112: jail

The two bailiffs immediately stepped forward, pulled out cold iron chains, and moved to shackle Su Ming.

Attendant Scholar Guo's expression sank. He immediately stepped in front of Su Ming: "Your Excellency the Censor, what is the meaning of this? Su Ming is a Hanlin Academy Compiler. Even if he made a mistake, he should be handled by the Hanlin Academy or the Ministry of Personnel. Is the Censorate overstepping its bounds by acting this way?"

Although he had made things difficult for Su Ming, Su Ming was still his subordinate. Having him arrested in his own yamen was a loss of Face.

"Attendant Scholar Guo, this matter involves a serious crime against the military and the state. Do not interfere!" The Censor gave him a cold glance, then pulled out an official document from his sleeve stamped with the Censorate's great seal.

"By order of the Censorate: Hanlin Academy Compiler Su Ming disregarded military intelligence, colluded with unscrupulous merchants, passed off inferior goods as quality products, and delayed military operations, resulting in heavy casualties among the Northern Frontier soldiers. He is hereby to be arrested immediately and brought to justice, awaiting sentencing!"

"Colluding with unscrupulous merchants? Delaying military operations?" Attendant Scholar Guo's Face turned ash-white, shocked by the sudden charges.

"The evidence is irrefutable!" The Censor snorted coldly and looked at Su Ming. "Su Ming! Do you confess your crime!"

Su Ming's body trembled slightly. He did not resist, allowing the cold iron chains to lock his wrists.

He raised his head, his Face filled with innocence and fear.

"Your Excellency, I... I have been wronged! I only copy books in the academy every day and have never left the capital. How could I possibly be guilty of delaying military operations?"

"Hmph, daring to quibble even when facing death!" The Censor shouted sternly, taking a cloth-wrapped object from a bailiff.

He violently tore open the oilcloth, revealing a damaged piece of leather armor inside.

The chest area of the leather armor was ripped open by a hard object, revealing the rotten lining beneath, and the edges were stained with shocking bloodstains.

"Look at this!" The Censor threw the leather armor onto the desk in front of Su Ming. "Northern Frontier soldiers died wearing the leather armor that you supplied to the Bureau of Military Supplies by colluding with unscrupulous merchants and passing off inferior goods! The armor cracked, and they were cut down by the Black Rong's scimitars! Dozens of lives died because of you!"

Su Ming looked at the piece of leather armor, his Face displaying an appropriate mix of shock and panic.

"Your Excellency! How... how is this related to me! I have never interfered with military supplies procurement!"

"Still pretending!" The Censor sneered. "Your colleague from the same imperial examination year, Ministry of Revenue Principal Official Xu Qing, submitted a memorial titled 'Stabilizing Paper Prices, Increasing Revenue and Reducing Expenditure to Fund Military Resources,' intending to disrupt the existing structure of military supply procurement. Do you dare say you knew nothing about this?"

"Brother Xu..." Su Ming's lips trembled slightly, as if he had been struck in a weak spot.

"His memorial directly pointed out corruption in military supplies, and you, furthermore, reviewed a large number of Northern Frontier battle archives in the Hanlin Academy! You did this to seek political achievement, disregarding military intelligence, intending to use your immature 'New Method' to replace the existing military supply system! You are bewitching court officials and harboring malicious intentions!"

The Censor's accusations were like a mountain tsunami, pinning Su Ming firmly under the double restraints of morality and law.

Su Ming's body swayed, looking as though he might collapse at any moment.

"I... I merely..." He opened his mouth but couldn't form a complete sentence. The sight of him utterly terrified by the sudden severe charges convinced everyone in the Wenyuan Pavilion of the Censor's accusations.

Qian Bin looked at Su Ming's miserable state, a flicker of satisfaction and schadenfreude passing through his eyes.

"Take him away!" The Censor said no more, waving his hand abruptly.

The bailiffs roughly shoved Su Ming, leading him out of the Wenyuan Pavilion.

However, in a corner of the crowd, one figure suddenly clenched his fists.

It was Zhang Yiming.

He watched Su Ming being shackled. The contempt he felt—that "rotten wood cannot be carved"—was replaced by a more complex emotion.

He had hated Su Ming's cowardice, but only when this cowardly colleague truly faced utter disaster did he realize that in this power struggle, commoner scholars like them didn't even have the right to be cowards.

The cold iron chains dragged across the bluestones, making a harsh scraping sound.

As Su Ming was being led away, he deliberately stumbled and fell to the ground, flawlessly performing panic and helplessness.

The Imperial Prison, located deep beneath the capital, is a place specifically used for interrogating serious criminals.

Stepping inside, the damp, cold, dark, bloody, and putrid odors hit him like solid blocks of lead, almost suffocating him.

Su Ming was roughly shoved into a cramped cell. Stone walls, stone floor, stone bed. Water dripped from all sides, and the cold was biting.

The bailiffs unlocked the iron chains on his body but replaced them with heavier leg shackles.

"Stay put! In the Imperial Prison, no one cares about the rules of the Hanlin Academy!" A bailiff sneered, slamming the heavy iron door shut.

