The mooncakes on the fifteenth are always sweet.
In the pitch-black torture chamber, a disheveled prisoner cowered in the corner, gnawing on a half-piece of moldy mooncake.
Fan Zhenglian had been locked up in the prison for nearly a month. In this time, he went from being a Judicial Commissioner widely respected for his integrity, a lofty Lord Qingtian, to a prisoner despised by all. He struggled daily with poor food and sleep, in a cell infested with rats and bugs where even half a moldy mooncake was a luxury.
Every day, he listened to the prison guards' idle chatter and learned that the contribution fraud case had shaken the Ministry of Rites to its core. The Emperor was furious beyond measure, and a slew of officials trading posts for bribes were being rooted out, high and low. Given the situation, his prospects as an Examiner Official were grim. It was likely that because he had held his reputation so high, when the scandal broke, it stirred an overwhelming public outrage.
