Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 226: The Pain of Imprisonment

Zhen'an Prefecture Prison.

A woman's shrill scream echoed in the dark and deep corridor, making people shudder.

Under the dim oil lamp at the entrance of the prison, there was a square table with a few packages of braised meat wrapped in rough paper placed haphazardly on it.

The shop owner Liu Erzhen drank the wine in his glass contentedly, ignoring the screams echoing in the prison.

The jailer at the side attentively filled his glass with wine and asked flatteringly, "Captain Liu, the woman and the servant were just arrested, why are they being tortured? What serious crime have they committed?"

Liu Erzhen glanced at the jailer and said, "That woman made money she shouldn't have made, and she also coveted the nobles' things. Now the prison master wants to investigate, but she won't tell the truth, so we have no choice but to torture her."

As he spoke, he took out a silver ingot of five taels and gave it to the jailer, saying, "Keep your mouth shut about this matter. If this is done, you will also benefit from it."

When the jailer saw the silver, his eyes lit up. He had been a jailer in the Zhen'an prison for many years and had seen many dirty things in prison. Using money to silence him was certainly not a good thing.

He knew that Liu Erzhen was not a generous person. He spent five taels of silver, which was enough for two months' salary for him. It can be seen that the benefits he gained from this matter must be considerable.

At this time, the screams of the woman in the corridor began to become weaker and not as sharp as before.

Liu Erzhen frowned and ordered the jailer, "Go and have a look. The woman can't stand the torture. Tell them to be careful and don't kill her!"

In the dark cell, Feng could not bear the torture and fainted twice, but she said nothing. The jailer who was torturing her got the order from the head of the prison and let her go temporarily and turned to greet the servant.

Feng was just an ordinary woman. Although she had a rough life, she had never suffered such hardship.

Today, the bailiffs from Zhen'an Prefecture suddenly arrested her and took her to jail. She was confused and scared at first, but when the bailiffs interrogated her about the secret recipe of the perfume and the workshop of the store, she understood everything.

After all, she had lived for half her life and had heard a lot of worldly things, so she knew that the reason she and her assistant were arrested was not because they owed money to the government, but because someone had his eyes on the secret recipe of perfume in the store.

When the jailer saw that she refused to tell the truth, he whipped her and then put her in a pair of tongs.

Feng had been to the perfume workshop in the store several times, so she naturally knew the place. She knew that the workshop was the foundation of the store's business.

As a woman, she had never experienced such heart-wrenching pain, but in the end she did not confess.

Over the past decade, her once prosperous home was burned down, her husband went missing, and her daughter was abducted. She could only live in the disgust of her biological father, and she lived in heart-wrenching pain every day and night.

The suffering I endured over those more than ten years seemed more unbearable than the pain from whipping and torture.

It was Master Jia who pulled her out of the abyss of decadence. He miraculously found his daughter and allowed himself to live a decent life.

A woman's basic conscience and sense of gratitude prevented her from betraying him, and the strong will in her heart allowed her to survive the torture.

Fortunately, she fainted twice and the jailers stopped torturing her. If they had continued, she thought she would not have been able to bear it.

……

Zhen'an Prefecture, the official residence of the prefect Zhang Shouan.

A few days ago, Jia Rong from Ningguo Mansion asked him for help, using the connections between the Jia family and the official of the Ministry of Rites' Examination Office as bargaining chips, and promised to reward him with 10% of the shares as a reward after the success, in addition to a thank-you gift of one thousand taels.

This was a win-win situation, so Zhang Shouan naturally agreed to it after he had found out the background and details of Xiuniang's incense shop and made sure there was no risk.

Unexpectedly, things did not go smoothly. The yamen runners did not catch the owner of Xiuniang's incense shop, but only the shopkeeper and the clerk.

The news just came from the prison that the owner of the incense shop refused to reveal the secret recipe and the location of the workshop even under torture.

If a woman is tortured excessively and dies in prison, it will be difficult to cover up.

This made Zhang Shouan feel that the situation was a bit tricky.

