Chapter 2140 - Another Idea

A powerful stench of feces, urine, and mold assaulted his nose. Xie Erren immediately covered his nose.

The light in the cell was extremely dim. It took a while before he could discern the room's appearance clearly: thick brick walls, dirt floor. Inside there was only a bamboo plank bed, on which some blackened and moldy straw was messily piled. In the corner sat a clay pot, emitting waves of stench.

The cell door was narrow and the window small, with sturdy bars allowing only a sliver of light to penetrate. The interior was dim and damp, the brick walls speckled with mold, and moss grew along the wall bases. One could imagine the harsh, humid environment here. No wonder so many prisoners in ancient times died of illness in prison—in such an environment, illness came extremely easily, and without medicine or proper care, one would lose their life in an instant.

The prison head smiled apologetically: "It's dirty and smelly inside. Master, please don't tarry long—it will soil your Excellency's eyes!"

Xie Erren shook his head: this hellhole was too terrible. However, he said nothing. Right now, matters were as numerous as hairs on an ox, and he simply couldn't attend to these problems. He remembered a notification had been issued specifically regarding the "Guangzhou Prisoner Release" incident, asking "Directors" of various places not to easily release all detained prisoners—he could now fully understand the soldiers' actions—this was simply a hell on earth!

Hearing that the Chief wanted to interrogate personally in the prison, the prefecture prison jailers all emerged to welcome him. Xie Erren looked at them; they didn't look like vicious people, not much different from ordinary Great Ming people he saw, and their clothes were also gray and dusty.

However, he'd heard from Social Affairs Department Senators that although bailiffs' status was low, they lived off what was available to them and each possessed a set of ways to get money. As long as they were officially on duty, not to mention getting rich, having no worries about food and clothing wasn't a problem.

Converting the long and narrow courtyard, at the end was a courtyard that formed a "T" shape with the ordinary cells. This was the so-called "Death Row."

The Death Row was also not big. To the east were cells for death row prisoners, and to the south were two small rooms, which were places where jailers lived and stayed on duty daily. A small shrine was inlaid on the courtyard's west wall—the prison head said: "This is the 'Prison God Temple.'"

It turned out this "Prison God Temple" had no house. If the area under the roof eaves sheltering from wind and rain above the shrine was counted, it was less than half a square meter. Let alone trying a case, even sheltering from rain would be difficult.

There was a hole in the north wall's corner near the "Prison God Temple" that led directly outside. The prison head said this was called the "Death Prisoner Hole"—actually, death row prisoners were generally executed at the execution ground; this was actually for dragging out corpses of prisoners who died of illness in prison. According to rules, corpses couldn't go out through the main gate, so they were all dragged outside through this hole.

This place is too small! Xie Erren criticized privately. The entire Wuzhou Prefecture Prison was just this bit of space. He roughly estimated that fully calculated, it was no more than six hundred square meters—how many prisoners could this hold?

Since the "Prison God Temple" was basically not a "temple," there was naturally no way to interrogate in the temple. So the place for trying the case was moved to the two small rooms in the south. One of these two small rooms had a bed for jailers to rest, while the outer one was where jailers tortured prisoners. Various cangues and torture instruments were dazzlingly arranged by the wall, still stained with black spots of blood, indescribably gloomy and terrifying.

Xie Erren glanced at them with some disgust, regretting in his heart why he didn't have the person brought to the hall for interrogation. Now that he'd come, it was inconvenient to go back on his word, so he would just have to overcome it here—these torture instruments could also be considered atmosphere-setting. He nodded: "Let it be here. Bring the person."

Two jailers responded and went hurriedly. The prison head busily carried a chair to the center, which counted as Xie Erren's "official seat."

In a short while, two jailers brought the female assassin in.

Saying "brought," it was actually "carried." Not only was her hair disheveled and face grimy, clothes torn and messy, but even the embroidered shoes on her feet were gone, wrapped randomly with foot-binding strips and dragging on the ground. She looked as if she'd been severely tortured, which startled Xie Erren—what was going on?

He frowned and said, "What? Someone has already interrogated her?"

The two jailers smiled slightly awkwardly, but the head already knew what was happening and hurriedly reported: "This woman was extremely restless after entering prison. Not only did she insult the Master and the Senate endlessly, but she also tried to commit suicide several times. We had no choice but to teach her some 'rules'—these are old rules in the prison."

Xie Erren nodded. Seeing the female assassin's withered appearance and bloodstains on her clothes, obviously this "teaching rules" had been quite cruel. He vaguely knew about the various cruel acts against prisoners in Great Ming prisons, and couldn't help feeling some sympathy for this woman at heart.

"Kneel down!"

With a shout from the prison head, the woman shivered and immediately collapsed to her knees. Upon kneeling, presumably touching some painful spot, her body trembled again, and she only knelt carefully sideways.

Xie Erren could now clearly see this woman who'd intended to take his life. Seeing that this woman was about twenty years old, her appearance wasn't particularly outstanding. Her clothing texture, fair skin, bound feet, and other physical characteristics all showed she wasn't a bottom-level commoner, at least at the level of a genteel lady from a humble family.

Looking at her appearance, she'd probably suffered quite a bit in this half-day. Why did she, a delicate woman, suddenly want to assassinate him?

Although the person before him came to take his life, Xie Erren couldn't hate her. Instead, he felt faint sympathy at heart.

