39: Chapter 39 Last Meal, Rules of the Heavenly Prison

The execution was three days away.

But the final meal had to be delivered today.

This was the rule of the Celestial Prison.

For this last meal, it didn't matter if it was delicacies or simple fare, but it had to be personally delivered by a jailer.

Firstly, it was to preserve some dignity, and secondly, it was to conveniently verify the prisoner's state one last time, to see if there would be any last-minute confessions before they died.

Chen Ran carried the food box, walking unhurriedly down the corridor.

The food box contained a bowl of white rice and two dishes—a plate of braised pork trotters and a dish of pickled radishes.

The pork trotters had been specially prepared by the kitchen; they were glistening with oil and tasted quite decent.

Lin Wan followed half a step behind him, holding the other corner of the food box, walking a beat faster than him.

"Brother Chen, how many cells are we visiting?"

"Three," Chen Ran said without turning his head. "Song Yushu, Zhang Dabiao, and Zhang Yulong. One by one."

Lin Wan acknowledged, then immediately ran the name "Zhang Yulong" through her mind.

She was familiar with this name.

In the Official Silver Case, it was this Young Master of the Ministry of Revenue's Vice Director who had laundered five hundred thousand taels of silver.

Later, in this Celestial Prison, she had personally interrogated him and obtained his confession.

Now, it was his turn to go on his way.

The first two cells went smoothly.

Song Yushu ate with his head lowered, not saying a word.

Zhang Dabiao took a bite of the pork trotters in his bowl and let out an "un" sound, which counted as a thank you.

Chen Ran checked the iron chains, registered them in the ledger, and left.

They arrived at the third one.

Zhang Yulong's cell was located further inside, where water seeped through the cracks in the walls and the ground was perpetually damp.

Chen Ran placed the food box on the ground, squatted down, and unlocked the latch on the door.

"Time to eat."

There was movement in the cell, but no one responded.

Chen Ran stood up and pushed the food box through the gap in the door.

Just as he was about to turn, a voice came from inside, hoarse but very clear.

"...Wait a moment."

Chen Ran paused his steps.

Zhang Yulong shuffled over from the depths of the cell.

He was even thinner than when Lin Wan had last seen him; his cheekbones protruded sharply, and all ten fingers were wrapped in yellowish cloth strips, remnants from the previous interrogation.

He pressed his face close to the bars, his gaze fixed on Chen Ran for a full three seconds.

"I recognize you."

Chen Ran did not move, nor did his expression change at all.

"You were the one who escorted me in back then."

Zhang Yulong's eyes were slightly red, and his voice was very low, as if he were talking to himself.

"I remember, you were wearing this same outfit that day."

"You escorted me in from the main gate, walked down this corridor, and went all the way to this cell."

Lin Wan stood behind Chen Ran, quietly observing his back.

Chen Ran still did not speak.

Zhang Yulong took a breath, his mouth pulling into an undefinable curve.

"Then let me ask you, do you remember the batch of gold leaves that were confiscated from me back then?"

"A full twelve taels; that's not a small amount."

What is he trying to do?

Lin Wan felt a sense of alertness in her heart.

"I still have financial channels outside."

Zhang Yulong lowered his voice even further.

"Help me pass a message, and a jar of silver buried outside the prison will be yours."

"One thousand taels of silver—enough for you to buy a courtyard in the capital."

"As long as you help me send the letter out, you won't have to bear any risk."

"Just say it's from that side—"

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Ran had already bent down and pushed the last bit of the food box into the bars.

"Eat."

Just that one word.

No refusal, no explanation, not even the interest to give Zhang Yulong another glance.

Chen Ran brushed the dust off his hands, picked up the empty food box, and turned to leave.

Zhang Yulong's voice chased after him from behind, becoming increasingly urgent.

Lin Wan took a few quick steps to catch up with him.

She quietly examined Chen Ran's profile; she couldn't see any emotion, the same expression he had when delivering food to Song Yushu earlier.

...This reaction is too calm.

One thousand taels of silver is enough for an ordinary person to live on for ten lifetimes.

"Um... Brother Chen," Lin Wan deliberated before speaking, "That person's offer is not low."

"Mm."

"You aren't tempted?"

Chen Ran stopped and turned his head to look at her.

"Tempted by what?"

He scoffed, his tone filled with a lazy confusion.

"What guarantee does he have that his words are true?"

"And even if we take a step back, even if the silver is real, what are the chances I'd actually get my hands on it if I run errands for a dead man?"

Lin Wan was choked for words.

