Chapter 80: Breaking the Curse for You

Midnight.

In the Tianzong Prefecture Yamen, Vice Prefect Zhou Taiman sat on the edge of his official chair, looking uneasy.

Below the hall, several young men stood. Some were also sitting.

Chen Yi was naturally sitting, with an old servant in grey standing behind him.

“We saw those three brothers were generous and sturdy, so we wanted to make friends. Who knew that as soon as we spoke to them, the youngest of the three pointed his finger at me. In self-defense, I had no choice but to fight back.”

“Right! That’s exactly it!”

“Lord Vice Prefect, they were even carrying Sharp Weapons! At the feet of the Son of Heaven, carrying arms and injuring people is a serious crime! Now that Your Majesty’s birthday is approaching, he carries a sharp blade—what is his intent?”

The three young men chattered on one after another, never stopping. If the night patrol officers hadn’t already informed him of the situation at the scene, Zhou Taiman would have thought they were the victims!

But listening to such absurd words, Zhou Taiman could only smile gently and nod.

Being an official at the Tianzong Prefecture Yamen was not easy. Since the founding of Great Wu, the position of Prefect of Tianzong had always been held concurrently by princes and grandsons of the Emperor.

But this Prefect position seemed cursed; five princes and two grandsons had died in office one after another. It wasn’t until the 44th year of legitimacy that the position of Prefect was temporarily left vacant.

Only a Vice Prefect was appointed to act on behalf of the office.

Being a local official in the capital was like dancing on eggs.

For now, he just had the clerk record their statements. Zhou Taiman guessed that by daybreak, the Ministry of Justice Prison would bring an official document to take them away.

After all, among them was the precious only son of Vice Minister Li of the Ministry of Justice.

Tonight, he would just have to accompany these people in the hall until dawn.

“Wait, who are you? Are you tired of living! You dare to barge into the Prefecture Yamen!”

Suddenly, noisy footsteps and the sounds of yamen runners trying to block someone echoed from outside the hall. A few moments later, the yamen runners appeared outside the hall, shoved back repeatedly.

“Who is making such a racket!”

Zhou Taiman shouted. From far outside the hall came an angry reply: “General Huaihua, Qin Shou!”

As the words fell, the man had already strode in, followed by five fierce soldiers who looked equally furious.

“General Qin, why are you visiting in the middle of the night?”

Zhou Taiman feigned ignorance.

Qin Shou did not answer. His leopard-like eyes swept over Ding Suian and the others, then he looked at Zhou Taiman and said arrogantly: “Vice Prefect Zhou, my three boys just returned from serving the country, only to have their arms broken by others! If these people are not killed, I fear the soldiers will be disheartened!”

If this were during wartime, these words might have some deterrent power.

Except for the Eight Divisions of the Imperial Guard, Great Wu’s generals and troops were all temporarily deployed. During this Southern Expedition, the garrison troops from Sheng and Yong provinces led by Qin Shou had returned to their hometowns after arriving back in the capital at the end of last month.

This Qin Shou currently only had about a hundred personal guards. Who are you trying to scare?

A vulgar, out-of-town soldier, this is Central Heaven!

Do you think you can turn the world upside down?

Zhou Taiman looked troubled. “I didn’t know the injured were under General Qin. But according to witnesses at the scene, it was those under General Qin who started it, and, sigh, they even used Sharp Weapons.”

“Who is the witness at the scene! Call him out!”

As soon as Qin Shou finished speaking, a tall, burly man stood up from the side and cupped his hands, saying: “I am.”

“Who are you?”

“Subordinate is Li Baicheng, Commander of the Vermilion Bird Army. I happened to be enjoying myself at the Bureau of Music and Entertainment tonight and witnessed the whole thing.”

Li Baicheng had a dull expression, giving people a feeling of being very honest.

But before coming, Qin Shou had naturally gone to the medical clinic to ask his foster sons about the actual situation, so he naturally didn’t believe it. He couldn’t help but laugh in anger: “Good, good! I, Qin, am a rough man and don’t understand your twists and turns. I only know that if Vice Prefect Zhou cannot uphold justice for my boys, I will take matters into my own hands!”

These were angry words, but the old servant in grey, who had been standing quietly to the side and was so inconspicuous that he was easily overlooked, slowly raised his head and said in a sharp, thin voice: “General Qin, the country has its laws. General, do not bring ruin upon yourself.”

“And what kind of bird-brained bastard are you!”

A servant dared to threaten him; Qin Shou couldn’t help but be enraged, and the foster sons behind him were restless.

“Hehe, I am an old servant by Princess Xingguo’s side, not some bird-brained bastard.”

“.”

Qin Shou’s face stiffened, and the foster sons behind him who had just been restless immediately became silent as cicadas in winter.

Early the next morning, the Ministry of Justice sent people with a full set of official documents to take the four suspects of the ‘Bureau of Music and Entertainment Injury Case’ to the Ministry of Justice Prison.

