The purple python overpowered the inner court-if this vengeance went unanswered, he was no man!

The hall was dark and damp. A night wind swept through, making the lamps flicker.

Only half an hour had passed.

"Has that wretched cur still not confessed?" Dai Quan returned.

As he listened to the heart-rending screams inside, frost settled over his gloomy face.

The Imperial Palace Experts reported:

"He would rather endure every agony than utter a word."

"Brush-holder Dai, shall we try another torture and cut off those two ounces of flesh between his legs?"

"No!" Dai Quan flatly refused.

"If there are signs of torture on his body, they will be hard to explain afterward. In my eyes, he is a lowly nobody, but to the court and the public, he is still a Hundred-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"Feed him a few more pills. Even if he dies, we can say that he carried poison on him and, knowing the gravity of his crimes, chose to poison himself."

The Imperial Palace Experts obeyed.

Scholar's face was twisted beyond recognition by the excruciating pain, his lips trembling incessantly.

"You lowborn mongrel!" Dai Quan blazed with fury.

If he would just obediently confess and implicate that fellow Jia, he could have all the wealth and prospects he wanted.

Only with leverage could Dai Quan exact his revenge, yet this wretched bastard was as stubborn as a stone!

The Northern Commandant Office.

Over a hundred members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard swung into their saddles and set out toward the Imperial City.

"Jia Huan!"

With an angry shout, Commissioner Ouyang hurried over upon hearing the news. He planted himself in front of the Heavenly Horse and said in anguish:

"Leading troops into the forbidden palace in the dead of night will earn you the harshest punishment! How much blood and sweat have you poured into