Chapter 413: The Interrogation

“In another interrogation room,” the interrogator said meaningfully. “You probably don’t know, Li Yongxun is very famous here. She’s very good at torturing prisoners, especially female prisoners.” He paused and said meaningfully, “The apprentices she taught are not bad either.”

Of course, Lin Ming knew what this meant. He knew Li Yongxun’s “skills.” The thought of what suffering his lovely sister-in-law was enduring sent a sharp pain through his heart, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead. He could no longer remain calm and said in a trembling voice, “What have you done to her?”

“Nothing much, just ‘inviting the gentleman into the urn’,” the interrogator said coldly. “She confessed: you said there was another Jin Yi Wei agent active here. But you also know that a single testimony is not enough. If you’re not willing to tell us the whole story, I’ll have to ask my colleagues to continue interrogating her to confirm if she’s telling the truth and if she’s told everything…”

“Don’t, don’t.” Lin Ming was in a panic. He had ventured into the tiger’s den all for this sister-in-law. He knew a thing or two about the Jin Yi Wei’s torture methods. The Imperial Prison was a living hell. If the Aussies were to “give her a taste of her own medicine,” his sister-in-law would likely not survive.

If anything were to happen to her, he wouldn’t be able to rest in peace even if he died. He had failed to save her and had instead endangered her life.

Seeing the sweat pouring down his face, the interrogator knew he had hit his weak spot and continued in a playful tone, “Don’t worry, our Great Song Senate is the most humane. Things like torture to death generally don’t happen. But sometimes, being alive is not necessarily better than being dead…”

Lin Ming gripped his hair tightly with both hands and lowered his head in agony. After a long while, Lin Ming slowly raised his head. “Let her go. I’ll do whatever you say.”

A smile appeared on the interrogator’s face. “Of course, of course! But Lord Lin, words are cheap. You have to show some sincerity. Hehe! For example, the question just now…”

Lin Ming swallowed and said, “Believe it or not, I really did come alone.” Seeing the interrogator’s face darken, Lin Ming quickly continued, “But I know there are other Jin Yi Wei agents here.”

“Oh?” The interrogator was indeed interested. “Continue.” Lin Ming thought to himself, I’m sorry, brother, but I can’t even save myself now.

“The secret sign you found was indeed left by me. I originally wanted to use it to contact Li Yongxun, but the person I met at the meeting place was someone else.”

“Who was that person?”

“A woman in her late twenties. I don’t know her. From her dress, she’s a prostitute. She was wearing a leather collar around her neck, like the kind a dog wears…”

“A woman in her late twenties, a prostitute, wearing a leather collar…” The interrogator thought for a moment, then turned his head and said a few words to the person next to him. The person heard and got up and left the interrogation room. A moment later, the person returned to the interrogation room with a paper bag in his hand.

The interrogator said to Lin Ming, “Take a good look. Which one of these was the prostitute you met that day? Remember, no tricks, or it won’t be good for you or for her.” With that, the subordinate next to him opened the bag and laid out several photos in front of Lin Ming for him to identify. Lin Ming recognized at a glance that the person he had seen that day was Xin Nachun.

Seeing Lin Ming’s identification, the interrogator couldn’t help but sneer. “As expected. Hehe.” He then asked Lin Ming, “What did you two talk about that day when you met?”

Lin Ming said, “I wanted to leave when I saw that the person who came was not Li Yongxun, but she kept pestering me. Just then, one of your officers came and arrested her for something like illegal solicitation and said she was going to be caned. I haven’t seen her since.”

“Write down the content of the secret sign.”

Lin Ming had no choice but to write down the content of the secret sign. It wasn’t really a cipher that could form sentences, but a set of secret marks similar to those used by thieves to communicate simple messages like time, place, and direction.

The interrogator looked at the content of the secret sign he had written, stood up, and ordered, “Take him into custody for now and await orders from above!” With that, he turned to leave. Lin Ming hurriedly said, “I’ve told you everything I know. When are you going to let her go?”

The interrogator stopped, turned his head, and said, “Lord Lin, you’re an old hand at this. It’s not that easy to get away with it. But seeing as you’ve been very cooperative today, she won’t have to suffer for the time being. As for the future, it will depend on your performance.” With that, he turned and left.

Receiving this answer, Lin Ming collapsed in the interrogation chair like a deflated balloon, a bitter smile on his face. “If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

Wang Qisuo had been sleeping soundly for the past few days. The “assistance with the investigation” was also coming to an end. He had answered all the questions fluently and felt that he had not revealed any flaws. Seeing that no one was coming to question him anymore, he thought he had probably passed the test.

He had killed Xin Nachun before taking action. As for the secret letters between him and Sima Qiudao, he had already destroyed them all. He had also secretly destroyed the draft of his “Notes on Pacifying the Aussies,” which contained all the intelligence he had gathered.

