"The weather is dry. Be careful of the fire!"
"Guard against thieves and burglars. Close the doors and windows!"
"It's the third watch …"
…
It was a dark and windy night. It was a day of murder and arson.
The clouds were thick and the stars were hidden, covering the moon. The entire capital was shrouded in a thick layer of darkness. The next day would certainly not be a sunny day, but for some people, tonight was a rare opportunity.
In the third watch, in the capital, regardless of whether it was the commoners or the nobles, they had all put out their lights and gone to sleep. The night watchman struck the gong and slowly walked through the streets.
From time to time, a group of patrolling soldiers would hurriedly pass by. Their armor and weapons clashed, creating clanging sounds. However, neither the night watchman nor the soldiers noticed that above their heads, countless ghostly figures were swiftly passing by.
In a noble manor.
In the quiet manor, a few barks suddenly came from a dog. A guard opened his sleepy eyes and mumbled, "It's the middle of the night. What are you barking for? Tomorrow, we'll kill you and make stew!"
Although he said this, he still got up and opened the door, intending to go over and take a look.
In the courtyard, in the darkness of the night, a black figure looked indifferently at the vicious dog opposite him. The vicious dog immediately stopped barking and ran back to its kennel with its tail between its legs.
The guard, whose hand was already on the door latch, narrowed his eyes and listened. He then shook his head and sleepily returned to his room.
In a room in the courtyard, another figure completely shrouded in a cloak patted the face of a man who was sleeping soundly on the bed. "Wake up …"
The man opened his eyes. His face was filled with panic and fear. Then, his acupuncture points were sealed. He could not move or speak. His entire body was put into a large bag.
The figure carried the bag and walked into the courtyard. With a light leap, he leaped onto the courtyard wall. The figure in the courtyard glanced at the kennel and quickly retreated.
In the darkness of the night, there was more than one figure carrying a large bag hurriedly. Everyone rushed over from all directions. Finally, they all gathered in the same courtyard.
The unkempt old man swept his gaze over them and said, "Count, count. Is everyone here?"
A person counted and respectfully said, "There should be forty people, but there are thirty-eight. There are two more people on the way. Senior, please give us your instructions!"
"They're here!" As soon as the voice fell, two large bags were thrown in from outside.
The sloppy old man walked back into the hall, pulled out a chicken leg, took a bite, and said, "You should be responsible for your own people."
There were quite a few rooms in the courtyard. Everyone split into groups of two, picked up the squirming bags in the courtyard, and picked a room to enter.
In a certain room.
The man sitting in front of the table looked at the figure kneeling before him and asked in a deep voice, "Name?"
"You, who are you people?" In the hall, the man who was only wearing an inner shirt had a look of horror on his face. "Why did you bring me here?"
The man asked again, "Name?"
"You, do you know who I am? If you capture me, don't even think about escaping the capital!"
Behind him, a man kicked him impatiently. "I'm asking you a question. Come back here and don't play any tricks!"
Although the man kneeling there was terrified, the situation was beyond his control. In order not to provoke these villains, he could only answer honestly, "Wei Qi."
"Official position."
"Ministry of Works … Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works."
The man glanced at him and said, "What bad things have you done? Tell me."
The man called Wei Qi looked up, then lowered his head and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Leniency for those who confess, and severity for those who resist." The man in the cloak reminded him, "For example, the dirty things you've done with the Qin family and the Cui family. Tell me everything."
Wei Qi's body trembled. He raised his head and said helplessly, "Why did you capture me? I really don't know what you're talking about!"
The man in the cloak turned his gaze to another person and said, "Don't waste time. Do it."
"You, you want to … Ah!"
The man named Wei Qi had not even finished his sentence when he fell to the ground. Blue veins were bulging on his exposed skin. His forehead was dripping with cold sweat. His body was twitching uncontrollably. It was obvious that he was in extreme pain.
The man squatted down and asked, "Are you going to tell me?"
"I … I don't know … I don't know what to say!"
