Chapter 40: Torture to Extract a Confession-Amores e Desavenças: Um Galho de Ameixa Verde Rompe a Muralha(Encostado na parede, esperando minha amada de infância.)

The fat-necked and big-eared Mayor of the Capital, feeling his majesty had been provoked, pointed a slightly trembling, chubby hand at Zhao Meng and roared, "Guards, take this scoundrel down! This is utterly outrageous!"

The subordinates brought by the Mayor did not dare hesitate. They immediately stepped forward, swarming in a tight circle around Zhao Meng. Mother Wang cried out in alarm, "Zhao Meng! Do not act rashly!"

True to his name, Zhao Meng had a fiery temper and immense cultivation. If he were to be provoked and injure the Mayor's guards, the General's Manor would only sink deeper into trouble!

Seeing Mother Wang's frantic expression, Zhao Meng turned his head and withdrew his hands.

Mother Wang stepped forward and fell to her knees at the Mayor's feet, "My Lord, coming to the General's Manor to make trouble without any evidence—are you not afraid of incurring the Emperor's wrath and losing your head?"

The Mayor's arrogant laughter came to an abrupt halt. He paused for a moment before laughing again, "I am acting on an imperial edict! Yet you, a mere servant, dare to talk back to this official repeatedly. Guards, seize this loose-tongued, cheap wench as well!"

The men surrounding Zhao Meng quickly bound him and then lunged toward Mother Wang, who offered no resistance.

Xuanhan Hongyu let out a cold scoff, "Absolute fools." The actions of Zhao Meng and Mother Wang clearly did not suit him. Accustomed to supreme arrogance, he would have simply dislocated their limbs without a second thought in such a situation, tossing them out the door like garbage. What mood would he have for idle chatter with them?

"Hurry to the back courtyard and bring that little bastard here!" the Mayor ordered further.

Mother Wang immediately shouted at the top of her lungs, "My Lord, the young miss is only a five-year-old child! This matter has nothing to do with her. I beg Your Honor to examine the details clearly and not trouble our young miss!"

Furious, the Mayor yelled, "You bunch of useless trash! Why haven't you gagged this loose-tongued, cheap wench yet? Her chatter is giving me a headache!"

With that, he took the lead and strode toward the back courtyard, followed by his retinue and the onlookers and witnesses who had come to watch the spectacle.

A trace of anger flickered across Xuanhan Hongyu's calm, unperturbed face. Were the people he had set his eyes on ones that these shameless scoundrels could dare to touch?

With a few swift blinks, he arrived ahead of them at Zhantai Lingwei's small couch, scooped up the sleeping little one wrapped in her quilt, and carried her away.

Sitting in high authority, the Mayor glared imperiously at the kneeling staff of the General's Manor below the hall and bellowed, "You people are extremely bold! You actually dare to harbor the suspect Zhantai Lingwei! Do you know this is a grave crime?"

The people of the General's Manor prostrated themselves on the ground, remaining completely silent.

Unsatisfied, the Mayor pointed at Zhao Meng, who was kneeling rigidly below, and shouted, "Guards, take this subordinate who shows no respect for this official and give him twenty heavy board strikes! Not a single one shall be spared!"

Seeing his own guards step forward, and then glancing at the fearless expressions of the people in the General's Manor, the malicious Mayor stopped his guards with a gesture, "You, step back. You—yes, you! Drag this audacious bastard down! You will be responsible for administering his board strikes! If even one strike is missing or lacking in force, you can wait to receive forty boards yourself!"

"My Lord, what a brilliant idea! A marvelous strategy, truly marvelous!" the Mayor's advisor chimed in with continuous flattery, making it obvious that this advisor owed his position entirely to a smooth and sycophantic tongue.

"Advisor Wang, you needn't praise this official any further. These stubborn ducks in the hall still refuse to talk. Do you have a strategy?" The Mayor laughed heartily, clearly delighted by the advisor's words.

Filled with regret and fury, Mother Wang blamed herself for letting Zhao Meng surrender without a fight, allowing the Mayor to pull such a stunt. "Mayor! You have some nerve! How dare you treat a Princess's retainer this way? Are you not afraid the General and the Princess will return to settle accounts with you?"