LF Chapter 59
by VolareAll the resentment turned into heartache the moment they met. Jiang Yinghua leaned against the prison bars, calling out to the person inside again and again. Because of the cold weather and numerous whip marks, that person had a high fever and was in a daze. Deep in her consciousness, she vaguely heard someone calling her urgently.
She recognized that voice. In recent days, what had kept her going was the image of that person in her mind. She didn’t know how that person was doing after entering the capital, but she had to hold on.
Yan Wanzhi’s brow twitched. Jiang Yinghua saw it clearly, and without thinking, she raised her voice a little and called her again, “Wanzhi, wake up quickly, I have so many questions to ask you.”
In her hazy state, Yan Wanzhi felt both surprised and afraid. Given the current situation, she really wanted to see Jiang Yinghua, but she didn’t know how to face her. Your Majesty would definitely not agree to Jiang Yinghua being close to her, and her stern warnings were still ringing in her ears.
After a while, she struggled to lift her heavy eyelids, and her consciousness gradually cleared. Seeing the person outside the bars, it was really Jiang Yinghua, whom she had been thinking about day and night, but she was filled with panic. This was the most difficult cell to enter in the Ministry of Justice’s Heavenly Prison. How could Jiang Yinghua easily appear here?
“Hua…er? You, how did you get in?” Yan Wanzhi struggled to turn over and sit up, supporting her weak body with her hands. Her disheveled hair was topped with messy straw, her voice was hoarse, and her eyes were filled with sorrow.
Seeing the person wake up, a flash of joy appeared in Jiang Yinghua’s eyes, but it disappeared in an instant, and she looked at the person inside with disappointment, trying to keep her voice gentle as she asked, “Tell me, what secrets are you hiding from me? Why did you leave without saying goodbye? Why did you personally kill Prince Yong? The matter of taking the blame, was it Your Majesty who forced you, right?”
“You… leave quickly,” Yan Wanzhi avoided Jiang Yinghua’s searching gaze, her weak and feeble voice barely audible.
“Answer my questions.” Jiang Yinghua was not satisfied with her evasion, and her voice gradually turned cold.
But Yan Wanzhi just looked at her like that, shaking her head slightly, “Leave!”
Yan Wanzhi spoke, but she was saying irrelevant things. At this moment, a burst of chaotic footsteps faintly came from the distant corridor. Jiang Yinghua knew that she didn’t have much time left, and she became more and more anxious to get an answer.
Jiang Yinghua grabbed the bars, impatiently suppressing her voice as she pressed, “Yan Wanzhi, explain yourself clearly. I don’t believe you would actively inform on me. Speak, say something…”
Yan Wanzhi didn’t say a word, her eyes full of forbearance.
The sound of footsteps was already at her ears. Jiang Yinghua looked back and saw a circle of soldiers and generals behind her. Yan Wanzhi recognized them. These were not the jailers of the Heavenly Prison, but Your Majesty’s personal guards.
“Your Highness, you shouldn’t be here. Please come out with us, don’t make things difficult for us,” the person said, kneeling on one knee and cupping his fist in a salute, standing beside Jiang Yinghua.
Jiang Yinghua was furious. The imperial guards were quick to arrive in the middle of the night. She grabbed the iron bars and refused to let go, staring at Yan Wanzhi, and asked unwillingly, “Why? Are you mute? If you explain, I will believe you, say something.”
At the end of the deep corridor, a black dress trailed on the ground, and a sharp cold light shot out from a pair of eyes, and the cold gaze fell on Jiang Yinghua’s back.
Yan Wanzhi endured the pain on her body, supported herself on the cold stone bricks, straightened her body, bowed to Jiang Yinghua, and whispered, “I am ashamed of Your Highness, I have nothing to say.”
Jiang Yinghua’s eyes were filled with sorrow. Every word that came out of this person’s mouth was stabbing her heart! Shame, how absurd to say shame at this time!
“Take Prince Zhao down!” A cold command came from behind, the voice was extremely familiar, causing Jiang Yinghua’s body to tremble. She resentfully pounded the bars, tears welled up in her eyes, blurring her vision, and she sobbed and complained:
“Yan Wanzhi, you bastard, you still don’t have a word of truth in your mouth even now!”
The imperial guards received the order and stepped forward, grabbing Jiang Yinghua’s arms. She unwillingly turned to look at Yan Wanzhi, who was covered in wounds, in the cell. The imperial guards had no choice but to hold her up and forcibly drag her to Your Majesty’s side.
Your Majesty coldly looked at Jiang Yinghua, who was still turning her head to look at Yan Wanzhi at this time, her eyes full of anger, glaring at the person in front of her, and ordered coldly, “Escort her to Chengming Hall.”
Until the end of the corridor, Jiang Yinghua’s gaze never turned back. She was unwilling. She was afraid that she would no longer have the opportunity to enter and see her in the future. With such a good opportunity, Yan Wanzhi refused to explain a single word.
