The light of the lantern was dim and roughly served the place. A man was chained to a chair, his hair messy and his feature withered. Blood stains dried on his clothes. He screamed as the tormentor pressed squeeze on the leg wrecker device.
"Why don't you end this misery!" the middle-aged man who was sitting on the chair stated, dragging in a poke of his pipe and blowing out the smoke. He was the most wicked investigator of the whole Mei reign. When he was working on a case, the criminals should have expected death.
He alerted the man to stop the pull and he obeyed, walking away. The assassin was gasping, his chest heavily moved up and down, his hair fell on his face; sweat and blood were streaming, dribbling down his face.
"I fight for my goals; I will die but you can't take words out of me."
"Your goals? Killing an innocent individual to feed your path and reach your goal? What a dire choice! What a terrible faith! If you live in our land, you must know that we have no tolerance for chaos."
The man coughed, and spat the bloody saliva out, an orange ray of light splashed on his right side and exposed the shine in his iris.
"Who talks about innocents? You or your king? Or the people who worship the royals? All of you are sinners. You don't deserve mercy; we will clean this land!"
The interrogator stood up, putting his pip down on the table, his strides drove to the fire, picking the tong that was reddened by the rage of flames.
"What is your name the hero of extremists? Tell me and I will let you be blessed by the virtue of death."
The man's jawline tightened; he could sense the heat of that tong near his back.
"Xiao Wei, but I don't think it gives you any clue!"
"Who do you work with?"
Xiao Wei let out a burst of laughter, he had asked this question a tenth time each hour, instead receiving the same reaction. Was it killing people amusing? Was it letting a young boy burn in flames entertaining? Was wrecking someone's house funny? No, it wasn't delightful for Lin Fei.
The tong burned the man's skin, the scent of burning flesh, and wrenched Xiao Wei's nerves. This despairing situation would end with death or his clan would come, after all, to save him or to kill him. Squeezing his eyes, he swallowed the pain.
"Enough!" The shout came from behind.
interrogator Lin Fei turned on his heels, stunned by seeing the princess in the door frame! She was as beautiful as the poems that described her. Her tiara could reveal her identity, for the first time she was showing her face to people. Why didn't the guards announce her presence? It could be her wish to see how he used to settle with the assassin she caught.
The grip on the tong loosened from his hand, it dropped on the stone floor.
"Rise, master Lin Fei."
The man stood still when the princess and three more individuals approached the chained assassin.
"You should be hung after what you did, sitting on the chair is too soft!" Shaking her head added, "His current situation has no difference with a corpse, he needs just a grave!"
Li Shu taunted, they had gone too far in torturing this man, what if he died? Then they will be left with an empty hand. Her brother and Ke Shin remained outside with the others, therefore, only prince Xing Bolin and Fu Liu companied the princess. Good that Ke Xin didn't enter, otherwise she was supposed to carry the passed-out naïve maiden.
"Your highness, accept my apologies for being disqualified to bring words out of him. His name is Xiao Wei." His eyes were on the pretty unfamiliar maiden.
"Interrogator Lin Fei, due to the words I hear, I expected you to reach at least more than names. But I see you were busy with tearing him to pieces, I don't remember if I had demanded to slay him! my maiden is right!"
Before interrogator Lin Fei could open his mouth to explain, Xiao Wei, burst out into annoying laughter again which made the prince, say, "With this, I am agreed with all types of torments."
Xing Huan glared at her brother and he just shrugged, couldn't he just refrain from violence and use his brain instead?
That amusing skin shade on Xiao Wei formed into a devil one which was ready to utter out curses; "Princess Xing Huan, she will be the only empress who would never inherit a throne! Bales may burn you lands… devastate your throne…" each word left his mouth with so rough edgy stress that could prick one's soul.
"Shut up!" Li Shu screamed. Even she was amazed by such a reaction. Clenching her skirt, so hard not to snatch a knife. The princess's life was important, no one should be courageous to speak of it unless the prince of Di's reign permits it.
"Huh! Your little maid loves you but does she know that the emperor's hand is dirtied with innocents' blood? Does she know that this throne doesn't belong to a wrongdoer like him? Your king is a thief."
Princess Xing Huan swallowed, her throat had turned as bold and dry as a bone. Her father had grave mistakes, but so had other humans, yet, this man was brainwashed against her father. These words would be enough to say that this clan had an old rusty abhorrence that could harm every single person.
"You see it from your side, but do you really think that I stay calm if you threaten my people's life? As the next empress, I have to protect my people, and I serve my life with no hesitation."
Li Shu's eyes averted on the prince, he was looking into the fire, and his fingers were curled into fists behind him.
'This is jealousy! I had seen this before; this type of manners had cultivated such an assassin. Who is behind this? Now, I am curious!'
"Kill me, I better die in the hand of my enemies."
Xiao Wei wished, he was the best among all his clan, the reason he was sent here. To kill the next empress at the right time, clean the clues before Good Rise but he failed the mission before even taking one step closer. He should have killed her in Xin province but his delay in pulling the string tugged him into this state; shameful.
"No, I won't kill you! I promise to show you what you are taught to become my enemy were all lies." Turning to the interrogator, she added, "open him and heal his wounds. He will live in dungeons to rethink."
It was useless to explain to him something that she couldn't describe with words.
"Fu Liu, let's leave. If he doesn't speak! I will find another way to find their den. They live in Da mountain! Not too far!"
She smirked and turned her face, after them, the guards entered to take him to the dungeon.
"Sister, what is going on in Da mountain?"
Xing Bolin was confused; did she trick the man? Or she truly knew something.
Walking outside, the princess said, "Fu Liu, go do what I told you before, my brother and I will join you at the brothel tonight!"
Xing Bolin's eyes ran wide while Li Shu growled under her breath, even the handmaiden was aware of what the princess was tempted to do.
"Hey what? No! father forbid me to go there, he will give me a harem soon, I …"
"You can back off, then! Prince Xing Bolin!"
Li Shu threw it at him.
The prince's forefinger raised on her, "Don't push me to do something wrong!"
Princess Xing Huan halted; her brother winced. This feral look of her was as rare as gems.
"Try it, brother, lift a finger on her again you'll see my other side."
While saying that, her eyes rolled on the assassin who was peering at her in bewilderment. She skipped that and pointed to Li Shu, "Stay close to me."
Getting outside a woman was wailing, her child was trying to calm her but as for being failed, she began to cry.
"Who are they?" asked the princess.
"The accountant's wife and his daughter," Chao replied, Ke Xin went to sympathize with her. This girl had a beautiful heart, the whole time she blushed being by his side. It was cute to see her like that.
"Fu Liu, tend to them before going to your mission. I will visit the smithy with Li Shu and my brother."
Fu Liu snatched a peek at Meng Fai, he wore a sneer. He hated this snake, leaving the princess with them made him uncomfortable. They might do a snow job to take this case and disqualify princess Xing Huan.
"Your highness, let me come with you."
The princess sighed, was he forcing her to punish him for disobedience?
"Do what I have told you! I have Li Shu and Chaoxiang."
Fu Liu gave those two a menacing sight, "If something happens to her I will kill you."
"I am better and faster than you!" Li Shu replied, her eyes fixed on master Qin who was with Ke Xin.
'The assassins might be tempted to kill him if they figure it out he is alive.'
"Don't worry about master Qin, I will keep him safe. I want to hire him to bring him close to me." She murmured to Li Shu when the prince was talking to his eunuch.
"Your highness, what if the assassin who knows him comes to the city?"
"They will come, we want this right? To follow them."
Li Shu wasn't agreed with princess's plan! It had many flaws, dangerous ones. They weren't stupid.