The jailer opened the door of the dungeon with some trepidation.
Behind him was a young man wrapped tightly in a large fur coat. In the young man's hand was a golden token with a large character engraved on it - Li.
Everyone knew that it was the token of the current crown prince, Xia Chuli.
It was said in the palace that this crown prince was bullied by the King of Qi and the King of Yu when he was young. After he finally turned the tables, the first thing he did was to kill all the Qi family members. Therefore, everyone in the palace was in danger, afraid that they would lose their heads if they did something wrong.
Unexpectedly, on the day he was transferred to the dungeon, he met someone with a golden token. The little jailer was so frightened that he was sweating all over. When he saw that the person wrapped his face tightly, he thought it was some kind of secret. He didn't even dare to ask, so he had to lead the person in.
Shen Qingfeng put away the token and supported his somewhat weak steps, following behind the little jailer. It was just nightfall. Before nightfall, Xia Chuli finally completed his deployment. Cen Shuning led 100,000 troops to the Northern Kingdom to resist the Donghu.
And he finally had time to return to the Eastern Palace. But no one knew that Shen Qingfeng lit a soul-numbing incense in his bedroom. After Xia Chuli stubbornly lay down beside him, he soon lost consciousness. This token was taken from him by Shen Qingfeng.
The whole death row was quiet, filled with a thick smell of blood. Coupled with the perennial dampness and stench, it made people feel dizzy. The more Shen Qingfeng walked, the more his heart sank. Until the jailer led him to a cell.
"My lord, this is the guard. He was whipped fifty times by the newly appointed sect master that day. Later, there was no word on how to deal with him. I just placed him here."
Shen Qingfeng paused and looked up.
Following the fire in the prison, he saw a young man in prison clothes curled up on the haystack in the cell. He was covered in blood, and there was even a glaring whip mark on his face. The young man raised his head when he heard the sound. A pair of murderous eyes suddenly froze when he saw Shen Qingfeng.
It was Xiangcheng.
Shen Qingfeng silently looked at him for a while and then took a slight breath.
Fortunately, it was not a fatal injury. Xiangcheng was a person who had been nurtured. His recovery ability was stronger than ordinary people.
Shen Qingfeng's voice was cold: "The crown prince has an order. Although these people are extremely guilty, keeping them will be useful in the future. They must not be killed."
The jailer nodded and bowed in agreement. Shen Qingfeng took out a porcelain bottle from his arms and placed it on the ground, then silently stood up.
Xiangcheng endured the pain and ran over. He grabbed the iron prison with both hands, his eyes full of eagerness. He stared intently at Shen Qingfeng, who was wrapped in a cloth towel and only showed his eyes. Tears gradually filled his eyes.
"Gong... What... What are you doing?"
Shen Qingfeng looked at him deeply without saying anything. He turned his head and left. The jailer didn't understand the looks in their eyes, so he followed Shen Qingfeng. When he left, he didn't forget to "spit" at Xiangcheng.
There was a sound of Xiangcheng hammering the prison door behind him. A trace of reluctance flashed in Shen Qingfeng's eyes. He asked in a deep voice, "Where is the guy surnamed Xu and the Marquis of Dingbei imprisoned?"
The jailer rubbed his hands and smiled apologetically: "Oh, my lord is talking about Xu Ruhui, right? He is imprisoned at the other end. Although he was tortured by the sect master some days ago... But I have taken good care of him these days. He is recovering very quickly. After that, I will let someone send some meat over." The little jailer wiped the sweat off his head. According to what the adult meant just now, these rebellious ministers could not be lazy, so he had to take the opportunity to distance himself from the matter.
"The Marquis of Dingbei..." The jailer gritted his teeth, and beads of sweat fell from his forehead: "I only heard that the sect master didn't vent his anger when he killed the Prince of Cheng some days ago. He took it out on him..."
"Yeah." Shen Qingfeng's voice was calm, but his hand hidden in his sleeve couldn't stop shaking. The mouth covered under the cloth towel opened and took several deep breaths before calming down his emotions: "Take me to see."
The corridor was very long. I don't know if it was because it was at the deepest part of the dungeon. The torches along the way were getting dimmer and dimmer. Shen Qingfeng's feet moved mechanically. Every step he took, his heart seemed to be stabbed with a knife.
It was as if there was a pair of invisible hands slowly squeezing his throat, cruelly squeezing the air out of his lungs. Although he had tried his best to breathe and open his mouth, his throat seemed to be ripped open, and the air couldn't enter at all. It was painful to the extreme.
"This is it, my lord."
The jailer's voice suddenly pulled Shen Qingfeng back to reality. He paused and his feet seemed to be filled with lead. He couldn't move anymore.
Shen Qingfeng slowly raised his head. His eyes passed through the bloody memories and the dark fire in the prison, and slowly fixed on the man.
