Hou Wenji stepped out of his room and walked slowly along the gravel path to the execution room. Although the Qing Yamen is logically not considered the punishment Yamen of the Sui Dynasty, the methods here are even more palpitating than those of Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment. The prisoners in the prisons of Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment may still see the light of day, but it seems that none of the prisoners who entered the torture room of the Qing Ya could survive in the end. But it doesn't mean there will be no exceptions, it depends on whether Hou Wen needs it or not.
The hundreds of households on duty in the torture room saw Hou Wenji coming from a distance, and hurried forward to salute. Hou Wenji waved his hand casually, asked which room the suspect was locked in, and walked over slowly.
The hundred households leading the way opened the door, and Hou Wenji signaled him not to follow. The hundred households nodded quickly and guarded the door by the handle of the horizontal knife at their waist.
The torture room was dark and very humid.
Although the flames of the candles on the wall were not small, the room was still dark and uncomfortable. The torture room has only one iron door, no windows, and no sunlight all year round. If the prisoners inside want to breathe a breath of fresh air, it is a luxury. The room is narrow but deep, and there are various instruments of torture hanging on the walls on both sides, which makes people shudder.
Hou Wen rarely came to the torture room, because he didn't like the dead atmosphere here, and he didn't like the rancid smell here.
There is a chair in the room, which is where the presiding judge sits. On the wall directly opposite the chair, the prisoner who had almost lost his original appearance was nailed to the wall with an iron chain pierced through the lute bone. That night, Zhuo Buyi controlled the eagle and the vulture with the technique of mind and spirit, and then restrained the prisoner.
That night's seemingly simple fight, if you really experience it carefully, you can understand the mystery of Zhuo Buyi's methods. Since Yingjiu can become Yu Donglai's confidant, his cultivation level will naturally not be very low. His erratic movement like a bat and his sharp swordsmanship like a snake are all commendable, but it is such a well-cultivated warrior who was controlled by Zhuo Buyi, who was tens of meters away, and became a veritable puppet. The horror of commoners can be seen.
The suspect who was nailed to the wall hung his head, and his hair was still dripping liquid, whether it was water or blood.
Hou Wenji sat down on the chair and frowned slightly as he watched the suspect who was almost out of shape. He slowly raised his left hand and flicked at the suspect. There was no sound, but the body of the person hanging on the wall shook suddenly, and he couldn't help moaning in pain. When he looked again, there was a blood hole on his shoulder.
"Do you know how stupid you are?"
Hou Wenji picked up a bone-cutting sharp knife from the table on one side and trimmed his nails. Looking at his slender and white fingers, he said in a flat tone: "Since your master entrusted you to do this, it is Believe in your ability. It is said that Luo Yao in Yongzhou does not have a soft bone in his subordinates, but today is a big disappointment."
"I... don't want to die."
The person hanging on the wall answered with a hoarse voice.
"Your name is Luo Erlang?"
Hou Wenji didn't even look up, and continued, "Have you ever thought that just because you confessed to your master, it might ruin his future? Yesterday, His Majesty's decree to promote your master as a fourth-rank general has come down." Now, transfer him to serve in the Northwest Right Xiaowei Army. That is a good place, and your master may be able to show off his powers and soar to the sky in a short time. But because of you, he may not have time to put on the general's armor and show off his power. If you have to be locked up and taken into Dali Temple for interrogation, there are nine out of ten chances that your life will be ruined."
"I... don't want to die."
Luo Erlang repeated what he said just now, and after a moment of silence, he added: "Although...although I'm just a domestic slave, I...don't feel...my life is cheap."
Hearing this sentence, Hou Wen couldn't help laughing. He put down the boning knife, clapped his hands and smiled and said, "I just like people who don't want to die, especially the prisoners who fall into my love office. As long as one person still doesn't want to die, he won't be afraid if he keeps any secrets in his mouth." .”
