The Imperial Prison is located in the northeast of the Imperial Observatory Courtyard. In the dark night sky, several towering trees reflected in the starlight stood in a separate courtyard enclosed by a tall wall. Led by two messengers, Lin Jue came to the huge wooden gate at the southern end of the courtyard wall.

The messenger stepped forward to call the door and conveyed the order of Lord Zhongcheng to the guard. There was a clattering sound of the deadbolt falling to the ground behind the heavy wooden door, followed by a piercing and dull sound, which was slowly opened by the jailers inside. In the light of the torches, Lin Jue walked in slowly.

The large courtyard is very desolate, and under the light of the lamp, it can be seen that the courtyard is overgrown with weeds and fallen leaves. The tall trees in the middle of the courtyard were extremely eye-catching, and the sound of wings agitation came from the canopy, which looked strange and terrifying.

The sound of the deadbolt rattling seemed to alarm the birds on the ridge, and only to hear a creepy 'ah', a large black bird rose into the sky, and the screeching of the inciting of its wings whirred and shrill with its wings.

"These flat-haired owls, they're fucking annoying. It doesn't stop in the middle of the night. A jailer threw up his head and cursed.

"Hehe, brother, you haven't been here for long. Over time, you get used to it. If we don't have anything, we don't lack these old eagles. Do you know what we are called Yushitai outside? It's called Wutai. It's because we have a lot of crows here. Another tall jailer laughed.

"The raven crows, and woe comes. What's so good about having more crows? Sprinkle some poison grains another day and poison them all. The jailer muttered.

"Hehe, you might as well try. The crows are gathered here because we are here in the underworld. It's not like they want to be here. Here, hehe, do you know how many people died? Say no more, lest you be frightened. Zheng Xi, hurry up and take Lord Lin to meet Lord Lin, the deputy envoy of the Third Division, who was newly escorted in. The tall jailer laughed.

On the north side of the courtyard was a sloping house, with a long porch hung with a row of wind-blown lanterns, and below it was a wooden floor, and grass was rising from the ground in some broken places. It looks like it's been a long time.

The two jailers led Lin Jue to the porch, opened a door locked by chains, and there was another door inside, and in the narrow gap between the two doors, several jailers were talking with Erlang's legs crossed. Seeing that the lock of the door outside was opened, he hurriedly stood up.

"Huang Bantou, this is Lord Lin, Lord Zhongcheng has an order to allow him to go in to visit Lin Youde, the new deputy envoy of the Third Division." Jailer Zheng Xi arched his hand and said.

A five-stage, thirty-year-old jailer rubbed his eyes and glanced at Lin Jue a few times, Lin Jue bowed, and the man didn't say much, took out a string of rattling keys from his waist, turned around and opened the second door. As soon as the door opened, a strange smell of stuffiness and humidity rushed out, and the Chinese wanted to vomit. There were faint coughing, moaning, and crying sounds from within, as if the door of the black hole was a purgatory.

"Let's go in, Son of Heaven No. 6 Prison Cell. Zheng Xi, you take him in, this is the key. Lao Huang shook his head and handed over a key.

Zheng Xi frowned and said, "Lao Huang, don't bring such lazy people." ”

Lao Huang glared and said, "What? Lao Tzu feeds mosquitoes here every day and smells urine. Taste, can't you go in once? Catch up with Ming'er Lao Tzu and tell the head of the pawn cell to transfer you here, and Lao Tzu will tell you to go in and smell it every day. ”

Zheng Xi scolded, but he didn't dare to refuse, and reached out to take the key. Turning his head to Lin Jue, he said, "Lord Lin, please." ”

Lin Jue nodded, and Zheng Xi grabbed a lantern and walked in first. Lin Jue followed closely. Behind him, the wooden door slammed shut, and the sound of chains locking the door was heard. Lin Jue turned his head in shock, and Zheng Xi beside him said: "Lord Lin, don't worry, this is the rule." ”

Lin Jue smiled and said it was okay, and the two of them walked slowly forward with lanterns.

It was dark inside, but in fact, Lin Jue's eyes didn't adapt to the darkness here. After getting used to it, I realized that there were still lights here. There was an oil lamp on the middle pillar, but the flame was very dim, so the light was dim, and the eye could not see.

Several walls divide the cell into sections, and the front of the cell is a relatively simple cell cut by thick log columns. Everywhere the light goes, you can see what is going on inside. When Lin Jue walked through the middle of the corridor with a lantern, he saw more than a dozen pairs of eyes in the cells on both sides looking at him like wolves through the gap in the wooden pillars. Some people laughed, some began to curse viciously, and some people spat at Lin Jue and the others through the fence.

Someone in a cell threw a black mass at Lin Jue's body. Lin Jue dodged sideways, and the black thing fell next to Lin Jue's feet with a snap, Lin Jue held the lantern and shone it, and suddenly almost vomited. It was a dead rat, crawling with maggots.

Seeing that Lin Jue was frightened, there was a shrill laughter from the fence, like a ghost crying wolf.

