Chapter 97 Lin Wan'er Goes to Prison
The imperial prison in the capital was forever filled with the stench of decay and the cries of despair.
This place holds serious criminals; once you go in, you basically can forget about coming out alive.
In the deepest, most dangerous cell, Lin Wan'er huddled in a corner covered with rotten straw. Her once priceless brocade dress was now filthy, her delicate hair was disheveled, and her face bore the marks of her fall during her escape.
In just one night, they plummeted from the clouds to the mire.
"Let me out! I am the young lady of the Prime Minister's mansion! I am the future concubine of the Regent!"
She would lunge at the railing every now and then, screaming at the top of her lungs, "Chen Jin! If you dare to kill me, you'll regret it! I have a secret! I have a secret about the treasure of the previous dynasty!"
However, all that responded to her was the cold whip of the jailer and the squeaking of rats.
"What's all the noise about! You think you can be an empress here? Dream on!"
Lin Wan'er shrank back after being hit, her eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness.
She refused to accept it!
She had clearly calculated everything perfectly, and she had so many trump cards in her hand, so why did she ultimately lose to a good-for-nothing like Jiang Mianmian who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun?
Just then, footsteps came from the end of the cell.
Unlike the jailer's heavy footsteps, this sound was light, calm, and even carried a hint of... the sound of cracking sunflower seeds?
"Crack, crack."
Lin Wan'er suddenly looked up.
Two people walked out into the dimly lit corridor.
The woman at the head of the group wore a light purple silk skirt and a snow-white fox fur coat. She held a small dish of melon seeds in her hand and strolled leisurely, as if she were not visiting a prisoner but rather strolling in a garden.
Behind her, the man she had loved and hated her for a lifetime—Chen Jin—was carefully protecting her, as if afraid that the filth in the prison would touch the hem of her clothes.
"Jiang! Mian! Mian!"
Lin Wan'er squeezed out those three words, wishing she could pounce on her and bite her to death.
"Oh dear, why are you so angry?"
Jiang Mianmian stopped in front of the prison door, spat out a melon seed shell, and looked at the madwoman inside with a smile. "Sister Lin, I heard you wanted to see me? What, do you want to catch up with me, or do you want to make up for the job you didn't get to be a foot-washing maid?"
[Tsk tsk, that's really pitiful.]
Is this the legendary "a fallen phoenix is no better than a chicken"? Where did that haughty arrogance go?
Shen Jin had a chair brought over, and Jiang Mianmian sat down comfortably, looking down at Lin Wan'er.
"You win."
Lin Wan'er gripped the railing tightly, her fingernails breaking and bleeding. "Are you feeling smug right now? You stole my seat, you stole my cousin, and now you're here to laugh at me!"
"Jiang Mianmian, what makes you think you can do that? You're not good at anything, not even music, chess, calligraphy, or painting. What else can you do besides pretending to be stupid? In what way can you compare to me?"
She hysterically questioned, "In terms of talent, looks, and cunning, in what way do I lose to you? Why did my cousin choose you and not me? Why is God so unfair!"
Listening to her roar, Jiang Mianmian slowly peeled a melon seed and put it in her mouth.
"On what grounds?"
Jiang Mianmian tilted her head and thought for a moment.
[Because I'm a time traveler? Because I have a system? Because I have a script?]
Oh no, I can't say any of that.
"Because I... got lucky?" Jiang Mianmian shrugged.
"I don't believe it!" Lin Wan'er shrieked. "Luck can cure poison? Luck can bring rain? You must be a witch! You used sorcery to bewitch my cousin!"
"Cousin Shen Jin! Wake up! This woman is a demon! She's not the original Jiang Mianmian at all!"
Lin Wan'er turned to Shen Jin, attempting a final struggle, "I know where the treasure of the previous dynasty is! I know that secret! As long as you kill him, I'll tell you everything! I can even help you unify the world..."
