Chapter 34
Wen Weili's screams stopped only when Aunt Zhou's footsteps gradually faded away outside the door. Her face, without a trace of tears, was terrifyingly calm. In this test, it was still unknown who was the prey and who was the hunter.
When Wang Ping heard that Miss Huixin had arrived, he went to find her, but was stopped by Aunt Zhou.
"Wang Ping," Aunt Zhou knew at a glance that the young man was deeply in love with Huixin, and she couldn't help but advise, "Huixin will live a good life with Dayong in the future. Why are you causing trouble? Think about it, if Dayong knew how you feel about Huixin, would she still be able to live a good life?"
"I'm not..." Wang Ping wanted to explain that he had no romantic feelings for Sister Huixin, but he heard the bias in Aunt Zhou's words. He swallowed what he was about to say and just shook his head.
"Oh, why bother!" Aunt Zhou was very enthusiastic. "Wang family boy, I think you are a good-looking man. How about introducing you to someone later?"
"No need." Wang Ping turned and left.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't go. If you like a girl like Huixin, it's indeed hard to find one, but after all, you can wait a little longer..."
Wang Ping ran away from Aunt Zhou's persuasion. From Aunt Zhou's attitude, it was clear that she was helping Wang Dayong. It was too late to look for Huixin now. However, Huixin had wanted to accept her fate, but he persuaded her yesterday. Now she was imprisoned. What if she did something stupid?
Wang Ping found Zhao Cai and told him about his worries, but Zhao Cai laughed at him and even looked at him strangely.
"You're really stupid," Zhao Cai lazily sprawled on the couch, "Can't you see that Miss Huixin already has a plan in mind?"
"Ah?!" Wang Ping was shocked. He never expected that Miss Huixin didn't really rely on him as her elder brother.
Zhao Cai didn't take it seriously. "You must have been overly concerned about the girl first, and she took advantage of your sympathy. Isn't that a very common thing?"
"I..." Wang Ping thought carefully, it seemed that he had indeed cared about Miss Huixin first, and he really felt pity for her. "Damn it! Even if she lied to me, I still felt pity for Miss Huixin... Miss Huixin."
"Did I say she wasn't pitiful?" Zhao Cai asked, picking up the medicine bowl and drinking it all in one gulp. "Ugh... It's so bitter. I'm pitiful too. Not only am I injured, but I have to drink this medicine that smells like a prisoner's prison uniform that's been pickled in a corner for a year. And I don't even drink it once. A dose of medicine has to be boiled four times a day. I drink it now, and I have to drink it again before going to bed. If this doctor doesn't cure me, I will suspect he deliberately murdered the jailer."
"Really?" Wang Ping thought Zhao Cai was telling the truth and immediately frowned, his hand on his sword. "Where's the doctor? I'll go find him and settle the score."
"..." Zhao Cai was silent for a while, then said to Wang Ping sincerely, "Brother Ping, please go out. You're disturbing my rest here."
"Hey, you haven't told me where it is yet?" Wang Ping was kicked out of the room by Zhao Cai in confusion. He didn't understand why his partner didn't go and settle the score with the doctor who wanted to kill him.
Facing the door that slammed shut, Wang Ping scratched his ears in confusion and muttered to himself, "Did I hear it wrong?"
Tonight was not Wang Ping and Zhao Cai's shift, but Zhao Cai insisted on coming to the imperial prison to check the doctor's medicine bill, and he even argued that it was a matter of "reasonable accounting" and "not wasting it if not used". By the way, he also used the imperial prison's kitchen to boil some medicine and planned to rest in the jailer's rest room.
Wang Ping simply wanted to wait for Miss Huixin outside the prison to tell her about his and Zhao Cai's speculation, but Zhao Cai said that since they were already in the prison and they had always been partners in the prison, he had to come and could also help Zhao Cai walk, as she had difficulty walking. If he wanted to tell Miss Huixin, he could tell her when he asked her to go out shopping.
Wang Ping thought what Zhao Cai said made sense, so he went over. But who knew that Aunt Zhou would stop him, not letting him see Miss Huixin, and even dragging him to be a matchmaker. He had no way to force his way in, so he had to turn back, and was even laughed at by Zhao Cai. What bad luck!
Just as he was feeling frustrated, Wang Ping suddenly heard a cry of "Fire!!!" and woke up with a start. He found thick smoke billowing out of the kitchen and a fire burning fiercely in the hot summer night breeze.
"Oh no!" Wang Ping had a bad feeling. Could it be that Miss Huixin had done something stupid? Aunt Zhou was so careless. Although she was complaining, Wang Ping quickly ran to the kitchen.
A group of jailers had gathered outside the kitchen yard, drawing water from the well in an attempt to reduce the fire. However, the situation didn't look serious, and the jailers were still chatting and laughing.
"What time is it now! Still laughing here?" Wang Ping took a step forward and scolded them.
"Who is it?" The jailer, who was laughing, was startled. He turned around and saw it was Wang Ping, and he felt relieved. "I thought it was the prison boss. Don't worry, brother. The fire only burned the kitchen. The prison has water, and it was put out after burning a few rooms. What's more, look, the fire master has gone in."
A group of jailers wearing special clothes are fire masters specially trained in the imperial prison. They can move freely in the fire scene, save people, and find things. There is nothing they can't do.
Seeing the Fire Master come out and put something down, he rushed back into the fire. The surrounding jailers couldn't help but cheer for the Fire Master, but Wang Ping became worried. The Fire Master can save people, but those people don't want to be burned to death in the fire, so they desperately ask the Fire Master for help to survive. But Miss Huixin, do you really want to live?
