Chapter 56

An Ruhai looked through the small window above the iron door at the prisoner in the No. 1 prison cell.

The room was small, hidden deep underground, where not a ray of sunlight could penetrate. The only light came from an oil lamp on a small table, which burned day and night. The person inside could not distinguish day from night, nor could they tell the passage of time. A figure was huddled motionless in the corner of the room, like a zombie.

An Ruhai beckoned, and the prison warden, who had been waiting respectfully on the side, hurried over, took a key from his waist, and inserted it into the lock.

"Is the key to this No. 1 prison cell kept by you personally?" An Ruhai asked.

"Yes, Commander. Since I took office, this No. 1 cell has never been used. This is the first time it has been put to use!" the warden replied with a smile.

"Is that so?" An Ruhai chuckled, "In the future, this cell won't be idle. It will be very busy, very busy."

The warden was taken aback, and An Ruhai's smile faded. He suddenly reached out and grabbed the door bolt, pulling the door open with a loud clank, stepped inside, and then slammed the door shut.

The sound of the door opening startled the prisoner huddled in the corner. He suddenly raised his head, and in the dim light, he saw An Ruhai's imposing figure. He jumped up and shouted hoarsely, "An Ruhai, you are not keeping your word! You promised to release me if I cooperated with you!"

An Ruhai looked at him calmly. When the news of the complete annihilation of the Western Border Army was reported to the capital by fast horse, the Inner Guard immediately took control of the person in front of him, before the news had spread. Now, it seemed that this person truly did not know about the defeat of the Western Border Army.

An Ruhai sat down at the small table, extended his little finger to adjust the wick of the oil lamp, making it brighter, "You cooperated so well. Thanks to your cooperation, our Western Border Army was completely annihilated. Sixty thousand soldiers, not one returned. Even General Zuo Lixing met his end in the Luoying Mountains. Liu Zhen, tell me, how should we thank you?"

There was no response for a while. An Ruhai turned his head, and the Liu Zhen in front of him was like a statue, eyes wide open, mouth agape, and a string of saliva hanging from his lips. He seemed to have gone into a daze.

"This, this is impossible, this is impossible," Liu Zhen finally came to his senses, his legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. This was a matter of life and death for him and his family. "This is impossible, Commander An, can you not play such a joke? You are just teasing me, right?"

"Do you think I am joking? Do you think I, An Ruhai, enjoy joking? Do you think I brought you back here and locked you in the No. 1 cell just for fun?" An Ruhai said coldly.

Liu Zhen looked at An Ruhai in a daze, then suddenly leaped up, "This has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me. I did everything as you said, Commander An. I was always under your surveillance, right?"

"Perhaps you have some method we don't know about," An Ruhai sneered, "We are, after all, in the same line of work, and you are very talented. To rise to such a high position in our Great Chu is truly impressive."

Liu Zhen's legs gave way again, and he collapsed to the ground, his lips trembling, looking at An Ruhai with a sense of despair, "Commander An, it really has nothing to do with me, nothing to do with me!"

"Before I came here, I had your family taken to my place," An Ruhai said, unmoved, dropping another bomb.

"No, no, no!" Liu Zhen's face drained of color, "Commander An, you can't do this to me. You promised that if I cooperated, they would be safe. I did everything as you said, you can't do this to me."

"It seems we need to have another serious talk," An Ruhai said.

An hour later, An Ruhai walked out, the iron door slamming shut behind him. He looked back at the room, where Liu Zhen was convulsing on the ground like a pile of rotten meat. Now An Ruhai was certain that this enemy's most successful spy for over a hundred years had not lied about the later events.

This was a cruel fact for An Ruhai. If the problem did not come from Liu Zhen, then it must be within Great Chu. According to An Ruhai's knowledge, the number of people who knew about this matter would not exceed the fingers of one hand, and they were all within a very small circle.

Judging by the timeline, for the State of Qin to set up such a well-prepared trap, the plan must have started when Liu Zhen was captured. This narrowed the scope even further.

