Chapter 154 - Such a Good Wife?

Everyone looked at Shen Ninghua in astonishment. Finding out the truth from these men of sacrifice wasn’t something that could be done with simple coercion and temptation. Shen Ninghua was just an unmarried young lady. No matter how intelligent she was, she shouldn’t know much about interrogation. The methods she knew might not even count as a small trick in front of these people.

Many people who had a grudge with Shen Ninghua looked on coldly, waiting to see her make a fool of herself. Baili Anning frowned in worry. She wanted to stop Shen Ninghua, but she did not dare to show it in public. She could only signal at Shen Ninghua with her eyes.

Shen Ninghua gave Baili Anning a comforting gaze before walking down the stairs to stand beside Chu Junyi.

“Ninghua, don’t force yourself.” Chu Junyi said worriedly.

“It’s ok.”

Today, she offended the empress by refusing to marry Bu Jinglan. Zhao Huiying would not embarrass her openly. However, those who supported the empress and the Zhao family wouldn’t bear it. Rather than passively enduring their schemes, it would be better to use powerful methods to intimidate these people now. This way, she could filter out the small fish and shrimp and focus on dealing with the big fish.

The three men of sacrifice were firmly pressed onto the ground by the guards, but their expressions did not change at all. Since the mission had not been completed, it did not matter to them whether they were alive or dead.

Shen Ninghua slowly squatted down until her gaze was on the same level as the three of them. Then, she carefully sized up the three of them. A moment later, she stood up and pointed at the person in the middle. “Your Majesty, this person is the least likely to confess. Have him pulled down and beaten to death.” Her tone was very calm, as if she was saying that the weather was very good.

“Beaten to death? You haven’t asked anything yet. Isn’t it too hasty to kill a person?”

“That’s right. Prefectural Princess Zhaohua, if you don’t know how to interrogate, don’t force yourself. Although they are guilty, you can’t wantonly kill them!”

Shen Ninghua followed the voice and turned her head. Her eyes flashed with mockery. “This lord is really kind-hearted. In your eyes, beating an assassin to death is killing people wantonly. Could it be that you have come connection with these people?”

“Nonsense, how could I have any connection with an assassin!” The official hurriedly waved his sleeve and denied.

“Since you don’t have any connection with them, don’t worry about how I do my interrogation. If anyone doesn’t like it, they can come up and do the interrogation.”

Baili Qingcang expressed his support of Shen Ninghua. “Ninghua is right. I have asked for your opinion, but none of you was able to make these three people speak. Since you don’t know what to do, don’t interfere. Otherwise, I will have to think carefully about your purpose of helping these three assassins.”

“Yes, Your Majesty. We will obey your decree.” Hearing the emperor’s words, the officials below did not dare to say anything else, afraid that they would be treated as accomplices.

Shen Ninghua swept her gaze around the civil and military officials, and her expression became even colder. “Since there is no objection, then do as I said. Drag down this person in the middle and club him to death!”

The guards looked up at Baili Qingcang awkwardly, not knowing if they should obey Shen Ninghua’s order.

“Are my words useless? Didn’t you hear Prefectural Princess Zhaohua’s order?”

“Yes, we will do it now.” The guards who were reprimanded didn’t dare to hesitate. They hurriedly pulled out the assassin in the middle. Not long after, the sound of beating came from outside, but gradually, there was no sound at all.

A guard whose clothes were stained with blood quickly ran in to report, “Your Majesty, the assassin has been clubbed to death.”

“Alright.” Baili Qingcang nodded and looked down at Shen Ninghua, wondering what she would do next.

Shen Ninghua had just ordered to club a person to death, but she did not have the slightest discomfort in her eyes. She turned to the guard and said, “Bring him in.”

What?

The guard was stunned for a long time before he restored his senses. He didn’t believe what he had heard. There was a banquet in the hall. Wasn’t it inappropriate to bring in a person who had been beaten into a pile of blood and flesh? There were quite a few noble ladies and young misses attending the banquet!

Shen Ninghua’s eyes turned fierce. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Bring that person in.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.” Seeing that the emperor did not object, two guards gritted their teeth and went out to carry the dead man in.

The thick smell of blood spread out, and many women covered their mouths and noses with handkerchiefs. Some of them were even so scared that their entire bodies began to tremble and they cried from fear.

Shen Ninghua did not care about the bloodshed in front of her. In her previous life, she experienced all kinds of bloody scenes. She had personally witnessed herself being corroded into a piece of meat paste by the Corpse Melting Water. There was nothing else she could not endure. “I know some methods to nurture a man of sacrifice. One of them is to mark their owners on the assassins’ leg bones with special needles. Now that this person is dead, we can have a look.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Chu Junyi picked up a lancet from the ground with an eager smile in his eyes. “I’ve never heard of this method. Let me verify it for you.” As he spoke, he held the lancet in his hand, directly walked over and removed the dead man’s legs.

“Yuck!” Finally, someone couldn’t help but vomit. This sound was like a starting signal, and the surrounding people began to cry out in succession.

“Your Majesty, this is too cruel, too unbearable…”

Baili Qingcang frowned. His eyes flashed with unclear emotions, but he ignored the reactions of the surrounding women.

