402, Night Exploration of the Prison
402, Night Exploration of the Prison
“Da da da—”
The prison was cold and damp at night.
Lighted torches were placed in the aisle, emitting a dim light in the darkness, illuminating the way in. The road ahead was deep and bottomless.
The cell was only half lit, and the other half was in darkness.
The prisoners held here were basically all death row prisoners of the imperial court, or those who could never leave here. It can be said that few people could walk out of here alive.
There were prisoners in other cells crying out for justice, but here in the Sky Prison it was as silent as death, and no prisoner would cry out for justice here.
It is very quiet here, whether it is day or night.
But on this night, someone came in at night, and the sound of dozens of footsteps broke the silence of the night.
The jailer led the way respectfully, only making timely moves to guide the group when they needed to turn a corner, and he didn't dare to say a word.
Zhao Lang walked in the cell, and with a glance, he knew who was watching them.
Lu Mingfei and Lord Li, the Minister of Justice, followed behind.
Behind them followed a team of guards and jailers from the Heavenly Prison.
When they reached the door of a cell, the jailer spoke to his master behind him, "Your Majesty, this is the cell where Wan Jinnian is imprisoned."
"Open the door." Zhao Lang raised his hand.
Hearing the footsteps outside, Prime Minister Wan, who was sitting in the dark, knew that someone was coming to see him tonight.
"Yes, yes, I'll open the door right away." The prison guard didn't dare to say anything like "It will be dangerous for you to go in." Hearing this, the prison guard quickly took out a bunch of keys from his waist and opened the iron chain on the door.
After opening the door, the jailer hurried in to light the oil lamp on the table before coming out and standing aside waiting.
Once the light in the cell is turned on, people outside can clearly see the prisoner sitting on the ground.
Prime Minister Wan, who used to be the most powerful man in the court, has now lost his official status and is just an old man imprisoned in this prison.
"You stay outside." Zhao Lang turned his head and gave an instruction to the young man following him, then stepped inside.
Lu Mingfei was about to follow in when he stopped and had to watch from outside. Standing outside with him was his former superior, Lord Zhou, the Minister of Justice.
He turned his head to look at Lord Zhou next to him, and seeing that the former superior's eyes were looking towards the cell, he turned his head and looked in that direction as well.
Zhao Lang stood in the cell, watching the former prime minister slowly stand up from the corner, and asked, "Wan Jinnian, did you ever imagine that you would end up like this?"
"I didn't expect that you would sit in this position. I guess you and your son have been planning this for many years?" Wan Jinnian stood up with the help of the wall, looking at the person in front of him with his cloudy eyes.
Wan Jinnian would never have dreamed that the little wolf cub they had imprisoned in Kyoto Prefecture would grow up to be a vicious wolf. Now this kid has snatched away his grandson's throne and everything that the Wan family had planned for hundreds of years!
Seeing Zhao Lang appear in front of him, Wan Jinnian asked angrily, "Did you kill Yuner?"
"There's no need for me to be so cruel to a child." Zhao Lang snorted and laughed.
"But you, Wan Jinnian, you wanted to be the emperor yourself, but you were afraid that people would call you a traitor. You've been pretending to be a hypocrite for so many years, and you almost fooled yourself, didn't you?"
When Wan Jinnian met Zhao Lang's gaze, his heart began to beat wildly, as if his thoughts had been seen through.
However, he hadn't been the prime minister for so many years in vain. He quickly reacted and calmly replied, "The winner is the king, the loser is the bandit. I lost this round. I admit defeat." He did not admit that he had ever thought of killing his grandson and becoming emperor himself.
Zhao Lang chuckled and said, "Wan Jinnian, return all the illicit funds you've embezzled over the years. I will spare the lives of all nine members of your Wan clan, thousands of people."
Wan Jinnian looked at Zhao Lang intently. After a moment, he said, "I can give you the silver."
"I hope you can keep your word today. Otherwise, even if I become a ghost in the underworld, I will come looking for you!"
"You probably can't remember how many people you have killed over the years, right? Once you reach the underworld, I'm afraid you won't have the chance to come out. Those ghosts you killed will definitely haunt you." Zhao Lang chuckled and walked out.
When he reached the prison door, he looked at the Minister of Justice who was waiting outside and said, "Minister Li, I leave this to you."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The Minister of Justice bowed and replied.
Zhao Lang glanced at Lu Mingfei, motioned Lu Mingfei to follow him, and then walked away.
Lu Mingfei bowed to his senior and quickly followed Zhao Lang.
The rest of the guards also followed their master.
Only a few people who came with the Minister of Justice and the jailers stayed behind.
