Chu Chu shook her head without hesitation. "Even if we die, our family will die together. I'm not afraid at all!"
Xiao Jin Yu was momentarily stunned, then gave a faint smile. "Don't worry... even if we die, it'll be after watching our children grow up and establish their own families. We won't die until we're both too old to move..."
Chu Chu nodded calmly, then continued examining the prison cell that had been scrubbed clean two years ago and remained extremely tidy. "I know you must have some scheme in mind when you forced the Emperor to imprison us here, but I haven't figured out what exactly it is yet."
Xiao Jin Yu smiled wryly in resignation. Every time his carefully considered plans came out of her mouth, they sounded as simple and playful as children's games.
Xiao Jin Yu carefully laid Qing Ping on the soft-bedded cot, pulling open the new silk quilt to wrap around the fragile little body before turning to Chu Chu who was still deep in thought. "Chu Chu... do you remember what Mr. Gu said about Xiao Jue?"
Chu Chu was taken aback, blurting out, "He said he woke up."
Xiao Jin Yu nearly choked on her response. "Not that part..."
"Hmm..." Chu Chu thought seriously for a moment. "I think he said he's very resilient - anyone else would have given up long ago."
Xiao Jin Yu nodded. "There was another half to that sentence."
"He's a military commander?"
Xiao Jin Yu silently breathed a sigh of relief. Chu Chu looked at his accomplished expression with confusion. "And then?"
"Then... my father was also a military commander." Xiao Jin Yu bowed his head looking at the ground as if trying to see through it. "Those who have fought long on the battlefield can endure more than ordinary people. They would never easily give up seeking survival until their last breath. Even knowing they must die, they would bite their enemy hard before death... Having endured half a year in prison, he definitely wouldn't just wait here idly. The evidence he exhausted his efforts to leave behind would never be something that could be easily washed away with a few buckets of water."
Only then did Chu Chu understand, feeling a sudden unease in her heart. He said it was a gamble, but she hadn't realized he was staking their lives on that father he'd never met. "Then... then why don't we just investigate this prison cell directly? Why did we have to have the Emperor imprison us here?"
"This is the Heavenly Prison..." Xiao Jin Yu slightly raised his head to look at the equally spotless ceiling. "Even Jing Yi could only sneak in to look from outside. To search inside the cells, we must first submit a memorial to the Emperor stating the reasons... Lying to the Emperor is treason, which would certainly mean a death sentence." Xiao Jin Yu lowered his voice slightly, coughing softly. "Besides, there were many eyes earlier - perhaps including people helping Grand Tutor Xue gather information. If he found out early, the evidence might never reach the Emperor."
The more Chu Chu thought about it, the more anxious she became. She couldn't help asking this man who still maintained his composure, "But... what if he really was just waiting here idly?"
"Then we'll go settle accounts with him together."
Just as Chu Chu was considering whether she should really find some incense to properly worship this father-in-law she'd never met, she suddenly heard faint moans from the bed. Looking over in alarm, she discovered Qing Ping's face had turned bluish-purple, breathing with difficulty but weakly. The thin little body convulsed from chest pain, small hands stretching helplessly toward her parents, but she was breathing too hard to cry out.Chu Chu's heart clenched instantly. In the past, whenever Qing Ping had an episode, it had always been suppressed with acupuncture. But where could they find a physician now!
Xiao Jin Yu hurriedly took out the small medicine vial that Gu He Nian had pressed into his hand at Six Strategies Yard. He poured out a fingernail-sized pill and said, "Give this to him."
Chu Chu broke the pill into small pieces and fed them into Qing Ping's mouth, coaxing him softly all the while. The medicine fragments lingered in Qing Ping's mouth for a long time before he managed to swallow them during brief pauses in his rapid panting. After several repetitions, only half the pill had been administered, yet Qing Ping already appeared to have exhausted all his strength. Beads of sweat covered his forehead, and though his breathing had slowed, it was as faint as a thread. His eyes were even half-closed.
"That's enough," Xiao Jin Yu slowly let out a breath and said gently, "Let him sleep for a while..."
Chu Chu looked as if she had just fought a fierce battle, her face drenched in sweat even more than Qing Ping's. Only when she saw Qing Ping drift into a deep sleep in her arms did her soul seem to return to her body. She reached out to take the medicine vial from Xiao Jin Yu, placed the remaining half of the pill back inside, and plugged the cap. As she handed it back to him, one of their hands trembled—it was unclear whose—and the vial fell to the ground, bouncing and rolling under the bed.
Seeing Xiao Jin Yu brace himself on the wheelchair armrests as if to rise, Chu Chu quickly laid Qing Ping back under the covers. "Wang Ye, don't move! I'll get it!"
Xiao Jin Yu shook his head, his brow slightly furrowed. "Help me up... There's something under the bed."
Chu Chu was taken aback. "Wh-what is it?"
Xiao Jin Yu replied softly, "It seems there's a stone slab with a hollow space beneath it."
☆ 126. Manhan Banquet (18)
Suddenly remembering the purpose for which Xiao Jin Yu had brought her into this prison cell, Chu Chu felt a surge of warmth in her heart. "You sit still. I'll check for you."
As she spoke, Chu Chu knelt down and nimbly crawled under the bed. She picked up the medicine vial and tucked it into her robe, then proceeded to tap each of the stone slabs around it, working from the inside out. When she tapped one particular slab, she suddenly exclaimed, "I found it!"
Though she managed to keep her voice low, she couldn't suppress the excitement in it. "It really is hollow underneath... But it looks just like the other slabs. I don't know how to open it."
Xiao Jin Yu glanced at the nearby stone slabs. "Do you have a hairpin with a sharp, hard tip?"
"Yes!"
Chu Chu pulled a silver hairpin from her hair and carefully scraped away the dirt filling the gaps along the edges of the slab. Finding a suitable spot, she inserted the sharp tip of the hairpin and pried hard. The seemingly tightly and securely laid stone slab lifted open at once.
Beneath the slab was a large hole. Reaching inside, Chu Chu felt around and pulled out a handful of tattered cloth strips.
Only after crawling out from under the bed did Chu Chu see clearly that each cloth strip was densely covered in characters written in blood.
Without stopping to examine them closely, Chu Chu hurriedly brought the cloth strips to Xiao Jin Yu. "Wang Ye, take a look quickly!"
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