Denghuangtai

"Last night?" Yun Zheng frowned. His first thought was that Empress Dowager Yun was asking about Pei Qingyan's assassination attempt in the imperial prison. But then he thought again and realized that wasn't right.

Ban Qing had given the prison guards a dose of sleeping pills, and not only were they still unconscious from the effects of the drugs, but even if they woke up, this matter shouldn't have reached Empress Dowager Yun's ears.

This matter involves all the guards of the imperial prison. Once it gets out, even Empress Dowager Yun's secret spies will be held accountable.

Li Ji was in such a hurry because he wanted to suppress everything before the news spread. Although Yun Zheng was added as a "living devil" in the end, Yun Zheng did so for two reasons: first, he had already made a deal with Ban Qing and his wife to help them cover up the matter; second, he did not want Empress Dowager Yun to know that he was secretly paying too much attention to Pei Qingyan, which would arouse Empress Dowager Yun's suspicion.

Therefore, the two hit it off immediately and worked together to keep the matter a secret.

If it wasn't this incident, what else could it be? Or did the matter fail to be kept secret, and it ended up in my aunt's hands?

Upon realizing this, Yun Zheng's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly began to think of an excuse to deal with Empress Dowager Yun.

"What are you pretending to be a good person for? Wasn't it you who led your men to break into the Wuguan Zhonglang General's residence in the middle of the night last night?" Empress Dowager Yun asked directly, not wanting to waste words with Yun Zheng, seeing that he didn't answer for a long time.

Hearing Empress Dowager Yun say this, Yun Zheng breathed a sigh of relief. "A few days ago, I bought a scroll of Wu Daozi's 'Eighty-Seven Immortals' from Ban Qing. I originally intended to present it to my aunt on her birthday next month. Last night, on a whim, I thought of composing a poem based on the painting and presenting it to my aunt later. However, when I examined the scroll closely, I discovered that it was actually a fake."

"Just for this, you went to their door in the middle of the night?" Empress Dowager Yun asked in surprise. Was such a small matter worth it?

Yun Zheng insisted, "That was a birthday gift I gave to my aunt. I trusted him, which is why I didn't carefully verify its authenticity. But how could he dare to try and fool me with a fake? How could I tolerate that?"

"It's just an inanimate object. Does it think it's a three-year-old child, throwing a tantrum whenever it wants?"

Yun Zheng looked embarrassed, as if he knew he was wrong, "Aunt is right, Yun Zheng knows he was wrong."

"Alright, get out of here." After learning the whole story, Empress Dowager Yun was too lazy to waste any more words with Yun Zheng and simply sent him away.

"Okay." Yun Zheng replied crisply and decisively.

"My lord."

As soon as Yun Zheng stepped out of the Jade Gate, the Chief Clerk hurriedly approached him. After glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, the Chief Clerk lowered his voice and said, "Someone was trying to send a message to the Imperial Prison, but our men intercepted them..."

The chief clerk wanted to say something more, but Yun Zheng stopped him, saying, "Get out of the carriage."

After saying that, Yun Zheng walked toward the carriage with a sullen face.

"What news?"

As soon as he got into the carriage, Yun Zheng urged him to ask.

The chief clerk took out a slip of paper from his sleeve. "This is it. Someone delivered it to Old Ding the Lame." Fearing Yun Zheng wouldn't know who "Old Ding the Lame" was, the chief clerk explained, "He's a lame jailer in the imperial prison. His grandson was kidnapped the other day and forced to have a drug smuggled into his jailer food. After that, Old Ding hanged himself at home. When our men went to check, they happened to run into the messenger. However, the contents of this note are completely incomprehensible."

Yun Zheng reached out and took it, unfolding it. As the chief clerk had said, it contained a passage of illogical and disorganized words, which looked as if someone had scribbled a dozen or so words to play a trick on someone.

Where are they?

