The master and servant disguised themselves as lower-class attendants, carrying a basket of items as they followed Yan Ze to the Ministry of Justice’s prison. The person leading them inside had changed—this time, it was someone else. Yan Ze called him San Cun.

Shi Buyu didn’t ask anything. Now that she knew Yan Shi’an’s identity, she had that much trust at least.

San Cun was very familiar with the prison guards and could strike up a conversation with anyone. Even the head jailer treated him with respect. After accepting a bribe from San Cun, the jailer joked, “Your relatives really are a handful—seems like they all live in prison!”

San Cun hunched over and sighed. “I just have too many relatives, that’s all.”

The jailer burst into laughter at that, then left a guard behind to watch them. He instructed them not to wander around, especially not toward the back, before taking a few others with him to enjoy the feast San Cun had prepared. The remaining guard quietly exchanged a few words with San Cun and went to stand watch out front.

San Cun led them deeper into the prison. The farther they went, the fewer people they encountered. After turning a corner, San Cun whispered, “The Shi family is at the very back. You only have fifteen minutes. If someone approaches, I’ll knock on the cell door. Leave one of you halfway to keep watch. If anything unexpected happens and you don’t have time to escape, go straight to the cell at the corner. There’s someone named Zhang Chun inside—he’s one of us.”

Shi Buyu glanced in the direction he indicated and nodded.

San Cun stopped walking, and the master and servant continued onward. A’gu stayed near Zhang Chun’s cell. Shi Buyu saw the man leaning against the bars and realized he was the lookout. She placed the basket in front of him and continued alone to the innermost cell. All the other cells were empty—clearly, the security was tight.

The first people she saw were the women. She immediately recognized her mother. The woman who had wept bitterly when Shi Buyu left all those years ago now appeared strong and composed, even in plain prison clothes. She seemed to be the one shielding everyone else. Sitting at the front, she looked up at the sound of footsteps. When she saw that it wasn’t a familiar guard, she stood up warily.

Shi Buyu stepped closer, just about to speak, when the woman on the other side suddenly grabbed the bars and cried out hoarsely, “Buyu? Buyu!”

Shi Buyu froze. Children could easily recognize their elders, but it was much harder the other way around. She hadn’t expected that after thirteen years apart, her mother could still recognize her at a glance.

“Where’s Wanxia? How could she let you come here?!”

“She’s up front, keeping watch.” Shi Buyu approached. Seeing the woman silently weeping while staring fixedly at her, she wanted to call her mother, but the word felt too unfamiliar. In the end, she only nodded. “Yes, I’m Buyu.”

The rest of the Shi family, hearing the commotion, all gathered near to listen.

“What are you doing back now?!” Her mother lowered her voice sharply. “Listen to me—leave the capital immediately! Get as far away as you can! With this crime, having one more head on the chopping block makes no difference. There’s no room for negotiation.”

Shi Buyu looked at the others—she recognized them all. The light in their eyes gradually dimmed after hearing her mother’s words.

Indeed, she was just one person. She couldn’t save them alone.

“Let me be quick.” Shi Buyu leaned close and whispered into her mother’s ear, “We’ll intercept the prisoners on the day of execution.”

Her mother’s expression changed drastically. She gripped Shi Buyu’s arm tightly, opening her mouth several times before she finally spoke. “Do you know how tightly guarded it will be?”

“Either way, things won’t get worse than they already are. We might as well fight for a sliver of hope. But this needs coordination from both inside and outside. I’m just here to inform you.”

Her mother knew how much risk her daughter had taken to come see them. Though she didn’t want to let go, she also didn’t dare waste time. Pointing deeper inside, she said, “Go speak with your third uncle.”

Shi Buyu acknowledged her and moved toward the back.

Her mother watched without blinking. She feared it might be the last time they’d ever meet—that every glance might be the last.

The men of the Shi family had also realized who the visitor was. They wanted to speak to her, but in the end, felt that words were unnecessary.

Among them, the one Shi Buyu was most familiar with was her second brother, Shi Xu, four years her senior. Every year on her birthday, no matter where she was, he would appear. When she was younger, he came with family retainers. As he grew older, he came alone—like a true big brother, always spending the day with her, giving her gifts, and painting a picture before leaving.

Now, though disheveled, he still smiled at her. “Walking right into the trap?”

“Bringing disaster with me.” Shi Buyu found his messy hair irritating and looked away. She went to stand in front of her third uncle, Shi Yan. The young man in her memory now had a short beard and a sturdier frame.

She couldn’t bring herself to call him third uncle, so she simply nodded in greeting, then pulled a piece of paper from her chest and spread it on the ground. Using a charcoal pencil, she quickly sketched out a simple map. The Shi family members instinctively pushed their sharpest minds to the front.

Pointing to several marked locations, Shi Buyu quietly explained the plan—how to coordinate from inside the city, which routes to take, what to do after escaping, what to do if a route was blocked, and how to handle the worst-case scenario. She had considered nearly every possible outcome.

The Shi family listened and felt that, if everything went according to her plan, they might actually have a chance of survival.

Shi Yan looked at the map and asked the most crucial question: “Can we trust the people helping us?”

“I made a deal with him. Since it’s a transaction, it benefits both of us. Mutual interest is a more solid foundation than a one-sided favor.”

Shi Yan accepted the logic. Looking at her composed expression—though unsure whether she was truly that confident—he said, “We’ll do our part. But you must prepare for the worst. If the plan fails, you cannot let yourself be dragged down with us. You are the last of our bloodline. If it comes to that, flee as far as you can. Never return to the capital. Once the storm passes, do everything you can to care for our exiled relatives.”

Shi Buyu scanned the room. The Shi family looked far better than she’d expected. They had likely experienced collapse, resentment, anger, and fear—but now, they all gazed at her with hope, nodding in agreement with Shi Yan’s words. Whether close or distant in relation, they all wanted her, the last of their bloodline, to live.

“According to Dayou law, when a family is executed to the last member, children under seven and elders over ninety are spared. I never imagined they’d be so thorough as to leave no one alive.”

The Shi family was filled with sorrow and rage. Who could have foreseen that the once-loyal Marquis of Valor’s household would come to such an end?

Shi Buyu didn’t rub salt into their wounds. She added a few strokes to the map to disguise it as something else, then folded it up and put it away. Rising to her feet, she said, “We’ll meet in two days.”

No one spoke again. They simply looked at her with a sliver of hope.

If they could live, who would choose to die—especially so unjustly?

As she passed by her mother, Shi Buyu paused and asked, “How did you recognize me?”

Her mother resisted the urge to reach out and touch her, afraid others might overhear. Gripping the bars, she choked back tears and whispered, “Mother watched you grow up through your portraits. How could I not recognize you?”

So the yearly portraits served that purpose after all. Shi Buyu took two steps, then turned back. “Do you still have them?”

“They weren’t famous works, so they probably didn’t think they were worth much. At the time, there wasn’t enough time to burn them—doing so might have drawn attention. We just rolled them up and hid them in a scroll jar. I don’t know if they’re still intact.”

“Ahem.” Hearing A’gu’s warning, Shi Buyu immediately regrouped, crouching beside the eating and drinking Zhang Chun as if in casual conversation.

“What’s taking you so long? That’s enough already.” The jailer, still a bit suspicious, picked his teeth and walked over. Seeing them behaving properly, he relaxed again, then pointed at San Cun and scolded with a grin, “I don’t want to see you again for five days.”

San Cun smiled obsequiously. “Of course. I’ll come back in five days to visit you.”

“Get lost, get lost!”

“Hehehe.”