At dusk, the entire Zhenfu Si Yamen became quieter and quieter, except for some of the signing rooms with lights and candles, there was a dark patch everywhere, giving people a sense of depression and deep solemnity.

An old man with a food box was walking on a somewhat empty path, although he carried a lantern that was not very bright, and his steps were not affected by the darkness and became sluggish, obviously he had been in this yamen for many years, and the roads here were all accustomed to walking.

After a long journey about the winding road, he finally came to a building made entirely of rough rock, with a small entrance, but made of steel, and guarded by twenty or thirty sword-wielding captains.

Here, it is the Jinyi Guard Prison that has made countless officials and people in Beijing frightened and famous all over the world.

This edict looks far less unusual than the rumors, and it looks bigger than the ordinary county prison, and there are more people guarding the door. But this aura of murder that is not close to people can only be felt when people officially see it.

However, the old man was obviously not affected by the atmosphere here, and only arched his hand at the captains, and someone had already knocked on the closed door for him. Here you can see the difference between the prison and the other cells, the door is not only sturdy and thick, all made of steel, but also has locks and keys inside and out, which must be unlocked on both sides to allow people to enter and exit.

After a brief explanation, the cell door slowly opened with a dull sound, and then a disgusting putrid and bloody smell came out of it, causing the captains guarding outside to quickly cover their noses and frown, and flash to the side.

This edict has been set up since Emperor Taizong moved the capital to Beijing, and it has not changed for more than 100 years. And this prison for felons will not be cleaned and cleaned up, there is only such a door here, almost no ventilation, over time, the prison has accumulated a strong smell, which is not something ordinary people can bear.

However, the old man was obviously accustomed to this kind of atmosphere, and he didn't see much of a reaction, so he only humbly bowed down to others, and stepped into this deep ghost-like prison.

On both sides of a long corridor, there are small cells that can only allow one person to squat and kneel in them, densely packed, looking like a pigeon cage beehive. And in some of the cells, there are really people locked up at the moment, and these prisoners are curled up, looking so embarrassed that they can hardly even bend down and turn around.

Even if you don't have to use all kinds of torture by Jinyiwei to fall on you, and only keep people here for a while, this prisoner is afraid that he will be driven crazy by the harsh environment here. Compared to this, the environment of the prison of the Criminal Department is too comfortable, at least it can lie down and rest calmly.

As the old man walked inside, another side of this edict that was different from other prisons was also revealed—as long as the prisoners in other prisons heard any movement, they would curiously lie on the fence to look outside, and even those who dared to shout a few words of injustice. But in this prison, except for a few occasional moans, there was no movement, and the people in the cell were huddled in it as if they were corpses.

Soon, however, a terrible scream broke the silence of the prison, causing the bodies of several prisoners who were quietly staying in their cells to tremble violently, apparently because of the screams that had brought back their painful memories.

The scream was only one and then suddenly cut off again, like a slaughtered chicken screaming before it died, and then it was cut off by a knife, and it could not make a sound again. But this abrupt stoppage only put more pressure on the prisoners, and made the prisoners tremble even more.

Only people who have long been accustomed to the horrors of this place will be indifferent to this, such as the guards, and the old man who has been moving forward to the depths of the prison.

After a while, he finally stopped again, this time in front of him was another iron door, but the door was not completely closed, and there was a gap more than two fingers wide. This is where the terrible scream came from.

Contrary to the darkness of the corridor, the door was brightly lit, and there was even a hint of heat streaming through the cracks. The old man only hesitated slightly, and then respectfully rushed to the door and said, "Mr. Jin Qian, the villain you want has been sent to you." ”

Inside the door, the smell of blood was much stronger than outside. A fierce man, dressed in a single coat and with a fleshy face, stood in front of two bloodied prisoners bound to an iron frame, carrying a leather whip the thickness of a thumb in his hand. I saw his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them, and said in a flat tone: "It seems that you still refuse to summon everything truthfully." Then I'll have to offend, and when I run out of snacks, it's time for some dinner. ”

As he spoke, he glanced over, and the two men on the side turned one of the handles on the edge of the iron frame, and then the shelf made a tooth-aching creak. Then, the frame that stretched the prisoners into a large zigzag began to stretch along with the sound, and their hands and feet began to stretch to the side.

