Talk about the world of mortals in detail

If it was someone else, the imperial envoy would have let his subordinates handle it, but Zheng Yiming, the original champion, decided to handle it himself to ensure everything was safe.

Not going to court, not having witnesses and evidence, and only interrogating in this prison, obviously everything was not in compliance with the rules, but it happened.

When the imperial envoy was interrogating here, the governor of Pingzhou and the examiners of the Imperial Examination Hall were in the corner of the cell not far away, just watching and listening from a distance, not showing up in front of Zheng Yiming.

When they heard Zheng Yiming's shouting and found that he actually knew that his paper had been replaced, both the imperial envoy and the officials in Pingzhou were throbbing.

"Nonsense, you deserve to be beaten--"

While the imperial envoy was shouting, officers and soldiers had already opened the prison door and walked in.

How could Zheng Yiming admit to such a thing of turning black into white, but people also knew that no one would admit to such a thing.

You have to give it a try to force a confession. Even though Zheng Yiming can do farm work at home, he is just a scholar after all. How can he withstand the torture of the police? He fainted when he was beaten with fists, feet and whips. If someone pinched his hand and made him sign, he would admit it.

"Hualala~" sound.

A basin of cold water came down, and Zheng Yiming shuddered. He was woken up again. He curled up slightly, looked at the officers and soldiers around him, and looked outside through the fence. He wanted to get up but was stepped on by someone.

"Zheng Yiming, you have signed and signed!"

Zheng Yiming was startled and looked up at the fence. Under the dim light of the lantern, his name was signed on the paper, and there was a handprint.

"I didn't sign, this is not my handwriting--"

"No, this is your handwriting, but I see that you are speaking so fiercely, it seems that there is something else going on?"

Zheng Yiming was slightly stunned, and his struggle was a little weaker, and the official outside took a step closer to the fence, squatted down and said to him.

"Maybe someone wants to frame you?"

Zheng Yiming just looked at the official without saying anything. This was also the first time he saw the official's appearance tonight. The other party looked solemn, and his eyes stared at him.

"The person who harmed you must have a great relationship with this case. Maybe it was the person who told you that the test paper was changed. He deceived you and asked you to report the cheating in the imperial examination. It was really killing someone with a borrowed knife! If you can explain the key points of this person, I promise that I will definitely clear your name."

Scholars, especially this kind of low-class young man, have no experience and are naive. Some of them are also daydreaming all day long. Whether it is good or bad, they will think to extremes, so they are easier to fool.

Perhaps if it was Zheng Yiming who had just come from Xiahe County to participate in the Autumn Examination, he would have regarded the words of the imperial envoy as a life-saving straw in his panic.

But Zheng Yiming today is not the Zheng Yiming of the past. He has read many books that ordinary Confucian scholars in Guiguo may not be able to see in their lifetime, including the books written by Chu Hang in the late years of Chengxing. At that time, Chu Hang was more enthusiastic and radical, and he treated people and officials in this way.

After seeing the official's seemingly serious face and hearing his words clearly, Zheng Yiming just maintained the posture of being stepped on, stunned on the ground, as if he was stupid.

The silence lasted for a long time, so long that the official outside changed his face and lost his patience. He sat back in the chair and looked at the jailer next to him.

"Torture, use the clamp!"

"Yes!"

Just now, I was just punched and kicked and hit with a few horse whips. Now I will really be tortured!

When the jailer came over with the clamp, Zheng Yiming was terrified, angry, but more of a sadness. Zheng Yiming's body was no longer being stepped on. He struggled to retreat, but he couldn't resist the crowd. All eight fingers except the left and right thumbs were tied to the clamp. "Torture!" The official outside said calmly, and the two jailers on the left and right immediately pulled the drawstring with all their strength. "Ugh--"

The pain came without any buffer, and Zheng Yiming screamed in an instant. As the jailer increased the force, the pain became more and more exaggerated.

"Ah--"

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

Zheng Yiming knelt on the ground and wanted to lie down, but his hands were bound by the clamps. He was twitching in pain, his teeth seemed to be bitten, and his body was completely wet with sweat.

"Are you going to tell me or not? I am the imperial envoy appointed by the emperor, representing the emperor. Your crime is presented to the emperor. Not to mention that the emperor will probably not even look at it, even if he does, he will just read it over. Tell me and you will suffer less!"

Zheng Yiming's face was pale, and he just looked at the official, but at this time he didn't make any sound. The jailers on both sides looked at each other and increased their force desperately.

"Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh."

At this moment, Zheng Yiming actually laughed miserably. The joy of truly understanding the sages' books and reading the strange books from Dayong completely disappeared, and the high-spirited and enthusiastic he once was was gone.

Zheng Yiming's miserable smile was so creepy that the people inside and outside the cell felt their scalps tingling.

"Increase the force! Increase the force!"

Hearing the order from the official outside, the two jailers' faces were twisted, and they leaned sideways and pulled hard.

Zheng Yiming couldn't laugh anymore, but his twisted face was still grinning, and tears flowed out of his eyes uncontrollably and flowed into his mouth.

Zheng Yiming's miserable smile was not just for himself, he was laughing at the imperial envoy and the court. He had no hope in his heart, and the Dagui court was already a swamp of mud.

The scholar fell down, and the two jailers subconsciously withdrew their strength.

"What's wrong?"

"Sir, he fainted."

"Then pour cold water on him to wake him up!"

"Yes!"

Someone brought another basin of cold water, but Zheng Yiming didn't wake up this time.

——

I don't know how long it has been, but the cell is already quiet.

