The Glory After Rebirth [ɇÇ”Ÿä¹‹Å°Šè£] Chapter 361- 363

Chapter 361: The Concubine Jin

Fang Quan had stayed in the cell for a whole day, listening hard to see if there were any movements elsewhere, but it had been quiet all along. The Court Prison, which was menacing even during daytime, was as dead as always.

At night, Fang Quan, who had waited long for that prison guard that had talked to him the night before, became somewhat anxious and fretful.

“Your Lordship,” said a voice abruptly, making Fang Quan start.

That fake prison guard who’d shown up the day before suddenly materialized outside the cell railings. There hadn’t been any footsteps whatsoever, as though he were a ghost.

Fang Quan loathed this man, feeling that this man was just as menacing as this prison, but he didn’t have a choice, for currently this man was his only chance to escape from this place.

“How did it go? Did you get in touch with them?” asked Fang Quan.

“I’ve got in touch with both of them. Rest assured, Your Lordship, I’ll bust you and them out of here together,” replied the man. “I came here to tell you you need to wait for one more day. I’ll come here again in one day, and that’s when we make our escape.”

“How do you plan to do it?” Fang Quan asked urgently.

However, the man was still unwilling to tell him the details, as though he didn’t trust Fang Quan completely. “Just escape from this place with us when the time comes. There’s no need for you to know any specifics, Your Lordship.”

Fang Quan gripped the iron railings. “Why are you not telling me the plan when you’ve decided to break me out?”

“This is for your own good, Your Lordship,” responded the man slowly. “The more you know about the plan, the higher the risk you might raise someone’s suspicions. To make sure that we’ll make it out of here without any trouble, I’m afraid I have to keep it secret from you.”

Fang Quan was displeased but didn’t dare offend the man. “Is this what your commander instructed you to do?”

The man answered, “Our commander’s orders are that we do whatever it takes to rescue the Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin.”

Fang Quan gave a start. What did this man mean? He looked at the man and saw an admonitory expression in his eyes. Tightening his grip on the railings, Fang Quan hissed, “Are you threatening me?”

“You misunderstood me, Your Lordship. It’s just that the main purpose of this operation of ours is indeed to rescue the Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin,” replied the man.

Cold sweat was breaking out over Fang Quan’s back increasingly quick as he listened to these words. This was unmistakably a warning. Most importantly, Fang Quan found that he was unable to contradict the man, because if he were the commander of Jiangzhou garrison, his would also regard rescuing the Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin as the first priority. These people were just planning to rescue him in passing, and they would give up on him without hesitation if things went south.

Fang Quan panicked somewhat, his hands clenching around the iron railings. “You can’t give up on me. I’m the Concubine Jin’s father and the Eighth Prince’s grandfather.”

The man gave a smile. “You’re worrying too much, Your Lordship. Like I said, I will bust you out of this place when the time comes. All you have to do is wait patiently. There’s no need to panic.”

Fang Quan gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll stop asking about it.”

The man turned around and was about to leave.

Fang Quan raised his voice a little and said, “Wait a moment.”

The man pivoted around to face him. “Do you have any other questions, Your Lordship?”

“What are you going to do with the Ninth Prince?” inquired Fang Quan.

After a brief moment’s surprise, the man responded, “The Ninth Prince is too young to journey with us.”

“Then kill him,” said Fang Quan, a malevolent look on his face.

The man was somewhat astonished. “May I ask why you’re suggesting such a thing?”

“You may be able to rescue the Eighth Prince, but the Ninth Prince would still be under Yuwen Tong’s control. If Yuwen Tong uses it to his advantage to do something, having the Eighth Prince in our hands would be totally pointless. Besides, how do you know the Ninth Prince wouldn’t be rescued by someone as well? If that does happen, we’d have yet another rivalry, which wouldn’t be good news for your commander or the Eighth Prince,” explained Fang Quan quickly.

Fang Quan was the Eighth Prince’s grandfather after all, and given the current circumstances, he relied on the Eighth Prince to survive. Only if the Eighth Prince came to power would he be able to have a good life, and if he was to use the Eighth Prince’s identity as a rightful heir to the throne to achieve anything, he must make sure that the Eighth Prince was the only one having a claim to the throne, because only in that case would people flock to his banners.

