PCA Chapter 195

Dali Temple Prison

 

Right at mealtime, jailers carried food buckets to distribute meals to each cell. When they reached the innermost two cells, they couldn’t help but pause and ask someone nearby: “When did someone move into this cell?”

 

The jailer beside him was also somewhat puzzled. He looked at the person in the cell, seeing him hunched in the corner with his head down, disheveled and dejected-looking. He couldn’t help but shake his head, “Probably arrested by some official. Don’t worry about it, let’s quickly finish distributing these so we can go watch Lord Su interrogate the prisoner.”

 

Upon hearing about Lord Su’s interrogation, the previous jailer immediately perked up. No longer paying attention to the extra person, he hurriedly finished distributing the food and left.

 

Once they were gone, the person pretending to sleep in the corner slowly raised his head, his eyes bright and clear, smiling at the person in the adjacent cell, “Zhongpei, did I act convincingly?”

 

“Bringing suffering upon yourself,” Liu Cheng snorted softly, walked to the cell door to pick up the distributed prison meal, and sat down against the wooden bars to eat slowly.

 

“The food at the Dali Temple is quite abundant,” Cui Hao said, holding his bowl and sitting close to Liu Cheng. “There’s even meat, look.”

 

Liu Cheng silently picked at the cabbage leaves in his bowl, ignoring everything around him.

 

“Zhongpei, look at me.”

 

With some submission and grievance, he finally made Liu Cheng turn around helplessly. Cui Hao, quick with his hands, picked up a chopstick full of food and put it in Liu Cheng’s bowl.

 

Liu Cheng looked down, staring blankly at the piece of meat that had appeared in his bowl, momentarily unsure how to use his chopsticks.

 

In the end, it was his own stubbornness. He couldn’t bear to drive the person away, yet didn’t want him to see his most wretched state. So fundamentally, he was angry with himself, blaming himself for being weak, unable to be heartless yet unwilling to let go of his pride, stuck uncomfortably in between.

 

“You eat, eat quickly,” Cui Hao gestured with his bowl toward Liu Cheng, then buried his head to shovel two mouthfuls of rice before saying: “Don’t worry about me. My family was poor before. Poor children are easy to raise, eating this is already good.”

 

Liu Cheng silently ate the piece of meat, chewing and swallowing carefully before saying softly: “I was also a poor child before.”

 

Cui Hao was stunned, then delighted that Liu Cheng was finally willing to talk to him. He continued with a beaming smile: “That’s different. You’ve gotten used to the good life in Chang’an. Suddenly eating this must be uncomfortable.”

 

After a while, he buried his head and smiled, saying softly: “In my eyes, you’re like a precious bodhisattva. I’m willing to place you on the tip of my heart, worshipping and cherishing you. I can’t bear to see you suffer hardship. When you’re wronged, I feel more distressed than if I were wronged myself.”

 

Liu Cheng burst out laughing, “You’re still a top graduate, yet you speak such nonsense.”

 

Cui Hao also laughed: “Naturally I can’t compare to your top scholar achievement.”

 

At the mention of top scholar, Liu Cheng’s eyes dimmed, but he quickly hid it, “Sweet talk. Those who don’t know might think I gave you some love potion.”

 

Cui Hao lowered his head and said quietly but seriously: “Then I’ve long been deeply poisoned, beyond cure.”

 

While eating, a wail came from not far away. Liu Cheng’s chopsticks paused, and the vegetable leaf he had just picked up fell back into his bowl.

 

“Probably Su Cen interrogating the case,” Cui Hao looked outside and said. “I heard he caught that six-fingered person. Once he confesses, it will prove you were coerced.”

 

Liu Cheng nodded, picked up the vegetable leaf that had fallen earlier and ate it, then said softly: “Su Cen is quite capable.”

 

Cui Hao fell silent. When Liu Cheng looked over, he saw the man’s resentful little gaze staring straight at him, looking extremely aggrieved.

 

Liu Cheng laughed and comforted him like coaxing a child: “You’re capable too.”

 

“But still not as capable as Su Cen.”

 

Liu Cheng had no choice but to smile: “Alright, alright, you’re more capable than him. Is that okay?”

 

Su Cen’s brow furrowed as he slammed his hand heavily on the desk: “Audacious slave, framing the former emperor—what crime does this deserve!”

 

“I didn’t, I didn’t!” The little eunuch was already scared out of his wits. He crawled forward two steps and kowtowed twice to Su Cen, tears streaming down his face: “Everything I said is true, not a single lie!”