The Tianzong Prefecture Yamen naturally had its own prison, while the Ministry of Justice Prison mainly held suspects for major cases and serious crimes in Central Heaven; the functions of the two overlapped somewhat.

Taking people to the Ministry of Justice Prison was faultless.

It was exactly as Zhou Taiman had expected. Although Lord Li Qiushi had not come to the Prefecture Yamen last night to avoid suspicion, his family’s steward had stood guard outside the hall all night.

Who in the officialdom of Central Heaven didn’t know that Lord Li had lost two sons in his early years, and only obtained his only son, Li Meimei, at the age of forty.

His son was his life.

8:00 AM.

In the Heaven-Class A-2 luxury prison cell with a bowl-sized window, iron-barred door, and straw bedding, Ding Suian crouched in front of the iron bars, carefully examining the Talisman on them by the thin ray of sunlight, and turned back to ask: “Third Young Master Gao, what kind of thing is carved on these iron bars?”

Gao Gan sat on the straw bedding against the wall, “Zhengang Talismans, the same kind as the collars you wore when you saved us.”

“Does Great Wu also have Zhengang Talismans?”

“Southern Zhao has the Daoist sects, and Great Wu also has Daoist sects. Where there are Daoist sects, there are naturally Zhengang Talismans.”

*Clatter~*

As they were speaking, they suddenly heard the sound of iron chains dragging in the dim corridor. A moment later, Li Meimei appeared outside Heaven-Class A-2 wearing leg shackles.

“Young Master, please~ Hehe, just suffer for a few days. Once the Lord’s anger subsides, it will be fine.”

The jailer who brought him in opened the cell door, smiling all over his face, and raised his hand to invite him in.

Even more enthusiastic than the procurer at Pinshu Pavilion.

“Mm!”

Li Meimei responded and bent down to enter.

Walking closer, Ding Suian saw that there were still a few clear slap marks on this guy’s face and couldn’t help but be surprised, “Did they torture you?”

“Sigh! My dad just had someone take me to the office and slapped me twice.”

Li Meimei sat down on the ground, “He can’t manage his son well, why take his anger out on me!”

That makes sense!

A biological son really gets good treatment; not only does he get slaps, but he also gets to wear leg shackles.

Ding Suian and Gao Gan didn’t have that fortune. Tsk, tsk, tsk, playing favorites!

“Ermei, I remember there are ten crimes that are not included in a general amnesty. Which ones are they?”

With the passion of last night fading, Gao Gan was probably still a little uneasy.

“Plotting rebellion, plotting sedition, plotting treason, and heinous acts.”

Li Meimei listed them like counting his family treasures. Finally, he gave Gao Gan some reassurance: “Don’t worry, no matter how they try to implicate us, it won’t reach the level of the ten heinous crimes.”

The ten unforgivable crimes mainly targeted offending imperial power, destroying social order, and so on.

For example, killing a superior; Ding Suian had committed that.

At Chongyin Mountain, he killed Sun Zhirao, whose official rank was above Ding Suian’s.

Another example is killing a relative; Lin Hansu had committed that.

At Jintai Temple, she killed Madam Wu; although she was a foster mother, she was also in this category.

How did they accidentally become people who committed ten heinous crimes.

The next day.

Lin Dafu brought a large food box to visit the prison and brought news from the outside, “The Prince of Shuochuan has been grounded by Princess Xingguo.”

According to him, the incident the night before last had spread wildly in the pleasure quarters of Central Heaven, saying that two groups of Young Masters had fought fiercely to compete for Xia Tieying.

In contrast, the officialdom maintained an eerie silence on the matter.

It seemed they wanted to handle it coldly and quickly let the heat die down.

“Big Brother! The wine from Yunshao Tower is not bad, but next time you come, can you bring something lighter? It’s all lamb and venison; it makes one sick of eating it.”

Li Meimei sat on the ground against the wall, devouring the food, but he still couldn’t stop his nagging.

Listen to that, is that human language!

Sitting in jail and still complaining that the food is greasy.

“Easy enough, next time I’ll get you some vegetables.”

Lin Dafu answered with a chuckle, then took a small note out of the ribbon at his waist, his expression unnatural, and only whispered: “Tear it up after reading.”

After saying that, he added in a low voice, “She doesn’t know about our plan and is very worried about you. She even cried secretly last night and didn’t let me tell you.”

Old Lin’s expression was very complicated.

Ding Suian unfolded the note; it was that graceful yet sharp handwriting.

‘Young Master, do not fear! I will definitely save you! When you come out, I will break the curse for you!’

At the end of the note, there was a bright red lip print.

Lin Dafu craned his neck through the iron bars to look at the note, and Ding Suian immediately clenched his fist, clutching the note in his palm.

“I already peeked at it before coming.”

Lin Dafu said sheepishly: “Can you two do this behind people’s backs?”

Peeking and still having the nerve to say that?