Yu Tangchun's Misfortune in Hongdong County

"Yu Tang Chun's Misfortune in Hongdong County"

is a particularly popular opera, and almost every opera fan can hum a few lines of the aria about Su San's release.
Su San, wearing shackles, is a deeply ingrained image of a tortured beauty. As a lowly prostitute, Su San suffered greatly in her wrongful imprisonment. Just a few lines from her aria during the joint trial, recounting her torture in Hongdong County: "First forty strokes of the cane, several whips broke, a prisoner shouldn't confess, but the merciless finger-crushing torture is unbearable!"

These lines vividly depict the cruelty of her torture. The phrase "whips broke" is an exaggeration used in the opera; whips, of course, cannot be broken. However, under the dark prison system of the time, the inhuman suffering she endured in Hongdong County as a helpless and stunningly beautiful death row inmate was far more than just the caning, whipping, and finger-crushing torture she received in court before sentencing. The cruelty she suffered could be considered a culmination of ancient Chinese SM, and is thus narrated in several chapters of a classical novel for the enjoyment of fellow enthusiasts.
The first chapter, the confession in the courtroom, depicts the gruesome scene: Yu Jie, subjected to various tortures
and shackles in the dark prison, is subjected to the tyranny of the evil jailer

. Meanwhile, the magistrate, having received three thousand taels of silver from Pi, is only interested in obtaining Su San's confession to close the case. The next day, court convenes early, and

Yu Jie is interrogated. The entire court has obtained eight hundred taels of silver from Pi. As Yu Jie is brought before the steps, the bailiffs' command of authority is like a thunderclap, terrifying Yu Jie so much that her legs give way, and she stumbles on the steps, nearly falling to the ground.

She sees the bailiffs lined up neatly on both sides, their hands firmly gripping the red and black torture sticks, their eyebrows raised and eyes blazing, behind them large signs reading "Silence" and "Avoidance," creating a scene reminiscent of the solemn court of Yama. Yu Jie kneels before the judge's table, but Pi is nowhere to be seen, and her panic intensifies.

A gavel slammed open in the courtroom, and the magistrate roared, "Su San! If you don't confess today, the law will not spare you!"
Yu Jie lowered her head, pondering how to respond, but the magistrate gave her no chance to argue. He reached into the bamboo tube, pulled out a slip of paper, and threw it to the ground: "Come! Give this little whore thirty strokes of the cane!" Yu Jie cried out her innocence, but no one paid her any attention.
Several fierce-looking bailiffs then came and began to manipulate this captivating beauty. In an instant, the bailiffs had her firmly pinned to the cold stone floor.

Lying on the stone, Yu Jie felt her white gauze skirt being torn off, and felt something hard pressing against her buttocks. Turning her head, she saw that the bailiffs had placed two bamboo canes, each at least three fingers wide, against her buttocks, ready to strike.
Yu Jie had often been beaten by the madam in the brothel for Wang Gongzi's sake, but the girls there were usually beaten with thin rattan canes or small leather whips; she had never been subjected to such a frightening beating.

Panicked, Yu Jie raised her delicate neck and cried out to the court, "Your Honor, have mercy! Allow this humble woman to plead her case!"
The magistrate ignored her, but slammed his gavel and roared, "This shameless prostitute doesn't need any trousers to cover her shame. Besides, her slutty ass is used to being beaten in the brothel. Today, we must strip her of her trousers and give her a good beating so she'll know what's what!"

Which of the bailiffs didn't want to see Yu Jie's snowy buttocks and fragrant skin?

Having received this order, they hurriedly began to tear off Yu Jie's purple silk trousers. They also pulled off her close-fitting light red undergarment, dragging it down to her knees. Yu Jie's snow-white, rounded buttocks and two smooth, silky thighs were completely naked, laid bare.

Although Yu Jie came from a brothel, she had never been so humiliated in front of so many people.

As she frantically tried to grab her undergarments, the constables grabbed her hands and feet, pulled her hair, and straightened her body. A large stick was firmly pressed against her slender waist.

Two constables swung their paddles on either side, striking Yu Jie's bare buttocks hard. The bamboo paddles made a series of crisp cracking sounds as they struck her flesh. One constable loudly counted the blows, and Yu Jie's screams echoed throughout the courtroom.
Red welts appeared on Yu Jie's bare buttocks from the first ten blows, turning her buttocks purple. Then, they continued to strike her two alabaster-white thighs.

The constables, having received their money, were determined to torture Yu Jie even more. They used new bamboo boards that had been soaked in a chamber pot for days, and the beatings were brutal, directly on her flesh. How could Sister Yu endure it?

She felt both ashamed and wronged, and the excruciating pain of each stroke was

like having her flesh torn apart; her suffering was unbearable! Sister Yu's desperate screams gradually turned into low, mournful groans. Her body writhed like a fish, the delicate skin on her buttocks and thighs twitching and trembling.
After twenty strokes, her legs were covered in bruises, so they began beating her buttocks. The already bruised skin began to ooze blood with each blow.

At this point, Sister Yu no longer cared about shame; she just writhed wildly, her bare, bloodied buttocks throbbing, screaming herself hoarse. After thirty strokes, Sister Yu's clothes were soaked with sweat, and her buttocks and thighs were completely devoid of healthy flesh.

After the beating, the bailiffs hastily helped Yu Jie put on her undergarments and dragged her up from the ground. Poor Yu Jie's legs were so badly injured she couldn't move an inch; she lay curled up and prostrate before the table, trembling with pain. Her once beautiful black hair, pulled and tangled from the bailiffs' tugging and her struggles during the beating, snaked across the blue brick floor of the hall, rising and falling with her gasps and groans. After catching her breath, Yu Jie began to sob uncontrollably.