This wasn't a righteous refusal; it was even a bit... purely because he felt it wasn't worth it.

Chen Ran had already resumed walking, heading deeper into the corridor.

"Alright, stop thinking about useless things here."

"Next, I'll take you around; there are a few interesting ones in Section C."

"Interesting ones?"

"Not everyone locked in here is a bad person."

Chen Ran's tone was flat.

"Some are quite strange; you'll know when you see them."

As they walked deeper into Section C, the Evil Qi was heavier than in the Cell Block D.

Black moss grew in the corners of the walls along the walkway, and it was surprisingly soft when stepped on.

Chen Ran stopped in front of a cell.

Lin Wan stopped with him and glanced inside.

The cell was not large, but it was much cleaner than the ones next to it.

A tattered mat was spread on the ground, and an old man sat on it.

The old man had gray hair and a straight back; he held half a piece of charcoal in his hand, his head lowered as he wrote something on the ground.

Writing.

Lin Wan's eyes narrowed slightly—he was writing on the floor tiles.

It was densely packed, covering the entire floor.

"Mr. Su."

Chen Ran stood outside the bars and greeted him indifferently.

The old man raised his head, looked at Chen Ran, then at Lin Wan, and nodded.

"A newcomer?"

"I'm training her."

Chen Ran placed the food box by the bars and stepped to the side.

"She just arrived at the Celestial Prison; let her see the world."

Su Yuanshan put down the charcoal and his gaze fell on Lin Wan's face.

Those eyes did not look like a prisoner's eyes; they looked more like someone accustomed to sitting in high positions at the imperial court, possessing a feeling of peering three layers deep into whoever he looked at.

Lin Wan straightened her back subconsciously.

"Great Wei's Censor-in-Chief, Su Yuanshan."

Chen Ran introduced him casually, his tone no different than reciting a menu.

"He was locked in on charges of 'colluding with foreign enemies' after his secret memorial impeaching a certain powerful noble was intercepted."

"How long has he been locked in?"

Lin Wan asked softly.

"Seven years."

Su Yuanshan answered himself, his voice steady, without any particular emotion.

"Seven years, four months, plus eleven days."

"Little girl, you are still young; there is no need to do this jailer job."

Lin Wan's heart stirred, but she did not speak.

"It seems this is the 'good person' he mentioned."

"Let's go."

Chen Ran called to her.

Lin Wan took one last look at Su Yuanshan's back and followed Chen Ran's pace.

After leaving Section C, walking east along the side corridor, there was an open space piled with miscellaneous items.

Further into the open space, there was a low wall half a person's height.

Behind the wall was a gentle downward slope.

At the bottom of the slope were piles of withered grass and gravel, covered in a thick layer of rotting leaves.

Lin Wan walked closer and saw it clearly—it was a pit, and there were a few wooden stakes that had mostly rotted away at the edge of the pit.

A place to dispose of bodies after executions.

Chen Ran stood by the low wall and introduced it to her:

"After an execution, according to the rules, if family members come to claim the body, it is handed over to them."

"If no one claims it, they are brought here and buried."

Lin Wan didn't speak; she climbed over the low wall and walked down the gentle slope.

She squatted down and rummaged through the rotting leaves, but didn't find anything.

She moved to the side and rummaged again.

Just as she was about to stand up, a piece of gravel by her hand caught her attention.

The piece of gravel was not large, but the cross-section of the stone was wrong—it wasn't crushed, nor was it a naturally weathered gap; it had been cut by something sharp.

Lin Wan turned the gravel over and carefully examined the direction of the cross-section.

It was cut diagonally from right to left.

Her gaze swept around, and she found two more similar stones.

Three pieces, all in the same direction and at the same angle, scattered within a three-pace radius.

Blade force.

Someone had used a blade here.

And not an ordinary blade, given the clean and neat cut left on the stone cross-section.

Lin Wan stood up, put the gravel into her sleeve pocket, and remained silent.

This line of reasoning spun in her mind, becoming clearer and clearer: according to the rules of the Celestial Prison, the only people who could enter and exit this area were those inside the Celestial Prison.

In other words, that mysterious expert was right here inside.

Lin Wan turned back and looked up the slope.

By the low wall, Chen Ran was leaning against the wall, head lowered, fiddling with a set of keys, his expression languid, as if waiting for her to come back so they could finish up.

"It couldn't be him."

Lin Wan withdrew her gaze from him and turned to the slope.

It really was someone inside the Celestial Prison; could it be an expert from the Demon Suppression Division?