Chapter 171: Heavenly Prison
When Jiang Lan came out with the lunch box, she saw Linglong running over hurriedly, as if she had something urgent to do.
"Eunuch Cao is looking for you, come with me quickly."
Linglong hurriedly took Jiang Lan away.
After meeting Eunuch Cao, he didn't tell her what he wanted to talk to her about, but just asked her to go with him. Jiang Lan was cautious and kept an eye on the surroundings. If anything went wrong, she would run away immediately.
Seeing Eunuch Cao leading her towards the garden gate, Jiang Lan felt a little puzzled. Could someone be coming to take her out? Could it be her elder brother? She felt excited for a moment, but then she thought it was impossible. Her elder brother probably didn't know that she was imprisoned here. Besides, the emperor would not let her go just like that.
When she arrived at the door, Jiang Lan saw Commander Li waiting outside. She was a little surprised at first, but then she realized that it was probably the emperor who wanted to see her.
After Eunuch Cao handed her over to Commander Li, Commander Li took her away.
"Is it His Majesty who wants to see me?" Jiang Lan asked on the way.
Commander Li nodded but did not reveal any further information.
Jiang Lan thought that the emperor had suddenly summoned her at this time, something must have happened. A bad guess came to her mind, and her heart tightened. Had the thing she was most worried about finally happened?
"Is..." She paused hesitantly, "Is there going to be a war?"
Commander Li was surprised and stopped.
Jiang Lan's heart sank; the thing she was most worried about had happened.
When they arrived at the imperial study, Jiang Lan saw Eunuch Liu escorting Mr. Bai and Mr. Mo out. Mr. Bai also saw her, looked a little surprised, and then left with Mr. Mo.
Jiang Lan was also a little surprised. She didn't expect that the two old doctors were still staying in the palace.
When she followed Eunuch Liu in, the emperor glanced at her and Jiang Lan immediately knelt down.
"Last night, I received an urgent battle report from the border, which was sent over 800 miles away. Beimo sent 100,000 troops to attack the border. Do you know who led the troops?" The emperor picked up the teacup and wiped it twice, then glanced at Jiang Lan. A cold and terrifying pressure pressed down on her head like a huge rock.
If she said something wrong now, it would be a disaster.
"I don't know,"
As soon as the words fell, the emperor snorted coldly, and with a clang, he placed the teacup heavily on the dragon table in front of him, "Don't play dumb with me."
Jiang Lan kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I dare to guess that the one leading the troops is the Crown Prince of Beimo?"
"Since you have guessed it, do you have anything else to say?" The emperor said coldly.
Hearing the emperor's tone, Jiang Lan felt that she would be executed on the spot as a warning to others in the next moment. This might be her last chance to save herself. She couldn't think of anything to say for a moment, as if she was stage fright.
"Since there is nothing to say,"
"His Majesty!"
Jiang Lan took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down.
The emperor rested his hands on the dragon table to see if she had anything else to say.
"He had already drawn a line between us when we were in Beimo. He even looked down on me because of my lowly status and said I was not worthy of him. I have nothing to do with him anymore. I beg Your Majesty to show mercy and spare my life." Jiang Lan kowtowed solemnly.
The emperor sneered, "Who was it that promised me so solemnly that he would never betray me? Why is he so eager to clear himself now and beg me for mercy?"
Jiang Lan's face was a little hot. In order to survive, she could only continue to shamelessly scold herself, "It is because I am blind. I am stupid and think too highly of myself. I have no brains at all. Your Majesty, please don't bother with me."
"You are quite shameless," the emperor said in a cold tone, "but I never joke. Since you gave me a military order, if you don't bring the person back, I will kill you or slice you up at your will. I will give you a quick death."
Jiang Lan was really speechless. When did she issue a military order? She never said anything like killing or chopping people up. But she did use her life as a guarantee at the beginning. Now not only did she fail to bring the person back, but she was also attacked. It seemed that it was not unfair to punish her. But she had already lived a new life. Who knew if there would be another life? She still had many wishes that had not been fulfilled. She could not just sit and wait for death.
"If Your Majesty can spare my life, I will definitely be of use in the future." She said with certainty.
The emperor stared at her determined eyes, thought for a while, then called for someone to come, and Commander Li came in.
"Push it down."
Jiang Lan breathed a sigh of relief, at least she saved her life.
However, when she was taken to the prison, she found that her entire family had been imprisoned.
