the chicken feathers on the ground and quickly walked to Wei Changtian's side, a hint of curiosity in her voice.
Wei Changtian asked in astonishment, “Wait, first tell me where these two chickens came from?”
Yuan’er answered truthfully, “One was just brought by Miss, and the other was bought by Qiu Yun-jie at Madam’s request this morning.”
Wei Changtian was a little surprised, “Lu Jingyao asked for it?”
“Yes, Madam said she was afraid Miss would blame Young Master for stewing her chicken, so she wanted to buy one.”
Yuan’er looked at the chicken in Wei Changtian's hand, covered her mouth and laughed, “Young Master thought so too, right?”
“Hmph, it seems mine won’t make much difference now.”
Wei Changtian snorted and threw the hen on the ground, “Now they can all play 'Fight the Landlord'.”
“Fight the Landlord?” Yuan’er blinked.
“Ahem, it’s a little game to pass the time, I’ll teach you how to play it when I have the chance in the future.”
Wei Changtian chuckled and glossed over it, striding into the house.
Wei Qiaoling had already lost interest in learning to write and was now sleeping on Da Gui’s body.
Lu Jingyao was sitting at the table reading a book. Seeing him enter, she closed the book and asked softly, “You came back a little later today than usual.”
“Oh, I’ll be back at this time from now on.”
Wei Changtian replied casually, “I found someone to teach me martial arts, one hour a day.”
“Is that so…”
Just then, Wang Er suddenly entered from outside, looking anxious, “Young Master, the Master wants you to go over there quickly, saying it’s about Xiao… ahem.”
He glanced at Lu Jingyao beside him and immediately shut his mouth nervously.
Wei Changtian also squinted at the former.
They saw Lu Jingyao lowering her head, her eyebrows slightly furrowed, as if she was pondering something important.
The room was silent for a moment, with only Wei Qiaoling’s pig-like snores rising and falling.
Wang Er: Bad, bad! What to do! I'm definitely going to be blamed by the Young Master later!
Wei Changtian: Looking at this, she really still cares about Xiao Feng! Hmm? Why does it seem not so much?
Lu Jingyao: What should I do to make my husband give up martial arts and take up writing, so troubled...
… …
“Tell me the details of what happened again!”
Inside the dark room, Wei Xianzhi and Wei Changtian each sat on a chair, with a spy from the Embroidered Uniform Guard standing beside them.
“Yes, Lord Wei!”
The spy responded and bowed to look at Wei Changtian.
“Young Master Wei, we discovered traces of Xiao Feng in Houqiu Village, north of the city.”
“According to the villagers, Xiao Feng had been injured and came to Houqiu Village a few days ago. Since then, he has been living in the home of an old man surnamed Liu, who is being cared for by the old man’s granddaughter.”
“Oh, Houqiu Village doesn’t have a village chief. The old man Liu is in charge of all the affairs in the village.”
“Wait a minute.”
Wei Changtian interrupted and asked, “A few days ago? Exactly how many days? Also, what’s the name of that old man’s granddaughter?”
“Reporting to Young Master.”
The spy replied in a deep voice, “It was on the evening of seven days ago. The girl is called Liu Yingying, and she is twelve years old.”
“Okay, continue.”
“Yes.”
The spy paused for a moment, then continued, “At that time, a total of four brothers from the Embroidered Uniform Guard went. I was worried that they might not be a match for Xiao Feng, so I sent someone back to the bureau for reinforcements, while I took the remaining two to keep an eye on the Liu family’s movements inside and out.”
“We have never dared to relax, but we have indeed not noticed anything unusual.”
“After the experts from the bureau arrived, we sneaked into the Liu family together, but besides two pieces of Xiao Feng’s clothing, we didn’t find anyone. It is estimated that Xiao Feng had already left before we arrived.”
“Your subordinate is incompetent, please forgive me, Young Master!”
