At this moment, Master Kongjing wanted to cry.
Ultimately, although he and his two disciples were not good people, they were just swindlers and cheaters, but they never killed anyone.
Just moments ago, they watched Jing Zhe kill someone in a swift and brutal manner, which had a significant impact on them. Their impression of Jing Zhe began to change, from hating and disliking him to fearing him.
What they feared most came to pass: Jing Zhe really did come to their side, or perhaps he came to the prison just to find them.
Thinking of this, Master Kongjing became even more frightened, and dared not answer Jing Zhe. He simply buried his head even deeper.
This immediately aroused Jing Zhe's dissatisfaction.
"What, does this old monk want me to go into the jail cell to talk to you?"
"No...no!"
Upon hearing this, Master Kongjing was so frightened that he immediately looked up and waved his hand.
"Right, wouldn't it have been better to do this sooner?"
Jing Zhe sneered and continued, "Did you see how I killed that bald man just now, old monk?"
"..."
Master Kongjing nodded, then shook his head. He didn't understand the meaning of Jing Zhe's question and didn't even dare to answer.
"Now that you've seen it, you must be very curious as to why I dared to kill him without going through Prefect Xu or the government, right?"
"..."
Master Kongjing was indeed curious. After all, even though Jing Zhe's official rank was higher than Prefect Xu's, this was in the Jiangling prison. Even if a prisoner committed a capital crime, the Jiangling government would need to interrogate him and issue an order before he could be executed.
Jing Zhe's act of directly killing someone did not follow proper procedures.
At this moment, Jing Zhe reached into his robes, pulled out the Emperor's Sword, and waved it in front of Master Kongjing.
Although separated by the cell door, Master Kongjing was still so frightened by the sight of the blade that had just killed the bald man that he staggered back a step.
"This is the Emperor's Sword. When His Majesty bestowed it upon me, he told me that with this sword, I could slay imperial relatives and corrupt officials, and even execute first and report later. Do you think I could kill them all without leaving a trace?"
Jing Zhe's voice wasn't very loud, but it was firm and powerful, making a resounding noise in the otherwise silent cell. Not only did Master Kongjing hear it, but the prisoners in the other cells also heard it.
It was actually... the Emperor's Sword?
For all the prisoners in the cell, the Emperor's Sword was something they had only heard of. After all, given their status, they certainly couldn't have access to something from such a high level. Now they finally understood why Jing Zhe had cleaved the chains with a single sword strike—it was the Emperor's Sword. The bald man's death was not unjust at all.
At this point, they became even more obedient, fearing that if Jing Zhe disliked anyone, he might draw his Emperor's Sword and stab them.
"Kill...kill them all..."
Master Kongjing stammered.
He didn't really want to answer, but he was worried that if he didn't, Jing Zhe would think he was being disrespectful, so he replied anyway.
Jing Zhe nodded in satisfaction, pointed the Emperor's Sword at the three of them, and then said gently, "Then what do you think, old monk? May I use the Emperor's Sword to kill the three of you?"
"..."
The three of them were stunned. No one but Jing Zhe could utter such murderous words in the gentlest tone.
After a moment of stunned silence, Master Kongjing immediately knelt down. The two monks behind him, one fat and one thin, followed suit when they saw their master kneel down.
"President Jing, spare my life!"
Master Kongjing said with tears streaming down his face, "I never dreamed that accepting incense money would cost me my life."
Jing Zhe looked at them and sneered, "I'm not Buddha, why are you kneeling? Is this what you call monks?"
True monks, apart from worshipping Buddha, never kneel or worship anything else.
Therefore, in essence, Master Kongjing and others never considered themselves as monks.
Master Kongjing ignored this and remained kneeling, thinking to himself, "I can get money by kneeling to Buddha, but can I beg for my life by kneeling to you? Compared to life, money is insignificant."
Seeing Master Kongjing kneeling so earnestly, Jing Zhe smiled disdainfully and said, "I just interviewed many scholars and learned that the Peach Blossom Temple you used to belong to has collected more than two thousand taels of incense money through poetry gatherings over the years. Yet you, old monk, only handed over two thousand taels. Tell me, where is the rest? Did you hide it all? I'm telling you today, if you don't hand over the rest, I'll execute you on the spot!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Master Kongjing was truly on the verge of tears, not from fear, but from feeling wronged!
Although he has received more than two thousand taels of incense money over the years, or even several times two thousand taels, the money did not end up in his pocket, and he did not take the lion's share!
Furthermore, Master Kongjing has been living a very luxurious life in private all these years, as have his two disciples. As a result, most of the incense money they received was squandered, and these two thousand taels were indeed all they had left.
Now that Jing Zhe has taken more than two thousand taels of silver, where is he going to get any more extra silver from Jing Zhe?
"President Jing, I really don't have any money left!"
He then pointed at the fat and thin monks: "If President Jing doesn't believe me, you can ask my two disciples! Also, Peach Blossom Nunnery now belongs to President Jing, so President Jing can search for it himself!"
"Yes, yes, our master is right, President Jing!"
The fat and thin monks nodded like chicks pecking at rice.
Jing Zhe glanced at Master Kongjing and sneered, "Search your mother? Do you think I'm stupid?"
"President Jing, my mother passed away many years ago..."
Although he didn't know why Jing Zhe suddenly brought up his mother, Master Kongjing still explained it very seriously.
"Go to hell! Did I ask you that?"
"..."
So you were asking about my sister? But I don't have a sister.
As Master Kongjing was pondering how to answer, Jing Zhe spoke again: "Old monk, I think you are not a good person, but you are definitely not a bad person like Baldy. It doesn't seem right to just kill you."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Master Kongjing was overjoyed by Jing Zhe's evaluation and nodded hurriedly, saying, "President Jing is absolutely right!"
"However, I'm not killing you on the condition that you tell the truth. If you don't tell the truth, even if I don't want to kill you, I'll have to, understand?"
"I understand, I understand."
As long as he can live, he'll say anything, even shit, unless it's the truth!
Jing Zhe nodded in satisfaction, knowing that he had interrogated Master Kongjing enough. Master Kongjing was also quite frightened. As long as he wasn't too stupid, he would definitely cooperate very well from now on.
"Alright, then tell me how much incense money you've collected over the years, and who else besides you has taken it!"
As he spoke, Jing Zhe took out Xuan paper and a brush from his pocket and handed them into the cell.
————
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