Chapter 200 Let’s get down to business
"Stop him now, he's going to use his private..."
Yuan Hongdao glanced at Si Lili coldly. Si Lili seemed as if her throat was strangled. Her voice stopped abruptly and she couldn't utter the last word.
When Yuan Hongdao looked at Mei Chengan again, he was smiling.
"Your Excellency, are you going to stop me?"
Mei Cheng'an walked slowly forward and replied softly as he walked.
"This person is a prisoner of my Overwatch Council."
Yuan Hongdao smiled.
"Didn't Lord Zhugezhu tell you?"
Mei Cheng'an gently opened the cell door, nodded and smiled at him.
"I told you that Minister Lin asked the emperor for permission to question Si Lili."
Yuan Hongdao narrowed his eyes.
"Don't you believe it, sir?"
Mei Cheng'an leaned against the prison door with his arms folded across his chest. He glanced at Si Lili, passed by her pleading eyes, then turned his gaze to Yuan Hongdao and smiled.
"I believe it... Of course I do. Before coming to the Overwatch Council, I just met with Minister Lin, and he did mention this to me."
Yuan Hongdao looked at Mei Chengan without saying anything, waiting for his next words.
Mei Cheng'an didn't let him wait long and continued speaking.
"But Lin Xiangqing's oral instructions were only to question her, but he didn't say to torture her."
Yuan Hongdao's eyes fixed when he heard this, and then he suddenly smiled.
"That makes sense."
Mei Cheng'an also smiled.
"Has Lord Yuan finished his questions?"
Yuan Hongdao glanced at Si Lili.
"Almost."
Si Lili widened her eyes and shouted at Mei Chengan.
"He's finished asking questions, and I've answered what I should answer!"
Mei Chengan picked his ears.
"I heard it, I heard it. I'm not far away. Why are you shouting so loudly?"
After saying that, he looked at Yuan Hongdao.
"I wonder what Mr. Yuan meant by 'almost'?"
Yuan Hongdao looked at him and smiled.
"Oh, this is a step that almost convinced Minister Lin. Since you have just met Minister Lin, you must understand how important this matter is to him. If you cannot convince Lin, then Minister Lin will probably not give up. What do you think?"
Mei Cheng'an tilted his head, thought about it, and nodded.
"Makes sense!"
As soon as he said these three words, Yuan Hongdao smiled, but Si Lili widened her eyes. Is this a compromise?
Fortunately, Mei Cheng'an glanced at the various torture instruments on the table and added a sentence, which caused a ripple in her desperate heart.
"If we just want to gain Prime Minister Lin's trust, there is no need for so many torture instruments. I believe that with Mr. Yuan's methods, one of them should be enough."
Yuan Hongdao thought about it, then smiled and nodded.
"Indeed! Then all that won't be necessary."
As he said this, he raised his right hand, held the needle, and showed it to Mei Chengan.
"That's enough! The following scene may be a little indecent. If it's convenient, would you mind stepping aside?"
Mei Chengan shrugged.
“Convenient and convenient.”
Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he accidentally caught a glimpse of the silver needle in Yuan Hongdao's hand. Mei Cheng'an hissed, turned back, squatted in front of the needle, and looked at it carefully.
"This needle?"
Yuan Hongdao was stunned, took a look at the needle and asked in confusion.
"What's wrong with this needle?"
Si Lili also looked at him a little confused.
Mei Chengan said with disdain.
"This needle is too dirty. It's so unhygienic."
Yuan Hongdao: "..."
Si Lili: “…”
Mei Cheng'an shook his sleeves, revealing his hand, which contained a thinner and longer silver needle used for acupuncture.
"Use this one. It's much cleaner than yours. If you have a fire starter, it's best to roast it before stabbing."
Yuan Hongdao was confused.
"More grilling?"
Si Lili looked at him in amazement.
Are you a devil? Whose side are you on? It's not enough to prick me with a silver needle, you have to burn it until it turns red before pricking me again? Why do I feel like you're even more perverted than this Yuan guy?!
Mei Chengan nodded.
"Yes, disinfection, that is... oh, I'm too lazy to explain, anyway, it's cleaner to bake it."
Yuan Hongdao paused.
"But I didn't bring a fire starter. Did you bring one?"
Mei Cheng'an clicked his tongue and waved his hand.
"Who would carry a lighter with them for no reason? If you don't have one, forget it. It won't delay your use."
As he spoke, he handed over the silver needle in his hand and said at the same time.
"Throw away that old needle of yours. It's covered in rust and blood. If you prick me, I'm sure it will get infected. I guarantee it."
Yuan Hongdao nodded as if he understood, said "oh", turned around and put his drinking needle back into the tool kit, and took the silver needle handed to him by Mei Chengan.
Mei Cheng'an nodded with satisfaction, clapped his hands, stood up, glanced at Si Lili, turned around and walked out.
Just as Mei Cheng'an closed the dungeon door, Si Lili's screams were heard from the dungeon. The sound was so piercing that it gave Mei Cheng'an a chill.
After waiting quietly for a while, when the screams in his ears became smaller, Mei Chengan pushed the door open again and walked in.
At this time, Yuan Hongdao had already stood up, wiping his hands.
"Is it done?"
Yuan Hongdao looked back at him and smiled.
"It's...finished, I guess."
Mei Cheng'an said.
"Then please."
"Okay!" Yuan Hongdao replied with a smile, packed up his tool bag neatly, opened the cell door and walked out, handing the cell door key to Mei Chengan.
