The third level of the Imperial Prison was thick with the scent of blood.
A line of prisoners in prison garb shuffled forward. Trembling cries and wails rang out one after another, but the jailers didn’t so much as blink, having long since grown accustomed to the sight.
“Hurry up! Don’t dawdle, or you’ll taste the lash!”
Shang Yuanjian was among the prisoners. As she took a step, a sharp, stabbing pain radiated from her chest, causing her to frown slightly.
Suppressing the pain, Shang Yuanjian remained silent, simply following the line forward.
Suddenly, the line halted as a commotion broke out at the front.
“I’m not going in! Going there is a death sentence!” a man’s shrill voice screamed, drowning out the whispers of the others.
His words were like a stone tossed into a lake, stirring up thousand-fold ripples.
In an instant, other prisoners stood out, roaring loudly, “Xu An, you are flouting the law! We may have committed crimes, but that doesn’t mean you can dispose of us at will, much less send us to Prince Xin for him to use for his amusement!”
“That’s right!”
With a dark expression, Xu An walked up to the prisoner who had spoken and sneered. “You were all going to die anyway. Isn’t it better to provide one last bit of value for His Highness’s entertainment before you go?”
“By what right?”
“It seems you are unwilling.” Xu An narrowed his eyes dangerously. He gave a look to a jailer behind him, who drew a blade and plunged it into the speaker’s heart.
“Since you’re unwilling, then go be reborn a bit sooner.” Xu An kicked the fallen prisoner, whose eyes were wide with shock, as if he couldn’t believe Xu An would actually kill him.
“Does anyone else have an objection?” Xu An turned to look at the restless crowd.
With a cautionary example right before them, the people who had spoken up earlier fell silent immediately. They shrunk back, not daring to utter another word.
The line began to move again. Shang Yuanjian followed them until they reached an iron cage.
“Get in, quickly!” the jailer ordered rudely as he pulled the cage door open.
When it was Shang Yuanjian’s turn, the jailer’s brow furrowed.
Where did this beggar come from? Ragged clothes, messy hair, and a face so filthy one couldn’t even see her features—was there someone like this in the Imperial Prison?
The jailer quietly asked Xu An, who merely spared Shang Yuanjian a glance before saying impatiently, “How should I know? Likely brought in for some petty theft. It’s all the same anyway; just make sure they are delivered to Prince Xin.”
Shang Yuanjian entered the iron cage like the other prisoners. She found a spot to sit and clutched her chest, gasping for breath. Just walking this short distance had nearly exhausted her physical strength.
What was wrong with this body? It was so frail it felt as though it might give out at any moment.
Shang Yuanjian couldn’t help but curse her luck. Transmigrating was one thing, but the body she had ended up in was a sickly weakling.
Not to mention, she had none of the original owner’s memories; she was completely in the dark.
However, Shang Yuanjian could deduce some preliminary information based on the body itself.
Though she was currently dressed like a beggar, she was certain the original owner was a young lady from a wealthy family. One look at those slender, fair, and delicate hands told her this girl had never performed a day of manual labor in her life.
How a girl from a wealthy family ended up in prison dressed as a beggar was a matter that required investigation.
Shang Yuanjian couldn’t help but imagine a grand drama of courtly intrigue and internal family strife.
However, she didn’t have the luxury of exploring that now, as they were soon to be sent to Prince Xin.
Judging by the prisoners’ tone and their sheer resistance, Shang Yuanjian was certain that this Prince Xin was no good. In all likelihood, they were being sent to their deaths.
Naturally, Shang Yuanjian didn’t want to sit and wait for death. She wanted to run, but this body was like a rusted machine that was difficult to operate. Just a few steps had drained her of all energy, let alone an escape.
She felt incredibly frustrated. Back before she transmigrated, she had been physically strong and had never lost a fight. Here, she wasn’t even given the body of a normal person.
But since she had transmigrated, she couldn’t just give up. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying her any attention, Shang Yuanjian quickly sat cross-legged to regulate her breathing.
Not long after, a man dressed in black burst into the Imperial Prison, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings.
“Who are you?” Xu An’s brow knitted. He clearly didn’t recognize the man. “Someone, seize him—”
Xu An’s voice cut off abruptly because he saw the man produce a command medallion.
“So it is… Master Jin…” Xu An stammered, hunching his body to bow to the man. “May I ask what brings Master Jin here?”
Jin Liu ignored Xu An’s change in attitude and simply asked, “Have you seen a girl around fifteen years old nearby?”
Shang Yuanjian opened her eyes.
Was the fifteen-year-old girl he mentioned referring to her?
Xu An looked bewildered. He said to Jin Liu, “Master Jin, this is the Imperial Prison. How could there be a little girl here?”
Upon receiving Xu An’s negative response, Jin Liu’s gaze darkened. A girl in such poor health had actually run so fast; he had lost sight of her the moment he looked away.
“Does Master Jin require this subordinate to search for her?” Xu An asked tentatively.
Jin Liu waved him off. “No need. You must keep the matter of my search today a secret. If I find out you’ve leaked it, you know the consequences.”
“Of course, of course. This subordinate… I will certainly keep my lips sealed.”
With that, Jin Liu leaped out the window and quickly vanished into the night.
Xu An broke into a cold sweat. Just who was the Prime Minister looking for that he would deploy Jin Liu?
Shang Yuanjian also sensed something was wrong. She had an intuition that the man in black was looking for her, and it was only because of her beggar’s disguise and her presence among the prisoners that he hadn’t discovered her.
If her guess was correct, Shang Yuanjian felt the original owner’s identity was even more dangerous than she had imagined.
“Are the people His Highness requested ready?” A middle-aged man arrived in a hurry.
Seeing him, Xu An immediately put on a fawning smile. “How could I dare neglect His Highness’s orders? Look, Master Li, this is the new batch of prisoners. I picked them specifically for His Highness.”
Li Zhengwen looked at the iron cage filled with prisoners and nodded with satisfaction. “The hour is late. Deliver them to His Highness.”
Li Zhengwen’s words acted like a death knell. A prisoner in the cage suffered a mental breakdown and fell to his knees. “Master Li, please have mercy and let us go! If we enter His Highness’s manor, we truly won’t have any way to survive!”
It was no wonder they were terrified. Xu An had already sent more than one batch of prisoners to Prince Xin, and without exception, none had ever returned.
Prince Xin was cruel and capricious, treating human lives like grass. To go there was to suffer and die under torment.
Li Zhengwen’s face darkened. “Chief Clerk Xu, what is wrong with your people? If these words reached His Highness’s ears, it would be the end of us.”
Xu An immediately grabbed a whip and lashed out at the man who had spoken. He struck him dozens of times until the man was a bloody mess.
The prisoner screamed repeatedly until he could no longer make a sound, eventually falling unconscious.
The other prisoners in the cage backed away in terror. Looking at the man’s miserable state, they didn’t dare speak again.
Shang Yuanjian was also shocked by Xu An’s actions. She turned her head away, unwilling to look at the unconscious prisoner.
Another wave of pain throbbed in her heart. Shang Yuanjian instinctively reached for her chest, but as her hand brushed against her lapel, she suddenly froze.
She realized there was something hidden on her person.