In just a few moments, the hands and feet of the two men were completely straightened, and then the skin was tense and cracked, and the blood began to gush out. At that moment, the screams rang out from the mouths of the two people again, but the screams were only together, but the captain on the side skillfully stuffed the rags directly into their mouths, and blocked the screams directly into their throats.

As a result, the two of them could only look hideous, their eyes widened and they let out a whining sound, and their bodies stood up directly from the shelf. Unfortunately, the shelves behind them were made of mixed iron, and the ropes of cowhide soaked in water were wrapped around their hands and feet.

In just a moment, the torture instrument had already made the skin of the two of them open, and the whole person was already in pain and almost fainted. Only then did the man wave his hand: "Stop." The two men then turned their hands back to relax them, but their breathing did not slow down any longer, and their faces were still full of pain.

"Liu Muqing, I advise you to tell the truth quickly, so that you and I can be better. Otherwise, the taste of the main meal you will taste later will only be more depleting," the man said with a smirk.

It turned out that one of the two prisoners who was covered in blood and could barely see clearly was actually Liu Muqing, the Langzhong of the Criminal Department who had just been thrown into the edict by Jinyiwei for more than half a day. In only half a day's work, he has been tormented by the torture here to the point that he is not human, which shows the efficiency of the edict.

After hearing this, Liu Muqing trembled and said in a weak voice: "You are extorting confessions by torture...... I'm an official of the court, how can you be so ......?"

His words immediately provoked a burst of disdainful laughter from the Jinyi guards present: "Who can be imprisoned in the edict and let us Jin Qian take special care of it, which one is not a big man with some names in the court." If you really want to talk about it, you can't even rank among the criminal department. Don't talk about you, even if the six Shangshu come to us, we have to obediently explain everything. ”

These words made Liu Muqing even more frightened, but he still struggled to the end: "I don't believe it, the Manchu officials will never let you be so unscrupulous." ”

"Damn, when you get here, you still dare to threaten us with words, it seems that you won't give you something powerful, you don't know how terrible my edict is. Someone ...... "Just when Mr. Jin Qian was about to give him another more terrible punishment, the voice of the old man suddenly came from outside the door.

The words that brought him to his lips were a turn: "Come in." When Lao Tzu is full, I will repair you well! As he spoke, his gaze turned to the other person's body again, but this person was much tougher than Lord Liu, and he didn't make a sound after suffering enough.

Only then did the old man slowly push open the heavy iron door and came inside. Although the smell of blood here was extremely strong, and the two prisoners on the shelf looked really pitiful and terrible, he didn't care, just nodded and said: "Master Qian, this is the banquet of Kui Yuan Building, and it has only been half an hour since it was burned, and it should still be hot in the food box." ”

The hideousness on Mr. Jin Qian's face has been replaced by a satisfied smile: "Lao He, you did a good job, I just said that I wanted to eat Kuiyuanlou's banquet, and you sent it to me today." Oh, this bit of silver is Lao Tzu's reward for you. With a wave of his hand, a piece of silver of about one and a half taels fell into the arms of the old man.

However, the old man was thanking him, and he didn't have time to take the silver, so he could only watch with some embarrassment as the silver slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.

His clumsy reaction immediately caused the brocade guards to laugh loudly, and Lao He also laughed twice, and then bent down to pick up the silver with some difficulty. As for Mr. Jin Qian and a few others, they were already attracted by the food box at this time, so they took it and put it on the table where a lot of knives and saws were placed on the side, regardless of the fact that there was still a lot of blood stains on it, so they directly took the plate and took the chopsticks, and they wanted to eat here.

If you change to someone else, it is naturally impossible to eat in such an environment. But Mr. Jin Qian and the others had obviously been accustomed to everything here for a long time, and they didn't take it seriously at all.

But just when they were salivating and putting the vegetables in their mouths to taste the taste, the old man Lao He, who was still very clumsy just now, couldn't even hold the silver that fell into his arms, suddenly made a surprise move-

I saw him half-bent over, but his body rushed straight towards Liu Muqing who was locked in the iron frame like a sharp arrow. This change made Jin Qian and several people stunned, and then reacted: "It's not good, someone wants to rob the criminal!" "I couldn't care about anything at the moment, and everyone quickly pounced.

But then something unexpected happened again, while the old man pounced in front of Liu Muqing, the cold light flashed in his hand, and a short knife directly sank into his throat......