Chapter 219 Rescue
The dungeon of Prince Duan's mansion was damp and dark, with a bloody stench permeating the air.
Biluo was chained to the cold stone wall, her clothes were tattered and her body was covered in wounds.
On the exposed parts of her body, whip marks and brand marks crisscrossed, and it was almost impossible to find a patch of intact skin.
Biluo lowered her head, her disheveled hair obscuring her pale face; only the slight rise and fall of her chest proved that she was still alive.
Heavy footsteps approached from afar. Prince Duan, Xiao Yirui, dressed in a brocade robe, stood out starkly from the filthy surroundings.
With a cruel gleam in his eyes, he walked up to Biluo and used the handle of his riding whip to lift her chin.
"Tsk, he's a tough nut to crack."
Prince Duan looked at Biluo's eyes, which still burned with an indomitable flame even in such a predicament, and sneered, "Speak, who ordered you to poison my food? Tell me, and I'll give you a quick death."
Biluo spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, his voice hoarse but clear.
“You wicked prince…you have committed countless evils, and everyone has the right to kill you! No one instructed me; I am the one who wants to avenge the sisters you have violated!”
"Stubborn!"
Prince Duan's face darkened, and he lashed his riding whip across Biluo's body, leaving fresh bloodstains. "How dare a lowly slave like you get your hands on a secret palace medicine? Speak! Did someone in the palace send you?!"
Biluo gritted her teeth, enduring the excruciating pain that swept through her body, and remained silent, only staring at Prince Duan with hatred in her eyes.
Her silence thoroughly enraged Prince Duan.
He suddenly leaned closer, almost touching Biluo's face, and whispered menacingly, "You think I can't find out just because you don't talk? Once I find your accomplices, I'll make sure you..."
His words came to an abrupt end.
When he got very close, he could smell that besides the smell of blood and sweat, Biluo also seemed to have a faint... unusual sweet scent.
Upon closer inspection of the inconspicuous red rashes and ulcers on Biluo's exposed skin, Prince Duan's expression changed drastically, as if he had encountered something extremely filthy. He abruptly took a few steps back, filled with shock and anger!
"You...you slut! What kind of filthy disease do you have?!"
He demanded sharply, his voice carrying a hint of panic that he himself was unaware of.
Having been a seasoned veteran of the pleasure quarters, he was not entirely ignorant of the symptoms of some venereal diseases.
Looking at his panicked appearance, Biluo's blood-stained lips curled into a mocking smile. Although she didn't admit it, her expression said it all.
Prince Duan felt a chill run up his spine. The thought of how close he had been made him feel nauseous and furious. He roared, "Beat her! Beat her hard! Beat her until she reveals who's behind it all!"
As he roared, he subconsciously wiped his face and hands vigorously with his sleeve, as if he had gotten some deadly filth on them.
However, the absurd things he had done with Biluo had already thoroughly tainted him.
Biluo looked at Prince Duan with a sarcastic gaze, feeling that he was the only truly despicable person from beginning to end!
——
The torture in the dungeon did not make Biluo speak.
Even so, Prince Duan, who was already suspicious, became even more convinced that she had someone backing her.
He suppressed his fear of the disease, calmed down, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.
He deliberately leaked the news that Biluo had been captured and was suffering from a serious illness, while simultaneously setting up a trap both inside and outside the dungeon.
Prince Duan was certain that the person behind the scenes, upon learning the news, would take action, whether to silence witnesses or to rescue the victim.
He's going to wait and catch them red-handed!
The news quickly reached Shui Xian's ears in the deep palace through Zhou Yan and Yin Zhu's secret channels.
"Biluo has been arrested..."
Upon hearing Yinzhu's report, Narcissus felt a slight chill in her fingertips hanging by her side.
The image of Biluo's stubborn face appeared before her eyes. She remembered that she had tacitly allowed her to retaliate and had promised to do her best to protect her.
Prince Duan's intention in setting a trap is obvious.
Making a move at this moment would be extremely risky.
Yinzhu stood by, deeply worried: "Your Highness, Prince Duan is waiting to find something to use against you. Rescuing you now would be tantamount to walking into a trap..."
Narcissus closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Images of Xiao Duo's tragic death flashed through his mind, as did Lin Ying's crazed eyes, and countless lives in the deep palace that were beyond his control and ultimately disappeared silently.
She suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze clear and resolute: "Biluo was exposed for revenge. Now that I know, how can I sit idly by and watch her fall into the tiger's den and suffer torture to death?"
Narcissus looked at Silver Pearl and said decisively, "Send a message to Zhou Yan: spare no expense, formulate a detailed plan, and rescue Biluo!"
——
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.
Dressed in night clothes, Zhou Yan was exceptionally agile. He led several carefully selected and skilled martial artists into the heavily guarded Prince Duan's mansion without making a sound.
