Ling Zhang didn’t think Yuwen Tong would forgive Yuwen Zhi after all those things Yuwen Zhi had done that could be seen as a betrayal of the Yuwen family, but he was indeed unable to fathom out what Yuwen Tong was planning to do. Given that Yuwen Tong was unwilling to tell him, either this plan was full of uncertainties or it would burden him with worries if he came to know about it.
Since he couldn’t figure it out, he chose to wait and see how it played out.
Meanwhile, after Yuwen Zhi was brought back home and had his cold treated, he had been on the mend. Yuwen Feng had gone to the palace to express his gratitude to his cousin for his kindness. Nobody knew what Yuwen Tong had said to him, but Yuwen Feng had been seen to be in high spirits when he left the palace.
…
On that very night. In the Court Prison.
The Court Prison was a grim place which received virtually no sunlight during daytime, and by night, it was even more fearsome than it was usually described to be in horror stories. Only felons convicted of the most serious crimes would be sent to this place, and it was almost impossible for any one of them to be acquitted. From the warden to prison guards, everybody working here was as malicious-looking as the gatekeeper to the underworld. If any of the prisoners misbehaved, inhumane punishment would be meted out to them.
It had been some days since Fang Quan had been thrown into the Court Prison. At first he had been disgruntled and resisted, but now he seemed to have become a different person. Every time he saw a prison guard coming, he hastened to cower into a corner and remain still. After he’d heard that the Eighth Prince had abdicated in favor of Yuwen Tong, his face had become so pallid and blank that he looked like a ghost. It was as though the prison had sucked the last bit of vitality of his out of his body.
When a voice called his name, he was lying amid some straw, curling up, pretending not to have heard it.
“Your Lordship.” That voice was still calling him.
Prison guards here always called him by his full name, showing him no respect whatsoever. This was the first time that Fang Quan had heard someone address him as ‘Your Lordship’ since he’d been put into this prison.
“Your Lordship, do you really want to stay in that corner forever? You’ve given up and decided to wait for death?” That voice was low and hoarse, as unpleasant to the ear as the sound of sawing wood.
Fang Quan slowly sat up and gingerly pivoted around to look at the man who’d just called him outside the cell railings. Wearing a prison guard’s uniform, the man was quietly standing there with his back to the lighted torch in the distance, his features indistinguishable owing to the poor lighting. Fang Quan had no idea how long the man had been there.
Seeing Fang Quan finally was willing to face him, the man said, “Your Lordship, I’m here to rescue you.”
Unable to believe what he’d just heard, Fang Quan opened his mouth and asked, “Who are you?” in a voice that was just as dry, husky and unpleasant as that of the man.
“I’m from Jiangzhou,” replied the man.
Jiangzhou? On hearing that this man was from Jiangzhou, Fang Quan, who had originally been wary of this unexpected visitor, immediately lowered his guard considerably. “You’re really from Jiangzhou? Who sent you here?” he inquired.
“Our commander, of course. He wants you to pull yourself together and go back to Jiangzhou with us to plan for a comeback,” responded the man.
A comeback? Right now there was no room in Fang Quan’s head to worry about how to make a political comeback, for how to survive was the only thing he could think about, but he also feared that this might be a trap, so he refused to believe the man until the latter produced a token. It was a private token of the commander of Jiangzhou garrison. Previously, when Fang Quan had been corresponding with the Jiangzhou garrison, this token had served as an authenticating object, so Fang Quan recognized it at a glance.
“You really can get me out of here?!” Crawling and trotting, Fang Quan hurried up to the man and pressed himself against the cell railings.
The man promptly threw his hand to his lips with his forefinger held up, signaling Fang Quan to keep quiet. Then he looked around stealthily. Having confirmed that nobody was alarmed, he said, “Chill out, Your Lordship. We’d be in serious trouble if any prison guards hear us.”
It was not until Fang Quan pressed his face against the railings that he recognized this prison guard, who looked somewhat familiar. There had been several occasions when Fang Quan had seen him beating and cursing ill-behaved prisoners. His face was heavy and fierce-looking.
“It–It’s you?” said Fang Quan, hesitantly releasing his grip on the railings, showing the inclination to back away.
The man’s heavy face wrinkled in a grin, looking rather ugly. “How else could I have infiltrated into the Court Prison if not by taking a prison guard’s identity? There’s no need for you to be scared, Your Lordship. The original owner of this appearance is dead. I’m just impersonating him. This face is indeed a little scary, but I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with it.”
Fang Quan held the railings once again. “How do I know I can trust you?”
The man gave another grin, fingered his neck and with that the patch of skin curled up.
After Fang Quan saw it clearly, the man flattened the curled edge of the skin and observed, “It was short notice and I disguised myself in haste, which is why this mask made of human skin doesn’t fit very well, but it’s more than enough to hoodwink those prison guards. Once I bust you out of here, you’ll never have to see this face again, Your Lordship.”
Hu–Human skin? Fang Quan felt a cold shiver of fear run through him, looking at the man with a fairly frightened expression in his eyes.
“Whe–When do you plan to break me out of this place?” asked Fang Quan.
“There’s no hurry. I’ve just familiarized myself with the shift schedule in this prison, so you’ll have to wait another two days,” replied the man.
