Chapter 145

The afternoon sunlight was so bright it was almost dazzling. Looking up at the young man sitting atop the high wall, Fan Changyu lost herself in a brief moment of distraction.

Hearing Xie Zheng's question, she immediately felt a trace of embarrassment, as though her thoughts had been exposed.

Her long eyelashes, rimmed with golden sunlight, fluttered like tiny fans. Having walked all the way around the Court of Judicial Review and with the blazing sun overhead, a faint pink flush had appeared on her fair cheeks. Even the fine hairs on her face were clearly visible. Yet she clasped her hands behind her back and put on a composed appearance.

"What are you doing here?"

Xie Zheng smiled and leaped down from the wall, landing neatly in front of her.

"From the Wild Goose Wing Pagoda, I saw someone circling the walls of the Court of Judicial Review like a thief scouting a target, so I came to see what sort of little thief it was."

Hearing his teasing words, Fan Changyu unconsciously clenched one fist. She shot him a warning glare, clearly prepared to resort to force if he continued making fun of her.

Xie Zheng knew when to stop and changed the subject.

"You want to break into the prison tonight?"

Thinking of her plan, Fan Changyu glanced around. Even after confirming that no one was nearby, she stepped closer to him just to be safe and lowered her voice beside his ear.

"That woman impersonating Yu Qianqian—I heard they're still going to interrogate her. I'm afraid she'll reveal that Sui Yuanhuai isn't dead, so I'm planning to break her out."

Her voice was extremely soft. As she spoke, her gentle breath brushed against Xie Zheng's ear, sending a tingling sensation through him, as though tiny insects were crawling along its edge.

Xie Zheng cooperatively leaned down slightly to listen. His expression remained calm, but the tips of his ears had already begun to redden. One hand behind his back unconsciously tightened into a fist, as though he were forcibly restraining something.

Fan Changyu noticed nothing.

After finishing, she looked up at him.

"What do you think?"

To establish authority in front of others, she had become accustomed to wearing a cold expression. But when speaking with people she was close to, her clear, bright eyes still carried an honest, guileless simplicity.

Like a tiger rolling in the snow with the demeanor of a plump cat.

Combined with what she was saying, she was both foolishly adorable and frighteningly fierce.

Xie Zheng gazed into the sparkling eyes of the young woman before him. It took considerable effort to move his gaze away from her slightly dry lips. The hair ribbon tied around his wrist seemed to be burning hot. The remnants of his rationality finally allowed him to sort through the meaning of her words.

He said, "You're talking about abducting a major criminal whom the Three Judicial Offices are jointly trying. Aren't you afraid you'll be investigated?"

Fan Changyu blinked her candid eyes twice.

"If anyone's going to be suspected, shouldn't they suspect Wei Yan first? In military strategy, this is called… called… shifting the disaster eastward!"

Xie Zheng couldn't help laughing.

"Did you invent that military strategy yourself?"

Fan Changyu froze for a moment. She had only blurted it out because she couldn't remember the proper name of the tactic. Hearing him say that immediately made her feel awkward.

She coughed twice.

"Anyway, that's what it means."

Leaning against the wall with his eyes lowered, Xie Zheng said slowly,

"The guards outside the Court of Judicial Review change shifts at the Hour of Shen. There are only eighteen prison guards on night duty inside the prison. However, if they discover a jailbreak, the guards on watch will ring the bronze bell. Every exit in the prison will be locked, and the soldiers outside will surround the place layer upon layer until it's completely sealed."

Fan Changyu stared blankly for a moment, then scratched her head in frustration.

"So you're saying a jailbreak is impossible?"

Xie Zheng lazily lifted his eyelids.

"We break in."

Fan Changyu: "…"

—

The night was cold and damp with dew.

Somewhere in the darkness, a dog barked once or twice, startling a flock of crows from the bare branches of a dead tree.

The Court of Judicial Review, illuminated by only two dim lanterns, stood silently in the darkness like a graveyard.

Torches burned in wall niches deep within the prison. The scent of pine resin mixed with the musty odor accumulated from years without sunlight, filling the air and making people drowsy.

The prison was laid out in the shape of a cross. Each corridor branch extended deep inward, containing roughly twenty to thirty cells. Four prison guards, divided into pairs, continuously patrolled these passageways.

At the central intersection of the four corridors stood the torture chamber and the guard room. The chief jailer and deputy jailer usually stayed there, making it convenient to receive high-ranking officials who came to interrogate prisoners. If anyone attempted a jailbreak, they could also immediately ring the large bell in the guard room.

That night, the chief jailer and deputy jailer sat at a square table, having already yawned countless times.

"No good. I need to splash my face with cold water and wake up."

The deputy jailer stood while yawning.

The chief jailer propped himself on one elbow, equally sleepy.

"Bring me a basin too. In the dead of winter, it's far too easy to get drowsy."

The deputy jailer agreed and went out to fetch water.

As the chief jailer rubbed his sleepy eyes and yawned again, he suddenly noticed a large shadow looming over him.

His heart tightened.

But before he could even turn around, a hand struck the back of his neck.

His vision went black, and he immediately lost consciousness.

Two prison guards patrolling near a corridor junction were just about to speak when they heard a faint rush of wind by their ears.

The next instant, pain exploded at the backs of their necks.

They collapsed limply to the ground, accompanied by the faint sound of joints being displaced.

After knocking out the chief jailer, Xie Zheng turned and saw Fan Changyu, dressed in black night clothing, squatting beside one of the guards and resetting his shoulder.