After hearing the footsteps leaving, Minister Li of the Ministry of Justice stepped into the cell. He even had a table of good wine and food served, and had a drink with these former prime ministers who had once scolded the court.
Knowing he was doomed, Wan Jinnian answered all the questions the Minister of Justice asked him at the dinner table without hiding anything. Later, when he got drunk, he even took the initiative to tell Minister Li some things that Minister Li hadn't asked.
The clerk who came into the cell then wrote down every word the former prime minister said on paper.
On the other side, after coming out of the Sky Prison, Zhao Lang asked the coachman to take him and Lu Mingfei to South Street.
The two men got off the carriage and walked on the deserted street at night.
It was too late at this time. All the shops on the street were closed, and the street vendors had already packed up their stalls and gone home.
Zhao Lang turned to look at Lu Mingfei, who was standing beside him, and asked, "Do you remember? We first met on this street, and I even exchanged a straw bird from you."
"I remember." Lu Mingfei nodded and said, "You gave me a jade pendant in exchange for the little bird I made myself. I remember I was holding the jade pendant you gave me and chased after you to return it, but you refused to take it and said you gave it to me."
"You didn't look very happy at that time. Why were you unhappy?"
Hearing Lu Mingfei's words, Zhao Lang recalled that scene in his mind. He remembered that he ran out to the street alone. At that time, his heart was full of sadness of being abandoned and unwanted by his parents.
Later, he saw a father and son setting up a stall on this street.
The clothes of the father and son were patched up, and it was obvious that they had not lived a good life. But they smiled so happily, and the child had his father by his side.
At that time, he actually envied other children who had parents by their side because his parents didn't want him anymore and sent him to Kyoto Prefecture as a hostage.
He was already eight years old that year, and he already understood why he was sent to Kyoto Prefecture to study. He also knew that his father chose to send him, the legitimate son, to Kyoto Prefecture as a hostage between his favorite illegitimate son and the legitimate son.
His family sent him to Kyoto as a hostage, which was already an act of abandoning their legitimate son.
So after coming to Kyoto Prefecture, he has been very unhappy.
When he saw the father and son on the street that time, his steps unconsciously stopped in front of the small stall. He watched the little boy quickly weaving hay with his chubby, short fingers, and soon he had woven a little bird.
He remembered that when the little boy looked up and saw him standing in front of the stall, he seemed a little surprised, but after the surprise, he smiled at him beautifully.
Zhao Lang still remembers the scene of his first meeting with Lu Mingfei.
At that time, he hadn't imagined that the two of them would have such a deep bond in their future lives. At that time, he simply liked this handsome brother with a beautiful smile, so he took off his only valuable jade pendant and exchanged it with his brother for a straw bird.
Seeing that Zhao Lang just looked at him without saying anything, Lu Mingfei reached out and hooked his fingers with the young king's, saying, "Even if you don't say it, I know it."
"Oh, what do you know? Tell me everything." Zhao Lang grabbed Lu Mingfei's hand with his backhand and wrapped Lu Mingfei's entire hand with his palm.
The two people walked along the long street.
The moon tonight is very round and bright.
The clear moonlight poured down from above their heads, hitting them and illuminating two shadows on the ground.
Lu Mingfei turned his head to look at the person who was looking at him, smiled, and did not answer Zhao Lang's question. He did not want to bring up Zhao Lang's sad story.
"I remember there's a small tavern here. Would you like to go for a drink?" He grew up on this street and knew exactly what shops there were and what businesses they were doing.
There aren't many places to go this late at night, but there are some.
"Since it's Lord Lu's invitation, I will naturally go." Zhao Lang nodded with a smile.
When the two looked at each other, there was tenderness and smile in each other's eyes.
"Don't go forward, come in here." Lu Mingfei grabbed Zhao Lang's hand and walked into a small path.
Zhao Lang let his Lord Lu hold his hand and walk away, his eyes fixed on Lord Lu without blinking.
Not far away, a tavern with a sign that said "Wine" appeared in front of them.
The door of the tavern was open, and light was coming out from inside the house.
Lu Mingfei knew the owner of the tavern. After entering, he greeted the owner and asked him to find a separate room for them.
"Yes, yes, please come this way, gentlemen." The shopkeeper recognized the young man who came out of their South Street. Naturally, he also knew that the young man who ran around South Street in the past had now become a high-ranking official in the court.
Looking at the man walking with Lu Mingfei, he was dressed in a noble manner, making people dare not look directly at him. The shopkeeper had already guessed in his heart that the man walking with their Lord Lu was probably the master in the palace.
However, the shopkeeper had guessed the identity of the master in his heart, but he did not dare to expose it. He just respectfully led the two distinguished masters to the inner compartment to sit down.
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