The night outside had grown deep, and when Xiao Yan stepped out, he saw someone standing in the dimness.
He approached, and the person hurriedly bowed. “Governor.”
“What is it?”
“Eunuch Feng sent word that a fire broke out in the Cold Palace tonight. Yu Yanfeng pleaded guilty but wasn’t punished. Emperor An, though angry and scolding, only delayed his flogging, saying he’d face punishment once his injuries healed. Eunuch Feng says Emperor An has no intention of handing the palace guard to Commander Liu.”
Xiao Yan lowered his gaze, his eyes cold. He had always known Yu Yanfeng was Emperor An’s confidant, trusted even more than himself, an inner eunuch.
Yu Yanfeng commanded a secret guard dedicated to protecting the emperor. Though only the deputy commander of the imperial guard, most of the palace’s security power rested in his hands.
In contrast, Liu Tong’en, the nominal commander of the imperial guard, held a higher rank but seemed to carry an empty title. He could enter the palace without summons and mobilize the guard but never vied for power with Yu Yanfeng.
More curiously, Liu Tong’en didn’t report daily and would occasionally vanish for days without Emperor An ever questioning it.
Xiao Yan had previously investigated Liu Tong’en, whose background was unusually clean. It was said he once saved Emperor An’s life and had been injured protecting the palace in his youth, earning the emperor’s special favor to “rest” in his role as commander. Outsiders saw it as an empty title, but Xiao Yan found it suspicious.
Recently, he had deliberately stirred trouble in the palace, causing Yu Yanfeng to be disciplined. Given Emperor An’s temperament, even with trust, he should have grown suspicious or punished Yu harshly. Yet, the emperor seemed reluctant to let Yu Yanfeng be too injured to serve, and showed no intention of letting Liu Tong’en take over the palace guard.
Why?
Xiao Yan’s eyes darkened as he rubbed his fingertips, then heard the man whisper, “Eunuch Feng said that after you left the palace, Emperor An summoned Commander Liu alone, with no one else present. But outside, he faintly heard the emperor instructing Liu to investigate the Lu family and mentioning something about a ‘decree’…”
Xiao Yan’s sharp eyes turned icy, and he said curtly, “Understood. After you return, send Eunuch Feng fifty thousand taels of silver and find good tutors for his two ‘grandsons’ to begin their education.”
To win Feng’s loyalty, threats alone would only breed resentment.
Though they were on the same boat and Feng was already bound to him, Xiao Yan never underestimated anyone.
The man bowed. “Yes.”
After the palace messenger left, Xiao Yan stood in the courtyard for a long time.
He had always been wary of the emperor’s shadowy private army, which he could find no trace of. That army would surely be entrusted to the emperor’s most trusted person—could it be Liu Tong’en?
But he still couldn’t fathom where the emperor sourced the men for this private army, let alone the money and provisions. Wei’s population wasn’t large, and the military struggled to recruit enough soldiers. Household registries tracked populations closely, so how could the emperor raise an army of tens of thousands, or more, without anyone noticing?
…
When Tangning’s fever broke, dawn was just breaking. Canglang returned, reeking of blood, and reported the interrogation results to Xiao Yan with some difficulty.
Xiao Yan sat quietly in the outer room, listening, but anyone could feel the murderous aura radiating from him.
“When Lady Rong was sent back to the household, she wasn’t yet dead, but they claimed she and Song Xi had perished. Old Madam Song had her placed in a coffin in the Song family ancestral hall, interrogating her about the whereabouts of the Dragon Jade Decree. When Lady Rong refused to speak, Old Madam Song, in anger, ordered the coffin sealed to ‘teach her a lesson.’”
“They didn’t expect the coffin, sealed with wax and gold foil for preservation, to be airtight. Lady Rong was suffocated alive inside, and the young lady witnessed her struggling and dying in the coffin.”
Canglang’s head hung lower, his voice heavy.
