"Great Empress of the White Lotus, I, Han Hong, have finally completed the task given to me by the Holy Lord. I have no regrets even if I die..."
It seems the mastermind is beginning to surface. The White Lotus Sect?
"Take her away!"
On the other side.
"It wasn't intentional, I swear it wasn't intentional! They used me, I didn't know anything. I didn't know their target was the Empress, please, spare me, spare me..."
"Please, spare me, I didn't do it on purpose, please..."
However, the cold-blooded Shen Lian, completely ignored Jiang Chenxi's pleas. Especially after knowing she was worthless. To everyone's horror, he swiftly and decisively decapitated her with a single blow.
The Southern Banquet Hall closed its doors once more.
...
Meanwhile, in the Jinyiwei interrogation room.
Zhang Tong, the Director of the Pass Administration, who was utterly betrayed by his own daughter, has been arrested and is undergoing interrogation.
He is the father of suspect Zhang Lihua, the head of the Zhang family.
He is also the highest-ranking official of the Pass Administration, a third-rank dignitary.
However, these two identities are utterly useless to the Emperor or the Jinyiwei.
"Lord Zhang Tong, your daughter participated in the assassination attempt on the Empress. Do you know about this?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Tong became very agitated, his teeth clenched.
"No, I don't know. I had no idea about this matter..."
"If I had known beforehand, I would have stopped it even if it meant my death. No, I would have killed Zhang Lihua, that foolish woman who dragged the entire family into the abyss!"
His trembling voice carried an immeasurable fear. At this moment, Zhang Lihua dared not admit to such a crime.
This was a crime punishable by the annihilation of the entire clan, not just the nine generations. Let alone him being a mere third-rank official, even a first-rank Chancellor of the Central Secretariat would face the same fate.
Before the founding Emperor, anyone, any family, was nothing but an ant, crushed to death.
"Hmph!" Ye Kai, who was interrogating him, sneered and said, "Lord Zhang, you may choose not to speak now, but once we find the evidence, it will be too late even if you want to speak!"
"I didn't. I really didn't. Our Zhang family did not participate in the assassination attempt. Please, believe me..."
"We really didn't do it. Let alone do it, we wouldn't even dare to think about it. That is the Empress, who reigns over all!"
Hearing these words, Ye Kai sneered and immediately ordered his subordinates to use torture.
Just then, a sibilant, mocking laugh echoed from outside the door.
Moments later, the interrogation room door opened, and Huang Minghao, a man with a cold expression, dressed in magnificent brocade robes, strode in.
He was the chief eunuch of the imperial palace and one of Zhu Yuanzhang's most trusted men!
"You are Lord Zhang Tong, aren't you?"
His voice, neither male nor female, was filled with an endless chill that made one tremble.
"You are waiting for your friends and cronies to rescue you? I'm afraid they can't even save themselves right now..."
"Furthermore, the imperial edict has been issued. Your Zhang family will be annihilated. All of this is the good deed of your foolish daughter!"
...
Half an hour later, the Zhang family, the Jiang family, the Yu family, the Han family, and over a dozen other families were surrounded by the Jinyiwei.
Subsequently, over a hundred thousand people were arrested on two charges: violating national law and conspiracy.
On this day, over a hundred thousand people were executed, rivers of blood flowed, corpses littered the ground, and vengeful spirits filled the air.
In the capital, in a luxurious mansion.
"Hello, Madam Bai, is that you? We are the Jinyiwei, and I've come only to ask where your daughter is!"
Hearing this, a woman in her forties could no longer control her emotions and began to sob.
She was Zhang Lihua's mother.
Now, only she remained in this opulent mansion. The rest of her family had been taken away by the Jinyiwei to that slaughterhouse.
"Madam, because your daughter Zhang Lihua participated in the attempt to assassinate the Empress, you must tell me where she is now."
"My lords, I beg you, Zhang Lihua deserves to die a thousand deaths, but we are all innocent..."
"We had no idea that foolish daughter would attempt to assassinate the Empress, truly, we beg you, we were completely unaware..."
The Jinyiwei officer remained unmoved, shaking his head slightly.
"I'm sorry, Madam, you can only blame your daughter. Unless..."
At these words, Madam Bai felt like a drowning person grabbing a straw.
She immediately cried out, "Unless what? Unless what? My lord, please tell me, as long as I can do it, I will help you!"
The Jinyiwei officer replied sternly, "Unless you help us capture your daughter, you might still have a chance to redeem yourselves!"
"What???"
"I have to betray my own daughter?"
