Chapter 29
Watching Aunt Zhou returning home, Wen Weili walked towards the West Market. What dish should she cook today? Speaking of cheap, these summer flowers cost only a dozen coins a few baskets. Naturally, the Imperial Prison was happy for her to cook this dish.
When Wen Weili thought of Zhiyun, she wanted to put all the good things for health into the dishes so that Zhiyun could eat comfortably. Of course, if she really did that, maybe one of the prisoners would see something from the dishes and then suspect the cook, which would eventually lead to the failure of rescuing Zhiyun.
Thinking of this, Wen Weili did not dare to act rashly. She picked some fresh gardenias and returned to the imperial prison.
The prison looked ordinary. Wen Weili, with her badge and her status as a woman, stood out. The guards, upon passing her, simply nodded as a greeting. On Miss Huixin's first day, the guards' warm greetings were met with a cold stare from her, creating a deeply awkward situation.
At that time, Aunt Zhou asked to help out, but Huixin said, who are they and are they worthy of me to know them?
Once these words were spoken, everyone in the imperial prison knew about it. When they met Miss Huixin again, they would just nod at her at most and would not dare to greet her.
Wen Weili ignored all the prison guards who greeted her along the way, went into the kitchen by herself, filled a basin with water and started to wash the gardenias. She planned to use the gardenias to make scrambled eggs today.
Honestly, Wen Weili thought that after all the red persimmon and jasmine scrambled eggs, or the stewed eggs she'd made before arriving at the Imperial Prison, the prisoners would be sick of eating eggs. Wen Weili had considered using other meat dishes, but when she saw the baskets of eggs in the corner of the kitchen, she realized how greedy the Imperial Prison really was.
The eggs in the kitchen have been almost used up after several uses. There were only a few left before Wen Weili left last night, and today the eggs are piled up again, which makes Wen Weili feel extremely helpless.
The laws of the dynasty prohibited the slaughter of oxen for work, while mutton was scarce, pork was fishy, and chicken was expensive. Duck was cheaper, but ducks, like geese, required a lot of grain to feed, and even a year's work wouldn't bring much. Otherwise, why would the imperial prison be considered greedy? Among the meat, the eggs of chickens, ducks, and geese were relatively cheap, but chicken eggs were a penny cheaper than duck and goose eggs, hence the large quantity of eggs purchased by the imperial prison.
Wen Weili had no choice but to continue scrambling eggs in various ways, at least to make them taste better.
Just as Wen Weili finished washing and drying the gardenias, a jailer came to ask Miss Huixin to go to the head of the prison.
Here he comes, Wen Weili thought, if it was jailer Zhang, it would be easy to fool him, but if it was any other jailer, it would be troublesome.
The Imperial Prison has always been mysterious. Yin Yi worked as a jailer in the Imperial Prison for a few days, and he only knew that there was a chief warden who never showed up. Under the chief warden, there were four jailers. They were in charge of the Imperial Prison and checked and balanced each other. Once a jailer did a good job, the chief warden would rely more on that jailer, and the right to speak would fall into the hands of that jailer.
The jailer that Yin Yi replaced worked under the jailer Zhang, but he was just the most insignificant one among them and had no way to get involved with the jailer Zhang.
If it weren't for the fact that Zhang the jailer had been favored by the chief steward some time ago and the imperial prison happened to be short of staff, and Zhang the jailer wanted to recruit some jailers and cooks, Yin Yi would have found the opportunity to bribe Zhang the jailer with silver and create conditions for the appearance of Miss Huixin.
In order to avoid gossip, when recruiting people, Zhang the jailer selected some who were willing to be loyal to him, and some who had strange personalities and were difficult to win over.
Anyone willing to pledge allegiance to Zhang was thoroughly investigated; after all, one had to know the inside story of one's own people. But Zhang didn't care about the bad-tempered people he'd recruited to silence the other jailers. These people had difficult personalities, and if he didn't want them, the other jailers wouldn't bother trying to win them over.
Huixin was chosen in this way. She was a weak woman with no one to rely on. She could cook and do some work. She was also a spinster who vowed never to marry. This was exactly what Zhang the jailer wanted. Of course, the large sum of money Yin Yi gave her also played a role.
Although the rooms where the jailers handle affairs are also in the imperial prison, they are very different from those dark houses. Each one is bright and elegant, with green trees and red flowers planted in front of the door. Smelling the fragrance of the flowers makes people feel relaxed.
The jailer who had led Wen Weili along the way gently knocked on the doorknob and said, "Sir, Miss Huixin is here."
"...Ahem, Chuntao, please go out."
"My lord, you are so mean! You called me here, but you are still thinking about other people. Are you thinking about the two sisters... Hehe, my lord, please don't..." There was another burst of laughter in the room, coming from the not-so-thick door.
Huixin was still an innocent girl. When she heard the voice, her face turned slightly red and she went to hide under a tree to hide.
The jailer looked calm and did not stop Huixin from escaping. He waited respectfully in front of the door.
The noise in the room lasted for about half an hour, and then the door creaked open from the inside.
As the door opened, a woman with a snow-white body wrapped in peach-pink gauze walked out of the room. She had a rosy face and a soft waist. She floated past Miss Huixin, and a fishy smell spread as she walked. The jailer and Huixin brushed past her and couldn't help but move a little further away.
