Chapter 98 Imperial Censor Zhao, please do me a favor someday.
Chen Liangyu was led by the prison officer into the depths of the Ministry of Justice prison.
The musty, fishy smell from the lack of ventilation filled my nostrils; the stench of spoiled food and the odor of a dying person mixed in with the foul air, making me gag for a while.
The jailer leading the way stopped in front of a cell door, opened the wooden gate, and said to the prison officer, "Sir, we've arrived."
The jailer gestured "please" through the wooden gate, "General, please."
Chen Liangyu hesitated, unsure where to begin. The jailer following behind the prison officer, thinking she was unwilling to go in, suddenly pushed her hand forward from behind.
Chen Liangyu was shackled, her hands and feet bound by heavy chains and shackles. She was escorted out of Chengtian Gate, past the Ximanuo people gathered at the palace gate, before being taken to the Ministry of Justice prison. Tan Xialing had put heavy shackles on her. Caught off guard by the sudden shove, she couldn't take a step, and her right knee slammed straight into the hard ground, causing her brow to twitch in pain.
The jailer's face paled, and he quickly took two steps to help the man up, personally removing the shackles from Chen Liangyu's neck. "My men don't know the rules, General, please don't be offended."
The jailer kicked the guard hard in the lower back and cursed, "You unruly wretch!"
He also came up to apologize.
This is the innermost cell in the prison, separated from the guardhouse by a deep passageway. High up, there's a narrow window sealed with cracked, rotten wooden planks; wind seeps in through the gaps, unable to dispel the stench and dampness within the cell.
The jailer removed the shackles, then squatted down to unlock the shackles on Chen Liangyu's feet, saying, "This is a death row cell. Don't complain about how simple it is. The higher-ups have arranged for you to have a private cell, so you don't have to squeeze in with other prisoners. This is already the best treatment you can get."
The fat rats squeaked as they scurried across the straw mat, searching for food scraps left on the floor by an executed prisoner.
Chen Liangyu said, "Thank you for your trouble."
"This humble official takes his leave."
The cell door slammed shut, the sound of chains scraping against the wooden bars particularly jarring, and the jailer snapped the lock shut.
Chen Liangyu looked around the place.
The rats in the cell weren't afraid of people, and they wouldn't bother to run back into their holes in the wall if someone approached. Chen Liangyu kicked the pile of straw away, ignoring the rats that had just crawled over it, and sat down against the wall.
"Cough cough! Cough cough cough..."
"Cough cough cough cough... cough cough cough cough cough..."
A violent cough came from next door. Chen Liangyu turned around abruptly and saw that there was another person curled up in the corner of the adjacent cell. Two vicious eyes stared straight at her through the narrow gaps in the wooden bars.
There was another person in a cell next to her, and the excellent treatment the jailer mentioned was actually enjoyed by someone else besides her.
Chen Liangyu peered through the gaps in the wooden bars at the next cell. The wooden stakes separating each cell in the Ministry of Justice prison were driven in very tightly, leaving only very narrow gaps. The cell was dark, so he couldn't see clearly. He could only make out a thin man with disheveled hair.
“Imperial Censor Zhao, what a coincidence.”
Zhao Xingli, however, was not enthusiastic. He gave a faint "hmm," which sounded somewhat like he was waiting for someone. "You're here."
Chen Liangyu sat cross-legged and said, "Imperial Censor Zhao seems not at all surprised to see me."
"sooner or later."
Zhao Xingli was a man of few words, knowing that he and Chen Liangyu had different ambitions, different paths, and could not easily reach an agreement, so he spoke as little as possible.
Not wanting to make a fool of herself, Chen Liangyu moved to a corner where a pile of pungent-smelling hay was laid out—that was her bed.
He gathered a few straws to make a straw pillow, and Chen Liangyu lay down.
The jailer and the head jailer left the prison. The jailer, who had been kicked in the back by the head jailer, strolled back and let in a bowl of porridge so thin you could see your reflection in it, along with two cornbread buns. "We've let you out for lunch today. There wasn't supposed to be any food for you, but our head jailer is being extra considerate of you."