Seeing that she didn't defend herself, the magistrate assumed she was afraid of being beaten and shouted, "Do you know how severe official punishment is now? Confess quickly, or you'll be tortured again!"

Upon being questioned, Yu Jie kowtowed repeatedly, crying, "I am utterly innocent! The noodles were made by the mistress, who brought them to me to eat. I didn't eat them, but the master ate them and died. Why didn't you ask the mistress about the reason, but only tortured me? How can I explain myself!"

The magistrate roared, "You little slut, what a sharp tongue you have!" "I found a packet of arsenic in your room! It's clear you deliberately refused to eat it when the madam was down there, poisoning the master and framing her! You still dare to deny it? You'll be subjected to severe torture!"

Yu Jie recounted, "When Master Shen bought me, the madam tricked me into going to the temple to burn incense, robbed me on the way, and brought me straight to Hongdong County. I came here empty-handed and have never been to the streets. If she says I poisoned someone, where did the poison come from? Isn't this a case of wrongfully killing Su San?" She cried again.

The magistrate, seeing that she had been beaten but still spoke fluently and without a trace of confusion, hated her to the core. Determined to close the case as soon as possible, he slammed his gavel repeatedly, saying, "Stop your sophistry! Not only were there physical evidence found in your room, but there were also witnesses. Do you think I'm afraid you won't confess? Bring his maid to confront him and see if you still dare to deny it!" He immediately summoned Qiu Lan from Pi's room to the court.

Qiulan was a maidservant brought by Pi from her maiden home, so naturally she would testify however Pi wanted her to.
She knelt beside Yujie in court and said, "Little Aunt, look at the bloodstains on your trousers! It terrified me! Why suffer like this? That day, I peeked through your window and saw you put something in the noodles. You didn't eat it yourself, but took it to the master's room. If you didn't poison the master, who else could it be? Little Aunt, it's better you confess now. You'll suffer less punishment, and I won't have to endure so much filth in jail with you."

Seeing Qiulan testify, Yujie understood that Pi had framed her. Overwhelmed with anger and bitterness, she was speechless for a moment. Seeing that Yu Jie was speechless, the magistrate pounded his gavel repeatedly: "The evidence and witnesses are all there! Does this little shrew still dare not confess?"

Yu Jie, however, didn't know why Pi Shi had killed Shen Hong to frame her. She only asked Qiu Lan, "Sister Qiu Lan, I, Su San, have no grudge against you in this life or the past. You're falsely accusing me of murdering my husband. Aren't you afraid of going to the hell of having your tongue pulled out?"

The maid dared not look at her again, muttering, "Auntie, I saw what you did with my own eyes. You can't deny it!"

Seeing that Yu Jie still refused to confess, the magistrate roared, "You shrew! You must have been beaten into a lowly thief in a brothel, still asking for a beating! Come on, put this little whore on a rack and give her a hundred lashes! Will she still dare to talk back?"

The bailiffs then set up the scales in the center of the hall. One of them took two leather whips from the torture chamber and threw them onto the stone floor. Yu Jie couldn't help but glance at the whips; they were long and black, much longer than the whips used on the girls in the courtyard. A small iron ring was embedded at the end of the handle, and a red silk cord was attached to the joint between the whip and the handle. A bailiff brought over a bucket of well water and soaked the whips in it. Several bailiffs worked together to strip Yu Jie of her apricot-red blouse and white crepe undergarment, leaving

her only in a pink silk undergarment. Yu Jie's fair and smooth back was completely naked, and half of her round and glistening breasts were exposed. Yu Jie felt extremely ashamed and tried to struggle, but after the torture, she was already limp and unable to move an inch.

The bailiffs dragged Yu Jie to the rack, spread out her two fair and delicate arms, and tied them to the crossbar with leather straps. They rolled up her trousers above her knees and made her kneel bare-kneed on a frame made of round logs. A thick hemp rope was then tightly bound around her waist to a pillar, causing her breasts to bulge out from under the crossbar and on either side of the pillar. A bailiff pulled her long hair, which had been draped over her back, down to her chest.

The magistrate ordered, "This little shrew is tolerating torture and denying her crimes; she must not be spared! Interrogate her carefully, but don't let her faint, and certainly don't kill her by accident. She must confess to poisoning her husband, so that this wicked whore can suffer the agony of being skinned alive!"

A bailiff in charge of the torture rolled up his sleeves and picked up a leather whip from a bucket. He stared at Yu Jie's slender, fair upper body for a moment, then stretched the whip a few times before striking her left and right. Short, sharp whistles and the woman's pitiful cries echoed through the hall.

Purple-red welts appeared on Yu Jie's fair, delicate back. Yu Jie threw her head back and forth, screaming incessantly. The whip, soaked in cold water, struck her naked flesh like burning fire and being cut by knives, the pain piercing to the very core! The bailiff in charge of the punishment was clearly skilled at whipping female prisoners; each lash was neither too fast nor too slow, yet each one was vicious.

In the yamen, whipping was mainly applied to the prisoner's back, also known as "beating the back flowers," but the bailiff deliberately lashed Yu Jie's ribs from time to time, so that the whip tip would fall on her prominent breasts, making Yu Jie's screams all the more piercing.

Yu Jie's body was bound, and unable to bear the pain, she struggled and twisted desperately, even causing the frame to creak. Her feet rubbed wildly on the round wooden base of the balance frame, causing one of her small, pale yellow, soft-soled embroidered shoes to slip off and fall to the ground.
The bailiff, a seasoned executioner, only recognized money; he had no pity for her. No matter how pitiful Yu Jie's cries were, the executioner remained merciless.