“The young lady, still a child, cried uncontrollably after witnessing it. Fearing she’d leak the truth and that Grand Tutor Rong would never forgive them, the Song family used the excuse that Second Master Song and the others had died, that Old Madam Song was overwhelmed with grief, and that the young lady was heartbroken by the scene. They took her to the Song family’s manor.”
“Song Hong wanted to kill the young lady outright, but Old Madam Song disagreed. She didn’t want to lose the Rong family’s support. Having heard of shady households that trained young children into obedient tools with cruel methods, she kept the young lady and had Prince Cheng and Song Hong ensure Grand Tutor Rong fell ill from grief over his daughter’s death, while Princess Cheng was too busy tending to him to notice.”
Xiao Yan’s fingers clenched until they turned white. “What methods?”
The room fell silent for a long time before a voice spoke again.
“Like training a dog, they train people.”
Canglang’s face was grim, his throat tight, struggling to speak.
“They lock disobedient people in cramped, lightless confinement, tormenting them daily with unspeakable methods to break their spirit. When the person is driven to despair, unable to die, the ‘master’ steps in. A few kind words are enough to make the trained cling to them like a drowning person clutching driftwood, never letting go.”
“Those skilled in this are ruthless. After days of such torment, even the strongest-willed become timid and numb, dependent on the ‘driftwood’ that spares them pain, obeying without question…”
Like taming a ferocious dog, stripping its ferocity to make it the most obedient pet.
A single word from the master could mean life or death.
*Crack!*
The edge of the bed broke under Xiao Yan’s hand. His eyes blazed red. Though he had suspected the Song family’s vile actions against Tangning, he never imagined his little girl had endured such treatment in her childhood.
The Song family…
The Song family!!
Xiao Yan’s throat felt blocked, his rage urging him to tear the Song family apart. After a long moment, he said coldly, “Why didn’t Tangning…”
Canglang understood his question and answered softly, “According to the Song family, the young lady was indeed trained to obey Old Madam Song completely. And since Empress Lu wanted to pave the way for the Song family and align with the Rong family through marriage, she, along with Song Jin Xiu and Lu Zhinian, used the same methods to make the young lady deeply dependent on them.”
“But then the young lady fell gravely ill, with a high fever and near death. It happened that Lady Rong visited her, and the Song family had no time to cover their tracks.”
“Old Madam Song was terrified, fearing Lady Rong would notice something or that the young lady wasn’t fully broken. But when the young lady woke, she had forgotten everything.”
“She couldn’t recall the cause of Lady Rong’s death or anything from her time at the manor. Everything related to Lady Rong was gone from her memory.”
“Lady Rong thought it was due to overwhelming grief and didn’t suspect anything. The Song family tested her several times, and seeing she truly remembered nothing, they relaxed.”
Canglang’s voice grew angrier as he spoke:
“She forgot those events, but because of what happened, she instinctively clung to Old Madam Song, especially Song Jin Xiu and Lu Zhinian. She was fixated on them, which is why Empress Lu later managed to orchestrate the engagement between the young lady and the Lu family.”
Everyone thought Tangning was deeply in love with Lu Zhinian, shamelessly clinging to the Lu family despite her noble status. But who could have imagined that her so-called “devotion” was a calculated manipulation from start to finish?
Canglang’s blood boiled thinking of what he learned from interrogating the Song family and Empress Lu.
Tangning was only five or six years old back then, and they dared to treat her like that.
These people were worse than beasts!
Listening to Canglang, Xiao Yan’s face darkened like frost. He thought of Tangning’s tears, her unconscious cries for “Mother.” His sharp eyes slowly turned bloodshot.
“Take the Song family and Lu Qingfeng,” he said, “and flay them, one cut at a time.”
“Three cuts a day. Don’t let them die. Even if only a skeleton is left, keep them alive!”
Letting them die so easily would be too merciful!
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T/N: Google “Flaying Punishment” to find out more (They deserve worse)====================
You can read ahead to chapterr 470 (100+ extra chapters) here
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