Eyes on Fang Quan, the man said, “I think you have a point. I’ll keep this in mind, and we’ll take the Ninth Prince’s life when we have the chance.”

Secretly relieved, Fang Quan suggested, “If you do it cleverly enough, you might be able to have Yuwen Tong take the blame for the Ninth Prince’s death, which would ruin his reputation.”

The man replied, “There’s no need for you to concern yourself with that, Your Lordship. We know what to do.”

…

In a quiet palace of the complex of imperial palaces.

This palace was fairly far away from the heart of the complex of imperial palaces, but the security here was so tight that even flies would be scared away if they strayed into it. Nobody dared approach this place during the day, and at night it was so silent as though it were a palace of death. Everybody found it hard to believe that there were people living in there.

It was the Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin who dwelt in this palace. Presently, all eunuchs and maidservants serving them were strangers to them, except for two ladies-in-waiting. All their faces were apathetic and unconcerned, and when they were walking in the palace, they looked like a bunch of corpses with mobility but without power of speech. No matter how hard the Concubine Jin and the Eighth Prince tried to drop a hint to them, they always pretended they couldn’t understand. There was no way to communicate with them, and escaping from this place seemed next to impossible, because there were densely posted guards in this palace, all of whom stared at the two of them with cold faces whenever they came into sight.

Anybody would get anxious and fretful if they were forced to live in a place like this, not to mention the Concubine Jin, who was never a strong woman. As a result, she had started beating maidservants and smashing things during the past few days, and she couldn’t at all sleep at night, fearing all the time that someone would come to kill her. She had even begun to blame the Eighth Prince for it, believing that if it weren’t for the Eighth Prince, she would definitely have been stripped of her title and sent back home like the other concubines of the former emperor, getting out of the imperial palace alive instead of living in fear every day. This situation was virtually driving her crazy.

On this night, sleep still eluded the Concubine Jin. She instructed the maidservants to light all the candles in her chambers, and it was only after they did as she asked that her fear dissolved somewhat.

When a maidservant went inside to trim the wicks, the Concubine Jin didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. It was not until she heard the maidservant stepped up to her bed that she had an inkling that something was wrong. Scared, she hastily opened her eyes and felt a lurch of fear at the sight of the poker-faced maidservant standing over her. She opened her mouth and was just about to scream when the maidservant quickly clapped a hand to her mouth.

Horrified, the Concubine Jin struggled madly, a muffled sound emanating from her throat.

“Please calm down, Your Highness. I’m here to help you escape from this palace. If you scream, those guards out there will be alarmed and then nobody will be able to get you out of this prison-like place,” breathed the maidservant.

At first the Concubine Jin couldn’t distinguish the maidservant’s words at all, but the maidservant was very patient and explained to her several times in a row. After the Concubine Jin cooled down, she added, “Stop trying to scream, Your Highness, so that I can get my hands off your mouth. Do you not want to see your father’s token?”

The Concubine Jin struggled for another few moments. Seeing the maidservant was just silencing her and showed no inclination to kill her, she gradually was swayed and collected herself.

Seeing she had cooled down, the maidservant slowly took her hand off her mouth. Having confirmed that the Concubine Jin wouldn’t screech, she produced the Jade pendant from Fang Quan. The Concubine Jin, who recognized the familiar pendant and knew that it was indeed her father’s token, finally let her guard down. “My father is now in the Court Prison. How did you come to get his token? Who are you? And why did you come to my rescue?”

“I’m from Jiangzhou. Our commander sent us here to rescue you and the Eighth Prince and escort the two of you to Jiangzhou. Right now you’re at the mercy of Yuwen Tong. He won’t kill you right away, but after his enthronement, he would definitely take your lives by hook or by crook. Both you and the Eighth Prince are members of the imperial family, and the Eighth Prince is a rightful heir to the throne. How could you let a traitor take it away from him? Our commander knows you and the Eighth Prince did that under duress, so he invites you and the Eighth Prince to go to Jiangzhou. With the Jiangzhou garrison at your back, you can make a comeback and take the throne back from Yuwen Tong,” replied the maidservant.