At this time, the yamen runner came to report that Jia Cong from Rongguo Mansion wanted to see the prefect. Zhang Shouan was stunned when he heard it, wondering why he suddenly wanted to see him.

Zhang Shouan was naturally familiar with Jia Cong. They had met once in Prince Jiashun's Shuyun Villa.

Later, a maid in Rongguo Mansion murdered someone through witchcraft, which made him realize how different Jia Cong was from others.

In the past two years, he has won the top prize in the imperial examinations, and his reputation in poetry and prose has spread all over the country. He is the most outstanding son of the Rongguo Jia family.

Everyone can see that such a person has a promising future, and he also has such an excellent family background. With Zhang Shouan's worldly wisdom, he naturally would not neglect him, and quickly asked the yamen runners to invite the person in.

……

Just when Baozhu was telling Jia Cong that it was Lai Shangrong who had come to harass the store several times, the old woman outside the second gate came to report. Then he saw Jiang Liu and Qu Hongxiu at the back corner door.

After hearing that Feng and Liu Ping were thrown into prison by Zhen'an Prefecture for failing to pay official silver, and considering the previous events, it was clear what had happened.

The whole thing from beginning to end was that Jia Zhen coveted the wealth and secret recipes of Xiuniang's perfume shop and intended to seize them by force.

The fact that Zhen'an Prefecture arrested someone was most likely related to Jia Zhen. It was always the case that the powerful and wealthy used the power of the common people and officials to oppress the good people.

But Jia Zhen never dreamed that Xiuniang's perfume shop was his own property, and he would naturally not let him succeed.

It was also the first time that he truly realized how treacherous and shameless Jia Zhen, a young man from an aristocratic family, was in his pursuit of his own selfish ends.

He asked Qu Hongxiu to go to the perfume workshop outside the city immediately and move the people and objects there to a safe place.

There are two young men running the workshop now, one is called Wang Dequan and the other is called Zhou Guangcheng, they are also two of the five orphans brought back from Dezhou by Qu Hongxiu.

He explained something to Jiang Liu again and went to Zhen'an Prefecture alone to negotiate.

……

The back hall of the Zhen'an Prefecture government office.

Zhang Shouan watched Jia Cong walk into his official residence.

Three years ago, he had met Jia Cong at Prince Jiashun's Shuyun Villa. It had been several years since they last met. The young boy back then had grown into a handsome and elegant young man.

"I haven't seen you for a few years. Master Cong is more elegant than ever. I heard that you were just selected as the champion of the Yongzhou County Examination. Congratulations."

Zhang Shouan thought his words were an attempt to get close to Jia Cong, but he saw that Jia Cong's expression was indifferent, even cold.

He didn't know why Jia Cong came today. Looking at his expression, he suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Jia Cong did not beat around the bush and said straight to the point:

"Master Zhang, I heard that the owner and the clerk of Xiuniang Incense Shop in the west of the city were arrested and imprisoned by Zhen'an Prefecture for defaulting on government silver. Is this true?"

Zhang Shouan was startled when he heard this. He was worrying about this matter right now, and Jia Cong just asked about it!
Moreover, his words were direct, with an implicit questioning tone, and he had a sense of self-confidence and authority.

He knew that this young man was no ordinary person. Not only was he a newly crowned champion, he was also personally appointed as a seventh-rank official by the emperor. He was also a member of the Ministry of War as a candidate for the imperial examination and was a descendant of the top noble Jia family.

Each of these items must be taken with caution.
Although he was the prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture, and his official rank was higher than Jia Cong, he did not dare to be too arrogant. Although he felt a little unhappy, he patiently replied, "Yes, it is true."

"Master Zhang, as far as I know, the custom is that small and medium-sized shops in the market have a maximum payment of 200 taels of government silver per month. Xiuniang's shop has paid about 200 taels of government silver in the past six months. How can it be said that it is in arrears?"

Zhang Shouan naturally knew this convention. The so-called arrears of official silver was just an excuse to arrest people. Now that Jia Cong asked him about it in person, he was really speechless for a moment.

Then he asked, "I wonder what the relationship is between these two people and Master Cong?"

(End of this chapter)