Jinting Han people

Chapter 128 Imperial Prison Part 4 (k)

July 23rd of the first year of Yuankang was the ninth day after Sima Wei committed suicide and also the ninth day that Liu Xian spent in prison.

Liu Xian has not had a good time these days.

Originally, it was Liu Song, the Minister of State, who had arrested him and imprisoned him in the Imperial Court. However, the very day Jia Mi arrived, he expelled Liu Song from the prison and placed the Imperial Court Chief Justice Man Fen in full charge. This personnel change was clearly aimed at Liu Xian. After all, Liu Song had been the tutor of the Prince of Shiping and Liu Xian's teacher. If he could be expelled, he could resort to many tactics.

As Zu Ti had predicted, on the day Liu Song left, the prison meal served to Liu Xian had a foul smell. Liu Xian dared not eat it and lived on water. His roommate, the coachman Chen Yu, could not hold back and ate a meal, only to vomit soon after. He then suffered from vomiting and diarrhea, and soon developed a high fever in prison before being sent away.

If Sima Yi had not used his connections that night to get Jiang Tong to visit him in prison and bring him food, Liu Xian would probably have only been able to hold out for four or five more days and would have ended up like Chen Yu.

After meeting Jiang Tong, Liu Xian finally learned the news outside the imperial prison. He heard that Zu Ti had started to move around outside and his family members were safe, and he felt a little relieved.

But Jiang Tong also told Liu Xian seriously that Jia Mi's attitude was very tough and there might be no way to rescue Liu Xian in a short period of time. He must be prepared to stay in the imperial prison for a long time.

Liu Xian was fully aware of this, and even prepared himself for a dance with death, so he replied to Jiang Tong: "Just do your best! Success or failure, I can accept it."

But Liu Xian still could not have imagined how creative Jia Mi would be in order to torture him.

Seeing that the prince had found a way to visit him in prison every day, Jia Mi's original plan of punishing him through his daily diet was no longer feasible. Since there was no conviction, Jia Mi could not use corporal punishment on Liu Xian. Logically speaking, there should be no better way to punish him.

But Jia Mi was very creative and started from an angle that Liu Xian had never expected.

On the fourth night of his imprisonment, Liu Xian was about to fall asleep when he suddenly heard a burst of extremely loud drumming and gongs, as if he were suddenly in a busy city. The sound was like hundreds of crows circling back and forth, and the penetrating noise easily shattered Liu Xian's sleepiness.

He sat up to see what was going on, and found that there were a dozen jailers in the corridor beating drums and gongs. They were looking at Liu Xian leisurely, and when they saw that he woke up, they did not stay for long and turned around and left.

But when Liu Xian lay down to sleep again, the sound came back like a fly, buzzing around him openly. When Liu Xian woke up again, they left immediately.

As they went back and forth like this, Liu Xian figured out their pattern: roughly every half hour, making noise day and night. Their purpose was simple: to prevent Liu Xian from getting a good night's sleep. Since they couldn't torture him physically, they would torture his mind this way, ultimately driving him mad.

It must be said that this was indeed an unimaginable form of torture. At first, Liu Xian was simply annoyed, but not unbearable. After all, it was just a matter of not being able to rest properly. Inside the prison, he had nothing to do, so he treated it like a few flies buzzing around him that he couldn't get rid of.

But as time went on, Liu Xian found himself gradually becoming overwhelmed. Being repeatedly awakened from sleep for long periods of time initially gave him a physiological arousal. But gradually, by the third night, he found his reflexes becoming dull. Whether he raised his eyes or moved his hands, it took him a while to react.

By the sixth day, Liu Xian's perceptions were also starting to falter. His vision was blurry, his hearing was weakened, and even his sense of touch was becoming numb. Even so, the noise of the jailers could still clearly interrupt his sleep, causing his head to buzz and his eyes to swell and ache, threatening to burst from the hot blood inside.

By the seventh day, Liu Xian's vision had become distorted, and he often experienced auditory and visual hallucinations.

The human body is so fragile. Even if you are so tired, you can still be easily woken up. No matter how hard you block your ears, the cochlea can still easily capture those invisible and intangible sound waves, making Liu Xian toss and turn and feel dizzy.

On the eighth day, when Jiang Tong came to bring him lunch, Liu Xian's spirit was on the verge of collapse. He actually fell asleep halfway through eating the Hu Bing. As a result, with a "bang", Liu Xian's head hit the ground. The severe pain in the back of his head suddenly woke him up. At this time, he found that the Hu Bing in his mouth had not even been chewed thoroughly. This situation made Liu Xian shudder.

