PCA Chapter 191

Liu Cheng was still saying something, his mouth opening and closing, but Su Cen suddenly felt those sounds were very distant from him. Despite exerting all his strength, he somehow couldn’t understand them anymore.

 

Tian Pingzhi and Li Shi—one was a scholar entering the capital for his first imperial examination, the other was a prince far away at the borders. Heaven and earth apart, as different as clouds and mud—how could they be connected?

 

Li Shi had clearly told him he didn’t know Tian Pingzhi. Li Shi wouldn’t lie to him, so could it just be a coincidence? Just because the dates were the same didn’t necessarily mean anything.

 

“Brother Su, Brother Su, Su Cen!” Cui Hao called several times before rousing him, frowning slightly. “Are you still listening?”

 

Su Cen looked up, staring at Liu Cheng and saying word by word: “Was it the former emperor?”

 

Based on all the current clues, the former emperor was the most suspicious. Without concrete evidence before, he hadn’t dared say this, but with the matter involving Li Shi, he urgently needed Liu Cheng to give him a definitive answer to extricate Li Shi from this affair.

 

Liu Cheng pressed his lips and remained silent for a moment, then only shook his head gently.

 

“It wasn’t him?” Su Cen frowned deeply. “How could it not be him? The promotions and honors he promised you all came true—if not him, then who?”

 

“I don’t know if it was.”

 

“Then why did you get to be the top scholar?!”

 

“Su Cen!”

 

Cui Hao shouted a rebuke, and only then did Su Cen suddenly awaken—he had been too eager for quick success, stabbing at someone’s heart with sharp words. How was this different from torture and forced confession?

 

“I was too hasty,” Su Cen reflected and bowed deeply to the man. “Please continue.”

 

“I really don’t know,” Liu Cheng lowered his eyes gently. “After that day, I was always in a daze. I couldn’t understand why, when I clearly hadn’t administered a lethal dose, Ruoheng couldn’t come back. I also couldn’t understand why, when I clearly submitted a blank paper, they made me the top scholar. I also wondered whether the person who wanted Ruoheng’s life was indeed the former emperor, but despite my many hints both obvious and subtle, the former emperor never gave me any response. All these years, I’ve carried the guilt of killing Ruoheng, yet that incident seems forgotten by everyone else… Oh, except for two people—one was the former Chen Guanglu, and the other is you.”

 

Letting the truth be buried in the torrent of time was the best way to escape guilt.

 

Su Cen remained silent for a moment, then stood up: “I will get to the bottom of this.”

 

But Cui Hao remained seated, looking back at Su Cen: “Could you let me stay here to keep Zhongpei company? If you take me out, you’d still need to find a place to hide me. It’s better to just let me hide in the prison—I promise no one will discover me.”

 

Su Cen thought carefully. Having Cui Hao by his side was indeed a hidden danger, and this arrangement could work. He turned to seek Liu Cheng’s opinion, only hearing him mutter “nonsense” under his breath without saying more. Only then did he nod and say to Cui Hao: “Go to the cell next door to avoid suspicion.”

 

Cui Hao gladly entered the empty cell next door that Zhang He had vacated, his eyes glued tightly to Liu Cheng, impossible to pry away.

 

Just as Su Cen was about to leave, Liu Cheng spoke again: “There’s one more thing—I don’t know if it will help you.”

 

Su Cen turned back slightly, hearing Liu Cheng say: “That person who delivered messages to me back then disappeared without a trace after the incident. I also tried to find him but never had any results. But just a few days ago, I saw him again in the palace.”

 

Su Cen whirled around sharply: “Are you certain you didn’t see wrong?”

 

“There’s no mistake,” Liu Cheng said with certainty. “I’d recognize him even if he were burned to ashes. Moreover, that person had a distinctive feature—his right hand has six fingers.”

 

Coming out from Liu Cheng’s place, Su Cen immediately proceeded to interrogate Zhang He.

 

Compared to the half-dead appearance seen at Liu Cheng’s place that morning, Zhang He had obviously recovered. Upon seeing Su Cen, he didn’t kneel but arrogantly lifted his head and said to Su Cen: “You have no authority to arrest me.”

 

Su Cen replied coldly: “You killed someone. As an official of the Dali Temple, why can’t I arrest you?”

 

“Just a minor Dali Temple,” Zhang He sneered. Having experienced the morning’s events, he obviously knew why Su Cen had brought him back. He said unhurriedly: “When I dealt with Tian Pingzhi, I was following an imperial edict!”

 

Su Cen raised his eyebrows slightly. This confession without interrogation actually saved him some effort.

 

The gavel struck the table heavily: “Kneel!”

 

“You!” Zhang He clearly hadn’t expected Su Cen to be so fearless. Even after he brought up the imperial edict, this person remained unmoved.

 

In the moment of his stunned hesitation, Su Cen had already lost patience and signaled his attendants to forcibly press the man to the ground.

