Chapter 279: Into the Urn

The Cold Palace in late summer was as cold and austere as midwinter.

Zhang Ze looked at Guo Shun, neither panicked nor angry.

“Which case?” he asked. “What do you want me to confess to? You haven’t even asked, how can I refuse to admit to anything?”

Guo Shun was no longer as humble and ingratiating as he had been earlier. He straightened his back and said in a deep voice, “Zhang Ze, where did you go just now?”

Zhang Ze smiled at him. “Where I go is not something you can ask.”

“Isn’t this a refusal to confess?” Guo Shun shouted, waving his hand. “Put him in the urn!”

But awkwardly, the surrounding guards didn’t move.

Zhang Ze laughed. “After following me for so long, you still don’t know how to interrogate. Our Censorate doesn’t need to know the answer from the accused, but to give the answer and make them confess.”

He looked at Guo Shun.

“So, what do you want me to confess to?”

After saying that, he seemed to think of something and stopped looking at Guo Shun. Instead, he looked around, as if searching for someone.

“Your Ladyship, what do you want me to confess to?”

Guo Shun took a step forward, but then hesitated, remembering that carrying a sword was forbidden in the palace. He hurriedly snatched a sword from a nearby guard. “Zhang Ze, are you colluding with the Prince of Chu!”

Zhang Ze looked at him. “That’s the right way to ask, directly fabricate a crime.”

“Stop playing dumb!” Guo Shun shouted. “You—”

“Enough!” A woman’s voice interrupted Guo Shun.

Guo Shun quickly straightened up, and Zhang Ze also looked towards the inner chamber, seeing Bai Ying emerge from behind the large urn.

“Don’t ask such stupid questions.” Bai Ying glanced at Guo Shun, then looked at Zhang Ze. “Inspector Zhang is not a fool.”

Zhang Ze looked at Bai Ying. “Your Ladyship is indeed swift. You bestow an official position one moment, and prepare a crime the next. Is the crime that I colluded with the Prince of Chu in treason?”

He chuckled and nodded.

“Good choice. My identity carries a lot of weight. I control the secrets of many officials. His Majesty will be very interested.”

Bai Ying didn’t respond to his words, but looked at him and asked, “Where did you go just now?”

“I did go to see the Prince of Chu.” Zhang Ze said. “To be precise, I saw Zhou Jingyun. Zhou Jingyun is working for the Prince of Chu.”

He finished speaking and looked at Bai Ying.

“Your Ladyship, if this is what you want to ask, there’s no need for such a grand spectacle.”

Bai Ying smiled. “I know. If I ask you, you will tell me. If I asked you in Hanliang Palace, you would tell me that the Prince of Chu held a banquet and you went to monitor him. Now, facing this large urn—” She pointed to the charcoal urn beside her. “You will tell me you went to collude with the Prince of Chu.”

Zhang Ze looked at her. “I will answer whatever Your Ladyship needs.”

Bai Ying suddenly spat at him. “Zhang Ze, do you really think I’m a fool? You still refuse to tell the truth. Besides seeing Zhou Jingyun, you also met Bai Li! Did you think I didn’t see? Did you think I didn’t know Bai Li was in the Prince of Chu’s carriage? Didn’t know she went into the teahouse to meet Zhou Jingyun privately?”

Her expression became furious.

“What colluding with the Prince of Chu? You colluded with Bai Li first, and then she married the Prince of Chu.”

“If it weren’t for you, how could she have married the Prince of Chu? If it weren’t for you, would I have only discovered that the Princess of Chu is my sister when I met her?”

She laughed loudly again.

“I even facilitated this marriage!”

She pointed at Zhang Ze.

“Zhang Ze, how have I wronged you! You treat me like this!”

Guo Shun cautiously said from the side, “Your Ladyship, please calm down.” He then looked at Zhang Ze, with a heartbroken expression. “Zhang Ze, you have disappointed Your Ladyship so much. How could you betray her trust!”

Zhang Ze looked at Bai Ying. “Your Ladyship, are you having nightmares again? Seeing people you shouldn’t see?”

Bai Ying looked at him warily. “Is this your doing?”

Zhang Ze’s expression turned serious. “Your Ladyship, you have fallen into a demonic obstacle.” He took a step forward. “Your Ladyship, please wake up, don’t fall into someone else’s trap.”

Guo Shun pointed his sword at him. “Stand back, stay away from Your Ladyship!”

Zhang Ze ignored Guo Shun and looked only at Bai Ying.

Bai Ying suddenly smiled. “Yes, I can’t sleep, I’m trapped by a demonic obstacle. But facing Inspector Zhang, I’m very clear-headed.”

She slowly circled Zhang Ze.

“You didn’t just start colluding with my sister recently, it started a long time ago.”

She scoffed.

“That day I asked you if you didn’t think the Princess of Chu looked a lot like me? And you, what nonsense did you tell me? You even praised me, truly a guilty conscience.”

“You pretended very well at the time, but in my eyes, it was full of flaws.”

“I deliberately told you my intentions, and you immediately went to see Zhou Jingyun, asking Zhou Jingyun to tell Bai Li my intentions.”

“Did you think it was her I wanted to appease?”

Hearing this, Zhang Ze looked at Bai Ying thoughtfully and nodded. “So it was me Your Ladyship wanted to appease.”

Bai Ying stopped and looked at him, smiling. “Yes, it was you I wanted to appease.”

Guo Shun shook his head from the side. “Zhang Ze, you really shouldn’t have betrayed Your Ladyship.”

✿✿✿

Zhang Ze glanced at Guo Shun. “Without me betraying Your Ladyship, how would you have the chance to rise to prominence?”

