47. Imperial Prison
◎If she could give Ji Ci another son◎
Chapter 47
Ji Ci hadn't returned to the palace, but he would do so for several days in a row when something important happened. The dignified Prince Qi didn't even have a wedding leave.
After Jiang Qiuye returned home the next day, she sat in front of her dressing table and looked at the string of Buddhist beads for a long time. It was elegant and fragrant.
Today, she happened to meet Tian Qu coming to the palace to pick up the files, so she stopped him. After some inquiries, she learned that Ji Ci had been staying in the imperial prison for two days.
Thinking of the imperial prison, she thought of her new mission, where the group of people kept forcing her to take the antidote. She recalled that in addition to the list of spies, they also asked for a map of Shengjing's defenses.
But she searched the entire palace but couldn't find it. She didn't understand why a city defense map could be hidden so deeply.
It is said that all the ghosts hiding in Shengjing from Feiyan Pavilion are looking for it, so she is certain that there must be some secrets hidden in the map.
But once she is free, she will one day kill Yan Wu and that annoying Zhang Yi, and tear them into pieces.
But now she could only take it slow, as she had already become the Princess of Qi County. If she could give Ji Ci another son, even if their feelings faded in the future and her identity was exposed, he might spare her because of her status as a mother.
The image of the Li State spy he used to scare her when she first went to the Ministry of Justice Prison suddenly flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but shudder.
Sure enough, we can’t just rely on his feelings. The closest connection must be the child.
Seeing that this matter had to be accelerated, we were already walking on thin ice on a daily basis. The pregnancy would take another ten months. If it was delayed any further, a war between the two countries would break out.
She carefully put the Buddhist beads into the box, her eyes darkening.
If I could be Qiu Ziye for the rest of my life, I would just lie to him for the rest of my life.
At one o'clock in the evening, she brought the soft-shelled turtle noodles prepared in the small kitchen and went to the imperial prison with Jinhong.
It was sunset, the streets were covered with snow, and the orange light shone on the snow, leaving two tracks from the wheels.
She dismounted the carriage and looked toward the several steps ahead. Climbing them, she found the plaque for the Imperial Prison. Two stone lions flanked the gate, symbols of authority and power. Above the prison stood a circle of guards, all armed with crossbows and swords.
There are no less than twenty armored guards on this side of the gate alone.
Jiang Qiuye and Jinhong looked at each other and gave up the idea of forcibly breaking into the prison. There must be some loophole they could exploit.
Jinhong quietly retreated and walked around the imperial prison, trying to find a breakthrough.
When Jiang Qiuye reached the gate of the Imperial Prison, the other party stopped him and asked sternly, "Who comes here?"
She smiled sweetly and said, "I am Princess Qiu Ziye of Qi County. I heard from heaven that the prince has been staying in the imperial prison. I was really worried that he didn't have a good meal, so I came to look for him."
The jailer was stunned. He had never thought that this was the legendary Princess of the County. He lowered his head shyly, not daring to look directly at her. This person was simply too beautiful for him to describe. Looking at the food box on her arm, he immediately let go of the hand holding the hilt of the sword and saluted, saying, "So it is Princess of Qi County. I am so rude. The Imperial Prison is a restricted area. No one is allowed to enter without the permission of the Emperor. I hope Princess of the County will forgive me. However, I can report to Prince Qi for you."
"Well, I understand. Thank you for your help."
Jiang Qiuye's harmless face quickly won the favor of the jailer. She watched him open the door. There was a dark corridor inside and no useful information could be seen.
Jiang Qiuye walked over to another jailer, who immediately bowed to her and said, "Greetings, Princess."
She smiled and asked curiously, "A few months ago, the prince went to Quzhou and personally led the troops to capture the terrible Prince Zhuojun. I heard from the prince that he is imprisoned in this imperial prison."
The jailer didn't think about why Jiang Qiuye asked him this, but replied respectfully, "Yes, King Zhuo Jun is imprisoned here."
Jiang Qiuye's eyes were filled with fear as he spoke softly, "That Prince Zhuo Jun is truly terrifying. He's caused Your Highness this arduous journey and has been injured. I'm truly uneasy. I heard he'll be executed in a month, but the notice hasn't been issued yet. Thinking of what this criminal has done, I feel deeply uneasy."
Seeing this, the jailer immediately consoled her, "Don't worry, Princess. The notice should be issued soon. After all, he is the Prince of Zhuojun. Such a serious crime still requires the joint trial of the three courts, which will take some time."
A joint trial by three courts?
This means that King Zhuo Jun would be brought to prison during the trial.
"I see. That puts my mind at ease. I wonder how many rounds of interrogation we've reached. When will the next one be?"
She glanced at him and patted her chest again, "Ah, I'm just afraid of more dreams if the night goes on."
