Chapter 1

Chapter 1

On a cold winter night, the starlight was dim.

The torture chamber of the Court of Judicial Review was always gloomy and cold. The air was perpetually tinged with a faint smell of blood. The damp, dark corridor was oppressively silent, broken occasionally by a piercing scream that made one’s back turn cold and hairs stand on end.

“I’ll talk! Stop hitting me, I’ll talk… Ah!”

Snap- The crisp sound of a whip cutting through the air echoed in the dungeon.

The jailer’s face was covered in sweat as he tirelessly lashed the iron whip in his hand, the veins in his arm bulging from the exertion.

When the last stroke landed, the man on the rack let out a miserable howl, his eyes rolled back, his body went limp, and he passed out then and there.

The jailer paused, stopped his lashing, endured the nausea at the sight of mangled flesh, and stepped forward to check. After a moment, he came back and said to the person seated, respectfully, “Lord Sheng, the prisoner has fainted again.”

The person on the main seat heard this and slightly lifted her eyes. The dim firelight cast long shadows from her eyelashes on her profile.

She half-leaned back in her chair, her face still showing no emotion. Her casual glance revealed no ripple of feeling; one could only see that her features were cold, her skin fair as jade. She held a copper hand warmer in both hands, and over her scarlet official robes she wore a thick fur coat, as if she was very sensitive to the cold.

“Douse him awake,” she said.

The jailer hesitated. Including this time, it was the third time they’d doused him awake; he wondered if the man on the rack could take it.

Although he thought this, the jailer dared not object. He fetched a bucket of water mixed with ice shards, lifted it, glanced at the half-dead man opposite, gritted his teeth, and threw it hard. The ice shards and bone-chilling water splashed fiercely against the man’s face.

With a splash, the man on the rack shuddered all over. It looked like he was about to wake, but in the next moment he slumped down again, his limbs twitching violently once, then no further reaction.

The jailer was stunned. Normally, a bucket of ice water would have woken him up. Could it be…

“Douse him again.”

Before the jailer could ask, the person on the main seat spoke again.

The jailer swallowed. This bone-chilling dungeon, combined with a bucket of water cold enough to freeze the marrow-even just watching from the side made one’s teeth ache from the cold, let alone pouring it over someone’s head.

He hurriedly fetched another full bucket of water, looked at the man on the rack, took a deep breath, and threw it with all his might.

Splash-

The man on the rack finally shuddered violently, sucking in a deep breath.

He opened his eyes wide, his vacant stare fixed straight ahead, his chest heaving. Like a drowning man suddenly surfacing, he greedily gulped air, his throat emitting a raspy, “Hsss, hsss” breathing.

Sheng Zhaoning leaned further back in her chair. Seeing his eyes open, she raised an eyebrow slightly, her eyes seeming to hold a sliver of cold amusement. “Awake? Then let’s continue.”

Only upon hearing these words did the man on the rack jolt violently, his consciousness that had flown to the ninth heaven instantly snapping back.

“No… no!” he screamed, his voice nearly breaking. “I’ll confess! Lord Sheng, I beg you, I’ll confess anything you want to know!”

The man, whether from cold or fear, trembled all over, his face deathly pale. He couldn’t help but glance at the iron whip in the jailer’s hand, its cold gleam reflecting the blood dripping from it, covered in barbs that had torn off his flesh in chunks! The wounds on his body ached like scraped bones and rotting flesh.

These past days, the Court of Judicial Review had employed countless methods. What they had used on him was merely the lowest tier of punishment, yet it already made him wish for death!

Xu Fu had even witnessed someone being flayed and deboned, their tendons pulled out. The bloody image lingered even in his dreams. Now, when he looked at Sheng Zhaoning, it was as if he were looking at the King of Hell come to claim his life.

A civil official like him-how could he endure such suffering? Holding on until now was already his limit. He even thought that dying would be better than staying here any longer!

