Chapter 97: Interrogation (1)

Everyone watching from the hidden chamber felt their faces burn for him, yet Ye Lang still looked entirely at ease, even pleased with himself.

“Very good. So you are all loyal subjects, are you? You all know each other, I suppose?” Ye Lang asked.

“We do not know one another. We have never met before!” The thirteen of them immediately shook their heads in denial.

Bang.

Ye Lang brought the gavel down, startling everyone in the room.

“You still dare to argue? If you did not know each other, how could you have been seized together, and how could you all have been flattering the same person? You are clearly in the same band.” He forced these people to be acquaintances, accusing them on the spot. “You are plotting rebellion. That is a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths!”

“We are being framed! That is absolutely not the case. How would we dare?” The thirteen were shocked. It seemed this Thirteenth Young Master of the Ye clan was not a savior, but a harbinger of disaster. They were finished.

At that moment, a careful observer might have noticed that a few among them showed a faint change of expression.

“Looking at you, the words ‘I dare, I am a rebel’ might as well be written across your foreheads. Enough. This case is clear. Drag them out and behead them!” Ye Lang said carelessly.

…

At this point, the emperor and the others wanted to intervene, but the matter had already reached this stage, and it was no longer easy for them to step forward.

“Thirteenth Young Master, this is murdering the innocent. We are not people of the Sky Soaring Empire. Even if we are rebelling, we would not be rebelling here!” one man said anxiously.

“Oh, is that so? So you are rebelling in your own land. Then it has nothing to do with us. But didn’t you just say you did not know one another? How do you know they are not people of the Sky Soaring Empire as well?” Ye Lang asked with a smile.

“That is—”

“We only came to know one another here,” another man hurriedly improvised.

“Then you do know each other. How dare you lie to me? I represent the Emperor now. Deceiving the Emperor is a capital offense. It is still a death sentence!” Ye Lang said with a smile.

“If you do not want to die, tell the truth. I do not have time to waste on you.” He flicked his fingers with a relaxed air.

“What do you want us to say?”

“It is simple. Explain why you came here. So many people from different nations gathered together in one place. It is impossible that you merely came for a stroll,” Ye Lang said.

“I do not know what you are talking about. In the imperial capital of the Sky Soaring Empire, people like us from foreign lands can be found by the thousand.”

“Yes, they can be found. But not many are as tough as you. You did not reveal your identities, but you seem to have forgotten something: if ordinary people were seized and tortured like this, they would confess to selling out their own country for glory and reward if that were what you wanted to hear.”

“One person might be a coincidence, but if all thirteen of you are the same, then it is certainly no coincidence.”

“All right. We all know you are spies. But espionage is not a crime that deserves death, so I want to see how many of our secrets you know. If you know too much, then I am afraid you will have to stay behind.” Ye Lang’s tone remained calm.

“We know nothing. No matter how many times you ask, it will be the same,” one of them said.

“Oh? Really? Then let me ask you one question. What is one plus one?” Ye Lang asked with a smile.

For a moment, everyone fell silent. None of them understood what use such a question could possibly serve. Was this some sort of test, a way to catch them off guard?

“Not even that you know?” Ye Lang’s expression darkened slightly.

“I do not know...” the man answered carefully. He was being too cautious, perhaps even to the point of absurdity, but at this moment he felt that even if Ye Lang asked him whether he was male or female, he must not answer carelessly. Otherwise, who knew what Ye Lang might do?

Ye Lang looked at him, then said very simply, “You do not even know that, and you still dare to make a fool of this young master? Men, drag him out and behead him!”

…

Once again, the room fell into silence.

At this point, the emperor and the others understood that Ye Lang was merely finding excuses at random. The reasons were terrible, but as long as he achieved his goal, that was enough. They could accept that.

The others, however, could not understand it. Cutting a man down just like that—was that not treating human life like weeds?

“What are you standing there for? Drag him out and behead him. Bring back the head so they can see that this young master is not joking!” Ye Lang said coldly, snapping his fingers.

“Yes!” The guards accepted the order, dragged away the man who was crying out for his innocence and begging for his life, and then—

The room suddenly went still.

A moment later, the guard returned carrying that man’s head.

Ye Lang did not even glance at it. Perhaps he could not bear to, or perhaps there was no need.

When the truth lay before them, the remaining twelve finally began to fear. Before this, they had thought Ye Lang was joking. They had never heard that the Thirteenth Young Master of the Ye clan was someone who cared so little for human life.

