Chapter 314: Who are you calling a lackey!

"Drip."

"Drip."

The clear, cold, incessant dripping sound pierced the heavy darkness, beat after beat striking the dazed eardrums, utterly shattering the boundless, endless deep sleep.

The first to awaken were the senses, yet the first to suffer was the flesh.

In his mind lay chaos; his limbs felt as if trampled by hundreds of cattle, his whole body sore and weak, even lifting a finger felt exhausting.

Liu Ji slowly lifted his heavy eyelids; before his eyes faintly lingered the last fragmented image before his coma—

The desolate, bleak mountain ancient road, a sky-filling barrage of poisoned drugged crossbow bolts, and the messengers' suddenly icy cold smiles.

A few days earlier, he had still been the magistrate who held two cities and controlled a region, acting freely and at ease, wielding real power.

But now...

But now...

He twitched his fingertips, feeling only rough, prickly straw beneath him—clearly old straw—and a lingering stench of damp earth and moldy grass filled his nose.

Liu Ji came from humble origins; the stench was bearable, but the ever-present chill and dampness clinging to his surroundings and body was hard to withstand.

That chill clung like a shadow, seeping bit by bit into his clothes, then creeping up along his flesh, wrapping around him as if determined to drag him underground and never let go.

By rights, at this very moment, crying out for help twice would not be excessive.

Yet the surroundings were deathly silent, utterly devoid of any human sound, save for the incessant, monotonous dripping of water that grated on his ears.

In the silence, faint scurrying squeaks came from not far away, intermittent but unmistakable— the noises of rats, like him, imprisoned in the dungeon.

Exactly.

He had been a magistrate just days ago, yet now he was not only a prisoner in chains...

Moreover, this prison seemed to hold only him as its inmate.

He could rely only on himself.

Liu Ji let out a sigh in his heart, slowly rolled his eyes, trying to adjust to the dim light and observe his surroundings.

The dungeon's four walls were solid, cold blue stone, the surfaces damp and mottled, streaked with water stains of varying depth and patches of moss.

At the far end of the high wall was set a small stone window half a foot square, its opening narrow and cramped, set high near the top of the wall.

Only a faint, thin daylight filtered through the window's cracks, barely managing to cast a small dim patch of light on the dungeon floor.

That sliver of daylight was weak and gentle, the sort of ordinary sunlight ordinary people see every day.

Now reduced to a prisoner, even a single strand of complete sunlight had become an unattainable luxury.

He closed his eyes to steady the lingering dizziness, forcefully shook off the lingering haze, and tried to prop up his sore body to sit up and see his surroundings clearly.

But when he finally exerted his right arm, barely lifting his upper body half an inch, he discovered that what his mind intended and what his body could do were entirely different matters.

His back lifted no more than an arm's length from the straw beneath him, and that familiar wave of sore weakness surged back, locking his sinews, bones, and strength in place.

The next instant, his body went limp; he could no longer support himself and crashed heavily back onto the thick straw heap, straw fragments flying up with a puff of musty odor, making him feel ever more suffocated.

Feelings of defeat and frustration surged instantly in his chest.

Liu Ji stared at the black stone ceiling above, a low curse muttered from his throat, his voice hoarse and dry, tinged with lingering weakness, as he muttered to himself:

"Surely a lackey raised by a woman, unfit for the table, dare to strike from the shadows!"

"If we faced each other head-on, with those three messengers' abilities, I would have cut them down from their horses long ago!"

Though he had wandered the streets and camped in the wilds since youth, and though poverty once drove him to petty theft like stealing chickens and dogs, he had never committed a major crime.

Even his turning to banditry stemmed only from accidentally killing an officer who had been oppressing the people.

Later, after seizing the two cities, he relied on brothers and skill; his clashes were always open and aboveboard, never suffering such a stifling loss!

This defeat, if it were due to his inferior skill or inability to convince others by force, would be acceptable...

But instead, it was clearly the opponent's unscrupulous tactics, using poisonous drugs for a sneak attack, a victory not won by martial prowess!

He spat out these words harshly, full of resentment and indignation.

After all, he considered his martial ability, courage, and strategy no worse than anyone else's; as a respected regional leader, he ended up being captured by a scheme— something anyone would find hard to accept...

Naturally, he took the chance, with no one around, to vent his feelings freely!

However, however...

The dungeon was dead silent, only the dripping of water.

In the dungeon's depths, where no answer should have come, at the very moment his words fell, a low, soft laugh suddenly echoed from the darkness.

That laugh was not affected or coy, lacking a woman's soft, sugary sweetness; instead it was clear and calm, carrying a hint of teasing and lucidity, brushing lightly over the dim dungeon space and landing clearly in Liu Ji's ears, abrupt and startling.

Who?!

Liu Ji's mind and body jolted tight, his lingering drowsiness and weakness instantly fading by half.

He was utterly powerless now, trapped in dire straits, having believed he was the sole occupant of this cell, never expecting someone else to have been hiding in the darkness all along.

He jerked his head sideways, eyes sharp, staring fixedly toward the direction from which the laughter came.

The darkness was like water, the shadows thick.

Everything was shrouded within, no outline discernible.

Until, a slender, upright figure broke through the heavy gloom, stepping slowly out of the boundless damp chill.

The newcomer appeared no older than twenty, in the prime of youth.

She wore a plain-colored silk dress, unadorned with elaborate patterns, yet could not conceal her graceful, tall figure and her unhurried, composed gait.

Each step landed steady, neither hurried nor delayed, naturally bearing the composed aura of one long accustomed to high station.

Her brows and eyes were relaxed and gentle, the corners of her mouth touched with a smile.

Yet upon closer look, one would see a different sharpness hidden in her eyes; when she smiled, her brows and eyes curved like a fox lying in wait, appearing harmless but actually sly and perceptive, her thoughts unfathomable.

Most oppressive of all was the natural, innate aura that surrounded her.

She surveyed him with her gaze...

She naturally bore an aloof, superior detachment and scrutiny, like a bystander sizing up prey in her palm—indifferent, calm, wholly under control.

No need for many words, no need for proof.

This person is absolutely the one the messenger spoke of earlier—

She who overthrew the old Zhoufu, seized all of Yongzhou, the orphan of the deposed crown prince, and the princess who commands a prefecture's food stipend!

Du Shanü did not draw near, standing silently a few paces away at the edge of light and shadow; faint daylight fell on half her face, light and dark interlaced, lending her an inscrutable gloom.

A faint smile lingered in her eyes as her gaze calmly fell on Liu Ji, lying in the straw heap, sizing up this defeated, captured officer reduced to a common prisoner, the Hengcheng county magistrate……

Hmm, sure enough, as Guai Nunu said, the collar is open to the navel.

Thinking this, Du Shanü's smile at the corners of her lips remained unchanged, she asked with interest:

"Magistrate Liu, I've long heard your great name, but I didn't expect your temper to be so fierce......"

"I don't know whom you're calling a 'female lackey'?"

?? Yesterday I slacked off, today chapter two will be half an hour late~ Right? ~