"Bastard, itchy skin?" Zheng Xi scolded angrily and rushed over, took off the leather whip on his waist and whipped it headlessly, the laughter stopped abruptly, and then there was a scream.

Zheng Xi's leather whip was slender enough to be whipped through the fence, and it was as long as it reached all the corners of the fence, so there was no way to hide. This is a whipping tool of their own making, which allows the prisoner to be whipped through a fence without having to pull him out.

"Don't fight, don't worry about them, it's just a dead mouse." Lin Jue hurriedly shouted.

Zheng Xi scolded and walked back, and said: "These guys are all crazy, they can't help but be so beautiful outside when they enter here, who do they care about?" Disobedience is a lesson. ”

Lin Jue frowned and said nothing, and walked forward quickly. I thought to myself: This big prison of Yushitai is specially for officials, and the conditions are so bad, it can be seen how bad the prison of the trial court is for the common people. The situation here is so bad, how can Lin Bonian endure it? He's a man who is used to enjoying fine clothes and food. This kind of environment is unbearable for long even if you are afraid, let alone those officials. No wonder people say that life is better than death in prison, and being locked up in such a place every day is really better than dying. It's going to make you don't want to live anymore. It's strange that there are people committing suicide in the Yushitai Prison at every turn, and I'm afraid it's also due to this environment.

The prison is divided into three parts: heaven, earth and people, and the Tianzi prison is also the place where major prisoners are kept, to put it bluntly, it is the place where high-ranking officials are held. When he arrived at the Tianzi No. 1 area, Lin Jue felt a little relieved, because as Lin Jue thought, an official of Lin Bonian's level, the imperial court would not disrespect him in the slightest. The prison houses are really independent houses, and the conditions seem to be much better.

Zheng Xi walked to the No. 6 cell of Tianzi with ease, looked at the words on the door, nodded and said, "This is it, Lord Lin, please take care of yourself." I'm going to stay over there. However, according to the rules, the maximum time for visiting the prison is one stick of incense, and when it comes to one stick of incense, we have to go out, so don't make it difficult to make it small. ”

Lin Jue nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'm tired." Please open the door. ”

Zheng Xi handed the lantern to Lin Jue, reached out and took out the key to open the lock on the door, made a defensive gesture with the handle of the knife on his waist, and reached out to gently push the door open. Lin Jue nodded and stepped in. Zheng Xi took the door and locked it. The footsteps rustled away, Zheng Xi also knew each other, took the initiative to leave, walked to the ventilation at the end of the partition wall and waited.

Lin Jue raised the lantern and squinted at the situation in the cell, although the furnishings in the cell were simple, they were quite clean. A wooden bed, a stool, and a wooden bucket with a lid in the corner, presumably a commode for convenience. The small room was less than ten paces away, and it was cramped and stuffy, and the buzzing sound of mosquitoes flying around my ears. Lin Jue only stood for a moment, and his body was drenched in sweat.

But Lin Jue suddenly realized that something was wrong, the room was empty, and the bed was empty. Lin Bonian didn't seem to be in it. Shocked, Lin Jue thought that he had been fooled and was locked up in a cell, but soon Lin Jue secretly scolded himself for being too careful, how could such a thing happen.

"Second uncle, second uncle, are you there? I'm Lin Jue. Lin Jue shouted softly.

"Lin Jue?" A voice rang out beneath the wooden bed.

Lin Jue walked quickly and said continuously: "It's me, second uncle, I'm Lin Jue." ”

In the small space under the wooden bed, Lin Bonian's face full of fear and dust was revealed. Lin Jue didn't notice that there were still people hidden under the bed, because he was too short, and Lin Bonian didn't know how to hide his slightly plump body in it.

"Second uncle, why did you get under the bed? Come out quickly. Lin Jue inserted the lantern into the lamphole on the wall and turned his head to support Lin Bonian. Forcibly pulled out Lin Bonian like a turnip.

"Oh, Lin Jue, are you here? Woo woo, the second uncle is going to be finished, the second uncle is going to be finished. You hurry up and find a way to save the second uncle. Someone is going to put me to death. Lin Bonian grabbed Lin Jue's arm, and the whole person was supported by Lin Jue's body, and cried loudly.

Lin Jue hurriedly said: "Second uncle, don't be like this, this is a big prison, don't be like this, there are people all around." ”

"Oooh." Lin Bonian hurriedly lowered his voice. But Zheng Xi's dissatisfied voice still came from outside: "Lord Lin, don't you move so much, okay?" It's hard for me to do this. ”

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, not again, Brother Zheng Xi, please bear with me." Lin Jue said busily.

"Please be quiet, there is a lot of noise in several cells." Zheng Xi muttered, and his footsteps walked away.

Lin Jue sighed and helped Lin Bonian to sit on the bed. Lin Bonian held Lin Jue's hand tightly, as if he was afraid that Lin Jue would run away.

Lin Jue whispered a few words of comfort, and asked in a deep voice, "Second uncle, what's going on?" How did this happen? ”