Xu Fu immediately forgot his shame. All his worldly ambitions and riches, in the face of death, were worth less than dust on a chopping board. Without waiting for Sheng Zhaoning to speak, Xu Fu hastily blubbered, tears and snot streaming: “The Zhangzhou Dock Case-I did it with Feng Shaoyuan, half a month ago…”

“Lord Xu,” Sheng Zhaoning interrupted.

She spoke softly, but with an inexplicable pressure.

Xu Fu saw her stand up, flick the dust from her sleeve, and look at him with a half-smiling, half-mocking gaze.

“I think you’ve misunderstood something,” Sheng Zhaoning said.

She walked up to Xu Fu, leaned slightly forward, bringing her face closer, looking into his eyes. “Who you schemed with, how much you embezzled-I don’t care.”

“What I want is for you… to die… a horrible death.”

Xu Fu met her dark, cold eyes, and as if suddenly realizing something, his scalp exploded with terror, his body hair stood on end in an instant, and his back was drenched in cold sweat in a split second!

This person…

“You’re taking revenge!” His pupils dilated in horror, his voice high-pitched and cracking.

“Ha ha ha ha ha…” Sheng Zhaoning burst out laughing.

She dismissed everyone, and when only the two of them remained in the room, she said: “Before the Palace Coup, Lord Xu framed the Crown Prince for treason, giving Prince Zhenbei a perfect excuse to raise an army. If we talk about first merit, Lord Xu deserves the top spot.”

Xu Fu met Sheng Zhaoning’s faintly manic gaze, his vision went dark, and he finally understood the source of today’s calamity.

A year ago, the Capital underwent a great upheaval.

At that time, Xu Fu, as a Censor, colluded with Prince Zhenbei, fabricating evidence to frame the Crown Prince for treason. Prince Zhenbei used this as a pretext, leading thirty thousand troops joined by the Imperial Guards to storm the imperial city. Soon after, word came from the palace, announcing to the world: the Crown Prince had killed his father and been executed.

Prince Zhenbei died during that Palace Coup, and the one who ascended the throne was his only legitimate son, Wei Yi.

Xu Fu was overcome with regret. How could he have forgotten! In past years, when the Crown Prince was alive, he treated Sheng Zhaoning extremely well. The two often had long talks late into the night, played chess and drank tea together. Even later, when Sheng Zhaoning’s masquerade as a man to serve in the court was exposed, committing the crime of deceiving the emperor, it was the Crown Prince who knelt outside the emperor’s bedchamber for a day and a night, only then quelling the imperial wrath and saving her life.

Such kindness-how could she forget, and how could she truly have so easily defected to the New Emperor’s side!

“I was wrong, Lord… Lord Sheng, spare me, spare me…” Xu Fu’s words fell into uncontrollable chaos.

He had never been so desperate. If it were just the embezzlement, how could he lose his life? But now, with Sheng Zhaoning acting like a madwoman, hell-bent on avenging the Former Crown Prince, how could he escape?!

Currently, the Court of Judicial Review wielded overwhelming power, with arrests, interrogations, and verdicts all under its sole authority. As the Deputy Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Sheng Zhaoning could kill him as easily as flipping her palm!

Sheng Zhaoning said nothing, only turned and slowly drew a dagger from the wall covered with instruments of torture.

“To know your faults and correct them is the greatest virtue.” She slowly advanced, and with every step, Xu Fu’s face grew paler.

By the time the tip of the knife was aimed at his throat, Xu Fu couldn’t utter a single word.

His throat tightened repeatedly, his face as white as paper, his lips trembling uncontrollably. He still wanted to beg for mercy, but his voice box felt as if sealed by something, unable to produce a sound.

Sheng Zhaoning coldly watched his expression of extreme terror, her gaze detached, paying no heed to his body shaking like a sieve. She said slowly: “Lord Xu, when you go underground, kowtow properly and admit your wrongs. In your next life, toil like an ox or a horse, and beg for forgiveness.”

The dagger thrust, blood seeped out…

Just as Xu Fu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and awaited death, a loud “Bang!” was heard-the door to the torture chamber was suddenly kicked open with great force.

“Sheng Zhaoning, stop!”