"Although you have said almost everything that should be said and shouldn't be said, I will not convict and kill you."
Hou Wenji smiled and said: "You can rest assured, at least I will not kill you for a long period of time, because I will still be useful to keep you, not a small one. If you didn't confess today, maybe I won't let you live. The room next to yours is locked up with the person who was captured with you. He basically did what he should have done, and he didn't do a word of what he shouldn't do. That's good. Slave, but... you can live, but he has to die."
"There is one difference between you and his fate..."
Hou Wenji got up, walked slowly to Luo Erlang not far away and stopped, looked at the bloody man and said gently: "If you can survive, I will not reveal everything you confessed today. When I got here, the secret was sealed. The person next door didn’t recruit his master, but his master must be implicated. If you recruited your master, I’ll act as if I didn’t see or hear anything.”
"Thank you so much!"
Luo Erlang raised his head with difficulty, trying to see who the person in front of him was.
"You're welcome."
Hou Wenji smiled and said: "I let you live because you are useful. I don't implicate your master because your master is useful. As long as you are alive, I can make your master unlucky at any time. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, and Perhaps before he leaves the capital, if I show him your mouth, how do you think he will react?"
A fear flashed in Luo Erlang's eyes, and he looked at Hou Wenji with pleading eyes.
…
…
Before Luo Erlang could say anything, Hou Wenji stretched out his hand and patted him on the shoulder and continued: "He will definitely hate you very much, and wish he could peel off your skin, eat your flesh and drink your blood. I heard that Xiao Luo The general is half as ruthless as his father, which is impressive. I wonder if I tell General Luo, will he beg me not to expose him? No matter how ruthless he is, he dare not do anything to me, he can only beg me."
"If I show your statement to General Luo in Yongzhou City, what do you think he will do? Repeat the scene from more than 20 years ago? Kill your master himself, and then make another pleading guilty? Maybe It's possible, but before he comes to the capital, he will definitely kill all of your family members first."
"so."
Hou Wenji said: "With your painting and confession in hand, not to mention you, Luo Yao and his son will be afraid of me, will show favor to me, and even pay a lot of money to buy me, and they may not be able to do it. Just now I asked You guessed it, you must have thought in your heart that Luo Yao could still kill his son, right?"
Luo Erlang nodded tremblingly, not daring to speak.
Hou Wenji shook his head: "You're wrong, Luo Yao can't do it now. He could do it more than 20 years ago, because he could have another son. He was lucky, and he finally had another daughter after giving birth to seven daughters in a row. A son who is not too stupid. Now...he is old, even if he can still give birth, how can he support the third son to grow up? He is not the Luo Yao of the past... As people get older, they have more and more worries , and more and more timid."
"In order not to lose my son, not to lose all the status and honor he has now. Even if I ask Luo Yao to do something for me, Luo Yao probably won't refuse."
"Luo Yao will not refuse, and Luo Wen will not refuse."
"Because you are such a humble little person, because of such a confession, I hold the lifeblood of the two big men, General Luo and General Luo in my hands. It is really worth it. Don't you think you are amazing? A House slaves can also have a chance to bring down two masters, one big and one small."
The corner of Luo Erlang's mouth twitched and asked: "You...you want to coerce my son and master to do things for you!"
"I don't have the guts."
Hou Wenji smiled and said: "It's all for His Majesty. However, my Ouchi Guards Office is very interested in making some private agreements with the generals of the military, which is a good agreement for both parties. Especially General Luo Yao I am willing to cooperate with a great general with unrivaled martial arts and military prestige, and an upstart like Luo Wen with a bright future. And you should be proud, because you are more important than both of them. If they are not obedient, I will send you off Go to the Tai Chi Hall and let you say it in front of His Majesty the Emperor, okay?"
"Don't even think about biting your tongue, and don't think about killing yourself."