At this moment, Madam Bai fell silent.
She knew very well that if she did this, her daughter would die without a burial place, and a miserable death at that.
However, if she didn't comply, the entire family would die...
"Madam, if you don't help us, you will all..." die!"
The last word was roared by the Jinyiwei officer, who grabbed Madam Bai by her clothes and lifted her up.
Honestly, if this woman had any remaining value, he would have killed her long ago.
Damn it, your daughter has completely implicated the entire Jinyiwei! How could we be satisfied without eradicating your entire clan?
"Madam, I'll ask you one more time, will you... or will you not?"
Thrown to the ground, landing face-first, Madam Bai heard the grinding teeth and her body trembled. She could no longer hold back.
"I'll tell you, I'll tell you..."
"Start recording!"
"Yes!"
Upon hearing this, the Jinyiwei officer signaled to his subordinates. Several scribes stepped forward and began to record Madam Bai's words.
...
In the commoner's district, in a humble dwelling.
In the cellar, several women dressed in luxurious clothes sat slumped on the ground like walking dead.
This incident was too serious. Who knew that the sachet intended for the young princess Zhu Xiaoyan would be given by the young princess to the Empress?
Damn it, let alone a sachet that caused aphrodisiac effects, even one that caused a stimulating reaction would enrage the Emperor and the Crown Prince, father and son!
"If we can't get out of the city in the next few days, we'll definitely be investigated by the Jinyiwei and the imperial guards!"
One of the female accomplices said to Zhang Lihua.
Hearing her words, Zhang Lihua and the others nodded in unison.
None of them wanted this. With their families' power, they wouldn't dare to poison the Empress even if they were given ten thousand times the courage. This was tantamount to rebellion.
It would be one thing if they had the ability to rebel, but they simply didn't.
A low sob came from the youngest of the women. She didn't want to die, truly didn't want to.
"I don't want to die, I really don't want to die! Whoever you are, please come and save me!"
Hearing the crying, the others' faces turned even more grim. However, no one scolded her, because at this moment, everyone felt the same.
At this moment, a companion next to Zhang Lihua spoke, addressing Zhang Lihua.
"Why did you agree to them?"
Them? Who were they?
Zhang Lihua was speechless.
This incident could only be blamed on her own foolishness, her own greed. Otherwise, even if others wanted to deceive her, they wouldn't have had the chance.
"That was the imperial palace, a banquet in the imperial palace! You colossal idiot, you've dragged us all into this mess!" the companion growled angrily.
Hearing this, Zhang Lihua's pent-up emotions instantly erupted, and she immediately got into a fierce altercation with her companion in the cellar.
"Ladies, please calm down, calm down. At this point, there's no need for infighting. If people outside overhear us, you can imagine our fate..."
The words of another companion slightly calmed the two down. However...
Just then!
"Ding dong!" "Ding dong!"...
There were sounds of knocking from the cellar floor, which startled the people in the cellar.
Could it be the Jinyiwei?
Everyone immediately became vigilant.
"Be quiet, all of you, or you'll get us all killed!"
A low warning made everyone quickly cover their mouths and crawl down, lying on the ground.
"Ding dong!" "Ding dong!"...
The knocking continued.
Upon confirming that there was a hidden cellar beneath this house, the Jinyiwei did not hesitate and directly used their swords to chop open the wooden planks.
Faced with the fierce-looking Jinyiwei, they were only threatened a few words before one woman showed a sign of breaking.
"Who, who are they?"
"Say, who are they?!"
At these words, Zhang Lihua and the others knew they were finished. They were completely done for, and no one in this world could save them anymore, because their trump card had been revealed.
They didn't even have room to bargain. Once their final value was extracted, they would only face death.
"Take them away!"
"Yes!"
...
Who were they?
At this moment, not only the Jinyiwei were trying to find the answer, but the Eastern Depot was also doing the same.
Because at this very moment, the head of the Eastern Depot, Eunuch Wang, was interrogating someone: the old Madam Han who was arrested in the Southern Banquet Hall.
If the goal was merely to take the life of the young princess Zhu Xiaoyan, there would be no need to orchestrate such a grand scheme and sacrifice so many people.
What wise person would undertake something so disproportionate?
Therefore, anyone with a modicum of intelligence knew that their true target was not the young princess Zhu Xiaoyan, but Empress Ma.
In the Fengfeng Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang, upon opening the door, saw Wu Tao continuously injecting his pure internal energy into Empress Ma.
"National Master, how is my sister?"
Wu Tao shook his head, speaking with a hint of apology.
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