Xuanqing Guard

Just now, Shen Hao was still anxiously worrying about how to find a breakthrough, but now he hears Jiang Cheng telling him to close the case?

What the hell is going on?

He remembers being told in Pang Ban’s study before dawn to "investigate with all your might"—barely a day has passed, and the wind has shifted this fast?

"Sir, could you give me the reason? Xu Hong was just brought in, the interrogation has just begun, we haven’t even had time to comb through what’s been found in his home and now we have to close the case? Isn’t this... isn’t this a bit too hasty?" Shen Hao was getting emotional, mainly because he didn’t expect such an unconvincing order.

Jiang Cheng didn’t mind, simply patted Shen Hao’s shoulder, sighed as well, and said, "It’s the will of Mr. Pang, but also of Your Majesty. Think about it, do you understand now?"

Shen Hao shook his head—he didn’t understand shit. But it was obvious from Jiang Cheng’s tone that he was also rather helpless.

"Don’t get it? Heh, let me put it this way. The situation in the South is unstable, as you know, and the military can’t afford disorder, so His Majesty has clamped a lid on things in advance. You understand now?"

With that, Shen Hao understood some of it. Still, he felt unsatisfied, like being used as a tool: picked up when needed, tossed aside when not.

"Then, what about Xu Hong?"

"Xu Hong will be held here in custody; your Fengri City cells aren’t qualified to detain him. The progress of the interrogation here will be copied for you detail by detail. But as you’ve seen, it’s not likely that his mouth will open. Your focus should be on organizing all clues from the search of his home—don’t miss even the slightest detail."

Shen Hao understood: Jiang Cheng wasn’t planning to let him personally handle Xu Hong’s interrogation anymore.

Jiang Cheng smiled, reading some of Shen Hao’s reaction, and said, "Don’t overthink it—this is for your protection."

"Understood, sir."

Shen Hao was only sulking for a moment; he wasn’t an idiot who couldn’t adapt. Jiang Cheng’s words had gone this far, so of course he wouldn’t push it. Besides, he had a good sense of Jiang Cheng’s character—this superior wasn’t one to set him up. If he said it was "protection," then it was genuine.

The scene in the interrogation room was nothing to look at—techniques were about the same as those brutes in the Black Banner Battalion, and when facing someone stubborn like Xu Hong, they still got nowhere.

"Xu Hong, you probably heard what I just said to my disciple, didn’t you? You’ve been in a high position for so long; you should understand this better than my disciple does. What’s the point in being so stiff-necked and refusing to tell the truth? Once you lose your head, how long do you think that man can keep hiding? How long do you think His Majesty will tolerate him? Isn’t the outcome all the same? Yet you’re making yourself suffer. Isn’t that stupid?"

"I’ve said it, conspiring with the Barbarian Race was my decision. I admit my guilt. I have nothing else to say, nor do I understand what you’re talking about."

Xu Hong repeated this over and over. Even with his Cultivation locked and sealed, even as the intense pain exhausted his spirit, he stayed the same. Shen Hao could even see scorn and disdain in his eyes.

This... Where does a person find the nerve to show "disdain" even at this point? Does Xu Hong really believe things can turn around? Is he really that naïve?

Now Shen Hao understood why people said Xu Hong was Yang Yansi’s number one confidant. When your blind loyalty is obsessive and you’ve brainwashed yourself to this extent, how could you not be the top confidant?

Xu Hong was stubborn, but Jiang Cheng’s heart wasn’t soft either. With a sinister smile, he raised his hand and wrote an order for his deputy to handle; soon after, three boys and two girls were brought in—all underage, the youngest generation of the Xu Mansion. Shen Hao sighed inwardly; he knew what Jiang Cheng was about to do.

Sure enough, Jiang Cheng said, "It’s well-known your family is close and you dote on the younger ones. These five are your closest juniors—can you guess what they’re about to endure? Hmph, you’ve got a hard mouth and a hard backbone, Xu Hong. I want to see if your heart’s just as hard."

This kind of torture had been suggested by Wang Jian when they interrogated Zhou Qing before, but Shen Hao had refused. Yet, such methods weren’t uncommon in the Xuanqing Guard, especially in big cases where family implication was certain. The crude logic here was: your family is going to be implicated and executed anyway, so why not use them as "materials" for the interrogation?

Shen Hao had asked a few "torture experts" once how they could be so ruthless. Their answer was simple: the criminals aren’t people; treat them like pigs—nothing to feel guilty about.

It’s just like making twice-cooked pork in front of a pig.

But Shen Hao could never get past that barrier in his heart.

It wasn’t the kindness of a woman, but a different outlook. He could be ruthless, but he couldn’t bring himself to treat living people as pigs. He didn’t oppose the idea that "evil is ground down by evil"—if a criminal suffered, he was happy to see it; if a great villain suffered, he even felt pleased. But torturing those implicated by association—that was...

"Sir, if there’s nothing else here, I’d like to go back and oversee the house search. May I?"

"Mm, go on. The case has to be closed, but every search must be followed up. The report should be written as it always was—don’t slack off."

"Yes, sir. I’ll remember."

Jiang Cheng waved him off, and as Shen Hao left, the torture experts began a new show amid Xu Hong’s furious roars. This time the crying was loud—these "little piglets" clearly didn’t have Xu Hong’s backbone...

Leaving the Governor’s Office, Shen Hao even let out a long breath of stale air. Most of the pressure lingering in his chest these days finally dissipated. With the order to close the case, "blame" was no longer his concern. Once the higher-ups made their decision, he felt a moment of discomfort, but what could he do? Whatever—why not enjoy the relief?

He smiled self-deprecatingly and, surrounded by guards, returned to Xu Hong’s mansion. Outside a long line of large carts had already parked—their contents would be checked one last time at Jingxi Governor’s Office drill grounds, then go into the Governor’s official storage. Of course, with a case this important, it wouldn’t end there—chances were it would be handed over to the Emperor’s Imperial Household, and the Emperor would take the lion’s share.

"Sir, all the obvious and hidden vaults have been cleaned out. Now we’re mainly going through the ledgers and all sorts of written records. I’ve stored these in the Xu Family accounting room for now—awaiting your instructions."

Wang Yiming hadn’t expected Shen Hao to return so soon—it had been at most half an hour—and he seemed much more relaxed. Had good news come from the Governor’s Office?

"Seal up the books and documents. Take all of them back. Make sure to check everything carefully—leave nothing out," Shen Hao said as he sat back in his chair, took the tea Wang Yiming offered, sipped it, and started reading through the list of confiscated items.

After a while, Shen Hao handed the list back to Wang Yiming and added, "Copy the list as well. Bring it back together with the accounts and records."