The lashes in the courtroom were not counted; the degree of punishment was entirely at the discretion of the officials. After about twenty or thirty lashes, the bailiff, fearing she might faint, temporarily stopped to allow her to catch her breath.

A nearby constable used a ladle to fetch some well water from a bucket and splashed it on Yu Jie's face to sober her up. The magistrate, annoyed that she continued to cry out her innocence without confessing, ordered the lashes to continue. A different constable was then assigned to administer the punishment, and another leather whip, soaking in the bucket, was taken and the lashes resumed.

It was nearly noon, and the area in front of the courthouse was crowded with men and women watching the trial. The news spread like wildfire, and everyone wanted to see the beautiful face and fair skin of this stunning prostitute bought from the Hundred Flowers Brothel in the capital. The crowd gradually crowded into the courtyard inside the gate. Sunlight streamed into the hall, shining directly on Sister Yu. Sweat glistened on her back, bruised and battered from the whip, a horrifying sight!

Sister Yu, stretched taut on the rack, endured the lashes not only on her bare back, but also on her buttocks and thighs, raw and bleeding from the blows, the pain excruciating with every twist and turn! She knew that if she confessed to poisoning Shen Hong, she would be sentenced to death by slow slicing. Therefore, she preferred to die under the whip rather than suffer the inhuman agony of being slowly sliced to death with a stigma.
Sister Yu gritted her teeth and endured the beatings. The executioners changed three times, and cold water was poured over her head several times, yet she couldn't die even if she wanted to. Her back was covered in purple welts and bloodstains, and the back of her trousers was also stained with blood. Yu Jie felt as if all the tendons in her body had been pulled out; she had no strength left, and her vision blurred with dizziness.

Hearing the magistrate press her for a confession, she steeled herself, mustered her last breath, and cried out, "Su San, I'm innocent! I'd rather die quickly than confess!"

The magistrate flew into a rage: "This little whore is so resilient! Bring the bar and press her down hard!" Seeing her still stretched taut on the balance beam, her calves smooth and white, he slammed his fist on the table and ordered the bailiffs to bring the bar to press down on her calves.
This was a common form of torture used in the yamen, known as "pressing down the bar."

The clerk in charge reported, "Your Honor, this little bitch is truly wicked. After all, those thin little legs can't withstand much pressure. Breaking her bones and tendons wouldn't be a pity, but if she were killed, Your Honor would be implicated and it would hinder your career. In my humble opinion, we should just give this bitch a good beating and she'll confess."

The magistrate knew this clerk was experienced and said, "As you wish." He ordered the bailiffs to take Yu Jie down from the rack. She was still bare-backed and shirtless, and then they ordered her to be tortured. He instructed the executioner

, "Don't torture her until she's unconscious. If she doesn't look well, loosen the torture. If she doesn't confess today, watch out for your dogs!"

The bailiffs obeyed and forced Yu Jie to kneel on the ground. Then another bailiff brought a pair of red-lacquered hardwood finger-crushing instruments from the torture chamber and threw them onto the stone floor in front of Yu Jie with a "thud!" Yu Jie shuddered; she had heard of the instruments' power.

The county magistrate shouted, "Initiate the torture!" Several bailiffs came over, grabbed Yu Jie's hands, and slipped the finger-crushing instruments onto her slender, onion-like fingers.

Yu Jie wept uncontrollably, pleading, "This humble servant

is innocent! I beg Your Honor to have mercy and spare my life!

I beg you, officers, to have pity on me!" One of the officers sneered, "With your soft little hands, how can you withstand such torture? I have pity on you, and I'll give you a piece of advice: confessing will only lead to death, but if you don't confess, the torture will be worse than death. Why suffer such torment?"

Yu Jie sobbed, saying pitifully, "I am truly innocent! I would rather die than confess!"

The two officers in charge of the torture had both received money from Pi Shi, and the county magistrate had ordered that anyone who couldn't confess would be punished with a beating. Although they saw Yu Jie crying like a pitiful child, they hardened their hearts and were determined to be ruthless.

Seeing that she still refused to confess, they immediately shouted and pulled up the thin hemp rope, tightening it twice. Yu Jie's face turned pale with pain, her body twisted wildly, and she screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

The bailiff loosened the ropes again, letting her catch her breath slightly, and asked again, "Will you confess or not?"

Seeing that Yu Jie didn't confess, they tightened them again, and another series of screams erupted in the courtroom. Finger-crushing was a form of official torture specifically used on women in court.

As the saying goes, "the ten fingers are connected to the heart," and when a woman was subjected to finger-crushing, she would soon be drenched in sweat from the pain, her muscles trembling uncontrollably, until she fainted. Fainting was considered a relief, because according to court rules, if a prisoner fainted twice, the punishment would be changed or the trial would be postponed.

Therefore, this method of tightening and loosening the ropes intermittently was the most unbearable, truly a state of being unable to live or die. There is a song that specifically describes the suffering of women subjected to finger-crushing:

Pain! Though the hard wooden stick is thin, it is clamped between the delicate hands, the jade wrists raised high, the hands dangling in the air.

Pain! The hemp rope tightens, the slender hands tremble wildly, the hair disheveled, the peach-blossom cheeks turning white and then red.

Pain! Cherry lips uttered a mournful groan, her waist twisted like a willow swaying in the wind, her delicate neck

arched back like a drawn bow. Pain! Tears streamed down her face, her bound feet twitched frantically, her slippers slipped and loosened.

