It's night, inside the jail in Xuanyang County.
A disheveled, skinny young man in black picked up a lantern and walked in front, followed by a middle-aged bureaucrat in his fifties, and then behind him was a warrior two feet tall. The strangeness of these three people As soon as the group entered the prison, they walked straight into the deepest part of the darkness.
The prison in Xuanyang County is naturally inferior to that of Shanhe Mansion and Tianbian Guard Mansion, let alone the prison of the Ministry of Punishment. The people who go there are all high-ranking officials, or powerful people, and they are provided with good food and drink, and are protected by guards in case someone accidentally dies in an accident, but this place is closer to a prison in the traditional sense - -Gloomy, terrifying, full of blood and murderous intent.
The lantern held in He Nan's hand was not because of the time. Regardless of the time, the prison was completely dark. This design was also designed to deepen the prisoners' fear and blur their concept of time. And he also had special considerations in choosing the people who followed him today - Yu Ruyi and Brother Yan are still the master's subordinates after all - the things he has to do today are very dirty when considered deeply, and they must be done both emotionally and rationally. To avoid it, he had no choice but to lead Wei, who was also a fallen person from Tianya, to defeat him.
The reason why we choose to visit the prison at midnight is also very simple - there are more guards here during the day than at night. There are so many people talking, but at this time, the guards in the prison are all exhausted, plus a county The order is here, it will be more convenient to do things.
As for their purpose - naturally they were Di Shiyuan, who was dismissed and imprisoned three days ago, and his accomplice Song Wuyan.
He Nan was very smart and acted as fast as the wind and thunder. Under his command, Li Shitong had just dismissed Di Shiyuan and sent him to prison. He Lei took up the post again and, with the help of Wei Kui, took Song Wuyan who was eating at home. He was taken away—in front of those foreign thugs. The two men were thrown into the two farthest cells of this concave-shaped prison one after another, and the treatment was pretty good - at least they were single cells. This is also done to prevent them from colluding in confessions.
As for how to get them to talk, He Nan's method was very crude and simple, but very effective - he starved the two of them for three days in order to weaken their will. These two people of high status in Xuanyang County put less than half a catty of water and three and a half pieces of steamed buns into their stomachs in the past three days. If you don't count the mold on the steamed buns - that's There was no taste at all in my mouth. If this continues, these two people will probably have to start eating the damp and smelly straw mats spread under them.
After three days without salt, Di Shiyuan, the former head catcher who was still relatively strong, had lost his human form due to hunger. He was so thin that he lost his appearance, and his eyes were covered with black and blue, like a starving ghost crawling out of the underworld. Shi Zheng was lying curled up in the corner of the cell, moaning faintly from his dry throat. On the other side of the prison, Song Yuanwai's situation was better than Di Shiyuan's - he ate two and a half of the three and a half steamed buns himself, and on average he had more than half of the steamed buns a day - after all, his identity was there. Look, you, Di Shiyuan, are just a commoner after taking off your official uniform, but Song Yuan still has a family. Besides, Song Wuyan had a fat head and big ears. The three days of hunger only hurt his skin, so he should be considered to have lost weight.
The first person they visited was Di Shiyuan. In addition to making Di's cell closer to the gate, He Nan also had his own considerations in mind - Di Shiyuan had been a head catcher for seven or eight years, and he was also familiar with the torture process. He is familiar with it by heart. Since he is an expert, he knows better than an outsider. When it is time to give everything, he must give it all. There are not a few prisoners who died in prison due to hunger, disease and torture. He Nan and Di Shiyuan knew how long it would take for people to starve to death in this environment.
Di Shiyuan has basically not seen much light in the past three days. The moment the big lantern appeared in front of his eyes, he felt dizzy. Of course, it was more likely that he was hungry. When he adapted to the light, he opened his eyes with difficulty. Only then did I realize that the three people in front of me had all met before, and Magistrate Li, who was walking among them, had worked with him for eight years.
The more familiar people are, the more unbelievable things they do will make people feel horrified - for example, his former boss Li Shitong was actually the one carrying the tray with the food - you know, a group of government officials patrolling the prison, walking in The person holding the lantern at the front is always the cell leader or the one with the highest status among the people, unless there is an old man here who does nothing but stares at people with his hands behind his back, and the one who is responsible for serving the dishes must be the most humble among the people. That one. One is because serving the dishes is the most tiring, and the other is because he is closest to the prisoner when serving food. If the prisoner suddenly becomes violent and commits murder, the leader standing behind will still have a chance to retreat.
He Nan lit the lamp, Li Shitong served the dishes, and Wei Kui carried a bucket full of water. Are these three people the lowest in the county magistrate? Di Shiyuan didn't know clearly what the bucket of water was used for, but he had already ruled out two answers in his mind - it was definitely not for him to drink, and it was definitely not for him to take a beheaded bath.
"Ahem..." Di Shiyuan struggled to sit up against the corner and asked in a dry voice: "Is County Magistrate Li here to see me off for the last time?"