"This..." The jailer hesitated, but seeing Jiang Qiuye's innocent yet somewhat frightened look, he knew that she was the princess of a county prince, and Prince Qi was fully responsible for the matter, so it didn't matter if he told her. "She will be transferred to the Ministry of Justice for trial in two days."
Transfer to the Ministry of Justice...
Jiang Qiuye smiled secretly and thanked the jailer.
…
After Ji Ci was called away by the emperor on his wedding night, he did not sleep all night and was taken directly to the imperial prison that night. It was not until this day that he was able to rest for a while.
He lay on a simple cot. Although he was very tired, he couldn't fall asleep at all.
I was supposed to go to the palace with her yesterday to pay homage to the Emperor, Empress and the Grand Empress Dowager, but due to something, I had to let her go alone.
He hadn't intended to touch her the night before. After all, marrying her was the ultimate he had achieved. But in the end, seeing her aggrieved look, he couldn't bear it and had physical contact with her.
He turned over, and as soon as he closed his eyes, he was greeted by her adorable expression and the soft, delicate body beneath him. This time, he finally saw the red mole clearly; it was truly captivating and beautiful.
But last night's failure was truly a failure, leaving him feeling incredibly frustrated and remorseful. Though he wouldn't admit it, he knew deep down that he had finally experienced that ecstasy, a feeling that lingered in his mind. It was a delicacy unlike any other food, just like the medicinal meal she'd prepared herself, and it left him feeling just as hungry.
All day long, while he was being tortured and interrogated, his mind was completely consumed by that incident. All those years of studying sage books had been wasted because of this one time they had sex.
He had always wondered if his anorexia had caused his weak constitution. Although he was well-versed in the works of sages, he was also a normal man, and had not noticed anything unusual about himself before. He had never expected it to be exposed on his wedding night.
From yesterday's shock, it has gradually turned into guilt and frustration today.
He tossed and turned, unable to sleep, but finally decided to get up and continue working. He didn't return to the palace, in fact, part of the reason was that he was a little afraid in his heart and was ashamed to face her.
In the evening, the jailer informed her that she had come to the prison in person to look for him.
He was naturally extremely embarrassed and reluctant, but when he thought of her aggrieved look, he left the prison and met her in person.
"Husband!" After waiting for the prison gate to open, Jiang Qiuye finally saw him and couldn't help feeling happy.
She walked forward, picked up the food box on her arm and said, "I guessed that my husband must have not eaten all day. I made turtle noodles. Even if my husband is busy, he should at least eat some."
There was a faint trace of bloodshot in Ji Ci's eyes, and he was full of fatigue. His originally tense mood suddenly relaxed when he saw Jiang Qiuye, and he nodded.
"The environment in the Imperial Prison is not good, and you need the Emperor's permission to enter. I will take you to the house next door where the guards usually live."
"good."
Jiang Qiuye immediately followed Ji Ci's footsteps. The snow on the ground was thick and slippery, so Ji Ci slowed down his pace.
The snow on the ground was trampled into marks of varying depths by foot, sticking together.
Jiang Qiuye turned and smiled at him.
After all, the two of them had done the most intimate thing and were a serious couple. In addition, Ji Ci had an unspeakable guilt in his heart. After seeing her, his previous indifference was swept away.
Because there was no particularly good charcoal fire in the guard's house, when I got to the hut and closed the door, I could still feel a little cold.
Jiang Qiuye opened the lunch box and took out the noodles. "I don't know how long I have to wait for my husband, so I'm afraid the noodles will clump together, so I'll separate the soup and noodles to keep them warm. That way, you can eat noodles that are as fresh as if they were just out of the pot."
Ji Ci said, "Thank you, Madam."
"Husband, why are you so polite? I am your wife. I want to serve you well and cure your anorexia. Husband, please trust yourself to me from now on, okay?"
As Jiang Qiuye spoke, she put the noodles into the hot soup, stirred it, and pushed it in front of Ji Ci.
Ji Ci was stunned after taking it. He had never thought about curing anorexia. The Imperial Physician had said that his illness originated from his heart. But he didn't want to disappoint her, so he nodded gently.
"Eat it quickly. It's too cold today. If you take it out, it will get cold soon."
"Um."
After finishing a bowl of hot soup noodles, Ji Ci felt the satisfaction he hadn't felt in a long time, and couldn't help but sigh.
Jiang Qiuye looked at Ji Ci, who always ate elegantly. Suddenly, she remembered the experience the Empress Dowager had mentioned, and her heart ached even more.
How much hardship and pain must have turned a gifted child into a cold and self-loathing person.
She knew very well that she might not love him, but she coveted everything about him.
But since she had made the decision, she wouldn't let him find out easily. As long as he didn't discover her lies, she would play the role of a wife seriously, even if it meant being a liar for the rest of her life.