They moved swiftly and professionally, taking advantage of the shadows and gaps in the patrols, and followed a pre-discovered route straight to the dungeon.
After dealing with several guards, they successfully found Biluo, who was being tortured to the point of near death.
"Miss Biluo, hold on! We've been ordered to rescue you!"
Zhou Yan whispered, quickly cut the iron chains, draped clothes over Biluo, and then carried the light-footed Biluo on his back.
However, just as they were about to leave the dungeon, a piercing scream suddenly rang out!
"Assassin! Catch the assassin!"
Prince Duan was indeed prepared!
In an instant, the mansion, which had been full of flaws just moments before, was suddenly brightly lit, and a large number of guards surged in from all directions, their shouts of battle deafening.
"Retreat according to the planned route!"
Despite the danger, Zhou Yan remained calm. He gave a low shout, carried Biluo on his back, and, with his men providing cover for each other, swiftly moved between the pavilions and towers of the Prince's mansion, with arrows whistling past his ears from time to time.
The pursuers were like shadows, relentlessly pursuing them.
Although Zhou Yan and his group were highly skilled in martial arts, their movements were hampered by the fact that they were carrying the seriously injured Biluo, and they were about to be surrounded.
In a moment of urgency, Zhou Yan made a decisive decision.
The Dengdi Inn is nearby and could serve as a temporary refuge.
He risked taking Biluo away from the group to lure away some of the pursuers. With his superb lightness skills and familiarity with the terrain, he made several turns and finally managed to shake off his pursuers temporarily. He then quietly sneaked into an extremely hidden storage room in the backyard of Dengdi Inn.
Almost at the same time that Zhou Yan had settled Biluo and disappeared himself, Prince Duan personally led a large number of guards and arrived at Dengdi Inn with murderous intent.
"Open the gates! The Prince's Palace is arresting assassins! Anyone who obstructs us will be killed without mercy!"
The guard slammed the door violently.
Zhou Yan changed his clothes and pretended that he had just been woken up by someone knocking on the door.
As soon as the door opened, Prince Duan pushed it open before he could speak.
At that moment, Prince Duan did not expect that Zhou Yan, as the manager, would personally risk his life to save Biluo.
Prince Duan led his men to forcibly break in, searching everywhere and causing chaos.
However, they searched the inn inside and out, but couldn't find a trace of the assassin.
Prince Duan stood in the lobby of the inn, his face so gloomy it could drip water.
He looked around at the seemingly ordinary inn, but his mind quickly connected it with the increasingly powerful Imperial Concubine Jin in the palace.
Isn't the person behind the Dengdi Inn none other than Shui Xian's father?
"Good, very good!"
Prince Duan sneered inwardly, almost certain that Shui Xian was the mastermind behind it all. "So it really was you! I'd like to see how you get away with this!"
Although he failed to catch them red-handed on the spot, the connection between Dengdi Inn and Narcissus had become irrefutable evidence in his mind.
——
After confirming that Prince Duan had left with his men, Zhou Yan quietly appeared to check on Biluo's situation.
Biluo was barely breathing, but her eyes were unusually bright. She gripped Zhou Yan's arm tightly and, with her last bit of strength, said haltingly, "...Tell...tell Your Majesty...I...I'm useless...I couldn't kill that dog prince with my own hands..."
She had already guessed that it was the favored Imperial Noble Consort in the palace who sent her to deal with Prince Duan.
I just don't know why that noble lady would know about a lowly prostitute like her.
"You've done a great job."
Zhou Yan said in a low voice.
Bilu shook her head with difficulty, her breathing becoming rapid: "And...and...I heard..."
She gasped for breath, "Prince Duan... when he was drunk, he said... said that Consort Wen was... that he killed her!"
Zhou Yan was shocked: "The late Emperor's Consort Wen?"
"yes……"
A look of hatred and relief at having completed her mission flashed in Biluo's eyes. "He fabricated evidence... to slander Consort Wen and the prince at the time... for having an affair, driving Consort Wen... to commit suicide..."
After she finished telling this shocking secret that she had kept hidden for so long, she seemed to have exhausted all her life force. Her hand fell limply to her side, and she fainted.
Zhou Yan was overwhelmed with emotion!
The death of Consort Wen, the late emperor, was actually caused by Prince Duan!
Consort Wen is the unhealable scar in the heart of the current Emperor Zhaoheng, the only light and eternal pain of his youth!
This matter concerns the royal reputation, and even more so, it concerns the emperor's absolute displeasure!
Zhou Yan dared not delay for a moment. He immediately moved Biluo to a safer place for treatment. At the same time, he sealed and encrypted this earth-shattering news as quickly as possible, and sent it to the palace through top-secret channels, directly to Shuixian...
......
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com