Pain! Her delicate body trembled like a leaf, her body drenched in sweat, as if a knife were piercing her heart and lungs, causing her soul to crumble!

Lianyu suffered even more than described in the song, soon urinating, her trousers soaked. The stains made the wounds on her legs from the beatings burn even more intensely, becoming increasingly unbearable! Lianyu's slender fingers could not withstand the cruel officer's repeated tightening and loosening.

Overwhelmed by pain, she pleaded, "Ah! Please have mercy! Kind brother, please stop torturing me! You've wronged Su San, it's an injustice!"

Yu Jie was forced to kneel during the torture, her knees pinned down by bailiffs, her arms gripped tightly, rendering her completely immobile. In excruciating pain, she could only twist her waist. Her desperate struggles offered no relief. Each tightening brought a piercing agony, her head snapping back, her beautiful hair soaked with sweat and clinging to her face.

Not only was Yu Jie's face covered in sweat and tears, but her pink bodice was also soaked, clinging to her chest, accentuating her shapely figure and alluring curves as she struggled. But the more she struggled and screamed, the more leisurely the bailiffs seemed, tightening and loosening the torture ropes as if taking pleasure in tormenting her.

The men and women watching the interrogation seemed to feel their breathing become heavier; the more timid ones turned away, trembling uncontrollably.

This torture continued for half an hour, yet Yu Jie remained unyielding and refused to confess. The magistrate grew even angrier: "This little bitch being tortured! Give her a good beating, beat her to death if she doesn't confess!"

The executioner fixed the finger-crushing ropes, and a bailiff used a cleaver to strike the ropes, lightly and heavily.

At first, each strike pierced her heart and lungs, then it seemed to penetrate her very brain! How could Yu Jie endure such pain?

Her lower body twisted and writhed on the bluestone ground, crying out, "Heavens above—! Su San is innocent—save me—!" But her voice grew hoarse from screaming, and no divine intervention came.

Only the hard-hearted bailiff continued to mercilessly strike with the cleaver.

Yu Jie was half-conscious from the pain, yet unable to die, she could no longer endure it and could only beg for mercy: "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! I'll confess! I'll confess—!"

Seeing Yu Jie plead for a confession, the magistrate still didn't order the torture to stop.

Slamming his gavel, the magistrate demanded, "You little harlot, what do you confess to?"

Yu Jie cried out incoherently, "Poisoning! Poisoning!"

He then asked who she had poisoned, and Yu Jie cried, "Poisoning Master Shen!"

The magistrate asked, "Who poisoned him?"

Yu Jie cried out again, "Don't strike! It was me who poisoned him!"

Only then did the magistrate order his men to stop the torture. The finger-crushing torture device remained clamped to Yu Jie's hands.

Yu Jie pleaded for mercy again, and the magistrate asked, "You little whore! Now that you've confessed, do you dare to recant?"

Yu Jie cried out, "I dare not!! Please, Grandfather, have mercy on me!"

The magistrate ordered his men to loosen the clamps. As soon as the clamps were loosened, Yu Jie felt a sharp pain in her eight fingers, which had been clamped for so long, and almost fainted.

Seeing that Yu Jie had confessed to poisoning, the magistrate pressed her for the source of the poison. After much deliberation, Yu Jie could only offer a flimsy excuse: "When I stayed at an inn on my journey, I stole arsenic used to poison rats."

The magistrate immediately ordered a clerk to write a confession, which Yu Jie was to sign in court.

As the clerk began writing, he hesitated for a moment, then reported, "This confession must include a section explaining why the poison was used; it must be detailed to meet the proper format." The magistrate then pressed Yu Jie for answers.

Yu Jie said, "He colluded with the madam to force me into prostitution, and I wanted to kill him to vent my anger!"

The magistrate said, "Nonsense! You are a prostitute; selling your smiles is your duty. That Mr. Shen paid three thousand taels of silver to buy you; you're doing him a favor. And you hate him? Do you have another lover? Quickly confess the truth!"

Yu Jie thought to herself that since she was already facing a death sentence, she absolutely could not implicate the young master Wang and ruin his reputation.
He had no choice but to fabricate a story: "This young woman truly does not wish to sell herself to old man Shen Hong as a concubine. Poisoning him will allow her to find another way out. Even returning to the brothel would be more enjoyable than spending every night alone with a boring old man."

The magistrate, wanting only her confession to poisoning her master, didn't question her further. He ordered the clerk to quickly write a confession and have Yu Jie sign it.

Pitying her for the torture she had endured, her body covered in wounds, she crawled before the table, her hands, bruised and bleeding from the knuckles, trembling as she pressed her fingerprint onto the confession. She wept uncontrollably, nearly dying from grief!

The magistrate then ordered the bailiffs to drag Yu Jie to her knees, put on a robe and shoes, and sentenced her to death by a thousand cuts. Only a review and approval from the Ministry of Justice were needed before Yu Jie was to be executed in Hongdong County.

"Official, the death by a thousand cuts is the most severe form of execution. A female prisoner like Sister Yu, who murdered her husband, would be stripped naked, bound hand and foot, mounted on a wooden donkey, paraded through the four gates, and then taken to the execution ground to endure the excruciating pain of being slowly sliced to death thirty-six times. After

signing her confession, Sister Yu's slender body seemed to deflate, collapsing to the ground. Hearing the words 'death by a thousand cuts' in the magistrate's verdict, she shuddered, cried out in a hoarse voice, 'Heavens—!', and then collapsed unconscious.

