Chapter 71 Conspiracy: "The gentlest knife is the most deadly."
The jailers of Lu Ting Prefecture never treated Nguyen Yang as some high and mighty empress. All prisoners who came here were treated equally in terms of food, clothing, and lodging.
The small boat slowly approached the shore, and what came into view was a verdant expanse of crane-covered islets and duck-covered sandbars, a scene so lush and green that one would never imagine that countless lonely souls would wander here.
Ruan Yang was dressed in plain, simple clothes, her black hair half-tied up with a white hairpin at the end, and the rest of her black hair hanging down in front of her shoulders. She wore no jewelry or earrings, as if she were paying respects.
The head eunuch glanced at Ruan Yang and sighed, "His Majesty is still alive, how can you wear a white flower in your hair? If this matter reaches His Majesty, there are so many punishments in the imperial prison, I don't know if your body can withstand them?"
Ruan Yang glanced at him: "Being honest and dutiful doesn't necessarily mean your master will show you mercy. Besides, what's wrong with you, a mere servant? Be careful Ning Xian doesn't pull out your tongue."
The eunuch remained silent, and in the blink of an eye they arrived at a passageway outside, saying, "Your Majesty, please."
Before me lay a narrow, cramped passageway, barely wide enough for one person to pass through. The passageway stretched deep underground, pitch black, and nothing could be seen.
If you simply stop and listen quietly, you can hear the sticky hissing sound of a snake flicking its tongue.
Ruan Yang's limbs trembled. She couldn't imagine what it would feel like to have those cold, sticky, and earthy snakes wrapped around her skin.
The guards gave Ruan Yang only a dim kerosene lamp and then scolded her to go in alone.
Ruan Yang's fingers, holding the lantern, involuntarily curled up. She stumbled along, her feet seemingly caught on something that felt like silk threads tangling around her ankles, or like a springy carpet.
She closed her eyes and rested for a while until the flickering oil lamp in her palm stabilized before she dared to open her eyes and try to see her surroundings clearly.
Moss and grime grew in the cracks between the bricks, various instruments of torture were placed on the wall hooks, and iron bars separated her from the prisoners opposite. The yellowed haystacks under her feet were covered with brown, unidentified grime. What terrified Ruan Yang the most was that a jar hidden in the corner was half-open, and when she shone an oil lamp on it, several snakes poked their heads out and stared at her in the darkness.
Ruan Yang couldn't help but take a few steps back. A chilling aura emanated from behind her ankles. Just as she was about to stand up, she suddenly felt a tightness in her ankles, followed by a strong force that dragged her back.
Before she could scream, the "monster" behind her covered her lips tightly.
Ruan Yang struggled for a long time, but the man still tied her up and wouldn't let her move. In an instant, an impossible thought popped into her mind.
Could the person who captured her be Wen Jin? Could that mutilated corpse be fake, and he actually wasn't dead at all, but is being tortured here by Ning Xian?
"Wenjin..."
The person behind her saw her faintly crying and grabbed the back of her neck to warn her to shut up.
Ruan Yang collapsed to the ground, completely limp, and cried even harder.
She understood that it was all just an unrealistic fantasy; Brother Wenjin would never treat her so roughly, and Ningxian would never let him live.
They had been husband and wife for several years, yet she didn't even have the chance to pay her respects to him. She wondered if he would be mistreated in the underworld after losing his eyes and limbs.
"Does Madam Lu want revenge?"
Ruan Yang was startled. She glanced around warily and, only when she was sure no one else was there, did she turn her head slightly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could not see clearly; there was only a blurry outline. Although the person was dressed in tattered clothes and had unkempt hair, it could not hide the fair and thin skin beneath the grime.
"What's the meaning?"
The man released her and pinched her cheek: "Let's cooperate."
Ruan Yang was turned over and stared blankly at the half-scarred face for a moment, then noticed that the man had a missing arm.
She covered her lips, and asked in surprise, "It's you... the Third Prince?"
Since Ning Xian ascended the throne, he has been purging the old faction in the court one after another. The late emperor's confidants were either exiled or dismissed from their posts, and some were even given a cup of poisoned wine and a white silk ribbon.
The Third Prince, who had humiliated Ning Xian in every way, was naturally no better off. Over the years, Ning Xian had been sending people to search for and kill the Third Prince, hoping to eliminate him completely and prevent any future trouble.
Unexpectedly, the person they had been searching for for so long was right under their noses. The Third Prince actually risked hiding right under Ning Xian's nose and fished in troubled waters, thus temporarily escaping a disaster.
Ruan Yang's heart was pounding; she didn't know what to choose.
She returned to the palace with Ning Xian to seek revenge, that's true, but after several struggles, it was like throwing an egg against a rock on her own.
Without a powerful maternal clan, without enough money or power, all she had was Ning Xian's vague and ethereal love.
She tentatively asked, "Then what should I do?"
“If I go back to him and find a way to get me out, then I will have a chance to make a comeback.”
Ruan Yangdao: "Use me as a stepping stone?"
