Chapter 471: As long as you let me out, I will leave immediately! Leave the capital immediately!
Chuxia quietly left, and after a while she came back with a food box, placing a series of exquisite and warm breakfast (or lunch) dishes neatly on the round table. The fragrance instantly filled the entire bedroom.
Lan Xiyue was dressed properly, and her hairpins hanging lightly made her look even more elegant.
She walked to the table and sat down, her movements neither hurried nor slow, as if the anxious waiting outside the mansion had nothing to do with her at all.
After finishing the last mouthful of porridge, Lan Xiyue took a handkerchief and wiped the corners of her lips before she stood up and walked straight out.
"An Yi!"
Before he finished speaking, a figure as swift as a shadow appeared in the corridor. It was An Yi, "Princess!"
Lan Xiyue nodded slightly, without any unnecessary words, and directly ordered: "Take this princess to the dungeon."
An Yi immediately bowed his head and replied, "Yes! I obey your command!"
An Yi led the way in front, and Lan Xiyue followed calmly behind.
The two of them walked through the courtyards and pavilions with carved beams and painted rafters, and the further they walked, the more remote the place became. The surrounding scenery gradually became desolate, with only the whimpering of the wind blowing through the dead branches.
Lan Xiyue keenly sensed that as she went deeper, the number of gazes from the darkness suddenly increased.
Finally, they stopped in front of an inconspicuous, rugged rockery.
An Yi stepped forward and pressed a few times with a specific rhythm and force on a protruding stone that seemed to be naturally formed.
There was a dull "click" sound of a mechanism, and a narrow stone door that was only wide enough for one person to pass through slid open silently inside the rockery. A cold breath mixed with mold, earth and a faint smell of rust blew in the face.
An stepped aside and said, "Princess, please be careful with your step."
Lan Xiyue's expression remained unchanged. She lifted her skirt and walked in without hesitation.
An Yi followed closely behind him, and the stone door closed quietly behind him, blocking out the light from the outside world.
Inside the door is a deep and narrow tunnel, extending obliquely downward, as if leading to the center of the earth.
The air suddenly became cold and damp, and there was a chill in every breath.
On the stone walls on both sides of the tunnel, there is a groove embedded in it at regular intervals, with dim and flickering oil lamps burning inside. The bean-sized flames stubbornly resist the darkness, stretching the shadows of the two people from time to time, and twisting them on the rough stone walls, adding a bit of mystery.
The soles of the boots stepped on the cold and hard ground, making a clear and hollow echo, which was infinitely amplified in the silent passage.
After walking for about a cup of tea, the tunnel gradually became wider.
Under the dim light, cells separated by thick iron bars began to appear on both sides.
Most of the cells were empty, and only in a few could one vaguely see blurry figures huddled in the corners. When they heard footsteps, some of them shrank tighter in fear, while others showed no reaction at all, like dead objects.
The air was filled with despair and deathly silence.
An Yi pointed to an even darker area deeper in the tunnel and whispered, "Princess, the cell where Lan Zhenrong is imprisoned is at the very back."
Lan Xiyue's gaze was cast towards the end of the bottomless darkness. There was still no expression on her face, but the depths of her clear eyes were even colder, like the surface of a frozen lake.
She replied lightly, "Yeah." The voice sounded particularly clear and cold in the empty and cold dungeon.
Lan Xiyue walked calmly and stopped in front of the innermost cell.
Inside the prison door, a withered figure huddled on a pile of grass in the corner.
Hearing the footsteps, Lan Zhenrong suddenly looked up, and the moment his cloudy eyes caught sight of Lan Xiyue's figure, a strong desire to survive burst out.
He almost rushed to the prison door using both his hands and feet, his skinny fingers tightly gripping the cold iron bars, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"Lan Xiyue! You're here! You're finally here!" His voice was hoarse and dry, with a sense of stagnation that comes from not speaking to anyone for a long time, yet it was sharp due to his eagerness. "Quick! Let me out! Let me out!"
Lan Xiyue stopped and looked at the person in front of her through the prison door.
The marquis, who was once full of vigor and ambition, was now disheveled, with his messy hair tangled with dirt and sticking to his sunken cheeks. His prison uniform was tattered and exuded a strong stench of sourness and blood.
She frowned imperceptibly, raised her delicate hand in disgust, and fanned it lightly in front of her nose.
Lan Zhenrong was so irritated by her disrespectful action that his eyes were about to burst. He shook the iron bars frantically with his hands, making a harsh clanging sound: "Lan Xiyue! Do you hear me! Let me out now! I am your father!"
"Princess, please sit down." A steady voice sounded from behind him. An Yi brought a clean armchair from somewhere and placed it steadily behind Lan Xiyue.
Lan Xiyue glanced at An Yi, said nothing, and sat down. She casually took out an exquisite jade bottle from her wide sleeves and threw it behind her without even looking at it.
An Yi reacted extremely quickly and caught it accurately.
He pulled out the cork, and a clear, pure, and vital breath instantly dissipated, diluting some of the filth in the prison.
An Yi took a deep breath, his eyes flashing with uncontrollable surprise—it was Spiritual Spring Water! He quickly put it away, tightly grasping it in his palm, and stood aside with his head bowed, his heart surging with indescribable gratitude.
Lan Xiyue then turned her gaze back to the maddened Lan Zhenrong behind the cell door. Her tone was chillingly nonchalant: "Lan Zhenrong, Lan Zhenrong..." She shook her head slightly, a hint of cold sarcasm in her voice, "You've brought this upon yourself."
"No! No!" Lan Zhenrong seemed to have been stabbed in the sore spot, and he hoarsely defended himself, "I was also forced to do so! It was the emperor, it was the emperor..."
"Oh," Lan Xiyue interrupted him with a sneer of contempt. "The person you're talking about is already dead. What do you mean by being forced? It's just an excuse for your own cowardice." She paused, her tone growing colder. "Originally, I almost forgot about you. It was the old lady who insisted on putting on this moral blackmail in front of me. Of course..."
The corners of her lips curled up in a sarcastic arc, "If I don't want to, nothing in this world can kidnap me."
Lan Zhenrong's entire body trembled violently upon hearing this. The veins on his hands clasping the bars bulged, and his knuckles crackled. His eyes were filled with hatred and despair. "Lan Xiyue! Let me go! Let me out! I don't want to stay in this damn place for a single day! I...I raised you and your brother! Even if I didn't contribute, I worked hard! You can't be so heartless!"
Lan Xiyue leaned back in her chair, her posture relaxed. "From childhood to adulthood, you know very well how you have treated me."
Her voice was low, but every word was as sharp as an icicle. "However..." She changed the subject, with a tone of almsgiving, "Since you were actually somewhat humane to my brother in the past, I can let you go."
Lan Zhenrong's eyes instantly burst into ecstasy, and his body leaned forward in excitement, almost squeezing out of the prison door: "Okay! Okay! Okay! As long as you let me out, I will leave immediately! Leave the capital immediately! In this life, or the next, I will never appear in front of you again! I swear!"
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