"There are only people in this yamen who know the name of the torture, I'm afraid there is only the scribe of the torture room, anyway, Cai Zhixian estimates that the time for ascension to the court will not be short, or you will go around the torture room at this time, see if it is possible to find someone who knows how to do it, and ask in private."

"That's an idea! I'll go right away! Meng Tianchu took the folding fan, hurried out of the courtyard gate, walked through the garden, out of the inner office, after cracking the case of Zhang Laohan yesterday afternoon, he once accompanied by Cai Zhixian, went around the yamen, and knew the location of the torture room.

In the Ming Dynasty, there were six departments in the central government, namely the Ministry of Officials, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Industry, which is equivalent to the current ****** ministries and commissions, and the local yamen is also correspondingly divided into six rooms, of which the torture room is responsible for criminal affairs.

The six rooms of the county yamen are on both sides of the courtyard of the lobby, and the east side is the officer's room, the household room, and the ceremonial room from north to south, and the west side is the soldier's room, the torture room, and the workshop room from north to south.

Meng Tianchu came to the torture room in the middle of the west side, after all, it is the torture room of Hangzhou County, which is a prosperous place in the south of the Yangtze River, and it is relatively large, five rooms, one of which is the office of the chief of the torture room, "Si Official", and among the remaining four large rooms, one relatively large room is the office of the "Economic Officials", and the other three large rooms are the offices of the "Non-Economic Officials".

The scribes of the Ming Dynasty Yamen had a strict establishment, and after the establishment of the Ming Dynasty in the early Ming Dynasty until the fall of the Ming Dynasty, there were almost no changes, and the initial establishment was very small, and it was impossible to deal with a large number of complicated administrative affairs. The scribes within the establishment belong to the "economic officials", called "Chengfa" (called "Zhu Si" in the Song Dynasty, that is, the kind of small officials that Song Jiang had), and the clerk responsible for copying is called "Shushou"; Those who are not included in the establishment belong to the "non-economic officials", which are called "stickers".

Meng Tianchu paced to the door of the torture room, the lower part of the office in the sixth room is a brick wall, and there is a long row of sill windows in the upper part, now it is summer, the weather is a little hot, so the windows are open, you can see the outside at a glance from the inside, Wen Ming, the secretary of the torture room, saw Meng Tianchu at a glance, he had drunk with Meng Tianchu at the banquet yesterday, and hurriedly greeted him with a smile, and he bowed his waist and said: "I don't know that Master Meng is here!" If you miss it, forgive your sins! ”

Meng Tianchu is a criminal master hired by the county lord, and even when the county lord sees Meng Tianchu, he has to call himself Mr. and call himself a late student, not to mention these scribes, of course, they are doubly humble.

Meng Tianchu returned the salute: "Secretary Wen is polite." Contemptible people just walk around. ”

Wen Ming wants to let Meng Tianchu go to the office, now 100,000 is urgent, Meng Tianchu can't ask the prison officer, it's too embarrassing, it's best to find a knowledgeable and inconspicuous little person to ask, even if others know, no one will believe it, so he didn't have time to chat with this Wen Ming, casually made up a lie, and arched his hand: "Wen Si is busy with you, don't follow me, Cai Zhixian let me take a look casually." ”

Wen Ming's heart sank, it turned out that the magistrate asked him to come to inspect the work, and he felt a little remorseful in his heart, he knew that it would be good to say hello to his scribes, listening to his words, he obviously didn't want to accompany him, he wanted to check alone, he was also an old oilman who had been in the yamen for many years, and immediately thought of a way to deal with it, and stopped with a smile. watched Meng Tianchu enter the scribe's room.

Meng Tianchu shook the folding fan and turned to the room of the "Scripture Officials" first, and the scribes saw that it was the criminal master who came, and hurriedly got up to greet him. Meng Tianchu waved his hand and asked everyone to continue to do things, saying that he would come to see everyone's office and leave him alone.

That being said, but with the criminal master by his side, these people were still frightened, for fear that they would do something wrong.

Meng Tianchu turned around, but didn't find any suitable candidates, so he turned out, went to the "non-economic officials" room next door, and didn't find a suitable one, until he turned to the last room, just when he was already desperate, he saw a small scribe sitting in the corner. The other scribes all looked at him with smiling faces, but this little scribe kept his head buried, as if he was afraid that he would notice him, and felt slightly strange in his heart.

He walked over slowly, standing next to the little scribe, and found that the little scribe's body was also trembling slightly, as if he was very scared, and it was even more strange, he bent down and was about to speak, and suddenly found that his neck was very white, and there was a small hole in his ears.

In ancient times, both officials and officials were all men, and women were not allowed to engage in this kind of work that showed their heads, so it is no wonder that this little scribe was as afraid as a little quail when he saw himself.

Meng Tianchu said in a low voice: "What is your name?" ”

"Murong ...... Murong Feiyu ...... "The voice is soft and tactful, like a lark singing in the morning."

"Murong Feiyu? Fangcao Feifei, light as a feather swallow, such a gentle name, how does this name look like a girl! Meng Tianchu laughed in a low voice.

"No...... No, it's the flying ...... The little scribe ...... lowered his head, and his voice was as thin as a mosquito and a fly, almost inaudible, but Meng Tianchu still heard it clearly, oh, folded the fan, and lightly hit her slender shoulders: "You come with me!" I have something to ask you! He straightened up and walked out the door with square steps.

Murong Feiyu's body trembled, and he responded in a panic. Standing up and following Meng Tianchu out of the door, the rest of the scribes watched the two of them out of the room with sympathetic eyes.

Meng Tianchu came to the door of Wen Ming and Wen Siyi's office, Wen Si Yan hurriedly greeted him, and at a glance he saw Murong Feiyu who was following behind Meng Tianchu with his head down, his face changed slightly, and then he changed his smiling face and welcomed Meng Tianchu into the room.

Meng Tianchu shook the folding fan and sat down on the chair of the Wen officer, Wen Ming hurriedly poured a cup of fragrant tea for Meng Tianchu, and then stood aside with a smiling face.

Murong Feiyu stood at the door, looking at Wen Ming helplessly with his head down. Wen Ming secretly glanced at Meng Tianchu, and saw that he was expressionless, and he didn't speak, and his heart was even more bottomless, so he had to smile and say, "Master...... This one...... This Murong Feiyu ...... This thing ......"