The spy stood up straight with a “snap” and stopped talking. After Wei Changtian thought for a while, he asked, “That Liu Yingying, and her grandfather, have they been brought back?”
“They have been brought back and are being held in the prison.”
“Have they been interrogated?”
“They have been interrogated simply, but no torture has been used. Both of them claim that they do not know Xiao Feng.”
“Okay.”
Wei Changtian turned to look at Wei Xianzhi, “Dad, I want to go there.”
… …
Hanging Mirror Division, Criminal Prison.
The function of the Hanging Mirror Division is to investigate cases and kill people. Long-term detention of prisoners is the job of the Ministry of Justice, so besides the “Demon Suppressing Prison” which is specially used to imprison monsters, there is only a small Criminal Prison in the division, mainly used for interrogation.
In the damp and narrow passage, the fire flickered. Wei Changtian looked at the person beside him and felt that he looked familiar.
“Have I seen you somewhere?”
The black-clothed constable hurriedly replied, “Young Master Wei, I am Guo Ying. I had the honor of fighting with you on the arena the day before yesterday.”
“Oh, that’s why.”
Wei Changtian nodded, “Brother Guo, where are the two people being held now?”
“Reporting to Young Master, the big one is in Jia Two, and the small one is in Bing Three.”
Guo Ying was flattered by the title “Brother Guo”, his face full of flattery, “Which one does Young Master want to interrogate first?”
“Interrogate the big one first.”
Wei Changtian thought for a while, then whispered a few words in Guo Ying’s ear.
“… … Understood?”
“Yes, I understand.”
A trace of surprise flashed across Guo Ying’s face, but he quickly returned to normal.
A few minutes later.
The iron door of Jia Two’s torture chamber was slowly pushed open. Surrounded by various torture instruments, an old man with white hair was tied to a chair, unable to move.
“Lord Wei, Lord Guo.”
Two constables hurriedly got up, and then Guo Ying waved them out of the torture chamber.
“You guys go out.”
“Yes!”
“Creak~”
After a while, the iron door closed tightly.
Wei Changtian looked around, then strolled to the old man with a determined face and said softly, “Tell me everything you know about Xiao Feng.”
“I don’t know Xiao Feng!”
The old man’s eyes were firm, making it clear that he would rather die than speak.
“Why are you unwilling to speak?”
Wei Changtian muttered to himself, “Let me guess… according to the usual melodramatic routine, he must have saved your lives, right?”
“…”
The look of astonishment in the old man’s eyes undoubtedly confirmed this guess.
Wei Changtian smiled, reached out and patted him on the shoulder, “You are righteous and loyal, unwilling to betray your benefactor even to death.”
“But don’t forget, you still have a granddaughter.”
“Do you know what will happen to her?”
“…”
The old man’s face was pale, but he still gritted his teeth and refused to give in.
Just then, Guo Ying next to him suddenly took a step closer, smiling with a lewd and sinister look on his face:
“Lord, that little girl looks good!”
“Hehe, we little ones are stuck in this dark prison every day, and our mouths have been watering for a long time!”
“Slurp~”
“Why don’t you stop interrogating, brothers can’t wait any longer!”
“…”
Looking at Guo Ying’s consummate acting skills, Wei Changtian was speechless for a moment.
This guy is probably playing himself.
Silently slandering in his heart, his face was very calm, and he cooperated according to the “script”: “In that case, give that girl a hallucinogenic drug and wipe out her memory.”
“You guys take turns playing with her for a few days, and when you’re done, make her a prison prostitute.”
Looking at the trembling, almost fainting old man, Wei Changtian finally leaned over and added:
“Tsk tsk tsk, old man.”
“You harmed your own granddaughter like this, aren’t you afraid that she will turn into a vengeful ghost after death and come to find you?”
“…”
“Devil, devil…”
“You are all devils!”
“I’ll talk! I’ll talk about everything!!”
“Please, let my granddaughter go! Let my granddaughter go!!”
