In the luxurious and warm carriage, Helian Yu was curled up in a corner, holding a hot water bottle in his hand, his little face thoughtful about something.
"What are you thinking about?"
Helian Chi warmed the wine gracefully, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Could it be that the state teacher has captured his soul?"
"No!" Helian Yu defended, "Master would never do that!"
Helian Chi's eyes were full of sarcasm, "That's strange, we just met for the first time, but you're so close to him."
Helian Yu snorted and didn't want to argue with Helian Chi.
The carriage arrived at the Dali Temple. The whole place was solemn and majestic, with sacred patterns carved on the walls, which gave people an invisible pressure.
Helian Yu and Helian Chi got off the carriage, and a group of officials in front of the door bowed and stepped forward.
"Your Highness, I greet you. May your Highness be well and safe."
Helian Chi reached out to Helian Yu and took her to the Dali Temple.
"Chen Shaoqing stays here, and the rest of the officials should do their jobs. There is no need to be formal."
Helian Chi never liked meaningless pomp and circumstance, so he only left Chen Sili and Chen Shaoqing, and later Cui Huai and Chang An to accompany them, and the rest were settled outside.
"Your Highness, do you want to go to the imperial court first, or take a walk in the prison?" Chen Sili stepped aside to accompany him. "It was the end of the year some time ago, and His Majesty pardoned many prisoners. There are not many prisoners in the prison now."
"It's not long since the beginning of the new year, and the Dali Temple has not received any cases."
Helian Chi lowered his eyes and looked at Helian Yu, "Where do you want to go, Xiaoyuer?"
"The prison."
Helian Yu had never seen what a prison looked like, nor had he seen prisoners, so he was very curious.
"Did Chen Shaoqing hear it clearly?" Helian Chi glanced at Chen Sili.
"I heard it clearly." Chen Sili's face twitched, and he looked at Helian Yu carefully, but he couldn't remember who she was.
When the group arrived at the prison, they heard a woman's heart-wrenching cry.
Chen Sili's pupils shrank sharply, and he quickly stepped forward to apologize, "I offended Your Highness, please forgive me."
As he said this, he winked at a jailer.
Helian Yu looked at his little movements and turned his gaze to the jailer.
The jailer looked simple and honest, with a dark face and clear eyes.
When the jailer saw Chen Sili's action, a look of realization appeared on his face. He quickly rushed to Helian Chi, knelt down, kowtowed three times, and shouted:
"I, Liu Sanzhuang, greet your Highness! To your Highness, the person crying in the prison is a whore! She is so ungrateful!"
"It is her blessing that the young master of Lord Jia's family likes her, but she actually refused! Lord Jia was furious and sent her to the prison for training. My master said that she will be sent to Lord Jia's mansion after the training. Your Highness does not need to panic."
After the jailer finished speaking these silly words, Chen Sili turned pale, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he fell to his knees on the ground, shaking like a sieve.
Liu Sanzhuang thought of something again, raised his head, and gave Helian Chi a lewd smile: "If your Highness has a little heroine you like, you can send her here. My master is the best at training her. I guarantee you will be satisfied. Just give me the money you think is right."
Helian Chi looked at Chen Sili, who was kneeling on the ground, with a sarcastic look on his face. "Master Chen is not as noble as a scholar. He has made a living in the prison."
"Your Highness, please forgive me. I have never done anything so despicable! This is all one-sided words from the jailer. He is slandering me!"
Chen Sili kowtowed vigorously and kept explaining, "This jailer's mother passed away a few days ago, and he went insane, so he slandered me. I hope Your Highness will investigate in detail!"
"If Your Highness does not believe me, you can send someone to ask the young master of the Jia family to come here for questioning and ask Your Highness to clear my name!"
Before Helian Chi could say anything, Helian Yu dragged Helian Chi directly into the prison.
On the rack, a half-naked beautiful woman was chained with an iron chain. There were no scars on her body, but there were countless black handprints and undried blood on her legs, which was shocking.
The woman's face was pale, and she seemed to have no strength to raise her eyes.
Helian Chi's face suddenly changed. He raised his hands to cover Helian Yu's eyes and shouted angrily: "Cui Huai!"
Cui Huai hurried forward, took off his outer robe, rescued the woman from the rack, and put clothes on her.
The woman moved slowly and her eyes were dull. When Cui Huai touched her, she screamed in fear.
Cui Huai was afraid that she would disturb Helian Chi and Helian Yu, so he looked up at Helian Chi for advice.
Helian Chi's eyes were filled with impatience, and he moved his hands again, covering Helian Yu's ears together, "Put clothes on her."
Cui Huai gently comforted the frightened woman and put his clothes on her, "Don't be afraid, young lady, my fourth prince will take care of it for you."
Chang An lowered his eyes, his gaze fell on the top of Helian Yu's head, and his eyes were filled with dark gloom.
His young master is still young and kind-hearted. After seeing this scene, wouldn't he be unable to sleep for several days? If he had a nightmare, it would be a great sin.
Several people have different thoughts.
Helian Yu's eyes and ears were blocked, but he still saw the scene for a moment.
Bloody, cruel, and despicable.
It is not difficult to imagine what the woman would encounter in a prison full of men.
At this time, Chen Sili and Liu Sanzhuang were brought in by the guards.
"What do you have to say, Master Chen?"
When Helian Chi saw the woman put on her clothes, he loosened the hand that was restraining Helian Yu and took her to sit on a simple chair.
Chen Sili knocked his head to the ground, "Your Highness, this woman is an assassin! According to the law, she should be executed, but before the end of the year, His Majesty issued a general amnesty, and her crime was reduced. She was exiled to the army and sent to be a military prostitute. The jailers can all testify to this! Now the jailers have no regard for the severity of the crime, please forgive me, Your Highness!"
"No way!" Liu Sanzhuang blushed and shouted angrily, panting and pointing at Chen Sili, "You are in collusion with each other, but you are actually running a secret prostitution business!"
"That's enough!" Chen Sili did not dare to show weakness and shouted at Liu Sanzhuang, "You bastard, if you hadn't lost your mother at the end of the year and gone insane, I would have kicked you out of the Dali Temple long ago!"
The two of them went back and forth, and there was another debate.
Helian Chi found it boring, and hooked his finger on Helian Yu's chin, which didn't have much flesh, and asked, "Who do you listen to, Xiao Yu'er?"
Helian Yu grabbed Helian Chi's hand to prevent him from causing trouble, "There is another witness there, let's hear what she says."
Helian Yu pointed at the woman kneeling on the ground. She was as beautiful as a flower, fresh and refined, but lacked a lot of vitality.
Chen Sili immediately followed up, "Daughter of the Zhao family! Why don't you tell His Highness the truth and clear my name?"
The woman looked up timidly and bumped into Chen Sili's dark face. Seeing his threatening eyes, tears started streaming down her face.
She turned her head stiffly, her eyes red, and looked at Helian Chi, smiling miserably, her face as pale as a ghost.
She knocked her head to the ground, her voice hoarse, as if she had not been in water for a long time, "My daughter... is an assassin."
"Your Highness! She admitted it!" Chen Sili pointed at the jailer Liu Sanzhuang, "He slandered me and should be imprisoned according to the law. Your Highness, please make the decision."
Helian Yu's face wrinkled, and he tugged at Helian Chi's clothes and whispered, "They acted so fake."
(End of this chapter)