After delivering the food, Ah Zhong returned to Yang Xi and reported back respectfully, "Chief Yang, the food has been delivered to that young lady."
Yang Xi, engrossed in his book, didn't look up, only coldly replying, "Hmm, I understand. You may leave."
This person speaks with the same cold indifference as always.
Zhou Chenyu stuck his head out of the iron cage and looked at the torches burning at the end of the corridor.
Yang Xi, dressed in black, sat upright at the table, holding a bamboo slip in one hand and supporting it from behind with the other. From a distance, his hand appeared large, slender, and with distinct knuckles, which sparked the imagination.
"You know what, the way this man looked at the confession so carefully really did have both the refined arrogance of a scholar and the bravery of a military general."
Zhou Chenyu stared at his face for a long time, but when she thought about her current situation, which was all thanks to him and that bastard Qian Rushan, she realized that he was all show and no substance. She couldn't keep a man like that.
In an instant, all the affection turned into mosquito blood on the mosquito net.
Zhou Chenyu slapped herself hard across the face, "Don't be love-struck!"
Yang Xi looked at the confession on the document, and after a long while, he looked up at Ah Zhong, who hadn't left yet, and asked, "It's late at night, why haven't you left?"
Ah Zhong filled the cup next to the table with hot tea and said with a smile, "Squad Leader Yang, keeping watch at night is the job of a few of us underlings. How can we let you keep watch here all night? You should go back early and get some rest. You've been working hard for days. Even a person made of iron needs to rest."
Yang Xi twisted his neck and looked at the sky outside. "It's late. Going back will just mean getting some sleep anyway, and I'll have to come back early tomorrow. I won't go back."
He picked up the cup, took a sip of tea, and then looked down at the confession. "Don't you always complain that there's too much work at the government office and you can't catch your breath? I'll stay here tonight, you can all leave."
Ah Zhong, against his conscience, shook his head and flattered, "Squad Leader Yang, how could the underlings be tired? Let us stay here and guard the place."
"There are so many confessions, we can't finish reading them all in a short time. Chief Yang, let's look at them tomorrow." He reached out and touched the messy pile of papers, pens, and confessions on the table, wanting to take the opportunity to tidy them up.
"Hmm?" Yang Xi looked at him coldly, his expression authoritative without being angry.
Ah Zhong felt a murderous aura surging towards him; if he didn't leave now, he'd be asking for trouble. He silently withdrew his hand and awkwardly said, "Then I'll take my leave first."
After Ah Zhong left, Xiao Qi rushed back in a hurry. When she saw the man sitting in front of the table, she asked in surprise, "Master, what are you doing here?"
Yang Xi frowned and scolded in a low voice, "Didn't I tell you not to call me 'Master' in the government office?"
Xiaoqi was an orphan who lost both his parents at a young age and grew up with his grandparents. Two years ago, his grandparents passed away one after the other, leaving him all alone in the family.
Thanks to his master's recommendation, he was able to get a job as a constable in the yamen.
Xiao Qi looked around and, thankfully, no one heard him. He scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Master, there's no one here, they can't hear us."
Xiao Qi scanned the dungeon, but none of the people who were supposed to be there were to be found. He sullenly said, "Those guys, Ah Zhong and his gang, are really outrageous. It's one thing that they're lazy when arresting people, but they even need Master to personally oversee the night watch. These people just do whatever they want because they have money to burn. I'll definitely report them to the magistrate one of these days!"
"I told them to leave, it has nothing to do with them." Yang Xi picked up a pen without any distraction, and Xiao Qi tactfully sat down to grind ink. "Master, is the reason you stayed here because of that girl?"
Yang Xi dipped his brush in ink and drew two circles around the key point. "What girl?"
"What other girl could it be? Of course, it's the girl who beat up Qian Rushan." Xiao Qi glanced back at the cell where the prisoners were being held and said, "Master, you've been guarding this place all night. Aren't you afraid that Qian Rushan's men will kill you? Master, you're such a kind person, always thinking of others, but you forget about yourself."
Yang Xi frowned, carefully examining the words on the confession, not listening to a word Xiao Qi said.
Xiao Qi was used to his master's obsessive focus on official duties. He muttered to himself, "That girl was really something. She beat Qian Rushan black and blue, leaving him completely defenseless. Any other woman would have been bullied by him long ago. I never thought Qian Rushan would have a day like this. It's so satisfying! If I ever have the chance to meet her, I'll definitely befriend her!"
Xiao Qi was overjoyed when suddenly Zhou Chenyu's terrified scream came from the prison cell, "Ahhhhh, ahhhhh, help! Someone help! Is anyone there?!"
Before he could react, Yang Xi had already put down the confession and strode over, asking, "What happened?"
When Zhou Chenyu saw Yang Xi appear before her, his face was still gloomy. Despite her reluctance, she still held onto the brick, cowering in fear in the corner near the door, and pointed to the pile of thatch, saying, "Yang Xi, there are bugs over there."
"Insects...insects?" Xiao Qi secretly glanced at her master, whose face darkened even more.
He quietly stepped forward to soothe her, "Miss Zhou, this is a dungeon, not an inn. It's perfectly normal to have snakes, insects, and rats here. Your shouting in the middle of the night is terrifying, you know?"
The female thief opposite her yawned in annoyance, "That's right, I was sleeping soundly, and your shouting interrupted my sweet dreams. Can't a person get any sleep?!"
"It's a natural human reaction; who can control it? If you had released me earlier, none of this would have happened tonight." Zhou Chenyu muttered to himself, threw down the brick, and knelt by the door, sobbing, "I'm not afraid of rats, I'm not afraid of cockroaches, I'm just afraid of these wriggling little bugs. Can you please move me somewhere else?"
A dungeon is a place to imprison prisoners; it's not something you can just come to or change at will.
Xiao Qi rolled her eyes and said with difficulty, "Miss, it will be dawn in another hour or two. Please bear with it a little longer."
"But I'm really scared of these little bugs. I'm terrified of being in the same room with them. Could you please move me somewhere else, or let me stay with you? I swear, I won't bother you, and I definitely won't run away." Zhou Chenyu was trembling with fear, howling.
Seeing that she didn't seem to be faking it at all, Xiaoqi said, "Then how about..."
Zhou Chenyu saw a glimmer of hope, but Yang Xi ruthlessly interrupted her: "No!"
Why?
Zhou Chenyu glared at the stubborn man in front of her, no longer willing to give him a friendly look: "If Qian Rushan can leave, what's wrong with me changing rooms?"
"..." The man looked at the unreasonable woman with a cold face, not bothering to explain a single unnecessary word.
Xiaoqi smiled sheepishly and turned to leave.
"Hey, come back here!!!" Zhou Chenyu stretched his hand out the door, his throat hoarse from shouting, but the two people didn't turn around.
She was so angry that her forehead was practically steaming, and she blurted out all sorts of things: "Yang Xi, you bastard, you're helping Qian Rushan to do evil, you'll get your comeuppance!"
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