Learning to Be Bad

Chengtian Prefecture.

Death row.

The iron plate on the cell door rattled twice, and Suhe's eyes snapped open.

An old jailer, carrying a lantern, opened the register.

"Suhe?"

"Yes."

"A person from Chengtian Prefecture?"

"Yes."

The old jailer dipped his brush in ink and added a stroke under his name.

"Tomorrow at noon, you will be executed in the West Market. You will rise at 3 AM, your identity will be verified at 5 AM, and you will be put on the prison cart at 7 AM. Do you understand?"

"I heard you clearly."

I actually asked these questions yesterday.

Su He looked up at him, but the old jailer turned his face away, picked up his lantern, and stood up: "Don't blame me if you die. We're all from the bottom of society, so let's not make things difficult for each other."

After saying this, he pushed a broken bowl in.

The bowl was filled with rice, topped with green leafy vegetables and two slices of fatty meat. This was the first time I had seen meat in days.

Suhe looked at the bowl: "Is this my last meal before I'm executed...?"

"Eat up." The old jailer turned and left, muttering to himself as he walked away, "This death row inmate doesn't cause any trouble at all."

In the past, or on his first day in prison, Suhe would indeed have made a scene.

He would shout "Injustice!", "I can find evidence!", and "Emperor Yan is not dead!"

The next day, Suhe stopped shouting and stopped carving words on the wall to forcefully prove his existence, trying to move himself before he died.

Death can indeed unleash humanity's most fundamental talents.

Suhe has come to understand many things in the past few days.

In the past, as long as someone was willing to listen, he would want to say all his deductions in one go.

Now he finally understands: once the information is spoken, it no longer belongs to him.

I know that passion alone is not enough to achieve my goal.

It has to be ruthless, insidious, and even evil.

In this dark dungeon, Suhe came to a lot of realizations, his mind racing with thoughts of death.

He went through everything that happened before and after he went to prison and found some suspicious things.

For example, the interrogating officials and criminal officers would not return after the first day of torture.

For example, according to the laws of Yan Kingdom, once his crime was sealed, he would definitely be dragged away and beheaded within three days, but now he has waited seven more days.

Furthermore, considering that he was imprisoned because of the Dengwen Drum and the information about Yan Zu, Su He reasoned and analyzed along this line of thought, and came up with many possibilities.

He even speculated that the extended days weren't meant for him, guessing that someone would come to inquire about him during that time.

Suhe prepared many drafts in his mind to deal with all kinds of possible situations.

But this wait led to the eve of his execution.

"Did I guess wrong?"

Suhe murmured something, but her voice was quickly drowned out by the darkness.

He closed his eyes, pressed his head against the wall, refusing to give up, and began to think of other possibilities, trying to find hope for survival from the slightest clues.

"Tap tap tap".

This time!

The faint sound of boots clattering on the ground could be heard outside.

It's very far, and there's more than one person there.

No one will use torture tonight, and the jailers won't be making a collective walkout in the middle of the night.

Suhe opened her eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

The footsteps drew closer.

The bright lights shone in first, piercing the darkness of the cell.

The official from the Ministry of Justice walked in front with a hunched back, followed by two eunuchs in plain clothes. The old man in the middle wore a dark blue outer robe and had gray hair.

Under Suhe's watchful gaze, these people slowly walked towards him.

"Thump, thump..."

Suhe could hear her heartbeat quickening noticeably in her chest.

"Click."

After the old man stood still, the prison door was opened by the officer himself.

"Suhe, kneel down." The official's voice carried an air of authority.

Su He's gaze wasn't on this person at all; he kept looking at the old man in the center.

The old man raised his hand: "No need."

The jailer immediately shut up.

The old man walked into the cell, looked down at the straw on the ground, and then at the unfinished last meal in the corner.

"Do you want to die?"

"In no mood."

Su He answered readily, having already imagined the scene before him a few days prior.

You guessed right! The person who was questioning us has indeed arrived! And judging by his appearance, he's quite a high-ranking official!

The old man had a low stool brought over, smoothed his clothes, and sat down.

The officer beside him cautiously asked, "Should we take him to the prison?"

"Right here."

Feng Ruan waved his hand, "Everyone, get out."

The prison warden didn't dare ask any more questions and retreated to the end of the passageway. The eunuch also followed him out, leaving only one person outside the prison door to spread out paper and write down the message.

Feng Ruan looked at Su He.

"Did you personally hand over the wooden box in front of the petition drum?"

"Yes."

"Who told you to hand it over?"

"No one instructed me."

"In Xun Jin Si Li, who investigated with you?"

