At night, the imperial capital under curfew has not completely banned human sounds.

This sound can be the babbling and slow singing of the opera troupe in the deep house of the wealthy family, or the slapstick and laughter in the flower building in Willow Lane.

Or it could be the heart-rending screams coming from the hellish cell.

In the north of the city, in a small alley called Cuihua Hutong, because there are no people living there, even wild cats and wild dogs do not come.

The silence is like the ruins of a dilapidated house in a deep pool, as if it was a giant beast in the dark night, listening to the torture and wailing from the yamen of the Dongchang not far away.

The cold moonlight shone into the belly of one of the "giant beasts", reflecting the figure of a prisoner in bondage.

Father-in-law Zhang, the little man in the pigeon room in the inner court, had a cloth cover on his head, stuffed cloth dumplings in his mouth, and kept shivering, half because of cold, half because of fear.

Three years ago, he was also the right-hand man of the former celebrant eunuch Lu Shou, because Lu Shou also led the East Factory, this little eunuch who was less than twenty years old could often order the head of the East Factory and the son of the East Factory, and even occasionally went to the Beizhen Fusi, a secret service agency at the same level as the East Factory, to hear the prisoners, and go back to report to Lu Shou.

But in the early autumn of that year, Emperor Wanli died, and Lu Shou knew that his identity as a concubine would definitely be feared by the new monarch Zhu Changluo, so he took the initiative to resign from the palm seal of the ceremonial supervisor and the governor of Dongchang.

Before leaving the core power layer, Lu Shou said to Zhang Xiaogong's beloved disciple: "Godfather is a person who has not lived for a few years, just give up his seat and wait for death in his hometown in Hebei with peace of mind." You're different, you're so young, your godfather will take you to the pigeon house first, so that you can avoid the limelight. After a few years, when the new emperor doesn't remember when you followed me, you will find an opportunity to earn a future by yourself. How's that good?"

Although Zhang Xiaogonggong was frustrated by the collapse of the backer, he still had the idea of going straight to the top, so he agreed.

Compared with the celebrant and the celebrant supervisor, the pigeon house is really a bird place, Qingshui Yamen, the fat is only those pigeons, and they can't be boiled to eat.

The down-and-out little father-in-law, who is getting poorer and poorer year by year, has passed the first month of this year, and the palace maid who was originally good with him also got rid of him and went to eat with a eunuch in the inner transport warehouse.

When Zhang Xiaogong was just depressed, Wei Zhongxian, who was getting better and better, began to let his subordinates give him some money from time to time, which was regarded as a reward for Lu Shou who had also helped him in the past.

Today, Wei Zhongxian sent someone to ask him to come to the East Factory after being off duty from the pigeon house.

said that he knew that he was very good at interrogating prisoners, and he happened to cure a hard bone.

At the end of the unitary, Zhang Xiaogonggong crossed the Forbidden City with great interest and went north out of Dong'an.

Unexpectedly, when he was about to arrive at the Yamen of Dongchang, he was suddenly in distress and was knocked unconscious by two strong men who rushed out of the oblique stabbing with their mouths.

When I woke up again, I was locked in this dilapidated house, but there was no one in front of me and outside the door.

Looking at the position of the moon in the sky, it should be past the beginning of the child.

Suddenly, I heard a soft knock at the courtyard door.

The glow of the two lanterns led four people, from far to near.

Zhang Xiaogong's fear increased sharply, and he subconsciously moved back.

When I saw the person who came, I was even more frightened and suspicious.

There were men and women.

The two men, Tsing Yi and White Boots, are called "White Boots Captain" in the East Factory, which is lower in rank than the brown hat and does not try prisoners, but they are both developed from civilian thugs and specialize in dirty work.

Of the two women, Zhang Xiaogonggong only recognized one of them, the famous Mrs. Zheng in Beijing.

The other with an unfamiliar face, of delicate stature, was a girl of about sixteen or seventeen years of age.

"Zheng, Madame Zheng!"

After being taken out of the cloth ball by the thugs of Dongchang, Zhang Xiaogonggong immediately called respectfully, but he was not at ease because he and Zheng Haizhu were both close ministers of the royal family, but became more and more worried.

It is rumored that this surnamed Zheng is vicious and ruthless, and she was arrested today, which seems to be what she meant.

No, the white-booted lieutenant of Dongchang accompanied her, then, Wei Zhongxian must have conspired with her.

Why are they arresting themselves?

Zhang Xiaogonggong vigorously recalled when he had offended these two people.