Seeing the imperial guards taking Jiang Yinghua out of the Heavenly Prison, Your Majesty dragged her long dress towards the outside of the cell where Yan Wanzhi was being held, standing there for a long time before saying coldly:
“I’m glad you know what’s good for you. If you had spoken carelessly just now, I would have killed you. Stay here honestly, cut off your delusions, and when the affairs in the court are over, I will find a suitable place for you.”
Yan Wanzhi inside could hear the footsteps outside. She had been bowing her body, not daring to move at all. Until Your Majesty left with the crowd, and the heavy iron door fell again with the sound of the closing of the iron lock, she collapsed weakly on the ground, her face covered with tears like a torrential rain in midsummer, no longer able to hold back.
It was already the fourth watch of the night. The reason why Your Majesty went straight to the Heavenly Prison from Tai Zhang Palace in the middle of the night was because this was a trap that she had set up in advance. She was just waiting for the rabbit to appear, but she didn’t expect Jiang Yinghua to actually come.
When Your Majesty received the news, she was so anxious that she coughed violently and vented her anger in Chengming Hall before coming to the Heavenly Prison to take the person.
At this moment, Jiang Yinghua, who had been escorted to Chengming Hall first, was even more puzzled in her mind. She no longer had the fear of the past, and her mind was full of Yan Wanzhi’s miserable appearance, covered in injuries.
Yan Wanzhi was evasive and tight-lipped, and Your Majesty came so quickly. Jiang Yinghua faintly felt that Yan Wanzhi’s silence was due to Your Majesty’s coercion. Therefore, she didn’t believe the nonsense that Yan Wanzhi was loyal to Your Majesty and reported her.
Thinking like this, as the hall door opened and closed, a gust of cold wind in the winter night poured directly in, and the bone-chilling cold made Jiang Yinghua shiver.
“Everyone, get out.” Your Majesty’s icy words came out, and the imperial guards and attendants guarding the hall filed out, leaving only the two sisters.
Jiang Yinghua stood dejectedly in the hall, Your Majesty stood with her hands behind her back, pacing slowly beside her. A pair of deep phoenix eyes looked at her, and after a long while, she said, “Now my words are no longer effective, no matter where you are, you dare to act recklessly?”
The person in front of her occasionally blinked her eyes, telling Your Majesty that she was a living person, not a puppet or a pillar.
Her silence was complete disobedience in Your Majesty’s eyes. Pressing down her anger, Your Majesty clenched her fists behind her back, raised her leg, and kicked Jiang Yinghua’s knee. Jiang Yinghua suddenly felt pain and fell to her knees.
“Answer me!” Your Majesty scolded sternly, looking down at her from above. The clear and cold voice mixed with anger was particularly clear in the night, echoing in the hall, and you could hear the aftersound.
Feeling the surrounding oppression, Jiang Yinghua was very uncomfortable, and had no choice but to speak, but it was not to answer Your Majesty’s question: “She reported my crimes and killed Third Brother for you. Not only did you not reward her, but you also tortured her beyond recognition, why?”
Your Majesty could hear that even though Yan Wanzhi didn’t say a word, Jiang Yinghua had already guessed the general reason, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked like this. Therefore, Your Majesty no longer beat around the bush and said what was in her heart:
“She has committed a crime of insubordination. As your adjutant, she did not restrain your words and actions, but instead indulged your recklessness, which is already a serious dereliction of duty. I didn’t kill her, which is already letting her off lightly.”
“If I guessed correctly, you blame me for being infatuated with her as a woman, not because of Prince Yong at all. You want to use me to form a marriage alliance with the East Sea, so you can’t tolerate her, right? No one else knows about me and her, it’s fine if you don’t allow it, why do you have to be so harsh? She was originally your most favored subordinate, how can you be so unfeeling?”
Jiang Yinghua gave a bitter smile. Is this the emperor? Cold and domineering.
Your Majesty listened to these words, and didn’t know whether to laugh at Jiang Yinghua for being foolish or laugh at her for being naive. In short, she returned a burst of sneers and said, “As for the marriage with the East Sea, you either honestly agree, and I will arrange a glorious wedding for you; or I will order someone to tie you to the sedan chair and marry the Prince of Yun’an. There is no third way, and you don’t need to waste your thoughts.”
Jiang Yinghua looked up at Your Majesty’s smiling expression, and said sadly:
“Your Majesty, you are so domineering. Everything I cherish and care about in this life will be wiped out. Only Yan Wanzhi is still a beam of light with flesh and blood, living in my heart. You are forcing me to push me into the endless abyss. In the end, no matter what I do, I am just a pawn in your hands, not worthy of having a heart and feelings?”
