Ministers Begging Me to Ascend the Throne

Chapter 1116: Chapter 140: Prince Han Vomits Blood in Anger

To prevent these Xiongnu Assassins from committing suicide, Tong Xi and the others removed the poison hidden in their mouths. Furthermore, to prevent them from using other means to kill themselves, Zhao Yao poisoned them, making their limbs weak and powerless. However, they were a group of well-trained suicide squad, and it was very difficult to extract useful information from their mouths.

Even when confined in a pitch-dark room with no hope of daylight, they remained silent.

"Your Highness, no matter how we interrogate, not a single one of them speaks. What should we do?" Despite using severe torture, those Xiongnu Assassins still refused to speak. They even threw those Assassins into the sea, yet they remained silent. Clearly, they were not mute, but they acted mute, not uttering a single word.

"Here’s what you do: blindfold them and make a cut on their arm or thigh, letting their blood flow little by little. Once the blood from the wound clots, make another cut, ensuring their blood continues to flow," Zhao Yao instructed. "Separate them and place each in a particularly quiet place, where they can hear the sound of their own bleeding."

Tong Xi, imagining this method, found it absolutely terrifying.

"Yes, Your Highness." How could His Highness think of such a chilling method?

Zhao Yao, of course, learned it from Zhao Yao in his dream. How could a pure and kind person come up with such a dreadful method?

Tong Xi went to execute the plan. At first, the Xiongnu Assassins showed no fear, but gradually, as they heard the sound of their own bleeding and felt their bodies growing cold, fear began to spread in their hearts.

Darkness, coldness, fear, and despair slowly eroded their sanity.

Although they were trained to be cold-blooded Assassins, they weren’t truly dead. As long as they were living humans, they would harbor feelings of fear and terror.

Before long, some of the Assassins couldn’t bear it, screaming madly.

When one couldn’t withstand it, there would be a second. Soon, most of the Assassins began to speak.

They would rather be beheaded with a single stroke than endure the despair and fear they just experienced.

When Zhao Yao interrogated them in the Xiongnu language, they were very shocked, not expecting a Prince of Great Zhou to know their language.

They held back nothing, telling Zhao Yao everything they knew.

After interrogating this group of Assassins, Zhao Yao obtained very little useful information.

These Assassins were not close confidants of Prince Han and the Third Princess. Their usual task was assassination, and they had no access to confidential matters. Most importantly, they had never met Prince Han or the Third Princess. Their leader was not Prince Han.

"Didn’t expect that these Assassins knew nothing," Tong Xi was infuriated by the fact that despite spending so much effort on the interrogation, not a single useful piece of information was obtained.

Zhao Yao shook his finger and said, "We still got some useful information."

Lu Guang, Tong Xi, and Liang Chun looked at Zhao Yao with a mix of confusion and curiosity, "What useful information?"

"Among these Assassins were Central Plains people, yet they couldn’t speak the Central Plains language. Don’t you find that strange?"

Tong Xi replied, "It is quite strange, but didn’t they say they grew up in Xiongnu, trained from childhood to kill? It’s not surprising that they can’t speak the Central Plains language."

"If they can train Central Plains people to become their Assassins, could they also train Central Plains people to become their spies?" It’s normal for two countries to have spies in each other’s land. The Third Princess of Xiongnu could collude with Prince Han, and she could also conspire with others. Among these other people, there’s a good chance there are spies.

Zhao Yao recalled the recent incident where Concubine Shu drugged Noble Princess Consort Rong, making her gravely ill, after which Prince Dai was summoned back to the capital.

These children abducted by the Xiongnu were originally people of Great Zhou, but after being trained by the Xiongnu, they not only became loyal to the Xiongnu but also harbored hatred for Great Zhou.

Lu Guang’s expression turned serious, "Your Highness, are you suggesting that Great Zhou has Xiongnu spies, and these spies are Central Plains people taken by the Xiongnu?"

Zhao Yao nodded slightly, "Yes." He now suspects that Prince Han’s collusion with the Third Princess did not begin after his adulthood, when he was enfeoffed and sent to Youzhou. It might have started much earlier. It’s even possible that Prince Han met the Third Princess through Concubine Shu’s connection.

It’s very likely that Concubine Shu and the Third Princess had already been in contact. But how did they meet? Could it be that they knew each other before the Third Princess was abducted to Xiongnu?