Chapter 2
The moment I finished speaking, countless scenes flashed before my eyes.
The fiancé I had risked everything to save watched me without a trace of feeling, his face brutally cold.
“Your father and brother were great generals who defended the realm. I’ve already taken possession of your family’s marvelous weapons and battle maps.
“As for you, you’re of no further use.”
My hands and feet were bound. The cousin he loved raised a dagger, her face twisted with poisonous malice.
“Once I’ve ruined that pretty face, you won’t be seducing anyone again.”
She sliced into my flesh over and over, then severed the tendons in my wrists and ankles.
I writhed on the floor in agony, clutching my throat, unable even to scream.
She had cut out my tongue first. They locked me in the lowest of brothels.
Countless fat, ugly, coarse bodies pressed down on me, reeking of sickening odors.
I could neither live nor die.
A violent shudder tore through me. I jolted back to the present, cold to the marrow.
At the same time, the Fortune score above my head slowly slipped from 60 to 59.
The drop struck my heart like a heavy hammer.
Invisible cords seemed to wind around my body, slowly turning me into a puppet on a stage, to be pulled and posed by others.
Was this what the comments meant? If my Fortune fell to 0, would I lose all power to resist the plot?
No. I couldn’t let that happen!
That could not be my future.
In the hall of his residence, Lu Hemian stepped in front of me, his dark expression unreadable.
“You want to save him?”
“No, I—”
The revelations had left my thoughts in chaos. I hadn’t yet decided what to do.
Lu Hemian continued before I could.
“Releasing him is out of the question.
“But I could take you into the imperial prison to see what a wretched state he’s in.”
His smile was barely a smile.
“I never make a losing bargain, though.”
“Perhaps you should think about what you’ll offer me once I’ve taken you in and brought you back out, Miss Jiang.”
The imperial prison was cold and cavernous, surrounded by impregnable metal walls. Chains and wooden frames stood everywhere.
The damp stench of mold mingled with the smell of blood, turning my stomach.
Lu Hemian glanced aside.
“Don’t touch that torture frame. They flayed a spy on it the day before yesterday.”
I froze.
He chuckled, tapped the stone wall with the tip of his foot, his robe sweeping past a torch.
With an arm around my waist, he carried me in a few light leaps to the deepest dungeon.
“He’s one of Prince An’s trusted men. The old fellow changed the guards especially to keep everyone else away.”
Lu Hemian lifted an eyebrow. “And they’re putting on a live erotic show.”
Perched on a roof beam, I looked down into the dark cell, not understanding.
Then a cloyingly sweet gasp drifted up from below.
“Ze… be gentler… ah!”
My blood froze.
In the dim light, I saw my fiancé, Lin Ze, pinning his cousin Chen Yanyan against a rack of torture instruments.
Chen Yanyan’s pale skin was half exposed. Her red-painted fingers clutched Lin Ze’s back.
The jade pendant at her throat swung back and forth as she spoke in a melting little voice.
“After you were imprisoned, Sister Jiang shut herself away. She didn’t seem the slightest bit upset. If anything, she looked eager to cut all ties with you.”
“Nothing like me. I begged His Highness Prince An to let me see you. I’d even stay in prison just to be with you.”
Lin Ze panted.
“You’re the one who truly cares for me, Yan’er.”
“Once I’ve married her and shut her in the women’s quarters, what could she possibly do?”
“After the wedding, I’ll make you a wife of equal standing.”
Nausea rolled through me. I covered my mouth, almost vomiting.
I gripped a chain hanging from the beam so tightly that it cut into my palm.
Without my noticing, a pearl hairpin slipped from my hair.
It struck the floor with a bright clink.
Lin Ze looked up sharply.
“Who’s there?”
My heart lurched.
Lin Ze pulled away, picked up the hairpin, and raised his head.
“Zhiqing? Is that you?”
I jumped down from the beam and slowly walked toward them.
Chen Yanyan gave a startled cry at the sight of me. She shrank into Lin Ze’s arms, frantically pulling her clothes into place.
Each filthy word of theirs that reached my ears seemed to taint me.
My Fortune was falling several times faster than before. It had already dropped to 49.
My heart clenched. My body had grown stiffer still, and I could feel the first signs of it slipping beyond my control.
Was this what happened when my Fortune fell too low?
No. I couldn’t let it fall any further!
I forced down the nausea churning inside me.
Taking several steps away from the vile pair, I spoke coldly.
“Rather than worry about me, my lord, you should worry about yourself.”
“Carrying on like this in his prison—do you think Lu Hemian is blind?”
Lin Ze was utterly confident.
“Lu Hemian isn’t here today. These are all Prince An’s men. Who would dare inform on us?”
A moment later, Lu Hemian dropped from the beam. He stood tall before Lin Ze, a smile on his thin lips.
“Your eyes could do with further treatment, it seems.”
Lin Ze gaped.
“You—why are you here?”
It had never occurred to him that Lu Hemian and I had come together.
Lu Hemian flicked his sleeve, his manner careless.
“We were too gentle during your interrogation the other day. You’ve mistaken my prison for a pleasure house.”
“Guards. Put him to torture.”
Lin Ze was bound to the frame again. His howls rang out behind us.
“You wouldn’t dare! Prince An won’t let you get away with this!”
Lu Hemian scoffed.
“How many breaths do you think you’ll have left by the time he comes?”
He cast a disgusted glance at Chen Yanyan.
“Since she’s so fond of serving men, send her to the Court Entertainment Bureau.”
Chen Yanyan’s weeping joined the screams.
“Let me go!”
But Lu Hemian had already slipped out.
He tossed Prince An’s planted spies into the torture chamber along the way, then took me out of the imperial prison without a sound.