Part of the dungeon had collapsed during last month's digging. It had since been renovated, and now had considerably more guests than before.
The trip to Wu Prefecture had yielded a rich harvest. Prince Wu was under house arrest at the imperial clan office awaiting trial, while Bai Siming and the other retainers had been locked in the dungeon. With the half-dead Yao Wenshan and his companions, plus the top experts captured previously, the lineup was quite magnificent.
Ye Jingtang went down to the dungeon's second level with She Long. He looked into each cell to check the prisoners' physical condition. When he passed Heavenly Character Room Number One, two somewhat unfamiliar men below suddenly sprang up and cried out that they had been wronged.
"Lord Ye! Why don't you send us to the Ministry of Justice for sentencing? Attempted murder-we didn't even hurt you. Under the law, that's three years at most. Locking us up here until we die isn't right..."
After his trip away, Ye Jingtang had nearly forgotten these two professional killers. He turned and asked:
"What should we do with these two?"
She Long thought for a moment. "I looked into them recently. They used to run a carriage business in Yanzhou. Their records were all fighting and brawling. Later, they offended Lu Jieyun and had nowhere left to go, so they decided to pull off one big job and flee to Northern Liang. Even if the Ministry of Justice sentenced them strictly according to law, they'd be exiled at most. I say keep them here for now. They have some martial skill. When we run into someone tough, drag them out as cannon fodder and let them redeem themselves through service. If they make it back alive, hand them over to the Ministry of Justice.