The sky darkened.

Iron chains dragged on the ground, producing a cold, harsh sound.

Chen Ji looked up. The main hall of the Imperial Inspection Office had a three-section facade, with a black plaque inscribed in gold characters hanging above the door, bearing the words "Bright Mirror Hanging High" in gold lacquer.

Dozens of candles were lit in the main hall, placed on bronze candlesticks, illuminating the hall brightly.

Chen Ji remained expressionless. The Qi family couldn’t wait any longer—they intended to conduct a night interrogation to solidify evidence against him?

Without waiting for someone to urge him, Chen Ji stepped over the high threshold. The iron chains clanged on the threshold, echoing in the vast hall.

At the end of the hall was a screen decorated with a drawing of the sea and the rising sun. In front of the screen were placed three judicial desks in a row, with three people sitting behind, all in red robes.

In the center was Zheng Zhixian, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, in his early fifties, with a square face and thick eyebrows, his lips slightly turned down. Chen Ji had seen him in front of Renshou Palace.

To the left sat the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, pale-faced and beardless, gently tapping his fingers on the desk, whom Chen Ji had also seen before.

To the right sat Chen Lizun, the Left Imperial Censor of the Imperial Inspection Office, his face as stern as iron.

Chen Ji’s gaze paused on Chen Lizun’s face for a moment before shifting away. On both sides of the judicial desk stood two rows of government officials, holding Water and Fire Sticks, their faces hidden in shadows, making their expressions unreadable.

Two government officials pushed him to a spot three zhang away from the desk, trying hard to press him down, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t get Chen Ji to kneel.

One of the officials raised a Water and Fire Stick to strike Chen Ji’s knee, but as Chen Ji turned to glance sideways, the official’s stick froze mid-air, not daring to fall.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice, Zheng Zhixian, unwilling to wait any longer, waved off the officials with a hand gesture: "Bring the signature and seal."

The trial by the Three Judicial Departments required the signatures and seals of the Ministry of Justice, the Dali Temple, and the Imperial Inspection Office to commence. An official presented a piece of Xuan paper in front of the judicial desk, where the Minister of the Ministry of Justice wrote down his name and stamped it with the official seal.

When the signature paper was handed to Chen Lizun, he hesitated to write: "A night interrogation is too hasty; it would be better to choose another day for the trial."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice turned to look at him, speaking calmly: "Mr. Chen, you and the suspect are close relatives of uncle and nephew. According to the Da Ning Law, you must immediately recuse yourself from any trial participation, review of documents, discussions of guilt, or signing. Violation results in forty lashes. Someone, call the Right Imperial Censor to sign."

The Right Imperial Censor emerged from the shadows of the back hall, appearing as if waiting for this moment. He took the brush from Chen Lizun and signed his name on the signature paper, affixing the official seal.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked towards Chen Lizun behind the judicial desk: "Mr. Chen, please?"

Chen Lizun’s expression fluctuated as he slowly rose from his seat. Yet, unwilling to leave, he stood silently watching from outside the main hall.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice waited no longer, striking the gavel on the desk: "Who is in the court?"

Chen Ji responded calmly: "Imperially conferred Viscount Wu Xiang, Spy Department’s Hai Dongqing, Chen Ji."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice struck the gavel again: "Do you plead guilty?"

Chen Ji looked towards the people behind the desk: "What am I guilty of?"

"What am I guilty of?" repeated the Minister of the Ministry of Justice, waving a hand towards the outside of the court: "Bring the witness."

A series of footsteps approached from outside the hall. Two government officials brought in a person, dressed in shabby prison clothes, disheveled, and limping.

He was brought to kneel beside Chen Ji, his knees hitting the blue bricks with a thud.

Chen Ji looked down.

She Dengke.

Chen Ji seemed a bit lost.

He had never imagined that their reunion would take place in such a setting.

He had envisaged that when they met again, he would be free of shackles, and She Dengke would have bought dozens of acres of good land for himself and Chunhua and would have a pair of children.