Finally thought

Since then, when he was still in the limelight that year, he once went to Fusi Prison in Beizhen to interrogate a scholar who insulted King Fu in front of the imperial city and bullied men and women and brought disaster to Luoyang, and took a photo with Zheng Haizhu beside Luo Sigong.

But that time, I didn't offend her.

Zhang Xiaogonggong clearly remembered that because he disliked Beizhen Fusi's methods were too soft, he asked Zheng Haizhu if he wanted to avoid it before ordering his subordinates to use hot asphalt to torture him.

"Mrs. Zheng, but what is the misunderstanding about the little one?" Zhang Xiaogonggong asked timidly.

Zheng Haizhu was too lazy to talk about a long story to the bad guys who wanted to get a box lunch like in the costume dramas she watched in her previous life.

She only said to the prisoner on the ground in a tone that she couldn't hear Xingshi's questioning, "The first time I saw you, was it in Beizhen Fusi, right? On that day, you were judging a person from Nanzhili, and he was disrespectful to Concubine Zheng and King Fu."

Zhang Xiaogonggong hurriedly said, "Yes, Madame's memory is really good. Madame, however, has a private holiday with the concubine, so she is angry with such an errand person as Xiao? The small one, too, for a bite, ah!"

Before the last word "rice" of this eunuch prisoner was spoken, the girl next to Zheng Haizhu suddenly stepped forward and kicked him down, and immediately pressed his shoulder blade with one hand, pulled out the dagger at his waist with the other, and the knife fell in his hand, and simply cut the throat of Zhang Xiaogong's father-in-law.

"Heh, heh......"

Zhang Xiaogong's artery and trachea were cut at the same time, like a fish stranded on the beach, his chest was stiff and his head was shaking.

But after a moment's effort, there will be no more movement.

The girl stared at the corpse, and after a moment stood up, lowered her eyes and said to Zheng Haizhu, "Thank you, madam."

This girl is the daughter of Fang Juren.

That year, Fang Juren was tortured by Zhang Xiaogong, although Luo Sigong ordered someone to smear honey for treatment, but he still couldn't escape the serious infection and did not survive.

Zheng Guifei's minions came to pick up the body, and said to the outside world that she was infected with the epidemic and died, and it must be burned.

Just because Fang Juren has a reputation after all, and the minions don't dare to do too much, they didn't throw away the ashes, but found a small Beijing official from Changzhou, brought them back to Nanzhili, and handed them over to the Fang family.

Fang Juren only gave birth to an only daughter, named Fang Yun, who was fourteen years old that year.

Fang Yun followed his father to learn scriptures and articles since he was a child, and also learned the current situation of the dynasty, so he knew that the Fusi of Beizhen was definitely not a foreign dynasty yamen such as Dali Temple of the Criminal Department.

She firmly believed that her father was tortured to death, so she begged her uncles, who were also famous in the clan, to go to the court to seek justice for her father.

Not only did the uncles not only reluctant, but also blamed Fang Juren to Fang Yun in turn, isn't it good to be admitted to the rank of scholar and become an official, and to talk about the emperor's relatives and relatives! Even the family was disliked by the magistrate.

Fang Yun no longer pinned his hopes on the male elders who were wise to protect his life, but secretly planned his own path of revenge.

Last year, after her mother also passed away due to grief, Fang Yun did not delay any longer, and came to the capital in exchange for going north in the name of her relatives as a maiden.

His father was imprisoned in the Imperial Prison before his death, and Fang Yun's initial and only target was naturally Liu Qiao, the governor of Beizhen.

She attacked like a moth to a flame, and without any suspense, she was easily subdued by Liu Qiao.

Liu Qiao and Luo Sigong, after knowing Fang Yun's origins, both admired this little girl's filial piety and courage, even if she was temporarily detained in Beizhen Fusi, they were treated kindly.

The two of them thought that Zheng Haizhu was also from Nanzhili, Songjiang and Changzhou were neighbors, and the old countryside was easy to talk to, and Zheng Haizhu was at the scene of Fang Juren's trial, which should make Fang Yun believe that her father did not die in the hands of Jinyiwei.

"Mrs. Zheng, that little girl, stubborn like a calf, with a fierce force, is really exactly the same as her father. is a good seedling, if it is a male doll, Wei Shuai will be collected in the brocade guard. She's lonely now, or will she follow you?"

Liu Qiao's words moved Zheng Haizhu in an instant.

But she is planning how to clean up King Fu, and Fang Yun's arrangement will definitely not be as simple as the intelligence team that is assigned to Hua Er.