Chapter 70 All Beauties Grieve (1) "The wolf cub with a broken leg, forever..."
The Imperial Observatory's prediction was correct. As the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) approached, rain began to fall again over the capital. However, it was much lighter than the torrential rain of the previous day. The fine, continuous rain fell on people's faces, cool and comfortable.
Feng Tan's night clothes blended seamlessly into the darkness. Less than two miles after turning right from the Tong'an Palace, he saw a man and two horses standing quietly at the alley entrance. Yu Ruxi, dressed in a straw raincoat, completely concealed herself in the twilight. The fine raindrops, as bright as needles, illuminated her burning eyes. Upon seeing Feng Tan, she waved, signaling him to come over.
Feng Tan flew to Yu Ruxi's side, looked up at her and smiled, "Did General Yu come all this way to pick me up?"
Yu Ruxi's anger subsided considerably after being teased, but her cold expression remained unchanged. She snorted coldly, her voice tinged with grievance, and said, "Hmph, stop beating around the bush. Why didn't you tell me you were going to break into the imperial prison to rescue the prisoners? My martial arts are far superior to yours, far superior to many others!"
Feng Tan opened her mouth, "I..."
Yu Ruxi's eyes were a little red as she said, "I know you're afraid that I'll implicate the Yu family... afraid that my family will be implicated because of me, and that I'll feel bad... But Feng Tan, we're good friends who grew up together, and good friends should share hardships together."
A light drizzle fell, blurring their gazes through the mist. Time flowed between them, but their childhood friendship remained unchanged—a bond of sworn brothers, as it should be.
The ambushes coming from all sides were too dangerous for Feng Tan. She was alone and had no ties, but Yu Ruxi was different. As a member of the Yu family, she had her own responsibilities to the family. Therefore, Feng Tan was unwilling to let her take risks. She could bear the guilt of abandoning the country and the family alone. There was no need to drag Yu Ruxi into it.
But Yu Ruxi refused. She wouldn't feel wronged no matter what she did for Feng Tan; Feng Tan was her only good friend all these years. She knew Feng Tan's indomitable tenacity and fighting spirit. There was still a month until the execution deadline set by Emperor Chongming, and Feng Tan would not sit idly by and wait for death. So she went to see Ren Pingsheng today. Ren Pingsheng couldn't resist Yu Ruxi and sighed as he told her their plan.
Feng Tan's eyes suddenly reddened. She looked at Yu Ruxi's round face, which was wet with rain, and said, "Yu Ruxi, you have a stinky lady on your left shoulder."
"Ah!" Yu Ruxi's eyes widened, and she leaped off the horse, jumping into Feng Tan's arms. She shouted with her eyes closed, "Quick, get it down for me!"
She clung to Feng Tan like an octopus, and Feng Tan burst into laughter, tears welling up in his eyes. He said, "Alright, alright, I was just kidding!"
Yu Ruxi paused for a moment, then loosened her legs that were tightly gripping Feng Tan's waist, jumped off her, and looked at Feng Tan, saying, "How awful! What a naughty little lad!"
Rain soaked Feng Tan's hair, which fell behind her. She walked to the tall horse, mounted it, and her eyes lit up. "Sha Po Lang?" she asked.
Yu Ruxi also returned to her horse, picked up the reins, turned the horse around, and said, "It's yours!"
“Then I’ll gladly accept it,” Feng Tan said, pulling his horse along behind Yu Ruxi.
The two figures on horseback rode far away, gradually blurring into the misty rain, and neither of them looked back.
The world was quiet, save for the soft patter of rain. A three-foot-long gyrfalcon circled in the sky, having flown in from Huachao. Xiao Yinshi emerged from the darkness, his tall figure sinking into the night. He watched the two figures depart, his eyes filled with an unreadable, inscrutable expression.
He stretched out his arm, and the gyrfalcon, receiving the landing signal, swooped down from the sky and landed steadily on Xiao Yinshi's arm.
