Liu Xudong, bound inside the prison cell, was trembling with fear.
He couldn't understand it. He'd only wanted to extort some silver from a rich young lady, so how had he ended up in this godforsaken place?
Of course, he hadn't been worried at first. Great Zhou revered the Confucian Dao above all else and treated scholars exceptionally well.
Even if he was only a Tong Sheng, and technically didn't even count as a scholar.
But the constables and jailers hadn't given him a hard time. He couldn't help thinking that his status as a scholar still seemed to count for something.
They'd all been about to leave, but then Constable Qian came in, claiming he'd extorted the Imperial Guards?
Seeing the constables and jailers come in carrying all kinds of torture devices, Liu Xudong hurriedly shouted, "Sir, I've been framed! I didn't extort anyone."
"Jiang Yun really did promise to give me his sister as a concubine!"
"Sir..."
Qian Bochou found him noisy. He dug at his ear and said impatiently, "Whoever comes in here doesn't claim they've been framed?"
"The person you dealt with today was Lord Xu of the Imperial Guards."
"Extorting the Imperial Guards? I don't believe you'd be that bold. Tell me, who's pulling your strings?"
"Why did you do it?"
"What's the conspiracy behind it?"
The Imperial Guards represented the Son of Heaven when they were out in the world. So under normal circumstances, Liu Xudong had been courting death by daring to provoke Xu Suwen.
Soon, a water-soaked rope whipped down hard across Liu Xudong's body. Bloodstains spread across his white robe.
Qian Bochou sat off to the side, picked up a cup of tea, and began to drink.
The fellow had no scholarly honors to his name. They could beat him today and send him off to the frontier tomorrow; he probably wouldn't make it back alive.
But he was still a scholar, after all. How could he withstand such a vicious beating?
After only a few lashes, Liu Xudong couldn't take it anymore and hurriedly shouted, "Sir, stop hitting me! Stop!"
"I'll confess. Ask me anything, and I'll tell you everything."
Hearing that, Qian Bochou gave a jailer a look. The jailer understood, took out a notebook, and prepared to record what Liu Xudong said.
Qian Bochou took a sip of tea. "Go on. What do you know?"
"I... I heard that our Prefect took thirty taels of silver from Xiucai Scholar Hu, then allocated money to let him open a school..."
"The Prefectural Office dug a drainage ditch in the city and spent a thousand taels of silver. Old Qi got the contract."
"But he only spent two hundred taels digging it."
"Three hundred taels went into his own pocket, and the remaining five hundred went straight into the Prefect's."
Liu Xudong had only heard all this from other scholars in passing.
Unable to bear the beating, he gritted his teeth and blurted out everything he knew.
The more Qian Bochou listened, the darker his expression grew. He quickly gave the jailer writing the confession a look, signaling him to tear up everything he'd written.
"Last year, the wealthy Wang from the north of the city secretly sold a batch of coarse salt and made a fortune..."
Qian Bochou asked in a low voice, "You even know about that?"
Liu Xudong said, "I was having an affair with the wealthy Wang's concubine. Wang is a tiger on the outside but a rabbit in bed, and his body's weak. His concubine wanted me and seduced me."
Qian Bochou snorted. "Anything else?"
"There's... there's more." Liu Xudong took a deep breath. "They say you paid to get your position as constable, Constable Qian. You paid..."
At that, Qian Bochou smashed his teacup on the ground and cursed, "Bullshit! I got where I am today through sweat and hard work!"
Qian Bochou's reaction startled Liu Xudong.
Qian Bochou took a deep breath and said to him, "Keep going. What you're saying is very useful."
"Yes, yes..." Liu Xudong trembled as he continued recounting the rumors he'd heard.
The stories covered everything, from the Prefect down to the merchants.
To avoid another beating, Liu Xudong told them every bit of gossip he'd ever heard, all in one breath.
"Copy down everything he said about the Prefect and put it on the Prefect's desk tomorrow morning," Qian Bochou ordered the jailer.
After a pause, Qian Bochou looked at Liu Xudong, who was in so much pain he was on the verge of passing out, and said, "Stop beating him. Go buy him a roast chicken tonight, along with some good wine and dishes. Give him a decent meal and put the bill on the office's tab."
"Thank you, Constable Qian. Thank you, Constable Qian," Liu Xudong said weakly.
Qian Bochou glanced at him and turned to leave.
Dusk was drawing near. A table piled high with food filled the Heaven-class guest room at Nanmanju Inn.
Jiang Yun, Xu Suwen, Jiang Qiaoqiao, and Xu Xiaogang sat together, eating and chatting.
Xu Xiaogang ate while chattering away. "Brother Jiang, you have no idea. Back in the capital, I was quite the young hero."
"Last year, the son of the Northern City Military Command's commander led a gang around, throwing his weight about and even trying to abduct a woman by force. I saw injustice and drew my blade to help..."
Xu Suwen frowned and reminded him, "That was a married woman. She was arguing with her husband in the street, and you went over and beat the husband up."
Xu Xiaogang frowned, slapped his thigh, and said, "Then what about that gang selling people on the Grand Canal?"
"In the middle of the night, I saw a group of people bound up and being sneakily taken onto a boat on the canal. So I showed off my skills..."
Xu Suwen was still frowning. "Those were criminals being exiled to the frontier. You let them all go, and our Imperial Guards spent several nights searching before we managed to catch them again."
"Because of that, our Imperial Guards even had to go to the Ministry of Justice and apologize."
Jiang Yun was intrigued. "What other heroic deeds have you got?"
At that, Xu Xiaogang's face turned a little red. He laughed and waved a hand. "My sister just can't stand to see me shine."
"Once my sister's gone, I'll tell you all about it for three days and three nights."
Listening to Xu Xiaogang's stories as he ate and drank, Jiang Yun gazed out at the bustling street beyond the window and felt rather content.
But suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure in the crowd below, and his pupils narrowed slightly.
"Xiaogang."
Xu Xiaogang frowned. "What? Also, I don't like that name."
As he spoke, he came to the window too and followed Jiang Yun's gaze downward. Then his eyes widened, and he cursed, "That vixen actually came to Nanzhou Prefecture too?"
At that moment, Tang Wanxin wore a deep-blue dress and had her hair pinned up, looking every inch the refined young lady.
A young man in his mid-twenties stood beside her. He wore a white robe and held his hands behind his back, exuding an air of nobility.
At last, Tang Wanxin stopped in front of Nanmanju Inn and asked, "Is this where he's staying?"
The person beside her nodded. "Miss Tang, it would actually be more convenient to stay at the prince's residence."
"No need. I like peace and quiet." Tang Wanxin shook her head, then suddenly sensed something. She slowly raised her eyes toward one of Nanmanju Inn's windows.
Jiang Yun's gaze met hers.
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