In this situation, Jia Mi did succeed, and he made Liu Xian panic.

If he continued like this, even if he didn't die, he would probably suffer great damage to his body. If he lost his sharp observation and precise thinking, which he was proud of, and was tortured by Jia Mi into a fool and a disabled person, then even if he was released from prison, what would he do? He would probably be living a life worse than death.

This thought made Liu Xian angry for a moment, and he couldn't help but punch the wall with his fists. But while punching, he thought of Jia Mi's smug face, so he forced himself to sit back on the ground, trying to suppress this fragile emotion.

What's the point? It's just a sign of incompetence.

Liu Xian thought sadly that if he really went crazy because of something like this, he would probably become the biggest joke of all time.

But imprisoned, Liu Xian had no way of coping with this torture, and Jiang Tong's protests during his visits weren't enough to resolve the situation. After all, Jiang Tong couldn't stay in prison all day, so the jailers just had to make sure he didn't cause any trouble during his visits.

Moreover, even if this matter was brought to light, what would it matter? They were just having fun in prison. Is there any Jin law that said this was a torture that could not be inflicted?
However, after learning about this, Zu Ti still thought of a solution.

Just because Jia Mi couldn't get Liu Xian out of his clutches didn't mean he had no way to deal with Jia Mi's subordinates. He sent someone to discuss matters with Liu Cong, then borrowed a dozen Xiongnu soldiers. Under cover of darkness, they dug up the tomb of Man Fen's grandfather, Man Chong, the former Grand Commandant of Cao Wei. They then removed Man Chong's head from the corpse, wrapped it in yellow cloth, and dumped it directly at Man Fen's home, along with a letter threatening that if he dared to do the same thing again, Man Fen would suffer the same fate as his ancestors.

This truly terrified Man Fen. He suspected Zu Ti was responsible, but he couldn't find any clues. Jia Mi didn't care about Man Fen's life or death, which made him tremble with fear. Even at the risk of offending Jia Mi, Man Fen stopped the torture.

After all, no matter how angry Jia Mi was, it would only slightly affect his career. But if he was targeted by a bunch of wanderers who came from nowhere, he would die without knowing how he died.

Liu Xian finally got a good night's sleep, which lasted seven hours, from after dinner until Jiang Tong came to deliver lunch the next day. Jiang Tong was relieved to see that Liu Xian was finally feeling better. He sighed and said, "Huai Chong, just hold on a little longer. Zu Shizhi told me today that he's found a way to get you out soon."

Liu Xian was overjoyed when he heard this. Although he believed in Zu Ti, he did not expect that Zu Ti could do this. He owed him a great favor.

He thought with a certain amount of joy: While the world certainly has a cruel side, producing absurd and vicious villains like Jia Mi, it also has a kind side, producing heroes like Zu Ti who value loyalty and friendship. Thinking carefully, the world has always been more kind to him than cruel, and he should repay the world with this attitude.

Thinking of this, his nerves, which had become somewhat fragile due to the torture, finally stabilized.

However, Jiang Tong didn't reveal what Zu Ti had done, as the prison walls had eavesdroppers. But Liu Xian had no doubts. He knew that although Zu Ti was arrogant, he was generally sure of what he said. Liu Xian's current task was to make final preparations. If Jia Mi couldn't keep him in the prison, he might make other moves.

Sure enough, when Jiang Tong left that day, the jailers gave Liu Xian a surprise. They assigned him a new cellmate.

However, contrary to Liu Xian's expectations, this cellmate was not the burly and strong man as Liu Xian had imagined, the loyalist of Jia Mi who would fight to the death with him in prison, but an acquaintance - Li Zhao.

Liu Xian hadn't expected to see Li Zhao again. In the past few days, the rest of the Imperial Court's prisons had been emptied. Most of the convicted had been taken out and beheaded, including Qi Sheng, Gongsun Hong, Rong Hui, and others, all of whom had their entire clans exterminated. He had heard so much crying and shouting that he had become numb. He had assumed he was the only one still alive among the captured King of Chu's followers, but unexpectedly, Li Zhao was also there.

As a sharpshooter once as famous as Meng Guan in the Imperial Guards, Li Zhao had a dashing appearance, a strong physique, and a sharp look in his eyes. But the Li Zhao who now appeared before Liu Xian had been tortured beyond recognition, having been dragged in lying down.
His legs were covered with blisters, obviously having been scalded with boiling water. His back was covered in blood and whip marks, and his hands were wrapped in thick gauze, but even so, it could not hide the bloodstains beneath the gauze and the smell of decay.