The jailer lit the oil lamp hanging on the wall at the end of the corridor. Seeing Chen Liangyu lying on the dry grass, fully clothed, dressed in a purple robe and adorned with gold and jade belt, without even glancing at the porridge and cornbread, the jailer sarcastically remarked, "If you don't eat, then go hungry. When you're starving, you'll eat anything. I've been a jailer for years, and I've seen all sorts of high-ranking officials and nobles. No matter how distinguished they were in front of others, once they arrive here, they're doomed. They won't live for more than a few days. And you still don't want to take off this official robe?"
The jailer's eyes were drawn to the gold and jade belt around her waist.
That jade was top-grade Hetian yellow jade, and the gold trim was inlaid with real gold. I've never seen someone imprisoned while wearing an imperial sash bestowed by the emperor.
Chen Liangyu closed his eyes to rest for a moment, "Whether I take off this official robe or not is not up to you, a mere jailer."
The jailer, rebuffed and disappointed, returned home. "Like grasshoppers after autumn, they can't jump anymore. Wear it if you want; you'll have to take it off and change into prison clothes when you're beheaded." The jailer stroked his chin, then after a moment, picked up his stick and knocked on the cell door. "Hey!"
Chen Liangyu opened her eyes, her eye sockets dry.
The jailer said, "This is the prison food, but if you know what's good for you, there are ways to get better food." As he spoke, he rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. "If you take off a little of that gold and jade belt, the court won't notice, will they?"
The imperial court is blind.
Chen Liangyu turned over, a few straws stuck to his back, and lay on his side facing the prison wall.
The jailer sneered, "You're all tough as nails when you first come in. Don't worry, you'll be begging me for help someday."
Zhao Xingli started coughing again, "cough cough cough cough... cough cough cough cough cough cough..." It seemed to be getting worse, and he couldn't stop coughing.
The jailer walked over and slammed a stick on the wooden bars of Zhao Xingli's cell. "What are you coughing for? If you can't live, you might as well die and save the prison a meal."
Chen Liangyu listened silently to the commotion. Just when she thought Zhao Xingli was about to stand up angrily and point his finger at the jailer, Zhao Xingli instead pleaded with the jailer, "Please, could you please get some medicine to treat my illness?" His voice was barely audible.
"Medicine? Medicine doesn't cost money?"
Zhao Xingli said, "Then could you please send a message to my wife, asking her to get the medicine?"
The jailer said, "Do you still think you're Lord Zhao? Your house has been ransacked long ago. Even if I were to take pity on you and deliver the message, your mother and wife wouldn't have the money to buy medicine. Medicine is expensive; it's not something a cheap life can afford."
After saying this, he took the two cornbreads that were placed with Chen Liangyu, and also took the porridge bowl. He splashed the porridge water on the ground and threw the cornbreads into Zhao Xingli's cell through the cell door.
The steamed bun rolled right up to Zhao Xingli's feet.
The jailer said, "She won't eat. Here, take it and eat! Fill your stomach and all your illnesses will disappear."
The jailer carried the bowl and walked towards the cell.
"etc."
Chen Liangyu called out to him.
The jailer strolled back and glanced at the gold and jade belt around her waist. "What, have you come to a decision?"
Chen Liangyu said, "The Ministry of Justice prison has two prison doctors. He is sick, why not find a doctor to treat him?"
The jailer chuckled, "The prison doctor is just a figurehead."
He looked Chen Liangyu up and down. “The General of the Cavalry, the Grand Marshal of the Three Provinces, a noble family, a close minister of the emperor, a famous person of high status, you can easily find a doctor anywhere. If your family can get you out of here, take off your clothes and go to the countryside to see, there are no traveling doctors for miles, and only one in three houses can afford a doctor [1]. How many honest and good people are sick and can’t afford medicine and are waiting to die, and they still want to find a doctor to treat these villains and criminals? Give me a rest.”
The jailer mocked him for a while and then walked away. Soon after, the sound of dice being shaken came from the jailer's cell where he was resting at night.
The next day, the shadow of the gnomon on the sundial placed on the stone platform in front of the prison gate had become skewed.