Although the yamen runners in the courtroom had all received money from Pi Shi, seeing Sister Yu, a beautiful young woman, suffering such severe torture, having already confessed and knowing she was innocent, they couldn't help but feel some pity for her.
Only the corrupt magistrate, who only cared about money, had a heart of stone and no longer pitied Sister Yu. He even ordered someone to light paper wicks and burn them into Sister Yu's nostrils."

They woke her up with the smoke and then, according to the law, nailed Yu Jie to the cangue before sending her to the county jail.

Under the Ming Dynasty's criminal law, the cangue worn by condemned prisoners was five feet long and three feet wide, weighing forty pounds.

Yu Jie, already severely tortured, was about to be put in the cangue; how could she possibly bear it? Her hands, already bruised, couldn't hold the cangue, and even the bailiffs hesitated to nail it on for her. They propped the cangue's ends on the ground to lessen her suffering. The corrupt official, however, was furious that Yu Jie hadn't confessed under torture and was determined to further torment her.

He declared, "According to the prison regulations of this dynasty, serious offenders wearing cangues must have chains added to them; this is a fixed rule for condemned prisoners. This little harlot is so despicable; she cannot be spared any longer." Another

ten pounds of iron chains were added to the cangue. With this heavy cangue around her neck, and injuries to her back, buttocks, and legs, Yu Jie was unable to exert any strength; how could she possibly stand up? The poor yamen runners carried her, her body dangling in mid-air, dragging her feet, half-dead, into the county jail.

This young woman, Yu Jie, in the bloom of youth, with her delicate and frail body, suffered torture and was forced to wear heavy shackles. In Hongdong County, she received no aid to heal her wounds. Being imprisoned only prolonged her life; how could she not die? How could she later be transferred to Taiyuan, where she met the young master Wang at the provincial court to plead her

case and have her grievances redressed? The reason, however, was the severe corruption in the prison system during the late Ming Dynasty, a deeply entrenched malpractice that ironically saved Yu Jie's life. At that time, corruption was rampant in the government offices. Prison chiefs and officials in charge of the jail extorted prisoners for their own enrichment. The wealthy could only afford to pay for temporary comfort in prison, while the poor suffered even more. Female prisoners suffered even more, as they carried a genital organ that they couldn't remove even while imprisoned. Any young woman with a bit of beauty inevitably used her genitals as a form of payment.

Especially in county prisons across the country, even if the county magistrate was extremely upright, he couldn't possibly guard the prison day and night himself. Therefore, many county prisons' women's cells secretly became brothels for female prisoners to sell their bodies. Whether they were clerks or runners in the government offices, or ordinary people, those who knew how to patronize women could pay half the fee of a brothel to bribe the jailer and the matchmaker, and they could also have a beautiful female prisoner for a night of pleasure. The women's prison in Hongdong County was such a place.
The old woman in charge of the women's prison in Hongdong County, Niu, had been managing the prison for many years and had amassed a considerable fortune by selling the female prisoners' bodies. Yesterday, when Yu Jie was detained in the official room, she had seen her. This old woman had never seen such a beautiful woman before. She quickly inquired about her background.

The court hearing was about to begin and she knew that Yu Jie was sentenced to death. How could she let go of the opportunity to make a big profit from Su San? Moreover, Pi's lover, the student Zhao Ang, was well aware of this kind of corruption and coveted Su San's beauty. He was just waiting for Su San to be released from prison so he could come and patronize her.
Although Pi had given him an additional two hundred taels of silver to bribe the prison guards, intending to manipulate things and report Yu Jie's sudden death after her release to prevent any future reversal of the verdict, he secretly planned to have his fill of Yu Jie before making his move. So he hid the two hundred taels of silver in his own home.

Since the jailer hadn't received the silver, she was naturally focused on taking good care of Yu Jie and making a fortune for her. It was a stroke of luck that Yu Jie survived.

Now, Yu Jie was brought into the women's prison. As was customary, she first knelt in the torture chamber to await the head jailer's judgment. The torture chamber was extremely gloomy, with torture implements and various instruments scattered on the walls and floor.

Yu Jie had regained some consciousness by this time, and seeing these things used to torture prisoners filled her with immense sorrow. Unable to kneel due to the heavy shackles, her buttocks involuntarily slumped downwards. As soon as she sat on her heels, the pain jolted her upwards, and she groaned incessantly. The old woman saw that although Yu Jie had endured half a day of torture and looked haggard, her delicate beauty was still undeniable. Her sweat-drenched cheeks were exceptionally radiant and captivating.

He thought to himself, "I've been in this prison for years, and I've never seen such a beautiful young girl. She's truly a money tree fallen from the sky. Besides, she used to be a prostitute, so I don't need to bother training or guiding her; I can make money right away. It's just that the torture in court was too harsh. I must take good care of her so she can recover as soon as possible and start making money."

Having made up his mind, he pretended to subdue Yu Jie, pointing at her and cursing, "You vicious little bitch! Now that you're in my hands, I'll naturally make you suffer! And

you're still putting on airs, whining and moaning. Who will pity you? I think you..." "When she was a prostitute, she naturally saved up a lot of money. Now, instead of using it to support her mother, she'll get a beating first!" Upon hearing that she was going to be beaten again,
Yu Jie's eyes immediately filled with tears, her body trembling. She pleaded, "Good Mother, I pity Su San's injustice! Although I had some jewelry and ornaments, they were all taken by Madam Pi before we were brought to the authorities. In Hongdong County, Su San has no relatives or friends, and has no money or possessions to offer Mother. Please, Mother, have mercy on me, a dying woman, and spare me this beating!"

As she spoke, she clasped her mangled hands together and bowed wildly, filled with utter despair!

The old woman retorted, "If I were to pity you, would I starve? Every prisoner who enters jail pays his dues and gets beaten every day. How could I break the rules here for you? Quickly take off your pants, don't trouble yourself!"

