As soon as Rong Yi woke up, Fu Chengfeng was no longer by her side. The door was closed, breakfast was served on the table, and a piece of paper was pressed under a teacup.
"There's food and water on the table. It's dangerous outside, so don't run around.
—Fu Chengfeng."
Rong Yi rolled her eyes. Of course, she knew there was food and water on the table. Wasn't that obvious? As for it being dangerous outside and asking her not to run around, did he think she would listen?
Nonsense. All of these were nonsense.
Did this guy even know how to leave a note properly?
The main things a note should include were—where he was going and when he would be back—if he was leaving without saying goodbye, that was a different story.
If he was going to leave such a short note, he might as well not have left one at all.
Rong Yi crumpled the note into a ball and raised her hand to throw it out the window. But her hand stopped in mid-air. She hesitated for a moment before finally laying the note flat again and smoothing it out. She then folded it neatly and placed it inside her pouch.
After freshening herself up, Rong Yi simply finished her breakfast and strutted out the door.
Where should she go?
Rong Yi stood at the front door, looking at the three roads in front of her, and pondered for a moment before finally deciding to go to the brothel. Asking Yun Si Niang would be quick and accurate and cost her nothing. This would also save her a lot of trouble. Rong Yi once again thanked her mother for laying a good foundation for her in the jianghu1.
When Rong Yi leisurely reached the brothel run by Yun Si Niang, she found petty officials putting a seal on its entrance.
"Sir, what happened to this brothel, and why was it sealed up?" Rong Yi asked one of the petty officials.
The man replied without even looking at Rong Yi as he continued putting up the seal, "This brothel has sheltered a criminal wanted by the Imperial Court."
"Which criminal?" Rong Yi asked, feeling puzzled.
"There is a notice at the entrance of the city. You can go there and read it yourself." There was a hint of impatience in the petty official's tone.
Rong Yi hastily said, "Okay, I will go there and read it myself. But I still have one more question: has the owner of this brothel been taken to prison?"
"The owner fled last night, and the Imperial Court is currently looking for her."
After Rong Yi heard the man's answer, she thanked him and walked towards the city gate. The place was jam-packed with people being searched at entry and exit, and the exit queue stretched all the way into the city centre. There were many people gathered around the city wall. Rong Yi guessed the notice was posted there, so she hurriedly went over. She took full advantage of her small size to weave her way through the crowd and soon arrived at the innermost part.
First, Rong Yi glanced at the portrait of the wanted person on the notice and thought it looked familiar. Then she read it carefully. "By order of Heaven, the Emperor has decreed that the wanted criminal Rong Yi has committed the serious crime of murder and is therefore entitled to a reward of 100 taels of silver...... What?" Rong Yi exclaimed and then said, "What the hell?! I'm the wanted criminal?! And the Emperor even decreed following the Mandate from Heaven?! Did the person who wrote this ever submit it to the Emperor? Is the jade seal on this notice even genuine? My name is even being painted in such an ugly way as that of a wanted criminal! Even though my name has become so disgraceful, unexpectedly, they only offered a reward of 100 taels for my arrest. Am I only worth a hundred taels? The bullying has gone too far, really too far! No, this person should be punished severely for deceiving the Emperor!"
Rong Yi's words were spoken in a fiery and aggressive manner. While the onlookers were horrified to hear them.
After a few seconds of silence, the crowd shouted, "The criminal is here, the criminal is here!"
Rong Yi retreated in haste until she was pinned against the wall and could no longer back away. Then she threatened, "Don't do anything rash. I am a criminal wanted by the Imperial Court, worth a hundred taels of silver. You can't afford to pay for any damage to me."
At these words, the crowd stopped attacking and looked at each other with one thought in mind: This girl is a fool, isn't she?
At the same time, a thought occurred to Rong Yi: It turns out that the group beatings look pleasing to their eyes because the person being beaten is not themselves.
Rong Yi had seen countless great scenes and witnessed many mass beatings, but this was the first time she had been in the heart of one, and it felt terrible.
She, Rong Yi, had become a wanted criminal and the focus of a gang fight. What a heartless brother she had, and even Heaven turned a blind eye to this!
Rong Yi didn't have to think to know what her Xiongzhang2 was thinking as he sat on the dragon chair and stamped this wanted notice with his seal. He must have been overjoyed!
It was bad enough that her parents had let her run away to the jianghu1 while her Imperial Brother was still playing this kind of joke on her.
Alas, it was a pity to be born into an Imperial family.
