Chapter 95: Rich Father and Son"s Complex Love Affairs
Xiao Wei stood guard behind Yu Xiaoxiao as soon as they descended the wall. "Princess," he said in a small voice, "The situation is unclear. It"s better if we don"t go in."
Xiao Zhuang was also guarding the rear as he added, "Princess, Xiao Wei has a good brain. Let"s listen to him."
Yu Xiaoxiao said, "This place is different from what I imagined. Let"s look around."
My Lord Grandfather in Heaven!
Xiao Wei and Xiao Zhuang both sighed. Their princess had actually tried to imagine what the justice courts looked like? Just how bored were her days to do such a thing, ah!
"Where are the imperial prisons?" Yu Xiaoxiao asked Xiao Wei. "Lead the way." If the jails of this world were like flower gardens too, then how could she, a denizen of the apocalypse, stand the fact that prisoners lived in such places?!
—
Currently in the prisons, Zhao Beicheng stared at the men standing in front of him before spitting up a mouthful of blood. "You aren"t Zhuri men," he said.
The leader of the black robed figures said, "Eldest Young Master Zhao, you"re facing imminent death. Why not hurry up and be on your way?" Despite his Zhuri accent, he sounded like he was trying too hard. Zhao Beicheng had his back against a wall as he slowly sat upright. Despite all his shouts and yells, no one on guard in the prisons had come to see him once. It was as if this was a ghost town. Would the Zhuri men have taken the pains to kill all of the yamen attendants here before eliminating him?
Zhao Beicheng said, "I want to know why I"m dying. Who sent you all?"
The leader of the a.s.sa.s.sins had concealed his face with a black cloth, but his eyes showed sympathy for Zhao Beicheng. "Eldest young master can"t figure it out yourself?"
They had strutted and swaggered their way into the cells unimpeded. It was clear someone had let them in on purpose, but all the men at the justice courts were under his father. They wouldn"t act in league with others to hurt him, so the only person they were following had to be his own father. Zhao Beicheng gave out a bitter laugh. Yes, he could figure it out, but he didn"t want to believe it.
The leader said, "We were stopped briefly when we entered, but those men are already on their way to the Yellow Springs. Eldest young master can keep them company when you go."
"Why?" Zhao Beicheng muttered to himself.
"We"re only following orders," the leader replied. "You shouldn"t be asking that question to me, eldest young master."
Zhao Beicheng saw the men advance towards him with swords in hand and shut his eyes. Although he wasn"t chained or fettered, he still bore wounds from his punishment and couldn"t fight back. Before he died, Zhao Beicheng recalled his twenty some years as the unextraordinary eldest son of the first wife in the Zhao Estate. The Zhao Clan had strived with their best over the past dozen years, but he was nothing but a useless good-for-nothing who lived under his father"s wing. He only earned his military merits by stealing them and ruining others. What a ma.s.sive joke, he thought to himself.
As the leader reached Zhao Beicheng, he tightened his grip on his sword.
Abruptly, Zhao Beicheng spoke up. "What good will my death bring him?"
No one could answer his question.
"Eldest Young Master Zhao, apologies. The prime minister has his orders, so this humble one has no choice but to obey." the leader said before stabbing forward with his blade.
"Prime Minister Zhao won"t even spare his own son?!"
Seconds before the leader could stab through Zhao Beicheng"s throat, an exclamation rose from outside the prisons. Zhao Beicheng opened his eyes and looked out, along with the other men. There, Xiao Zhuang was pointing at them as he cried, "Princess, they"re the ones!"
Xiao Wei stepped forward to clear a path. "Who are you people?"
The leader"s hand had trembled as soon as Xiao Zhuang said "princess," and turned to hack with his sword at Zhao Beicheng. Yu Xiaoxiao lifted her foot and kicked at the iron jail cell bars.
CLANG!
"Ah–!"
"Aiiyeee!"
Wretched cries mixed with the clatter of the bars falling to the ground, sending echoes throughout the third underground floor of the imperial prisons. Zhao Beicheng stared blankly as Yu Xiaoxiao and her guards walked in front of him. Why did the world turn upside down every time he saw this girl?
Yu Xiaoxiao stepped on the head a.s.sa.s.sin"s back between the iron bars on his body, one hand still holding a fried radish ball. "Does your father not want you anymore?" she asked Zhao Beicheng.
Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei weren"t in a rush to tie up the black-robed men who looked half-dead already. Instead, they took up position flanking Yu Xiaoxiao.
Xiao Zhuang said, "Princess, why would Zhuri men help Prime Minister Zhao a.s.sa.s.sinate Zhao Beicheng?"
Yu Xiaoxiao didn"t understand, either. "I don"t know. Let"s go ask Jing Mo about it." Speaking of which, why did he have a falling out with Zhao Qiuming? It was one of the many unanswered mysteries in Her Royal Highness"s head.
Amongst the trio, only Xiao Wei had a capable head on his shoulders. He knelt down to carefully examined the unconscious black-robed man and said, "Princess, I can"t tell what country he"s from."
Yu Xiaoxiao crouched in front of Zhao Beicheng and said, "Why does your father want to kill you, ah?"
Zhao Beicheng"s gaze was frozen.
Yu Xiaoxiao waved her hand in front of his face. "Lost your wits?"
Zhao Beicheng still didn"t react.
Xiao Zhuang crouched down as well and guess, "Has he been frightened out of his mind?"
Without a word, Yu Xiaoxiao slapped Zhao Beicheng upside the face. The loud pah seemed to make the man"s cheek swelled up instantly, causing Xiao Zhuang to touch his own face in sympathy. Worried, he asked Zhao Beicheng, "Are you alright?"
One slap from his princess was capable of toppling an entire building. What if Zhao Beicheng died not from the a.s.sa.s.sin, but his princess"s slap instead?!
After spitting up a mouthful of blood mixed with saliva, Zhao Beicheng"s eyes finally moved. He looked at Yu Xiaoxiao and said between gnashed teeth, "Your Royal Highness."
Yu Xiaoxiao said, "Your big sis didn"t want her son and your father doesn"t want his either. Does your Zhao Clan have a tradition of abandoning sons?"
Zhao Beicheng glared at her wordlessly.
Yu Xiaoxiao munched on her radish ball before her brain filled in the plotholes on its own. "Or did your father discover that you weren"t his son after all?" Drillmaster Yu had heard stories of rich and powerful families where the elder killed sons because they weren"t his own flesh and blood.
Now even Xiao Wei was staring at Zhao Beicheng. We found out something so shocking from a single trip to the imperial prisons?
Zhao Beicheng"s swollen cheek twitched as he roared, "Don"t you slander my mother!"
Yu Xiaoxiao slapped his other cheek and said, "Talk nicely."
Xiao Zhuang and Xiao Wei stared. Look at that, now Eldest Young Master Zhao"s face is equally swollen on both sides.
Zhao Beicheng knew he couldn"t beat Yu Xiaoxiao in a fight, but he dearly wanted to throw himself forward and bite that wretch to death. "Isn"t it all because of Your Royal Highness that I ended up like this in the first place?!"