It's past noon.
However, they never received any official document from the Ministry of Justice ordering them to be interrogated.
Zhao Xingli coughed all night. The windows of the prison were not sealed properly and leaked air badly. In the middle of the night, the cell became even colder, and Chen Liangyu felt so sick from listening to him cough that she almost vomited.
Having not slept well that night, Chen Liangyu was listless during the day.
My stomach rumbled.
The Ministry of Justice prison only provides two meals a day, at noon and in the evening.
The cooks who delivered the meals pushed their wooden carts and roughly scooped up rice with their ladles. Their angry shouts could be heard from a great distance. As usual, when they passed Chen Liangyu's door, they placed a bowl of thin porridge and two cornbread buns there.
She looked at the porridge that had been delivered today; it was still so thin it wouldn't even fill a tooth gap. No longer caring about its appearance, she picked up the bowl and gulped down a large mouthful. The porridge, which could barely be called porridge, only stayed in Chen Liangyu's mouth for a moment before she spat it out.
"Ugh!" Chen Liangyu spat out. "What kind of cooking did you do? Did a rat die in the pot?"
The cook turned back, pointed at Chen Liangyu with his spoon, and shouted, "What's wrong with you?"
"I don't eat this."
The cook cursed, "Do you think I'm begging you to eat? You'll go hungry if you don't!" and took away Chen Liangyu's bowl.
The jailer arrived, carrying a bamboo lunchbox. He shooed away the cook and spoke to him kindly, "General, you didn't eat much of the food we brought last night. Today we've prepared some clean food for you. We know you used to live a life of luxury, but if you starve to death in the prison, we brothers will be held responsible. Please have pity on us nobodies. Don't be picky, eat up."
The jailer placed the bowl on the ground through the gate where the food was served.
The wooden bowl contained steaming hot white rice, and surprisingly, it was topped with a layer of cooked vegetables and a few slices of crispy pork.
Chen Liangyu glanced at it and saw that there was only a bowl, but no chopsticks.
The jailer pulled out a silver needle, probed it into the bowl, paused for a moment, and then pulled it out. "It didn't turn black, so it's not poisonous. There are always people in the prison who want to die. If you stick chopsticks into their nostrils, they're gone. That's why there's a rule not to put chopsticks down. After you finish eating, you should put the bowl away immediately."
Chen Liangyu picked up the bowl from the ground, but before she could put the food in her mouth, the jailer from last night ran over and said to the head jailer, "Head jailer, the Minister has arrived."
"Are you kidding me? The Minister would come to the prison?"
"They've really arrived; they're practically at the door."
The jailer rushed out to meet him.
Zhao Xingli then clutched his chest and coughed violently again.
Chen Liangyu had barely taken a few bites when Tan Xialing ordered his men to open the prison door and move a simple table and chairs to be placed in front of Chen Liangyu. On the table were writing brushes, ink, Xuan paper, a gazette from Xiling and the Southern Border, a few candles, and a teapot.
After putting down his things, Tan Xialing didn't dare say another word and hurriedly left.
Chen Liangyu called out through the cell, "Minister Tan, there's someone coughing so hard he's about to die. Call a doctor to take a look."
Tan Xialing stamped his foot, extremely troubled, "It's not that I'm unwilling, but His Majesty has ordered that Zhao Xingli not be given medical treatment. I dare not disobey the imperial decree."
Xie Yuan didn't kill Zhao Xingli because he didn't want to anger the Censorate. Judging from the current situation, it seems he intends to let him fend for himself.
Chen Liangyu remained silent for a moment.
The sky remained overcast, with only faint light filtering through a narrow crack in the upper window, casting long, narrow patches of light on the floor. Chen Liangyu lit a candle, which brightened the cell somewhat.
He poured cold tea onto the inkstone, ground the ink, and then carefully wrote annotations on the official gazette.
Zhao Xingli, unusually, took the initiative to speak to Chen Liangyu, "You're a prisoner, yet you still have official business to attend to?"
"I am diligent."
