Chapter 47
That night, Yuan Qiong did not use his internal energy to heal his injuries. Instead, he sat in his cell and looked out at the few scattered stars in the sky through the small, narrow window.
During the day, Hong Xin said she would save her, but Yuan Qiong didn't have much hope. No matter what, you should never place your hopes on others.
"Girl, why aren't you asleep yet?"
Aside from that time at mealtime, this was the first time the woman next door had taken the initiative to talk to her.
Yuan Qiong looked at her, no longer as indifferent as before: "I'm not sleepy."
The woman settled her sleeping daughter in her arms, then sat down against the bars separating them. "I can tell you're from a wealthy family, young lady. How did you end up in this prison? Where are your family?"
Family? Her grandfather or her father?
"The official who came today seemed to treat you quite well, young lady. If he comes again next time, you should soften your stance and ask him to let you go. It's dangerous for a woman like you, who is so beautiful, to stay here."
The woman spoke very sincerely. Yuan Qiong turned her head to look at her. Even in this dirty and messy prison, Yuan Qiong's clothes were still neat and tidy. Half of her hair was tied up with straw, and the other half was loose on her shoulders. Her posture while kneeling on the ground was extremely upright.
She didn't answer the woman's question, but instead asked, "Why are you and your daughter locked up in this Jiangbei prison? Your daughter is so young, what crime did she commit? Where is your husband?"
“Dead.” The woman’s tone was calm: “We were refugees who fled famine in Shandong. My husband, in order to make a living, led us to climb into the city through the drainage outlet of the city gate in the middle of the night. When we were begging, we were discovered by the soldiers and he was beaten to death in the street. Er Ya and I were imprisoned.”
Yuan Qiong remained silent for a moment, then said, "Please accept my condolences."
She could understand Ling Chengde's actions. Not allowing refugees into the city was partly to protect the stability of the city, and partly to prevent more refugees from flooding into the Jiangbei provincial capital.
This is indeed somewhat cruel, but it is a last resort.
"Do you want to get out? If you do, I can help you."
Given her special status, Hong Xin might not be able to rescue them all, but rescuing two refugees should be no problem.
The woman shook her head: "No, it's fine here."
"good?"
It's sunless, filthy and messy, and all you get are two coarse, hard-to-swallow cornbread buns a day. What's so good about that?
"This is a life my husband risked his life to give for my daughter and me. It's so much better here than outside. There's no plague here, we don't have to hide and worry about being beaten to death any second, and we don't have to worry about starving to death if we don't get food for days. Outside, we can't even get cornbread..."
The woman remained calm throughout her speech, as still as a stagnant pool.
"......"
"Do you resent the imperial court?" Yuan Qiong asked.
"The imperial court?" A hint of confusion appeared in the woman's eyes, as if she had never considered this question before. Then she shook her head: "The emperor was born different from us. I just blame my bad luck..."
"If there's a next life, I definitely don't want to be human again. Being human is just too hard..."
Being a person is so difficult...
These five words swirled in Yuan Qiong's mind, and even after the woman turned over and fell asleep, she still couldn't calm down.
From childhood, all the upbringing Yuan Qiong received taught her that she was born noble and different from others. The lives of millions of others were as worthless as weeds, not even worth a single finger of hers. Those common servants were born to serve as stepping stones for someone as noble as her, and should be controlled by these nobles.
She had just realized that these ordinary people were human beings too...
They too have people they care about, and they also want to live a good life...
Just as the woman said, does having bad luck mean you don't even have the right to live a good life?
Yuan Qiong had not come up with an answer to this question.
The next day, as usual, Yuan Qiong first gave the food to the burly man on one side, and only after seeing that he was unharmed did she give it to the mother and daughter on the other side. When the jailer came to collect the empty food box again, she asked, "Has the Prefect sent anyone over these past few days?"
"No, is there anything you need, young lady?" The jailer bent over, grinning from ear to ear: "Brother Hong said that you can just tell me what you need."