In an instant, it was like being pierced by ten thousand arrows, his eyes split open!
I saw Lu Yan with his hair loose, quietly kneeling in the middle of the cell. He hung his head and didn't make a sound. I don't know if he was dead or alive. I saw his hands were trapped and hung high by two iron cables as thick as his wrists. His upper body was naked, and his whole body was covered in wounds. There was no intact skin or flesh. Some of the wounds were turned out, and the scabs were even stacked several times. It was obvious that someone had deliberately opened the old wounds. Many of the wounds hadn't even solidified yet. The bright red blood dripped along the fine lines of his muscles, forming a pool of blood beside his legs.
Shen Qingfeng almost fainted. The surging anger mixed with great pain was like a sharp sword, directly piercing Shen Qingfeng's chest and lungs!
"Who allowed... You to do this!" Shen Qingfeng grabbed the jailer's throat with one hand. His eyes were filled with killing intent. He roared angrily, "Who is it!"
"It... It's the sect master of the Discipline Gate! The sect master did this. I don't know anything! My lord, spare my life!"
Shen Qingfeng didn't dare to delay. He threw the jailer away with one hand and said tremblingly, "Open the door!"
The jailer hurriedly ran to open the door. Shen Qingfeng kicked him over and scolded, "Get out! Without my order, no one is allowed to enter the dungeon!"
"Yes... Yes..." The jailer breathed a sigh of relief as if he had been reborn. He hurriedly ran away.
When Shen Qingfeng saw that the person had gone far away, he rushed in and knelt in front of Lu Yan with a "plop". He took out the medicine bottle from his arms and tremblingly sprinkled it on the wound on Lu Yan's body. But his hand was shaking so much that his eyes were full of tears. He didn't sprinkle it on the right place several times. He was so angry that he scolded for the first time, "Damn it!"
He pinched his wrist with one hand, forcing his trembling hand to aim at Lu Yan's wound and sprinkle it down.
Suddenly, there was a slight gasp from above.
Shen Qingfeng was shocked all over. He raised his head and slowly looked at him.
"Lu... Yan?"
Shen Qingfeng's voice was trembling. He held Lu Yan's blood-stained face with both hands and looked at his slightly opened eyes. Tears fell down.
Shen Qingfeng was so happy that he cried. He kissed Lu Yan's cracked and bleeding lips and said tremblingly, "A Yan, you are still alive... Wait for me. I will treat your wound and then take you out..."
Lu Yan looked at him and then slowly closed his eyes. He pursed his lips and said nothing like a statue.
Shen Qingfeng was heartbroken. He lowered his head and laughed a few times. He continued to apply medicine to him: "A Yan, this medicine powder is very good. I stole it from the Eastern Palace. Do you know the tears of the mermaid? There is only so much left. I brought it all. You will be better after you apply it..."
Lu Yan didn't say a word and didn't even open his eyes.
Shen Qingfeng's fingertips were trembling as he applied all the medicine powder on his wound. The bright red blood was like a sharp thorn, stabbing his eyes in pain.
"Xia Chuli was drugged by me. He won't wake up for a while. We have time before dawn."
"I asked Su Huanyu to come. He will wait for you at the city gate of Lige City. There is Cen Shuning in the Northern Kingdom now. You can go to Dongxiang to hide first..."
"This medicine will scab immediately after application and recover quickly. You can wrap the wound on your way to escape. You will recover as before when you arrive in Dongxiang..."
The man above was always silent. Shen Qingfeng's heart was hurting so much that he was in pain. Tears rained down: "A Yan, please pay attention to me."
Lu Yan turned his head away and didn't look at him.
Shen Qingfeng's tears burst. His body trembled, and his throat was about to cough up blood. He swallowed it back.
He slowed down for a while and showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "A Yan, please say something. It's so tiring for me to talk alone."
Hearing this, Lu Yan slowly opened his eyes and looked down at him.
"What do you want me to say?"
Lu Yan's voice was extremely hoarse. He stared at Shen Qingfeng's eyes. His eyes were cold and alienated that Shen Qingfeng had never seen before: "Say how you helped Xia Chuli to deceive me step by step? Or do you want me to ask you how you are going to continue to deceive me now?"
Shen Qingfeng was shocked all over. Lu Yan's words were heart-wrenching, like hot irons were cruelly printed on Shen Qingfeng's heart.
Shen Qingfeng covered his chest and cried, "A Yan, you... You listen to my explanation. I don't know anything about Cen Shuning. I don't know that he and Xia Chuli had a premeditated plan. I don't know anything about Cen Shuning and Princess Liuli! My original intention was to let you support Xia Chuli to force the palace, and then the two of us will hold the emperor to order the princes. That's all!"