"Who?" The chief clerk was taken aback for a moment, then realized what he meant. "You mean the messenger? He's already been detained by our men. But this man is too stubborn. No matter how much we beat him, he won't tell us what's written on this note."

The chief clerk paused for a moment, then tentatively asked, "My lord, shall we send the person over to you?" He believed that few people could withstand his lord's methods and that they would surely be able to extract some information from him.

"No need." Yun Zheng handed the note back to the chief clerk. "Have someone deliver it to her secretly, but don't let her find out anything amiss."

"For Marquis Yin'an?" The chief clerk looked surprised. He couldn't figure out anything about this thing no matter how he looked at it. How did his master know it was for Marquis Yin'an?

Although he was full of questions, he knew Yun Zheng's temperament and didn't dare to pry.

Do you want to know what's on this...?

Before the chief clerk could finish speaking, Yun Zheng waved his hand and said, "Just send it over."

"Yes." The chief clerk suppressed his doubts and silently put the items away.

Yun Zheng turned to pour himself a cup of tea, and couldn't help but smile as he looked at the ripples in the teacup.

"Pei Qingyan, Pei Qingyan, so many years have passed, and you're still using the code I set. It's clear you haven't forgotten me," Yun Zheng thought to himself with secret delight.

"Achoo!"

Inside the prison, Pei Qingyan sneezed loudly. She rubbed her nose and said, "This godforsaken place is colder than the North."

As she spoke, she tightened the two cloaks she was wearing.

"Lord Yin'an, you really need to take good care of your health." In the prison cell, the old man who had been brought there by Yun Zheng in the middle of the night sat in front of the medicine stove, fanning the fire as he spoke.

"Hey, it's nothing." Pei Qingyan waved his hand dismissively. "I just got a few injuries and caught a chill, nothing serious. I'll be fine in a couple of days."

Upon hearing this, the old man snorted, "Getting better? With your health..."

The old man wanted to say that Pei Qingyan's body was like a leaky bottle, gradually depleting and weakening. Even without proper care, he wouldn't need to wait seven years; in another two or three years, he'd probably be going to meet the King of Hell!

But he swallowed the words back down his throat.

The old man was nearing sixty, and his eldest grandson was only a few years older than Pei Qingyan. Looking at Pei Qingyan's small face wrapped in a cloak, the old man simply couldn't bring himself to tell her the cruel truth.

"This is still a child..." the old man sighed inwardly.

Seeing that the old man stopped mid-sentence, Pei Qingyan pressed him for an answer: "What's wrong with my body?"

"fine."

The old man waved his hand and mumbled, "I just can't stand people not taking their health seriously."

Upon hearing this, Pei Qingyan did not press the matter further. Instead, she turned to count the days. It had been four days since she arrived in the capital. She wondered how the investigation by the officers outside was going.

Someone knocked on the cell bars, the brass lock opened again, and an unfamiliar jailer walked in carrying a food box. "Time to eat."

The jailer put down the food box and turned to leave.

Pei Qingyan stepped forward and opened it. As soon as he picked up the top porcelain plate, he saw a note.

Pei Qingyan was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself, "Are messages being passed around so carelessly now?"

She calmly put the porcelain plate back in its place, then glanced at Li Ji in the next cell—he had been there since she woke up that morning, supposedly to guard the prison himself in case there were more assassins.

Pei Qingyan simply chuckled at this, without revealing his true feelings.

Even if there were assassins, Li Ji, who is so weak that he couldn't even kill a chicken, wouldn't be able to help!

Despite his complaints, Li Ji wasn't a bad person. When he saw Pei Qingyan looking at him, Li Ji cupped his hands in greeting.

Pei Qingyan glanced in the direction of the old man again. Just then, the old man picked up the earthenware pot used for decocting medicine and poured the medicine out.

Seeing this, Pei Qingyan calmly picked up the note, folded it in his hand, and used the food box lid to cover it, quickly memorizing its contents.

"This move was a mistake!"

After deciphering the code in his mind, Pei Qingyan sighed with regret.