Chapter 259: Released from Prison (1)

Silence filled the hollow depths of the prison. The air was cold and damp, thick with the moldy reek of blood.

As Xu Yuan and Xu Mengxi walked down the long, shadowy corridor, the only sound was the lonely echo of their footsteps.

Along the way, Xu Yuan could clearly see the miserable state of the prisoners in the cells on either side.

Those locked inside the Imperial Prison were either mighty figures who had once dominated an entire region or high ministers who had enjoyed their moment of glory at court.

Now, however, some were masses of mangled flesh, while others scarcely looked human anymore. Their faint murmurs of agony were sealed inside their cells by soundproofing formations.

Once someone entered the Imperial Prison, they more or less stopped being treated as human.

This was Xu Yuan’s first time in a place like this.

The Imperial Prison, the Sky Prison, and the Black Prison were collectively known as the three great prisons of the Great Flame Empire.

The first two were state-run. The last was privately operated.

All three housed plenty of important figures, great demons and infamous bandit lords who had thrown the realm into chaos, officials whose power had once overshadowed the entire court, and even members of foreign royal families.

Among the nobles and high officials, the three prisons were all quite famous. Their illustrious achievements included framing loyal ministers and beating false confessions out of innocent men, far too many to list.

As these idle thoughts drifted through his mind, Xu Yuan turned his attention to the graceful figure walking ahead of him.

Xu Mengxi’s long, high ponytail swayed back and forth behind her head. She seemed rather pleased to have finally dragged him into the Imperial Prison.

Just like she had been in Azure Point, she was the very picture of a stunning tsundere beauty, cold on the outside, warm on the inside.

Then again, considering the bad blood between them, she was probably cold on the outside and frozen solid within, at least where he was concerned.

As he was thinking this, Xu Mengxi suddenly stopped.

Xu Yuan pulled himself from his thoughts. “We’re here?”

Xu Mengxi ignored him. She took out a key, opened the cell beside her, and glanced back at him. “Inside.”

Her sharp, icy voice echoed down the long corridor.

Xu Yuan looked into the cell but did not move. What a joke. Was a pampered wastrel like him supposed to stay in a place like this?

It was dark and damp, furnished with nothing but a wooden table and chair. The straw mat was still stained with the previous occupant’s dark brown blood.

Seeing him refuse to budge, Xu Mengxi’s rather modest chest rose and fell twice. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Third Young Master, do you feel this place is beneath your station?”

Xu Yuan swept his gaze across the bloodstained instruments of torture inside the chamber, each one enough to make a man’s skin crawl. He then looked back at her. “I seem to recall that the Secret Investigation Bureau only handles arrests. Interrogations and cell assignments should be the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice office here at the Imperial Prison.”

Xu Mengxi gave him a faint smile. “There’s no need for the Third Young Master to concern himself with that. This stretch along the Sleeping Dragon River falls under my jurisdiction. Since that is where you committed the offence, the Great Flame Empire’s law grants me, an Assistant Judicial Inspector, the authority to detain you for three days.”

“Oh?” Xu Yuan did not understand all the twists and turns of the Great Flame Empire’s legal system.

“Is that actually true?”

“How could this humble woman ever dare lie to you?” Xu Mengxi’s eyes curved into two smiling crescents. “Third Young Master, you and I are about to spend a very memorable time together in this room.”

“Works for me.” Xu Yuan grinned. He strode into the torture chamber, dropped into its only chair, and crossed one leg over the other. Then he glanced back at the flat-chested woman standing in the doorway. “When a beauty extends an invitation, how could this young master refuse?”

With that, Xu Yuan took a bottle of drunken immortal brew and two portable rune lamps from his Sumeru Ring. He poured himself a drink and gestured toward the lamps. “Here, hang these up for me. It’s too dark in here. This young master isn’t used to it.”

Xu Mengxi sucked in a furious breath through her teeth.

“Stop huffing. No matter how hard you breathe, they’re not getting any bigger.”

After one final deep breath, Xu Mengxi marched over and slapped the table. The fine wine inside the bottle sloshed violently.

“Xu Changtian,” she said through gritted teeth, “this is the Imperial Prison. Hand over your Sumeru Ring!”

Xu Yuan froze halfway through taking a sip and blinked. “Huh? Sumeru Rings aren’t allowed in here?”

Xu Mengxi let out another breath, then laughed from sheer fury. “What do you think?”

Xu Yuan nodded. Slowly, he slipped the Sumeru Ring from his finger and placed it on the table, smiling gently. “All right. Since you’ve said so, Mengxi, I won’t use it.”

Xu Mengxi snatched the ring up.

A hint of surprise entered Xu Yuan’s eyes. “You’re sure you want to take my Sumeru Ring?”

Xu Mengxi gave a cold snort. “If you’re worried I’ll steal from you, don’t be. The ring will be stored in the Imperial Prison’s repository. Should you manage to leave, it will naturally be returned to you.”

“Fine. Hold on to it if you like. There’s nothing inside but money and pills anyway.” Xu Yuan gave her a long, meaningful look, then spread his hands. “Mengxi, if you’re planning to do anything to me, you’d better do it now. Wait another few minutes, and you probably won’t get the chance.”

“Xu Changtian, you don’t seem to understand your situation.” Xu Mengxi stood beside the table. The rune lamps cast light across her face, making her look faintly sinister within the gloomy cell. “Everything you did before amounted to petty crimes and cheap tricks. Today, however, you interfered with affairs of vital military and national importance. Do you honestly think you’re getting out?”

Xu Yuan rolled up his sleeve and rested an elbow on the table. “I didn’t know beforehand, but the result was still the death of an important envoy. Considering the imperial court and the reaction from every interested party, I don’t expect to get out anytime soon.”

Xu Mengxi smiled at that.

But a moment later, Xu Yuan’s unhurried voice drifted over again. “That said, I don’t expect to be staying here either.”

Xu Mengxi’s fist tightened slightly. No respect for the law. No fear of Heaven or Earth. Of course she knew that, with the all-powerful Chancellor standing behind him, this wastrel could commit a crime monstrous enough to shake the realm and still never be executed.

But now that he had killed a foreign envoy, she could at least use the charge to make him shed a layer of skin. To deliver, on behalf of all those who had suffered because of him, a lesson this wastrel would remember for the rest of his life.

“You don’t believe me.” Xu Yuan sighed softly. His fingers tapped against the tabletop, the quiet sound echoing through the chamber.

“To stop you from doing anything foolish to me, a high-ranking official will most likely come looking for you within the next fifteen minutes. It might be the Imperial Prison’s warden, but it’ll more likely be your master, the Director-General of the Secret Investigation Bureau.

Either way, he’ll tell you that he’s taking over this case. You’ll be unhappy. You’ll feel wronged. But he’ll remove you from the investigation with some forceful excuse about how your rank isn’t high enough to handle a matter of this importance.

“Then, once I meet him, I’ll tell him you took my Sumeru Ring. He’ll order you to return it. But by then, one Yang Marrow Pill will have mysteriously vanished from inside. It isn’t terribly expensive. Only worth around 10,000 taels of silver.

“Of course, he’ll know perfectly well that you would never steal anything from me. But he’ll compensate me anyway, then move me into the finest cell in the entire Imperial Prison. That cell will come furnished with all manner of formations and books. And if I feel like it, I could even send a guard to the pleasure quarter and hire a few pretty young women to sing songs and play the flute for me…”