Lu Yan stared at him and suddenly laughed: "Yes, it's this set of words again. But you happened to let me enter the Bian Palace from the East Gate closest to the Jiying Hall. You happened to let Cen Shuning block my way. You also let me happen to find my father's body in the statue of Xingtian! Shen Qingfeng, you are still lying to me!"
Shen Qingfeng cried loudly, "I don't know that General Lu's body is in the statue of Xingtian!"
"What do you want to explain about the matter of Jinding Mountain! What is the blown-up cave? Why didn't you tell me!" Lu Yan suddenly laughed. He looked at Shen Qingfeng and laughed bitterly: "You think you can hide it from me... Inside, it's the group burial tomb of the Lu family army, right?"
Shen Qingfeng took a step back suddenly: "You, you investigated?"
Lu Yan smiled miserably: "King Xia Jie killed a thousand people of my Lu family army to sacrifice to Xingtian. You and Xia Chuli knew it long ago, right? So you didn't want me to know. You blew up that tomb because I was still useful to you. I haven't helped you force the palace yet!"
Shen Qingfeng covered his head painfully. There were too many misunderstandings between him and Lu Yan. He could only try his best to explain: "No... It's not like this! Xia Chuli doesn't know about this matter. I found the tomb. I didn't tell him!"
"You are still lying to me!" Lu Yan roared. Tears of pain flowed from his eyes: "You are still lying to me... Shen Qingfeng! You and Xia Chuli have been lying to me from beginning to end. You knew that my father was sealed in the statue of Xingtian, so you led me to the Jiying Hall!"
"No... I'm not..."
"Then I killed King Xia Jie because of this. Cen Shuning happened to see it and was given the crime of treason! I helped you kill King Xia Jie, helped you force the palace, and helped you be a stepping stone!"
"No! A Yan! You listen to my explanation!"
"That's my father!!! Before I went on an expedition, I even kowtowed to that statue of Xingtian!!" Lu Yan roared, like a thunderbolt, imprisoning Shen Qingfeng in place.
"That's my father..." Lu Yan's crying came intermittently: "I have been looking for his body for so many years. I knelt and begged King Xia Jie at that time. I knelt all night and finally fainted in the snow. Even in the Northern Kingdom, there is only his tomb of clothes and hats. But I didn't expect... His body is actually in this Bian Palace!"
Shen Qingfeng covered his heart. The extreme pain made him cough up blood. Lu Jiang's body was a great blow to Lu Yan. Now Lu Yan couldn't listen to anything. And because of Xia Chuli's deliberate distortion, his actions were blatant use in Lu Yan's eyes.
Shen Qingfeng knew that this was the purpose that Xia Chuli wanted to achieve. He dropped his hands blankly. He didn't even know how to explain to Lu Yan to make Lu Yan believe him.
Shen Qingfeng endured the pain and wiped the blood from his lips with his hand. He said tremblingly, "A Yan, I know you don't believe me now, but... But I want to say that I found that Lu Jiang's body was gone when I was in the group burial tomb. The reason why I didn't tell you was because I was afraid that you would be sad. I was going to... I was going to help you find it and then tell you."
Lu Yan gritted his teeth and turned his head away, not looking at him.
"I don't know that Xia Chuli and Cen Shuning have an intersection. I don't know that they will be behind... I don't know that your father is in the statue of Xingtian..."
Shen Qingfeng cried and looked at Lu Yan, who was in great pain in front of him. His heart was suddenly tightened: "A Yan... Did you hear that..."
"Why call me like this again." Lu Yan's voice was as cold as ice: "It was fake at the beginning. You came to get close to me and let me do it because I was useful to you, right?"
Shen Qingfeng's body trembled. He looked at Lu Yan heartbrokenly. In an instant, great sadness came, and it was sad to the bone.
The heart is sincere and the heart is dead. That's good.
He seemed to understand the look in Lu Yan's eyes when he looked at him at that time. It was so desolate, desolate to the bone, and he would never stop dying.
He finally couldn't help it. With a "wow", he vomited a large mouthful of blood.
Lu Yan was stunned. Looking at Shen Qingfeng in front of him, he was shocked and said, "You..."
Shen Qingfeng wiped the blood from his lips with one hand and said painfully, "Anyway, I'm going to rescue you."
Lu Yan stared at him: "Shen Qingfeng, do you want to deceive me again?"
Shen Qingfeng smiled miserably and said tremblingly, "Lu Yan, in your eyes, is what I say now not worthy of trust?"
Lu Yan gritted his teeth and looked at him, pursing his lips and saying nothing.
"Okay... Okay..." Shen Qingfeng looked up at him. Two lines of clear tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. He slowly untied his clothes and showed the red and exquisite silk cloth inside: "Then you... Let me deceive you one more time?"
Lu Yan's eyes widened.
Shen Qingfeng cried and suddenly pulled the corner of his mouth and smiled miserably: "A Yan, you said that you wanted to marry me."