The Road to Glory

Chapter 226: "Is Xiao Jun Celebrating the Capture..."

The Yan father and son exchanged glances. Duke Yan's mustache trembled as he looked at his son, wanting to say something but unable to open his mouth.

Yan Zhen maintained relative composure, giving his elderly father a reassuring look before stepping forward and saying, "I am."

The Wolf Cavalry member scrutinized him from head to toe, then ordered the jailer to open the cell door. They escorted Yan Zhen, who was shackled hand and foot, toward the torture chamber at the end of the passage.

Watching his son's retreating figure in prison garb, Duke Yan finally panicked. He rushed forward, gripping the wooden bars of the cell with both hands, shouting hoarsely: "Zhen'er! Zhen'er!"

The small bun formed by his sparse, graying hair came loose as he violently shook the cell door. Tears welled in his eyes, and he suddenly seemed to have aged ten years.

The aristocratic family ministers who had previously helped him confront Qi Simiao and other officials now grew fearful for their own safety, their faces turning ashen.

Someone slumped against the wall, muttering in despair: "I always said that wolf cub from the Xiao family was no good..."

When Yan Zhen was brought into the torture chamber, he saw someone already seated in the observation chair not far away. The chamber's lamps couldn't illuminate that area clearly, casting only a dim yellow glow around the chair's legs that revealed the person's brocade boots and a section of black whip stained with dark blood.

He didn't dare look too closely. Only when the Wolf Cavalry locked him in iron chains and bound him to the rack did he reluctantly raise his eyes toward the darkness. Unexpectedly, the person opposite was also watching him. Those fierce, menacing eyes, even in the dim light, made his heart leap violently, as if he were being stared down by some wild beast.

Gathering his composure with effort, he said: "We have already surrendered to the Lord and are willing to serve him faithfully. May I ask what the Lord means by this?"

Xiao Li got straight to the point: "Does the Yan family have connections with Western Mausoleum?"

Yan Zhen's heart raced wildly, but he maintained a confused expression: "This general doesn't understand what the Lord is saying."

Xiao Li couldn't be bothered with further explanation. When he had previously rescued the Basheye tribal leader and captured that Western Mausoleum general, the latter had personally admitted that there were ministers in the royal court collaborating with Western Mausoleum.

They had rebelled against Wen Yu right after he led troops to surround the royal court. Judging by today's city defense preparations, they didn't seem to intend to surrender directly either. Most likely, they wanted to control Wen Yu to command the Liang and Chen kingdoms.

King Chen was merely a puppet put forward. If the spy wasn't in the Yan family, they must be among the several great clans that rebelled alongside the Yan family.

He had plenty of time to interrogate them slowly and find the person.

He slightly tilted his chin toward the Wolf Cavalry standing nearby, who immediately stepped forward with a torture whip.

When Yan Zhen's prison uniform was torn open, the specially crafted whip with reverse hooks tore directly into his flesh, splitting skin and bursting flesh.

His bones were quite tough. Enduring the first few lashes, he could still cry out about his innocence. But soon his entire upper body became unrecognizable, the seeping blood soaking through his prison clothes and dripping slowly from the hem onto the ground, where it pooled into a small puddle of blood.

His head hung weakly forward, sweat dripping from his eyelids, appearing barely alive. Yet he still showed no intention of confessing.

The Wolf Cavalry didn't dare continue using the whip and looked toward Xiao Li: "My Lord—"

Xiao Li slightly raised his hand, and the Wolf Cavalry member immediately put away the torture whip and stepped back.

Xiao Li sat up slightly straighter, leaning forward. His handsome, rugged features were fully exposed in the lamplight: "If you confess, your father might suffer less."Yan Zhen lifted his sweat-drenched eyelids, still stubbornly denying: "This humble general truly knows nothing..."

He knew in his heart that since Xiao Li had already interrogated King Chen, that spineless king must have confessed everything about how they had sidelined Wen Yu.