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, she awkwardly explained,

"I wasn't paying attention. I hit a little too hard and dislocated his shoulder."

The moment the arm snapped back into place, the intense pain woke the guard.

Unfortunately, before he could even cry out, someone slapped him unconscious again.

The deputy jailer returned carrying a basin of cold water and happened to witness the scene.

Startled, he dropped the wooden basin and opened his mouth to shout that there was a jailbreak.

But the black-clothed figure standing beside the chief jailer moved like a ghost, instantly appearing before him.

Using two fingers like a sword, he tapped the deputy jailer's throat.

Then he flicked the falling basin upward with the tip of his foot.

The deputy jailer felt a sharp pain in his throat. Though he desperately tried to scream, not a sound came out.

Meanwhile, the basin that had nearly hit the ground was effortlessly caught by the black-clothed man. Even the water that had splashed out was returned to the basin without a single drop wasted.

The deputy jailer was horrified.

He turned to run.

Fan Changyu rushed over to help, leaping forward and smashing her elbow into the back of his neck.

His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious.

Fan Changyu exhaled lightly.

"Last one."

Before coming to the guard room, they had already slipped in through a window and knocked out all the other patrolling guards.

Xie Zheng took a ring of keys of varying lengths from the chief jailer's body.

"The Sui family is being held in Cell Jia-Nine."

Fan Changyu followed him into the corridor marked with the character

"Jia."

Torches lit the passage every few yards, so they needed no lanterns.

As an important imperial criminal, Sui Yuanhuai's concubine and only son were being held alone in a small cell.

The iron chain securing the cell door was as thick as a baby's arm. Xie Zheng could only test the keys one by one.

The faint rattling of metal woke several prisoners in nearby cells.

None of them dared make a sound.

They could not tell whether the newcomers had come to kill them or save them.

The woman imprisoned with the child looked even more disheveled than when Fan Changyu had first met her.

As she clutched the child in her arms, the thin fabric of her clothing stretched tight against her body. She was so thin that the outlines of her shoulder blades were clearly visible.

Looking at Xie Zheng and Fan Changyu outside the cell, there was no hope in her eyes.

Only terror.

Even the hands holding her child trembled continuously.

To avoid unnecessary complications, Fan Changyu remained silent and simply kept watch farther down the corridor.

Unexpectedly, an elderly man with graying hair in a cell across from them suddenly screamed hysterically,

"Jailbreak! Murder! Help!"

Near the egg-sized ventilation holes close to the ceiling, flickering torchlight could be seen moving.

Clearly, the old man's shout had alerted the guards outside.

Xie Zheng's eyes turned cold.

Fan Changyu instantly became tense as well.

Originally, they had quietly knocked out the prison guards using a mild dose of sleeping incense. They had plenty of time.

But because of that old man's shout, every exit of the Court of Judicial Review would soon be sealed off.

There was no longer enough time to keep trying keys one by one.

Grinding her teeth, Fan Changyu rushed forward while Xie Zheng continued calmly testing keys.

"Let me do it!"

She could not tear apart an iron chain as thick as a baby's arm.

But with several powerful kicks against the cell bars, the wooden pillars as thick as fists snapped apart with loud cracks.

Taking advantage of her superior physique, Fan Changyu squeezed through the gap and lifted the woman and child as though they were little chicks, one in each hand.

At the jagged opening in the cell, she shoved the terrified child into Xie Zheng's arms and hoisted the woman onto her shoulder.

"Move!"

Xie Zheng looked at the child suddenly thrust into his hands and the woman slung over Fan Changyu's shoulder.

He wanted to say that he could carry the woman instead.

But considering that she wore only a thin layer of clothing, he ultimately remained silent.

Holding the child with one hand, he followed Fan Changyu as they rapidly headed for the exit.

Seeing them abduct Sui Yuanhuai's

"concubine," the old man became even more agitated.

Whether he genuinely did not know that the mother and child were impostors, whether he was fiercely loyal to his master, or for some other reason, no one could tell.

Gripping the wooden bars of his cell, he continued shouting,

"Guards! Someone's taking a prisoner! Help!"

Xie Zheng frowned slightly.

As they were about to leave, he cast a cold glance behind him.

—

After hearing cries for help from inside the prison, the guards outside rushed in.

When they discovered that all the prison guards had been knocked unconscious, they immediately realized something was terribly wrong.

They hurried to the cells holding the Sui family.

The servants and captured officers were all still there.

Only Sui Yuanhuai's concubine was missing.

Cold sweat instantly drenched their foreheads.

The guard captain roared,

"Seal every exit! Even if we have to dig three feet into the ground, find them!"

Yet when the torchlight illuminated the irregular wooden pillars that had been kicked apart, he could not help feeling shocked.

What kind of terrifying strength was this?

Just who exactly had carried out this jailbreak?

—

Having already surveyed the terrain during the day, Fan Changyu quickly found the section of wall with the weakest defenses.

Carrying the woman on her shoulder, she agilely vaulted over it.

Xie Zheng, carrying the child, immediately followed.

Once outside, worried that the woman might recognize the route, Fan Changyu pulled out a sack she had prepared beforehand.

She stuffed cloth into the woman's mouth and promptly pulled the sack over her head.

Then she took out a smaller one and handed it to Xie Zheng.

"Put this one over the kid too."

The practiced ease of her actions left Xie Zheng momentarily speechless.