Hou Wen looked at Luo Erlang very contemptuously: "Your life is just the icing on the cake. It is enough to have a confession. And as long as I am willing, although Yongzhou is located in the southwestern border, it will take less than a month for your parents and mother Your sister's head can be sent to you. Live well. It used to be for the Luo family, but now it is for yourself. You are an idiot who confessed to your master. I hope you will be smarter this time and think about what you should do .”
Luo Erlang's eyes were dead silent, no life could be seen.
He was scared, really scared.
The previous desire to survive made him confess, and now he began to regret why he didn't die.
At this moment, Liu Duxiu, one of the seven thousand households in the Ouchi Guard Office, walked in from the outside, holding a stack of files in his hand.
"Suppressing envoy, all the files of the Yingjiu case have been sorted out."
Hou Wen gave a hum, took a look at it and put it under his arm. He glanced at Luo Erlang, and told Liu Duxiu: "Cure his wounds, give him food, give him wine, if he wants to find a woman, give him too. Let him live well, we will have to rely on Luo in the future." Erlang, a good man, is helping."
"Here."
Liu Duxiu responded.
Hou Wenji turned and walked out, and when he reached the door, he stopped and said: "Tomorrow morning, make an appointment with the newly promoted General Luo Wenluo, General Luo Wenluo, to have a decent table at Keshengju Said that I have something important to discuss with him."
"Here."
Hearing this sentence, Luo Erlang's body trembled suddenly, and he was so frightened that he passed out.
"Don't tell anyone that this person is still alive."
Hou Wenji said to Liu Duxiu in a low voice: "Commander Luo, don't tell me either."
…
…
The only shop on Dongshitiao Street that doesn't have a signboard is Fang Jie's shop, which has been rented for about ten days, and he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do some business to subsidize the expenses. Although the money he brought from Fan Gu was not much, at least it wasn't even enough to buy a small official of the sixth or seventh rank.
In order to take care of the big dog, he also hired two servants. A little book boy, a little maid.
These two servants have nothing to do on weekdays, except to clean the house and take care of the big dog who can't get up, eat, drink and sleep. One of the things that must be done is stew meat for big dogs.
Recently, Fang Jie has fallen in love with the hot noodle soup at the door. It is served with a basket of steamed buns. After a delicious meal, the warmth in his stomach is very comfortable.
The weather in the evening was much cooler, and Fang Jie seemed to be in a good mood. He Mu Xiaoyao and Shen Qingqing fanned the three of them to find a place to sit at the food stall at the door, ordered some cold dishes, but didn't order wine. Mu Xiaoyao is quitting drinking, Fang Jie doesn't want to make her greedy.
Before the food was served, an uninvited guest sat down beside Fang Jie very rudely.
"Damn it, it's so hot!"
The visitor undid his shirt without grace, revealing a piece of white fat.
"Xiang Qingniu, what are you doing here if you're not at Qingxu Temple? I don't have anything good to entertain you."
Fang Jie asked with a smile.
"Oh, you heartless!"
Xiang Qingniu glared at Fang Jie and said angrily, "I saved your life, it's fine if you're not grateful, but you're so stingy that you don't even care about food, is there any humanity?"
"Tube!"
Fang Jie nodded and said, "Hot noodle soup, steamed buns."
"Three bowls of noodles, five baskets of buns!"
Xiang Qingniu greeted the boss bluntly: "Is there any wine, bring it up for two or three catties!"
"liquor… "
Mu Xiaoyao repeated it quietly, her eyes were frighteningly bright.
"Do you want to die?"
Fang Jie asked Xiang Qingniu.
Xiang Qingniu was always afraid of women, especially beautiful women. Seeing Mu Xiaoyao's frightening expression, he immediately shook his head and said, "I don't want to die!"
"Don't mention alcohol if you don't want to die!"
Fang Jie said with a smile.
Xiang Qingniu glanced at Mu Xiaoyao aggrievedly, then turned to the boss and said, "I don't want the wine... bring me two pots of spicy water, you know..."