 

“Su Cen, you… how dare you!” Zhang He struggled to get up. Just as he raised his head, he was intimidated into stillness by Su Cen’s sharp gaze.

 

“My courage is indeed considerable,” Su Cen looked down at him. “So you’re admitting that your burying Tian Pingzhi alive was intentional and that you were instructed by someone.”

 

Zhang He defiantly stiffened his neck: “I told you, I was acting on imperial orders.”

 

“Good,” Su Cen curled his lips. “Then let me ask you—whose orders were you following? Who was the edict bearer? And where is that imperial edict now?”

 

Zhang He was stunned: “That was a secret edict, to be burned after reading. The edict was already turned to ash long ago—where would I find it for you?”

 

Su Cen struck the gavel heavily again, the sound echoing throughout the entire prison: “I’ll ask once more—whose orders?!”

 

“It was… it was…” Zhang He recalled for a moment, then suddenly froze in place, abruptly understanding the implications of that secret edict.

 

The person who delivered the edict back then had never once said whose orders they were!

 

A secret edict to be burned after reading with the purpose of killing—its aim was to completely exonerate the person behind it. Even if everyone knew perfectly well, there was no evidence!

 

Whether it was the former emperor, Emperor Taizong, or even a eunuch forging an imperial edict, he now had no evidence to identify any of them.

 

Zhang He’s arrogant demeanor visibly collapsed as panic set in: “It was… I’m not lying… there really was such a secret edict… I remember the contents. If you don’t believe me, I can recite it—’The Liuzhou scholar Tian Pingzhi is arrogant and despises imperial authority, truly a disgrace to scholars throughout the realm. Minister Zhang, as chief examiner of the imperial examinations, bears the responsibility of assisting His Majesty in eliminating such corruption. Such a black sheep should be removed!’ You see, you see, it really existed!”

 

Su Cen pressed his lips lightly. When he left Liu Cheng’s place, he had actually anticipated this kind of result. This secret edict contained no titles or anything that could identify the sender—it was perfectly seamless. Even if the secret edict hadn’t been destroyed back then, holding such a document still couldn’t implicate anyone.

 

Then why had Zhang He believed such a headless and tailless secret edict without any guard back then?

 

There was only one reason—he recognized the person who delivered the edict.

 

People often habitually deduce upward based on relationships of belonging. An object, a habit, a servant… it’s easy to think of the person who wears the object, the subject of the habit, the master of the servant… but when these things are taken individually, they can’t prove anything.

 

Who can guarantee that an object won’t be lost, a habit won’t change, or a servant won’t change masters?

 

That’s why Zhang He hesitated and wavered. Compared to all the known certainties under heaven, people are the greatest variable. He knew that naming that person would be of no benefit to him—it would be even less useful than that already-burned secret edict.

 

“Who delivered the edict?” Su Cen asked.

 

Zhang He struggled again before saying: “It was… Little Six.”

 

“Who is Little Six?”

 

“Little Six… Little Six was a palace attendant who served the former emperor when he was still a prince,” Zhang He had completely given up struggling and answered truthfully. “He had six fingers on one hand, so everyone in the palace called him Little Six. But no one has seen him since the former emperor ascended the throne—he might have fled, or perhaps… was silenced.”

 

Su Cen frowned. Again, those six fingers.

 

Now it seemed this Little Six played a crucial role in Tian Pingzhi’s case, like a bridge connecting one side to the other. With this bridge, it formed a complete whole, but once it was missing, the two sides would never be connected again.

 

Su Cen frowned, but what he couldn’t understand was why this bridge, which had clearly sunk to the bottom with all its secrets, chose to surface again at this time.

 

“I… I didn’t know Tian Pingzhi was still alive during the metropolitan examination,” Zhang He was still defending himself. “I really thought he was dead when I buried him…”

 

“What if he hadn’t fainted then?” Su Cen asked coldly.

 

Zhang He froze in place.

 

Liu Cheng was the hesitant dagger, and Zhang He was the knife that followed closely to finish the job—a series of coincidences that were nonetheless foolproof. Tian Pingzhi was bound to die, and afterward, the person watching from across the river only needed to remove the bridge to completely exonerate himself.

 

After a long while, Su Cen came back to his senses and said to the clerk beside him: “Have him sign and seal it.”

 

The clerk brought the trial record to Zhang He, watched him sign and seal it, then took it back and nodded to Su Cen.

 

Regardless of whether the person behind the scenes could be caught, Zhang He’s intentional murder was already fact—he couldn’t escape responsibility.

 

As he was being led away, Zhang He was still wailing: “I’m innocent! I didn’t kill him! I didn’t kill him… I didn’t know he wasn’t dead yet… I really didn’t know…”

 

The clerk handed the signed and sealed evidence to Su Cen and asked carefully: “Sir, shall we continue investigating?”

 

“Investigate, of course we must investigate,” Su Cen reviewed the record once and closed it, standing up from his seat. “Who is willing to enter the palace with me to meet this Little Six?”

 

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