The innermost cell of the old state prison.

"Stab it——!"

As a rusty iron door roared with all its strength and was pushed open from the outside by two female historians, Ouyang Rong followed Rong Zhen and walked through the door.

His face looked slightly surprised.

This cell did not contain the eighteen kinds of torture instruments that Ouyang Rong imagined.

Only water.

Kettles, buckets, water jars, puddles, and water drops.

Tick ​​tock...tick tock...tick tock...

Heavy water droplets slowly dripped from the dark and damp ceiling, hitting the calm water.

There is water all around.

The uppers of his boots were already damp as he stepped into the cell.

If Ouyang Rong hadn't just walked all the way from the state prison door on the cliff to this place, he would have thought that this place was some kind of underground river or a damp cave at the bottom of a lake.

The atmosphere of this dark and damp cell made Ouyang Rong feel familiar.

The two female historians who followed behind Rong Zhen walked to both sides and lit torches.

"This is water taken from Xingzi Lake.

"Lao Yangtou said that the lake water is clear, moist, cold, and calm, unlike the turbid and flowing water in rivers. It is too dynamic and is not suitable for the claustrophobic environment of the water prison, which will make the water torture ineffective.

“Especially the water drop torture, which focuses on the dual psychological and physical torture in a confinement environment.

"The lake is the best. The deeper the lake, the better. Within a hundred miles of Xunyang City, the only one that meets this condition is Xingzi Lake..."

The icy girl in palace clothes stood aside and explained softly, her expression unclear.

Ouyang Rong sighed: "No wonder the smell of this water is so familiar."

At this time, a one-eyed old man appeared at the cell door behind the two.

Different from the uniformly dressed green-robed jailers and white-robed female officers who were active in the prison, this old man who was blind in one eye was dressed in navy blue burlap, with sparse white hair and a face like a dead tree.

The old man walked into the door calmly, holding a sheepskin water bag in his hand.

Rong Zhen raised his feet without looking back and took the initiative to get out of the way.

Ouyang Rong stepped aside with her.

The one-eyed old man passed by the two of them quietly and walked straight to the dark depths of the water prison directly ahead.

Ouyang Rong saw what seemed to be a standing black shadow in the depths.

It seemed that the wall lamp was out of oil. The two female officials who were about to light the lamp turned around and went out to get the lamp oil.

The cell was temporarily dark.

Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen stopped beside the iron gate and did not enter the depths of the cell for the time being.

The one-eyed old man seems to be very familiar with the terrain of this prison, and the dark environment does not hinder his familiarity with the road.

Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen stood quietly side by side, watching the one-eyed old man go deeper.

This somewhat special one-eyed old man was familiar to Ouyang Rong. He was responsible for the interrogation of the strong man in the next cell just now.

At that time, Ouyang Rong came to observe the interrogation in the middle of the interrogation. The one-eyed old man was immersed in the torture of the prisoner, and the two had no communication or contact.

However, Ouyang Rong was deeply impressed by the one-eyed old man's exquisite and frightening 18 types of torture methods to extract confessions.

However, unlike his calm expression, Yuan Huaimin, who had come to watch today with the intention of taking advantage of the situation, vomited two or three times during the interrogation, and his stomach was missing two meals.

Later, Yuan Huaimin couldn't stand it any longer, so he made an excuse and ran away in a hurry. As a result, he had no chance to meet Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen in the second water prison.

Anyway, before leaving, Yuan Huaimin looked at his two companions, Ouyang Rong and Rong Zhen, as if they were looking at monsters.

"His surname is Yang, but his given name has not been mentioned for a long time. People in Si Tianjian and Dali Temple in Luodu who know him call him Mr. Yang or Lao Yangtou."

Rong Zhen broke the silence and spoke calmly.

"Old Yangtou was once a cruel official. He was not one of the most famous in those days, but he was not bad at all. He had been around two of the most cruel officials, and some of the most notorious and well-known tortures were done to him.

Advise and advise.

"Even when dealing with Qi Refiners, he has great ideas."

"Cool official? Did he join the Prison Department before?"

Ouyang Rong suddenly asked.

Rong Zhen nodded lightly:

"Well, he is an old prison officer in the Prison Department. Later, the Luoyang Prison Department was disbanded. It was not considered disbanded. It was downsized. It was in name only. Most of the former torture officers in the Prison Department had a hard time and could retire intact.

, some went to Dali Temple, some were accepted by Si Tianjian, and some left the Luo Jing government...

"Old Yangtou was specially invited from Jinling after our Supervisory Yuan issued a wanted notice. He has been serving in Jinling State Prison for the past few years. He is considered a semi-retirement... This time he was invited here specifically to interrogate rebels.

