spoiled brat

Chapter 30 29. Spring Harmony (9)

For some reason, Zhao Zhao felt an itch in her fingertips, but instead of hoping for divine intervention like a child, she found the pipe that her mother had given her under the bed, lit it, and slowly exhaled smoke.

The tobacco tasted bitter and suffocating, drilling into her heart along the tip of her tongue, which ironically made her more alert.

On such a damp, rainy night, many things are quietly rotting, such as withered branches and fallen leaves, cowardice and timidity, and even herself.

Why does God need to give her a reason?
She never accepted the fate that God had ordained for her.

She changed into the jailer's clothes she had bought a few days earlier, put the things she had prepared into her bosom, put on a raincoat, took an umbrella, and pushed open the door to walk into the rain.

*
Unlucky.

It was really unlucky of him to be on night watch on such a rainy night.

At the entrance of the county jail, the young jailer found a sheltered spot against the wall and sat down. He pulled up his sleeves to cover the back of his hands, then covered his face, trying to sneak a nap.

But the mosquitoes in early summer were always buzzing in his ears, biting him all over his face and hands through his clothes.

As he swatted at the mosquitoes, cursing under his breath, just as he was outwitting and outmaneuvering them, he suddenly heard a light, cheerful voice from below the steps:

"I'll take your place."

The young jailer looked up, wondering if he was seeing things. He rubbed his eyes, but saw that there was indeed a person standing below the steps.

The man was holding an umbrella and wearing a raincoat, revealing a corner of the jailer's uniform.

"……Who are you?"

The young jailer frowned in confusion. Judging from his size, he shouldn't be very old. When did he get a colleague of similar age?

However, this night shift is really tough, and it's better to have someone to cover for you than no one at all.

The young jailer jumped down the steps, his round, childish face beaming with a smile: "Then I'll trouble you to give me the waist tag."

Although there weren't many prisoners in the county jail, the handover still had to follow procedures, including exchanging waist tags—that was the rule.

"Okay."

The person's voice was very soft, and their face was hidden by an umbrella, so it couldn't be seen.

The young jailer stood waiting for the other man to pull out his waist token and come out, thinking to himself that he must be a handsome young man.

We're all colleagues doing tough jobs in the county jail; it's not certain we'll become friends in the future.

He handed over his name tag and said warmly, "My name is..."

Before he could even finish introducing himself, a stone came hurtling towards his head. The young jailer's vision blurred and he collapsed into the rain with a thud.

Before he fainted, he saw what the person looked like.

Those are the eyes that only the most skillful cats in the world have—

Beautiful and fresh, but devoid of warmth.

They looked down at him, with a mixture of sarcasm and pity.

Magistrate Xie rarely adjudicated cases during his tenure, and bandits were rampant in Qingyang County, yet they all escaped justice.

The county jail, originally used to imprison criminals, was now empty and a perfect place for idlers to do nothing. The jailers, eager to siphon off more money, rarely even bothered to light a candle.

Zhao Zhao stood in the dark and damp prison passage, the opium pipe in her hand flickering, its light as red as blood in the darkness.

Before she arrived, her pounding heart had become as still as a stagnant pool. She took the last drag of her cigarette, lit the candle in her hand with the embers, then put the pipe in her pocket. Holding the candle in one hand and the bucket of swill-like food on the ground in the other, she walked deeper into the county jail.

The roof had been in disrepair for years, and the dry grass on the ground had long since rotted into mud. Zhao Zhao trudged along, her feet slipping and rats and cockroaches occasionally scurrying past her feet.

She was already used to the stench and had no fear of filth. At this moment, she walked leisurely as if she were taking a stroll to the place where the four bandits were being held.

Two cells, two people on each side.

A smile appeared on Zhao Zhao's face, which had been hidden in the darkness. Why were these people being imprisoned like pigs?

She stuck the candle in her hand into the wall, lowered her voice, and tapped the wall with the wooden ladle from the bucket: "Dinner's ready."

After the four bandits were taken back to Qingyang County, they were punished, each receiving forty strokes of the cane.

Thanks to the goodwill they had built up in the past, they bribed the yamen runners to be lenient, but forty strokes of the cane still hurt their bones and muscles, leaving them crawling on their hands and knees, groaning in pain.

There were no windows in the prison, and it was pitch black day and night, so they did not suspect whether Zhao Zhao's appearance was normal.

One of the bandits, who was climbing quickly, stuck his head out of the gate, sniffed the contents of the bucket, and complained:

"This is leftovers from yesterday. Even when feeding swill, you should at least feed something a little fresher..."

Zhao Zhao scooped up a spoonful with a wooden ladle and splashed it on his face; the foul-smelling swill spilled all over the ground.
"Don't like it? Then don't eat it."

How can a person live without food?
She made a move to leave, but the four men immediately stopped her, took out a broken bowl used for eating from the cell, and reluctantly pushed her out of the gate.

Zhao Zhao lowered her head and added rice to her bowl one spoonful at a time. The four of them endured their nausea and ate a few mouthfuls, then vomited a few more times, cursing as they ate:

"It's all that little bitch's fault. We'll make her pay when we get out of here!"

"We should have finished her off that day! Who knew she'd be so lucky, weaving and dodging until she bumped into a nobleman's carriage..."

"Isn't it because Wang San'er is too soft-hearted?!" one person said angrily. "I said just kill her with one blow, but Wang San'er insisted that she was pretty and that we could drag her to a secluded place, have some fun with her, and then kill her."

Another person scoffed, "Wang San'er, that girl hasn't even grown her pubic hair yet, and you actually like her? If you really like that type, why haven't you ever gone to a brothel before?"

Upon hearing Yao Niang's name, Zhao Zhao straightened up and pricked up her ears to hear Wang San ask curiously, "Is she a whore's daughter?"

“That’s right.” The man’s tone was both boastful and sarcastic. “Her mother was incredibly beautiful when she was young, much prettier than her. I had money back then, and I was a regular customer of her mother’s for quite a while.”

"and after?"

"I got tired of sleeping with them later... Bitches are more interesting when they're new." The man chuckled. "So, in that sense, I'm practically that little bastard's father!"

The four of them burst into laughter. After they finished laughing, they realized that Zhao Zhao was still standing there, listening silently without leaving.

weird.

The four then realized something was amiss. They scanned Zhao Zhao with their eyes and said hesitantly, "Young man, you seemed taller than you were yesterday..."

Zhao Zhao remained silent, the candlelight above her flickering, the dim light illuminating her delicate chin, the curve of her lips as cold as frost.

"You..." A chill ran down the spines of the four. "Who are you?!"

Zhao Zhao squatted down, her entire face illuminated by the candlelight, a half-smile playing on her lips:
"You recognize me?"

At that very moment, arsenic also came into play.

The four of them suddenly felt a sharp pain in their stomachs and immediately realized what was happening. They desperately reached their hands out of the door frame, trying to grab Zhaozhao:
"You little bitch, what did you put in the swill?!"

Zhao Zhao laughed, leaned against the wall, lit her pipe, took a puff, and said lightly:

"Take a guess."