Yu Jie sobbed as she hurriedly tried to untie her belt, but her eight fingers were so swollen she couldn't bend them, how could she possibly untie it? The head jailer, Niu Shi, impatiently ripped the belt off and pulled down Yu Jie's inner and outer pants together. Yu Jie's buttocks and thighs were covered in welts from the beatings, there was nowhere left to beat her.

She clicked her tongue and said, "Tsk tsk tsk! This tender skin has been beaten like this, it's quite pitiful. Well, I see your clothes are made of good material. You're a prisoner waiting to be tortured, you only deserve to wear prison clothes. When you're about to be executed, you won't even be allowed to keep your undergarments. Just use these clothes to pay your prison allowance. I'll suffer a loss, but consider it accumulating good karma."

When Yu Jie heard that she could be spared the beating, she was greatly relieved. She then used the flattering words and tricks she was used to as a brothel madam to fawn over the old woman.

Wanting to please her, she said, "My hands are injured from being tortured, so I can't take off my clothes. Since you care about me, Madam, please take them off for me and change me into prison clothes."

Madam Niu stripped her of her clothes and underwear, saying, "You've been beaten like this; you really can't wear clothes anymore. If you listen to me, you must endure ten days to half a month of nakedness while applying medicine and recuperating. That will help you heal faster. It will also make it easier to relieve yourself." Yu Jie, naked, though heartbroken, forced a smile and agreed.

Madam Niu was determined to help Yu Jie recover quickly. If she wore heavy shackles and could only sit all day, how long would it take for the injury on her buttocks to heal? So, she secretly removed Yu Jie's shackles, took her to the backyard, and made Yu Jie struggle to crawl through a doorway only half a person's height into a prison cell with stone walls on all sides. There was only a small ventilation window high up, letting in some light through the iron bars. This was the female death row prison in Hongdong County.

The cell contained only a wooden tub for relieving oneself and a straw mat covered with a tattered straw. Yu Jie crawled in, lay naked on the mat, and could no longer move. Fortunately, the prison guard on patrol was unwilling to enter this death row cell; he simply told the jailer that Su San was recuperating inside and didn't bother with whether she was in shackles or not.

Niu Shi brought a jar of ointment and had two of her jailer women apply it to the wounds on Yu Jie's back, buttocks, legs, and hands. This ointment was a proven remedy for torture injuries, and thanks to it, Yu Jie suffered less after the severe punishment. In addition to the usual prison food, the jailer provided her with some more palatable soups and vegetables, allowing her to recover. Furthermore, she could relieve herself in the cell, and since she was free of all shackles, she could take care of herself, so she didn't suffer too much. It was the beginning of summer, before the heat and humidity arrived and before mosquitoes appeared, so even though Yu Jie was naked, the night wasn't too cold. This was the blessing of Heaven that allowed Sister Yu to recover after her punishment.

The medicine was remarkably effective; after five or six days, Sister Yu was able to put on her prison clothes and get up and move around. The wooden tub that was originally meant for the female prisoners on duty to carry out for washing was now being used by Sister Yu herself after ten days, allowing her to go to the toilet without the tub. In less than half a month, the scabs had all fallen off. Madam Niu ordered two prison women to fetch water for Sister Yu to bathe. Sister Yu's body, which had endured the beatings and whips, was still smooth and lovely, with only a few faint scars. The swelling on her hands had also subsided, but the purplish-black bruises on her knuckles were not easy to fade. A poem testifies to this:

"A spring onion is wounded at the root, purple marks intertwine, a silent lament for the injury.

How many tears are stained on the bamboo, one knows that the beautiful woman has been through the ordeal."

The prison woman was already seven or eight parts happy to see her recover so quickly and was even more eager for her to return to port as soon as possible. That day, she was summoned to the torture chamber again, and the jailer said, "I secretly removed my shackles to heal your wounds, and I've been under immense pressure these past few days. Now that your injuries are mostly healed, I have no choice but to punish you according to the law."

Yu Jie, being so obedient, readily complied with the jailer's instructions to put on the shackles and chains. The jailer, worried that her delicate skin would chafe her neck and make her look bad, prepared an old shawl sewn from lint for her to place under the shackles, and also brought her a pair of old cloth shoes to wear.

Sister Yu wept and said, "Su San has such a tragic fate, suffering this terrible calamity! Fortunately, she has such a kind old woman taking care of her. I cannot repay her in this life, but I will repay her even if I am reborn as a cow or a horse in the next."

The old woman said, "The next life is all meaningless; what you need right now is money. The medicine I gave you is expensive, but your blood-stained clothes are actually worthless. Besides, if you are made to eat the moldy and stale rice in this prison, how can you recover? I want to treat you well, but I am just a poor old woman and can no longer afford to. In two or three months, you will have to go to the neighboring county for a retrial." If you want to clear your name, you must recant your confession. But in a case like yours, even if you don't, no matter which county magistrate you're in, you'll still get a severe beating, and they'll definitely strip you naked. You'll be beaten until your skin is torn and bleeding, and then you'll have to be put in shackles on the way—how can you endure that? You'll inevitably have to bribe the executioners before the trial to ask them to show leniency. After the trial, you'll need to be given good medicine immediately to prevent further injury on the way—that would be the worst possible ordeal. Even if I don't ask you for a single penny, if you don't have some money on hand, you won't be able to get there in time. "If the Taiyuan Prefecture judges, my life will be in danger."