The Concubine Jin was still a little flustered, her breath rasping in her heaving chest. After hearing the maidservant’s explanation, she didn’t believe the story immediately. “How do I know you’re capable of rescuing us? Currently the whole complex of imperial palaces – even the whole city – is in Yuwen Tong’s pocket. We’ll meet our ends even sooner if your attempt to get us out fails.”

“There’s no need to worry about that, Your Highness. I’ve got in here without anybody noticing, so you can trust that I’ll get you and the Eighth Prince out of this place. This is your father’s token. One of us have infiltrated into the Court Prison as well. Your father will be going with us when the time comes. Surely you don’t want to be left alone in this place? Yuwen Tong would by no means let you live. For what it’s worth, even if it doesn’t work out, you would only die sooner. I mean, if you stay, your death would be certain anyway, right?” said the maidservant.

Biting her lip, the Concubine Jin hesitated, an intense struggle going on within her breast.

“Look at yourself, Your Highness. You don’t even dare sleep at night, and you have to have all the candles in your chamber lighted before you could summon up the courage to close your eyes. Have you not had enough of this kind of tortuous days?” the maidservant added slowly in a low voice, her face breaking into a gentle smile. “Trust me. There are a lot of us, and we have more than enough strength to break you and your son out of this palace.

Jiangzhou has always been at the Eighth Prince’s back, and the Jiangzhou garrison would have some time ago successfully helped the Eighth Prince succeeded to the throne were Yuwen Tong not so cunning, but one setback doesn’t mean the end of the game. As long as Your Highness and the Eighth Prince are still alive, we’ll always have a chance of saving the situation, and when we do, the Eighth Prince will be the emperor, and you will be the empress dowager, and nobody would dare lay hands on you ever again. You and the Eighth Prince are the ones meant to rule this country. How could you give up after encountering a mere frustration of your efforts to get what’s rightfully yours? Have you considered the interests of the Eighth Prince? He’s your son after all.”

The Concubine Jin’s eyes gradually became unfocused as though she lapsed into some kind of reverie. The maidservant, standing in front of her, smugly watched the Concubine Jin succumbing to the temptation, waiting quietly for her to come to herself.

It was quite a while before the Concubine Jin slowly pulled herself back to the present, bit her lower lip and asked, “You really can help us get back to this city and make me the empress dowager?”

“Certainly,” answered the maidservant, immediately came to realize that for the Concubine Jin, her becoming the empress dowager was far more tempting than her son succeeding to the throne, so she cajoled slowly, “You’re still in your prime, and even another couple of years wouldn’t leave a mark on your youth and beauty. Also, you’ll have supreme power, and even His Majesty will do your bidding. Your status will be second to none. You’ll be the de facto ruler of this country.”

Chapter 362: Disguise

“Second to none,” the Concubine Jin repeated in a faint murmur and then her eyes abruptly started glinting with a feverish longing, one heavy with all kinds of desires.

The maidservant watched silently in the knowledge that she had successfully convinced the Concubine Jin. “Yes. True supremacy in this country will be yours, and everybody will be your servant, including that goddamn Yuwen Tong guy. He’ll be at the mercy of you and you’ll get to decide what kind of death he shall suffer.”

The Concubine Jin broke into laughter, a somewhat demented look on her face. “You’re right. Who does he think he is? He’s nothing but a thief who stole the throne. I’m the one who’s meant to rule this country!”

The maidservant lightly placed a hand on the Concubine Jin’s shoulder and said, “Keep your voice down, Your Highness. Right now we can’t afford to alarm the guards out there, but soon you’ll be free. All you have to do is wait here for one more day.”

The Concubine Jin was a little disgruntled at these words, feeling that the maidservant was a wet blanket, but eventually she managed to calm herself down. “Wait here for one more day? You’re not getting me out of here right away?”

“There’s going to be a changing of the guards the day after tomorrow, which will be a golden opportunity for us to make our escape, so I’m afraid you’ll have to endure another day in here,” breathed the maidservant.

The Concubine Jin’s face hardened and she stared at the doors of her chamber as though looking through it and out of the palace, her eyes laden with malice. “Fine. I’ll wait for one more day.”

