Chapter 16: Divide and Conquer (1), Section 56

  The prison cell of the Tingwei government office was actually Tianlao, which is equivalent to the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Punishment after the Tang Dynasty. Such prisons are generally heavily guarded. Guo Ding led Zhou Tianhai through several corridors, passing through layers of guards, before arriving at a stone room, which appeared to be where the prison guards rested. The prison head seemed to have known that his superior would come today and led several guards to stand here with great respect.

  Kuang Ding ignored them and continued to speak to Zhou Tianhai: "From the stairs of this stone room, it's the prison cell!"

  Zhou Tianhai followed Guo Ding's gaze and saw that in the northeast corner of the stone room, there was a large cave entrance with a winding stone staircase leading into it. However, due to the darkness, he couldn't see very clearly.

  Guo Ding finished speaking and was about to go down, but Zhou Tianhai said: "Lord Guo, can you please bring out your dog son? I won't go down then!"

  Kuo Ting was also a sensible person. Now that Chow Tin-hoi could only save one of his sons, what would his eldest son think? He was afraid that going down there would only add to the trouble, so he nodded and said, "Alright then!"

  After finishing speaking, he was accompanied by Lao Tou down the stairs.

  The dungeon was filled with thick dampness and a foul smell, but it wasn't as dark as imagined. On the outer wall of each cell, two torches were lit, making everything inside the cell clearly visible.

  Two men turned a corner and the jailer pointed to a cell ahead, saying: "Sir, Zhou Jinzhong and Zhou Jinping are locked up in that cell!"

  Guo Ding nodded and followed the prison head's pointing, coming to the outside of that cell. He saw two people lying motionless on the straw mat inside, as if they were dead. Guo Ding doubted: "Did you use torture on them?"

  The jailer shook his head and laughed, "Without the order of the superior, how dare we use corporal punishment privately? These two people have not eaten or drunk anything since they came in yesterday afternoon, I suppose they are too weak!"

  Guo Ding furrowed his brow, but looking at the bloodstains all over him, he could tell that he had indeed suffered a bit, although the injuries were not severe. These prison guards had used torture to extort money for their own use, and Guo Ding was well aware of it, turning a blind eye to it. However, this prison head was now brazenly telling lies, which made Guo Ding extremely displeased. His face sank as he ordered, "Get them up for me!"

  The boss kicked one foot on the big gate and roared: "You two get up for me!"

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