Chapter 45 Collusion
The water prison was deeper than expected, probably several dozen feet deep. It was dark and damp inside, filled with a foul stench. Ye Wanning lit an oil lamp with a glass lamp and saw Pei Zhi locked in an iron cage, soaking wet and pale-faced, clearly having suffered greatly.
"Pei Zhi!" Ye Wanning called out to him with a touch of heartache.
Pei Zhi slowly opened his eyes, saw Ye Wanning, and forced a smile: "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to leave?"
“How could I leave you behind?” Ye Wanning took out her key and unlocked the iron cage. “Let’s go up quickly.”
She helped Pei Zhi up, and just as she was about to climb up, she heard footsteps above—the Duke of Li was here!
"Ye Wanning, I knew you'd come down." Duke Li's laughter echoed from the well. "Today I'll make sure you two, you adulterous couple, die together!"
He ordered his men to throw torches down, and the water prison was instantly engulfed in flames. The thick smoke nearly suffocated Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi.
"Hurry up!" Pei Zhi pushed Ye Wanning toward the rope, picked up a stick, and used it to block the falling stones.
Ye Wanning knew she couldn't hesitate any longer, so she grabbed the rope and started climbing. Just as she was about to reach the top of the well, she suddenly saw Duke Li holding a bow and arrow, aiming at Pei Zhi below.
"Watch out!" Ye Wanning shouted.
Pei Zhi leaped forward, shielding her. An arrow struck Pei Zhi in the shoulder; he felt a numbness followed by a sharp pain.
Pei Zhi turned to Ye Wanning and said, "Go upstairs quickly, don't worry about me."
When Ye Wanning saw the arrow in his shoulder, tears welled up in her eyes—Pei Zhi would never abandon her!
Pei Zhi carried Ye Wanning and used all his strength to climb up. The people from Shadow Pavilion caught them from above and finally pulled them to the top.
"Hurry up!" Black Wind ran in the lead, leading a group of people toward the back door.
Duke Li pursued relentlessly, and a fierce battle ensued within his mansion. Ye Wanning leaned against Pei Zhi's chest, gradually becoming drowsy; the wound on her shoulder nearly made her faint. They ran for an unknown amount of time before finally breaking out of Duke Li's mansion and boarding the waiting carriage. The carriage sped away, and Ye Wanning leaned against the window, watching the flames outside grow smaller and smaller. Pei Zhi finally breathed a sigh of relief and then fainted.
When she woke up, she found herself lying on the bed in the Pei residence, her shoulder wound already bandaged. Pei Zhi sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes sunken and dark circles heavy, clearly having not slept all night.
"You're awake?" Pei Zhi's voice was filled with surprise.
Ye Wanning nodded, trying to sit up, but he pressed her down: "Don't move, your injuries haven't healed yet."
"We...we escaped?" Ye Wanning asked.
"Yes." Pei Zhi nodded. "Thanks to the people from Shadow Pavilion, we escaped safely. Duke Li is in a state of chaos right now, so he won't be bothering us again anytime soon."
Ye Wanning breathed a sigh of relief, then suddenly remembered: "Where's the rubbing?"
"It's with me." Pei Zhi took out the rubbing from his pocket and handed it to her. "Don't worry, it's not lost."
Ye Wanning looked at the rubbing in her hand, overwhelmed with emotion. They had almost lost their lives because of it.
"Is it worth it?" Pei Zhi suddenly asked.
“It’s worth it,” Ye Wanning said. “This was bought with my mother’s life, and I don’t want it to fall into the hands of bad people.”
Pei Zhi grasped her hand, his eyes resolute: "From now on, I will protect you and never let you get hurt again."
Ye Wanning felt a warmth in her heart and nodded. She knew that from now on, she would no longer be fighting alone.
Ye Wanning's injuries were more severe than expected. The arrow had been coated with a small amount of poison, which, while not fatal, caused her to have a high fever for several days. Pei Zhiyi stayed by her bedside without changing his clothes, personally changing her dressings and feeding her medicine until her fever subsided, at which point he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"You should go to court now," Ye Wanning said with concern, looking at the dark circles under his eyes.
"Politics is nothing compared to you," Pei Zhi smiled, tucking the blanket around her. "Besides, Duke Li and his men will definitely take this opportunity to cause trouble, so it's better for me to stay home."
Ye Wanning knew he was right. Having suffered such a great loss, Duke Li certainly wouldn't give up so easily; he was probably already suing them in court.
“We can’t just surrender like this,” Ye Wanning said. “We need to find a way to get evidence of his collusion with the Western Region kings.”
“I’ve already had someone investigate,” Pei Zhi said. “The Shadow Pavilion people have been watching outside the Duke Li’s residence for several days and saw that the Duke Li spends several hours in his study every day. The evidence might be there.”
"Shall we go again?" Ye Wanning's eyes lit up.
Pei Zhi quickly pressed her down: "You're not fully recovered yet, you can't take any more risks. I'll go."
“No, you just got out of the water dungeon and need to rest. Besides, your identity is too conspicuous and you'll be easily discovered,” Ye Wanning objected. “How about this, I'll make a plan at home, making sure it's foolproof.”
The two discussed the matter all night, and that very night, Hei Feng led his men to quietly infiltrate the Li Guogong Mansion. The study was located in the center of the mansion, heavily guarded, and getting in was no easy task.
"Sir, what should we do?" a guard asked.
Black Wind observed for a moment, then pointed to a tree next to the study: "We'll climb in from there."
Under the cover of night, the group climbed up a large tree and slipped into the study through a window. The study was luxuriously furnished, with bookshelves filled with ancient books and famous paintings and calligraphy hanging on the walls.
"Find it quickly!" Black Wind whispered.
The group split up and searched the room thoroughly. Hei Feng walked to the desk, opened a drawer, and found several letters and some account books inside. He picked up one of them; the handwriting was messy and clearly in Western Region script. Although he couldn't understand it very well, his intuition told him that this letter was important, so he quickly put it away.
Just then, someone came in from outside. Black Wind told everyone to hide, and then he crawled under the desk.
Duke Li entered, carrying a wine jug, and seemed to be in a good mood. He walked to the bookshelf, pressed one of the wooden planks, and the bookshelf slowly slid open, revealing a hidden compartment. He opened the compartment, found a roll of paper inside, glanced at it, and put it back. All of this was clearly seen by Hei Feng under the desk.
After Duke Li left, Black Wind emerged from under the desk and said to the group, "Found it. It's in the hidden compartment behind the bookshelf."
The group rushed over, opened the hidden compartment, and found a map and some letters inside. Hei Feng took the map and looked at it; it clearly showed the terrain of the Western Regions and the number of troops stationed there—clearly a military secret.
"Hurry up!" Black Wind carefully put away the map and letters, and led the others out the window.
Back at the Pei residence, Hei Feng handed over what he had found to Ye Wanning and Pei Zhi. Ye Wanning picked up the map, which was marked with extreme detail, even indicating the location of the grain storage for the Western Region vassal king.
“This is enough to prove that Duke Li colluded with the vassal kings of the Western Regions,” Ye Wanning said excitedly.
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