Chapter 255: Convicted and Imprisoned (3)

If she hadn't died in the Heavenly Prison after the truth was investigated, he would be interested in playing with this little cat with sharp teeth and claws.

Three long shadows walked one after another on the gloomy palace path. It was past midnight, and the already quiet inner palace was even colder and more terrifying at this time. Apart from the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves, they could even hear each other's breathing. Ming Ze frowned slightly. With his martial arts cultivation, it was not difficult to hear that the woman walking in front had rapid and chaotic breathing. Looking at her unsteady footsteps and her gradually hunched shoulders and back, Ming Ze concluded that there was something wrong with her.

Sure enough, as he expected, Qingfeng stopped suddenly after walking only a few steps, leaning one hand against the palace wall and slowly squatting down halfway. It was already late, and the guard who was escorting Qingfeng with Ming Ze stepped forward impatiently, kicked Qingfeng, who was squatting on the ground, and scolded coldly, "Walk faster, don't play dead!"

The guard's force wasn't too great, but Qingfeng tilted her whole body and fell to the ground, unable to stand up for a long time. Just as the guard was about to kick her a second time, Ming Ze stepped forward and squatted down beside her. He saw that her face was pale, her lips were white, and her heavy breathing was becoming shorter and shorter. The thin sweat on her forehead had soaked the hair on her forehead. Ming Ze's brows furrowed together. Her appearance definitely didn't look like ordinary physical discomfort, but given her current situation and status, she was not qualified to ask for an imperial physician to treat her.

The guard behind urged in a low voice. Ming Ze grabbed Qingfeng's arm and used his strength to pull her up from the ground.

After her eldest sister left the palace safely, Qingfeng's hanging heart finally let go. Only when she relaxed did she feel that the tightness and pain in her chest had reached a point she could hardly bear. Forcing herself to leave the palace had used up all her strength. Her parched lips and her throat, which felt as if it were burning, made her wish she could just faint away, so that the pain would no longer torture her. Unfortunately, God did not pity her; even though she was trembling all over from the pain, her mind remained clear.

Her arm was suddenly gripped tightly. The fierce strength made Qingfeng come back to her senses. Looking up, she saw those eyes again, which were always cold but occasionally revealed a trace of compassion. It was him? That guard.

He was still standing with his back to the moonlight, and Qingfeng still couldn't see his face clearly, and she was in no mood to observe others at the moment. Although she stood up, she could only lean on the palace wall to barely stand. A very low sigh sounded in her ears, and the guard suddenly reached out and grabbed the back of her collar, pushing her forward. To others, it looked like she was being carried by the guard, but in fact, his other hand was always firmly supporting her shoulder, helping her move forward.

Qingfeng was a little surprised. Why was he helping her?

Looking at those cold eyes, he didn't meet her gaze, still silently looking straight ahead. Qingfeng wanted to ask his name, but because there were others behind her, Qingfeng was afraid of causing him trouble, so she didn't ask.

With Ming Ze's secret support, Qingfeng barely managed to keep walking forward. The three of them walked for half the time it takes to burn an incense stick and finally stopped in front of a large stone-built house. It was very dark all around, and Qingfeng didn't know where this was in the palace.

Two small guards in green stood in front of the door. After seeing that it was Ming Ze and the others, they asked a few simple questions and let them in.

Behind the stone door was just a large open room with two torches lit inside, and the light was even dimmer than outside. In the center of the room, a man was sitting there brazenly. The other guard who escorted Qingfeng hurriedly went up to meet him and smiled, "Official Zhang, you are on duty tonight."

Zhang Chenyang turned his head, his eyes sweeping over the guard who came up to greet him, and landed directly on the woman Ming Ze was carrying. The woman was dressed as a palace maid, her face as pale as paper, and under the reflection of the torchlight, two deep scars were hideous and terrifying. Zhang Chenyang asked cautiously, "Who is she? Why is she being sent to the Heavenly Prison?" If she were an ordinary palace maid, she would naturally be sent by eunuchs and nannies, but this woman was sent by the Imperial Guards, so he had to be careful in his questioning. The Heavenly Prison was not like other places.

The guard hurriedly stepped forward and replied with a smile, "She is a woman sent from Haoyue. It is said that the Emperor wanted the eldest daughter of the Qing family, Qing Ling, but she is the impostor, the second daughter of the Qing family, Qingfeng. The Emperor has already sent someone to Haoyue to verify this. She is to be locked in the Heavenly Prison first. If this matter is true, she is a dead person."

"So that's how it is." Zhang Chenyang nodded knowingly, having an idea in his heart. This woman's appearance was ruined, and she was a criminal. Even if she didn't die in the end, she would have no chance to climb up. Without a beautiful face in the harem, she would have no qualifications to compete for favor. Zhang Chenyang called out loudly, "Someone, lock her in the dark room."

Ming Ze's brows furrowed slightly. The Heavenly Prison was different from the Ministry of Justice prison; it was directly managed by the Emperor and the two Empress Dowagers. In the palace, from concubines to servants, anyone who made a mistake could be sent to the Heavenly Prison. Some would come out in a day or two, while others would be locked up until they died, which was why Zhang Chenyang was in such a hurry to ask. The dark room was the most gloomy prison in the Heavenly Prison. Zhang Chenyang locked her there, which showed that in his heart, she was someone who had no chance of turning things around.