Before Rong Yi's self-loathing was over, the crowd had been dispersed by the petty officials.
"Are you the wanted criminal, Rong Yi?" A petty official holding the handcuffs asked.
Rong Yi looked up. "I'm Rong Yi, but I'm not a wanted criminal."
The officer looked at the portrait on the notice, frowned and muttered to his colleague, "Could it be that she just has the same name? I can't see any resemblance between this girl and the person in the portrait."
"Yes, yes, that's right. We only have the same name. You see how good-hearted and simple I am. I do not even look like a murderer." Rong Yi quickly climbed up the pole3. It had already been a mistake for her to blow her own cover, so now she had to make up for it.
The petty official who was asked looked at Rong Yi and said, "Who cares if she is? Let's just get her first."
Rong Yi was stunned. Is this how all the minor officials work these days? Her Imperial Brother had failed in his job as Emperor! To save thousands of people from extreme misery, she decided to return to the capital and replace him. She wondered if her parents would support her......
In the few seconds that Rong Yi tried to be a heavenly steed soaring through the sky4 in front of the petty officials, her wrists were already handcuffed.
With a sigh of resignation, Rong Yi muttered to herself, "If I have to be imprisoned, then so be it. I'll treat it as if I'm making a private visit to the local government's cells to see if they're up to standard."
The results of Rong Yi's private visit were soon known. She had no idea whether the local government cells met the standards of the Imperial Court, for she had yet to learn what those criteria were. However, if these were the requirements of the Imperial Court, then the first thing she would do for the people when she became Emperor would be to revise them and improve the hardware inside the cells.
Prisoners were also human beings. As a good Emperor who treated people like his children, it was wrong to make them live in such dark, dank, uninhabitable places.🦊
After looking at her 'new home' for a long time and confirming for the ninth time that there was nothing here that Rong Yi could comfortably use, she decided to take the initiative for her own benefit.
Rong Yi leaned over the bars and shouted towards the door, "Hello? Is someone there?"
No one paid her any attention.
Rong Yi pouted in frustration. After a while, an idea suddenly came to her, and she was overjoyed as she shouted at the top of her lungs, "Hello? Is anyone there? Anyone? I'll kill myself if nobody comes!"
Still, no one paid her any attention.
Rong Yi stamped her foot and yelled, "I'm really going to kill myself! I'm going to bang my head against the wall! I'm really going to do it! I'll..."
The voice ended abruptly.
The guard outside the door thought Rong Yi was being deliberately annoying and decided to ignore her. But when the shouting suddenly stopped, he thought nervously: "She didn't really bang her head against the wall, did she?"
After a while, there was still no sound coming from inside. The prison guard became nervous as he hurriedly grabbed his sword and went in to check.
When the guard arrived at the cell where Rong Yi was being held, there was no bloody head as he had expected, just a young girl greeting him with a smile.
"Sir, you are a good man." Rong Yi said, deeply moved.
The prison guard was stunned by this 'good man' praise. He had never heard a prisoner say that a prison guard was a good man. But from the look on her face, it didn't look like she was flattering him. "How did I suddenly become a good man?"
"The fact that you came as soon as you heard that I was going to kill myself shows that you care about my life and death. All people who value other people's lives are good people." Rong Yi replied with aplomb.
The prison guard was tempted to say that he cared about her life and death, not because he valued the life of such a nuisance, but because he had received orders from above to ensure that she stayed alive. But Rong Yi's words satisfied his vanity, so he decided to cover up the matter.
The prison guard stroked the official cap on his head and said with an extraordinary sense of integrity, "Although you are a prisoner, you are still a living being. I cannot let you end your life just like this."
Rong Yi nodded several times and smiled. "You are a good man, a great man. But now there is a problem; the cell is dark and damp, without a single straw covering the floor, making it unfit for anyone to live in. Although this is a prison cell, the building is still owned by the Imperial Court. So it can't be any worse than the poor people's house, can it? It's a rare occasion that I get to stay in one, and it might be the last time. So, can you do me a favour and get me one thing?"
A noob translator, きつね, translated this noob translation. Please read this chapter at xin-shou.site. If you read this in another location other than the site stated, it has been taken without the translator's permission. Please don't support this kind of act.
"You want me to get you one thing?" The prison guard looked incredulous.
"Yeah. Just one, preferably a soft, large carved couch. I have tender skin and can't sleep on hard floors."
"You want a soft, large carved couch?!" The prison guard couldn't believe his ears.