Chuntao glanced at Huixin and saw her hair tied with a white ribbon, the way a spinster would. Half of her hostility faded. She had originally intended to embarrass the woman who dared to snatch his favor, but she hadn't expected it to be a spinster. She felt a little sorry for her and walked even more delicately. She delicately lifted her hair and leaned against the door frame, saying in a sweet voice, "Mm~ Your Excellency is truly brave. Chuntao is so tired. I'm afraid I won't even be able to leave the Imperial Prison today."
"Oh, slut," Zhang, the jailer, had already relieved his anger, but Chuntao's screams inflamed him again, and he cursed a few times, "Slut, don't you see that I'm busy? Someone, yes, you, take Chuntao to her room first."
Jailer Zhang gave an order, and the jailer who brought Huixin here took Chuntao away, leaving only Jailer Zhang and Huixin in the room.
The room was filled with the smell of lovemaking between a man and a woman. Prisoner Zhang took a breath and looked at the girl Huixin in front of him.
Huixin let Zhang the jailer observe her as he pleased and just stood there, staring at the patterns on the window. They were quite pretty, and seemed to be some kind of twined flowers.
"Hui Xin," Prisoner Zhang said in a long voice, "What happened last night? Aunt Zhou came to see me early in the morning." He raised his eyelids and looked at Hui Xin. "But this matter is not entirely Dayong's responsibility. Didn't you do anything?"
Zhang's meaning was clear: Wang Dayong was responsible, and Huixin couldn't escape either. But Wen Weili was a little confused. Zhang's words were different from what Aunt Zhou said. Aunt Zhou thought the matter was resolved, but Zhang sounded as if he wanted her to receive the same punishment.
Seeing Huixin keep her head down and remain silent, Zhang the jailer said earnestly, "Although you are a self-spinner, if you don't respect yourself, how could Wang Dayong have such an idea? In my opinion, since you two have feelings for each other, it would be wise to call a matchmaker as soon as possible."
How could they have mutual affection? Wen Weili asked, confused, "Sir, I have never had any feelings for Wang Dayong. From the beginning to the end, I only disliked him. What do you mean by that?"
"How dare you!" Jailer Zhang slammed the table. "Dayong is a talented officer of the Imperial Prison, loyal and dedicated to his duties. He already told me you were trying to seduce him, and he accepted it. It was only Aunt Zhou who got in the way that caused you to fall out with him. He even asked me to tell you not to worry about him. How could you just erase such affection with a single word!?"
"...my daughter has nothing but disgust towards Wang Dayong!" Wen Weili thought the next step might be forcing her to marry. "Everyone who came into contact with my daughter in prison can testify to this. Last night, Li San was also able to prove that my daughter had no contact with Wang Dayong!"
"That's a bunch of nonsense! What Dayong said himself couldn't be false. Since the woman and the man have had an affair, how can she live with an unclear conscience? I give you three days to send a matchmaker to Dayong's house to propose marriage!"
"No......"
"Alright, let's do this. Get out of here," jailer Zhang waved his hand impatiently. "If you don't hear good news about Dayong in three days, hmph, you'll have to figure it out on your own!"
Wen Weili had to leave the room, her brows furrowed. Huixin's identity was fake, and she had only been in the imperial prison for two days. It was impossible for her to have had contact with anyone in the prison before. The jailer shouldn't have targeted her, but jailer Zhang was so determined to make her marry Wang Dayong, so there must be something wrong on Wang Dayong's side.
Since Jailor Zhang spoke up for Wang Dayong, it meant that Wang Dayong had either paid Jailor Zhang with money or that Wang Dayong was Jailor Zhang's man. Aunt Zhou spoke up for Huixin, saying that Jailor Zhang had indeed punished Wang Dayong for some reason, but he also wanted to torture her, which was why he insisted that Huixin marry Wang Dayong without any objection.
You have to know that Huixin is a spinster. She must have vowed not to marry in this life and has registered in the village. If other men covet a spinster, the spinster and the man must be tortured by the village headman before she can marry. Moreover, she cannot be the main wife, but can only be a concubine.
If the man is afraid to be punished, he can only trick the spinster into being punished alone. The spinster is still registered as an ordinary woman and is also called a slave girl. She cannot even be a concubine. The man can only keep her outside and she will live her whole life without a name or status.
Since jailer Zhang asked Huixin to ask a matchmaker to come to his house herself, the meaning was very clear. Huixin had to go to the village to be punished and become a slave first, and then ask Wang Dayong to accept her.
If she didn't do as the jailer Zhang said, driving Huixin away would be the least of her worries. She would be forced to be taken to Wang Dayong. If he used even dirtier means and destroyed Huixin's innocence before abandoning her, then Huixin, a spinster, would have no chance of survival. There were plenty of "righteous" people who could help Huixin "leave with a clean conscience."
What should she do? Wen Weili originally wanted to find out the inside of the prison and Zhiyun's location first, and find a way to rescue Zhiyun while ensuring her safety. However, the prison warden Zhang set a three-day deadline, asking Huixin to marry Wang Dayong, which meant that she only had three days.
Wen Weili knew that time was running out for her. She had to find out where Zhiyun was in the cell. As for the opportunity to rescue Zhiyun, they couldn't wait any longer. They had to create this opportunity themselves.
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