Reborn in Liangshan: I built the strongest lineup

"Hey~ Is anyone there? We've arrived to escort the prisoner!"

Ren Yuan and his group arrived near an entrance outpost on Shamen Island aboard a Pinghai Navy ship. Since getting to the island required crossing a cliff, they had to call for backup from the people inside the outpost.

This outpost was built on a cliff, almost at a right angle to the sea level. Ren Yuan searched for a long time but couldn't come up with a good way to get up there.

After Ren Yuan shouted at the top of his lungs for a while, a head popped out from the cliff and asked in the same loud voice:

"Where are you officers from? Who are you escorting?"

“We’re from the Jingzhao Prefecture! We’re detaining Pei Xuan, the former clerk of the Six Cases Bureau of the Jingzhao Prefecture! All the official documents are here! See? Didn’t you know that before?”

Ren Yuan shouted his reply, holding up an official document.

"Pei Xuan... there is such a person, but why are you so late!"

The people at the outpost still had some questions.

"We encountered Japanese pirates on our way here! Our brothers suffered heavy casualties, but luckily the Pinghai Army from Dengzhou passed by and rescued us! They lent us their boats and escorted us here! Look behind us, those are our Pinghai Army brothers, you should recognize that military flag, right?"

Ren Yuan put on a sad and helpless look and pointed to the Pinghai warships not far away.

"Brother, hurry up! After we hand this guy over, we want to go home too! This trip has been such a bad luck!"

Only then did the people at the outpost believe him.

"Okay, wait a moment! We'll open the door for you!"

The heads on the outpost quickly retreated, not giving Ren Yuan a chance to continue speaking. They could only wait, but they waited for a long time without seeing any movement from above.

Just as they were wondering if they had been exposed, a stone door on the wall at the bottom of the cliff was suddenly pushed open!

"There's actually a stone door here?!"

Ren Yuan and the others were shocked. "Holy crap, they've broken through the entire inner wall of the cliff? Is this prison hidden inside the island?"

"Come on! What are you standing there for? This is a long way to go, hurry up!"

The jailer who opened the door saw Ren Yuan and the others standing there motionless and quickly urged them on.

"Oh, oh, oh, let's go, let's hurry up."

Ren Yuan and his group immediately sprang into action, going all out with their act. Before leaving, they even called out to the large group of people not far away:

"Thank you, brothers of the Pinghai Army!"

Then he led Pei Xuan into the cave.

As soon as he entered, Ren Yuan noticed that the tunnels inside the mountains were indeed very well dug.

The tunnel is about 12 feet high and can accommodate four people walking side by side. There are torches to illuminate the tunnel every few steps.

Are all the people in your Jingzhao Prefecture this tall?

The jailer questioned Ren Yuan and others.

It's really rare to see so many people over eight feet tall serving as jailers at the same time.

Of course, it's also possible that I've been on the island for too long and the situation outside has changed.

“Hey, brother, let me tell you, we’re from the same village. Our village is known as the village of tall people for miles around. Everyone is born tall, and it’s shameful if you’re not at least seven feet tall. But back then, there was a disaster, and the village ran out of food. We’re all tall and strong, and we eat a lot, so we had no choice but to run away and try to earn a living in order to save some food for our families. Luckily, the prefect was recruiting people that year, so we all came in as jailers.”

Ren Yuan quickly chimed in, and his explanation was quite plausible.

"Yes, if it weren't for our eldest brother leading us out back then, we would all have starved to death. Fortunately, we have plenty of food in our mansion."

Mi Sheng quickly added to the list.

"Oh, you're also here because of the disaster? Me too, but I'm not as lucky as you. When I went to the government, I was directly assigned to this island, and I haven't been out for twelve years."

The jailer sighed.

"Brother, what's your surname? Where are you from? It's been so long since I've been back. Is there anything you'd like to say? If we're passing by after we're done with this business, we'll stop by your house."

Lin Chong told the jailer that this kind of behavior was common in the army and prisons, and his words gained the jailer's trust even more.

“My name is Shen Qing. I’m from Shenjia Village, Shouxian County, Haizhou. You can see that Haizhou isn’t too far from here, right? But all the prison guards on Shamen Island are replaced every twenty years. If you don’t get out in twenty years, you can’t leave. I don’t know what the situation is like at home now.”

Shen Qing sighed. Spending all his time holed up on the island and in the caves would accelerate aging; Shen Qing looked much older than he actually was. Whether he could even leave the Black Prison alive eight years from now was a question.

"By the way, this prisoner of yours is something else. He actually mobilized 50 people to escort him. What crime did he commit?"

Shen Qing glanced at Pei Xuan and suddenly became interested in this person.

"Hey, you tell us yourself. We've been escorting you all this way, it's exhausting. Tell everyone what you did wrong."

Ren Yuan gently kicked Pei Xuan, signaling him to speak on his own. This action made him seem more like a bailiff, which lessened Shen Qing's suspicions.

"Hmm, what's wrong? I'm not wrong, the ones who're wrong are those high-ranking officials! They're protecting each other, they're the ones who're wrong!"

Pei Xuan cooperated perfectly, immediately putting on an act as if he had suffered a great injustice!

"Don't shout. Everyone who comes to this Shamen Prison claims they've done nothing wrong and that they've been framed. Remember, only those with power and influence have the ability to frame others."

“You weren’t framed; you’re just not cut out for this job.”

"Always remember, Shangguan is always right. Even if Shangguan is wrong, it has nothing to do with you, so don't talk about him."

Shen Qing saw things very clearly. He could tell that Pei Xuan had probably offended someone, but he didn't expect that Pei Xuan was involved in a case that involved Shangguan's child. He had strictly judged the case according to the laws of the Song Dynasty. Shangguan went to ask for a retrial, but Pei Xuan refused. He then angrily confronted Shangguan in court, causing Shangguan to lose face. In the end, Pei Xuan was sentenced and sent away.

Ren Yuan added that they, as prison guards, had long heard of Pei Xuan's great reputation, which was why they didn't torture him on the way.

“You guys are really conscientious escorts. If it were anyone else, this brother might have died halfway there.”

Shen Qing looked at Pei Xuan and thought Pei Xuan was really lucky.

"The message I received is that Pei Xuan was disrespectful to his superiors, embezzled property, and even attempted to sexually assault the family members of his colleagues. He should have been executed in the autumn, but considering his previous merits, his sentence has been commuted to exile on Shamen Island."

"How dare you humiliate me like this, you scoundrel!"

Pei Xuan was furious when he heard this. These were all things that the official's son had done, but now he was being blamed for them all!

"Who told him to be the superior? He has power and influence, what do you have? The legacy of Bao Zheng? How naive."

Shen Qing shook his head. Having watched over the prison for twelve years, he had seen this kind of thing countless times.

"But don't worry, although your crime sounds intimidating, it's not anything particularly heinous. In the Shamen Prison, where the most heinous crimes are listed, you're the lowest-ranking criminal. You won't be subjected to any torture; you'll just be kept to do hard labor."

"Just manual labor? That's great!"

Ren Yuan was somewhat surprised. What happened to the Shamen Black Prison?

"Okay?" Shen Qing turned around and gave Ren Yuan a strange smile.

“Look at the tunnel under your feet. This is what the criminals dug with great effort. Many of them lost their lives while digging, and their bodies were simply integrated into this tunnel.”

"Now, do you still feel good?"