"Yes, a soft, large carved couch. It doesn't have to be of a high standard, just the same quality as the one used by the County Magistrate's household."
"The same quality as the one used by the County Magistrate's household?!"
"It doesn't have to be the same, just about the same. But it has to be better than his. After all, he's only a county magistrate. He shouldn't be able to afford anything too luxurious."
"......" This girl is crazy, absolutely crazy.
The prison guard stared blankly at Rong Yi for a long time before commenting, "I now believe you are not a murderer.
"Why?" Even Rong Yi did not believe it. After all, she had killed a man. She was just surprised that her Imperial Brother knew about it and had even issued a wanted notice for her. Dad had made it clear that the Imperial Court had always stayed out of the feuds and disputes in the jianghu1.
"Because you are crazy." The prison guard walked away after saying these words.
Rong Yi's eyes widened, and she shouted, "Mad people can kill people too, okay? There should be no discrimination against mad people!"
"......"
"Remember to ask for a big soft carved couch!"
"......" The prison guard began to consider whether he should report this insane woman to the County Magistrate.
Seeing the guard walk away from her, Rong Yi hurriedly called out, "I only want one. That is not too much! I can lower my demands to a few straws if you think it's too much. Let's talk about it. Please don't go!"
The prison guard was still striding forward.
Rong Yi: "Please don't go, my good man. Even if you have to go, just tell me why you refuse my request. At least let me die with a clear conscience!"
This time, the guard stopped and turned. "Shall I tell you why?"
"Yes." Rong Yi nodded furiously. "I don't understand why you refused my request. I only want this one thing."
The prison guard was helpless. He had been a prison guard for more than ten years, but this was the first time he had come across such...... such...... such a brainless prisoner!
The guard took a deep breath and said, "You want to know why, right? All right. I will tell you why. Prisoners have no right to make demands."
"Why don't prisoners have the right to make demands?"
"And you ask me why?!" The prison guard was going crazy.
On the other hand, Rong Yi was calm, nodding her head with unparalleled seriousness as she said, "Hmm. I want to know why."
"You...... you...... because prisoners are prisoners, and they have no right to make any demands."
"...... Sir, I won't accept such a weak reason."
"You won't accept it?!"
"Yeah. I don't think it has anything to do with me being a prisoner. You must have a problem with me."
"...... This has nothing to do with whether or not I have a problem with you."
"Then why didn't you just give it to me? I only asked for one thing."
"You..." The prison guard was on the verge of tears as he looked at Rong Yi with a defeated face and said breathlessly, "Yes, the fact that I haven't given it to you has nothing to do with you being a prisoner and nothing to do with you. The real reason is that what you want is too expensive, and I can't afford it."
"So that's what it's all about! Why didn't you say so? I thought you didn't like me!"
"......" Who would want to say something so stupid if they weren't desperate?
The prison guard thought his nightmare was finally over and was about to go back for a few drinks to get over his shock when he heard her say, "Can you turn around first? When I was brought in, they took all the money I had with me. I only have a little bit of my life-saving money hidden in my clothes, which I couldn't get out easily with you watching me all the time."
The prison guard was stunned. Was she really rich? No, no, no, the point was, was she really going to give him money to buy it for her?!
But the prison guard soon calmed down. That thing was expensive. He assumed she didn't have that much. Why didn't he just take her money and buy himself a drink instead? When he thought about it, the prison guard felt much better.
The prison guard turned around and asked, "Don't you think it's gross to hide silver inside your clothes?"
"I think so too. That's why I only hid silver tickets. Heh heh."
"What?!" Did he hear it right? Was this prisoner of unknown origin actually a rich woman?
Rong Yi took a silver ticket from the hidden pocket on her dudou6, gathered her clothes back together and said, "Okay. You can turn around now.
The guard turned to see that she was holding a silver ticket with a frighteningly large denomination. A thousand taels of silver! He had never seen a silver ticket with such a large denomination in his life!
The prison guard's eyes started to shine, and his two hands were fidgeting as he asked, "Why do you have such a big silver ticket?"
"Is it inconvenient for you to use it? It's not my fault that my family ticket is so big." Rong Yi looked helpless and added, "If the shopkeeper doesn't have money for a change, just tell him to keep the change. I have plenty of money anyway. I just need that one thing."
The gleam in the guard's eyes grew at these words. Keep the change? Did this mean that the rest of the money from the purchase would go into his pocket if he went to the money changer and exchanged it for cash?
At this point, Rong Yi added, "I'll certainly give you a thank-you gift when you bring your purchase back here."