What exactly does Hong Xin want to do?
Helping her so much after only a brief meeting—no one would believe there was no ulterior motive!
"It's nothing."
After the jailer left, she walked around the cell several times and looked it over again.
Her internal injuries have healed by three or four parts in the past few days, and if she prepares properly, a nighttime prison break is not impossible.
If that prefect is Yuwen Zhe's man, the letter should already have been delivered to Prince Cheng's residence. Ling Chengde is only sparing her life because he doesn't dare to. If Yuwen Zhe's men come in a couple of days, her situation will only become more dangerous. Therefore, the sooner she escapes from prison, the better.
**
The capital of Jiangbei Province, the Prefectural Governor's Office.
"My lord, Young Master Lin is almost here."
"Quickly open the middle gate to welcome them!"
"promise."
Ling Chengde, the prefect of Jiangbei, dressed in a long robe with deep patterns, stroked his beard and strode to the gate. He watched as a tall carriage entered the alley and stopped outside the gate.
The coachman jumped down from the carriage and placed an exquisite stool under the carriage. A young musician carried his zither down first, followed by a young man in a white robe with an elegant crane-patterned appearance, who then lifted the curtain and stepped out.
"Young Master Jiang, you've finally arrived! If you hadn't come, I would have worried my beard until it all fell out."
"Hahaha, Lord Ling is too kind." Lin Jiangzhi lifted his robe and got out of the carriage. Under Ling Chengde's personal guidance, he entered the prefectural governor's mansion: "It's been two years. Your mansion has really changed a lot. I almost didn't recognize it."
"Isn't this all thanks to your guidance back then, Young Master Lin? Hahaha..."
The two did not enter the living room; Ling Chengde led Lin Jiangzhi directly to his study, demonstrating his trust in him.
After dismissing his men, Ling Chengde immediately said, "I have invited you here today because there is something I need to ask you in person. This matter is of great importance, and I am not comfortable sending a message by carrier pigeon. I can only trouble you to make the trip yourself."
"Haha, you're just doing what you're paid for. Your Excellency doesn't need to be so cautious." Lin Jiangzhi asked, "Then what is it that makes Your Excellency so careful?"
Ling Chengde glanced at the closed study door and said in a low voice, "I arrested a woman a few days ago."
"Oh? What kind of woman?"
"That woman is none other than the Empress, the eldest daughter of the Yuan family who recently passed away!" Ling Chengde's deliberately lowered voice was filled with anxiety. He was so worried that he wanted to pluck his beard as he spoke: "When Prince Cheng sent a message to the prefects of various counties to secretly search for women who resembled the Empress, this county didn't pay much attention. Who would have thought that the Empress was actually alive! And that she would appear right here in my county!"
"I can't help them, I can't let them go, I can't kill them or not. It's a real hot potato."
"Why doesn't the prefect just hand this hot potato over to Prince Cheng?"
"Absolutely not." Ling Chengde's aged face was furrowed with worry. "If I were to hand the Empress over to Prince Cheng directly, he would not remember my kindness. Not only that, he might even use it as leverage to force me to serve him completely!"
Now he can play both sides and win both sides. Both Prince Cheng and Yuan Su Hui want to win him over. He must be out of his mind to offend Yuan Su Hui and hand over such a big handle to Prince Cheng!
Lin Jiangzhi smiled and reassured him, "I understand the prefect's troubles. If the prefect trusts me, then find a pretext to release Empress Yuan in a reasonable manner. Leave the rest to me."
"Does Young Master Lin truly have a solution?"
"Hahahaha... In this market town, guests are treated with utmost respect. By entrusting this matter to us, this hot potato will have nothing to do with the Prefect anymore. I guarantee that if she lives, she will never hold a grudge against the Prefect, and even if she dies, she will not implicate you."
