Guanshan Muyu

chapter 39

Xia Hongxi ran out in a panic.

Xia Xing, already shackled, saw him and screamed, begging for help.

“Father! Help me! Father! The Court of Judicial Review prison is not a place for a human being, you can’t let them take me away!!!”

Xia Hongxi rushed to the official and hurriedly said.

“My son has always been a decent and obedient man, a dedicated official, how could he have committed a crime? There must be some misunderstanding! Please look into it!”

The young official stood solemnly and said indifferently: “I am only doing my job in an impartial manner, so please do not interfere with it, Lord Xia. Moreover, the arrest of Xia Xing was ordered by His Majesty, does Lord Xia want to disobey it?”

Xia Hongxi hurriedly explained: “I dare not! It’s just that… What crime has my son committed? Please, Young Master Official, explain!”

With a cold snort, the young official read out the imperial decree to him.

“Xia Xing, while administrating water transportation, used his power for personal gain, making secret profits and enriching his own pocket.”

When Xia Hongxi heard it, his face turned pale and he could not speak for a long time.

The young official closed the imperial decree and asked him:

“Does Lord Xia have any objections?”

Xia Hongxi’s lips trembled: “This, this…”

The young official turned around sharply.

“Take Xia Xing to the Court of Judicial Review!”

The prison cell of the Court of Judicial Review was cold and gloomy; it did not even have any bedding, just a few clumps of straw scattered on the floor.

The straw was many years old and had long since dried up, making it painful to lie on it.

Occasionally, rats squeaked and scuttled in the straw. Who knows what those rats had eaten here, but they were all shiny and glowing, much fatter than the prisoners.

Before Xia Xing came in, he could not have imagined that there were still such dilapidated places in the capital.

It was also the first time he had seen such big rats, and at first, he took them for weasels.

The rats were not afraid of people, and when they saw a new prisoner, they came up to him and kept sniffing him.

Terrified to death, Xia Xing jumped up and cowered in the far corner of the cell.

When he stepped there, some bugs scattered and fled, a scene so horrible that Xia Xing felt his scalp go numb. For the first time in his life he burst into a scream, clutching his head and rushing to the bars, shouting:

“Help! Let me out! Help! There are rats in here! There are rats!”

No matter how loudly he cried out for help, no one outside the bars paid any attention.

Determined, he shouted again:

“Aren’t you going to interrogate me? Let’s do it now! No need to torture me, I’ll tell you anything! I’ll tell you all the bad things my father has done if you let me out!”

Still no one responded.

This was the Court of Judicial Review’s method of interrogating prisoners.

When a prisoner was first sent to jail, there was always a slight chance that if he refused to confess, or if his family on the outside made some moves, he would get out unscathed.