Chapter 74: Aren’t You Cheating Me?
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Yang Hong’s voice was stern. Coupled with the torture tools the others brought over, most people would have been scared to the point of confessing everything.
Zhou Shu wasn’t an ordinary person. He didn’t take Yang Hong’s words seriously at all. Instead, he examined the torture tools excitedly.
“Constable Yang, will you believe me if I tell you?” Zhou Shu said.
“It’s up to me whether I believe you or not!” Yang Hong said impatiently.
“That won’t do. What if you don’t believe me after I tell you? Wouldn’t I be at a disadvantage? This matter concerns my reputation, so I must be certain.” Zhou Shu shook his head.
Yang Hong exploded. He grabbed a torture device from the floor and said angrily, “Zhou Shu! This is the Divine Constable Bureau! You’re a suspect now! What right do you have to be picky?
“You are just a mere workshop superintendent. Even the grand minister of the Forging Division would have to behave obediently in our Divine Constable Bureau!”
The Divine Constable Bureau was Great Xia’s violent law enforcement organization. The Forging Division’s grand minister really wasn’t much in the Divine Constable Bureau in terms of rank.
Of course, the current grand minister of the Forging Division had another identity—the princess. This identity was much more prestigious than the grand minister of the Forging Division.
“You better confess honestly while I still have the patience. Otherwise, I will make you regret ever being born!” Yang Hong bellowed.
“Constable Yang, you are being unreasonable,” Zhou Shu said innocently. “I’ve already said it several times. You can interrogate me, but at least let me know why you want to interrogate me!
“Just because I know Xiao Zongshui? What does it have to do with me what that Xiao fellow did?”
“Even if he committed murder and arson, it has nothing to do with me! I am only cooperating with your investigation because I am a good citizen of Great Xia. Don’t treat me like a criminal!”
Zhou Shu’s attitude was firm. “I now doubt your fairness. If you want to interrogate me, get someone else from the Divine Constable Bureau to do it!”
Zhou Shu stared straight into Yang Hong’s eyes without the slightest bit of fear.
What a joke. Zhou Shu even dared to talk business with the Divine Constable Bureau’s Commander Ma Fengzhang. Would he be frightened by a constable?
“You don’t know what’s good for you!” Yang Hong was enraged. He sneered and said, “Constables, punish him!”
Two constables came up and stuffed Zhou Shu’s fingers into the torture device.
Zhou Shu didn’t resist. This is the Divine Constable Bureau. If I make a move, I will be the one at fault.
Besides, does this count as punishment?
The sixth level of the Golden Bell Shield Technique isn’t just for show, okay?
“Constable Yang, you are abusing your authority. I’m going to complain to Commander Ma!” Zhou Shu cried out.
“Go ahead.” Yang Hong sneered. “If you can see Commander Ma, I’ll let you write my surname upside down!”
Yang Hong’s eyes flashed coldly. “Use torture!”
The two constables started to pull the torture device to the sides.
With a creaking sound, Zhou Shu felt the force on his fingers.
At the sixth level of the Golden Bell Shield Technique, Zhou Shu already had a tough body. Even if an ordinary person tried to hurt him with a sharp blade, they wouldn’t be able to harm him.
Although these constables had all cultivated the Martial Dao, none of them had entered the ranks. Even if they stabbed Zhou Shu with their sabers, as long as they didn’t hit Zhou Shu’s vital points, they wouldn’t be able to hurt him at all, much less using this torture device.
Zhou Shu’s fingers were sturdier than the device!
“Argh.” Zhou Shu pretended to cry out. “Constable Yang, let me tell you. I won’t let you off easily!”
“Hmph. I, Yang Hong, am just carrying out official business. Do you think I’m afraid of you?” Yang Hong said with a cold snort. “If I’m afraid of you, I won’t have to work in the Divine Constable Bureau anymore!
“Speak. Where were you last night? What did you do? Do you have any witnesses?” Yang Hong shouted.
Yang Hong and Zhu Chuanfeng had nothing to do with each other. So what if he tortured and questioned Zhou Shu in this manner? Zhou Shu was in no position to have any objections.
He was merely handling the case his way.
In this world, there was no technique to speak of when interrogating, and torture was the universal method.
“The Forging Division’s grand minister has arrived!”
Before Zhou Shu could speak, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the door.
Yang Hong was slightly stunned. Before he could react, he felt a gust of wind, and a figure appeared in the hall.
Yin Wuyou was wearing martial attire, and her curvaceous figure was undoubtedly revealed. Behind her was the little maid Haitang, and both of their charming faces were covered in frost.
“The Divine Constable Bureau is really impressive!”
Yin Wuyou’s gaze fell on Zhou Shu’s hands in the torture device, and she snorted coldly. “Shouldn’t you inform me before you take anyone from the Forging Division?”
Yang Hong was a little dumbfounded. He bowed mechanically and said, “Constable Yang Hong of the Divine Constable Bureau greets Your Highness the Princess.”
The Divine Constable Bureau was well-informed. How could Yang Hong not know who the grand minister of the Forging Division was?
He didn’t expect that a mere workshop superintendent would be able to alarm the Forging Division’s grand minister.
“Our Divine Constable Bureau invited Zhou Shu back to assist in an investigation, not to arrest—” Yang Hong said weakly.
“Is there a need to torture him if he is just assisting in the investigation?” Yin Wuyou sneered.
“Because he would not cooperate—” Yang Hong said.
