When Ye Zhao returned and saw him, he paused briefly before choosing to ignore him.
But when Liu Hui saw him, his expression revived from despair, and he hurriedly stepped forward to ask, “Commander Ye Zhao, how is my… my virtuous niece? Will she be punished?”
Punishment, once a day, carried out before midnight, lasting for two ke (approximately 30 minutes), just like the scene Shen Qingyao had witnessed earlier.
Ye Zhao initially didn’t want to answer, but out of consideration for their past relationship, he shook his head and walked around Liu Hui, entering the main hall with Ye Yu.
Liu Hui turned to watch, the worry in his eyes fading slightly. As long as she wasn’t punished, it was fine—otherwise, that girl would be completely ruined.
After a moment of silence, his eyes darkened imperceptibly as he turned and left.
In the main hall, Song Jiuchen had already descended the steps, his expression inscrutable.
Ye Zhao reported, “Your Highness, Miss Shen has been imprisoned. Additionally, the Confiscation Bureau has already taken action.”
The Confiscation Bureau was specifically responsible for confiscating property.
Song Jiuchen remained silent for a moment. “Did you instruct Mo Sen properly?”
Although he hadn’t said much when giving the order earlier, Ye Zhao had to understand.
“Yes, I did,” Ye Zhao replied.
Song Jiuchen asked no further and, after leaving the main hall, returned to his residence.
After leaving the prince’s residence, Liu Hui saw Xiao Mei standing not far away with a child, a carriage behind them.
Both were looking at him expectantly.
After a moment’s thought, he walked over.
Seeing Liu Hui approach, Xiao Mei quickly led Little Yali forward. “General Liu, where is my lady?”
Liu Hui clasped his hands behind his back and sighed softly. “Your lady has been imprisoned in the prince’s residence. She won’t be able to come out anytime soon.”
“What?” Xiao Mei’s eyes widened, her face paling. The lady had been imprisoned?
Little Yali looked worried. “Did Sister Shen get beaten?”
Liu Hui shook his head. “No.”
Then he asked them, “Did you see anyone from the Confiscation Bureau leaving the prince’s residence earlier?”
Little Yali quickly nodded. “Yes, there were dozens of them. Are they going to confiscate Sister Shen’s home?”
Liu Hui nodded. “Yes.”
Xiao Mei immediately asked, “General Liu, how long will the lady be imprisoned? When can she come out?”
Liu Hui fell silent for a moment. “I don’t know. But she won’t be in danger. Do you have a place to stay?”
“Won’t be in danger…”
Xiao Mei murmured, then nodded in relief before asking him, “Can we stay at the Shen family’s old residence?”
Liu Hui pondered. “Here’s what you can do: first, go back to the Shen family’s old residence and check. If it hasn’t been sealed, you can naturally stay there. If it has been sealed, come to the Liu residence and look for me.”
“Me?”
Xiao Mei’s heart skipped a beat. General Liu had never referred to himself as “me” in front of her before. Could it be…?
“General Liu, have you…”
Liu Hui nodded. “I’ve been dismissed from my post.”
There was no need to hide it—the entire Southern Territory would know by tomorrow.
Xiao Mei covered her mouth, shocked and unable to believe it. Dismissed? Not demoted?
Heavens!
A high-ranking official of the third rank, dismissed just like that?
Liu Hui’s expression turned desolate, his mood heavy. “Go back first. If there’s any news later, I’ll notify you.”
He still had to go back and explain—to his parents and his family. The thought of the uproar that was about to erupt at home darkened his eyes.
Without another word, he turned and headed to his carriage.
Xiao Mei and Little Yali watched as he boarded his carriage and left, then turned their gaze toward the prince’s residence.
After watching for a while, they too left.
There was no curfew yet, so when the Punishment Guards surrounded the Drifting Clouds Teahouse, the nearby shops and passersby erupted in commotion, rushing over to see what was happening.
Mo Niang stood in the crowd, her eyes filled with disbelief and confusion.
