Chapter 950: Shaozhou Turbulence (Part )

"The Teng tribe in western Hunan?"

Shi Zhenshan's explanation surprised Song Yu and Leng Yiyi. They frowned and seemed to be thinking about something.

"Taizhou is thousands of miles away from Xiangxi, why did Hong Si come here?" Leng Yiyi was puzzled, "Could it be that he and Teng Sanshi..."

"and many more!"

Before Leng Yiyi finished speaking, a frightening light suddenly flashed in Song Yu's eyes, and he asked in a serious tone: "Brother Shi, where did you say the spy came from?"

"Taizhou Hong Mansion, what happened..."

"I was wondering why it sounded familiar. Taizhou Hongfu is one of the 'Four Prefectures of Shangjing'."

"That's right! This person has mentioned the 'Four Prefectures in the Capital' time and again." Looking at the excited Song Yu, Shi Zhenshan suddenly came to his senses and nodded repeatedly.

"Yes!" Song Yu said solemnly, "The Yuan Xiao that the owner asked Ding Ao and Dong Xiao'er to investigate secretly is also from the four prefectures of Shangjing."

"You mean..." Leng Yiyi seemed to be thinking, "Hong Si and Yuan Xiao are birds of a feather? But the owner of the dock said that Yuan Xiao is just a local tyrant in Shenzhou, so it seems that there is no need to worry..."

"The Jin Kingdom has been in trouble for more than 20 years. In order to conceal our presence, we have not left the border for more than 20 years, so we know very little about the situation in the northeast." Song Yu pondered, "But since they are called the 'Four Prefectures of Shangjing'... I think they should be composed of four forces. If I guessed correctly, Yuan Xiao is the overlord of Shenzhou, and this Hong Si should be the overlord of Taizhou."

"If this is true, the owner's worries are not groundless. There must be something fishy going on in the four prefectures in Shangjing." Leng Yiyi echoed repeatedly.

"Instead of guessing, why not interrogate him face to face?" Shi Zhenshan waved his hand and smiled meaningfully, "I guarantee that the secrets you will hear in a while will be far more bizarre than you can imagine."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain in a few words, just follow me!"

After saying this, Shi Zhenshan suddenly stood up and led Song Yu and Leng Yiyi, who seemed to understand what he was saying, out of the hall.

After about a cup of tea, Shi Zhenshan led the two of them through the house and yard and came to a dark and damp dungeon.

When the two guards worked together to push open the iron door deep in the dungeon, a sour and pungent smell of blood mixed with the smell of rot and mold hit them in the face, making Song Yu and Leng Yiyi's stomachs churn and they couldn't help but retching.

This cell had no doors or windows, and it was pitch black as far as the eye could see.

From the depths of darkness, one could faintly hear bursts of painful and weak groans, coupled with a strong and unpleasant smell, which gave people an indescribable feeling of oppression and dark despair.

"Hold the lamp!"

At Shi Zhenshan's command, two guards hurriedly went into the darkness with tinder. After they lit the two candles in the cell, a faint yellow light was cast, allowing Song Yu and Leng Yiyi to barely see everything in the cell.

In a narrow cell of only three to five meters in radius, a dying man covered in blood was tied to a rack. A row of dilapidated long tables were placed against the wall, and torture instruments were piled up on the tables in all directions. There were whips, branding irons, steel hooks, iron sticks, bamboo clamps, picks... everything you could think of.

There was a filthy toilet in the corner, but what was inside was not feces or urine, but thick, smelly blood.

The reason why it is thick is that the blood is soaked with severed fingers, ears, eyeballs and other shocking and cruel things.

When Song Yu and Leng Yiyi stepped into the cell, they could clearly feel the slippery and sticky feeling on the red and black ground with their soles, and they could even hear a slight "hissing" sound when they lifted their feet.

Looking through the bumpy and bloodstained brick walls on all sides, Song Yu and the others couldn't imagine how many souls of those who died tragically were sealed in this hellish dungeon?
"wake him up."

"As ordered!"

Hearing Shi Zhenshan's order, a guard hurriedly picked up the bucket, took two steps forward, and poured half a bucket of dirty water on the man.

In the cold winter, being poured with cold water was already an unbearable torture. What's more, the man's body was covered with bloody wounds of various sizes, and the bucket of sewage was mixed with salt grains and chili seeds. The sudden pain was even more unforgettable and heartbreaking.

"what!"

