amaotonovel Chapter 303 Still won't confess honestly, huh!
Chapter 303 Still won't confess honestly, huh!
Lan Yu glanced at Qu Mingjie, who was still screaming in agony, and sneered, "If you keep yelling, I'll have your arms broken."
As Lan Yu finished speaking, Qu Mingjie's screams abruptly stopped, as if someone had grabbed his neck.
Lan Yu sneered again, walked straight to the desk in the main hall, casually picked a chair and sat down, then said to Yang Shaofeng, "You interrogate him, I'll just sit and watch."
Yang Shaofeng didn't stand on ceremony with Lan Yu and went straight to Qu Mingjie's side, asking, "Who is that Jiangnan merchant who came to buy plowshares? What's his name? Where is he from?"
The intense pain in his legs caused cold sweat to pour from Qu Mingjie's forehead, and Lan Yu's threat made him grit his teeth and endure it, so much so that the veins on Qu Mingjie's neck were bulging and his expression was extremely ferocious.
“Your Highness, Your Highness, that…that merchant…his name is, his name is, Wang Shaoyu, from Jiangsu and Zhejiang.”
Wang Shaoyu?
Wow, this guy's a scholar!
Yang Shaofeng snorted coldly and continued to ask, "Where in Jiangsu and Zhejiang? Which prefecture and county?"
Qu Mingjie stammered, "Yes, yes, it's from Yongjia."
Yang Shaofeng noted down the name Yongjia, then continued to ask, "He keeps saying he has someone backing him up, who is that person?"
This time, Qu Mingjie refused to tell the truth: "I don't know! I don't know either, I don't know if he has anyone behind him. He and I just agreed to resell plowshares together!"
Yang Shaofeng frowned slightly, while Lan Yu, who was sitting next to him, suddenly laughed and said, "From Yongjia? Now that we know it's from Yongjia, things will be easier."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback and asked, "Why is it easier to handle Yongjia's situation?"
Lan Yu smiled and said, "Yongjia's, do we even need to think about who's behind it? Of course, that person may not be involved, but that Wang something definitely used his name."
Yang Shaofeng was still completely bewildered, but Lan Yu looked directly at Qu Mingjie and asked, "That Wang guy, what's his name? He said his backer is Liu Bowen?"
Qu Mingjie's pupils contracted slightly, then he gritted his teeth and said, "I don't know!"
Seeing Qu Mingjie's state, Yang Shaofeng was furious. He kicked Qu Mingjie's broken leg and shouted, "You still won't confess, huh?!"
Liu Bowen?
It's true that Liu Bowen was the spokesperson for the gentry group in eastern Zhejiang, but how stupid would Liu Bowen have to be to get involved in such a messy matter as the Plow Case?
Qu Mingjie screamed again as Yang Shaofeng kicked him, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.
Yang Shaofeng stepped on Qu Mingjie's broken leg wound, first applying slight pressure, then coldly snorted and said, "I don't have the patience to listen to your nonsense right now. You'd better confess honestly."
Qu Mingjie screamed again, his voice trembling as he said, "I confess! I confess! That merchant said his name was Wang Shaoyu, and that he was from Yongjia in Wenzhou Prefecture. Actually, I don't know where he's from, but his accent does sound like he's from Jiangnan. As for whether he has anyone backing him, I really don't know!"
Hearing this, Yang Shaofeng shook his head, turned and called over the commander of the guards of the Prince Consort's Mansion, and ordered: "Take him away, don't let him eat or drink, if he gets sleepy, splash him with cold water to wake him up, if that doesn't work, whip him, in short, don't let him sleep, interrogate him every half hour, and write down every word he says."
"Furthermore, interrogate all the assistant officials, yamen runners, and clerks in Jimo County separately, and ask them who has close ties with Qu Mingjie and whether they know where that merchant is from."
Qu Mingjie was immediately terrified and shouted, "I confess! I confess! I really confess!"
Yang Shaofeng shook his head slightly. Seeing this, the commander of the guards of the Prince Consort's Mansion grabbed Qu Mingjie's arm and dragged him out of the hall, completely ignoring Qu Mingjie's broken leg wound.
……
“Yongjia, Wang Shaoyu.”
"Yuyao, Wang Shaoyuan."
"Changguo, Liu Qingyuan."
On the third day after Yang Shaofeng and Lan Yu arrived in Jimo, Qu Mingjie, unable to hold back any longer, finally revealed the merchant's real name and household registration.
Changguo, Liu Qingyuan.
It wasn't Wang Shaoyu from Yongjia at all, but Liu Qingyuan from Changguo.
Changguo County was under the jurisdiction of Mingzhou Prefecture.
Liu Bowen was from Wencheng County, Wenzhou Prefecture.
The two are not too far apart, but if you were to try to connect them, they wouldn't really be related.
As for who was behind Liu Qingyuan, Qu Mingjie, that fool, really didn't know—just as he said, Liu Qingyuan simply took out enough silver, and Qu Mingjie never asked again who was behind Liu Qingyuan.
Qu Mingjie didn't even ask where Liu Qingyuan would resell the refined iron after he got it, because Hu Yuan had done this kind of thing a lot and nobody cared.
"So, because of such a scoundrel, more than 30,000 catties of refined iron disappeared from the entire Shandong province?"
If Lan Yu hadn't interrogated Qu Mingjie alongside Yang Shaofeng in Jimo County, she would never have believed that such an absurd thing could exist in the world.
Similarly, Yang Shaofeng couldn't believe it either, but before he caught Liu Qingyuan, he really couldn't find any problems with Qu Mingjie's confession.
After a long silence, Yang Shaofeng finally spoke: "That's not all. Since Qu Mingjie and that Liu Qingyuan were able to come up with the identity of Yongjia Wang Shaoyu, who can guarantee that the name Liu Qingyuan is definitely real?"
After Yang Shaofeng said that, Lan Yu immediately fell silent.
After a long while, Lan Yu looked at Yang Shaofeng and asked, "What do you plan to do?"
After a moment's consideration, Yang Shaofeng said, "Once the inspectors arrive, have them go to Yongjia, Yuyao, and Changguo to check if Wang Shaoyu, Wang Shaoyuan, and Liu Qingyuan are there. If they are, bring them all back."
"Furthermore, once the personnel from the Censorate and the Court of Judicial Review arrive, interrogate Qu Mingjie, have his portrait drawn based on his confession, and issue a warrant for his arrest."
"This case cannot be considered closed until this so-called Jiangnan merchant is found."
After hearing Yang Shaofeng's words, Lan Yu could only sigh helplessly.
Pictorial drawings, wanted posters... Pictorial drawings are more about capturing the spirit than the form. Trying to find someone based on pictorial drawings is no easier than finding a needle in a haystack.
But besides drawing images, where else can we find the person Qu Mingjie mentioned?
Just as Lan Yu was also secretly having a headache, Yang Shaofeng muttered in a low voice, "Actually, there is one last way, but this way is a bit underhanded."
Lan Yu was slightly taken aback and asked, "What method?"