The maidservant said, “Apart from that, before we take action, Your Highness will have to behave as usual and be very careful not to let slip anything lest anybody become suspicious and ruin your escape plan. Also, please drop a hint to the Eighth Prince so that he wouldn’t misunderstand you or attract any needless attention.”

The Concubine Jin sniffed impatiently, “I know. I don’t need you to teach me.”

“I’m sorry for my transgression, Your Highness.” The maidservant didn’t seem to mind the change of the Concubine Jin’s attitude, and her voice was still soft and humble.

The Concubine Jin tossed a cold glance at her and asked, “When did you infiltrate into this palace? And how did you do it without rousing anybody’s suspicions?”

The maidservant answered, “Just two days ago. Currently, apart from the couple of well defended palaces, there’s also a lot of bothersome unfinished business in the imperial harem. I gave it some thought and eventually figured something out. Gaining entry into this palace wasn’t easy, but it was for the purpose of rescuing Your Highness and the Eighth Prince, so all I’ve done is worthwhile.”

It was only then that the Concubine Jin withdrew her cold eyes and said, “How’s my father? He’s in the Court Prison and I haven’t been able to pay him a visit.”

The maidservant replied, “Don’t worry, Your Highness. His Lordship is fine. He’s waiting to rendezvous with you.”

The Concubine Jin slowly settled herself onto a soft couch, her countenance and bearing now totally different from how they had been a while ago. She said, “You said that you’re confident of escaping from this place. What’s the specific plan? How many of you are there? And how are you going to get me out of this palace?”

“When the time comes, what Your Highness need to do is…” The maidservant leaned over and started whispering the plan in her ear.

A flicker of excitement crossed the Concubine Jin’s eyes. “And you know how to do all that?”

The maidservant responded, “I’m fairly proficient in that regard, and hoodwinking those guards out there won’t be a problem. Once we succeed in buying us enough time and making it out of the imperial palace, we’ll basically be safe.”

The Concubine Jin inclined his head, but the next moment something occurred to her and she knitted her brows. “Just the imperial palace? What if we cannot make it out of the city?”

The maidservant replied, “That won’t happen. Even if Yuwen Tong finds out about our attempt to escape, he will let you and the Eighth Prince leave the city – as long as we successfully get out of the imperial palace.”

The Concubine Jin was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

The maidservant answered, “You’ll see. Once you’re out of the palace and meet our commander, he’ll tell you everything.”

The Concubine Jin fixed her with a gaze. The maidservant just slightly lowered her head, her countenance unchanged.

A flinty look of self-deprecation and resentment flitted across the Concubine Jin’s eyes, but in the knowledge that she still relied on this maidservant to make her escape, this time she didn’t say anything.

“Your Highness, may I ask if you know where the Ninth Prince lives?” the maidservant suddenly asked.

The Concubine Jin was astonished for an instant and then warily inquired, “Why are you asking about this?”

“Your father want us to kill the Ninth Prince,” answered the maidservant, a beam on her face.

It was after hearing the explanation that the watchfulness on the Concubine Jin’s face ebbed away. “He’s only two years old. That bitch the Concubine Liu is very lucky – I took the brunt of all the fallout, so the two of them are still living in their original palace.”

While she had been forced to leave her original abode and move to this place, where she had been living under heavy stress and in deep fear ever since!

“To what end did my father suggest you kill them?” asked the Concubine Jin.

The maidservant replied, “To make sure nobody threatens your future status.”

The Concubine Jin smiled a happy smile. “My father is indeed the one who cares about me the most. That bitch the Concubine Liu has been hiding behind me and leading a peaceful life for such a long time. She thinks her life would stay that way forever, unaware that her demise is imminent. This is so funny.”

The maidservant slightly lowered her eyes in an effort to conceal her true feelings.

…

The next day, in order not to raise doubts in anybody’s mind, the Concubine Jin exercised all her self-restraint to keep from behaving any differently from how she’d always been, despite the fact that the restlessness inside her was on the verge of getting out of control. This day felt longer than a year. When night finally fell, she was running out of patience.