Ling Chengde's tense heart, which had been pounding for days, suddenly relaxed. He was very confident in the ability of this mysterious Fengyunxu to handle things: "In that case, I'll leave it to Young Master Lin."
For the past few days, a patrol officer had been pulling strings to try and rescue the Empress. He went along with it and released her; the rest was none of his concern.
**
Yuan Qiong, who was plotting her escape in the morning, was released in the afternoon.
When Hung Sin led her out of the Jiangbei prison, she still felt a sense of unreality. She just got out like that? Did this officer really have such great abilities?
Or did she wrong Ling Chengde? Did he really not recognize her?
Hong Xin found Yuan Qiong's dazed look amusing, so he waved his hand in front of her eyes and said, "Little lady, snap out of it!" Then, he crossed his arms smugly and said, "How about it? Now, are you particularly impressed with me? Do you feel the urge to offer yourself to me?"
This time, Yuan Qiong didn't stand on ceremony and thanked him generously: "I will remember Lord Hong's kindness and will definitely repay it in the future."
“No need to wait until later, you can repay him now.” Hong Xin said with a grin, “Your husband abandoned you at the inn without considering how dangerous it would be for a woman like you. You were almost raped and killed by thieves, but he didn’t care. What use is a man like that? How about I arrange for you to fake your death in prison and remarry me?”
"You investigated me?"
"Hahaha... I'm a patrol officer, what in this city can escape my notice?"
Yuan Qiong scoffed lightly, but considering that he had saved her, she didn't take his flippant words to heart and turned to walk in a more pleasing direction.
"Young lady, where are you going? Are you going back to the inn?" Hong Xin grabbed her arm and asked, but Yuan Qiong shook her off: "None of your business."
"Hey, young lady, this attitude won't do," Hong Xin said, following behind her. "I just saved you, and this is how you treat me? Aren't you being incredibly ungrateful?"
"I told you I would repay you in the future, what more do you want from me to show my gratitude? Do I have to kneel down and kowtow to you to be considered grateful?"
"...If you're willing to kowtow, I won't mind accepting it."
"Oh."
"Oh, just kidding~ Don't be angry, young lady~" Hong Xin took a big step forward, turned around in front of her, and teased her while walking backwards: "If I didn't lead the way, young lady, do you know how to get to the inn?"
Why is this person so annoying? If she doesn't recognize her, can't she just ask?
Yuan Qiong's already limited patience was quickly worn away by Hong Xin's glib tongue.
"Get out of the way, don't block the way."
As the two turned the corner, the number of people gradually increased. A handsome scholar with a refined and elegant demeanor walked slowly towards them, followed by a fair-skinned boy carrying a zither.
In the instant they brushed past each other, a bird flew in from nowhere and, as if on command, swooped down and landed on Hong Xin's cheek.
"Holy crap! What the hell is that?!" Hong Xin suddenly dodged, bumping into the scholar and causing him to stumble.
"Young Master!" The pageboy behind him rushed forward anxiously to help him up, then turned to Hong Xin and scolded, "Can't you even walk properly?!"
Hong Xin snapped out of her daze, a roguish smile creeping onto her lips: "Oh, sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Yuan Qiong's gaze was drawn to the bird the moment it appeared. She remembered that the man with the black beard owned a bird like this.
Could it be that he's nearby?
Seeing that the bird was about to fly away, Yuan Qiong ran out without saying a word and used her lightness skill to chase after it.
"Hey, young lady, where are you going?"
Hong Xin had no time to pay attention to the scholar and the boy playing the zither anymore, and leaped after them.
After regaining his balance, Lin Jiangzhi released the boy's hand, turned around and looked in the direction where the bird and the two had disappeared, a mysterious smile on his lips.
"She actually recognizes birds... Interesting. Interesting."
The young musician asked, "Young master, shall we go with you?"
"Follow? Why should we follow?" Lin Jiangzhi suddenly opened his folding fan and laughed, "We should wait, wait for them to come to us on their own."
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