Jiang Cheng, Jiang Shen and Jiang Rui were imprisoned in one cell, and Jiang Yao was imprisoned in the cell next door.
When he saw Jiang Lan, Jiang Cheng was surprised at first and then his face darkened. Jiang Shen was also a little surprised and worried. Jiang Yao and Jiang Rui rushed to the prison door as if they had seen a savior and begged her to save them.
Then the jailer opened the door of the cell where Jiang Yao was imprisoned and locked Jiang Lan in as well.
Jiang Yao and Jiang Rui were dumbfounded. They thought they had found a savior, but they were unable to save themselves.
"How did you get locked up? Where have you been these days? Is the Marquis really a traitor as people say?"
Jiang Lan glanced over and Jiang Yao shut up.
"What's going on?" Jiang Cheng asked with a serious face.
"Father, the power of heaven is unpredictable and has nothing to do with my second sister." Jiang Shen persuaded.
Jiang Lan felt more and more guilty, and knelt down and said, "It is my unfilial daughter who has implicated my father and brother."
"Lan'er, get up quickly. Big brother doesn't blame you." Jiang Shen comforted her.
Jiang Rui complained, "I haven't done anything wrong, why are you locking me up too?"
Jiang Shen looked at him sternly, and Jiang Rui lowered his head in fear, muttering to himself as he walked to the corner.
"Brother, I know you and Second Sister were born from the same mother, so naturally you should be partial to her. But there's no need to be so partial. Second Sister just said that she was the one who got us into trouble, so there's no need to be so anxious to excuse her." Jiang Yao covered her handkerchief and burst into tears. "Zhi'er was still so young, and I don't know how she's doing now, wuwuwu..."
Zhi'er is Pei Qian and Jiang Yao's child, and is now over half a year old.
Since Jiang Yao took her child back to her parents' home, only Pei Yu and Li had come to visit her. The Duke's wife had never come once. After Pei Qian came back, Jiang Yao wanted to divorce him, but Pei Qian disagreed. He could divorce her, but divorce was out of the question, so the situation remained deadlocked.
"With the help of Pei's eldest brother and sister-in-law to take care of her, Zhier will be fine." Jiang Shen said.
Jiang Yao sniffed, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, and cursed Pei Qian. "Who knows what that wicked father of hers will do to her? He'll definitely take his anger out on the child. That heartless man abandoned us and ran off, only to be scammed by someone out there. He deserves it! Why doesn't he just die out there?"
"Third sister." Jiang Shen's tone was a bit stern.
"Cough!" Jiang Cheng also coughed loudly, telling her not to talk nonsense and be careful of what she said.
Jiang Yao covered her handkerchief and burst into tears again, "Daddy and big brother only blame me, it's not me who implicated everyone, Daddy is partial, wuwuwu..."
Jiang Lan was speechless. Even at this time, he still wanted to compete with her...
"The emperor is very angry now. I'm afraid we will have to stay here for a few more days."
Seeing her calm and composed face, Jiang Cheng came over and asked, "Have you seen the emperor?"
Jiang Lan nodded.
"Then why don't you plead with the emperor?" Jiang Yao complained.
How would I know that you were all locked up, Jiang Lanxin thought.
"Yao'er, don't interrupt. Let your second sister speak." Jiang Chengdao.
Jiang Yao curled her lips reluctantly and stopped talking.
"What did the emperor say to you?" Jiang Cheng continued to inquire.
Jiang Lan hesitated for a moment, still unsure whether to tell her what happened in Beimo. If only her elder brother was there, she wouldn't have to hesitate.
"Did father know that there would be a war at the border?"
Jiang Cheng was surprised. "When did it happen?"
"The emperor just received the news last night that Beimo sent 100,000 troops to attack the border." Jiang Lan replied.
Jiang Cheng was surprised again.
"Just fight, what does it have to do with us? Why lock us all up?" Jiang Rui said.
Jiang Shen said sternly, "Once war breaks out, the people will never have peace again."
Jiang Rui rolled his eyes in disdain and muttered to himself, "You're just talking big here. If you have the guts, get us all out of here."
When Jiang Yao heard that there were 100,000 troops in Beimo, she was frightened and started crying again, covering her face with her handkerchief.
"Stop crying." Jiang Cheng frowned.
Jiang Yao sobbed briefly and then fell silent.