A thank-you gift? The prison guard took the silver ticket with glee and asked, "Why didn't you tell me you had so much money?"
"I thought you were a good man. Bribing you with money would insult your character, and I didn't want to insult you."
"Just insult me. You can even insult me as many times as you want."
"......" A moment ago, he was still using the informal 'you7', but in the blink of an eye, he changed it to the more polite 'you8'? Is that why people say that the rich are the masters?
Unfortunately, people were really dishonest these days. This strengthened Rong Yi's resolve to replace her Xiongzhang2 as Emperor.
*
Shortly after the prison guard left, he returned with a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, followed by two other petty officials, and the prison guard became Rong Yi's neighbour.
Rong Yi watched in disbelief as the petty officials came in and went, and then she asked the prison guard, "Did you kill someone too?"
The prison guard's face turned ashen as he shouted, "You framed me!"
"Uh...... how did I frame you?"
"Your silver ticket was stolen money! When I took it to the money changer to exchange it for cash, the owner of the money changer recognised it and reported it to the petty officials."
Rong Yi's face turned pale when she heard this. No way! Is Mom in on it, too? There was a special mark on the silver ticket, so the money changer must have known it was hers. There was only one reason why the money changer would say it was stolen money if he knew it was hers— it was at the behest of her mother.
Oh, what a pity she was born into the Imperial Family! Once again, Rong Yi lamented that she had not been born well.
"Tell me, did you do it on purpose?!" The prison guard bared his fangs and brandished his claws9 at the iron bars.
Rong Yi hastily took a few steps back from him and said, "Let me explain."
"I don't want to listen!"
"Uh, then why bother asking if you don't want to hear me explain?"
The prison guard froze, then became even more frantic. "You...... you......"
"You'd better listen to my explanation." Rong Yi thought that what she was about to say would probably make the guard even angrier, so she silently took a few more steps back before saying, "Yes, I did it on purpose."
"You......"
"Take it easy. Just listen to me." Rong Yi took two more steps back, sighed and said, "You can't blame me either. I was just so bored that I decided to act stupid and use you for my own amusement. But if I was really naive, you should be able to understand my feelings now that you're in the same situation as me. How can anyone live in a place like this? I knew that prisoners could not make demands, but I thought the Emperor...... was wise. He put my name on the wanted list just as a joke, and I thought he would take special care of me, so I made this request. Now, it seems he was no different from the emperor of old! Not only did he not instruct the local officials to look after me, but he also said that my silver ticket was stolen money, which led to you being implicated as well. I'm so sorry."
The prison guard was already furious with her until there was nothing left for him to be angry about, and when he heard her explanation, he said helplessly, "I won't accept such a weak reason."
"But I'm telling you the truth! I didn't expect the Emperor to be so lacking. Not only the Emperor but also the Empress Dowager."
Seeing that she was still making things up, the prison guard couldn't help but scold her, "You even think the Emperor is your father and the Empress Dowager is your mother!"
Rong Yi frowned. "Your logic is not right. If the Emperor is my father, then the Empress Dowager should be my grandmother."
"......"
"But even if the Emperor is not my father, the Empress Dowager is my mother, my own mother." Having said that, Rong Yi shrugged helplessly and concluded, "That's why a saying like, 'even a tiger does not eat its own cubs10' does not apply to Imperial Families."
The prison guard did not know what words to use to describe his heart at that moment except to stare at her for a few seconds as if he were looking at a madman, then silently turn to find a place to crouch down and do what needed to be done at that moment—to sit inside the prison.
Footnotes Full List
- lit., rivers and lakes—people wandering from place to place and living by their wits, e.g. fortune-tellers, quack doctors, itinerant entertainers, etc., considered as a social group
- a respectful form of address for an older brother
- lit. follow sb.'s cue and do everything to please him; fawn; act as a yes-man; willingly go along with other people's wishes
- Chinese idiom: unrestrained
- Well, that is the purpose of prison. If you make it habitable, people won't feel remorse when they commit a crime. They will deliberately make themselves criminals to live freely in prison, which also provides free food. 😏
- lit. belly wrap
Dudou (肚兜)
Image Credit | Newhanfu (Hanfu History of Ancient Chinese Underwear) - 你 nǐ
- 您 nín
- Chinese idiom: making threatening gestures; threatening
- Chinese idiom: blood is thicker than water
きつね's Musing
Do you think her brother was really the one who issued the warrant for her arrest? 😏
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Black Belly Wife