They could sit in the fields, reminiscing about the days at the Taiping Medical Hall.

But it was as if heaven was playing a joke on Chen Ji, dismantling all he cared about and laying it out before him, just to convey one thing: no matter how many miles he walked or how many buckets of water he carried, he could never return to that small Taiping Medical Hall on Anxi Street.

Chen Ji asked softly: "Did they beat you?"

She Dengke raised his head and met Chen Ji’s gaze for a moment, then quickly lowered his eyes, his body trembling slightly.

Chen Ji withdrew his gaze, looking up at the flickering candles in the hall, lost in thought: "Tell them everything related to me, so they won’t beat you again."

She Dengke remained dazed in place.

The voice of the Minister of the Ministry of Justice came from behind the desk: "Witness in the court, state your name."

She Dengke knelt on the ground, his voice trembling: "Commoner She Dengke, from Luocheng City."

"She Dengke," the Minister of the Ministry of Justice slammed the gavel on the desk, his voice suddenly rising: "Are you aware of the inner prison robbery case in Luocheng?"

She Dengke’s body trembled even more violently. He lay on the ground, his forehead pressed against the cold blue bricks, silent for a long time: "The commoner is aware."

...

...

She Dengke, still prostrate on the ground, stammered as he recalled: "The commoner was lying on the rooftop back then, and saw with his own eyes Chen Ji entering the inner prison."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice tapped a finger on the case file: "What happened after he went in?"

She Dengke tried hard to recall: "After he went in, we heard the copper whistle sound."

"Copper whistle?"

She Dengke’s voice was even lower: "It was the whistle blown by the prison guard. After the whistle sounded, people from all directions responded with whistles. Many Jiefan Guards rushed out from the alleys and headed towards the inner prison."

"And then?"

She Dengke hesitated for a moment: "Then Liang Gou’er started the action, he killed many people."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice asked gravely: "How many people did Liang Gou’er kill?"

"This humble citizen lost count."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice asked again: "After Chen Ji entered the inner prison, did you also go in? What did you see?"

She Dengke replied: "This humble citizen also went in, saw Chen Ji kill the prison guard, toss the cell keys to this humble one, telling this humble one to open the door and save Chunhua. He himself ran to the Princely Heir’s cell shouting something unclear, then went to Prince Jing’s cell, said something again unclear, I saved Chunhua and then escaped."

"And then?"

She Dengke lay prostrate on the ground, voice choked: "Then this humble citizen saw him come out from the inner prison, bringing the Princely Heir with him."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice asked no further questions. The testimonial evidence corroborated with the details at the scene of the crime that day, enough to convict Chen Ji of the crime of prison break.

The courtroom was silent for a long time, so long that Chen Ji thought they wouldn’t ask any more questions.

But at this moment, Zheng Zhixian’s voice sounded again: "She Dengke, after escaping the inner prison, who assisted you in leaving Luocheng City and escaping capture? Was it the legitimate daughter of the Zhang Family, Zhang Xia, who used the hand of the Buddhist Sect to get you out of the city?"

Chen Ji suddenly turned his head to look at She Dengke. He had just hinted at She Dengke to speak only about matters concerning himself, suggesting that She Dengke should not implicate others, surrendering himself alone.

This way, the Zhang Family wouldn’t be implicated.

But She Dengke had already been interrogated by the Qi family countless times and had long since implicated Zhang Xia.

This time, the Qi family was not only targeting him, but also the Chen family he was associated with, the Zhang Family associated with Zhang Xia, and the Eunuch Party of the Ritual Supervision linked to the Spy Department. Mr. Qi, upon regaining consciousness, had endured for a month, intending to use this incident to eliminate all political adversaries and establish power, so that no one in the world would dare to underestimate the Qi family.