The Third Prince sneered, "No, I think the reason you were locked up in this godforsaken place by Ning Xian is because you had a very bad falling out with him. You could have been a carefree canary."
“But you chose to resist, so you must hate him to the core. Since you want to avenge your husband, I think you should try a different approach. Why not go along with him a little?”
Ruan Yang had tried to please Ning Xian, but whenever they were intimate, her body would instinctively reject him.
Those hands that caressed her skin were stained with her husband's blood and had killed the child she had carried for ten months.
Even though she loves him, asking her to act it out feels incredibly awkward.
The Third Prince lifted Ruan Yang's chin: "There are many people in this world who want him dead, including you and me, but only you have received Ning Xian's countless indulgences."
"Madam Lu, a gentle knife, yet the most deadly."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang burst into tears. He kept calling her Madam Lu, yet this Madam Lu was smiling as she lay on another man's bed, enjoying his company. How ironic!
At midnight, the jailers came to patrol, opened the iron locks, and attempted to drag the Third Prince away.
The Third Prince stared at Ruan Yang, his fingernails leaving scratch marks on the ground. He moved his lips and said, "Think about it carefully."
The head eunuch saw that Ruan Yang's fingertips were trembling and guessed that she must be terrified. Even a burly man could not withstand the torture in Tingzhou, let alone a weak woman like her.
He said, "His Majesty said that whenever you apologize, he will personally escort you out."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang's fear was suddenly overshadowed by anger. She bit her lip and said, "Then tell him to give up on that idea. Even if I'm bitten to death by these snakes, I won't beg him!"
The eunuch remained silent, only closing the half-person-high iron gate.
It was so dark here that the sun never shone, and screams echoed throughout the night, making it impossible to sleep. The food was sometimes moldy white steamed buns, and sometimes it was a piece of raw, bloody meat.
Whether the meat was from animals or humans remains unknown.
People are usually starving to the point of being emaciated, and those who can't bear it will hang themselves. The living here have long been accustomed to sleeping with corpses.
Ruan Yang is a wealthy young lady who has never been mistreated in terms of food, clothing, or daily necessities. How could she endure such torment? In less than half a month, this girl will obediently submit.
Ning Xian originally thought so too.
But a full month passed and there was still no news of Ruan Yang from Luting Prefecture, and Ning Xian panicked.
At Chonghua Palace, seeing that he was in a bad mood today, Consort Li had no choice but to temporarily put down the child who was crying his heart out in her arms and go to add the used benzoin to Ning Xian.
Who knew that after Consort Li left, the baby in the cradle cried even louder. Ning Xian slammed the memorial on the table: "Crying, crying, crying, so noisy! Get that little beast out of here for me!"
Lady Li trembled in fright: "Yes, Your Majesty, I will take the little princess away immediately."
Consort Li carried the soft, cuddly baby outside. As she soothed the child, she couldn't help but wonder to herself, "This Emperor is really strange."
He would call her a little beast, but he would keep her by his side and watch over her every day. The first thing he would do after finishing his official duties was to hug her and play with her.
They seem to really like it.
Ning Xian had followed us here at some point. He glanced at the baby in the swaddling clothes, whose face was red from crying, and sneered, "Like mother, like daughter. So she gave birth to another little stubborn brat."
He took the child, who was growing more and more like Ruan Yang, and gently patted her back. Slowly, the child stopped crying, opened her wet eyes, and stared blankly at him while biting her hand.
She's very cute; she doesn't resemble Lu Wenjin at all.
Ning Xian leaned against her sweet, milky face, and her heart suddenly felt like it was stuffed with cotton, both sour and tender.
He finally summoned Eunuch Liang and bowed his head to inquire about Ruan Yang's recent situation: "How is things in Luting Prefecture? Is that woman scared out of her wits? Why haven't we heard anything from her? Bring her here to see me."
Eunuch Liang replied, “Your Majesty, the Empress caught a cold a few days ago and has just taken medicine. It is probably not convenient for her to be exposed to the wind.”
"Is she sick?"
Grandpa Liang answered truthfully: "The fever has subsided, but the person is still a little confused in their sleep, and keeps muttering... your childhood name."
Ning Xian frowned: "Who do you think she's calling?"
"The Empress cried as she called His Majesty by his childhood name."
"You didn't hear me wrong?"
"This servant has not misheard."
Ning Xian took a while to calm down, his heart pounding like a deer. He suppressed the involuntary smile on his face, and finally held the child's little hand in his arms and kissed it hard.
"Look, if you two could always be this well-behaved, I wouldn't be angry, and your lives would be easier."
After speaking, he returned the child to Consort Li and said, "Take the little princess away and don't let her meet the Empress."
"......yes."
Li Meiren stood there, staring blankly at Ning Xian's hurried departure, lost in thought. At that moment, she felt as if Ning Xian had turned into a little bird, and even the heart in her chest had taken flight.
But this is clearly a ruse. Who can read so clearly while sleeping with a high fever?
Consort Li smiled and sighed. If she could see through the tricks, how could His Majesty not understand? He only needed a way out, and he would gladly go through fire and water for that woman.
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