Chapter 102: Ways of the Imperial Prison

Lu Yang glanced back at the young man before following behind old Sun.

This prisoner had been brought into the Imperial Prison two days ago.

Unlike most of the people detained here, his clothes were clean, his hair was neatly arranged, and he did not appear particularly disheveled.

Even his expression carried a certain arrogance.

Lu Yang knew the reason, naturally.

The young man was the son of a prominent clan in the Imperial Capital.

Two days ago, he had gotten into a brawl with another young master at a restaurant over some unknown matter and beaten the other party up rather badly.

Consequently, he was sent to the Imperial Prison.

Such incidents were not particularly unusual.

The Imperial Capital was a place where influential families gathered, and their descendants were not always as restrained as their elders wished them to be.

When young masters from different clans gathered together, even a minor disagreement could escalate into a fight.

If the matter became serious enough, someone would inevitably be sent to the Imperial Prison.

Of course, there was another reason old Sun treated this particular prisoner so cautiously.

His family had sent more than a hundred taels of silver to Prison Supervisor Wen Fanghong.

This was not a bribe, at least, that was not how such matters were described.

The family merely wished to ensure that their son would not suffer unnecessarily during his stay in the Imperial Prison.

They wanted him to receive proper meals, avoid unnecessary trouble, and be treated according to the rules.

As long as their requests did not violate the prison’s regulations, the relevant personnel would naturally do their best to accommodate them.

After all, the Imperial Prison was not the Heavenly Prison.

It was primarily responsible for ordinary criminal cases, disputes, fraud, and the temporary detention of individuals awaiting further investigation or transfer.

Not everyone imprisoned here was a hardened criminal.

Some were merely unlucky, while others had offended someone they should not have offended.

And some, like the young man behind them, had simply caused enough trouble to require their families to intervene.

Lu Yang had already grown accustomed to such incidents.

In fact, they were one of the reasons why a position in the Imperial Prison was considerably more lucrative than its official salary suggested.

The official salaries were not particularly impressive.

The Prison Supervisor received one hundred taels of silver each month, each Prison Warden received twenty taels, a Guard Leader received five taels, and an ordinary prison guard received merely one tael.

In Great Qian, one tael of silver could support an ordinary family of four living in the Imperial Capital for approximately a month, provided they did not live extravagantly.

Thus, an ordinary guard’s salary was already sufficient to sustain a modest livelihood.

However, the people working in the Imperial Prison were not ordinary civilians.

Most had cultivation backgrounds or connections that allowed them to obtain such positions.

Their expenses were often higher than those of an ordinary family, and their ambitions were not necessarily limited to living comfortably.

Besides, who would complain about earning more money?

Whenever a wealthy family sent silver to ensure that their detained relative received proper treatment, the money would be distributed among the relevant personnel.

The Prison Supervisor received his share, the Prison Warden responsible for the prisoner’s direction received another portion, and the remaining amount was distributed among the Guard Leader and the guards responsible for that particular lane, according to the circumstances.

The distribution was obviously not equal.

The higher one’s position, the greater one’s share tended to be.

A family sending a hundred taels did not mean that every person involved would suddenly become wealthy, but such incidents occurred frequently enough to provide a substantial supplementary income.

Once every two or three days was not unusual.

Even in a month that was not particularly prosperous, a Prison Warden could earn more than a hundred taels from such arrangements.

Compared to the official salary of twenty taels, the difference was considerable.

Lu Yang initially found this somewhat amusing.

After all, when he first learned about the Imperial Prison’s salaries, he had wondered why anyone would be willing to work here for such modest compensation.

He understood the answer now; the official salary was merely the foundation, the real income came from the circumstances surrounding the work.

Of course, there was a distinction between accepting money to ensure that a prisoner was treated properly and accepting money to violate prison regulations.

At least, that was the distinction the Imperial Prison maintained.

A wealthy family could request better meals, more attentive supervision, or protection from harassment by other prisoners.

However, they could not simply pay to have their child released, conceal evidence, or interfere with an investigation.

Those were entirely different matters.

The former was an arrangement that everyone tacitly understood, but the latter could invite serious consequences.

After all, the Imperial Prison was ultimately under the authority of Great Qian’s Imperial Court.

Even the wealthiest clans in the capital had to exercise some restraint.

Lu Yang did not particularly concern himself with these matters.

He was not naive enough to believe that every institution could operate without any unofficial arrangements, nor did he consider every such arrangement inherently unacceptable.

As long as the prison’s fundamental order remained intact and no one was allowed to disregard the law entirely because of their wealth, he saw little reason to interfere.

Besides, he was merely an ordinary prison guard. There was no need to concern himself with matters beyond his responsibilities.

"Old Sun, how many prisoners like him do we usually receive in a month?"

Lu Yang asked casually as they continued walking.

Old Sun glanced at him.

"People from influential families? Quite a few."

He stroked his beard and thought for a moment.

"It depends on the season. Sometimes there are only a handful. Other times, several arrive within a few days."

He paused before adding, "The Imperial Capital is large. There are always people who believe their family background will protect them from the consequences of their actions."

Lu Yang nodded.

That was hardly surprising.

In a place like the Imperial Capital, there were too many powerful families and too many people who had grown accustomed to getting what they wanted.

Some were genuinely talented cultivators, some relied on their elders’ authority, and some possessed neither ability nor influence of their own, yet still behaved as though the entire world owed them something.

The Imperial Prison inevitably encountered all three kinds.

"Still," Old Sun continued, "as long as they haven’t committed a serious crime, we simply have to perform our duties. There’s no need to make things difficult for them."

Lu Yang agreed.

Old Sun had worked in the Imperial Prison for decades. His understanding of human nature was considerably more practical than that of many younger guards.

He knew when to be strict and when to be accommodating, and he also understood that a prison guard’s responsibility was not to satisfy his own temper, but to maintain order.

If a prisoner could be managed through a few polite words, there was no reason to resort to force.

But if a prisoner violated the rules, his background would not excuse him.

Such principles were simple, yet not everyone could follow them consistently.

Lu Yang quietly committed the lesson to memory.