"Clang—"

The sound of the iron door locking was like a giant hammer striking Su Ming's heart.

He slumped onto the cold stone bed, his body trembling slightly from the cold and fear.

"Disciple, stop acting. There's no audience here." Lin Yu's voice rang out, carrying a hint of schadenfreude.

Su Ming took a deep breath and circulated the Green Wood Longevity Art. The Spiritual Power in his body flowed slowly, dispelling the surrounding cold and Yin.

"Master, the Yin Qi in this place... is very heavy."

"That is the backlash after the Earth Vein Qi was suppressed, compounded by years of accumulated Resentment Qi and Blood Qi. If an ordinary person stays here for long, they will either die or go mad." Lin Yu's tone was heavy. "You can take this opportunity to absorb some Yin-attributed Spiritual Qi to balance the Wood Attribute in your body. It won't be a wasted trip."

"Guards! Bring in the serious criminal Su Ming for interrogation!"

The iron door was opened again, and Su Ming was taken to the Interrogation Room.

The Interrogation Room was colder than the cell, with expressionless bailiffs standing on both sides, and two Interrogation Officials wearing Censorate uniforms sitting in the middle.

The Chief Interrogator was a pale, beardless middle-aged man with long, narrow eyes that exuded coldness.

"Su Ming, do you confess your crime?" The Chief Interrogator's voice was like ice scraping, carrying an eerie chill.

Su Ming immediately knelt on the ground, his body bowed extremely low: "Your Excellency! I have been wronged! Since coming to the capital, I have only copied books every day and never involved myself in military or state affairs. What crime could I possibly have committed!"

"Copying books?" The Chief Interrogator sneered, picked up a stack of documents from the desk, and slammed them heavily onto the floor in front of Su Ming.

"Look at this! What is this!"

Su Ming picked up the papers with trembling hands.

The first was a letter mimicking his handwriting. The language was vague, hinting that he had successfully persuaded Ministry of Revenue Officials to be "flexible" in military supply procurement. The signature at the end was clearly the character "Ming."

The second was a document concerning "Leather Armor Procurement," on which there was an annotation of his "suggestion" to use a batch of cheap and abundant leather armor.

The third was an Investigation Report from the Censorate, stating: At the Northern Frontier frontline, dozens of soldiers suffered casualties during a Black Rong night raid because the quality of the military leather armor was inferior. The armor was precisely the batch that Su Ming had "suggested" purchasing.

The evidence was irrefutable!

Su Ming's Face instantly turned ghastly pale. He stared at the report, his eyes wide, as if he saw the scene of his own execution.

"Your Excellency! Th-this is all fabricated! I never wrote these letters, nor do I have the authority to suggest procurement! I am only a Seventh-Rank Compiler; I need Attendant Scholar Guo's permission just to leave the yamen!" Su Ming kowtowed violently, his voice choked with sobs, his forehead hitting the cold floor with loud thuds.

"Impudence!" The Chief Interrogator slammed the table, making the teacups jump.

"You still dare to quibble now! I ask you, what connection do you have with the merchant Li Fugui from Qingshi Town? Is your New Paper-making Method related to your collusion with unscrupulous merchants to reap huge profits?"

"Li Fugui? I don't know him!" Su Ming shouted. "The Paper-making Method is a local technique from my hometown. What does it have to do with military supplies? Your Excellency, I have been wronged! I beg Your Excellency to investigate clearly!"

He transformed all his fear and innocence into the most primal wailing and begging for mercy. He cried so hard that snot and tears ran down his Face, and his body shook with convulsions—the perfect image of a weak scholar driven to desperation.

A trace of disdain flashed in the Chief Interrogator's eyes.

"Hmph, you won't shed a tear until you see the coffin! Guards, administer torture!"

"Yes, sir!" Two bailiffs immediately stepped forward, holding leather whips soaked in saltwater.

Just then, the Deputy Interrogator, who had been silent next to the Chief Interrogator, suddenly spoke, his voice cold: "Su Ming, do you know how great a crime delaying military operations is according to the Great Xing Code? Light offenses result in immediate execution, severe ones in the implication of three generations of your Family! If you honestly confess the mastermind behind you, you might receive leniency and be exiled three thousand miles instead!"

Su Ming immediately understood their intention—they didn't want to execute him directly, but rather force him to implicate more people. Exile three thousand miles was the outcome they had prepared for him.

"Your Excellency, spare me! I confess! I confess!" Su Ming's performance reached its climax, and he shouted in terror, "I truly don't know! I only... only heard the attendants of Attendant Scholar Guo and Official Li mention a few things while I was sorting archives! I didn't understand a single word!"

Su Ming's "confession" pointed the finger at Attendant Scholar Guo and Li Wen. This was precisely what Marquis Yongchangs Estate wanted: to turn the conflict into an internal dog-eat-dog struggle among the Pure Faction, thus clearing the Estate's suspicions.

The Chief Interrogator watched Su Ming's "breakdown" with cold eyes, his tone softening slightly.