Jiang Qiuye took out the purse embroidered for her wedding from her sleeve, blinked her eyes, walked forward and squatted beside him, and tied the purse to his belt.
Ji Ci lowered his eyes, looked at Jiang Qiuye's crow-feather eyelashes, and asked, "Dragon Beard Candy again?"
"Yes." Jiang Qiuye stood up after tying it and sat down next to him. "My husband is too busy on weekdays, so remember to take it regularly. There are medicines added to it, which will also help my husband's illness."
Ji Ci pursed his lips and nodded, then lowered his head to pick up the purse and look at it, as if he was studying what was embroidered on it.
"This is..." He frowned and thought for a while, "...a mess?"
He looked up at Jiang Qiuye for confirmation, seeming very serious and not joking at all.
Jiang Qiuye wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood. She had embroidered more than ten purses, and this was her most successful one. She blushed and said, "Forget it. I'll go back and get you a nicer one."
As she spoke, she was about to step forward to grab it, but Ji Ci dodged to the side and said, "No need to be so troublesome. This king... likes it very much. This chicken-flying-dog-jumping is quite good, although I don't know what the meaning is. But I didn't expect you to embroider it yourself."
He certainly didn't expect her embroidery skills to be so poor!
Jiang Qiuye couldn't help but roll her eyes and said helplessly, "What's all this commotion? This is just mandarin ducks playing in the water! Is my husband making fun of me?"
Ji Ci: "..."
He wasn't really mocking...
"So it's mandarin ducks playing in the water. I'm not laughing at you. It's really... well embroidered." Ji Ci looked at the chicken and dog on it and said hypocritically, "It's mainly because the chicken and mandarin duck look too similar. I must have been too tired these days and saw it wrong."
Seeing that he was giving her face and a way out, Jiang Qiuye stopped arguing and just snorted. Then she began to put away the empty bowl and said, "By the way, I met the Grand Empress Dowager yesterday... Grandmother. She was really nice."
"Yes." Ji Ci nodded, and his eyes softened unconsciously when he thought of the Grand Empress Dowager. "She has doted on me since I was a child. She is also the woman I respect the most. When my father was still young, it was Grandmother who cleared all obstacles for him, ruling the country from behind the curtain, checking the officials, and was loved by the people. Later, when my father was seventeen, she completely gave up power. During the time when Grandmother was ruling the country from behind the curtain, the Great Jin Dynasty was prosperous. It was truly a rare golden age."
Jiang Qiuye lowered her eyes. No wonder she always felt she had nowhere to hide in front of her. Any mask or disguise would be seen through. How could a woman who once held such power be simple?
"So, my husband also wants to restore the prosperity of the past?"
"Well, although Great Jin has rested for three years after suffering the ravages of war, the conflict with Li State continues to intensify. The impending war is unavoidable, and the Western Regions are eyeing us covetously. If we want to restore our former prosperity, we must first take back the more than 20 states in the northern border and then establish the Western Border Protectorate to stabilize the situation in the western border."
“I don’t know where I can go in my life.”
When Ji Ci described the future of Dajin, her eyes were filled with longing and hope, which was completely different from her view of herself or the people of the world.
Seeing the fire in his eyes, she suddenly hoped that one day she could help him realize his ambition. The people's happiness was of no concern to her, but she wished to compensate him as much as possible. If he could accomplish this in his lifetime, he would surely be very happy.
"My husband can definitely do it!"
After she finished speaking, she looked outside and saw that it had begun to snow again. She asked, "My husband has been so busy these days. When can he return to the palace?"
"Ye'er...I miss my husband very much."
Ji Ci sighed, squeezed the silver chopsticks still in his hand, and said, "It's almost done. I'll do it as soon as possible."
"You've clearly been newlyweds these days, I'm sorry I've wronged you."
Jiang Qiuye put down the huge stone in his heart, shook his head and said that he was not wronged.
She had always worried that Ji Ci would still stay away from her because of the previous grudge and disgust, but now it seems that is not the case.
She didn't want to leave so soon, so she kept acting coquettishly, and finally got Ji Ci to stay for a while. She watched him take a nap in the cabin for an hour before she got in the carriage and left.
Jinhong had already returned to the carriage and was waiting. After getting in, Jiang Qiuye and she exchanged glances before she spoke in a low voice, "I circled the Imperial Prison and there wasn't a single loophole. It's truly an Imperial Prison, so tightly guarded it's impossible to get in."
Jiang Qiuye lifted the carriage curtain and looked back. Ji Ci was no longer at the entrance of the imperial prison, but had already gone inside.
"Well, I know. We won't go to the imperial prison."
"Not going to the imperial prison?"
"Well, the loophole is in... two days."
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