“Now I will ask you again. What exactly did you come here to do? This is your last chance. After this, I will not ask again,” Ye Lang said.

Among the others, some began to hesitate.

“We will not tell you. You may as well give up!” There were still those who were not afraid of death. They had undergone special training.

“Oh? Then let us return to the question just now. You answer it: what is one plus one?” Ye Lang asked with a smile.

“Two. Do not ask such childish questions,” the man said arrogantly.

“You know too much. Men, cut him down as well!” Ye Lang waved a hand.

Silence again.

Damn it. Even this counts as knowing too much? Who does not know the answer...

“Hmph...” the man snorted coldly, putting on a look of contemptuous pride.

“Right then. Do not bring back his head either, and take the previous one away as well. It is too disgusting,” Ye Lang added.

“You... do you know what one plus one equals?” Ye Lang asked with a smile.

“Ah...” Someone began to clutch at his hair, nearly going mad. By now, Ye Lang’s smiling face, together with that question, seemed enough to drive them insane. Not only these people—everyone in the hidden chamber would never want to hear that question from Ye Lang again.

“I’ll say it. I’ll say it. I received orders to come here, but I was only told to observe. My superiors said someone would tell me what to do, and whoever recognized this signal would be that person,” one man finally confessed, though there was little of value in what he said.

“And you?” Ye Lang continued.

“We are the same!” several others said.

“Hmph, cowards. Are you fit to be scouts?” a few said with unyielding pride.

“Very good. I admire your spirit. You may go.” Ye Lang spoke to those proud, unbending ones, and unexpectedly let them leave.

“You are letting us go?” those few asked in stunned disbelief.

“Yes. Hurry up and leave. Do not make me change my mind.” Ye Lang frowned as though this were a very difficult decision.

Those few did not hesitate for even a moment. They left at once. Everyone knew this Thirteenth Young Master was not normal. As long as they could keep their lives, that was enough; there was no need to ask why, unless they wanted to drive themselves mad.

“What about us?” the ones who had already yielded asked.

“Since you admitted that you are spy-scouts, I naturally cannot let you go like that. Our empire’s prisons are not so terrible. You may spend the rest of your lives there in peace,” Ye Lang said. Then he had them taken away and imprisoned.

“Ah...” No one could understand what Ye Lang was doing. He was completely defying common sense. Those who should have been detained were let go, and those who should have been freed were locked up instead.

“All right, take them away.” Ye Lang tapped the table and had the guards escort the poor spy-scouts down. The entire outer hall was left with only him.

And even then, he did not leave. He simply reclined in his chair.

What is this boy doing? Why is he staying here?

The emperor and the others had originally intended to leave. Matters had reached this point, and it could already be considered finished. But now they found Ye Lang’s behavior strange.

Based on what they knew of him, once Ye Lang finished something, he would always be the first to go. He would never sit still here unless the matter was not yet over.

Not over?

Exactly. It was not over. Soon, the guards outside brought in two more people, making everyone realize that things had indeed not ended.

And those two were not the proud, unbending ones. They were the ones who should have died—the two who, in theory, had already been beheaded. Especially the one in the middle; everyone had clearly seen his head.

These were the two men Ye Lang had just dragged out to be executed.

“How can this be? I saw the head of that man just now with my own eyes. How can he possibly be unharmed now?” Even the emperor and the others found it strange. That head had not been obscured in any way; on the contrary, Ye Lang had deliberately shown it to everyone so they could see it clearly.

“Lock the two of them in separate cells. No one is to come into contact with them!” Ye Lang said. “Ah, I still cannot bring myself to kill people. Let someone else deal with you.”

In the end, even Ye Lang felt that although he was merely going through the motions, killing people still left him feeling uncomfortable. So he had used a clever method to make it seem as though he had killed the two men, and that was enough to achieve the desired effect. Of course, he had also quietly summoned a few royal guards in advance and instructed them to act according to his plan.

“It must be that this boy used some kind of alchemy to make a fake head, but the effect was truly convincing!” Ye Chengtian said with a smile, full of pride.

“Yes, that must be it!” everyone agreed.

By this point, the matter should already have been over. Yet they soon discovered that Ye Lang still had an even more brilliant, and even more unexpected, act to perform.

After those two were taken away, after some time the guards brought one of them back again—the first man who had objected, the very second one Ye Lang had dragged out to be executed.