“Constable Yang, don’t slander me. How am I not cooperating? You came to the Forging Division’s workshops, and I followed you back without a word! I still don’t know what crime I committed!”
“I would like to hear what a workshop superintendent of my Forging Division has done!” Yin Wuyou’s eyes flickered with a cold light.
Yang Hong’s back was drenched in cold sweat. He was just investigating an ordinary case. How could it trouble the princess to come here?
“Your Highness—”
“Call me Grand Minister!” Yin Wuyou shouted.
“Grand Minister,” Yang Hong said honestly.
“It’s like this. This morning, we found two corpses by the moat outside the capital. One was Xiao Zongshui, a workshop superintendent of the Forging Division, and the other was Zhen Cai, a follower of Grand Craftsman Zhu Chuanfeng.
“Because Zhen Cai was a ninth-rank martial artist, the case fell to our Divine Constable Bureau. I am under orders to investigate this case. Because Grandmaster Zhu said that the two victims had some disagreements with Zhou Shu yesterday, I brought him back for questioning.
“He hasn’t been able to explain what happened last night. That’s why I wanted to punish him.”
Yang Hong stammered out the whole story.
“Zhu Chuanfeng told you that Zhou Shu is the murderer?” Yin Wuyou asked with furrowed brows.
Zhu Chuanfeng was a Grand Craftsman, and in name, he was also a member of the Forging Division. But at the Grand Craftsman realm, they were no longer restricted by the Forging Division. Even the grand minister of the Forging Division had to be polite to them.
Of course, Yin Wuyou wasn’t just the grand minister of the Forging Division. She wasn’t afraid of Zhu Chuanfeng.
“Grandmaster Zhu didn’t say that. He only said that Zhou Shu is very suspicious—” Yang Hong didn’t dare to say any nonsense in front of Yin Wuyou.
“Is Xiao Zongshui really dead?” Yin Wuyou asked with a frown.
She was not asking Yang Hong, but Haitang behind her.
Haitang shook her head. “I haven’t received any news.”
Yin Wuyou nodded and didn’t say anything else. “No matter what Grandmaster Zhu says, you don’t have any evidence to prove that Zhou Shu is the murderer.”
“Grand Minister, if there was any evidence, we would have arrested him immediately.” Yang Hong had already stabilized. So what if she was the princess? He wasn’t abusing the law for personal gain. Everything he did was in accordance with the rules of the Divine Constable Bureau.
“We are investigating the case now.
“I’ve investigated. Yesterday, Zhou Shu, Xiao Zongshui, and Zhen Cai had a conflict. He has a huge motive for committing the crime.”
“Why would I kill them?” Zhou Shu said. “Just because I had a conflict with them yesterday, I became the person who killed them? I also have a conflict with you, Constable Yang. Should I kill you too?
“Grand Minister, I had a few words with Xiao Zongshui and Zhen Cai yesterday. But it was because Grand Craftsman Zhu Chuanfeng wanted to take me in as his disciple. I felt that my ability was insufficient, so I rejected Grand Craftsman Zhu. Xiao Zongshui and Zhen Cai wanted to persuade me. Do you think it’s worthwhile for me to kill them like this?” Zhou Shu said to Yin Wuyou.
“Grand Craftsman Zhu wishes to take you as his disciple?” Yin Wuyou asked in surprise.
Yang Hong’s eyes also widened. He was thinking more than Yin Wuyou. Zhu Chuanfeng wanted to accept him as a disciple, but he was rejected in the end. He couldn’t hold on to his face, so he wanted to use him to teach Zhou Shu a lesson?
That old thief is despicable! Yang Hong cursed in his heart.
Damn it. Didn’t he say Zhou Shu is just an ordinary workshop superintendent?
That Zhu fellow is too much. How can someone he wants to take as a disciple be an ordinary person?
“Yes, but I refused.” Zhou Shu nodded.
“I think maybe Xiao Zongshui and Zhen Cai were too aggressive when they tried to persuade me, so Grandmaster Zhu misunderstood,” Zhou Shu added.
“Misunderstood?” Yin Wuyou narrowed her eyes.
“Constable Yang, did you hear that?” Yin Wuyou turned to Yang Hong.
“Yes.” Yang Hong braced himself and said, “But I still have to ask. Zhou Shu, where were you last night?”
“Zhou Shu, what do you say?” Yin Wuyou said to Zhou Shu indifferently.
“I’m innocent.” Zhou Shu shrugged and said innocently, “Last night, I went to Lichun Courtyard with Lieutenant Cheng Yong of the Huben Troops and stayed there overnight…”
Zhou Shu looked embarrassed. “Lieutenant Cheng and the rest were too enthusiastic. I couldn’t reject them, so—”
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me!” Yin Wuyou said coldly with a frosty expression.
Yang Hong cursed inwardly.
If you f*cking slept in a brothel last night, just say it.
If you said this earlier, would I still torture you?
Aren’t you asking for trouble?
Even I am unhappy now!
“Constable Yang, is this enough to prove Zhou Shu’s innocence? Or do we need to find witnesses to prove it?” Yin Wuyou said expressionlessly.
Yang Hong was sweating profusely. Why doesn’t the atmosphere feel quite right?
Although he was a little puzzled, he said, “According to the rules, we should call the woman over for questioning.”
“Then let’s follow the rules!” Yin Wuyou said coldly. “People from my Forging Division can’t be wronged by others, nor can their innocence be ambiguous. If you want to investigate, then investigate thoroughly!”
Zhou Shu: “…”