Liu Xian couldn't imagine what kind of torture Li Zhao had endured to become like this. Even lying motionless on the ground, he was trembling with pain. Seeing him like this, Liu Xian's hair stood on end. He didn't know what the difference was between a human being living like this and a pig or a dog. It would probably be better to just die! No, there was no medical treatment here, and the environment in the imperial prison was so terrible. It wouldn't be long before Li Zhao died here, becoming a rotting corpse, accompanying Liu Xian.

What did Jia Mi mean by this? Liu Xian felt sorry for Li Zhao, but at the same time he was puzzled by Jia Mi's arrangement.

Could it be that Jia Mi wanted to scare him and that this would be his fate in the future?
Liu Xian couldn't think too much. As Li Zhao's colleague, although they were not close friends, they still had some friendship over the years. Liu Xian really couldn't bear to see him die in front of him.

So he took out the ointment he had used to treat his hand injury, which Jiang Tong had brought in when he visited him in prison. He applied some to the wounds on Li Zhao's legs and back, and bandaged the most serious injuries. As a result, some abscesses were popped, and a lot of pus flowed out, making Li Zhao groan miserably.

After doing all this, Liu Xian leaned against the wall and looked at Li Zhao's miserable condition. He suddenly felt a little sad again. Sima Wei was dead and Li Zhao was about to die. Even if he could get out, he was afraid that his official career would not be smooth.

What have I gained from participating in the factional struggles over the years? Have those who participated in the factional struggles ever imagined what would happen today? How do Jia Mi and Empress Jia, who have emerged victorious in the factional struggles today, imagine their own fate?
Liu Xian suddenly felt that life was a huge void. His consciousness seemed to penetrate time and see his future: If he continued to hang around in Luoyang, even after another ten or twenty years, he would probably accomplish nothing.

Luoyang is not only the world's largest place of fame and fortune, but also the world's largest cage. It captures all the ambitions in the world and makes people unable to see the sky above their heads.

If possible, Liu Xian wanted to leave Luoyang. He wanted to see the entire sky, hear all the bells, and step on all the mountains...

With this thought in mind, Liu Xian drifted off to sleep again, and this time he had a beautiful dream. He dreamed he had transformed into a butterfly, soaring not only over mountains and oceans, but also across the years. Unconsciously, he had transformed into a drifting cloud, completely free from the constraints of the earth, and ascended to a pure and peaceful world free from dust and dirt, tranquil and peaceful, and free from worldly competition.

But this state of freedom was extremely fragile. Liu Xian was immersed in it when he suddenly felt something strange and woke up from his sleep.

He opened his eyes and found that in the darkness, there seemed to be a person pressing on him. The person's breathing was very rapid and it was obvious that he was in very bad health. It was not difficult to guess that it was Li Zhao.

What's wrong with Li Zhao? Is he not feeling well? Does he want me to help him?

Liu Xian was about to speak, but when he glanced upward, he was shocked to find a dagger dangling above him, just an inch from his neck. Perhaps due to physical weakness or hesitation, his hand gripping the dagger couldn't help but tremble, preventing him from stabbing it.

Seeing this, Liu Xian didn't dare to think about it. He pushed Li Zhao away and stood up and shouted, "Li Zhao, what do you want to do?!"

Li Zhao fell violently to the ground, followed by a violent and hoarse scream. It was obvious that many of his wounds had been broken by the fall. Pus and blood oozed out of the gauze, which was shocking even in the moonlight. The dagger in his hand fell to the ground.

Liu Xian looked at him for a while, and when he saw that he had lost the ability to move, he slowly walked forward and asked again, "Brother Li, what are you doing?"

Li Zhao was in so much pain that he could hardly speak. After a long while, he gasped and said, "Kill me, kill me quickly!"

"why?"

"Lu, Duke Lu said, either I kill you, or you kill me... No, otherwise, my wife and children will die... Huai Chong, kill me now!"

After hearing this, Liu Xian was silent for a long time. He looked up at the moonlight outside the window for a moment, picked up the dagger on the ground, then covered Li Zhao's eyes with one hand and stabbed the dagger into Li Zhao's heart.

When the bodies of his men gradually lost their temperature, the shackles of the world returned to Liu Xian, and his anger surged like a raging tide.

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(End of this chapter)