"That depends on your performance." He Nan said, taking the lead. In fact, even if he didn't take the lead, Li Shitong, an old man, would take the initiative to give it to him. After saying this, he motioned to Li Shitong to bring the food to Di Shiyuan.
Di Shiyuan has been hungry for three days. If he doesn't eat something, he probably won't be able to survive. Even if he has to go to the execution ground after finishing the meal in front of him or poison is simply put in the meal, he still has to bite the bullet and eat it. ——It is better to be a well-fed ghost than to starve on the road to hell.
The food was just ordinary food, half a chicken, a plate of stir-fries, a plate of vegetarian fried pancakes, and a bowl of white rice. It tasted okay, but in the eyes of the hungry Di Shiyuan, it was just delicacies on a jade plate, and he devoured it wholeheartedly. in stomach.
As luck would have it, when the three of them were watching Di Shiyuan eat, He Nan pretended to be casual and mentioned in a stubborn tone, "The food that Song has eaten outside in the past two days is much better than this meal." .”
Of course these words were meant to stir up Di Shiyuan's mood. Anyway, these two people couldn't meet each other, so what if He Nan just said anything?
As expected, Di Shiyuan's expression was still startled. Although he quickly adjusted, this momentary change was still captured by He Nan.
"Do you have any wine?" Di Shiyuan's mouth was full of oil after eating, and he wiped his mouth carelessly with the corner of his clothes.
"Damn you..." Wei Kui grinned, his expression could not be defined as ridicule or contempt, "You are already acting like this and you still want a drink?"
"No..." He Nan waved his hand, "Get him some wine."
He Nan knew that Di Shiyuan's behavior was equivalent to "showing weakness". It seemed that he was ready to explain something.
It has to be said that He Nan is quite accomplished in understanding people's hearts. Di Shiyuan finally revealed something after drinking half a jar of wine.
Di Shiyuan and Song Wuyan are both from neighboring counties. They grew up together when they were children. Di Shiyuan relied on his strength to come to Xuanyang County and became a small policeman, while Song Wuyan was Relying on his generous family background, he traveled around the world. It wasn't until Song Wuyan came back this year to reunite with Di Shiyuan that Di Shiyuan realized that he, a young man, had actually started a large-scale business. The two hit it off and wanted to open up a market in Xuanyang County.
The leader among them was not Di Shiyuan, but Song Wuyan. It was he who came up with the idea of embezzling Zhang Xueshi's property. He relied on his abundant financial resources to bribe many local gangsters, and managed the officials of Xuanyang County. However, those foreigners were not familiar with Di Shiyuan. Di Shiyuan only knew that these people were from the Song Dynasty. The thugs Wu Yan brought back from abroad.
"Has the Xuanyang County government been bribed by him from top to bottom?" He Nan heard this and glanced sideways at Li Shitong, "County Magistrate Li, is this true?"
"This... your subordinate really doesn't know." Li Shitong shook his head like a rattle.
He Nan didn't really ask for proof, he just used it to beat Li Shitong. Now that we have learned from Di Shiyuan that the real boss behind the scenes is Song Yuanwai, and other information is limited, it doesn't hurt to go to Song Yuanwai's cell - anyway, these two people will be interrogated sooner or later, and the cross-examination will continue. Di Shiyuan was also wasting his time.
The three of them still prepared a meal and a bucket of water for unknown purposes. When they arrived outside Song Wuyan's prison door, they found that the bloated businessman had lost a lot of weight in three days. At this time, he was leaning against the cell. against the brick wall. Song Wuyan's appearance is very gentle and kind, and his face looks like a soft persimmon, but no one will treat him as a soft persimmon.
Hearing the sound of clattering chains, Song Yuanwai slowly opened his eyes, and after observing the appearance and demeanor of the three people, he said: "Why did Mr. Li suddenly attack me and kick him away?" Di Shiyuan didn't say anything, but he promoted his nemesis again. It turns out that you are the real boss..."
"Haha, each other." He Nanpi replied with a smile, "But judging from the tone of Member Song... do you recognize me?"
"I met a female fortune teller that day in front of her stall." A meaningful smile appeared on Song Wuyan's kind face, "Young Master He is a hero who saves beauties. He is very popular."
Without waiting for He Nan's reply, Song Wuyan continued: "I thought you and that little girl were doing such a big show to trick me, but I didn't expect that you tricked Mr. Li... It's just that I was a step too late. , I didn’t understand it until I entered here.”
Regarding the scene between He Nan and Yu Ruyi, Li Shitong later thought about it. They came here just to trap him, but He Nan's identity was indeed true. It was better for Li Shitong to put his hope in He Nan. It's better to just bump into it like a headless fly. The two of them were willing to fight and suffer - but Li Shitong was a little embarrassed when he was exposed in front of others - Song Wuyan's words did not sound like a joke to congratulate him, but more like he was ridiculing himself.