Shen Jin stared at her coldly, his gaze as if he were looking at a buzzing fly.
"Treasure?"
Shen Jin pulled a blueprint from his sleeve and threw it into the cell. "Are you talking about the armory in this abandoned mine?"
Lin Wan'er was stunned, looking at the blueprints on the ground, which were her last bargaining chip.
"You...how could you have..."
“A month ago, I had the place emptied out.”
Shen Jin said calmly, "As for your so-called secret... in my eyes, it's worthless."
Lin Wan'er completely broke down.
It turns out that what she thought was her trump card was already an open secret in other people's eyes. She was like a clown, performing a one-woman show.
"Why……"
Lin Wan'er collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. "Where exactly did I lose?"
Jiang Mianmian stood up and patted the sunflower seed crumbs off her hands.
She walked to the prison door, looked at this hateful yet pitiful woman, and finally gave the answer that would leave Lin Wan'er with unresolved grievances.
"You want to know why?"
Jiang Mianmian leaned down, extended a finger, and gently pressed it to her lips:
"because--"
"Villains die from talking too much."
Lin Wan'er: ? ? ?
“Look at you,” Jiang Mianmian began to scold, “Every time before you do something, you have to make a big threat first. You have to send a message before you poison someone, you have to show off to someone before you steal blueprints, and you even have to go over the plan in your mind before you run away.”
"Your thoughts are written all over your face every day, how do you expect to win?"
Most importantly, you've encountered a cheat code that can read minds and another that has a godlike perspective.
Two max-level characters are crushing you in a newbie village, how can you not lose?
"Talkative...talkative?"
Lin Wan'er muttered to herself, never expecting this reason.
She was a master of scheming and meticulous planning her entire life, but in the end, it was all because... she talked too much?
"Alright, the prison visit is over."
Jiang Mianmian straightened up and took Shen Jin's arm. "Your Highness, let's go. The air here isn't good; staying here too long will make us ugly."
"good."
Shen Jin didn't even glance at Lin Wan'er before turning and leaving with Jiang Mianmian.
Behind them came Lin Wan'er's maniacal laughter:
"Hahaha! Too talkative! It's because he talks too much!"
"Jiang Mianmian! I'll be waiting for you in hell! You'll suffer a terrible death..."
The sound gradually faded away, eventually being shut out by the heavy prison doors.
Stepping out of the prison, the sunlight was blinding.
Jiang Mianmian took a deep breath.
It's finally over.
With this biggest cancer removed, we should be able to live in peace for a few days now, right?
"Your Highness."
Jiang Mianmian looked up at Shen Jin, "Lin Wan'er said she knows about the treasures of the previous dynasty. Although that armory is fake, could there really be treasures there?"
After all, the original book did mention that the previous dynasty's royal family had left behind a fund to restore the country.
Chen Jin paused in his steps.
He recalled another item found on Lin Wan'er—a broken jade pendant. And the pattern on that pendant seemed somewhat similar to the keepsake left to Jiang Mianmian by her mother…?
"Perhaps."
Shen Jin looked at her with deep eyes, "However, that's no longer important."
"The important thing is..."
He squeezed her hand, "Whether there is treasure or not, you are my greatest treasure."
Jiang Mianmian blushed.
Ugh, here we go again.
But... if there really is treasure, could we go dig for it? I want to open a nationwide chain of my hot pot restaurants!
He chuckled silently.
This little money-grubber has fallen into a money-obsessed trap and can't get out.
"good."
"If it really exists, I will go with you to dig it up."
"I found it, it's all yours."
The two smiled at each other and walked side by side toward the Regent's Palace.
Lin Wan'er's imprisonment marked a temporary end to this thrilling court struggle.
But what Jiang Mianmian didn't know was that the clue about the "treasure of the previous dynasty" had actually been hidden right beside her all along.
And the key to unlocking the treasure might just be... herself.
A new adventure is about to begin.
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