After being silent for a while, Jiang Ruan asked, âHave you been here for a long time?â
The woman saw that Jiang Ruan was willing to speak . On ordinary days, she was afraid she would get stifled and choked in this prison . Therefore, she immediately came clean and spoke, âI have been here for almost a year . And for more than half a year, not a single person has been brought in . Little girl, what have you done to be locked in here?â
Jiang Ruan smiled faintly, âI did nothing . â
âHow is that possibleâŚâ The woman was surprised . She wanted to ask more questions in order to understand the situation further . âIs it that you have also been wrongly accused ? When I look at you, you seem to look like the daughter of an influential family . How could they dareâŚ?â
Jiang Ruan looked at her . âWhat do you mean?â
The woman shrugged . âNo, nothing . â
Jiang Ruan sighed gently . The sigh contained her helplessness, as if she had experienced great grievances in life, as if there was a heavy load in her heart that made her feel immense sadness . The woman secretly looked at Jiang Ruan through the hair covering her eyes, and in seeing this, made Jiang Ruan smile . Her eyes were full of strength and warmth . They seemed to immediately make one feel comfortable around her . The person in front of her was clearly just a young girl like herself, however, she was full of a kind of charm and exuded an aura of enchantment that made it so that others couldnât help but look twice .
The girl swallowed . âYou are not aware, since you have just come . To get out of this place, you have to rely on silver . I was just an ordinary young woman and when I got married, my husband went to the sea on business . But, unfortunately, he met with some gangsters there and never came back . Only my mother-in-law and I lived together . Who knew that my husband had a brother⌠he had invested some money with my husband and one day when I was out of the house, he strangled my mother-in-law and then blamed me . The prefectural magistrate here was a muddle-headed official who had been bribed by my brother-in-law . I was forcibly taken to the prison and eventually had to confess under torture . Although I wasnât sentenced to beheading, I was confined to live in this prison for a long time . â When the young girl told her story, she appeared sad, but her voice was toneless . She didnât have any tears . She had been in the prison for a year already and her tears had already dried up . Although it was painful, she could only accept life as it was .
Seeing that Jiang Ruan remained silent, the girl slowly grew comfortable with her, saying, âBut, little girl, I see that you are different from me . Although your clothes donât look very good, I can see you are not an ordinary familyâs daughter . How have you ended up here?
Jiang Ruan smiled slightly . âEven a small family has its share of scheming and intrigue, so will a large and wealthy family lack those backyard politics?â
When the woman heard this, she felt that it was reasonable . Her gaze towards Jiang Ruan became more compassionate . âLittle girl, this prison is no better than the outside . I have lived here for a year . No one can stay here . Since both of us share the same cruel fate, it will be good to talk to each other often . My name is Shu Fen . You can call me Fen jiejie[1] . â
[1] JiÄjiÄ ( ĺ§ĺ§ ) â Elder sister; A girl friend who is almost a sister to you .
Jiang Ruan nodded, âFen jiejie . â She looked around, âHave all the prisoners here been wrongly accused?â
Shu Fen shook her head . âNot everyone, but the experiences of most people here are just like mine . Some of them are really guilty, but they donât have enough silver to bail themselves out . But anyone who is guilty of crime, yet possesses the monetary resources, will easily be able to get out . â
Qian Wan Li was the prefectural magistrate of this area . Jiang Ruan remembered clearly that this person loved money and was extremely greedy . Even with a dead goose, he would want to pluck off a few feathers to make profit . Over these past few years, there had been no lack of opportunity to fleece others . This time, he took Chen Zhaoâs money, but he really thought far ahead of Chen Zhaoâs means . Knowing her identity, he locked her up wanting to extort more money from Jiang Quan .