"Yes." Two green-clad jailers stepped forward, one on the left and one on the right, and hoisted Qingfeng up, dragging her toward the deepest cell without the slightest pity.

At this moment, Qingfeng was weak all over and could only let them drag her forward. Ming Ze slowly withdrew his gaze and turned to leave the Heavenly Prison. With such a weak body and in the gloomy and ruthless Heavenly Prison, perhaps he would never see her again.

The jailers didn't have Ming Ze's tenderness toward women. The two dragged Qingfeng to the very last cell, pulled open the cell door, and pushed her in. Qingfeng stumbled and fell to the ground. A loud "bang" came from behind, and the cell door closed heavily.

Qingfeng lay on the cold ground, motionless. The pain in her palms and knees didn't count for much to her at this moment, and the cold ground even made her hot chest feel a little more comfortable.

Lying quietly against the ground, Qingfeng could feel her body becoming cold bit by bit. Her pale lips curled into a very faint smile. Perhaps? She would die in this prison. It was fine to die; she could be reunited with her parents. Her eldest sister and younger sister were both alive, so she could be considered to have fulfilled her duty to her parents.

Just as Qingfeng wearily closed her eyes, a hand as cold as ice suddenly gripped her ankle tightly.

"Ah—!"

"Ah—" A hand as cold as ice suddenly gripped her ankle tightly and dragged her backward. The strength was as if it wanted to drag her into the deeper darkness, into hell. Deep terror made Qingfeng scream, forgetting the pain in her chest, and she struggled to crawl up from the ground.

"Let go of me!" The more Qingfeng struggled, the harder the hand gripping her ankle pulled. It felt as if the fingernails were about to poke into her flesh. She couldn't feel the pain, only being enveloped by boundless fear, screaming while kicking wildly in the direction of that hand. Qingfeng felt that she had kicked the hand dragging her many times. She had clearly used all her strength, but the hand was still like an iron pincer, grabbing her and not letting go, dragging her backward bit by bit.

"Come over, come over quickly!" The call coming from the darkness was not as deep and hoarse as Qingfeng had imagined; it was a woman's voice, carrying heavy breathing and madness.

Perhaps it was fear that gave her strength. Qingfeng grabbed the cracks in the stone bricks on the ground and crawled forward with all her might. The sound of her fingernails scratching on the stone bricks was particularly harsh. Just when Qingfeng's fingers were almost numb and about to give out, she suddenly felt a chill on her foot. Her shoes and socks were pulled off by force. The force on her foot loosened, and Qingfeng immediately fell forward fiercely.

"Come over quickly! Someone wants to kill you! Quick!" The urgent and irritable roar made Qingfeng look back. She saw a pair of waving hands in the dark cell, as if they were about to pounce on her at any time, which terrified Qingfeng into screaming again. She didn't know how big this prison was, nor did she know how many people were hiding in the darkness of this cell, watching her. She just instinctively shrank back until her back was pressed tightly against the cold stone wall, with nowhere to retreat.

"Come over—" This roar was hoarse and exhausted. Qingfeng covered her ears tightly. She was afraid of hearing such a roar, as if that terrifying person was very, very close to her and could tear her apart at any time.

"What are you making noise for? Don't you want to live?" With a loud bang, like the sound of a foot kicking against a heavy cell door, after a rough roar came from outside the door, the hands in the darkness suddenly retracted and disappeared into the darkness.

For a long time, those hands did not appear again. Qingfeng slowly lowered her hands and listened carefully. The cell was so quiet that she could almost hear the faint sound of the wind blowing the flames outside the cell door, and that ghostly woman's voice disappeared without a trace.

Was it just her hallucination just now? Impossible. The pain in her right foot reminded her that everything just now was not a hallucination, and her shoes and socks were clearly pulled off by that person. There must be someone else in this cell. Qingfeng took a deep breath, clenched her hands into fists, and dug her fingernails deep into her palms, hoping that this pain would calm her heart, which was pounding from fear. Her body moved forward slightly, and Qingfeng squinted, hoping to see the scene in front of her clearly. Unfortunately, the only small window in the cell was only the size of a palm, and the moonlight couldn't penetrate at all. No matter how hard she tried, it was still pitch black in front of her.

She couldn't see anyone or hear any sound, but Qingfeng could feel a pair of gloomy eyes always hiding in the dark, staring at her fixedly. She was like prey, and that person could pounce on her and bite her at any time. Leaning against the cold stone wall again, Qingfeng felt cold all over, and the tightness in her chest made her unable to breathe. Hugging her legs and curling up in the corner of the wall, Qingfeng thought she would definitely stay awake all night in fear. In the end, she was still overwhelmed by the suffering and pain she had endured for the past two days and nights, and she wearily softened in the dark and cold cell. As Qingfeng's breathing gradually stabilized and she fell completely asleep, that terrifying black shadow slowly approached her?

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 256 =====