Pulling Strings

The City Guard Office's prison lay a short distance behind the office itself, but Li Feng walked for quite some time before reaching it.

Li Feng seldom came here. After all, he was only a temporary runner, and patrolling a place as important as the prison was not a duty that fell to people like him.

Compared with the solemn atmosphere of the administrative rooms in the front courtyard, the prison took on a different air at night. During the day, the City Guard Office's runners came and went with mostly grave expressions, but the duty room outside the prison was much livelier.

Keeping his head down, Li Feng quietly skirted the front courtyard and made his way to the prison at the rear.

Sure enough, the atmosphere changed as soon as he arrived.

In the duty room beside the prison, several guards had gathered around an excited cricket fight, with cheers rising from them every now and then.

Usually, no one came to inspect their posts at night, so compared with the tense atmosphere of the front courtyard, things were much more relaxed here.

"Busy, brothers?"

Li Feng stepped forward and greeted one of the guards on duty.

Hearing him, the guard looked up. Seeing Li Feng dressed as a White Runner, he replied casually, "You don't look familiar, friend. What brings you to the prison this late at night?"

Li Feng cupped his hands and said politely, "My name is Li Feng. Was a man named Zhang Qiang brought in yesterday? He's my nephew. Could you brothers do me a favor and let me see him?"

At the name "Zhang Qiang," the guard's expression changed slightly. He put down the blade of grass he had been using to prod the crickets and waved his hands repeatedly.

"So you're here for Zhang Qiang. That's not something I can decide, brother. The Jailer Chief personally ordered us to make him suffer a little. We wouldn't dare bend the rules on our own."

As he spoke, the door curtain lifted, and a burly Jailer Chief happened to walk in from outside.

"Sir Zhao."

Li Feng cupped his hands toward the Jailer Chief.

A Jailer Chief held roughly the same rank as a Chief Constable, making him a superior as well.

"Mm."

Zhao Gang glanced at Li Feng and gave a casual acknowledgment.

There were only a handful of White Runners who had entered the City Guard Office through connections, so Zhao Gang recognized Li Feng too.

Li Feng stepped forward and explained Zhang Qiang's situation. Then he took the thirty taels of silver his cousin had given him from inside his robe and discreetly offered them with an ingratiating smile. "Jailer Chief, this is a small token from his family. Could you see to it that he doesn't suffer too badly in there?"

Zhao Gang glanced at the silver Li Feng offered but did not reach for it. Normally, he would have tucked it into his robe long ago, but this time, he firmly waved it away, pushed the silver back, and flatly refused Li Feng's request.

These were chaotic times. If the authorities encountered some heinous criminal outside, they generally killed them on the spot; rarely did they bother escorting them back to prison. Those imprisoned here now were people whose charges fell into gray areas. With enough money slipped into the right hands, a serious offense could become a minor one, and a minor offense could vanish altogether.

As a Jailer Chief, his prospects for promotion could hardly compare with those of the Chief Constables outside. These little perks were all he could count on.

But this time, he dared not accept anything, because the person Zhang Qiang had offended had a special background.

"Li Feng, I can't take this silver."

Zhao Gang sighed and lowered his voice. "I can't help you with this matter. Still, since Constable Lin used to look after us all, I'll tell you what's really going on. The woman your nephew Zhang Qiang harassed yesterday was none other than our newly appointed Constable Jiang."

Li Feng's heart jolted at those words, and everything suddenly fell into place.

No wonder the street patrol had thrown Zhang Qiang straight into prison. He had offended the new Chief Constable.

Zhao Gang continued, "Constable Jiang was sent straight down from the Inner City. I hear she has quite a background. I don't want to offend her over this little bit of silver, so Zhang Qiang will have to suffer his fill in there over the next few days."

After a pause, Zhao changed tack and continued, "Still, although we've cut off his food and water, for Constable Lin's sake, we can give Zhang Qiang's family a chance to bring him some. Bring his food and water on time every evening yourselves, and the men will keep one eye open and the other shut. We'll pretend we haven't seen a thing."

"Thank you for your guidance, Sir Zhao. I'll remember your kindness."