 

Su Cen’s expression was stern, showing no emotion on his face, then continued: “Then let me ask you, what grudge did the former emperor have against Tian Pingzhi? Why would he kill an examination candidate for no reason?”

 

The little eunuch was stunned, cowering as he said: “I don’t know, I really don’t know. I’m just a slave who follows orders. How could the master tell us servants about such matters?”

 

Su Cen lowered his gaze, his knuckles lightly tapping the table. After a moment, he suddenly looked up: “Continue the torture.”

 

The blood-stained finger clamps were put back on all ten fingers. The little eunuch was immediately scared out of his wits, and when he spoke again, he was in complete panic: “It was Tian Pingzhi! Tian Pingzhi somehow offended the former emperor, so the former emperor wanted to kill him. But at that time, Emperor Taizong was critically ill, and it concerned the succession. At such a crucial moment, the former emperor couldn’t act openly, so he had me handle this matter!”

 

He then raised his bloody and mangled hands above his head: “I swear to heaven, if I tell a single lie, may I be struck by lightning! My lord, please believe me, I really didn’t lie!”

 

Su Cen guided patiently: “But how could Tian Pingzhi, a mere scholar, offend the former emperor?”

 

“It seems… it seems that when the former emperor was traveling incognito, Tian Pingzhi somehow angered him…” The little eunuch, still wearing the finger clamps, was wracking his brains to remember. “I really don’t know the rest. The former emperor went out without attendants that time. The former emperor has passed away, and Tian Pingzhi is dead too. I’m afraid no one knows what really happened back then.”

 

Traveling incognito without servants must have been to do something important or meet someone important. Old Master Tian had once said that Tian Pingzhi was killed because he saw something he shouldn’t have seen. What was this thing he shouldn’t have seen?

 

Su Cen thought for a moment, remembering what Liu Cheng had said before about trying to find Little Six but finding nothing, then asked: “Where have you been all these years? Why couldn’t anyone find you in the palace?”

 

“I was guarding the former emperor’s spirit at Zhaoling,” Little Six thought and added: “Previously I was supervising the construction of Zhaoling. After it was built, I managed the cleaning. Later, when the former emperor passed away, I continued guarding his spirit. After that incident, the former emperor sent me away. I’ve been at Zhaoling all these years. I thought I’d spend my whole life there, but unexpectedly I had to return.”

 

Su Cen suddenly had a flash of inspiration: “Who told you to come back?”

 

“The Empress Dowager, I think?” The eunuch was somewhat uncertain. “A man in black with the Empress Dowager’s token brought me back, but after I returned, the Empress Dowager never summoned me. I’ve been wondering why she had me come back without giving me any work. Does the palace really support idle people?”

 

Su Cen recalled yesterday’s scene when Empress Dowager Chu arrived—somewhat surprised, somewhat stunned. Though she quickly hid it, he still caught a glimpse. Moreover, if Empress Dowager Chu intended to help Little Six conceal things, why would she go to the trouble of transferring him back from Zhaoling?

 

“A man in black with the Empress Dowager’s token?” Su Cen frowned. “Are you certain the token was real?”

 

“A genuine phoenix seal, how could it be fake?” Little Six said, then was also stunned. “You mean someone impersonated the Empress Dowager’s edict to transfer me back? Who is this bastard?!”

 

He had been living well at Zhaoling, far from the emperor with wind and rain at his command. Which damned bastard made him come back to suffer these undeserved disasters?!

 

Little Six leaned forward, affecting his hand injury, immediately grimacing in pain again.

 

“That’s what I need to ask you,” Su Cen looked down at him. “You saw that man in black. How tall was he? What did he look like? Any distinguishing features?”

 

This time, without Su Cen’s coercion, Little Six actively cooperated, frowning as he seriously recalled: “He was quite young, looked decent… but always had this cheap, cold smile, like he deserved a beating.”

 

Su Cen suddenly stood up from his seat: “Song Fan!”

 

Song Fan represented Lu Xun and the Secret Door. How could he have forgotten that this matter still had countless connections to the Secret Door? From Tian Pingzhi’s murder years ago, to later instigating Old Master Tian to kill, to now having someone secretly pulling his strings, the Secret Door had been involved throughout, never absent.

 

Between Tian Pingzhi and the former emperor, and Li Shi, there seemed to be no connection. But if the Secret Door was brought into it, everything would be linked together.

 

The gaps between all these incidents were finally filled.

 

“First detain him pending trial,” Su Cen stood up and walked toward the prison exit. “Without my orders, no one may privately interrogate any witnesses related to this case.”

 

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T/N: Double updates everyday….les gooooo!!

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