Chapter 246: Interrogate

The guard brought a chair and placed it in front of the prisoners.

Zhao Shu sat down casually. The prisoners didn’t know who he was and cursed loudly, some even spitting.

Zhao Shu’s expression didn’t change. He picked up a cup of tea from the table, took a sip, and then slowly put it down. He looked at the prisoners and said, “I won’t ask you to kneel. But you have to answer my questions honestly. If you lie or omit anything, you will regret it.”

The prisoners were still cursing and shouting.

Zhao Shu didn’t rush them. He waited quietly until their voices were hoarse and they started to quiet down. Then he pointed to the prisoner in the middle and said, “You first. Tell me your name, age, where you’re from, and what your job is.”

The prisoner in the middle looked at Zhao Shu with contempt and didn’t say anything.

Zhao Shu smiled slightly. He turned to the guard and said, “Give him a taste.”

The guard immediately took out a whip and whipped the prisoner fiercely.

The prisoner cried out in pain and finally spoke, “My name is Wang Wu, I’m 30 years old, from Hebei, and I’m a laborer.”

Zhao Shu nodded and then pointed to the next prisoner. “You.”

The second prisoner was scared and quickly answered, “My name is Li Si, I’m 25 years old, from Henan, and I’m a farmer.”

Zhao Shu continued to question them one by one, and they all answered honestly.

After questioning their basic information, Zhao Shu leaned back in his chair and said, “Now, tell me why you came here and what you did.”

The prisoners looked at each other, hesitant to speak.

Zhao Shu said coldly, “I’m not asking you to confess. I already know everything. I just want to hear it from you. If you cooperate, I might be lenient. If you don’t, you’ll suffer.”

One of the prisoners, who looked older, finally spoke, “We were hired to do some work here.”

“What kind of work?” Zhao Shu asked.

The prisoner hesitated for a moment and then said, “Demolishing some houses.”

Zhao Shu raised an eyebrow. “Demolishing houses? Whose houses?”

The prisoner said, “Some houses in the village. We were told they were abandoned.”

Zhao Shu sneered. “Abandoned? Did you really believe that?”

The prisoner lowered his head and didn’t speak.

Zhao Shu looked at the other prisoners and said, “Is that true? You were just hired to demolish abandoned houses?”

The other prisoners also lowered their heads and didn’t speak.

Zhao Shu tapped his fingers on the table and said slowly, “It seems you’re not being completely honest. Do you want me to remind you what you were really doing here?”

The prisoners remained silent.

Zhao Shu stood up and walked towards them. He stopped in front of the prisoner who spoke first and said, “Let me ask you again. What were you really doing here?”

The prisoner trembled and finally said, “We…we were ordered to destroy the village.”

“Destroy the village?” Zhao Shu’s voice became colder. “Who ordered you?”

The prisoner hesitated again.

Zhao Shu said, “If you don’t tell me, I have ways to make you talk.”

The prisoner finally broke down and cried, “It was Master Cao. He ordered us to do it.”

“Master Cao?” Zhao Shu frowned. “Which Master Cao?”

The prisoner said, “Cao De. He’s a wealthy merchant in the nearby town.”

Zhao Shu nodded. “Why did he want to destroy the village?”

The prisoner said, “I don’t know the exact reason. We were just following orders.”

Zhao Shu looked at the other prisoners and asked, “Do you know why Cao De wanted to destroy the village?”

The other prisoners also shook their heads, saying they didn’t know.

Zhao Shu fell into thought. Cao De was a wealthy merchant, but why would he want to destroy a village? What was the motive?

He looked at the prisoners again and asked, “Were there any other people involved besides you and Cao De?”

The prisoners looked at each other and then one of them said, “There was also a group of martial artists. They were helping us.”

“Martial artists?” Zhao Shu’s eyes narrowed. “Who were they?”

The prisoner said, “I don’t know their names. But they were very skilled.”

Zhao Shu asked, “Did they tell you why they were helping Cao De?”

The prisoner shook his head.

Zhao Shu thought for a moment and then said, “Alright, that’s enough for now. Take them away.”

The guards took the prisoners away.

Zhao Shu sat back down and pondered. Cao De, martial artists, destroying a village. This was getting more complicated. It seemed like there was more to this than just a simple dispute over land.

He needed to find out who these martial artists were and what their connection was to Cao De. He also needed to find out the real reason behind the destruction of the village.

Zhao Shu stood up and walked out of the room. He needed to investigate further.