Chapter 1266: The Scapegoat

Dawang was a bit dazed when he was suddenly moved from a four-person cell to a single cell.

Before he could figure out what had happened, Chen Guanlou appeared outside the cell door.

"Do you want to die?"

Dawang shook his head repeatedly; even ants cling to life, let alone a human. "Brother Lou, I don't want to die; I want to live."

"As a small pawn, you don't have the qualifications to negotiate terms. However, there is a way to let you live, but you'll have to suffer a bit. Don't think about being acquitted; that's impossible. The best result is exile to the Northwest. With the Marquis there, you can also get along swimmingly in the Northwest."

"I'm not afraid of exile, as long as I can live. Brother Lou, tell me what you need me to do, and I will definitely cooperate."

Dawang looked at him with a steady expression.

These days, he had also thought it through; his family couldn't help him and might even drag him down. Even though they lived on the Marquis's territory, the Marquis definitely wouldn't exert effort for a small character like him.

The only person he could count on was Brother Lou.

It's just exile; as long as he's alive, there's hope.

Chen Guanlou told him to get closer and told him the preliminary plan.

Dawang was left speechless, unable to believe it. He never imagined that the respected Brother Lou would play such a wild game.

This place, the Heavenly Prison, was indeed full of talent.

"Will this work?" He was very uneasy.

"That's why I'm telling you the plan. The premise for this to succeed must be willing cooperation. If there is even a hint of disloyalty, mistakes could occur midway, and we could be caught by others. If you don't have confidence, we'll drop this plan right here."

"No, I have confidence. It's just, who would be willing to accept immediate execution in my place?"

"Of course no one is willing to die for you. But, if he was already going to die, and you give him some benefits, naturally he would be willing. To prevent the Ministry of Justice from coming to interrogate you later, both sides need to cooperate and exchange information."

Do the acting thoroughly.

He wasn't like that bunch of blockheads from the Six Shanmen, where finding a scapegoat was full of loopholes and they ended up getting caught.

The plan was preliminarily set.

Chen Guanlou began to scout for candidates in the C-grade prison.

Dawang had a common face; finding a double was both difficult and easy. After searching for a while, he finally found a suitable one in the depths of the prison.

The case file recorded that the prisoner's name was Shi Youcai, who had some family assets and a beautiful wife. His beautiful wife was insulted and committed suicide. He changed his name and surname, sold himself as a servant, and sneaked into the enemy's house. It took him two full years before he finally caught an opportunity to kill his enemy with his own hands.

He had been brought in five years ago; logically speaking, a life for a life, he should have been beheaded long ago.

However, the victim's side wanted him to suffer, to make his life worse than death. First, they got Shi Youcai into the Imperial Prison, where he almost died inside.

Later, he was transferred to the Heavenly Prison, and every few days he still had to go to the torture room to be punished.

After several years, except for his face, there wasn't a single intact spot on Shi Youcai's body.

Why was his face left untouched? It was said it was to see his complete expressions, to watch him wail in pain, angry and hateful, yet helpless. If his face were injured, they wouldn't be able to see it.

What a perverted hobby!

Fortunately, his face was preserved, and like Dawang's, it was a common face. With a little grooming, one couldn't say they looked exactly alike, but at least they could muddle through, especially with those Ministry of Justice officials who weren't familiar with Dawang.

"Do you want to die?" Chen Guanlou asked directly, his question a bit explosive.

Shi Youcai was like a stone man, not reacting for a long time.

"I'll let you die, rescue your children, arrange a place for them, and let them study. Do you want to die?"

The stone man finally had some reaction, his eyes trembling slightly. But his body seemed stiff and numb; after a long while, he slowly raised his head, opened his mouth, and revealed a tongue that had lost its tip.

The tip of his tongue had been cut off to be used as a side dish for wine.

The reason they didn't pull the tongue out completely was because the victim's side still wanted to hear his painful wails.

With a section of his tongue missing, his speech was a bit slurred, "I want to die! Can you let me die?"

As his body moved, the iron chains on him rattled. Just listening to the sound, one knew the chains were heavy; it was hard to imagine how much weight a person locked up for years had to bear, and how difficult every day was.

"I can let you die, beheaded on the execution ground; do you dare?"

"I dare! But the Shi family won't let me die so easily."

"Don't worry about the Shi family. This is the Heavenly Prison; I have the final say."

Shi Youcai was suddenly confused, "Why are you willing to help me? My family is already broken and dead; I can't give you any benefits."

Chen Guanlou chuckled, "Because I want to save someone, and you will die in that person's place."

Oh!

"If I die, how will you answer to the Shi family? And how will the person you want to save escape?"

"You don't need to worry about these things; I have my own ways."

Let Shi Youcai replace Dawang; Dawang didn't need to exchange with Shi Youcai. He was going to exchange with another prisoner. The case wasn't that big; it could be a death sentence or exile. With just a little maneuvering, he could add 'Dawang' as an accomplice to the case file and have him exiled together.

Fish him out?

Acquitted?

Let's not talk about whether it could be done.

Even if it were done, Dawang would have to live under an assumed name.

The group of helpers he was with all died, but only he survived. If any family member of a helper saw him, Dawang would definitely die, and it would implicate the Heavenly Prison.

The best way was to leave the capital. Then, under another name, be exiled to the Northwest and mix with the Marquis in the army to earn military merit. It was just suffering a bit on the way to exile. Once he reached the destination and hugged a big thigh, he could live a good life again.

He didn't prepare an extra corpse to replace Shi Youcai.

Shi Youcai was covered in wounds, and a section of his tongue was missing; he couldn't find a suitable replacement.

Just flatly deny everything.

He didn't believe the Shi family dared to deal with him.

The Shi family was indeed remarkable; the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice was a student of the Shi family. This was also the reason why Shi Youcai hadn't died for so many years and had to go to the torture room from time to time.

But the Marquis's Mansion wasn't bad, and a Ninth-Rank warrior wasn't bad either.

As for Vice Minister Shi, Chen Guanlou didn't want to pay him any mind at all. Sun Daoning, the Minister of Justice, wasn't just for show either!

"Can you really save my son and daughter?"

Shi Youcai was miserable; his whole family was implicated by him, and they were all miserable.

His parents had passed away, and his married sisters were abused by their in-laws; one had already died. There was one left, and she wasn't far from death.

A pair of children had been sold to brothels. Fortunately, they were young and hadn't had the chance to receive guests yet. Currently, they were in training and doing hard labor.

"Of course! I never speak empty words!"

"Good, I promise you, I will die in someone's place on the execution ground. Anyway, I haven't wanted to live for a long time. But I have one request: before I die, I want to see my children."

"No problem, then it's settled. Follow my arrangements later; do whatever I tell you to do, say whatever I tell you to say, and don't cause any extra trouble for me. If you pull any tricks midway, your children will return to that filthy place and never be able to escape for the rest of their lives."

"I will definitely cooperate with all my might, I speak no lies!" ===== CHAPTER 1267 =====