Now, he was safe. As for Old Man Shi’s mission, it was their bad luck, not his fault. After this incident, Old Man Shi should probably know that Lingao was not an easy bone to chew. No one learns their lesson without getting a few teeth knocked out.

He had bravely rescued the chiefs in the folk orchestra and seemed to have won the favor of the three chiefs. Next, he would continue to lie low and wait for the storm to pass before deciding on his next move.

He didn’t like Old Man Shi at all, nor did he like the “lord” behind him, let alone the Ming court. If he could, he would rather spend the rest of his life in Lingao, at least in peace and stability. But sometimes, life is just that helpless. The lives of his entire family were in Old Man Shi’s hands. He didn’t have much choice.

Fortunately, Old Man Shi was quite generous, which at least gave him some motivation to continue to lie low here.

However, this morning, a guard came to his room. “Wang Qisuo! Come with me!”

Wang Qisuo quickly stood up and followed the guard out of the room where he was under house arrest. This was a barracks, temporarily used as a residence for those “assisting with the investigation.” The questioning was conducted in the office.

Seeing the guard leading him towards the interrogation room, he couldn’t help but wonder, Why another interrogation?

He was a little apprehensive, but he still tried to remain calm.

In the interrogation room, he found that the interrogator’s face had changed. Not only had the face changed, but there were also a few men and women he had never seen before. Someone was even wearing a blue collar tab. He was startled, but to cover it up, he quickly stood at attention, saluted, and reported loudly, “Corporal Wang Qisuo of the Garrison Battalion, reporting for duty!”

“Sit down,” the interrogator said casually.

“Yes, sir!” Wang Qisuo sat down straight, his hands on his knees, in a very standard military posture.

“Name…”

The questioning began with the most basic name and age. Wang Qisuo knew this routine and answered the questions one by one, crisply and cleanly. Then he was asked about his activities on the day of the cultural festival. Wang Qisuo felt a little more at ease.

“Where were you the day before the cultural festival?” the interrogator suddenly asked.

Wang Qisuo’s heart skipped a beat. That was the day he had killed Xin Nachun.

“I was at the folk orchestra’s rehearsal,” he answered very calmly. This was absolutely true. Not only could the members of the folk orchestra testify to this, but several Elders could also testify.

“The rehearsal ended at one in the afternoon. And then?”

“I served as an escort for two young Elders.”

“Were they Elders Lin Ziqi and Zhang Yunmi?”

“Yes, that was the duty assigned to me by the escort company.”

“You are not a member of the escort company. Why were you guarding the Elders?”

“The escort company was short-handed, so I was temporarily transferred.”

“Who transferred you?”

“It was our company commander…”

“Your company commander said you volunteered,” the interrogator listened for a moment. “Is that right?”

Wang Qisuo swallowed. “That’s right.”

“You’re a busy man, and you’re also the erhu player for the folk orchestra. With such a busy rehearsal schedule, why did you apply to go to the escort company?”

“There’s a lot of work in the battalion. I felt bad being idle…” Wang Qisuo said frankly.

The interrogator nodded, stared at him for a long time, and opened a folder. “Your escort duty ended at five in the evening. You reported back to the battalion at seven-thirty. Where were you for the two and a half hours in between?”

Wang Qisuo took a deep breath. “I was in Dongmen Market…”

“Doing what?”

“Having a drink,” Wang Qisuo said. “To relax.”

“Which shop?”

“It was a food stall in Dongmen Market, selling oyster omelets, boiled sea snails, and the like… I don’t remember clearly.”

“Can anyone prove it?”

“It was crowded. Maybe the waiter remembers.”

“Did you do anything else?”

“No.”

“Do you know this person?” The interrogator handed him a photo. Wang Qisuo took it. He probably already knew who was in the photo. His heart was sinking.

“Not really, I just know of her. She’s a prostitute.” Wang Qisuo knew it was impossible to deny that he knew Xin Nachun. He admitted, “I’ve bought her services before, but I don’t know her name.”

“Her name is Xin Nachun. Does that ring a bell?” the interrogator asked. “Did you see her during those two and a half hours?”

“No.” Wang Qisuo denied it flatly. He had a vague feeling that things were not looking good and could only insist, “I didn’t see her.”

“Alright. Then why were your fingerprints in her room?” The interrogator took out a piece of paper and placed it in front of him. “Your fingerprints are all over the room, and they match the ones on your registration certificate.”

Wang Qisuo was very calm, not even looking at the paper. As far as he knew, there was no ink or inkpad in the teahouse room, and he had not pressed his fingerprints on any paper. Moreover, he had strangled Xin Nachun. There was no blood, so there would be no bloody fingerprints.