Is this an admission? Guo Shun’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Your Ladyship, let me interrogate him!”

Zhang Ze looked at Bai Ying. “No need to bother. Your Ladyship knows what kind of person I am. I will do whatever Your Ladyship needs. Accuse anyone, I can do it. I will obey. I won’t sacrifice my own life to protect someone else.”

Bai Ying looked at him and sneered. “The accusation is very simple. The Prince of Chu has long been colluding with you. First, using the Empress’s case, he brought up the Former Crown Prince’s case, cleared the Former Crown Prince’s name and restored his identity. Then Li Yu transformed into the Prince of Chu. The next step is to eliminate the little prince, and then join forces with court officials to force His Majesty to adopt the Prince of Chu as his heir, and make him the Crown Prince, just like how you forced the previous Emperor to make Prince Changyang the Crown Prince.”

She finished speaking and glanced at Guo Shun, seeing him holding the sword and guarding her with a loyal and devoted look.

“Did you write it down?” Bai Ying asked, frowning.

Guo Shun hurriedly replied yes.

Bai Ying looked at Zhang Ze again. “Inspector, do you think this is enough? Enough to make you lose your skin even if you don’t die?”

Zhang Ze nodded. “Your Ladyship is wise. First, bring up the Empress’s case, make the Empress appear innocent, then threaten the little prince. The Emperor will definitely not let the Prince of Chu go.”

Bai Ying looked at him. “Someone come.” She waved her hand. “Send the Inspector into the urn.”

As she spoke, the guards swarmed forward. Zhang Ze didn’t resist. Guo Shun also took the opportunity to step forward, directing the guards to strip Zhang Ze of his official robe, bind him in various ways, and throw him into the urn.

“I didn’t intend to escape unscathed. It’s only right to be punished.” Zhang Ze didn’t struggle. Standing in the urn where only his head could be seen, he looked at Bai Ying. “Let me do one last thing for Your Ladyship, write my own confession, and organize my evidence.”

Bai Ying looked at him and smiled faintly. She gestured to Guo Shun. “Light the fire.”

Hearing these words, Zhang Ze’s previously calm face changed. “Just because you found this idiot, you want to get rid of me?”

Guo Shun, who was personally lighting the fire, felt ashamed and angry. “Zhang Ze, how much smarter are you than me? You were just lucky. That noble person broke your father’s leg. If he had broken my father’s leg, I would be the one standing by Your Ladyship’s side!”

Zhang Ze spat at him.

Bai Ying seemed to enjoy their bickering and laughed loudly.

“Inspector, haven’t you said it yourself? Only dead people pose no threat.” She said. “You taught me that, and I’ve kept it in mind.”

Zhang Ze looked at her coldly. “Your Ladyship’s venomous heart wasn’t taught by me.”

Bai Ying sneered. “Now you’re calling me venomous? No more flattery?” She gritted her teeth. “Do you think my sister is better than me?”

Her voice suddenly rose, and she glared at Zhang Ze.

“Zhang Ze, by the Taiye Lake, you were the one who reached out to me first. You said you wanted to support me, you said you wanted to deter villains for me, strengthen my power, cultivate informants, and be my protector!”

“You were attracted to me! Your eyes should only be on me!”

Bai Ying took a step forward and looked at Zhang Ze trapped in the urn. The urn was designed so that a person inside couldn’t stand up straight, so Zhang Ze, who was much taller than her, was now at eye level with her.

She reached out and stroked his face, whispering.

“I won’t give you the chance to treat my sister the way you treated me.”

“You can only live for me, and you can only die for me.”

Zhang Ze suddenly turned his head and bit her hand. Bai Ying screamed, and Guo Shun panicked and struck Zhang Ze’s face hard. Several guards rushed forward, and together they managed to pry Bai Ying’s hand from Zhang Ze’s mouth.

A chunk of flesh was bitten off from Bai Ying’s hand, blood flowing everywhere. Her face was contorted in pain.

“Bastard, bastard.” She cursed shrilly.

“Your Ladyship, quickly go and have the imperial physician bandage your hand.” Guo Shun helped her up and walked away.

Bai Ying backhanded him, blood splattering on his face.

“Idiot! What are you doing!” She yelled. “Interrogate him! Get the confession and evidence prepared for me tonight!”

Guo Shun hurriedly replied yes. Eunuchs and palace maids surrounded them and helped Bai Ying walk out. When they reached the palace gate, she looked back.

Zhang Ze’s face in the large urn was covered in blood, both from biting her and from being beaten by the guards.

“What are you?” Seeing Bai Ying turn back, Zhang Ze laughed. “How could I possibly die for you!”

Bai Ying gritted her teeth in hatred and walked out quickly, clutching her throbbing hand.

Pain.

Pain so intense that she wished she were dead.

But when the pain became unbearable, it would subside, and at that moment, she would feel like she had come back to life.

This was the characteristic of the urn roasting torture, making one unable to seek death or life.

In the past, watching others endure this, she found it amusing. But when it was her turn to experience it firsthand, it felt terrible.

“Do you think it’s better to be alive now, or to be dead?”

A woman’s voice whispered in his ear.

Zhang Ze slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry. Was it nighttime already? No, this wasn’t the Cold Palace chamber, and he wasn’t being roasted in a large urn. In his blurry vision, the world was boundless, seemingly an ocean, or perhaps amidst clouds and mist. His body was suspended within it, and he couldn’t feel himself.

This way, he couldn’t feel the pain either.

Zhang Ze abruptly sat up. He could move freely?

He raised his head and saw the woman standing before him. It was Bai Li’s face.

“I didn’t expect my sister would actually want to kill you.” She said, then nodded. “It’s not surprising though. She can even kill her own family, let alone you.”