Yu Jie was naturally frightened upon hearing this and said, "These past two days, when I went out to relieve myself, I saw female prisoners in the women's jail without shackles. Some were washing clothes, some were doing needlework, saying they were doing jobs they got from outside. I, Su San, was sold into a brothel when I was young, and all I've ever learned is playing musical instruments and dancing. I don't know any needlework. If you have pity on me, Madam, please allow me to be unshackled for a few hours a day so I can do some washing work and earn some money to support you." Madam

Niu laughed and said, "Foolish girl! Even if I take the blame, I'll make you suffer every day..." "Washing clothes, how many coins can you earn in a day? I'm afraid you wouldn't even earn half of the medicine you need for these few days, even if you rode the wooden donkey to the execution ground! I'm thinking of your best course of action; after all, using your body for some legitimate business is the best course of action! Do you think the women in prison only work during the day to support their mothers? At night, they all have to take off their pants and sleep with men they've taken a fancy to. You're the top courtesan in the capital; wouldn't it be much easier for you to make money than for them? Otherwise, what else can I use to support you?"
Hearing the old woman's tone, Yu Jie was being asked to work as a prostitute. Poor Yu Jie, though a prostitute, was a devoted lover who remained chaste for Young Master Wang; how could she possibly do such a thing? She simply lowered her head and remained silent.

Seeing her displeasure, the jailer's face hardened. "I'm doing this all for your own good! Don't be so ungrateful! All this coyness and affectation. Do you think you're some kind of virtuous woman trying to build a monument to your chastity? I've been too good to you these past few days, spoiling this little slut so much that she doesn't know what's good for her. Go to the jail, sit in your shackles all night and think it over. I'll have your answer tomorrow." She then used a rattan cane to shoo her into the waist-high opening.

Wearing the long cangue, it was Yu Jie's first time crawling through this hole. She was beaten more than a dozen times before finally stumbling through. Once inside the cell, she leaned against the stone wall, propping the front of the cangue on the ground, forcing her to kneel and sit, her hands gripping the sides of the cangue. It was truly unbearable, and she couldn't sleep all night.

The next day, the jailer came to inspect the cell with the guards. The jailer's wife reported to the jailer, "This Su San, sentenced to death by dismemberment, is very unruly. Sitting in the cell, she constantly cries and shouts for justice, begging Your Honor to punish her severely so she will behave."

Without allowing Yu Jie to explain, she was dragged to the women's exercise yard, turned over with the cangue, and made to lie face down on the blue brick floor. Several guards pulled Yu Jie's bright red prison trousers down to her calves. Prisoners had no underwear, so Yu Jie's recently healed buttocks and thighs were once again completely naked.

The jailer ordered, "Give her twenty strokes first!" The caning in the cell used thick, finger-sized brambles.

The jailer held Yu Jie down, and Niu Shi personally began whipping her, pulling up the back of Yu Jie's prison clothes above her waist. Yu Jie's bare buttocks and thighs were struck twenty times with a wicker whip, leaving prominent red welts.
Niu Shi then forced Yu Jie to pull up her trousers and kneel, stripping her of her bright red prison clothes, leaving her shirtless, and adding another twenty lashes of rattan on her back. The rattan was thinner than the wicker, but the pain was excruciating, turning her bare back into bright red welts.
Yu Jie knew the jailer was angry at her for disobeying, but dared not argue. She could only cry out in pain and beg for mercy, shouting, "This prisoner will never do it again!" Only after the beating was finished were she dressed and taken back to the cell.

She was forced to sit on the stone floor, her buttocks on the ground, legs outstretched. Her two tender, lotus-root-like calves were bound in footholds, the front edge of the cangue pressing against her knees, causing her legs unbearable pain. The welts on her buttocks and legs were pressed against the stone floor, intensifying the pain! She sat there until it was almost dark when the jailer came to check on her.

Yu Jie dared not utter another word of protest, only weeping, saying, "This prisoner will never do it again! Please, Mother, forgive me this time!"
The woman surnamed Niu only wanted to test Yu Jie's spirit; she wasn't in a hurry for her to agree to serve customers. Seeing that it was almost dark, she came and removed Yu Jie's shackles and leg irons, letting her lie face down on a mat to rest. She then instructed another prison woman to light a lamp, applied medicine to the bruises on Yu Jie's buttocks and back, and gently advised her to obey the jailer's wishes. Yu Jie silently wept without saying a word.
The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, Niu again brought two prison women to the cell, stripped Yu Jie naked from her prison clothes, put her back in shackles, and drove her out of the cell.

She was pushed into the courtyard, her legs bound, and forced to kneel on a thick iron chain. Addressing the other female prisoners in the cell, she said, "This death row inmate, since entering prison, hasn't paid me a single penny! From today onwards, I will make her experience a different punishment every day, setting an example for those who don't pay their dues!"

She knelt until the prisoners were allowed fresh air, by

which time Yu Jie was drenched in sweat. Her delicate, pink knees were mottled with bruises, and the midday sun made them burn, making the pain even more unbearable. By noon, Yu Jie could no longer endure it; her vision blurred, and she collapsed by the well. Only then did Madam Niu remove the leg shackles and have two prison women help her up and feed her some rice gruel.