The case was solved by Guo Jiuling, who was loyal to the Second Prince. Guo Jiuling did not report to An Ruhai or the emperor first but went to the Second Prince. After that, the Second Prince, Min Ruo Ying, took complete control of the matter. It was only after the interrogation and the formulation of the final plan to change General Zuo Lixing's military strategy that the Second Prince sought an audience with the emperor and presented the plan. An Ruhai only learned about it afterward.

Could it be that the Second Prince set up this trap himself? That was too absurd. Zuo Lixing was a staunch supporter of the Second Prince and the greatest help in the military. Even if the Second Prince had lost his mind, he would never do such a thing.

An Ruhai's footsteps echoed in the dim corridor, and his thoughts seemed to have hit a dead end.

"Sir, what exactly did Liu Zhen do? He was in the Dihao cell for a few days a while ago, but was quickly released. This time, he was directly sent to the Tianhao No. 1 cell," the warden asked, puzzled. An Ruhai paused, "I remember that for the Dihao and Tianhao cells, any visits or interrogations must be recorded, right?"

"Yes, Commander, you have a good memory. Our prison houses important figures, especially the Dihao and Tianhao cells, which are rarely used. Whenever they are used, it is for significant figures. Therefore, there are strict regulations for visits or interrogations, which must be recorded for review," the warden flattered.

"Take me to see the records of Liu Zhen's first detention," An Ruhai said.

"Yes, Commander, please follow me!"

The ledger was thick, but only a few pages were written, as the warden had said, the Dihao and Tianhao cells were rarely used in the current Great Chu. It was even rarer for someone like Liu Zhen to stay in both cells in such a short time.

"Do you have the key to the Tianhao cells, and who manages the Dihao cells?" An Ruhai asked while flipping through the ledger.

"There are only three cells in the Tianhao section, but there are over ten in the Dihao section. I can't manage all of them, let alone the ordinary cells," the warden laughed. "The Dihao cells are managed by four people, two per shift, rotating every ten days. As you know, our prison houses officials, the lowest being a fifth-rank official, so our management is quite strict."

"Call these two people to see me," An Ruhai pointed to the signatures in the ledger. Liu Zhen was detained when these two were on duty.

"Diao Qing and Hu Xiaosi are on leave today," the warden said hesitantly. Hearing An Ruhai's "hmm," he quickly added, "Commander, please wait. I will send someone to find them. Diao Qing lives nearby, so it won't take long, but Hu Xiaosi is a bachelor and hard to find during his leave. Commander, you will have to wait."

"Go quickly, I will wait here," An Ruhai nodded slightly.

An Ruhai was left alone in the room. The ledger had only two pages of records, all of which were interrogation records by Guo Jiuling and the signature of the Second Prince, Min Ruo Ying. There was nothing else, simple and straightforward. The Second Prince was impossible, and Guo Jiuling's fate was unknown. Could it be Guo Jiuling?

An Ruhai shook his head. He knew Guo Jiuling very well and could not believe he was a spy for the State of Qin.

He flipped another page, seeing the blank, clean paper, and sighed. This case was truly complicated. He looked up at the small window on the wall, through which a ray of sunlight shone, and subconsciously stroked the ledger. It seemed his hopes would be dashed again.

This room was the warden's, the only place where sunlight could be seen.

Liu Zhen was not the problem, the Second Prince was not the problem, and Guo Jiuling was not the problem. After Liu Zhen was released from the Dihao cell, his every move was under the surveillance of the Inner Guard, arranged by An Ruhai himself, so there was no problem there. The people involved did not know why they were monitoring Liu Zhen. Where was the problem?

Suddenly, An Ruhai lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the ledger with a strange look. His finger stopped at a certain point. The first line of this page had a slight indentation, which was from the writing on the previous page, but only this line. The previous page had seven or eight lines of signatures from Guo Jiuling and the Second Prince.

He lifted the ledger and examined it carefully. Only a ninth-level expert like An Ruhai, who was skilled in this field, would notice such a subtle difference.

He carefully undid the binding of the ledger, and a tiny piece of paper fell out.

A page had been torn out of this ledger.

An Ruhai stood up suddenly. During the interrogation of Liu Zhen, he had missed a key point.

The page turned to AD begins

The page turned to AD ends