Zhao Xingli chuckled, then tucked his hands into a corner, where he could find some shelter from the wind.
Chen Liangyu finished annotating the official report from Xiling when the candle was half burned.
"Imperial Censor Zhao."
"He's no longer an imperial censor; he's a dying man."
Chen Liangyu said, "I'll guarantee your release so you can continue being the incorruptible Vice Censor-in-Chief. How about you do me a favor someday?"
Zhao Xingli clenched his fists tighter. "You're already in death row yourself."
A draft came in through the window, and the candle flame flickered, almost going out.
Voices carried on the wind, and it sounded like the jailer reprimanding his guards, "Kid, I've been in the Ministry of Justice's prison for decades. Let me teach you a lesson today: if you come in naked and half-dead, even if you were a high-ranking official, you'd be nothing but trash if you didn't die here, and they can do whatever they want to you. If you're just stripped of your clothes and are perfectly fine, then you should treat them well; they might still be a big shot when they leave. But if they haven't taken off their official robes and haven't been put in court or convicted of any crimes, let me give you a heads-up: you'll be out in a month or two. Take good care of them and don't cause any trouble."
"Isn't that a death row cell?"
"How many people in your life can get out of death row? You can't get out without real skills. Think about it carefully."
"Boss, why didn't you meet a benefactor who got out of death row and transferred you out of prison, allowing you to rise to prominence?"
"Are you out of your mind? Or did you get a brain overheating from listening to operas? In our line of work, you're lucky if you don't offend the wrong people. We don't remember the good we do, but we do remember the bad. We might not care now, but when we do, they'll crush you like an ant."
Chen Liangyu shouted towards the skylight, "Could you two please keep your voices down when you're plotting? I'm not deaf."
Zhao Xingli also looked up and shouted, "I'm not deaf either."
"Has Zhao Tiemian learned to joke around in this prison?"
"Ah, finding joy in hardship."
Chen Liangyu brought up the old topic again, "Did Imperial Censor Zhao agree with what I just said?"
Zhao Xingli paused for a moment, then said, “I, Zhao, studied diligently to enter officialdom, and under the guidance of my mentor, I have upheld the law and served the country and its people. I believe that my time as an official has been worthwhile to the nation, the court, and the people. If I were to bow and scrape and do dirty work for the powerful, I would rather die.”
Chen Liangyu folded the official gazette and passed it to Zhao Xingli through the gap in the wooden fence.
Zhao Xingli hesitated for a moment, then took it.
"There are rebels plotting in the Xiling area. Jiang Xiantang sent several imperial censors to investigate, but none of them have returned yet. In such a short time since you were imprisoned, Jiang Zhongcheng's hair has turned completely white."
Upon hearing about Jiang Xiantang's recent situation, Zhao Xingli's emotions became visibly agitated. "How is my mentor? What do you mean, 'Not a single one has returned yet'?"
"Whenever Censor Zhao investigated a case, he always risked his life. Other censors were the same, especially when they went deep into the heart of the rebel army's territory, which was truly a matter of life and death."
Zhao Xingli's eyes flickered, then he slumped down dejectedly.
Immediately afterwards, he bent over and coughed violently, his face turning red and his chest trembling.
Chen Liangyu said, "I will guarantee your release from prison, both for personal reasons and for the public good. Censor Zhao is imprisoned, waiting to die in this dark and hopeless dungeon. How can he talk about serving the country and the people?"
After his coughing subsided, Zhao Xingli gripped the wooden fence with both hands for a moment, then slowly asked, "What do you need me to do for you?"
"I haven't decided yet."
Chen Liangyu said, "But I promise you that this matter will not involve betraying the country, harming the people, or endangering the emperor."
The author has something to say: [1] Three she: In ancient times, a she was called a she for a march of thirty li. Three she is ninety li. In the text, it means that there is a pharmacy about one hundred li away.
In ancient times, medical care was scarce, and it was difficult to find a doctor and get medicine. Medicine was very expensive, and poor people would buy the dregs of boiled medicine in order to treat their illnesses. Sometimes, they couldn't even afford to buy the dregs.
Thank you for reading this far!
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