Two days? Fang Quan had thought that the man could help him escape right away. It’d never crossed his mind that he’d have to wait another two days. He looked in the direction of the end of the corridor which was pitch-dark and lifeless as though something menacing was lurking there staring at him. The sight of this made his blood freeze. To stay in a place like this for another two days was virtually a torture.
“You’ll get me out of here in two days?” Fang Quan asked again to confirm it.
“Absolutely,” replied the man. “Don’t worry, Your Lordship. I said I’d bust you out of here and I will keep my promise. Before we take action, you may do some thinking and see if any of those lords sent here with you is trustworthy. As long as they could be useful for us making a comeback, I’ll rescue them as well.”
Fang Quan was stupefied briefly. He had been locked in this separate cell all along ever since he’d been taken to this prison. At first he had been able to find out the others’ approximate positions by listening to their responses to his yells, but afterward he could only guess where they were locked by the anguished cries of them, and during the past couple of days, even the pained cries had stopped. Fang Quan had even begun to suspect that they had died, feeling as though he were the only prisoner left in this prison. He’d been in horror all the time, fearing that he was the next one to be executed.
“I don’t know whether they’re still alive or not. This place is too quiet. It’s as quiet as death.” Fang Quan flicked a glance at the dark spot and then quickly withdrew his eyes.
The man cast a look at that spot and smiled, “There’s no need to be afraid. That’s just an unoccupied cell. Nobody’s there. Except for Yuwen Zhi, all those sent here with you are still locked in this prison.”
“Yuwen Zhi died?” asked Fang Quan, astonished.
The man answered, “He’s Yuwen Tong’s uncle. How is it possible for him to die in a place like this? He’s been brought back home by his son, the assistant minister.”
Fang Quan’s countenance changed and with that he gave the iron railings a light hit and hissed through gritted teeth, “I thought Yuwen Tong was a righteous man, but it turns out he’s nothing but a base character partial to his kin. Providence must have been totally blind to let the throne fall into the hands of a man like him!”
“Which is why you have to cooperate with our commander to save the situation,” observed the man.
As though this message had served as some kind of stimulus to his mind, Fang Quan’s panic and numbness abated somewhat. “How many of us could you get out?”
“To ensure our successful escape, it’s best if you keep it under three,” replied the man.
That meant Fang Quan could only select two people from those that had rebelled with him, but he didn’t feel any sympathy for those he would have to abandon. Instead, he quickly started pondering who might be the most useful to him.
The man didn’t hurry Fang Quan, waiting patiently. It was after Fang Quan gave him two names that he said, “I’ll figure out a way to make contact with the two lords. All you have to do is wait. I’ll be in touch. Be careful not to raise anybody’s suspicions in the next two days lest our plan be ruined.”
Fang Quan nodded. “I understand. You–You’re doing this all by yourself?”
The man smiled, “Of course not. There are many of us. After all, apart from you, we also have to rescue the Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin.”
It was only then that Fang Quan recalled that he had a daughter and a grandson, and for an instant his face was unnatural. Then he said, “The Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin are probably imprisoned somewhere in the palace at this moment. How do you plan to rescue them? If by any chance Yuwen Tong finds out…”
“There’s no need for you to worry about that, Your Lordship. All you have to do is wait here for my message. The Eighth Prince is of direct descent from the deceased emperor. We won’t be able to make a comeback without him. Even if Yuwen Tong finds out, we’ll still have to rescue him. Speaking of which, it’d be best if you gave us a token to help us get the Concubine Jin to trust us, which would spare us from the trouble of explaining to her and save us some time,” said the man.
Fang Quan gave it some thought and then fished a white oval jade pendant out of his innermost pocket. “I’ve been carrying this with me for years. Both my daughter and my grandson could recognize it.”
The man took it. “Thank you for your cooperation, Your Lordship.”
Seeing the man pocketed the token and was about to leave, Fang Quan hastened to ask, “How are you going to break us out of here? This prison is heavily guarded. Apart from prison guards, there are also palace guards, the City Patrol and the guards at the city gates. How many of you are there? Will you be able to handle these guards?”
The man responded, “Rest assured, we’ve got it all planned out. There’s no need to concern yourself with that. Just set your mind at ease and wait. Again – be careful not to arouse anybody’s suspicions. Okay, I’ve been here long enough and I need to get going. I’ll be in touch.”
Fang Quan still had a lot of questions, but there was no time, so he just watched the man leave.
It was after the prison guard left that Fang Quan slowly calmed down. He was positive that the token was authentic, that the man was indeed from Jiangzhou. He had thought that since Yuwen Tong was about to ascend the throne, Jiangzhou garrison should be busy with saving their own skin. It had never crossed his mind that they would send some men to the capital city to rescue him.
Jiangzhou… People there were probably afraid that Yuwen Tong would seek to settle scores with them after his enthronement. By saving a prince of the Zhou family, they would be pitting themselves against Yuwen Tong. Did they have enough strength to fight against Yuwen Tong?
But what did it matter if the Jiangzhou garrison were no match for Yuwen Tong? For him, the first priority right now was to escape from this prison, because he would surely end up dead if he didn’t try it.
A sinister look appeared on Fang Quan’s pasty, vacant face and he stared out of the cell for a few moments. Eventually the sinister look disappeared and his countenance became blank again. He curled up in a corner, pretending nothing had happened just now.
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