The swansong of the swansong

Chapter 221 Same people but different fates

Yinyou entered the prison with only one main purpose: to see Zhang Tingzan's condition.

When Yinyou saw Zhang Tingzan through the wooden fence, Zhang Tingzan was reading by candlelight at night.

Well, the Zhang family of Tongcheng is indeed a family with a long history of learning.

Let alone anything else, just talking about the art of remaining calm in the face of danger, the imperial tutor Zhang Ying taught it very well.

To be honest, even with Yinyou's enormous power, he could not publicly kill Zhang Tingzan.

After the Qing army entered the pass, the emperor's family had an unwritten tradition not to execute the imperial tutor and his descendants.

For example, after Cixi took power again, she dismissed the imperial tutor Weng Tonghe from his post and never reappointed him, and sent him straight back to his hometown in Changshu.

However, although he was not executed, Weng Tonghe was treated humiliatingly and was handed over to local officials for custody.

They were handed over to local officials for management, which meant that they had to report to the county government regularly and report their latest ideological developments to the county officials.

For general detention, one only needs to go to the county government office once every three to five days.

Weng Tonghe was different. He went to Changshu County Government Office every day.

This is somewhat similar to the situation where minor criminals have to report to the street justice office every day.

This is a great shame for the imperial tutor who once held great power and caused Li Hefei great headaches.

However, as long as he was in the Infantry Yamen, Yinyou had a way to kill Zhang Tingzan without leaving any trace.

Zhang Tingyu endured for several days, but recently he could not hold on any longer, so he came privately to ask for an audience with Yinyu, for he was afraid that Yinyu would secretly poison Zhang Tingzan.

The logic is simple: Kangxi would not kill his son. Moreover, Yinyu made minor mistakes but never made major mistakes, so Zhang Tingyu had no way to deal with Yinyu.

If Yinyou secretly killed Zhang Tingzan and became a mortal enemy of Zhang Tingyu, Kangxi would only favor Yinyou more.

Don't let my close ministers conspire against me. This kind of imperial mentality will never go out of style!
Yinyou stood there for a full half a quarter of an hour, but Zhang Tingzan kept holding the book in his hand, reading intently without distraction.

In the Qing Dynasty, there was a huge difference between a high-ranking official going to jail and a commoner going to jail.

Take Zhang Tingzan for example. The cell where he was imprisoned not only had a heated kang, but also a kang table and candles, and even writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone on the table.

In addition, there are all kinds of books, teapots, teacups, pillows and bedding.

However, the only slightly sad part is that there is a red painted toilet in the corner of the wooden fence.

Even though it was a red lacquered toilet and had a wooden lid, Yinyou could still smell the distinct smell of urine and feces because the prison was extremely poorly ventilated.

After all, we are here to go to jail, not to enjoy life, so there will always be some inconveniences.

Yinyou knew what was going on and Zhang Tingzan was just pretending to be calm.

Because, when Yinyou came in, in addition to Longkodo, there were also officials of all ranks who were in charge of the prison.

The noisy footsteps and the clash of the sheaths on the guards' waists made an alarmingly loud noise in the closed cell.

Zhang Tingzan, there’s no way he couldn’t hear it!
"Old Long, interrogate the Censor first!" Yinyu turned around and instructed Longkodo.

"Yes." Longkodo bent down and agreed very readily.

Not long after, the Censor Zhan Fang was brought before Yinyu.

"I, the guilty subject Zhan Fang, pay my respects to Prince Yu!" Zhan Fang bowed deeply to the ground, being very polite but not overly scared.

Yinyou knew that Zhan Fang was Wang Xun's disciple.

If the Han officials in the court want to get promoted, they must find a backer.

Among the Han officials, the disciples of Cabinet Grand Secretary Wang Fan and Li Guangdi lived a comfortable life under the protection of the big tree.