“Cui, you’re to stay here and take the night shift.”

After dinner, the Concubine Jin, as usual, had the servants light all the candles in the palace and close all the doors and windows tightly, but she instructed a personal lady-in-waiting to stay.

This lady-in-waiting named Cui had been serving the Concubine Jin all these years and was fairly loyal to her, but the Concubine Jin had been ill-treating her and the other lady-in-waiting ever since she’d moved into this palace, so the very sight of the Concubine Jin stroke fear into Cui’s heart. On hearing that she was to take the night shift, Cui paled visibly, but she didn’t dare show any sign of her fright on her face. “Y-Yes, Your Highness,” she stuttered.

The Concubine Jin threw a frosty glance at her. “Come here. There’s something I want to say to you.”

Cui could distinctly feel that the Concubine Jin was now different from how she’d been during the day, and so was her tone of voice. She couldn’t help but raise her head to look at the Concubine Jin and was nearly terrified out of her wits as her eyes met the Concubine Jin’s icy ones. “Your–Your Highness.”

“Get over here!”

Cui’s limbs instantly went limp and she slumped to her knees and moved up to her, ashen-faced, head down, not daring to look up at the Concubine Jin.

“Cui, you’ve been serving me for many years. I always think highly of you. Also, I’ve been good to your family members living outside the palace. Now there’s one particular thing I need you to do for me, and you are not to disappoint me,” said the Concubine Jin.

However, on hearing this remark, Cui felt cold sweat breaking out more profusely over her back. “M–May I ask what it is Your Highness want me to do?”

“To impersonate me and quietly stay here tonight,” said the Concubine Jin.

Cui was somewhat bemused. “Impersonate Your Highness? No, no… I don’t dare. Your Highness is blue-blooded, and I’m just a filthy servant girl. How can I impersonate Your Highness?”

The Concubine Jin said icily, “You’re indeed undeserving of the honor of impersonating me. Just take it as a reward for your so many years’ service to me, one I’m offering you out of pity to let you know how it feels to be an imperial concubine.”

Cui was so horrified that she appeared on the verge of tears. “Please have mercy on me, Your Highness!”

The Concubine Jin said, “It’s an honor for you to impersonate me, yet you’re turning me down? How dare you? Never mind. I won’t force you. Instead, I’ll give you a choice. Either you impersonate me or your whole family die. Now choose.”

Cui’s face went ghastly white. “Your–Your Highness…”

“Think carefully before you give me an answer. Trapped in this place as I am, I can have all your family killed as easily as turn my hand,” said the Concubine Jin.

Biting her lip tight, Cui clenched her hands. After quite a while, she croaked, “I’ll do it, Your Highness. Please spare the lives of my parents and my siblings.”

The Concubine Jin sneered, “As long as you do as I tell you, nothing will happen to any of them. Now stand up, get in there and change into my clothes.”

Cui tremulously struggled to her feet, went behind the screen and caught sight of a strange maidservant silently standing there. With a start, she exclaimed, “Who are you?!”

“Quiet, or you’ll alarm those guards out there,” said the maidservant.

This maidservant struck Cui as faintly familiar, but she couldn’t remember her name. “Who are you exactly?”

Eyes on her, the maidservant replied, “The one who’s going to disguise you.”

What?

The last bit of color drained from Cui’s face.

…

Two hours later, when Cui was standing before the Concubine Jin, the latter felt as though she were looking at herself in a mirror. “This is amazing. We’re so much alike.”

Cui didn’t dare utter a word, her shoulders shaking with fear. She was not a fool and naturally had come to realize what this meant. Having been disguised as the Concubine Jin, she was now as good as dead.

At first the Concubine Jin was amazed, but when she noticed that Cui was shaking violently, her expression became disgusted. “Why are you shuddering? You probably have all the good karma you accumulated in your last eight incarnations to thank for this opportunity to impersonate me. If you don’t stop trembling right now, I’ll have you killed where you stand.”

Cui forced herself into stopping quivering, biting her lower lip heavily, not daring move an inch.

“Go. Lie down on the couch and don’t get down without my consent,” said the Concubine Jin drily.