Zhu Qi, with keen insight, blew on a tinderbox, the red light illuminating the contents of the letter. After Xiao Yinshi finished reading it, he placed it on the tinderbox, and the flame flickered and instantly engulfed it.
Seeing the unfriendly look on his face, Zhu Qi asked cautiously, "Master, has there been a change in the political situation in the Great Hua Dynasty?"
Xiao Yinshi did not answer him, but turned to look at Shen Shiyi, "Feng Tan spared no effort to save Feng Youming. Now that Feng Youming has been born, he will not be willing to return to Huachao with us."
The wolf cub grew up in a vast, secluded forest. Even if he borrowed the cub's power to save someone, he might not actually agree to return to Hua with him.
Shen Shiyi's eyes sharpened as he looked at Xiao Yinshi's unfathomable, cold face, and said, "I, Shen Shiyi, never go back on my word. If Your Highness wishes to renege, I, Shen Shiyi, will not allow it."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yinshi's lips curled into a playful expression, but there was no real smile in his eyes. "Of course we should save him, but once he's out, I'm afraid even chains won't be able to hold him back."
Shen Shiyi asked, "What does Your Highness mean?"
“If necessary, cripple his lightness skill…” The man’s temperament was as cold as a blade, his voice carrying his innate cruelty and indifferent attitude of treating people like dirt. “A wolf cub with a broken leg can never escape.”
***
The second night came quickly; before curfew, the capital was as bustling as ever, its streets laid out in a close-knit and orderly fashion, crisscrossing the city. On the four main streets, lanterns and torches shone brightly, and in the dim light, the city was teeming with people.
On Baihua Street, the Hongxiu Pavilion was splendid and prosperous. Inside the pavilion, laughter, music, and dance filled the air with the sounds of spring fever. An official, dressed in a dark blue silk robe, stood at the entrance of the Hongxiu Pavilion. He looked at the moon in the sky and wrote a line on the poem plaque at the entrance: "The Milky Way seems to descend from the azure sky, and the moonlight shines on the pavilion like water."
His companion, dressed in black and wearing a high-ceilinged pearl crown woven from yak tail hair, looked at the magnificent high-rise building bathed in moonlight and continued, "Who scattered ten thousand bushels of golden lotus seeds to the capital city to bloom for five nights... How fitting! Tonight is the birthday of the courtesan Lin Wanzhou. Old Jiang, let's go and join in the fun!"
The two men passed the imperial examination together and were appointed to the Hanlin Academy, where they were initially given the most promising positions for advancement: compiler and censor. For over a decade, they enjoyed immense prestige in officialdom, rising to the rank of third-grade officials, though not quite reaching the second rank. Sharing similar interests, they indulged in wine, women, fame, and fortune over the years. Being fond of beautiful women, how could they resist the prospect of having their virginity defiled by Lin Wanzhou, hailed as the most beautiful woman in the capital?
Before even entering the pavilion, he ran into many familiar faces from the officialdom at the entrance: Yu Yanhan, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel; Hang Yuanting, the Supervising Secretary of the Ministry of War; Fang Laiqing, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy... Any official with a penchant for women would come to see who would have their first night with the courtesan, drawn by the scent of flesh from the Red Sleeve Pavilion. Of course, those censors and imperial censors who held the reins of power would never come, otherwise it would be too difficult for them to impeach others.
After most of the dignitaries had entered, Ren Pingsheng walked out of the Red Sleeve Pavilion, looked up at the pavilion that had imprisoned girls for most of their lives, and a hint of sarcasm appeared on his lips. As he stepped back in, he waved to the servant in front of the door to close the pavilion from the inside and said, "The Red Sleeve Pavilion is full. From now on, no one is allowed to enter!"
Inside the pavilion, amidst the fragrant clothes and elegant figures, and the boisterous revelry, Lin Wanzhou slowly emerged from behind the embroidered beaded curtain on the second floor. Her slender and graceful figure, just beginning to mature, revealed a face half-covered, with only her bright eyes sparkling. When she removed the veil, the flowers were in full bloom.