Mei Cheng'an took the key, stopped Yuan Hongdao who was about to leave, and said to him.
"Wait a moment, Mr. Yuan, please wait for me outside the dungeon. I have something to tell you."
Yuan Hongdao was stunned for a moment and nodded.
"Okay, then Yuan will be waiting outside."
After saying that, he left the dungeon first.
Mei Cheng'an walked towards the cage without speaking to Si Lili. After locking the cell door, he was about to turn around and leave when Si Lili stopped him.
"Wait a moment!"
Mei Cheng'an turned around and looked at her.
Si Lili gritted her teeth and pulled out the long silver needle stuck in the nail of her left index finger.
Accompanied by a groan, there was another piercing pain, which distorted Si Lili's face.
Mei Cheng'an felt a toothache when he saw this and he hissed.
Si Lili finally recovered after a long while. She looked at Mei Chengan with hatred, threw the silver needle at him, and said with gritted teeth.
"You forgot to take your stuff!"
The silver needles used for acupuncture are very light, and Si Lili was too weak to have much strength, so the needles didn't get thrown very far before falling to the ground and barely rolled to Mei Chengan's feet.
Mei Chengan looked down.
"It's all dirty, why would I need it?"
As he said this, he kicked the silver needle into the pool beside him.
After saying that, Mei Chengan looked at Si Lili.
"Tsk, no, he stabbed you, why do you hate me so much? Using my needle is no better than using that old needle."
Si Lili said through gritted teeth.
"Fan Xian promised me that he would not let anyone torture me! You are breaking your promise!"
"There's such a thing? He didn't tell me. Hey, hey, don't look at me like that. Okay, I was just joking. Don't get excited!"
After a pause, Mei Chengan continued.
"As for today's incident, I can certainly stop him from torturing you, but if I do that, Minister Lin will keep causing trouble for you if he doesn't get the answer he wants. Are you sure this is what you want?"
"Wouldn't it be nice to suffer a little physical pain and dispel Lin Xiang's suspicion of you once and for all? I'm not...hiss~ Why am I explaining all this to you? I'm really bored. Goodbye!"
After saying that, Mei Chengan glanced at her and turned away. Si Lili stood there in a daze.
……
After leaving the dungeon, Mei Chengan waved to Yuan Hongdao who was waiting on the side.
Yuan Hongdao came over.
"Little Metis, what do you want to tell me?"
Mei Cheng'an said.
"It's like this. When I left Prime Minister Lin's residence, Prime Minister Lin asked me to ask when the second young master's body could be returned to him. I asked, and now it can be returned."
When Yuan Hongdao heard this, his expression became serious. He took a step back and bowed to him respectfully.
"Yuan would like to thank Xiao Meitis on behalf of the Prime Minister. I am very grateful."
Mei Chengan waved his hand.
"It's a piece of cake. Lord Zhu has already arranged a carriage. The second young master's body has been moved inside and parked in front of the gate of the Supervisory Council. You can take it back directly. Do you need us to send someone to escort you along the way?"
Yuan Hongdao thought for a while and said.
"There is no need for an escort. Yuan is enough. It is not appropriate to show off at this time. I will explain to the Prime Minister when I return."
Mei Chengan nodded.
"That's fine too."
Yuan Hongdao bowed again.
"Yuan takes his leave."
Mei Chengan returned the greeting.
"Walk slowly!"
Watching Yuan Hongdao's figure disappear around the corner, Mei Cheng'an looked up at the sky and stretched lazily.
After being busy for the whole morning, I finally finished the work. It is just past half past the hour now and there is still some time before lunch time, so I have to go back to work.
Mei Cheng'an went directly to the courtyards around him, returned the key to Si Lili's cell to Yan Ruohai, then left the Supervisory Office and walked back to the Honglu Temple.
Sitting back at his workstation, Mei Chengan continued to deal with the unfinished official business.
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
On the other side, Yuan Hongdao dragged Lin Gong's body back to Lin Xiangfu. After placing the body, he went directly to the study to report to Lin Ruofu.
"Prime Minister, I have already retrieved the Second Young Master's body!"
The first thing Yuan Hongdao said when they met was to talk about this matter.
When Lin Ruofu heard this, he stood up immediately and said excitedly.
"Where is Gong'er? I'll go see him."
Yuan Hongdao stretched out his hand to stop him.
"Don't worry, sir. I have arranged for someone to change the clothes and tidy up the appearance of the Second Young Master. You should go later."
Lin Ruofu looked at him for a long while, took a deep breath, calmed down, and sat back down.
"Alright."
Yuan Hongdao asked.
"Did the Prime Minister ask Mei Cheng'an to handle this?"
Lin Ruofu hummed.
"Have you met him?"
Yuan Hongdao nodded.
"Mei Cheng'an wanted to send someone to escort the second young master's body back, but I declined. I think it's not appropriate to publicize it at this time. Please don't blame me, Your Majesty!"
Lin Ruofu waved his hand.
"You did the right thing. Why should I blame you? Mei Cheng'an first cured Wan'er's illness, and now he helped to get Gong'er's body back. Speaking of which, I already owe him two big favors."
Yuan Hongdao praised him secretly.
"The Prime Minister is kind-hearted!"
Lin Ruofu thought for a moment and said.
"Forget it, I'll just return it to him when I have the chance. Now let's get down to business. Have you met that Si Lili?"
(End of this chapter)