"Zhan Fang, you are responsible for supervision, but you sit back and watch unworthy students cheating secretly. Do you know your crime?" While Yinyou was asking the question, the scribe sitting in front of the small table was writing furiously, doing shorthand work.

Zhan Fang cupped his hands and said, "If you're talking about the crime of negligence, Zhan cannot escape the blame!"

In the Qing Dynasty, the most a person could do for negligence was dismissal from office. After a few years, when the storm had passed, as long as Wang Fan was still in office, Zhan Fang would be reinstated.

To be honest, the Qing officials who had strong backing were not particularly afraid of the so-called punishment of dismissal.

Yinyu sneered: "Is it just a mistake?"

Zhan Fang heard the hidden meaning of Yinyu's words, and his face changed. He said with all his strength: "The court will make the final decision!"

Yinyou nodded secretly. Officials with strong backing always speak with confidence.

"Lao Long, starve him for a few days to clear his head!" Who is Yinyou? Is it necessary for him to get entangled with a mere Zhan Fang?

"Well." Longkodo accepted the order and thought to himself what a pity.

Because Mrs. Zhan's family was very rich, they secretly gave Li Si'er a lot of money and asked Long Keduo to take care of Zhan Fang so that he would not suffer too much in prison or even die inexplicably.

Yinyou sat in the signing room in the prison and interrogated the officials who were involved in supervising the examination one by one.

The Shuntian County Examination fraud case was actually not complicated at all.

If a substitute test-taker had the ability to sneak into the examination room, it must be because someone among the officials supervising the examination room had accepted bribes.

However, these people had just been imprisoned for a short time and were still counting on their supporters outside to find ways to rescue them.

So, when Yinyou asked them, no one admitted to being involved in cheating.

Yinyou deliberately did not investigate further and just asked them to sign and seal their confession.

After all the evidence was in hand, Yinyu asked Zhang Quan, the chancellor of Shuntian Prefecture who was in charge of supervising the exam: "You know, if you cheat in the exam, you probably won't lose your head. But the crime of deceiving the emperor is different!"

What Yinyou said was absolutely right, and Zhang Quan's face changed immediately.

It's like, the Lighthouse President Zipperton, the affair he had with a female intern in the White House was nothing at all.

However, Zipperton blatantly lied during the congressional investigation, which is a serious matter.

Yinyou’s meaning is very clear. Zhang Quan, now that you do not admit to participating in the cheating, I will believe you for now.

If, in the future, it is discovered that you accepted ill-gotten gains and were involved in this, and you have a personal confession to prove it, then that would be deceiving the emperor!
However, Zhang Quan is not a pushover and he has a strong backer.

"Replying to Prince Yu, I have indeed not participated in cheating." After Zhang Quan said this, Yinyou waved his hand and had him taken away.

"Prince Yu, please take a break. Dinner is ready." Longkodo really wanted to curry favor with Yinyou, so he secretly ordered a large table of delicious dishes.

"Don't drink." Yinyou stared at Longkodo and made a request.

"All is up to you." As long as Longkodo could keep Yinyou for dinner, it didn't matter whether he drank or not.

When Yinyu walked into the canteen of the Jinjun Yamen, he was shocked by what he saw!
Wow, the huge round table was filled with delicacies from land and sea, especially the rare bear paws, which there were actually several of.

As we all know, bear paws are difficult to taste.

There is a trick to stewing bear paws, which is to soak the bear paws in honey water for a few days. Then, when cooking, apply a thick layer of honey on them, and cook the bear paws with wine, vinegar, and water. The bear paws will swell to the size of a ball and will be easily cooked soft.

If you don’t use honey, unless you use a pressure cooker, you won’t be able to eat it no matter how many days you simmer it.

Yinyou came at short notice, and Longkodo certainly could not stew the bear paw in a short time.

So, Longkodo, I’m afraid you often eat bear paws, right?

In the Qing Dynasty, as long as there was bear paw at the banquet, it was considered a top-notch treat!

(End of this chapter)