Cui limply shuffled to the soft couch and dithered for quite a while before summoning up the courage to sit down.

After casting a revolted glance at Cui, the Concubine Jin shifted her gaze to the maidservant and said, “We’ve got someone to impersonate me. What’s next?”

“Please change into these clothes, Your Highness.” The maidservant handed a package to the Concubine Jin.

The Concubine Jin opened it and with that her face registered distaste, but eventually she still went to change. It was a night suit of the most common kind.

“I’m sorry, but Your Highness will have to wait for another hour. The guards will make a shift change in an hour, and there’s a security flaw at the rear palace walls, which will be our way out,” said the maidservant.

“Whatever. All I want is to get out of this place. It doesn’t matter from where. Go and bring the Eighth Prince here,” said the Concubine Jin.

The maidservant bobbed her head, brought the Eighth Prince from the side hall to the chamber, helped him take off his prince’s robes and luxurious headwear and change into ordinary black clothes to make sure that he wouldn’t look conspicuous in the dark.

“How do you plan to take care of the Concubine Liu?” asked the Concubine Jin.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. The killers are already on the move,” responded the maidservant.

It was after hearing this that the Concubine Jin stopped asking questions. At the sight of Cui who was sitting on the couch and had started shaking again, she got angry, began to tell Cui off and didn’t stop until Cui stopped trembling.

The Eighth Prince had been standing in fear on the side all along after changing. “Mother, are we really going to make it out of here?”

“Rest assured, Your Highness. I promise we’ll break Your Highnesses out of the imperial palace. Please trust me,” said the maidservant in a hushed voice.

However, the Eighth Prince was still in fear.

Chapter 363: An Escape from the Court Prison

It was almost the end of the Hai Hour (21:00-22:59), and the whole imperial palace compound was very quiet.

The time had come for the guards outside the palace wall to come off duty, and there would be nobody patrolling the perimeter of the compound for the next half the duration of a burning joss stick (roughly three minutes), which was the very opportunity for the Concubine Jin and the others to make their escape.

Cui was sitting on the soft couch in the chamber, not daring to move an inch. Her cheeks were tear-stained all over, but she still didn’t dare leave, clenching her hands with all her might in spite of herself. Maybe because she had been subservient to the Concubine Jin for too long, it didn’t occur to her to go outside to yell for help. She was afraid of what the Concubine Jin was capable of, scared that the Concubine Jin might have all her family members killed.

…

Meanwhile, in the Court Prison, Fang Quan had been released by that fake prison guard. In horror, Fang Quan followed the man out of the cell. After finding that the man was the only one that had come to rescue him, he couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you the only one here? Where are the others? How are we supposed to make it out of this prison if nobody’s helping us?!”

“Don’t worry, Your Lordship. As long as you stay close to me, we will make it out of here,” replied the fake prison guard.

Rather dubious, Fang Quan followed the fake prison guard out of the cell and discovered that all the prison guards out there were lying on the ground unconscious. They seemed to be under the influence of some kind of hypnotic drug.

“They’re drugged and will come around in an hour. The shift change is also in an hour and the relief guards will come here when the time comes. I’ll go and set the other two lords free. Please undress this prison guard and change into his uniform. It’ll buy us some time after we get out of here,” explained the fake prison guard.

Fang Quan looked at the comatose prison guard on the ground, clenched his teeth and then crouched down to start undoing the prison guard’s uniform. When he had removed the uniform from that guard and was about to change into it, the other two courtiers showed up with the fake prison guard.

“Lord Fang!”

“It’s really you!”

“You are…”

“I’m changing into a prison guard’s uniform to disguise myself,” said Fang Quan, pausing only briefly before continuing. His sense of dignity seemed to pale into insignificance compared to survival.

The other two courtiers, after realizing what was going on, also quickly found two unconscious prison guards and started undoing their uniform. They had agree to make an attempt to escape because they’d valued their lives. At this point in time, it was no good talking about anything, and the right thing to do was disguise themselves and then make their escape as soon as possible.

All the cells of the Court Prison were half-underground, and there were two rows of them: Row A and Row B, which were opposite each other with a long broad passageway in between. Locked in cells of Row A were convicted felons, and in cells of Row B unconvicted prisoners like Fang Quan. Both rows were heavily guarded.