Li Feng heard the tune and understood its meaning. Rather than returning the silver to his robe, he discreetly offered it again and lowered his voice. "Sir Zhao, the men work hard standing watch in the prison so late at night. Please take this money and buy them some wine to warm themselves up."

Somewhat surprised, Zhao Gang glanced at Li Feng again. Seeing that he never mentioned bending the rules and spoke only of buying wine for the men, Zhao Gang immediately felt that Li Feng knew how to handle people.

After a moment's consideration, he stopped refusing and went with the current, sweeping the silver into his sleeve and silently accepting it.

"Thank you, Sir Zhao."

Seeing Zhao Gang accept the silver, Li Feng smiled as he spoke.

In times like these, once someone was imprisoned, a firm assurance from the Jailer Chief, together with this tribute, could spare Zhang Qiang some vicious treatment behind bars and keep him from losing his life.

Had he not come today, Zhang Hai would probably have faced more than a little suffering. A casual application of the torture instruments, followed by several days without food or water, would leave him half dead even if it did not kill him.

Although these thirty taels could not buy Zhang Qiang's immediate release, they should at least keep him off the torture instruments. As for food and water, his cousin's family would have to go to the trouble of delivering those themselves. When he could get out depended on whether Constable Jiang forgot about the matter after some time had passed. Then they could find a way to get him released.

"He's inside. Old Wang, come take him in to see his relative." Having accepted the money, Zhao Gang's expression softened considerably. He waved a hand and gave the order, then said nothing more, seemingly unwilling to become too openly involved in the matter.

Old Wang quickly came over and led Li Feng into the prison. After descending several flights of steps, they reached the cells where the prisoners were held. A rotten, moldy stench filled the air, making it deeply unpleasant.

They passed several cells holding prisoners as thin as skeletons. They did not react at all to the visitors, looking like walking corpses.

"Here we are."

Old Wang brought Li Feng to the fifth cell.

Li Feng leaned closer and saw someone lying facedown in a heap of ragged straw. There were numerous bloodstains on his body; clearly, he had already been taught a brutal lesson.

"Zhang Qiang?"

Li Feng approached and called softly through the bars.

Zhang Qiang, who had been lying there motionless, shakily raised his head at the sound. He stared at Li Feng in the dim firelight for a while before finally recognizing him, then cried weakly, "Is... is that you, Uncle? Please, get me out of here! They've nearly beaten me to death..."

Li Feng ignored his pleas for rescue and said coldly, "Your mother asked me to check on you. In any case, you'll have to put up with staying in this prison for now."

At those words, despair immediately spread across Zhang Qiang's face. Clutching the bars, he begged, "Uncle, you can't just watch me die! Isn't your sister-in-law a Chief Constable? Aren't you with the City Guard Office too? Please put in a word for me! That's right, isn't your sister-in-law a Chief Constable? Have her talk to them..."

Li Feng remained silent for a moment.

He did not really like Zhang Qiang. The fellow spent his days loafing about and running with a bad crowd. But remembering how his cousin had often helped them out with rice and flour, he still spoke.

"The person you offended has powerful backing. She's the City Guard Office's new Chief Constable. The Jailer Chief has already said he doesn't dare bend the rules. Still, I've put in a word for you. Starting tomorrow, have your mother bring you food and water herself every day. Just behave yourself and endure it here. Once the storm blows over, you might still get out alive."

With that, Li Feng ignored Zhang Qiang's cries and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Zhang Qiang collapsed into the straw, his heart filled with despair. He kept muttering, "What good did giving them all that rice and flour do? In the end, it's been absolutely useless."

Hatred seethed in his heart!

Back then, Li Feng's father had served as a runner his whole life and still been so poor his pockets jingled with nothing. When he died, no one had helped arrange his funeral. Hadn't it all fallen to Zhang Qiang's mother to pay for it and do the work? And that sister-in-law of Li Feng's-so what if she had managed to become a Chief Constable? When trouble came, she didn't even dare let out a fart!

They should never have bothered with that family in the first place. They should have left them to live or die on their own. If they had saved all the silver spent helping them and kept it to grease the right palms today, he probably would have seen daylight again long ago. Why would he have to suffer here?