Unfortunately, just as I parted from Lord Kaixuan, I encountered Second Sister in the corridors. She looked at me suspiciously: “What are you doing out here again?”
I replied: “I miss Father and Mother, and couldn’t sleep. Can’t Second Sister sleep either? Why don’t you accompany me for a walk in the courtyard?”
“I still have matters to handle. You can wander around by yourself first.” Second Sister still wore that troubled expression, though she spoke much more gently than before.
Watching her hurry away, I secretly climbed onto the roof tiles and headed in the direction of the heavenly prison. Ever since the spider demon incident, when I practiced my sky-ascending technique again, Father and Mother no longer stopped me. Now I could fly out of Zichao Palace much faster.
What I hadn’t expected was that when I reached the heavenly prison in the western part of the palace, I would once again see Second Sister’s back. She slipped into the prison like a wisp of smoke, and after half an hour, two jailers escorted her out. One of them said obsequiously, “Your Highness, please rest assured. Before tomorrow’s execution, we will extract the information.”
Second Sister said, “Keep a close watch on him. There must not be the slightest mishap.”
The two jailers responded with repeated assurances as they saw her off, then began whispering among themselves. I hid behind the treetop, eavesdropping on their conversation—
“Did you see? The Second Princess and His Highness Chenzhi have completely torn their faces apart. So it was His Highness Chenzhi who killed His Majesty. Ah, human hearts are truly terrifying…”
“Yes, now that His Majesty has become the late king, we Suzhao people can’t see the light of day, and we still have to be ruled by this young girl, the Second Princess. I’m afraid we won’t have good days for the next several decades.”
“Shh, what young girl? She’s about to become the new king. Be careful of walls having ears, or you might be assigned to sweep streets in a blink.”
“Between sweeping streets and guarding death row, I really can’t tell which is worse.”
“Speaking of death row, this is a case of capsizing in the gutter. Who would have thought that one day I’d be guarding His Highness Chenzhi here, and even have to help the Second Princess torture him severely? I don’t know what he was thinking. Clearly, in Suzhao, he already stood shoulder to shoulder with the two princesses, yet he still wanted to help the Heavenly Realm eliminate us. I suppose immortals are indeed naturally blessed.”
“Enough, someone like him is going to die tomorrow. Look at the torture instruments the Second Princess gave us – you probably haven’t even seen this kind of ice-thorn whip. When it hits the body, the flesh gets torn off in strips, and the thorns automatically dissolve into the blood and flesh. When a few are broken off, several new ones form, continuing to beat like this – it’s truly a fate worse than death. But in my opinion, Fu Chenzhi deserves it! He killed our king and queen. Come on, let’s go in and whip him until he confesses everything!”
I jumped down at the right moment and strode forward: “Hey, you two.”
“Ah, Little Princess.”
“Greetings, Little Princess.”
“Second Sister is worried about you two, so she sent me to personally interrogate Fu Chenzhi.” I extended my hand, “Give me the whip.”
“This…”
“This what?! Hand it over!” I scolded them, successfully intimidating the jailer into surrendering the whip. “Don’t follow me in, or if you overhear state secrets, ten heads wouldn’t be enough to chop off.”
Fortunately, Second Sister hadn’t inherited the throne yet, so they didn’t know who to listen to. With a little deception, I entered smoothly. It was near the end of the night watch, and the prison was deathly silent. Only the moonlight was like water, azure and boundless, streaming through the window frames and casting silver-white rectangular patches on the ground.
Finally, I saw Fu Chenzhi in the deepest part of the heavenly prison. This day, the Tianying Star was particularly brilliant, shining alongside myriad radiances, coldly and spilling over his body. He sat slumped in the corner, his hands and feet bound by thousand-gold iron chains. His robe had hundreds of tears, and the exposed skin already bore traces of severe beatings. Hearing footsteps, he showed no reaction.
I gripped the bars and called: “Brother…”
He suddenly raised his head, looking at me in shock. There was still a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, but no matter how disheveled he appeared, he always emanated an aura of cold night fragrance: “Weiwei… why are you…”
I looked behind me, then quickly used the key to open the cell door, crouching down to face him, completely at a loss: “Aren’t you going to explain anything? Are you just going to wait here to die?”
He smiled: “I already explained, but no one believed me.”
“You’re an immortal with profound magical powers – you can escape!”
“No, if I escaped, it would prove I truly had guilty intentions. Then, you would also be disappointed in me.”
I was nearly driven mad by his way of thinking: “Is my disappointment more important than your life? Even if you’re an immortal, you don’t have nine lives. You’re throwing a tantrum at your reflection, making things difficult for yourself.”
He smiled gently again, but only answered with one word: “Yes.”
“Crazy, crazy, you’re truly crazy!” I grabbed his hand and said seriously, “I believe you. No matter what you say, I believe you. So, if you encounter the same situation in the future, don’t consider what I might think – run first, understand?”
Fu Chenzhi was stunned, staring at me without blinking. I knew my royal brother’s heart was already moved to tumultuous waves, and I couldn’t help but feel capable, sighing: “Why didn’t you tell us earlier that you were an immortal?”
“To tell the truth, I only discovered it after meeting my current master. That was the first time I left Suzhao, and he told me that my birth parents had erased my memories and abandoned me in Jiuzhou – there must have been some reason. Until I uncover the truth, I cannot reveal my identity.”
“Who exactly is your master?”
“He holds a very high position. I cannot say.”
I probed: “Could he be an Immortal Lord?”
Fu Chenzhi shook his head silently. I said: “Could he be an Immortal Venerable? That can’t be so formidable.”
He still shook his head.
“This… going higher would be a god, which is impossible.” Seeing Fu Chenzhi remain silent, I was surprised for a moment, then waved my hand: “Don’t tease me, I don’t believe it.”
He still gave no answer. Time was running short, so I didn’t intend to continue asking. I went to the door to confirm no one was coming, then used the key to unlock Fu Chenzhi’s hand and leg shackles.
Those two guards had fallen asleep. I was about to open the cell when he stopped my hand: “Don’t. You won’t be able to clean this up.”
“It’s better than you dying!”
“But…”
“But what but – if you keep ‘but’-ing, you’ll die. If you die, I’ll be very sad. Would you be willing to see that? Don’t be wishy-washy.” I pushed away his hand and quickly unlocked the door. At the location Lord Kaixuan had indicated, I knocked a few times and indeed found a tunnel.
After escaping the cell, it was already the chou hour, and there was still no news from Lord Kaixuan. It seemed Second Sister was determined to execute Fu Chenzhi. I sighed: “It looks like you really can’t continue staying in Suzhao. Run quickly.”
But he remained motionless: “Weiwei.”
“Yes?”
“Come with me.”
“I can’t. I’m Father’s daughter – I cannot leave Suzhao.” Seeing him remain silent for a long time, I became frantic with worry: “Stop being willful. I can’t possibly go with you. Hurry up – if you’re late, you won’t be able to escape.”
Fu Chenzhi said, “I will return. Someday, I will become very powerful, return to Suzhao, and prove my innocence.”
I smiled: “Good! This is my brother!”