The music stopped, the conversation ceased, and the laughter abruptly stopped. The men on the first floor stared at her in stunned silence. Then, a great fire roared up from the four wine-soaked pillars of the main hall, its light as brilliant and dazzling as the fire that had raged on the night Empress Xiaoxian died.
After a moment of stunned silence, a series of shrill screams echoed through the pavilion, resounding across the capital. Then, as if something had gagged them, they fell silent once more.
......
As the sky lit up with fire, Feng Tan and Shen Shiyi received a signal, indicating that the soldiers dressed in Jinyiwei uniforms behind them should follow closely.
The imperial prison was heavily guarded. Two black-clad experts silently slit the throats of their guards, dragged them into the shadows to dispose of them, and then impersonated them to take their place. Feng Tan and his group killed the Imperial Guards who came to relieve them, walked past the waterproof oil-paper lanterns hanging in front of the yamen, and officially entered the imperial prison.
According to the layout map of the Imperial Prison, the prison has eighteen underground levels, each with guard posts. The deeper one goes, the more heavily guarded the prison becomes, making rescue increasingly difficult. Feng Youming is imprisoned on the fifth level, while Chen Ze is detained on the sixth level. The two are only one level apart, but a heavy iron door separates them on the fourth and fifth levels.
The prison's defense map showed the defenses in detail. As they walked, they silently killed the Imperial Guards hiding in the shadows. When they reached the fourth floor, the commotion they caused grew louder. Yu Ruxi's eyes turned cold, and she said in a low voice, "A'Tan, go save the master. General Chen, go save your brother. You two split up and I will take control of this place!"
Hearing the commotion, the Imperial Guard reinforcements surged in from above. Yu Ruxi led a contingent of the Shen family army to defend the entrance from the fourth to the fifth floor. Feng Tan and Shen Shiyi exchanged a nod and led a group of soldiers to the fourth and fifth floors.
When Feng Tan was on a mission to the Linzhang sea area, he managed to extract information from Zhu Qi that there was a thick iron prison door between the third and fourth levels of the Imperial Prison. The key to this prison door was held by the commanders of the Embroidered Uniform Guard in succession. In order to prevent two keys from being in the same life at the same time, the prison door key would be changed whenever the head of the Northern Garrison changed. In other words, the existing key is now only in the hands of Wei Shengxian.
Shen Shiyi wielded her broadsword and slashed at the heavy iron gate chains. She used all her strength and slashed dozens of times until she was covered in sweat. With worry in her eyes, she shook her head at Feng Tan.
The fighting above grew increasingly fierce. Feng Tan's palms were sweating, but her gaze was firm as she said to Shen Shiyi, "Get behind me! Everyone, step back!"
Shen Shiyi, carrying a long sword, met Feng Tan's gaze, pursed his lips, and walked behind her.
Feng Tan took a deep breath. She wasn't very confident. Could such a heavy iron chain be broken by striking the steel?
The stench of blood and decay filled the air. A pale yellow wall lamp illuminated the boy's straight figure. Shen Shiyi and the others stood behind her, watching her nervously.
With his back to them, Feng Tan took out a sniper rifle from the subsystem, deftly slung it over his shoulder, pulled the bolt, and after hearing the click of a bullet being chambered, pulled the trigger. He squinted at the heavy iron chain, flicked his index finger back, and with a loud bang, the chain slammed to the ground.
Feng Tan let out a sigh of relief. Shen Shiyi looked at Feng Tan's weapon, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, "Dahuang... is the weapon really that powerful?"
Feng Tan didn't answer her question, and put the sniper rifle back into the system. "General Chen, you'd better hurry up and get to the fifth floor. We don't have much time left."
Having broken through the iron gate separating the fourth and fifth levels, rescuing Shen Ze from the fifth level shouldn't be a problem. Shen Shiyi led a group of people to continue rushing down the levels. Feng Tan looked at the fourth level of the dark prison ahead, her heart pounding even harder.
She had a strong intuition that her husband was here.
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