Chapter 65

Liang Jianfang hesitated for a moment, enduring the pain, and clenched his teeth without speaking.

Shen Yu continued, “Your stand-in was escorted back to Beijing by the Qingyun Guards along the original route. Do you know what happened to him now?”

Liang Jianfang stared at her intently.

“He didn’t even make it to Yian. He was crushed into a meat pie at Longjing Peak in Huaitang County. The other side deployed over a hundred death warriors,” Shen Yu paused and asked, “Tell me, how desperate is your master to want you dead?”

Liang Jianfang’s eyes widened with fury. Shen Yu ripped the cloth from his mouth.

“No, it’s impossible!” Liang Jianfang refused to believe.

“You don’t believe?” Shen Yu said. “Didn’t anyone tell you this when you were held in the royal palace?”

From Liang Jianfang’s expression, Shen Yu understood that someone had informed him, but he must have not believed it, thinking that Xie Tingzhou was just trying to deceive him.

But now, hearing the same thing from different people had different effects. She could see Liang Jianfang’s hesitation, but she knew he wouldn’t believe it now.

Shen Yu said, “Whether you believe it or not, within three days, someone will come to take your life.”

She stepped back, saying softly, “Of course, you won’t believe me now. Why don’t we make a bet? If you’re still alive in three days, I’ll give you a chance at life, but the condition is that I must know the truth.”

Shen Yu stepped out, and after a moment of contemplation, Liang Jianfang began to pound on the door. “Help! Someone, help!”

The night guard was awakened in the middle of the night and came over irritably. “What’s all this shouting in the middle of the night?”

“Someone sneaked in,” Liang Jianfang said anxiously. “He just attacked me with a knife.”

The guard had been stationed at the door the whole time and hadn’t seen anyone enter or leave. He chuckled upon hearing this. “And where is this person now?”

“He got away.”

“Are you injured?”

Liang Jianfang checked his robe. “My leg, my leg… huh?”

He had clearly seen the person cut his leg, and it had hurt badly for a while. But now, there was no wound on his leg at all.

The guard thought he was talking nonsense in his sleep. “You, surnamed Liang, pretending to be crazy won’t save you from death.”

Liang Jianfang was most afraid of one word: death. The reason he refused to betray the person behind him was simply because they promised he wouldn’t die, at most, he would be exiled. But how he would be exiled was also up to that person.

“I’m not pretending to be crazy,” Liang Jianfang said. “I’ve seen that person before in Shen Zhong’an’s army. He seems to be Shen Zhao’s bodyguard.”

The guard suddenly woke up from his drowsiness and hurried to the cell where Shi Yu was kept.

Seeing the person still snoring in the cell, the guard checked the lock on the door, which was intact and hadn’t been tampered with.

Late at night, a tall figure slipped out of the Dali Temple dungeon and, after several detours, arrived at the mansion of a certain nobleman in the Eastern Market.

…

The next evening, Shen Yu emerged from the Dali Temple.

A carriage was parked at the entrance of the Dali Temple, along with several sedan chairs belonging to officials who had come for business.

Shen Yu descended the steps, and Chang Liu immediately jumped down from the carriage shaft. “Shi Yu.”

Shen Yu walked over with a smile. “Thank you for coming to pick me up, but I can go back on my own.”

Chang Liu smiled back, “It’s not me who’s being thanked.”

Shen Yu sensed something deeper in his words. She opened the curtain and climbed into the carriage.

The interior surprised her. Was she really that important now? The carriage looked fine from the outside, but the interior was excessively luxurious.

She pulled back the curtain again. Inside, there was a layer of soft white fur. She had spent the night in the dungeon yesterday and was afraid of dirtying the fur.

“Why did you come out?” Chang Liu asked.

“I’m not that important,” Shen Yu said, sitting next to Chang Liu on the carriage shaft. “This carriage seems like it’s meant to send me away.”

Chang Liu chuckled.

“Let’s go,” Shen Yu said.

“No rush,” Chang Liu said. “The Prince hasn’t come out yet.”

Shen Yu was surprised. “The Prince is here too?”

She thought Xie Tingzhou was just warning the people at the Dali Temple casually, but she didn’t expect him to come to pick her up.

“Of course,” Chang Liu pointed, “On the way here, I met an official from the Supreme Court and invited him in for tea.”

The Dali Temple was adjacent to the Supreme Court.

Xie Tingzhou has just arrived in the capital. Unlike Li Jifeng, he knows he can’t just be a bystander if he wants to survive here peacefully.

Even though some officials have shown him goodwill, he can’t just brush them off. He needs to seize every opportunity.

After a brief stay at the Supreme Court, Xie Tingzhou stood up to take his leave as soon as the tea was finished.

“Is the Crown Prince in such a hurry to leave?” Deputy Inspector Wan Ruixian rose to see him off.

Wan Ruixian had previously been sent from Shengjing to the provinces as an inspector. At that time, he offended a corrupt official who, feeling cornered, colluded with bandits to kidnap him. The place was close to Beilin, and it was the intervention of the Beilin Wang that eventually saved him.

Later on, Wan Ruixian’s career went smoothly, and now he had reached the position of Deputy Inspector on the Left. There were some connections to Beilin in his rise.

Xie Tingzhou glanced outside. “It’s getting late. I have to leave after picking someone up.”

As they walked out together, Wan Ruixian said, “I’m curious to see who the Crown Prince had to personally come and pick up.”

“It’s just a child from the mansion,” Xie Tingzhou smiled. “Excuse me, please. He’s at that awkward age, so I have to worry more. Please, let’s part here.”

Once they reached the entrance of the Supreme Court, Wan Ruixian didn’t follow any further, standing at the door and watching from afar.

Just as Xie Tingzhou approached, a carriage came rolling in. A handsome young man jumped off the carriage shaft and stood in front of him.

“Your time in prison wasn’t in vain,” Shen Yu said with a smile.

They exchanged a glance, and Xie Tingzhou understood her meaning. “Let’s talk later.”

Shen Yu nodded. “But I’ve found the answer. Prison food is absolutely dreadful.”

Wan Ruixian couldn’t hear what the young man said to Xie Tingzhou, but he saw that Xie Tingzhou’s expression remained unchanged, though there was a slight thaw in his perpetually icy demeanor.

The two of them got into the carriage one after the other and disappeared into the carriage. The young man on the carriage shaft smiled, flicked the reins, and the carriage headed towards Guanghua Gate.

Shengjing was divided into inner and outer cities, with the imperial palace, government offices, etc., belonging to the inner city, and the mansions, streets, etc., belonging to the outer city.

At Guanghua Gate, a eunuch stopped the carriage.

“May I ask if the Crown Prince is inside the carriage?”

Chang Liu held the reins. “Yes, he is. Is there something you need Father -in-Law?”