Silent for a long time, Xie Erren finally opened his mouth and asked, "Who are you? Why do you want to assassinate me?"

The woman raised her head and glanced at him, her eyes containing surprise, hatred, and fear. Seeing him staring straight at her, she hurriedly turned her head sideways again, trembling:

"Since I've fallen into your hands, what is there to say? Kill me or cut me to pieces, as you please!"

The voice was weak, but what she spoke wasn't the Guangzhou vernacular popular in Wuzhou, but Mandarin. Xie Erren was startled:

"You're not a local?"

The woman remained silent. The jailer beside her shouted, "The Master is asking! Answer properly! If you're not honest, the master will serve you well in a while!"

This shout was very effective. The woman trembled all over and whispered:

"Civilian woman Cai Lan, from Chengtian Prefecture, Huguang."

Where was Chengtian Prefecture, Huguang? Xie Erren didn't know; he only roughly knew it was in Hubei and Hunan.

How did a person from the two lakes run to Wuzhou, Guangdong? Xie Erren knew Ming Dynasty women couldn't travel alone, let alone travel long distances. Most likely she came to Wuzhou with her father or husband.

Upon further questioning, he learned that Cai Lan came from a scholarly family and was betrothed since childhood. Her fiancé found a job in Wuzhou last year and sent someone to pick her up to complete the marriage.

Unexpectedly, not long after arriving in Wuzhou, Wuzhou fell into flames of war. Her fiancé committed suicide, servants fled completely, and she wandered here alone, helpless. She then had the idea of avenging her husband and then sacrificing herself to follow him.

"Suicide?" Xie Erren was slightly puzzled. "Since your fiancé committed suicide, what does it have to do with my Great Song?"

"My husband is Xing Chenghuan." Cai Lan sobbed quietly when mentioning her husband's name.

Who was Xing Chenghuan? Xie Erren was blank for a moment, until Zhao Fengtian reminded him: Xing Chenghuan was the advisor in Wuzhou Prefecture. After the prefect committed suicide, he also committed suicide in the Second Hall and left two death poems.

"So it was him." Xie Erren suddenly realized, secretly cursing this Xing Chenghuan at heart: You weren't an official defending the soil, why commit suicide to martyr for the country? Leaving this young wife alone and helpless in a foreign land! And causing her to come and assassinate me, the Chief—truly sinful!

Looking again at this Cai Lan, kneeling on the ground and crying sadly, her pear-blossom-bathed-in-rain appearance was actually quite moving. Xie Erren's heart stirred slightly—this little lady is quite lovely.

With this thought, his heart softened, and his tone relaxed. "So it is like this. However, your husband was also quite meaningless. He wasn't an official of the Great Ming; why did he have to follow that Prefect Hu to commit suicide and martyr for the country? Leaving you alone wandering in a foreign land! Truly heartless!"

These words were "unfitting for an official's dignity." Whether bailiffs, jailers, or Cai Lan, they were all stunned. Only Zhao Fengtian, who'd been with the Chiefs for a long time, understood the Senators' thinking mode very well, just standing there with puffed cheeks and keeping a straight face without speaking.

"My Senate attacked Guangdong to console the people and punish the wicked, to save the suffering people of the Great Ming. That Prefect Hu was stubborn and unchangeable—after all, he'd received Chongzhen's imperial grace, been an official for a few years, and eaten salary for a few years. Your husband was just an ordinary scholar, yet he also followed Prefect Hu to commit suicide! Truly a muddled person. Truly letting down a good woman like you." Xie Erren felt there was nothing more to ask. He harbored a thought at heart. The original plan of "execution on the spot" or "escorting back to Lingao for disposal" had been cancelled. Under the emotion of pitying fragrance and cherishing jade, he had the idea of "transformation."

To be honest, Xie Erren didn't lack women, and Cai Lan wasn't some heavenly beauty with a devilish figure, but what could give one a greater sense of accomplishment than transforming an "enemy's" woman who hated you to the bone, making her eventually devoted to you? As the saying goes, the greatest joy of a man lies in conquering the chaotic masses, defeating the enemy, seizing everything they have, riding their fine horses, and taking their beautiful wives and concubines.

Xie Erren said, "Though she intended assassination, there was cause for it, and circumstances are pitiable. I have no intention of delving deeper—a poor, helpless, weak woman. No need to keep her in prison anymore. Help her clean up and detain her in the Earth God Shrine first to await disposal."

The Earth God Shrine was also a building in the local yamen, located on the courtyard's east side between the main gate and second gate of the yamen, directly facing the prison's main gate on the west.

The Earth God Shrine in local yamens was a Ming Dynasty characteristic, and it was also an invention of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. It was said that this beggar-turned-emperor had witnessed the corruption of official administration in the late Yuan Dynasty among the people, so after founding the country, he took advocating clean government as an urgent task to consolidate political power. In addition to setting up the "Heaven is Hard to Deceive" admonition stone in the yamen, he ordered the whole country to "specially set up a temple on the left of the prefecture, department, county, and guard to worship the Earth God." In addition to "worshipping the Earth God," any official who embezzled more than 60 taels of silver would be beheaded for public display and then "peeled and stuffed with straw." It was said the place for peeling skin was in the Earth God Shrine, so it was also called the "Skin Field Temple."