Your Majesty frowned upon hearing this, and also looked back at Jiang Yinghua, responding: “As a member of the royal family, your responsibility is the first priority. What are you talking about when you call yourself a pawn? If you say that, am I not also a pawn of the country? Besides, you and she are both women, and there is no reason to be together. If you continue to be obsessed, I will not leave her in this world.”
Jiang Yinghua sneered and said resolutely, “If Your Majesty kills her, I will never live alone. You can try it. If Yan Wanzhi is alive, I can still have a breath for you and my mother to manipulate, if she is gone, I will go with her, and I mean what I say.”
Crazy, this person is crazy! Your Majesty thought to herself, pacing back and forth in the hall in anger. After a long while, she finally couldn’t hold back and asked sternly:
“You want to die for her? Do you really understand her? How much do you know about her affairs? You threaten me with your life at every turn, unfaithful and unfilial, did you read all your books to the dogs?”
Jiang Yinghua got angry and retorted stubbornly: “It’s clearly you who are threatening me with her life to force me to submit. You are high above, deciding who lives and who dies. I only have one life in my own hands, and I can barely make the decision. I have been tired of high-sounding principles since I was a child. I just want to protect the people I care about, how am I being unfaithful and unfilial? You can remain unmarried for half your life, why do you have to force me?”
As soon as the words fell, Your Majesty’s angry voice followed closely: “I think you’re crazy! You give me a good wake-up call, and then come back and answer me. Someone, lock Prince Zhao into Guangyuan Hall, and take good care of her!”
A group of imperial guards poured into the hall in an instant, surrounding the person, and preparing to step forward. Seeing this, Jiang Yinghua quickly grabbed the long sword of an imperial guard in front of the hall and put it on her neck.
Your Majesty didn’t expect this. Resisting the imperial guards in front of the Emperor could be killed on the spot. The imperial guards panicked and were shocked, but in just a moment, they all pointed their swords at Prince Zhao, and the sharp cold light surrounded the person tightly.
Jiang Yinghua held the knife against her neck, her veins were bulging on her hand due to the force, and a little bit of bright red blood dripped from her neck. She desperately scanned the imperial guards surrounding her, and choked with sobs:
“If you are so cruel, I will end my life today.” After saying that, she moved the tip of the knife a little deeper, raised her foot and slowly retreated, and her back was about to touch the many long knives behind her.
Your Majesty was finally flustered. She never expected that Jiang Yinghua would dare to ignore the strict rules and act so wildly.
The imperial guards protected the Emperor. In their eyes, Jiang Yinghua, who drew her sword in the hall, was no different from a rebellious thief. At the critical moment when the swords were drawn, Your Majesty shouted, “Don’t hurt Prince Zhao!”
The imperial guards had to surround the person with their knives, but they didn’t dare to let the tips of the knives get close to Jiang Yinghua at all. Your Majesty raised her foot and wanted to get closer, but Jiang Yinghua resisted and retreated, and there was already a clear bloodstain on her white neck.
“Hua’er, put down the knife, I won’t imprison you, and I’ll talk to you again.” Your Majesty was afraid that she would get carried away and really do something reckless, so she had to stare at her intently, trying to appease her.
Jiang Yinghua knew Your Majesty’s skills, and it would be impossible for her to take advantage of her if she let her get close. She would not believe such nonsense. “Let me go, don’t come any closer. If you want me alive for you to manipulate, then have someone prepare a horse and let me go!”
Your Majesty confronted her with cold eyes, glanced at the imperial guards, and signaled them to seize Jiang Yinghua at the opportune moment. Jiang Yinghua noticed something was wrong, vigilantly looked at the imperial guards, turned the tip of the knife, quickly waved it in a circle, forced the imperial guards back a step, her eyes were red, and she shouted sternly, “Prepare a horse!”
Your Majesty frowned, knowing that she could not use force at this time. Jiang Yinghua eagerly wanted to leave the palace, and she was also curious about what this person was going to do. Thinking of this, she stopped and stood still, and ordered coldly, “Bring a horse, let her go.”
Jiang Yinghua was breathing heavily because of her emotional excitement, and she was holding the long knife tightly, pressing it against her neck without leaving it at all. Her two ears vigilantly listened to the movement outside until the sound of horses’ hooves came out.
“Your Majesty, the horse is ready, it’s just outside the hall.” An imperial guard hurriedly returned to report.
Without waiting for a response, Jiang Yinghua quickly retreated out of the hall, and rushed onto the horse in three steps and two steps, holding a long knife, and disappeared into the dark night of the Forbidden City in an instant.
Being able to draw a knife and ride a horse under the Emperor’s nose, and still be able to leave the palace alive, Jiang Yinghua is probably the only one in a hundred years.
The imperial guards were dumbfounded, holding their long knives and standing there in a daze.
Your Majesty scanned the useless people who had been taken advantage of and disarmed by Jiang Yinghua, and ordered sternly, “What are you doing standing there, go after her!”