She Dengke lowered his head, not daring to look at Chen Ji: "Yes, she arranged for us to hide behind the Buddha statues, carried by patrolling monks to Luocheng Tuoluo Temple, then we left through a secret passage, which led directly outside the city to Guangji Temple."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice looked up at the government official: "Where is the Zhang family girl?"

The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice outside the courtroom hesitated, eventually someone stepped over the threshold to report: "In reply to your lordship, we have searched the entire city for three hours, we first searched the Zhang Mansion, but could not find anyone, then searched inns and taverns in the inner city, also to no avail..."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice angrily said: "Dawdling, where is the person?"

The Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Justice bowed his head: "My lord, it’s as if Zhang Xia has vanished into thin air, no matter how we search, we cannot find her..."

Before he could finish speaking, a thunderous noise made the door of the Imperial Inspection Office burst open.

The three dignitaries in red robes behind the case file in the courtroom raised their heads to look, only to see a person draped in white, wearing a dragon-pattern mask, step across the threshold, walking unperturbed through the government officials towards the courtroom. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Behind him followed more than ten spies, among them Jiao Tu, Yun Yang, and Treasure Monkey.

Bai Long.

The crowd in the courtroom rose together, warily watching Bai Long step into the courtroom.

Before they could speak, Treasure Monkey signaled to the spies behind him, a woman’s voice beneath the wooden monkey mask ordered: "Bring a chair for Lord Bai Long."

The spies exchanged glances; in this courtroom, there were only four chairs, one for each of the three behind the case file, and one for the secretary.

Just as the spies planned to grab the secretary’s chair, Treasure Monkey pointed to the chair behind the Right Imperial Censor. A hoarse voice from under the mask ordered: "Bring that one for the lord."

Two spies rushed forward, pushed aside the Right Imperial Censor, and moved the chair to the lower part of the courtroom.

Bai Long lifted the hem of his clothing and sat down, the lamp continuously flickered, casting an unsteady light upon his dragon-pattern mask.

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice sat back down behind the desk, coldly said: "When did the Eunuch Party also have a hand in my inspection of the Three Judicial Departments? Tomorrow I shall enter the palace to submit a report against you."

Bai Long turned his head to look at him and said slowly: "Mr. Zheng, my Spy Department oversees all officials; naturally, I must come to see the Three Judicial Departments’ secret trials of our court’s nobles."

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice’s expression was gloomy: "Secret trials? The Ministry of Justice, Dali Temple, and the Imperial Inspection Office have all signed and sealed the documents, from where comes the notion of a secret trial?"

Bai Long unhurriedly said: "According to the Da Ning Law, any hearing by the Three Judicial Departments must be a ’public trial’ in the Ministry of Justice’s great hall, with the doors open wide to allow the common people to ’attend the trial.’ The decision on prisoners must be made before 1:00 PM, which is to ’punish people in the marketplace, discarding them with the crowd.’ Minister, if you don’t even remember this, how do you remain the Minister of the Ministry of Justice?"

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice showed hesitation.

Bai Long chuckled: "Mr. Zheng doesn’t remember? Da Ning Law, the criminal law section, article seventy-three, dictates that any major case hearing by the Three Judicial Departments must be conducted publicly in the Ministry of Justice great hall, starting after 5:00 AM and ending before 1:00 PM, allowing the common people to attend the trial. If violated, the case shall be re-investigated by the authorities, and the presiding officer shall be prosecuted for breaching regulations, with light penalties being a salary cut and severe penalties being demotion and punishment."

He pointed to the confession in front of the secretary, and Treasure Monkey understood instantly, fetching the confession and handing it to Bai Long.

Bai Long casually tore the confession in half, then stood up and asked: "Mr. Zheng, do you still want to submit a report against me?"

The Minister of the Ministry of Justice maintained a stern face and did not speak.

Bai Long led the spies, walking out as if nobody were around: "If not, then promptly transfer the case and witnesses to the prison of the Ministry of Justice. It will be tiring for you all to re-examine it tomorrow."