Wang Ping couldn't bear to see Huixin's charred body, so he walked away and squatted in the corner of the wall worriedly, but he saw a group of people in black fighting not far away.
"! Enemy——" Wang Ping was so frightened by the iron dart thrown by a man in black that he rolled backward with his hands covering his head, thus avoiding the danger of having his throat cut.
"Don't mess with me, Imperial Prison!" A man in black, noticing Wang Ping's uniform, warned him and left him alone. Wang Ping was startled. They'd actually let him go? Could this be the prison surveillance Zhao Cai had mentioned? And what about the other party? They couldn't be from the Imperial Prison, could they?
The other group of black-clad men trapped by the Imperial Prison's black-clad men looked a bit embarrassed. Even though they were fighting and retreating, they still looked for an opportunity to break out in the direction of the cell. Seeing this, the Imperial Prison's black-clad men didn't even care about the people being besieged, and desperately tried to stop the black-clad man who was running towards the cell.
"Are they here to break into the prison? The black-clad men in our prison are attacking them and preventing them from passing." Wang Ping understood. The black-clad men in the Imperial Prison were responsible for guarding the prisoners. But in this case, Zhao Cai guessed wrong. These men were not monitoring the jailers, but guarding the prisoners, and the prisoners in the No. 1 cell. This was no wonder. The prison boss had also ordered them not to interfere with the No. 1 cell.
The man in black who was trying hard to break out was surrounded by many people and was about to be killed on the spot. Other men in black who wanted to break into the prison rushed into the prison desperately, forcing the men in black in the imperial prison to go back to defend them.
One only cared about attacking, while the other had to kill people and prevent the other from attacking. Although the men in black from the imperial prison had to do more, they had a great advantage in numbers. They fought a draw with the men in black who came to break into the prison, and even gradually gained the upper hand.
Seeing the advantage of the men in black on the side of the Imperial Prison, Wang Ping felt relieved. But just as he was guessing the identity of the men in black who were robbing the prison, another group of people flew out from the burned-down gap in the Imperial Prison and split into two. One group fled outside the Imperial Prison, and the other came to support the men in black who were robbing the prison.
Wang Ping thought this was not good. Could it be that the black-clad men who had broken into the prison had already succeeded? Why fight them then? Shouldn't they chase after the fleeing black-clad men?
But the black-clad men in the Imperial Prison ignored the group of black-clad men who escaped, and stood firmly guarding the No. 1 cell, not allowing anything to break through their defense.
It's really strange, Wang Ping murmured in his heart. Although the jailers didn't dare to manage the No. 1 cell, they still had to deliver food and take roll call every day. He could barely read, but he recognized the names and faces that were often called out. There must be no valuable people in there.
Even if there were any prisoners they shouldn't be concerned about, the jailer would have already warned them not to go to that cell. Besides, just a few days ago, the traitor Prince Huai was arrested, and the jailer only gave them a few words, telling them to avoid Prince Huai's cell.
When Wang Ping heard that it was a big shot like Prince Huai, he pretended not to know and did not ask any questions. Later he heard that he was rescued from the imperial prison and the Crown Prince Regent was still trying to catch him.
Seeing this scene tonight, Wang Ping couldn't help but sigh. If Prince Huai was imprisoned in the imperial prison, with such a group of black-clad men supervising him, how could he have the chance to escape?
Thinking of this, Wang Ping suddenly realized that the black-clad men from the prison were bluffing, pretending to have kidnapped someone from the cell in order to lure the black-clad men from the Imperial Prison to chase them. However, the black-clad men from the Imperial Prison knew that there was actually no one to be kidnapped, so they just stayed near the cell and did not chase them.
Wang Ping finally understood. He couldn't help but admire his own analysis. It was so logical and well-founded. How could Zhao Cai dare to say he was stupid? He couldn't wait to go back and show off to Zhao Cai. But as soon as he turned around, he saw the burnt-out kitchen, and his mood suddenly became gloomy.
He thought of Miss Huixin. Without any hope, Wang Ping randomly called a fireman and asked him, "Excuse me, have you ever seen a girl around thirty years old in a fire scene?"
Fire Master looked at Wang Ping and said with a smile, "You are the third person to ask this question tonight. We have counted the things we rescued, and we have indeed not rescued a single girl."
"..." Wang Ping's throat suddenly choked. He swallowed and said in a hoarse voice, "Thank you very much."
The fire master shook his head and sighed, "It seems you're also a sentimental person. The other two got angry after asking, as if I owed them a huge sum of money, and you were the only one who remembered to thank me. Alas, the fire is out now. If you're not afraid of falling objects, go over there and look around. Perhaps you can collect her remains so she can rest in peace."
"I'm so grateful!" Wang Ping thanked the Fire Master deeply, "I'll definitely bring a gift to thank you someday!" After saying that, Wang Ping ran into the charred ground that still had a hint of burning heat, picked up a stick, and searched in the fire.
As he searched again and again, Wang Ping felt a sense of disbelief. Perhaps Miss Huixin was not dead! No matter how hard he searched, he could not find a single human bone.
Wang Ping's heart was beating fast. He subconsciously picked up some charred things, took off his coat, and walked out wrapped in it.
Walking out and meeting the Fire Master, Wang Ping forced a smile. "Thank you... After a hundred years, I can go with her. But if I take her body away, will the higher-ups hold you accountable?"
Fire Master sighed again, waved his hand and let him go, "It's okay, who dares to ask about the affairs of the Imperial Prison?"
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