"You only need to tell the truth—who instructed you, and who conspired with you—and I will personally act as your judge."

"No one instructed me! No one conspired!" Su Ming cried, shaking his head like a rattle-drum. "I am just a book copyist! It was them! They saw I was easy to bully and stuffed these things... these things into my hands!"

He pointed at the documents on the floor, his eyes filled with extreme terror toward the power struggle.

The interrogation lasted for a full hour.

Su Ming did not yield; he insisted he was innocent and had been framed. However, the fear and helplessness he displayed convinced the interrogation officials that he had completely broken down and was no longer a threat.

"Take him down! Continue his detention! Await sentencing!"

The Chief Interrogator waved his hand, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes. He had obtained what he wanted—Su Ming's "evidence of guilt" and "confession" attitude.

Su Ming was thrown back into the cell, soaked through and shivering from the cold.

"Disciple, well done. For this performance, your Master gives you ninety-nine points. I deduct one point lest you become arrogant." Lin Yu's voice was full of praise.

Su Ming didn't speak. He leaned against the cold wall, regulating his breathing, while mentally replaying the few pieces of Physical Evidence he had encountered during the interrogation.

"Master, those pieces of Physical Evidence have problems."

"Of course they have problems, otherwise how could it be called framing?" Lin Yu laughed. "However, the problem is bigger than you think. Let's start with the letter."

Su Ming closed his eyes, recalling the letter that mimicked his handwriting.

"The handwriting is very similar, but I felt a slight stiffness in the signature character 'Ming.' My Brushwork habitually has a reserved force when finishing a stroke, but the final stroke of that letter seemed somewhat superficial." Su Ming analyzed in a deep voice.

"Exactly, that's one point." Lin Yu praised him. "Although your Spiritual Power is weak, long-term cultivation of the Green Wood Longevity Art has given you control over your body and Brushwork far exceeding that of ordinary people. Common people can't tell, but the imitator is ultimately not you."

"Second, there is the annotation on the leather armor document," Su Ming continued. "When I copy the Collection of Statutes, my handwriting is standard Academy Style, extremely rigid. But the handwriting on that annotation carries a trace... a trace of elegance. Although faint, it slightly deviates from my usual 'Su the Dullard' persona."

"Excellent!" Lin Yu's voice was excited. "This proves that the person who framed you might have only obtained samples of your early or private handwriting, but not your 'Su the Dullard' handwriting after entering the Hanlin Academy. This is an intelligence discrepancy."

"The most crucial thing is that batch of leather armor." Su Ming's voice dropped.

While he was panicking in the Interrogation Room, his Spiritual Sense, like the most precise sensor, quietly touched the fragment of leather armor used as Physical Evidence.

"That leather armor fragment carried an unnatural scent of decay. The smell was exactly like the withered wood I found on the back mountain of Qingshi Town, which had been eroded by a Formation."

Lin Yu's Soul Body instantly froze.

"What?!" For the first time, Lin Yu's voice contained genuine horror.

"Are you sure it wasn't ordinary insect damage or chemical corrosion?"

"I am certain." Su Ming's tone was firm. "That aura was extremely faint, but it carried a unique sense of coldness and decay, completely different from mundane rot. It left subtle Formation traces on the leather armor. Although they have been mostly erased, the residual aura cannot escape my Spiritual Sense."

Lin Yu fell silent. This silence was more alarming than any noise.

"Marquis Yongchangs Estate has Immortal Cultivators backing them!" Lin Yu's voice became unprecedentedly solemn.

Su Ming's heart leaped, and a chill swept over his entire body.

"Low-level Cultivators," Lin Yu quickly analyzed. "They didn't strike at you directly but used mundane methods, tampering with the physical evidence in the Mortal world to frame you. This indicates they have reservations and dare not openly use Immortal Cultivation Power."

"This is both good news and bad news."

"The good news is that they dare not openly kill you in the capital. The bad news is that they have already utilized methods from the Immortal Cultivation World, meaning you will Face pressure from two worlds!"

Lin Yu's Soul Body in the ring spun rapidly, like an overloaded machine.

"Why would they use a Formation to corrode the leather armor? Wouldn't poison be faster and more covert?" Su Ming asked.

"No, Formation corrosion is harder for Mortal Coroners to detect than poison," Lin Yu explained. "Furthermore, if this is the method of a low-level Sect or Family, they would deliberately leave behind this 'Formation corrosion' trace as a secret warning or mark."

"Warning whom?"

"Warning all Cultivators who might interfere in this matter, and also warning all the Pure Faction officials who want to overturn Zhou Wenhai's case. Telling them that this matter has been stamped and concluded by the 'Immortal Family'—Mortals should not disturb it!" Lin Yu's voice was furious. "These old foxes truly play the game of power to the extreme!"

Su Ming closed his eyes and suppressed this anger.

"Master, since they dare not act in the capital, my life is temporarily safe."

"That's right. The capital is the center of Mortal power, with vast Dragon Qi. It's not a place they can run wild," Lin Yu said. "But exile three thousand miles? Once you leave the capital, it's hard to say."