"Ah... Ah... I’ve said everything... Ah..."
The flickering flames illuminated the dark prison cell, as the pitiful wails akin to a pig being slaughtered echoed incessantly.
Yang Ge sat in the duty room of the jail, browsing through the freshly compiled confession statements from corrupt officials. The embroidery of a chained ox on his garment seemed to come to life under the flickering flames, cold and ferocious.
"My lord,"
Qin, with his hands covered in blood, bowed as he entered, cupping his fists and speaking in a low voice, "They all bit hard, pushing everything onto the Jiangzhe Provincial Administration Commission when asked anything..."
Yang Ge gave him a sidelong glance.
Qin quickly lowered his head.
Yang Ge withdrew his gaze and picked out two statements from the pile on the desk, laying them in front of him, "These two were excessive. Break through on the smuggling aspect... I’ll take the blame if they die!"
Qin picked up the statements, one belonging to Liu Yaozu from Jiaxing Prefecture, who had planned the murder for someone’s property and annihilated his whole family, and another was Gong Qing from Ningbo Prefecture, who had directed the Changfeng Gang last year to encroach upon three thousand mu of land.
"This..."
Qin hesitated, holding the two statements and looking troubled.
Without turning his head, Yang Ge tapped on the desk, "Are you afraid I’ll sell you out, or that I can’t bear the consequences?"
Qin hurriedly replied, "This subordinate dares not. It’s only that..."
He lowered his voice, whispering, "My lord, those who fall into the hands of our Embroidered Uniform Guard are doomed to endure the torture rack, but if someone dies, that’s another matter... The Salt Transport Commissioner also holds a position in The Supervisory Office as an Imperial Censor!"
He spoke of matters beneath the surface.
Yang Ge responded in kind with matters beneath the surface, "Their confessions are quite comprehensive, and the evidence chain is solid. No one can save them anyway, and they are headed for death... Does it matter where they die?"
Qin hesitated again before speaking, "I beseech my lord to think it over thrice!"
Yang Ge spoke gently, "I’ve already thought it over thrice, get on with it..."
Qin had no choice but to cup his fist in salute, "As you command!"
He set down the statements, rolled up his sleeves, and turned to leave.
Shortly after, the cries that had just stopped began again.
The flames danced even more fiercely...
Yang Ge picked up the teacup from the desk, leaned back into his chair, and took small sips of tea in sync with the heart-wrenching screams.
"My lord!"
Another figure covered in moisture, bringing with him a chill, bent over as he entered the small room.
Yang Ge glanced at the dampness on his clothes and motioned his hand towards the chair opposite him, "You’ve worked hard. Take a seat and talk."
The visitor bowed, "My lord has been working tirelessly on these case files, laboring to the point of exhaustion. Fang Ke has no reason to speak of hardship."
Yang Ge slowly poured a bowl of hot tea, smiling, "Whether I’m tired is irrelevant to your exhaustion... Sit down."
Fang Ke stood up, "Thank you, my lord."
Yang Ge pushed the teacup towards him, "How did it go?"
With both hands around the teacup, Fang Ke sighed, "I was too late. In Jinling, the Wu family, forty-seven members, not a single survivor."
Yang Ge’s expression darkened as he asked softly, "Can you find out who did it?"
Fang Ke hesitated for a few seconds.
Yang Ge gently tapped on the desk, "Speak the truth."
Fang Ke had no choice but to admit, "It was the work of soldiers... the murderers didn’t even try to cover their tracks!"
Yang Ge’s brows slowly furrowed.
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Fang Ke, watching his reaction, whispered, "My lord, do you think this is a warning shot or an act of desperation?"
"A warning shot is too late, and an act of desperation is too early!"
Yang Ge, with furrowed brows, softly responded, "I feel... it’s more like provoking me into making a mistake."
Fang Ke suddenly understood, "Turning passivity into activeness?"
After pondering for a long while, Yang Ge said, "It must be that the crying child gets the candy..."
Fang Ke was taken aback, then let out a heavy sigh of exhaustion.
Yang Ge also felt somewhat at a loss.
That old fox had been managing the Jiangzhe region for over twenty years, with an intricate network of relationships, omnipresent and unassailable.
The moment Yang Ge arrested people, that old fox could clean up his tracks, rendering all cases pointing towards him either lacking witness testimony or physical evidence.
Even those locked up in the jails still seemed to be remotely controlled by him; once confronted with queries related to that old fox, they either deflected with excuses or adamantly blamed it on commands from the Provincial Administration Commission.
Although Yang Ge was seemingly in control, he felt like he was being led by the nose by that old fox.
What a high-level game!
"My lord needs to make an early decision..."
Fang Ke, with a worried look, whispered, "If we delay any further, even if the capital can stand firm, I fear chaos will erupt here!"
For the past two months, they had arrested half of the officials from Jiangzhe’s eleven prefectures and imprisoned them in Yangzhou. The vacancies created were temporarily filled by the deputies or subordinates of those corrupt officials.
Nothing major should happen in the short term since the sword they held over the heads of Jiangzhe’s officialdom hadn’t yet dropped.
But if too much time passed, the outcome would be uncertain, as those clerks and petty officials were most adept at inflicting pain with a dull knife...
"An early decision is indeed necessary!"
Yang Ge agreed with Fang Ke’s view, his tightly knit brows slowly relaxing, "Well then, if I can’t deal with that old fox this time, I’ll settle for uprooting his foundations in Jiangzhe!"
He was relatively open-minded about it.
Being in a high position and still holding the home-field advantage, it would be ridiculous if he were dismantled as easily as Emperor Jianwen.
The main issue was that old fox’s official robes were too troublesome!
Yang Ge simply couldn’t deal with that old fox as he did with other corrupt officials—bluntly and forcefully.
In a battle of wits within the rules, he couldn’t afford to waste time...
Apart from that old fox, only the Provincial Administration Commission, the Military Command, and the Judicial Commission remained the three major obstacles in Jiangzhe. If these three were to crumble, even if that old fox didn’t lose all his past efforts, he would certainly be gravely weakened...