Since the thunderstorm in the daytime, it has been cloudy outside. There is no light from the stars and moon at this time, even though the oil lamp in the corridor of the prison is the only light source.

At the ventilation window of the half-sunken cell, a cat sat there looking down. The person in the cell lay there motionless, as if dead, but his eyelids trembled a few times.

Zheng Yiming woke up from his coma, and the moment he regained consciousness, he felt a piercing pain in his hands. He just wanted to move his fingers, but the more severe pain almost made him faint.

"Hiss, uh, hoarse"

The finger bones may have been broken

Zheng Yiming's breathing was trembling. He didn't have much hope, and at this moment he was full of despair, but he was not only desperate for himself, but also for the court.

He thought of his own fate, nothing more than death, but what would happen to his mother after his death? No one would take care of her in her old age. As a mother of a court criminal, it is conceivable that no relatives would take care of her.

In the sadness, Zheng Yiming thought of Suping Inn again. The shopkeeper was smart enough, maybe everything would be fine, but when he thought of Ke Xiaofa, his heart tightened again.

This child is simple and kind, I don’t know if he will do stupid things. If he reports it, it will be right in his heart. He can only hope that the shopkeeper of the inn can find something wrong.

"It’s useless to think too much when you’re going to die."

Zheng Yiming murmured in self-mockery, but at this moment, a familiar female voice came from the cell passage.

"You won’t die!"

Zheng Yiming was slightly stunned, and he suspected that he had hallucinations, but in the quiet cell, the footsteps that followed were also very clear.

A white dress first appeared outside under the dim light of the fire. Zheng Yiming propped up his upper body with his elbows and arms, and saw Yu Xinmei appear a few steps away.

Yu Xinmei couldn't help showing up after all. No matter if he was a sword fairy or a big demon, I would not be afraid to fight with them if he really appeared.

"Miss Yu? You, why are you here?"

Zheng Yiming always thought that Yu Xinmei was not from Pingzhou and had left here long ago, but he didn't expect to see her again, let alone here.

"Mr. Zheng, I'm sorry that I sent the secret letter to the capital. I thought the court would thoroughly investigate the cheating in the imperial examination. I thought I could help you."

So that's it, so that's it.

Zheng Yiming felt complicated, but he also understood that the other party had good intentions, and he roughly guessed what kind of person the other party was. Who else could come to the capital to recommend secret letters and enter this prison?

"It turns out that Miss Yu is also a female hero in the rivers and lakes."

Yu Xinmei stood a few steps away from the fence, watching Zheng Yiming stand up with amazing willpower while enduring the pain.

"Well, Master Zheng, I'm here to rescue you!"

Zheng Yiming sat on the bed, smiling miserably and shaking his head.

"I'm already a wanted criminal of the court. They tortured me into confessing and slandering my crimes. Officials from top to bottom of the court are in collusion. Where can I escape? If I escape, what will happen to my mother? What about the people I care about?"

"Saving one is saving, and saving two, three, or even ten or twenty is also saving. I can save you and others!"

Zheng Yiming looked at Yu Xinmei. The chivalrous woman was full of passion and was happy to take revenge. She was indeed a person of the world, but the misery in his smile did not diminish.

"So what? Where can I go? What's the point of me living? The country is broken and the world is corrupt. I, a Confucian scholar, can't serve the country, can't build the country, can't save the dawn of the world. Where can I go?"

Yu Xinmei looked at Zheng Yiming and realized that his luck was broken. She clenched her fists.

"Why can't you go? You can go to Dayong. The strictness of the imperial examination in Dayong is not comparable to this broken place. With your talent, you will definitely be able to start over and be appreciated. As long as you have the ability, you may not be unable to serve as an official in the court!" Zheng Yiming smiled again. "Dayong has produced many talented people, and there are many heroes in several generations. It is indeed a good place. Even if it is thousands of miles away, it is not my home! The people of Dayong don't know that refugees are everywhere in the disaster of Guiguo, and they don't know that the people of Dagui are starving." Zheng Yiming looked at Yu Xinmei, and seemed to understand something in his heart. "Maybe Miss Yu came from Dayong and couldn't understand the suffering of the people of this land. You are a martial arts master and can come and go freely. If possible, help Zheng to say a few words to my mother and Xiaofa, which can also be regarded as a last word." Zheng Yiming already had the intention to die, which was the despair after the ambition to serve the country was shattered. Yu Xinmei couldn't stand it anymore. She stepped forward quickly and approached the fence. She stretched her hands into the fence and made a grab.

The next moment, there seemed to be a gust of wind in the cell. Zheng Yiming slid over uncontrollably. His collar was grabbed by Yu Xinmei's left hand. Before he could react, he was slapped hard on the left face.

"Pa~"

"Is the only way to save Liming from danger? The country of Gui is corrupt, so you can rebel - the refugees are starving and have no way to survive, and they are not afraid of death. Don't you, Zheng Yiming, want to live too? Why don't you fight?"

The slap was so powerful that Zheng Yiming was dizzy, but the deafening sound was still as clear as thunder.

"Buzz~"

A white light lit up on Zheng Yiming's chest, and the small sword that could not be taken off instantly shot towards Yu Xinmei who touched his body.

"Ding~"

Yu Xinmei's right hand grasped the flying sword, and the white light on the sword flickered, which also illuminated Zheng Yiming's face.

"Mr. Zheng! What you think may not be right, and there may not be only one way. Even if the road ahead is blocked, won't you open a way? Look, I am not a chivalrous man in the world. The wizard is right. I am a demon!"

"Kacha~" With a sound, the sword was broken by Yu Xinmei.