As a man himself, he could tell what Xiao Li's earlier actions at the palace gate meant, and a strange feeling churned within him.

Fortunately, he and his father had only coaxed King Chen into becoming their scapegoat, without revealing too much of their plans to him.

The more pressing issue now was that if Wen Yu managed to regain power through Xiao Li, she would surely settle scores with him and his father. He needed to quickly distance his family from any accusations of opposing Wen Yu, while planting seeds of discord between the two.

Coughing up blood, he gasped weakly: "This humble general... we never intended to oppose the princess. Rather, the princess had long agreed with the court ministers that if the royal court couldn't be defended, she would personally leave the city to beg for your mercy and take full responsibility for past wrongdoings. The princess even wrote a letter beforehand—Your Lordship must have seen it..."

"Our conflict was solely with the Qi faction, with whom we've long held differing political views. We couldn't bear to see the Chen Kingdom, which the princess worked so hard to preserve, fall into the hands of the Qi faction..."

Xiao Li's expression remained cold and ruthless. Though he couldn't immediately verify Yan Zhen's claims, it was undeniable that Wen Yu had written such a letter and gifted him beauties.

The beast within him grew restless again. Suppressing his fury, he stared coldly at the man on the rack: "Was it you who produced King Chen's royal heir?"

Hearing this, Yan Zhen knew King Chen must have confessed everything to save his own skin.

Blood and sweat mingled on his face, his breathing labored from the burning pain of the whip marks: "The King... the King suffers from a private ailment and has long abstained from governance. When the Jiang faction dominated the court, the Empress Dowager... the Empress Dowager planned for the princess to bear a child with a Jiang family member to present as the royal heir. After the Jiang faction fell, the princess personally elevated the Qi faction. Though she only gave birth to a princess, the royal daughter still enjoys strong support from the royalist ministers. We... we feared the royal daughter might also be connected to the Qi faction, which is why we sought to produce another royal heir to counterbalance them."

His words were half-truths.

Since King Chen was impotent, Wen Yu's child must have been fathered by someone else—though who remained unknown.

This was partly why he and his father had attempted to eliminate Wen Yu's daughter during the palace coup, planning to control Liang through Wen Yu alone.

After all, if the father of Wen Yu's daughter belonged to the Qi faction, all their efforts might ultimately benefit others.

The resin in the wall torch was nearly spent, its flame dwindling. The already dim torture chamber grew darker, making it impossible to discern Xiao Li's expression. Only his voice could be heard, deep and icy: "So who is the father of her daughter?"

Yan Zhen lay dying: "This humble general truly doesn't know. But the princess has always trusted the Qi faction deeply, and this past year she promoted many outstanding young men from their ranks..."

Xiao Li remained silent. The air in the torture chamber grew stifling, like rising tidewaters making it difficult to breathe.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally gestured.

The Wolf Cavalry untied Yan Zhen—who now resembled a dead dog—from the rack and dragged him out.

Xiao Li sat alone in the blood-soaked torture chamber for a while longer, until a sharp "crack" shattered the silence.He had crushed the armrest of that solid pearwood official's chair with his bare hands.

A fine drizzle had fallen throughout the day. As evening approached, the wind grew fierce. One window wasn't properly closed, causing the curtains in that corner of the hall to flutter wildly.

Wen Yu stood before an octagonal palace lantern, quietly reading a scroll.

Wolf Cavalry surrounded Zhaohua Palace, preventing her from leaving. Only at mealtimes would palace servants come to deliver food.

Amidst this silence broken only by the sound of wind and dripping eaves, hurried footsteps suddenly approached from the courtyard outside the hall.

Moments later, the hall door was knocked upon: "Has Her Highness retired for the evening?"

It was the Wolf Cavalry.

Wen Yu asked: "What is the matter?"

The Wolf Cavalry outside replied: "The Marquis requests your presence at the Council Hall for discussion."