Just trap him, Lao Li, I have been busy all my life but I have only become a county magistrate. Whether I can climb up before I am buried may really depend on this young man - this is what Li Shitong said in his heart, and He Nan analyzed Li Shitong's thoughts based on his experience, and was able to use this method to tie Li Shitong and himself to a rope.
Unexpectedly, He Nan laughed in a low voice and asked Song Wuyan: "How do you know that this scene only trapped Magistrate Li in the scene, but not you as a spectator?"
This was indeed a lie, more like He Nan said it to create a situation for himself, but Song Yuanwai, who was obsessed with the authorities, didn't think so - after these days of playing games with He Nan, he had already learned that this young boy in front of him should not be underestimated. , was immediately deceived by He Nan, and everything in recent days immediately came to mind.
"Except member Song, we Ming people don't speak secretly." He Nan directed Li Shitong to put the food in front of Song Wuyan, and sat down cross-legged: "The Zhang Xueshi you bullied is my biological uncle. My parents died when I was young. , he is one of the few relatives I have, so I must settle this matter for him."
"If you are willing to return all the property you embezzled from him and make compensation, and then come to apologize, this matter can be resolved peacefully."
Song Yuanwai also hadn't eaten for three days. Although he ate two more steamed buns than Di Shiyuan, it was still a drop in the bucket. At this time, he didn't even look at the food in front of him. Instead, he asked He Qian: "Don't you want to know why it's your uncle?"
He Nan shook his head: "You probably didn't know each other before, and you couldn't be considered enemies, so hatred is ruled out as a factor; and as far as I know, you used to be in the silk business, so it's not a conflict of interest with my uncle... ...After excluding these two items, I came to the conclusion that either you are a greedy person, or..."
"There are others who are instigating you behind your back."
As soon as these words came out, Song Wuyan felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and half of his confident expression instantly collapsed. He lowered his face and was about to ask a question, but was interrupted by He Nan's soliloquy.
"Those foreigners are not your subordinates - on the contrary, you are under their control. Are the foreign merchants... trying to open up trade channels from the northern border? Or do they have other agendas?"
Fear clung to Song Wuyan's heart. He knew that the young man in front of him was very resourceful, but he never expected that the other party's reasoning had completely destroyed his purpose.
It seems... I am afraid that I will die here today.
After a long silence, Song Wuyan said as if he had made up his mind: "When a person is about to die, his words are also good... Young man, you are 'very' smart. Since you have been able to reason to this point, then I have nothing more to say, you should know what kind of existence is behind me... Take your whole family out of here while you are still alive."
"Who is about to die...I didn't say I wanted to kill you?" He Nan quickly interrupted. He suddenly felt an ominous premonition.
Song Wuyan ignored He Nan's question and continued: "No matter how resourceful you are, you will be easily crushed by them."
After saying that, Song Wuyan took out a small green pill from his arms at lightning speed, and then stuffed it into his mouth.
The moment Song Wuyan made a move, Wei Kui had already pounced on him, but Song Wuyan gritted his teeth to prevent Wei Kui from opening his mouth. If Wei Kui forced it open, he might only be able to use the strength to tear Song Wuyan's head in half.
It didn't take long for black blood to gush out from Song Wuyan's seven orifices, and Song Wuyan twitched and fell to the ground, showing a sarcastic smile to He Nan.
In fact, Di Shiyuan also has one of these small blue pills, but firstly, he is more afraid of death than he appears; secondly, he is more interested in surviving than committing suicide by taking medicine. On the contrary, Song Wuyan, who seemed to be a weakling, died happily after the defeat, without giving He Nan any more opportunities to ask anything.
Perhaps he knew that if he survived, his fate might be even worse, so he might as well commit suicide to save the lives of his family members who were being used as a source of evidence.
It is just a pretense to say that "a man's words are good even when he is about to die". What he said was to confuse He Nan and others, making them relax their vigilance, so that he could find an opportunity to take medicine and commit suicide; and to arouse He Nan's desire to fight with those foreigners, and to ask him to destroy himself.
And the matter of committing suicide by taking medicine itself was a trap that had been set long ago - if He Nan hadn't been accompanied by Li Shitong, the county magistrate, who could handle the matter officially, then Song Wuyan's "violent death in prison" would definitely It fermented into accusations against He Nan by some people with ulterior motives.
Of course, even if Li Shitong was there to deal with such a major event as Song Wuyan's inexplicable death in prison, it would still take a lot of effort to prevent it from being true.
Song Wuyan used his own death to pave a dead end for He Nan leading to the underworld.
"Ha... I didn't expect that I was plotted against this time? I abandoned my car to protect the commander, and Li Daitao was stiff. It's so cruel." He Nan's tone was quite relaxed, but it was not difficult to see from his eyes that he had fallen into irritation. among. "County Magistrate Li, I have to ask you to find an autopsy examiner to take a look and find out what kind of poison Song Wuyan died from."
Abandoning the car to protect the handsome man, Li Daitao is dead. These two sentences are enough to describe the strategy used by the other party, but He Nan did not say it to Song Wuyan, but to the person hiding behind Song Wuyan who actually carried out this strategy.