Jiang Cheng pondered for a while and then quietly asked Jiang Lan, "Did the Marquis really defect to Beimo?"
In this situation, the only explanation he could think of was that Qi Wuhan had really collaborated with the enemy and committed treason, so the emperor locked everyone up in anger.
"It's no use for father to know too much. The most important thing for us now is to find a way out." Jiang Lan said.
Jiang Cheng frowned unhappily and asked quietly, "Did you escape and get caught again?"
“.…..”
I have a lot to think about...
"Don't worry, father. I am definitely not a fugitive," said Jiang Lan.
Jiang Cheng wanted to ask more, but Jiang Shen said, "Lan'er has her reasons for not saying anything, and there is no need for father to ask too much." Jiang Cheng glanced at the brother and sister and waved his hand, "Okay, you guys chat, anyway, your father is just an outsider." After that, he walked away.
Jiang Rui seized the opportunity to approach and try to please Jiang Cheng, but was scolded by him instead. He hung his head and hid away.
"You've been suffering a lot outside these days, haven't you?" Jiang Shen blamed himself, "It's just that I can't help you."
Jiang Lan shook her head and said, "I have caused trouble for my elder brother."
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Don't talk about who implicated whom in the future." Jiang Shen comforted.
Jiang Lan smiled and nodded, "I'll listen to you, big brother."
Seeing the deep affection between the two siblings, Jiang Yao called Jiang Rui over. Jiang Rui came over reluctantly and asked what was going on. Jiang Yao complained, "I told you to work harder to get a good reputation. You might be sent out now, so we wouldn't all be locked up here."
Jiang Rui retorted, "Brother is still the top scholar, but he is still locked up here with nothing to do. If you have the ability, find a way out yourself. Why rely on me for everything?"
Jiang Yao was so angry that she wanted to hit him, but Jiang Rui immediately dodged away.
"Okay, stop arguing and be quiet."
As soon as Jiang Cheng spoke, no one spoke.
No one came to deliver food until evening.
Jiang Yao and Jiang Rui were complaining about being hungry, so Jiang Lan told them to take a nap and they would not be hungry after that.
Late at night, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yao and Jiang Rui all fell asleep.
Jiang Lan quietly called out "Brother", and Jiang Shen opened his eyes. Jiang Lan waved at him. After Jiang Shen came over, she whispered about what happened during the three months she was missing.
When Jiang Shen learned of Qi Wuhan's true identity, he was shocked. Jiang Lan waited for him to calm down before continuing to talk about what happened next.
......
The next morning, Ji Quan came and brought someone with him.
The other person was wearing a cloak and his face was hidden under a hat.
When that face appeared, everyone was more or less surprised.
"Young Master, hurry up." Ji Quan reminded.
"Are you all okay?" Gu Jincheng asked with concern.
"Thank you, my Lord—" Jiang Cheng hadn't finished his polite words when Gu Jincheng asked Jiang Lan, "When did you come back? Where's the Marquis?"
Jiang Lan shook her head.
"What do you mean by shaking your head?" Gu Jincheng asked anxiously.
"How is Sister Ru? Is she feeling well?" Jiang Lan asked.
Gu Jincheng said, "Don't worry, A'ru is fine. Don't interrupt me. Tell me what's going on. I can think of a solution if you tell me clearly."
"Just take good care of Sister Ru." Jiang Lan's expression tightened, and she said solemnly, "Don't interfere in this matter."
"Young Master, it's time for us to leave. The patrol will be here soon." Ji Quan handed the food box to Jiang Lan and left with Gu Jincheng.
"Second sister, I'm almost starving. Please open it and see if there's anything to eat inside." Jiang Rui stared at the food box in Jiang Lan's hand, his eyes almost turning green with hunger.
Jiang Lan opened the food box and took out a plate of steamed buns.
Jiang Rui was very disappointed, but his stomach was rumbling with hunger, so he asked Jiang Lan to share one with him first.
"Father."
Jiang Lan passed the buns over. Jiang Cheng took one and let Jiang Shen take one. Then, in order of seniority, it was Jiang Lan, then Jiang Yao. Finally, when it was Jiang Rui's turn, he refused to eat out of spite. "If you don't eat, you'll starve," Jiang Cheng said.
Jiang Rui reluctantly took the last steamed bun from the plate, and complained to Jiang Lan for not letting Gu Jincheng help. After being scolded by Jiang Cheng, he fell silent.
......
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