The man didn't ask any more questions. Instead, he reached out and touched a certain spot on Wei Qi's body again.
This time, the blue veins under his skin began to throb like wriggling earthworms. It was extremely terrifying. At the same time, from time to time, he let out a low roar of extreme pain. Tears and mucus flowed down his face. Without waiting for the man to ask any questions, he immediately said, "I'll tell you, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything …"
The man reached out and touched Wei Qi's body twice. Wei Qi's clothes were already soaked. He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, as if he had just been fished out of the water.
The man shook his head and threw a pen and paper in front of him. "Why didn't you cooperate earlier? Be honest and don't try to fool us. We all know your background. If you dare to write a lie, I'll let you have a taste of what you just experienced."
Wei Qi quickly turned over, grabbed the pen, and quickly wrote on the paper. If he confessed, he might lose his official hat and die. But if he didn't, he would feel worse than death!
Even if he died, he didn't want to experience that kind of torture again …
In another room.
"You don't want to talk, do you?" The masked man stood up and looked at the figure kneeling in the room. After taking two steps, he said to another person, "Do it!"
The man was stunned and asked, "Do what?"
The masked man said, "Let him have a taste of the Separating Tendons and Dislocating Bones Hand."
The man looked at him and murmured, "The Separating Tendons and Dislocating Bones Hand … I don't know how to do it."
The masked man was also stunned. "Then what do you know?"
The man shook his head and said, "I practice proper martial arts, not this kind of method …"
The masked man sat down again and said, "I don't care. I was the one who caught him, so you can interrogate him. If you can't interrogate him, my points won't be deducted."
"You!" That person glared at him, but he also felt somewhat helpless. He lowered his head to look at the man kneeling on the ground with a face full of panic, and praised, "This person is not a good person, but he looks rather handsome …"
He looked up at the masked man and said, "Step aside."
After saying that, he began to take off his pants.
The man kneeling on the ground changed his expression and said in a trembling voice, "You, what are you doing …"
"You …"
"Don't … let me go. I'll talk, I'll tell you everything!"
…
The man shook his head with some regret and put on his pants. Looking at the masked man, he said, "The interrogation is finished."
In the other rooms.
"We will not wrongly accuse any good person, and we will not let any bad person go …"
"You have the right to remain silent, and I also have the right to beat you until you don't."
…
A few months ago, the case of Lady Shuangshuang of the Wonderful Sound Pavilion had caused an uproar in Jingdou. Everyone knew about it. Later on, her unjust case was redressed. In order to commemorate her, warn the yamen, and comfort the people, the court reformed the law and built an ancestral hall for her in Jingdou.
In order to thank Lady Shuangshuang for her contributions, people did not hesitate to travel from distant places to pay their respects. As a result, the incense and offerings in Lady Shuangshuang's ancestral hall never stopped. Every morning, before the ancestral hall opened, countless people would line up in front of the door, waiting for the manager to open the hall.
Today was also a normal morning.
A yamen runner yawned. After opening the main door of the ancestral hall, he did not go in to take a look. He walked away in a daze.
His daily duty was to open and close the door. It was still early, so it was best to go back and have a good night's sleep.
Everyone lined up and walked in, holding incense and offerings in their hands. The moment they stepped into the courtyard, they saw a scene that they did not expect.
According to tradition, before entering the ancestral hall, they had to first pay their respects in front of the stone tablet in the courtyard.
At this moment, figures were tightly bound with ropes. They were kneeling motionlessly in front of the stone tablet.
In front of each of them was a piece of paper that was pressed down by a stone.
The paper was densely packed with small words. It was too far to see clearly.
Everyone stopped in their tracks. Their faces were filled with shock. They did not dare to go forward.
Taking advantage of the time when someone reported to the yamen, some busybodies counted the number of people kneeling on the ground. There were exactly 40 people.
Finally, someone could not resist his curiosity and took a few tentative steps forward. Soon, a number of people followed …
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
