Xiao Ling carried the steamed bun in her arms the whole way, and it was still warm.
Using her sleeves as cover, Shen Yuan stuffed one small steamed bun after another, her cheeks bulging out.
She chewed very hard, trying to digest the food as quickly as possible to avoid being discovered.
The other inmates locked up with Shen Yuan had no interest in looking at Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling; they were all pressed against the wooden door of their cell, anxiously watching the outside world.
He kept shouting that he was innocent.
But there were so many people in the prison crying out for justice that the guards were tired of hearing it.
They snapped their whips impatiently: "Quiet down, all of you!"
After being whipped, the person lying on the wooden door immediately shut up.
Shen Yuan squatted in the corner of the cell for an entire day, and as time went on, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
At their pace, they could not afford to waste a single day on the road.
But she stayed in Jizhou City for a rather long time.
Shen Yuan leaned against the mottled wall, her mind suddenly in turmoil. She didn't know whether Chu Yuning was still on his way to the capital for the imperial examination or had already arrived in the capital.
Will he save Xiao Yunyan at Biyue Lake just like in his previous life, making Xiao Yunyan fall in love with him at first sight?
Thinking of Xiao Yunyan, Shen Yuan clenched her fist tightly in her sleeve, her nails digging into her flesh, but she felt no pain.
Xiao Yunyan, Xiao Yunyan... She will be able to see Xiao Yunyan soon!
As night fell, candles were lit in the prison cells, and the officers who had come to arrest them during the day swaggered to their cell door with the jailers.
"Bring the person out!"
As soon as the officer in charge finished speaking, two jailers stepped forward, opened the door to the cell next to Shen Yuan's, and dragged the innkeeper and waiter out.
The officer in charge sat down on a recliner in the torture chamber, crossed his legs, and leisurely watched the shopkeeper, the waiter, and several other staff members.
"Tell me, when did that traitor go to the inn?"
The innkeeper hurriedly replied, "Reporting to you, sir, he came to the inn last night, booked a room (a low-level room), paid one tael of silver, and stayed for one night. He originally planned to leave today!"
"Then why didn't he leave today? Why is he still spouting nonsense in front of you?"
The officer in charge held a long whip in his hand and slammed it down in front of the shopkeeper with a snap. The end of the whip struck the shopkeeper's calf, making him wince in pain.
"This...this has nothing to do with it..."
The shopkeeper wanted to explain, but the officer's face suddenly darkened.
The shopkeeper was so frightened that he dared not argue anymore. He gritted his teeth, took out a jade finger ring from a pocket hidden inside his belt, and presented it with both hands as if offering a treasure.
"Sir, this is an heirloom from my family. How can you hold a whip without wearing a finger ring? You should wear it to avoid hurting yourself!"
The officer in charge took the ring, examined it under the candlelight, and seeing that the jade was of good quality, he smiled with satisfaction. "Alright! Considering this is your first offense, we'll let it go this time. Go back tomorrow!"
The shopkeeper thanked him profusely and limped to the side.
The officer in charge then swung his long whip at the waiter and the innkeeper.
But these people were all laborers working at the inn, earning two or three thousand coins a month. They had nothing of value on them, and the few strings of copper coins they took out were not worth the attention of the officers and soldiers.
So they were whipped again and again, their screams echoing one after another.
The other inmates who shared a cell with Shen Yuan heard the screams coming from the torture chamber and looked terrified.
Before long, the jailer carried the waiter, who was covered in blood, back.
They threw the waiter on the ground like livestock.
Seeing the waiter beaten to the point of near death, everyone turned pale.
Although Shen Yuan understood that this was a way for the soldiers to make an example of them and scare the other guests so they could make more money off them, she still couldn't help but sigh.
The waiter was beaten until his skin was torn and bleeding profusely. His clothes were ripped open by the whip, and blood was gushing from the exposed flesh. If he didn't receive timely medical treatment, he could easily catch a fever in the dirty and chaotic environment of the prison.
So Shen Yuan walked quietly to the waiter's side and secretly slipped a bottle of wound medicine to him through the gap in the wooden fence between them.
The waiter gripped the medicine bottle.
"come out!"
Just as Shen Yuan finished administering the medication, the door to her cell was opened the next second.
Along with her and Xiao Ling, a total of nineteen guests, including children, were all herded into the torture chamber by the jailers.
The torture chamber was filled with all sorts of instruments of torture. Upon seeing these instruments, everyone's faces turned pale with fear, and they all retreated.
Apart from Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling.
Shen Yuan remained calm because she had seen these instruments of torture in the princess's mansion in her previous life. Whether it was the long whip soaked in medicine or the branding iron heated red-hot by charcoal, she had not only seen them but also experienced them firsthand.
She still remembers the excruciating pain of being struck by lightning, as the scorching hot iron pressed against her body, burning her skin and flesh with a sizzling sound.
As everyone else moved back, Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling, who were originally standing in the crowd, became the people standing at the very front.
The officer in charge gave Shen Yuan and Xiao Ling a cold look and asked, "You two are together? What's your relationship?"
Shen Yuan's eyes darted around: "Husband and wife!"
She originally wanted to say they were siblings or something else, but in this dark and hopeless prison, she had to be wary of these people, and the title of married woman was always more effective.
Xiao Ling was slightly taken aback, but quickly nodded: "Yes!"
The officer in charge turned and glanced at the shopkeeper again. "Are they lying?"
The innkeeper hurriedly shook his head: "No, they stayed in the same room last night!"
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