Chapter 1184: Chapter 1184: I Will Make You Believe Soon!

Zhao Junyao took a look, and indeed, the three had secrets hidden in their hearts.

At that moment, he lost the last bit of sympathy for them.

Regardless of whether they plead for mercy or not, he first ordered a ferocious beating of fifty strokes.

The three old foxes were all advanced in age.

Especially Old Master Lian, who was nearly sixty.

How could they endure such a beating?

For a moment, their cries and wails echoed continuously, so loud that the entire prison could hear clearly. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

After the beating.

Their buttocks, backs, and thighs were already lacerated, covered with cuts and bruises, soaking in fresh blood.

Because those servants had been instructed beforehand.

Make sure it hurts, but don’t cause fatal injuries, so they avoided vital areas, targeting less critical spots.

Thus, although they felt as if their backs would explode, there was no sign of fainting or impending death.

On the contrary, they grew more lucid.

At this moment, they watched helplessly as those servants indeed brought in the stove and branding iron.

The charcoal in the stove was bright red, occasionally crackling and popping.

The branding iron was also red-hot, radiating an extremely dangerous aura.

If such a thing were branded on one’s body...

A chill ran down their spines, daring not to think further, their expressions mournful and unbearable to witness.

Zhao Junyao laughed coldly.

"Do not be afraid!"

"As long as you speak, I will immediately release you to go home, how about that?"

With a voice as cold as the Asura from hell, slowly speaking threatening words.

The three were terrified but also tempted.

Old Master Song was the first to withstand it, both painful and fearful, bursting into tears.

"Speak, speak!"

"Why can’t we just talk it out? Why resort to violence?!"

Zhao Junyao’s gaze was sharp.

"Of course, talking it out won’t work!"

"I have given you countless opportunities, haven’t I?"

Xia Ruqing, diligently fanning the flames from the side.

"In my opinion, you better confess quickly!"

"Explain everything clearly, then you will be considered heroes!"

"Look at it this way, at least your lives will be spared, right?"

Old Master Lian noticed Old Master Song’s cowardly behavior.

Then saw the arrogant tone of the little fair-faced imperial envoy.

For a moment, he was both anxious and angry, both hurt and resentful, cursing angrily, hating iron not becoming steel.

"Spineless thing!"

"You think confessing will let you live?"

Old Master Song heard: That’s right!

If what they did were known, it wouldn’t just be about living or dying, it’d be the execution of the entire clan!

Immediately, he burst into tears again: "No confess, no confess!"

Old Master Lian didn’t speak further, continuing to moan in pain.

Old Master Rong was sweating profusely, his eyes rolling back, unable to speak.

The three were in a stalemate like this.

Zhao Junyao laughed coldly, calmly waving his hand.

"Not speaking, huh!"

"Bring the branding iron, brand them on their wounds!"

"Remember, do not let them faint, do not take lives, only allow piercing pain!"

"Yes!"

The servants stepped forward, first starting with Old Master Lian.

The red-hot branding iron was placed on the freshly lacerated wound, emitting a sizzling sound.

Xia Ruqing turned away, unwilling to watch.

"Ah!!"

A piercing pain coursed through his body, gripping his organs.

Old Master Lian, surprisingly resilient, screamed hoarsely, with several veins bulging on his forehead.

"You!"

"Who exactly are you people?"

"Abuse of private punishment is illegal, do you see the imperial laws?"

"Even the Emperor wouldn’t forgive you for this!"

His arrogance, his brazen tone, Zhao Junyao had never seen before.

(Of course it was the first time, who dared before?)

Zhao Junyao, rarely, his face turned steely blue from anger, losing patience and not wanting to play with them anymore.

He directly stood up, pulling out the golden and silver inlaid Dragon Head Lockbone Gold Whip from his waist and flicked it hard.

The whip instantly struck the ground, leaving a hole with dust swirling.

"Outrageous!"

"Only Jinling and a few surrounding towns have seen soaring prices in all of Jiangning!"

"It’s all the doing of your three families secretly!"

"You joined forces to control the market, driving up prices, then transporting goods from elsewhere to sell at high prices, reaping enormous profits!"

"I’ve already investigated the industries under your command! Vast discrepancies from reality!"

"I demand detailed accounts, the flow of your vast sum of silver!"

The straightforward and blunt words shook everyone.

This was the first time Xia Ruqing had seen him so furious.

The innate aura of a monarch he possessed.

That unrivaled determination to exterminate the entire clan, unmistakably powerful.

Silence...

A deafening silence...

Unclear how much time passed, Old Master Lian trembled and came to his senses.

He turned to look at Old Master Rong and Old Master Song, his face perplexed.

"Emperor?"

"Did he... did he just say... Emperor?"

The other two were equally bewildered.

"No... don’t know!"

"I... oh... didn’t hear it clearly either!"

Old Master Rong was preoccupied with pain, his mind a muddled mess, knowing nothing else.

Old Master Lian was left in despair.

If... If the man before him truly was the Emperor, then... the family’s lives were doomed!

Realizing this.

Old Master Lian collapsed from the tiger bench, his face pale to a frightening degree.

"You... you..."

"You really are..."

Zhao Junyao raised an eyebrow.

"So, still not speaking?"

He turned and leisurely sat back down.

"If you still don’t speak, I’ll kill you immediately, feed you to the turtles in the Wei River!"

Earning so much immoral money, feeding turtles is kind to them!

Xia Ruqing continued to fan the flames.

"Under heaven belongs to the king’s land!"

"The Emperor is the law, are you still not confessing?"

Old Master Lian turned his gaze to Xia Ruqing.

Seeing her fair and clean face, not a whisker in sight, voice slightly finer than a regular man’s.

If that man was the Emperor.

Then this... must be an eunuch! Except this Little Eunuch is quite unruly.

If it’s truly the Emperor, how could the eunuch beside him be so disrespectful?

Most likely fake!

Old Master Lian glared at her angrily, suddenly bursting into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"Emperor?"

"If you’re the Emperor, then I’m the Taishang Huang!"

"Frauds, impersonating the Emperor should get you fed to the river turtles!"

Zhao Junyao saw he wouldn’t confess, coldly laughed again.

"Not believing is fine!"

"I will soon make you believe!"

Then he turned and called Li Shengan in, issuing orders on the spot.

"The merchants of the Lian Family, Song Family, Rong Family have disrupted the market, harmed the citizens, and have amassed unaccountable substantial sums of immoral wealth! Their guilt is deserving of death! Due to their stubborn refusal, openly degrading imperial authority, and possessing treasonous intent, hence... all assets forfeited, all female members of the household are to become courtesans, male descendants under the age of ten exiled, over ten detained, and executed after autumn!"

The speech was forceful and powerful.

His sharp gaze, the overwhelming aura emanating from him forces people to want to kneel and plead.

This identity can be faked.

But the gaze, the aura, this innate nobility, can it be faked?