Wen Yu's delicate brows furrowed slightly, unable to comprehend why Xiao Li would summon her to the Council Hall at this hour. Their conversation this afternoon had been far from pleasant.

But since it was the front hall where ministers gathered for political discussions, he must have important matters to discuss.

Wen Yu set down the scroll and spoke calmly outward: "Wait a moment."

Shortly after, Wen Yu emerged from her bedchamber draped in a peacock-blue cloak to block the wind. The fine drizzle continued to fall. The Wolf Cavalry guard kept his head half-bowed, not daring to gaze upon her imperial countenance. Only when Wen Yu said "Let's go" did he respectfully turn to lead the way.

Wen Yu opened her umbrella and stepped into the wet traces left by the endless night rain.

Upon reaching the Council Hall, she noticed few Wolf Cavalry guards stationed outside. The escorting guard asked her to wait briefly outside while he went in to announce her arrival. Wen Yu even heard the sound of something shattering inside, along with a faint exclamation of "Second Brother, stop drinking!"

Wen Yu's brows tightened slightly, but before she could ponder further, hurried footsteps emerged from within the hall.

Accompanying the guard who had gone to announce her was a burly, dark-skinned man with a beard covering half his face. Upon seeing Wen Yu, he beamed and called out "Sister-in-law!"

Wen Yu's furrowed brows didn't relax—she remembered him. Several years ago when she was taken in by the Xiao family in Tongcheng, this man had visited the Xiao household and seemed to share an unusual friendship with Xiao Li.

"I heard the Marquis has important matters to discuss with me?" Her voice sounded even clearer in the rainy night.

Zheng Hu scratched his head and mumbled "Um, ah" a couple of times, his eyes darting everywhere except at Wen Yu.

Since returning from the imperial prison, Xiao Li had been drinking gloomily in the Council Hall without saying a word. Zheng Hu couldn't persuade him to stop nor get any answers from him. The only thing he could think of was that it must be related to Wen Yu.

Given Xiao Li's alcohol tolerance, drinking like this would lead to trouble. So he falsely claimed that Xiao Li needed to see Wen Yu and quickly sent someone to Zhaohua Palace to fetch her.

He wanted to say a few words on Xiao Li's behalf, but the last time he saw Wen Yu was only from a distance. Now that this goddess-like figure stood right before him, he didn't dare even look at Wen Yu's face, afraid his awkwardness might accidentally offend her and disgrace Xiao Li, making Wen Yu look down even more on their rough company.

Let alone open his usually coarse-speaking mouth to plead Xiao Li's case. He could only mumble "Um, ah" a few times before making an "inviting inside" gesture and stammering: "My... my second brother is inside, you may enter directly."

Having said this, he exchanged a look with the Wolf Cavalry guard who brought Wen Yu and swiftly departed together.

Watching their retreating figures, Wen Yu found it somewhat strange. After hesitating briefly at the hall entrance, she finally pushed open the door and entered.The grand hall was brightly lit with towering candles, casting her elongated shadow at the entrance from the start. The night wind rushed in, forcing out the pervasive scent of alcohol that filled the room. Wen Yu caught the smell, her brows furrowing even tighter.

She lifted her gaze to the figure seated high above. It was unclear how much he had already drunk, with empty wine jars scattered messily below the imperial dais.

His overly sharp eyes and brows, along with the somber, faintly violent aura surrounding him, masked his drunken state, leaving Wen Yu momentarily unable to discern whether he was sober or intoxicated.

She stepped forward slowly, approaching the dais. Only then did he seem to finally notice, raising a pair of fierce, wolf-like eyes to look at her.

The hall doors were left open, and occasional flashes of lightning cast a white glow into the room, rendering everything in a frosty pallor.

Wen Yu's cape draped down to the tips of her shoes, her face like fine jade, her features cool and detached. Bathed in the lightning's stark light, she resembled a goddess carved from jade. She gazed at the person on the throne and said, "Is Xiao Jun celebrating the capture of my royal court?"