Chapter 346
Chapter 346
After eating something, the prisoners finally regained a little strength. Their gazes were filled with gratitude when they looked at Jiang Yunsui.
Jiang Yunsui said, “Hide everything well. Don’t let anyone find it.”
Fortunately, filthy and cluttered as the cell was, it offered plenty of places to hide things.
The jailers generally did not search it closely. Prisoners were searched when they were brought in and changed into prison clothes, so they normally had nothing on them.
The teenage boy was named Su Cheng. He was the eldest son of Ji Yan’an’s eldest sister.
He was injured too, though not as badly as the two women.
After taking the medicine Jiang Yunsui had given him, he felt even better.
He immediately set about finding places to hide all the supplies.
By then, the other two children had eaten their fill as well. They looked at Jiang Yunsui with shining eyes and bombarded her with questions.
“When will Uncle come rescue us?”
“You’re amazing! How did you get in?”
“When can we leave?”
Jiang Yunsui said, “I don’t know either. Once Ji Yan’an has made his arrangements, I’ll come and tell you.”
All of them kept their voices low.
Jiang Yunsui’s keen ears caught the sound of someone approaching. She hurriedly said, “Someone’s coming. Don’t give anything away. I’ll go now and come see you again next time.”
With that, Jiang Yunsui slipped away.
In the space of a distracted blink, she had vanished from everyone’s sight.
“Where did she go?”
She was incredible. She had disappeared so quickly.
If not for the things they had hidden, they might even have wondered whether Jiang Yunsui had truly come at all.
Su Cheng said, “Mother, Aunt, hurry and pretend to be unconscious.”
“You two, come over here and keep crying.”
He was quick-witted. Remembering what Jiang Yunsui had said before she left, he immediately began putting on an act.
Sure enough, it was not long before a man dressed as a jailer came toward them.
He slapped the bars. “Keep it down. They’re not dead yet, so what are you crying for?”
He left soon after speaking.
He had only come by on a routine patrol of the cells.
Once he was gone, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
Knowing that Ji Yan’an had reached the Capital City and had not abandoned them finally eased their hearts.
Jiang Yunsui returned without delay and went straight to Ji Yan’an.
“Ji Yan’an, I found them!”
She plopped down, paying no attention to the strange look Lord Wen was giving her, and rattled off how she had found them and what condition they were in.
“How are we going to rescue them?”
Her mind whirred as she began suggesting ideas.
“Why don’t we use poison? I’ll do it.”
Song Jin said, “You’re so young. How are you even more eager to kill than I am?”
Jiang Yunsui muttered, “I didn’t mean deadly poison. I meant a sleeping drug. Surely we can drug them unconscious.”
But it really would be difficult to bring the captives out safely and without alerting anyone.
“We could disguise some people to look like them.”
Ji Yan’an shook his head. “We could do that for the adults, but we don’t have any children with us.”
Naturally, anyone they disguised would have to be one of their own, and they would need martial arts skills so they could escape afterward.
He tapped a finger lightly against the table.
“Since we can’t take them straight out of the prison, we’ll have to approach this from another angle.”
“Isn’t Yang Yan preparing for the imperial selection?”
The current emperor had no ability to speak of, but he was highly accomplished in lust and debauchery.
He made a grand production of the imperial selection held every three years. He chose not only eligible young women from officials’ families, but also beautiful commoners.
That was why every selection became such a massive affair.
For Ji Yan’an, however, this presented an opportunity.
The larger and grander the event, the easier it would be to sow chaos. The greater the chaos, the more trouble it would create, and the better his chances of getting his sisters out.
The group began discussing how they could throw the imperial palace into disorder.
Shen Qingzhu said, “Let’s find a way to drug that dog emperor and make him impotent. That would definitely cause an uproar.”
Song Jin said, “We could drug the candidates and make them break out in rashes or something. We’d practically be saving them.”
How many women did that dog emperor already have in his harem? How many women who entered that place ever met a good end?
Besides, those young women did not necessarily want to be selected.
Jiang Yunsui thought it was a fine idea.
“I’ll administer the poison.”
Ji Yan’an: …Why are you so enthusiastic about this?
Still, it truly was one possible approach.
Ji Yan’an said, “There’s also Princess Huiling to consider.”
As Ji Yan’an grew older, he understood more clearly that Yang Yan was no more than a fool.
Princess Huiling was the truly troublesome one.
Song Jin said, “That’s easy. I hear Princess Huiling has only one son and treasures him beyond measure, but the man himself is no decent sort.”
Precisely because he was her darling, Princess Huiling had spoiled her only son terribly.
She had raised him to be arrogant, lustful, and addicted to gambling, and a great deal of blood stained his hands.
A cold gleam flashed through Song Jin’s eyes. “Tell me, if something happened to her precious son, would she still be able to remain calm?”
Ji Yan’an said, “Princess Huiling’s son, Lu Jia, loves gambling and visits brothels more than anywhere else. He doesn’t get along with the Left Chancellor’s youngest son. There is also one secret no one else knows.
“Lu Jia was actually born from an affair between the Left Chancellor and Princess Huiling. The Left Chancellor treats Lu Jia very well and even takes his side when the two young men clash. That’s why his youngest son is jealous and can’t stand Lu Jia.”
Shen Qingzhu, Song Jin, and the others were all rather shocked.
“How did the Young Master learn this?”
Ji Yan’an calmly took a sip of tea.
“My cousin’s people uncovered it.”
The others understood at once.
His cousin had been Crown Prince Hehui, a man whose reputation they had all heard of.
Unfortunately, Heaven had been jealous of his gifts.
Who would have thought that even after his death, the crown prince could leave Ji Yan’an help for the future?
Once the plan was settled, Ji Yan’an and the others got busy.
Jiang Yunsui, meanwhile, made frequent trips to the Ministry of Justice. Each time, she brought food, water, and medicine to Ji Yan’an’s two sisters and their children.
While she was there, she also looked after the old man in the neighboring cell.
Perhaps because the old man wanted to keep receiving food, and because he knew the Ji Family, he kept their secret as well.
Gradually, she learned who the old man was.
He had once been an imperial physician, but no one knew how he had offended Princess Huiling and ended up imprisoned here by the Ministry of Justice.
He had been an old friend of Ji Yan’an’s eldest uncle, so the two families knew each other.
“Child.”
One day, as Jiang Yunsui was about to leave, the old man spoke for the first time. His voice was hoarse and grating.
All this time, he had merely eaten without uttering a word.
Jiang Yunsui looked at him. “Grandpa, is something wrong?”
The old man’s clouded eyes fixed on her.
“Tell Ji Yan’an that what lies beneath an old locust tree in Rongjia Village outside the city may be of help to him.”
After saying that, he leaned back against the wall, closed his eyes, and refused to speak again.
Jiang Yunsui’s eyes lit up. “All right. Thank you, Grandpa.”
She committed his words to memory, and when she returned, she found Ji Yan’an and told him.
Ji Yan’an paused. “His surname is Bai, and he was an imperial physician.”
Imperial physicians did indeed have many opportunities to learn hidden secrets.
But theirs was also a highly dangerous profession.
“Ji Yi, go find it.”
Ji Yi appeared and accepted the order, then quickly departed.