"Nobody's here."

Feng Ruan looked at him for a moment: "Wu Huaiyi doesn't know?"

Su He twitched his fingertip; the other party had even found out about Wu Huaiyi.

"He knew I had looked through Yan Zu's old files and advised me to stop investigating. He didn't know what was in the wooden box."

"You're protecting him."

"I will only tell the truth."

"Our family also likes to hear the truth."

Feng Ruan laughed out loud, deliberately pointing out some things, "Your wooden box entered the Prime Minister's residence, and Grand Secretary Yang saw it. Now can you tell me who instructed you to speak recklessly about the Yan Ancestor in order to incite public sentiment?"

This statement almost explicitly states the word "framing".

As long as Su He agrees, the charge of making unwarranted comments about the Yan Ancestor can be placed on the Grand Secretary. The blame will naturally not fall on that Grand Secretary, but it will still cause some embarrassment.

Feng Ruan waited quietly for Su He's answer.

He had already done his research before he arrived. The young man in front of him was very smart, but being smart and being shrewd are two different things.

At this moment, Su He's focus was not on colluding with others to fabricate evidence.

He caught the words "Prime Minister's Residence".

How could anyone dare to pin the blame on the Grand Secretary...? The identity of the old eunuch before them was obvious.

In an instant, many things that I couldn't understand before became clear.

Suhe's thoughts became clearer as she thought about it, and her heartbeat gradually calmed down.

Feng Ruan waited for a long time but Su He didn't say anything. She wasn't in a hurry. After all, he was that Grand Secretary. It was normal that he wouldn't dare to make false accusations.

Feng Ruan then took the initiative to change the subject and chatted slowly.

He raised his hand, and the eunuch behind him spread out paper and began to take notes.

Feng Ruan didn't ask Su He if he pleaded guilty; instead, she focused solely on asking the wooden box when it was sealed and whether it contained the original scroll or a copy...

This time, Suhe did not remain silent and answered in an orderly manner.

Some questions were anticipated, while others were unprepared. Occasionally, he would pause to think through the pros and cons before continuing to answer.

When asked about the contents of the wooden box, Feng Ruan said, "A few old papers and a portrait, and you dare to go and beat the drum to appeal? You really aren't afraid of death."

"I am afraid, but the information in the wooden box has a source, so I believe there is hope."

"Source? Which one?"

Feng Ruan gave a wink to the eunuch behind her, who then picked up his pen to take notes.

After a moment of silence, Su He replied, "In the West Warehouse of the Jin Si, in the seventh cabinet of the Bing section, there is a book called 'Old Questions' on the bottom shelf. The last page contains a rubbing of an old portrait, which records the appearance of the late Yan Zu. Your Excellency can send someone to investigate. If you cannot find it, then I am just talking nonsense."

The young eunuch outside the prison wrote down these words.

Feng Ruan's eyes lit up. This trip hadn't been in vain; the answers the inside man couldn't get, he could actually find here. He continued, "Anything else?"

The young eunuch touched the paper with the tip of his pen, ready to sketch.

As a result... this stop lasted for a very long time.

Feng Ruan: "Continue."

Suhe shook his head: "As for the rest, I need to see His Majesty before I can discuss them."

"A death row inmate wants to see His Majesty?" Feng Ruan's smile vanished. "You don't think that if you don't tell us, our family won't be able to find out, do you?"

Suhe's Adam's apple bobbed; even though she was prepared, she still felt the pressure.

With just a word from Feng Ruan, the people outside could drag him out and torture him again.

Of course I'm afraid.

But Suhe understood that if he continued talking, he would become useless once the other party took the entire line.

"I am unworthy." Su He raised her head, catching her breath, and said, "But you still came, sir. Since you came, it proves that the information I have is not as insignificant as you say. You can indeed send people to search for Jin Si, but the archives have a total of 21,600 books. Are you willing to waste so much time?"

"Then you guessed wrong."

Feng Ruan smiled, stood up and walked out: "Tomorrow at noon, the Ministry of Justice will proceed with the execution as usual."

The young eunuch put away his pen and ink and followed closely behind, his footsteps disappearing into the distance along the passageway.

"Click."

The first iron gate opened and then closed again.

Suhe gripped the straw mat beneath him, gazing in the direction the eunuch had gone. He opened his mouth as if to call out "Wait a minute," but swallowed the words back down.

The second iron gate made a muffled thud.

Suhe lowered her head, sweat dripping from her chin onto the back of her hand.

A few breaths later.

The footsteps returned.

Feng Ruan stopped in front of the prison gate.

"Come with us."