the next incident would not be so bloodless. in 70, prince ying of chu—incidentally, the only son of emperor guangwu not born of either of his empresses but of consort xu—hired warlocks to create golden turtles and jade cranes, and carved characters calling for unusual blessings on them—a major taboo at the time. further, he was discovered to have written revolutionary writings. emperor ming did not put him to death, but deposed him from his principality, exiled him, and made him a commoner (but with a small fief of 500 households). in 71, prince ying committed suicide in exile. however, the investigation did not end. by emperor ming's orders, prince ying's associates (but not his family) were harshly tortured and interrogated, and anyone that they named as a coconspirator was arrested and further tortured and interrogated. the interrogators themselves used this opportunity to falsely accuse many others of conspiracy. tens of thousands of people died, either of torture or execution, during the investigation. only after empress ma's intercession and persuasive petitions by one of the interrogators, han lang (寒朗), did the interrogations taper off.