Yu Jie's starry eyes widened slightly, tears falling onto the blue brick floor. She pleaded with the jailer, "Though I've fallen into prostitution, since Young Master Wang from Beijing came to my brothel, I've only shared a bed with him, never with any other client. Since he spent thirty thousand taels of silver on me and was about to return to Nanjing, I vowed to remain chaste for him, waiting for him to achieve success and come to Beijing to fetch me. But the brothel madam tricked me, selling me to Master Shen as a concubine. For over a month since I bought her, she hasn't let her near me. Now, though I face death, I only hope to remain chaste for Young Master Wang. Please, Mother, grant my request!"
The jailer sneered, "This is truly a case of a prostitute wanting to erect a monument to chastity!" "You'll live at most another year or two. That young master Wang is thousands of miles away, and who knows when he'll pass the imperial examinations? You'll never see him again in this life. You say you want to repay that young master Wang's kindness by remaining chaste for him, which is quite a show of loyalty. But don't you consider that I just saved your life? Shouldn't you repay me? —Starting tomorrow, I'll use your body to set an example for those ungrateful women in prison who still don't know how to repay their kindness! Don't blame me for being heartless!"

Yu Jie cried, "I only beg you, Mother, to grant my request. I'll accept whatever punishment you give me!"

From then on, the jailer, along with two other women, dragged Yu Jie out of the death row every day to the courtyard to torture her. This was exactly the method used by brothel madams to attract customers. As long as she suffered, her appearance wouldn't be ruined, and she'd have few scars.
For several days in a row, in front of all the female prisoners in the cell, Yu Jie, naked from the waist down, was subjected to one cruel torture method after another by the vicious jailer. On the first day, Yu Jie's two thumbs were tied together with thin hemp rope and she was hung from the eaves, her heels three inches off the ground.

Poor Yu Jie, her entire weight was borne only by her two thumbs, with her big toes barely sharing some of the burden—the agony was indescribable! This torture had a name: "Double Flying Swallows," a punishment Yu Jie had experienced in the prison years before.

This jailer was a seasoned female demon, possessing methods even more vicious than those of a brothel madam.

She was hung like this for two hours, during which she was whipped on the calves with a thin rattan cane, a punishment called "Stewed Pork Knuckle"; and her thighs and buttocks were whipped with a small bamboo stick, about two feet long and less than an inch wide, a punishment called "Bamboo Shoots Stinging Meat."

Such suffering was truly unbearable! One day, the jailer bound Yu Jie's arms behind her back and tied her feet together with hemp rope. Then she hung Yu Jie upside down from the eaves, with only the ends of her hair dragging on the ground. This made her resemble a bat on a cliff, and her cries were very similar to those of a bat, a practice called "a stroke of good fortune."

On the third day, she stripped Yu Jie of her upper body, raised her arms, and bound them to a long wooden bar. She then tightly bound Yu Jie's body, along with the bar, to a pillar in the corridor. She took embroidery needles from a box and slowly pierced the nails of Yu Jie's ten fingers, causing her to scream, a practice called "truly real." She then used the needles to prick her nipples, drawing a series of beads of blood. This method of pricking was also called "red embroidered balls."
Yu Jie was tortured to the point of near death, and there was nothing she could do! Seeing that the time was right, the jailer had her female jailers bring a wide bench and place it under the eaves in the courtyard. Yu Jie was stripped naked and laid face up on a bench. Her hands were bound with hemp rope, then her waist was secured. Her ankles were also tied with hemp rope, and her bare legs were lifted and spread wide, hanging high from the eaves.

A round, bumpy, six-inch-long penis was brought out and inserted into her vagina, thrusting in and out like a penis. Yu Jie, suffering this torture, was naturally a woman, and the arousal caused her to blush and tremble, finding it unbearable.

The jailer mocked, "I thought you were some virtuous woman, but you can't withstand this! You've already shown your true colors! Today, I'm going to teach this slutty little whore a lesson!"

She pulled out the penis, wielded a thin rattan cane, and whipped Yu Jie's large, swollen, purplish vulva with all her might, causing it to immediately swell and turn red.

Seeing the situation was getting out of hand, Yu Jie cried out, "Mother, have mercy! Don't hit me anymore!"

The jailer stopped and said, "Hitting is one thing, but fucking is another. Today I'll fuck you to death, you born slut!" Then she thrust Mr. Horn in and out again.

Yu Jie, being a death row inmate, had no choice but to accept her fate.

At first, she cried a few times, but as the thrusting intensified, fluid flowed out, and she couldn't hold back any longer, crying out. The jailer, wanting to humiliate her in public and break her spirit, thrust nearly a thousand times, adding some varied, forceful thrusts. Seeing that Yu Jie showed no sign of giving up, she was secretly pleased.

Another two or three hundred thrusts later, Yu Jie was in a state of utter agony, more unbearable than any other torture! The jailer, seeing this, understood perfectly well, and deliberately made her suffer.

Yu Jie couldn't speak, but she cried like a child, feeling as if she had fallen into the deepest hell!

As the torture continued, Yu Jie's lower body began to suckle like a baby nursing, her lower body arching and pressing against the ground, making a scraping sound inside her vagina. After another five or six hundred thrusts, she was breathless and her eyes were closed, seemingly on the verge of exhaustion. The jailer dared not torture her any further and finally let her go.

Once Yu Jie got off the stool, she knelt on the ground and pleaded with the jailer, "This prisoner will never dare to be stubborn again. I will obey your orders, Mother. Please, Mother, spare my punishment!"

After Yu Jie surrendered, the jailer provided her with some meat every day to nourish her body. However, fearing she might relapse and attempt suicide, she insisted on having her in shackles. At night, her hands and feet were handcuffed, preventing her from approaching the stone wall. The jailer then began soliciting customers outside. Her first customer was none other than Zhao Ang, the very student who had plotted to frame Yu Jie. Truly lamentable! It is said:

Money can bribe officials to bend the law; a weak woman, falsely accused, is sentenced to death by dismemberment. She

suffers endless whippings and torture in court; in the death row, she bears her injustice in long shackles.

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Yu Tangchun's Misfortune in Hongdong County

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