Beside her, Qing He wore a gloating expression. “Boss, you were right. It must be because Shen Qingyao refused to become a concubine and angered the prince, leading to her family being raided. Hah, serves her right!”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Mo Niang glared at her in annoyance. “What refusal to become a concubine? What prince’s anger? If the prince heard you saying that, you’d be charged with slandering a royal, and you’d be waiting for death.”
Qing He froze for a moment, then belatedly realized—oh, right?
Her face paled with fear, and she quickly glanced around. Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed her. She lowered her head and dared not utter another word.
Mo Niang rolled her eyes. “So foolish.”
No longer wanting to watch, she withdrew from the crowd and returned to her own teahouse.
On the watchtower of the Punishment Bureau, two Punishment Guards were helping Mo Sen treat his wounds.
His face and arms were crisscrossed with scratches, oozing blood.
Li Shun said, “Sir, that woman was vicious. She scratched you up like this.”
While applying medicine, he tried to suppress a laugh as he stole glances at Mo Sen, who had his eyes closed.
The other guard, Qian Tong, also peeked and asked curiously, “Sir, if the prince cares about her, why did he send her here to suffer?”
Mo Sen had told them a little about Shen Qingyao earlier, but he didn’t know the specifics either—Ye Zhao hadn’t explained.
So he snapped irritably, “How would I know?”
Then he added, “Anyway, from now on, don’t harm her. Make sure her meals are clean, and prepare hot water for her to wash up every day.”
The two guards: !!
Great! They’d gotten themselves a little ancestor.
In the underground prison, the dimly lit solitary cell was sparsely furnished: a table, a stool, a bed, and a hidden, partitioned latrine.
An oil lamp burned on the table, its flame flickering like a bean, casting a faint yellow light onto the two walls, where shapeless shadows seemed to writhe silently.
On the bed, Shen Qingyao remained unconscious, unaware of her surroundings.
As midnight approached and all fell silent, an intangible chill began to seep through the air.
Without warning, the lamp flame on the table shrank abruptly, turning ghostly green before returning to normal, though the light seemed even dimmer.
Almost simultaneously, a faint, eerie sound—half-sobbing, half-laughing—drifted hauntingly through the room.
The previously indistinct shadows on the walls seemed to come alive, twisting, elongating, and multiplying grotesquely, like countless struggling human forms clawing at the walls.
Just then, Shen Qingyao on the bed let out a faint moan. Her long eyelashes fluttered a few times before she opened her eyes.
Her vision was blurry at first, only perceiving the gloom. She blinked, and as her sight gradually cleared, the numbness and pain in the back of her neck and the confusion of finding herself in an unfamiliar place washed over her.
Where was this?
The thought had barely crossed her mind when she sat up and looked around. Hearing the eerie, sobbing-laughing sounds and seeing the twisted human shadows writhing on the two walls…
The next second, her pupils dilated and contracted sharply, her face contorted with terror.
“Ah—” An utterly terrified scream pierced the silence of the cell.
She clutched her head, trembling violently all over.
“Uh… uh…”
She couldn’t scream anymore; her throat felt as if a ghost were choking her, and she began to gasp for air.
Soon after, her body started convulsing, and her consciousness gradually faded away.
At this moment, the last thread of sanity in her mind teetered on the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, Mo Sen, who was in the watchtower, suddenly opened his eyes, then got up in frustration to put on his clothes.
Li Shun, who was on duty outside, heard the commotion and rushed in. “Sir, what’s wrong?”
“Trouble. I overslept. Hurry down and stay with that girl. If she’s scared out of her wits, we’ll be in deep trouble.”
Li Shun was taken aback for a moment before hastily replying, “Then I’ll have Qian Tong accompany you.”
He still needed to remain on duty.
Soon, Mo Sen personally led Qian Tong down to the underground prison. Halfway down the stairs, they triggered a mechanism, and the stone door rumbled open. Following the passageway, they quickly ran inside.