Either of the two rows of cells had only one exit.

The fake prison guard had drugged all the real prison guards and the prisoners all of whom were geriatrics. After Fang Quan and the other two courtiers changed into prison guard’s uniform, the fake prison guard started leading them through the passageway. It was very quiet and unconscious prison guards could be occasionally seen lying on the ground.

“After we get to the gateway, Your Lordships will have to wait for a few moments. Some people will come to our help,” said the fake prison guard.

“Who?” asked Fang Quan.

The fake prison guard twisted his head around and answered with a grin, “Your rescuers, of course.”

What with his heavy, brutal-looking face, his grin was the last thing anybody would describe as pleasant. Though Fang Quan had seen it several times during the past couple of days, the sight of it still sent a chill down his spine. The other two courtiers were no exception, feeling the hair on the backs of their necks rising as they saw the fake prison guard grin.

Fang Quan, however, apart from finding the grin an eyesore, also felt a little disgruntled, because this fake prison guard’s evasive reply struck him as derisive, and his tone of voice also sounded faintly condescending, which made Fang Quan feel uncomfortable. As a result, after the fake prison guard pivoted around to lead the way, the expression in Fang Quan’s eyes became somewhat hostile when he looked at the back of the prison guard.

As though he had eyes in the back of his head, the fake prison guard sensed it and said, “It’s totally unnecessary for you to doubt me, Your Lordship. I’m here to bust you out, and that’s all you need to know.”

Caught unawares, Fang Quan was taken aback and no longer dared stare at the back of the fake prison guard with unfriendly eyes.

When they were about to reach the gateway, the fake prison guard came to a halt. “Please wait here for a moment, Your Lordships. I’ll go up there and check first, and I’ll give you a signal when you’re good to go.”

The three of them agreed.

The fake prison guard ascended the stairs step by step, took a turn at the upstairs landing and disappeared from view. They could only hear the sound of his footsteps.

Fang Quan became somewhat suspicious, because that man seemed to be deliberately making his footsteps heavier than usual. The previous couple of times he’d met this man, the latter had always shown up soundlessly as though he floated around instead of walking, and there had been no footsteps whatsoever.

Fang Quan suddenly came to realize one thing – this unidentified rescuer didn’t seem to be a military man. Though not a military officer, Fang Quan knew that all those serving in the army had a special air about them, or, to put it differently, there was something unique about their bearing, but this man who had come to rescue them didn’t have a shred of it. On the contrary, the air the man emanated struck him as sinister and unpleasant. When the man was walking in this dark prison, he seemed to be in such perfect harmony with his surroundings as though he were about to merge into them.

Fang Quan was torn between surprise and incredulity, wondering who this man was exactly, and what kind of men the Jiangzhou had sent here to rescue them.

After about the duration of a burning joss stick (roughly five minutes), footsteps issued from the stairs once again. Fang Quan and the other two immediately tensed their backs, staring nervously at the landing of the stairs, fearing that it would be somebody else that showed up, because in that case, their attempt to escape would be exposed.

“Come up here, Your Lordship. It’s time to go,” said a familiar voice. Fortunately, it was that fake prison guard who came into view.

At the sight of him, Fang Quan heaved a sigh of relief and hastened up the stairs with the other two. When he had walked up to the man, Fang Quan couldn’t help but ask, “You’re not a military man. Who are you exactly? Are you really from Jiangzhou?”

The man gave a smile. Although his fierce-looking face made his smile very frightening, his tone of voice was free of annoyance. “You’re a very smart man, Your Lordship. I’m indeed not a military man. I’m just a killer hired by the commander of the Jiangzhou garrison. We have a deal with him and our job is to bust you out of this place.”

Fang Quan’s eyes widened. A killer?

As if something had loosened his tongue, the man added, “The first task of mine is to rescue the Eighth Prince and the Concubine Jin. The price for their lives are very, very high. The second task is to rescue you, Your Lordship. Of course, your life is slightly cheaper than the Eighth Prince’s and the Concubine Jin’s, but the price is still fairly decent, otherwise I wouldn’t have come here. As for these two lords, they’re kind of a bonus. I’ll charge extra for getting them out, or not – if I’m in a good mood.”