Thief. In fact, there are quite a few such masters in the imperial court, and sometimes we have to make good use of them."

Ouyang Rong could hear a hint of respect in Rong Zhen's cold tone.

"Half retreat? I've offended too many people in the past, so I have to keep a low profile." As he spoke, he glanced at the rickety back of the one-eyed old man in front of him.

The prison officials and the cruel officials can be regarded as the old Huangli when the saints just changed dynasties and established the Great Zhou Dynasty.

At that time, this saint had just come to power. In order to take over and consolidate the imperial power, especially to purge the so-called "rebels" internally, he used imperial edicts and hired cruel officials.

The so-called imperial edict mainly refers to cases in which high-ranking officials of the imperial court or members of the clan are guilty and require the emperor to issue an imperial edict before they can be imprisoned.

It is a prison under the direct control of the emperor, and the criminals in this prison are convicted by the emperor himself.

The Department of Prisons is responsible for the prisons, and many notorious and cruel officials have emerged from it.

He specifically went to rectify the Li clan and high-ranking officials who rebelled against their ministers, and many people were bloodbathed and executed.

Pilgrims should use this sacred intention to make arbitrary decisions.

However, at that time, King Xunyang Lixian's family had already been demoted to Jiangzhou and became common people, so they managed to escape this huge political storm.

Otherwise, if he fell into the hands of the cruel officials of the Prison Department, he would probably be accused of treason and unjustly imprisoned like other members of the Li clan.

Later, the imperial power of the Great Zhou Dynasty gradually stabilized, and the current emperor gave up the rule of cruel officials.

First, he widely accepted advice and weakened the prison department step by step. Then he opened Shengting and dealt with most of the notorious cruel officials. Then he suddenly realized that he upheld justice and redressed some well-known injustices, and gained a lot of holy names in one fell swoop...

…

Didn’t you remember that the imperial palace newspaper a few days ago said that someone presented a memorial to praise the saint today as a benevolent and merciful enlightened master? The Great Zhou Dynasty praised Tianshu in praise of the saint and benevolence. Buddha statues in the four directions are also being built. Everything is prosperous. What else is there?

Don't be embarrassed by the bad reputation of "Lord of Adultery and Punishment".

Anyway, Ouyang Rong's evaluation of the cruel officials who once disturbed the court situation was very simple: a useful sharp knife.

However, a closer comparison shows that Ouyang Rong has caught up with the good times.

In the first year of his life, the original Jiu Shi disturbed the empress’s mood by making remarks at the Apricot Garden Banquet in Shendu;

Later, because of Princess Changle's incident, she directly rebuked the empress and expressed her incompetence in raising her daughter and pampering her;

There is also Ouyang Rong's "not obeying the imperial edict until death" not long ago.

This saint actually didn't kill him directly, but came with a nine-community Xiaoxiaole package.

Of course, today is different from the past. The saint sitting in the Luoyang court now is an eighty-year-old woman who eats fasts and chants Buddha's name, and is a loving mother and filial son.

It is no longer the time before when dissidents were everywhere, the imperial power was unstable, and one step could lead to an abyss.

It can be said that she just cares about feathers now, but at least she is still afraid of restraining herself.

In addition, the changes in today's saints do not mean that Ouyang Rong himself deliberately betrayed his integrity and took the opportunity to seek fame.

Because it was Ouyang Lianghan's incident of directly admonishing and contradicting the empress in court that made smart people in the government and the public keenly aware of the change in the direction of the wind, and the elderly empress began to love her name and be kind.

Before this, everyone was actually not sure.

Ouyang Lianghan was the first to personally take the head for a test. He had prepared the coffin in advance and was prepared to go upright and return sideways, so he went to the palace alone and went straight to remonstrate.

Therefore, Ouyang Lianghan's reputation as a gentleman is well-known all over the world, and he does not mix in any falsehood. Everyone is convinced, knowing that this "gentleman" can handle things, and he will really do something...

"By the way, back then Master Di was framed and demoted by cruel officials. He was demoted all the way from Kyoto to remote Longcheng County. Old Yangtou and the others supervised and escorted him along the way."

Rong Zhen suddenly spoke.

Ouyang Rong turned to look at her.

At this time, the lights in the water prison came on, and the female officer fetched the lamp oil.

Ouyang Rong first squinted his eyes to adjust to the sudden light in the dark room.

Then he saw clearly the situation inside the cell.

All he saw was a puddle in front of him. The black figure that Ouyang Rong saw not long ago was restrained by torture instruments and forced to stand in the puddle. The water level just reached his chest. Above his head, there were water drops falling continuously.

on his head.
To be continued...