Chapter 272 Yao Qingling, Apologize to Me

The entire cell was filled with a deathly atmosphere.

Yao Qingling didn't say anything. She gathered some hay and sat down.

"Miss!" Lou Yue exclaimed, "How can you sit on such dirty grass?"

She reached out and unbuttoned her clothes, intending to take them off and put them under Qingling's arm.

Qing Ling freed one hand to press down on her: "No. In this place, cleanliness doesn't matter. The first priority is to survive."

She turned and looked around the cell. So many people were locked up, yet the walls were still covered in frost.

This is still during the day; I wonder how cold it will be at night.

Lou Yue's tears fell: "This servant has plenty of fat, so I'm not afraid of the cold."

She overheard the constable's words on the way and became very worried about Yao Qingling's health, fearing that she wouldn't be able to hold on.

Qingling swallowed hard, then smiled and said, "It's alright, I take plenty of supplements."

She glanced around the cell when she came in.

The bailiff said that people die in the prison every day, and the most common deaths are among maids, servants, illegitimate children, concubines, and maids.

Noble people usually have nourishing supplements to keep their bodies healthy. In winter, they can warm themselves up by eating mutton soup every day, not to mention ginseng and donkey-hide gelatin, which are good for replenishing blood and qi.

They were cold, so they would take clothes from the maids, servants, illegitimate children, concubines, and so on and wear them.

The woman sitting on the ground, her face pale, was wearing clothes that didn't fit her well; they looked like they'd been torn from someone else's clothes.

Even if she resigned herself to death, she still wanted to live a few more days, just as she said earlier, it would be good to experience the feeling of being alive as much as possible.

No sooner had Qingling finished speaking than a shout came from the corner: "You brat, take off your clothes!"

The movements, however, were not very large.

A slightly plump woman was seen forcibly stripping the clothes off the woman sitting on the ground, her stiff fingers moving.

The woman clutched her collar tightly, pleading, "Mother-in-law, Shu'er is cold, please don't do this..."

Her voice was incomplete, her teeth were chattering, and she couldn't even open her mouth properly, so where would she get the strength to fight against a woman?

With a "bang," the woman's head slammed against the wall, blood streaming down her face. The plump woman, still holding her daughter-in-law's hair, slammed her head against the wall a second time.

A moment later, the woman fell silent, her arms hanging limply at her sides.

The plump woman quickly stripped her daughter-in-law of her clothes and put them on herself, while simultaneously shouting shrilly outside, "Help! Someone's dead here!"

Soon, jailers arrived and dragged the dead body out.

There wasn't a single question, nor did they care how the woman died.

Anyway, everyone here will eventually die.

The atmosphere became even more lifeless.

No one glanced at the voluptuous woman.

They arrived early and had seen this scene so many times that they became numb to it. Even they themselves resorted to stealing warm clothing from others.

Lou Yue, Xia Chan, and the others were so frightened that they huddled around Qing Ling, their backs hunched and necks shrunken, afraid that the women would come and tear off their clothes.

Lou Yue couldn't help but steal a glance at the voluptuous woman. The woman glared back fiercely: "What are you looking at? With one less person, this cell will be more spacious, and people can stretch their arms and legs. Blame it on you all for bringing so many people at once."

Lou Yue was furious and wanted to talk back, but Xia Chan stopped her and gently shook her head.

Lou Yue pursed her lips.

Just bear with it.

I don't know how long it will be before Physician Lin releases them.

Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly felt someone forcibly pulling her arm.

Lou Yue turned her head and saw a middle-aged woman glaring fiercely, trying to take off her clothes.

"Aren't you not afraid of the cold? Take off your clothes and let me warm up."

The woman's dirty hands left several handprints on Lou Yue's clothes.

Once one of them made a move, the others pounced on them, trying to strip them naked.

Lou Yue screamed in fright and instinctively kicked out, sending the woman flying.

"Ugh..." The woman groaned, clutching her stomach. Lou Yue looked at her fist. Hey, how could she forget that she had learned some rudimentary kung fu from Nie Yun?

Others might not be able to beat them, but these pampered noble ladies, without their noble status, are just women who can't even kill a chicken, and are not even as strong as a rough maid.

Looking to the side, Xia Chan, in the same manner, punched and kicked the person away.

Qingling held the child behind her, not letting anyone touch her.

As Lou Yue fought, she shouted loudly at the opposite cell, "Hey, Nie Yun, the kung fu you taught us is finally coming in handy!"

Fighting can warm you up, which is good.

Nie Yun watched them fight with her arms crossed, nodding in approval with a hint of satisfaction, like a coach inspecting the results.

She exuded a menacing aura, and the women over there, seeing her imposing presence, dared not provoke her at all.

The commotion got out of hand, and the jailer brandished his stick and gave a stern warning: "What's all the noise about!"

He looked inside, his sharp eyes sweeping over each of them: "Which of you is Yao Qingling? Come out!"

Qingling stepped forward, holding the child: "I am."

The jailer glanced at her, unlocked the chains, and released Yao Qingling.

He led Qingling to a room: "You wait here. An official will come to interrogate you in a little while."

He left after saying that.

Yao Qingling was in the room, looking around.

There was a bed, a table, and a brazier; I wonder if it was for special prisoners.

When Yao Qingling was in the southwest, she visited a prison. However, she was still young then, and the most profound impression she had was of a wall of torture instruments. She was so frightened by just one glance that she ran away.

Of course, when she entered the prison, she also saw the torture instruments on that wall and the prisoners being interrogated.

If it weren't for the fact that she was in a prison cell, she would have thought she was in a room at some inn.

Simple yet comfortable, this is even considered a good house for ordinary people.

As she looked around, the door opened.

Zhan Xingzhuo entered with a sullen face.

When Yao Qingling saw him, she pressed down her lips and didn't say anything. She just lowered her eyelids, looking like she had nothing to say and had resigned herself to her fate.

Zhan Xingzhuo sat down, put one arm on the table, and stared at her for a long time.

Several expressions flashed across his face, from anger to frustration at his lack of ambition, and finally to calm.

The man took a deep breath and said, "If there hadn't been a divorce, you would be the young mistress of the Duke's mansion and the wife of the Vice Minister of Revenue. What does the major case in the Marquis's mansion have to do with you? You don't need to come to a place like this at all."

"Look at you, look what you've done to yourself."

"I told you long ago, you couldn't live a good life without me. What have you gained from your competitiveness? A criminal! The kind of criminal you claim to hate the most!"

Zhan Xingzhuo's expression was complicated; he was utterly heartbroken.

He knew it, he knew it!

Yao Qingling kept her eyes downcast and said in a flat voice, "If you're here to say these things to me and criticize me for being ungrateful, you can leave."

"Yao Qingling!" Zhan Xingzhuo rebuked sharply, "You're still being stubborn!"

His rebuke frightened Zhao'er to tears.

The baby's cries filled the room. Yao Qingling couldn't argue with him and was busy comforting the child. Zhan Xingzhuo's accusations, however, didn't stop: "Yao Qingling, not only have you become a sinner, but you're also dragging the child down with you. Zhao'er is only a few months old, and you actually want him to suffer here with you?"

"Do you know how many people die in this prison every day?"

"You yourself may not be able to get through it, but you're dragging your child down with you."

"..."

Zhan Xingzhuo launched into a long tirade, but Yao Qingling didn't respond at all.

Zhan Xingzhuo felt that Yao Qingling had admitted defeat, but she was too proud to say it.

The man looked at her and gave her a way out: "Yao Qingling, apologize to me, and I will go to the government office to get back the divorce papers. Then you will still be my wife, Minister Zhan's wife."