Chapter 253
Chapter 253
“Zhu Dafu, your family has come to ransom you.”
At the jailer’s shout, a man was led out of his cell.
“Go on.”
Zhu Dafu thanked him repeatedly, not daring to complain despite the hatred burning in his heart.
“The rest of you, show some sense and write home. Tell your families to hurry up and bring money to ransom you. Two hundred taels of silver per person. You’re all traveling merchants. If you can’t even produce that much, don’t blame us for sending you to the army.”
Jiang Yunsui watched for a while before continuing her search for Shen Qingzhu.
At last, she found him.
There were many people in Shen Qingzhu’s group, so they had all been locked together.
Jiang Yunsui picked up a random object and poked Shen Qingzhu, who was leaning near the bars without the slightest trace of anxiety.
“Shen Qingzhu.”
At the little girl’s call, he turned and spotted her.
“How did it go? Do you know where they put the herbs?”
Jiang Yunsui nodded.
Smiling, Shen Qingzhu stroked her head.
“Good work.”
Jiang Yunsui was exceedingly proud. She really was reliable.
“But we still have to wait for Ji Lu to return with the soldiers before we can leave.”
“So you’ll have to put up with a little inconvenience for now. When you’re hungry, find food in the kitchen. As for sleeping…”
“I’ll dig a hole!” Jiang Yunsui answered cheerfully before he could finish.
Shen Qingzhu fell into a profound silence, then affectionately patted her fluffy little head.
“You certainly are easy to keep alive.”
This child was so undemanding and easily satisfied. Contentment was good; a contented heart was always happy.
Most of the prisoners in the jail were merchants. To get out, they had to write home and demand that their families pay ransom.
The Prince of Nanyang was practically robbing people in broad daylight.
Yet even knowing that, no one could do anything to him. He commanded a powerful army.
In times like these, everything had to bow before power.
For Shen Qingzhu and his companions, however, that was actually good news. As long as their captors wanted money, they would not harm them.
Once Jiang Yunsui understood they had to wait for Ji Lu’s reinforcements, she stopped worrying.
Her stomach was empty, so first she went looking for food.
With her sensitive nose, she found the kitchen as though she knew the way, then expertly helped herself to her favorite things.
Afterward, she began wandering everywhere.
Just as she had in the Barbarians’ camp, she drew a map while exploring.
Whenever she encountered a commotion, her short legs carried her straight over to watch.
Like now.
“Li Ertian, you bastard! I treated you like a brother, and you hooked up with my woman to poison me!”
The instant Jiang Yunsui heard that roar, she could not take another step. She raced toward the sound and claimed a prime viewing spot in the front row.
This was a village just outside the town. After visiting her animals with the egg in her arms, Little Mushroom had happened to wander over.
“If I hadn’t forgotten something and come back to overhear you plotting, I really would’ve been ruined by you two adulterers!”
The furious man resembled a charging bull. He dragged the guilty pair around, beating and cursing them.
At the commotion, the other villagers hurried over too.
“Brother, it wasn’t my fault! Sister-in-law seduced me! She said you weren’t gentle and had no ability. She threw herself at me and said she wanted to live with me!”
The woman sprawled on the ground stared at him in disbelief.
“Li Ertian, are you even a man? Weren’t you the one coveting your brother’s property? You seduced me because you wanted to harm him!”
Neither was a decent person. Once one turned on the other, the other immediately retaliated, exposing each other’s ugly secrets on the spot.
The villagers surrounded the little courtyard in layer after layer, pointing and gossiping about all three.
Jiang Yunsui had never expected such a chaotic region to still have room for this kind of sordid affair.
The villagers did not dare report it to the authorities.
In the end, they took the man and woman to the ancestral hall for punishment. Each received twenty lashes, and the woman was expelled with none of her possessions.
After watching the matter through to the end, Jiang Yunsui wandered back into the city.
Everyone entering through the gate had to stand in line and pay a fee.
Jiang Yunsui swaggered straight inside.
She was about to find Shen Qingzhu and the others when a pigeon landed beside her.
Little Mushroom picked it up and removed the message tied to its leg.
‘Arrived. At the Hour of the Pig.’
Her eyes lit up. She could go find Si Si and the others now!
She returned to the dungeon with practiced ease and raised the note in her hand.
“Shen Qingzhu, Shen Qingzhu! Look!”
Ji Si stood guard nearby.
As for the people in the neighboring cell, he watched them coldly with a dagger in hand, the threat unmistakable.
In truth, he did not need to threaten them. On the first day, Shen Qingzhu had already intimidated them with all kinds of venomous creatures. None of them dared say a word.
After reading the message, Shen Qingzhu’s lips curved into a gentle smile that somehow sent chills down the spine.
He tapped the gold bracelet on Jiang Yunsui’s wrist.
“It contains a sleeping drug. Sneak into their kitchen and put it in the water they’re going to drink. Be careful.”
He made a series of peculiar sounds. Soon, several spiders, centipedes, and other strange insects crawled out.
“Take them with you. It’ll be safer.”
Jiang Yunsui picked up the spiders and centipedes.
The Gu insects were all beautifully colored. The spiders even looked fluffy, and Jiang Yunsui found them rather cute.
She placed every little creature on her clothes. Covered head to toe in venomous insects, Jiang Yunsui felt no fear at all. Eager for action, she set off to do as Shen Qingzhu had instructed.
Night lay heavy over the city. Jiang Yunsui went to work, while Ji Si, Ji Lu, and even Shen Qingzhu made their own preparations.
Once the jail guards had been successfully drugged unconscious, a snake brought the keys to Shen Qingzhu.
The other prisoners’ eyes shone at the sight.
“My lord, save us! Please save us!”
“Hero, please…”
With a smile on his lips, Shen Qingzhu tossed them the keys.
“You have the keys. Find your own way out and escape.”
Those who had not drunk the drugged water tried to raise the alarm when they realized something was wrong, only to be swiftly dealt with by Ji Si and Ji Lu.
Shen Qingzhu said, “Let’s go. We’ll create some chaos for them first.”
Jiang Yunsui hurriedly asked, “What are we going to do?”
Ji Lu grinned. “Set fires. Want to come?”
Jiang Yunsui nodded over and over. “Yes, yes! I’m coming!”
The little girl could not have been more enthusiastic.
She even picked up a fire striker.
“I’ll set the fires. Let me!”
Shen Qingzhu looked helpless. “Go on, then. You’re rather well suited to it.”
She was still so young, yet they were already leading her around to kill people and commit arson. His conscience twinged a little.
Clutching the fire striker, Jiang Yunsui was carried away by Ji Si and Ji Lu using qinggong.
The Prince of Nanyang’s forces had expanded rapidly. Precisely because of that, many of his men were ordinary people with little discipline.
When the yamen runners discovered that Shen Qingzhu’s party had escaped and armed themselves, quite a few dropped to the ground and played dead.
“What are you doing?”
One man pretending to be dead chuckled. “We earn a pittance. You expect us to risk our lives fighting that many people?”
His logic was impeccable. When more yamen runners saw how formidable the escapees were and realized they could not win, they too collapsed and feigned death.
They were only there to muddle through their days. There was no reason to throw away their lives.
Shen Qingzhu’s party ignored those pretending to be dead and left at once.