These words chilled Fang Quan and the other two courtiers to the marrow of their bones. On one hand, they felt terribly humiliated, but on the other hand they also felt that in this man’s eyes, money was the only yardstick for measuring people’s lives, which struck them as blood-curdling. For this man, their lives were like commodities, and he had no loyalty to anybody or any sense of complete obedience. Once things went south, he might abandon them like useless pawns at any moment, and his only loss would merely be some money…

After the fake prison guard said that, his amused eyes raked the three courtiers’ faces, taking in all their facial expressions. Then he added, “Although we’re killers and do things for money, there’s no need for you worry, Your Lordships. Apart from money, we also value our credibility, and for the sake of that alone, we won’t give up on you easily. We’ll get you out more safely than those who strictly follow orders could, because after all, it’ll undermine our reputation if the goods are damaged.”

However, none of the three courtiers found these words comforting.

Cold sweat was breaking out on the three of them profusely all along as they ascended the short flight of stairs. When they finally reached the entrance, they were greeted by a strong smell of blood.

The guards responsible for guarding the entrance and the passageway had died soundlessly in this place. The spooky part was that they were still standing bolt upright, either propped against spikes behind them or leaning against walls. They seemed to be still dutifully guarding the prison, but actually they were dead already, because dark red blood was spurting quickly from the wounds in their necks down into their armor. What with the perfect cover of night, nobody would be able to find out unless they smelled the blood and looked at the guards carefully enough.

This scene chilled Fang Quan and the other two courtiers to the bone.

“Let’s go. Soon someone will come here to check. You’ll never get a second chance if you don’t leave right away,” said the fake prison guard. He didn’t at all feel there was anything wrong with this scene in front of them. As though the eerie horrifying sight and the rank scent of blood was some kind of enjoyable scenery to him, a smile curled the corners of his mouth.

Fang Quan and the other two, not daring linger for a single extra moment or utter another word, followed in the wake of the fake prison guard and walked out of the long passageway.

Outside the entrance of the passageway was a vast square, and on the other side of the square was the outer wall of the imperial city, which was heavily guarded.

“Apart from those guards, there are also some men hidden on the ramparts. Every inch of this place is watched. How do we get through?” said Fang Quan.

So far he still hadn’t seen any of the rescuers that the fake prison guard had mentioned.

“Well, given the current circumstances, our only option is to fight our way out. Let’s go, Your Lordships. Whatever you do, don’t lag behind,” the fake prison guard said, raised his hand and whistled, and with that six men in black suddenly emerged from each of the two sides.

Those men grabbed Fang Quan’s and the other two courtiers’ arms and abruptly started dragging them towards the city gates.

The whistle had already attracted the guards’ attention and soon they were charging in this direction from all sides. “ASSASSIN!” someone yelled.

“Restrain the assassins!”

How they made it through the city gates was a mystery to Fang Quan and the other two courtiers. When he tripped and almost fell, a man in black clicked his tongue in annoyance and the next moment Fang Quan found himself on someone’s back. When his head stopped spinning and the nauseous sensation ebbed away, they had already rushed through the city gates. Guards were flooding towards them to the deafening drumbeats of alarm emanating from behind them.

Fang Quan flicked a backward glance and what he saw made he feel as though his insides were turning into ice. This was how these people got them out? By fighting? How were they supposed to make it out of the capital city if this was the plan?

“SHUT THE GATES!”

On hearing these words, Fang Quan blacked out.

There was no telling how long the man carrying him had run when he came around and heard someone call, “Father!”

It was the Concubine Jin’s voice. Fang Quan hurriedly opened his eyes to look around him and found that they had reached the city gates. Both the Concubine Jin and the Eighth Prince were present. To his surprise, apart from the two of them, the Concubine Liu and the Ninth Prince were also present. They were not dead. Instead, they had also been brought out of the city. At this moment, the two of them were looking at them in terror. Unlike Fang Quan and the others who were desperate to escape from the city, the Concubine Liu, holding the Ninth Prince in her arms, only felt fear.