With a scream like a pig being slaughtered, the sleepy man suddenly woke up. All the muscles in his body tensed up like iron in an instant, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his shivering body at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You guys get out first!"

Seeing that the man was awake, Shi Zhenshan dismissed the guards and closed the prison door himself.

"Ask whatever you want to know, but be quick." Shi Zhenshan reminded calmly, "From the looks of him... he doesn't seem to be able to hold on for much longer."

"What's your name?" Song Yu gently covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, slowly walked up to the man, and asked tentatively, "Where are you from?"

“Kill me…Kill me…”

The man twisted his wounded body wildly, opening and closing his mouth to make screams like ghosts and wolves. Strangely, when he opened his mouth, blood kept flowing out of his mouth, making his voice unclear.

"He is..."

"I was worried that he might bite his tongue to commit suicide, so I pulled out all his teeth with pliers."

Shi Zhenshan sat leisurely aside, completely ignoring the stench in the cell, and drank tea with relish.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Song Yu looked up and down at the miserable man and said calmly, "As long as you answer my questions honestly, I can free you from pain. Otherwise, I can't guarantee what you will experience before you die."

As if Song Yu's threat had hit his soft spot, the wailing man suddenly looked up and stared at the expressionless Song Yu with his only remaining eye, his eyes filled with panic and fear.

It seemed that the man had been completely frightened by Shi Zhenshan's cruel methods and would rather die than endure the torture again.

Seeing this, Song Yu raised a faint sneer at the corner of his mouth and asked calmly, "What's your name?"

"Hong... Hong Yang."

"Where do you come from?"

"Taizhou... Hong Mansion."

"Hong Mansion? Hong Yang?" Song Yu asked curiously, "Could it be that you and Hong Si are from the same family?"

"Yes... I am the nephew of the mansion master..."

"No wonder! I guess Hong Si trusts you very much, otherwise he wouldn't have sent you out to get information."

"This..." Hong Yang was tangled and said bitterly, "I guess... I guess so!"

Seeing Hong Yang being submissive, Song Yu smiled slyly and said, "So, you know a lot of secrets of Hong Temple?" "This..." Hong Yang gradually realized that he had fallen into a trap, and looked at Song Yu with a hint of fear in his eyes.

Although Song Yu standing in front of him seemed gentle and refined, he was actually more difficult to deal with than the ferocious Shi Zhenshan.

"Let me ask you again, what is the relationship between the Hong Mansion and the four Shangjing Mansions?"

"Shenzhou Yuanfu, Jeju Yanfu, Taizhou Hongfu, Qingzhou Leifu... are collectively known as the 'Four Prefectures of Shangjing'." Hong Yang replied tremblingly, "The four prefectures are headed by...Shenzhou Yuanfu."

"What is the name of the owner of Yuan Mansion?"

"My name is... Yuan Xiao."

Seeing that Hong Yang told him everything he knew, Song Yu's eyes showed a hint of satisfaction.

"I heard that Hong Temple is in the Teng tribe in western Hunan?"

"Yes." Hong Yang answered truthfully, "The mansion master spent 70,000 taels of silver to exchange for a jade ruyi from Xiangyang as... a gift for Chief Teng."

"Seventy thousand taels?" Song Yu was shocked. "Hong Temple is so generous?"

"Yes..." Hong Yang nodded gently, "Just the box containing the jade ruyi... cost a full eight hundred taels."

"Box?" Hong Yang's answer seemed to bring back some memories for Song Yu.

Suddenly, Leng Yiyi's face changed and she exclaimed, "Could it be the black-faced man we met when we came out of Baicui Lake?"

"The mansion master... is indeed square-faced, with big ears and dark skin."

After getting Hong Yang's affirmation, Song Yu became even more confused and curious.

"Why did Hong Si give Teng Sanshi a gift? And the gift is so valuable." Song Yu was puzzled, "Do they have an old relationship?"

"No... the Palace Master and the Teng Clan leader have never met each other..." Hong Yang shook his head with difficulty, "The Palace Master gave us a gift... because we want to join the Teng Clan..."

"To join the Teng Clan?" Song Yu became more and more confused as he listened. His intuition told him that this matter was not simple at all and there must be some hidden conspiracy. "Why? Did the Hong Temple encounter some trouble in Taizhou?"

"No... because the areas outside the Great Wall are remote and sparsely populated. If the four prefectures in the capital want to move to a higher level... they must enter the Central Plains to seek hegemony..."

