Xiao Man led her people into the Prefect's yamen. Zou Yang was fast asleep and was dragged from his bed before he knew what was happening. However, seeing the gleaming saber at his throat, he realized his life was in peril.
"Spare my life, noble sir."
Xiao Man wore a mask that covered half her face. "I will ask, you will answer. If you answer incorrectly, there will be punishment. Do you understand?"
Zou Yang, shrinking his neck, nodded cautiously. In his heart, he hoped his men would quickly discover the anomaly and come to his rescue.
"Are you thinking about how your men will discover the anomaly and come to save you?" Xiao Man asked faintly, as if seeing through Zou Yang's thoughts.
"No, no... Ah..." Zou Yang let out a piercing scream. Before he could finish speaking, the person holding him ripped off a fingernail. The pain made him tremble all over.
"If you don't speak the truth, there will be punishment. This is a lesson," Xiao Man's voice was devoid of emotion but filled with danger.
"I understand, I understand."
"Are Jiangzhou's three major granaries empty?" Xiao Man asked faintly.
Zou Yang's pupils contracted. "No, it was the flood... Ah..."
Zou Yang cried out in agony. One of his fingers was crushed, and he could even hear the sound of bones cracking. The crushed finger hung limply, as if all its support had been removed, leaving only a piece of skin.
"Are the three major granaries empty? Think carefully before you answer," Xiao Man said again. "I do not have much patience. If you don't tell me, your wife and children will be next. I will torture them to death one by one."
Zou Yang sweated coldly from the pain. However, he was tied to the chair and unable to move. "You can answer now."
"Yes." Zou Yang wept uncontrollably. He had been the emperor of Jiangzhou for many years and had never endured such torture. He could not withstand it.
"Where did the grain go?"
"We sold it off. We intended to replenish the granaries after the autumn harvest, and no one would have noticed. But then the flood came and disrupted our plans."
Xiao Man's expression remained unchanged. "What mine were you digging in Zhangzhou?"
Zou Yang hesitated. Dugu Luo, standing beside him, immediately reached out, about to crush another of his fingers. Zou Yang, terrified, quickly said, "Iron ore, iron ore." Sudian Novel Network.
"So you were manufacturing weapons in Zhang County."
Zou Yang hesitated, unwilling to admit it, but fearing the torture. He only looked at Xiao Man in terror, trembling all over.
"Not answering?"
"...Yes!"
Xiao Man understood. No wonder they wanted to erase Zhang County from the map. If Mo Han discovered that Zhang County was secretly manufacturing weapons, these people would have more than ten heads to lose!
"Last question." Xiao Man's eyes were icy. "You must think carefully before answering, otherwise, I will chop your son into pieces and stew him for you to drink as soup."
Zou Yang swallowed with difficulty and nodded repeatedly.
"Did a plague break out in Zhangzhou?"
Zou Yang's pupils contracted violently, and his body trembled uncontrollably. Xiao Man reached out towards the bound youth. Zou Yang gasped for breath.
"Yes, a plague broke out in Zhang County. We sent doctors in, but they couldn't cure it. It spread too quickly. We sealed off Zhang County to contain the plague, it was too terrifying!" Zou Yang cried in fear. They didn't want to abandon Zhang County, but there was no other way.
"Noble sir, please spare my son. We truly had no choice. If there was any other way, we wouldn't have abandoned Zhang County." Zou Yang wept sorrowfully.
"What were the symptoms of those people?"
"At first, it was just vomiting and diarrhea. We thought it was due to them drinking unclean water after the flood. But in just three days, many people developed these symptoms, and then people started dying. Doctors came one after another, but the doctors also got infected. People died every day. We were terrified, so we sealed Zhang County and let them fend for themselves."
"The symptoms were just vomiting and diarrhea?"
"Initially, it was only vomiting and diarrhea. The doctors thought it was malaria, but the medicine didn't work. The patients developed a high fever, red spots appeared on their bodies, and within a few days, their flesh began to rot..." Zou Yang trembled continuously. "It was too terrifying, those who died... were too terrifying."
Xiao Man was also shocked. After floods, diseases like malaria, typhoid, and cholera were easily induced. She had considered the worst-case scenario as cholera, but the reality had exceeded her expectations. Perhaps it had started as a cholera outbreak, and then somehow evolved into another plague!
"Are you planning to let everyone in Zhang County die?"
"Noble sir, we had no choice. We wanted to save them, but we couldn't. If we let people out, the entire Jiangzhou would fall!" Zou Yang choked back tears. Why was he always the one suffering? "General Pang made this decision. I was just following orders. Please be merciful and spare our family."
"What would you do if the imperial envoy discovered the anomaly in Zhang County?"
Zou Yang's gaze flickered. He considered whether to tell the truth. If he told the truth and this person spread the news, they would be dead. But if he didn't tell the truth, they would also be dead. It was death either way!
"If... if the imperial envoy is willing to turn a blind eye, we won't do anything to the imperial envoy."
Xiao Man narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Could they really let the imperial envoy off so easily? She glanced at Dugu Luo, who, without hesitation, crushed another of Zou Yang's fingers.
"I'll talk, I'll talk!" Zou Yang was so frightened he wet himself. He used to feel a sense of satisfaction when torturing criminals, but now that he was enduring it himself, he couldn't bear it.
"I really didn't want to harm the imperial envoy. He is, after all, the only son of the current Prime Minister. If anything happened to him, the Prime Minister would surely not let it go. But... but General Pang suspects the imperial envoy stole our money..."
"Your money?"
Zou Yang cursed inwardly. He had let it slip. "The money from selling official grain was stolen. General Pang suspects the imperial envoy stole it, so he wants to deal with the imperial envoy."
"How?"
Zou Yang looked out the window. The sky was beginning to turn white. At this hour, everything was likely decided. "General Pang intends to lure the imperial envoy into Zhang County, let him contract the plague and die there, and then pin the blame of failing to deliver disaster relief on the imperial envoy. Then we can openly burn Zhang County and destroy the evidence."
"When is the plan to be executed?"
Zou Yang gritted his teeth. "At this time... the imperial envoy has probably already entered Zhang County."
Xiao Man clenched her fist subconsciously. "Pursue in the direction of Zhang County immediately! We must intercept him before Mo Han enters Zhang County!"