Chu Junyi used the blade to directly cut open the calf of the dead man, revealing the snow-white bone inside. However, there was nothing on it. “Well, there’s nothing on this leg, so it should be on the other leg.” As he spoke, he started to work on the other leg.

The uncomfortable reactions in the surroundings became more and more obvious. Even the two assassins under the control of the guards were dumbfounded. Cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.

As men of sacrifice, they had lost their humanity during the long training. If they were to die, they would not even blink their eyes. However, watching their fellow guy being dissected made their hair stand on end. After all, they were humans. As long as they were humans, they retained the basic humanity.

Shen Ninghua looked at the fluctuations in their expressions and curled her lips expressionlessly.

Chu Junyi used the same method to cut open the other leg. He really found a green mark on a calf bone. “I found it! I didn’t expect there was such a method. The pattern on it seems to be a coiling dragon.”

“Coiling dragon?” Baili Qingcang suddenly shouted. Coiling dragon, it was actually a coiling dragon. Wasn’t the villa found in the dense forest called Coiling Dragon Villa? Furthermore, there was a green coiling dragon as a mark on all the weapons that were made there!

Baili Qingcang descended the throne and stood beside Chu Junyi. When he saw the carvings on the leg bone, his gaze instantly became sharp. It was exactly the same! What connection did these people have with the Coiling Dragon Villa?

Shen Ninghua squatted down again. She lowered her head and looked at the other two men. “I’ve heard that some people don’t have tattoos on their legs, but on their spines or skulls. This method is extremely old and was abolished in the previous dynasty because it’s too cruel. Your master knows much about ancient methods. I think his status should be extraordinary. After all, these are the secret history of the previous dynasty. Ordinary people won’t know about them.”

“There’s no way for you to get any information from us.” One man gritted his teeth and said.

Shen Ninghua raised her eyes to look at him. Her calm eyes were like the deep night sky, carrying dark mysteries and gravity. It was as if she could see the depths of a person’s heart, causing one’s heart to involuntarily go cold.

“Heh, you are you. You can’t represent others. Although you can hold on, it doesn’t mean that the person next to you won’t confess. Anyway, there are two of you. I just need one of you to speak.”

“You…you…”

Seeing that the situation was not good, the man beside him wanted to kill his speaking companion, but Chu Junyi quickly kicked his wrist into pieces.

Shen Ninghua stood up and instructed the guards at the side, “Drag him down as well. Don’t beat him to death. I heard that there is a Hundred Beasts Garden in the Imperial Palace and there are quite a few ferocious birds and beasts inside. Throw him in as a snack for the animals.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“No, I’ll confess. Just give me a quick death!” The man of sacrifice finally couldn’t restrain the fear in his heart and opened his mouth.

“Shut up! Don’t forget Master’s order.” The other man wanted to stop him, but Chu Junyi stepped on his back and directly broke his spine with a cracking sound.

“I just can’t stand such a noisy person.”

Shen Ninghua smiled faintly. “This method is quite good. It’s not bloody, but it is cruel enough. I heard that using internal strength to break people’s spine can make them feel that death is a better option.”

Chu Junyi smiled. “That’s it. I am going to use internal strength to stimulate all of his Qi. Then I will break his spine when blood is flowing in his body at its fastest speed. In this way, all the blood in his body will flow out from his spine. However, he will still be alive for some time. If I cause a small wound the size of a needle eye in his body, the blood in his entire body will gush out together. That scene…”

A trace of fear flashed through the eyes of the remaining assassin as he hurriedly shouted, “My master is the owner of the Coiling Dragon Villa. I only know that he has the same surname as the royal family, but I don’t know anything else.”

Baili Qingcang’s eyes widened, and his body shook slightly. Baili…Baili…the one with the ability to learn the secret method of nurturing men of sacrifice, and to secretly make weapons in a secret place in the mountain forest, other than his sons, who else could it be? He never imagined that there would be such a capable person amongst his sons!

Feeling Baili Qingcang’s emotions, Shen Ninghua was a little worried. “Your Majesty?”

“It’s ok. Carry on.”

Shen Ninghua nodded. “Why did you go to my mansion?”

“Master ordered us to search for a unique medical book.”

“A unique medical book? No wonder you took away the medical books and manuscripts from my study. What a pity. I did obtain a unique medical book, but I already offered it to His Majesty.”

Baili Qingcang’s eyes were gloomy. “Someone, bring this person down and put him in the Heavenly Prison. Watch carefully and don’t let him die.”

Chengqian Palace was quickly cleaned up, but everyone could still smell the stench of blood that could not be dissipated. They wished they could spit out all the food they had eaten last night, let alone having any appetite for the food before them.

Shen Ninghua walked the stairs step by step to and sat down on her seat. She picked up a cherry and put it into her mouth as if she wasn’t affected. Her heart was filled with joy. Go for wool and come back shorn. Baili Jinze, let’s see what you will do next!

Chu Junyi swept his gaze past the so-called “young talents” who were frightened by Shen Ninghua’s actions. His eyes flashed with joy. The more he looked at his beautiful sweetheart, the more satisfied he was. He should marry her as soon as possible and have a bunch of sons with her. Otherwise, if such a good wife was snatched away by someone else, he would be driven into despair.

“Your Majesty, I’d like to ask for a favor from Your Majesty.”