"The four prefectures in Shangjing?" Song Yu's eyes changed, "You mean... Hong Si is not the only one who entered the Central Plains?"

"Yuan Xiao, Yan Shun, Hong Si, Lei Zhen... the four palace masters all have to enter the pass... and find another place to settle down in the Central Plains."

"what?"

Until this moment, Song Yu and Leng Yiyi finally understood what Shi Zhenshan was referring to as the "horrifying secret".
The "Four Prefectures of Shangjing" entered the Central Plains together. If you say they had no conspiracy, even a fool would not believe it.

"You mean... Yuan Xiao, Yan Shun, and Lei Zhen will also join the Xiangxi Teng tribe?"

"No..." Hong Yang answered intermittently, "They defected to other sects..."

"Which sect?"

"I don't know... How could the mansion master tell us servants such a secret? They all agreed on it in secret..."

"Secretly agreed?" Song Yu frowned, his eyes becoming more suspicious. "You mean... the four prefectures in Shangjing entered the pass with a hidden conspiracy?"

"I...I didn't say that..."

"You just said that the four prefectures in Shangjing entered the pass to 'reach a higher level', and then you said that they had secretly agreed on it. This is clearly inconsistent. If your motives are pure and aboveboard, why do you have to hide your head and show your tail and divide your troops to act?" Song Yu's face darkened and he said in a cold voice, "Hong Yang, you'd better tell me the truth, otherwise I will make you wish you were dead or alive."

When Song Yu said this, not only Leng Yiyi was full of suspicion, but even Shi Zhenshan put down his teapot and walked forward with interest.

Obviously, Shi Zhenshan could only get out those things just now after being tortured. But Song Yu was different. He was meticulous and could hear the flaws in Hong Yang's words directly, so he took the opportunity to interrogate him, hoping to dig out a bigger secret.

"Boy, you really are hiding something from me. I warned you that if you lie, I will chop off your limbs first, and then cut off your life."

Seeing Hong Yang panic-stricken and hesitant, Shi Zhenshan glared at him and spat angrily. Then he walked to the table and started selecting the torture instruments that suit him, as if he was going to torture Hong Yang again.

"I'll give you one last chance to make a deal." Song Yu worked with Shi Zhenshan to use both force and softness, kindness and force on Hong Yang. "If you are willing to tell me all the secrets you know, I can let you go."

"This……"

"As the saying goes, 'a good death is worse than a miserable life.' Even if you become disabled, it is worse than losing your life." Leng Yiyi took the opportunity to instigate, "I know what you are worried about. You are simply afraid that Hong Temple will not let you go. But as long as you are willing to tell the truth, not only will we not kill you, but we will also give you a sum of money. You can run away and live a worry-free life for the rest of your life. How do you think?"

"Are you serious?" Hong Yang's instinct for survival wavered.

"We have given you the chance. It is your choice whether to tell or not." Song Yu said coldly, "But I must remind you that since the four prefectures in Shangjing have entered the Central Plains, their secrets will be exposed sooner or later. They can be concealed for a while, but not forever. You are sacrificing your life for a secret that cannot be kept secret. You can decide for yourself whether it is worth it or not."

"Stop talking nonsense! Let me cut off his arm first..."

"No, no, no... I'll tell you! I'll tell you! As long as you don't kill me, I'll tell you everything..."

Faced with the lobbying of Song Yu and Leng Yiyi and the intimidation of Shi Zhenshan, Hong Yang, who had never seen such a scene in the Northeast, had his mental defenses completely collapsed. He burst into tears and pissed himself.

"Why did the four prefectures of Shangjing suddenly enter the pass instead of staying outside the pass? Why did they split their troops into four groups? What is the hidden conspiracy behind all these strange things? Who is manipulating the whole situation behind the scenes?"

"I said...I said...yes...yes..."

"Say it!"

Shi Zhenshan, with a sullen face, roared loudly, shaking the eerie dungeon and frightening the silent Hong Yang to death.

"What conspiracy there is... I really don't know. I only know... the four prefectures in Shangjing have changed their name to 'Xilu Wuzong' and have entered the Central Plains one after another... It was the idea of ​​the eldest lady and the deputy master..."

"Where did the young lady come from? What deputy sect leader?"

"The eldest lady is Xunzhen, and the deputy sect leader is... Liu Xunyi..."

……

(End of this chapter)