He was framed and thrown into prison. In jail, he resisted, but unexpectedly, they broke his leg first, then tortured him for the formulas. It was then he realized his uncle had long colluded with the county magistrate.
Periodically, someone would come to interrogate him. Thinking of how his family's property had all gone to his uncle, and these formulas were the only things his parents had left him, he endured the torture without revealing them.
This cell had once held many people, but they had slowly disappeared. He knew their fates and understood clearly that he would soon join them. He wondered what he was holding on for. It was only when he met them that he found the answer in his heart. Perhaps fate had brought him here to await this couple, so he could pass the formulas to them.
"Are you sure you want to give them to me? These are your family's treasures. You've suffered so much for them, is it worth it?" Wu Caiwei looked at him in disbelief, surprised that he would give her his heirloom the first time they met. She was overwhelmed.
"It is worth it. Knowing you won't be staying here long, I refuse to hand these over to the magistrate. Giving them to you fulfills a wish of mine." After so long, how could he not know the magistrate was involved in his parents' deaths? The thought of giving these to the murderer of his parents filled him with immense regret. Giving them to strangers at least meant he could sleep soundly.
"If you hadn't met us, it would be one thing. If what you say is true, we are willing to help you escape and reclaim what belongs to you. Your parents wished for you to carry on the Li family's legacy. By giving these to us, you risk the future of the Li family." Wu Caiwei sighed. She had intended to help from the moment he first spoke to her. Understanding his plight, she could not stand idly by. It seemed his fate was not to end here.
"Is this true?" Li Zixin's face lit up with surprise. He slowly pushed himself up, his body wracked with pain and weakness. But he gritted his teeth and endured, bowing three times to the couple.
The moon was overhead, and the surroundings were pitch black. Li Zixin, who had been asleep, suddenly opened his eyes. Hearing sounds from the adjacent cell, he knew the couple had left. A faint smile touched his lips. Those two, at first glance, were no ordinary people. They could come and go from a secure location like the prison with such ease. Now, the magistrate was in for trouble. He hoped they would deal with him, avenging his parents. He was willing to serve them as repayment for their kindness.
Just as he thought, the couple appeared on the magistrate's roof a short while later. They quickly pinpointed the general location of the study and entered without a sound. Lighting a tinder, they began to search.
They were unsure where he kept evidence of his misdeeds, so they split up, not missing a single clue. Unfortunately, they searched twice and found nothing. Standing up, their gazes inadvertently fell upon a wall before them.
The study was in a peculiar location, on the west side of the courtyard. The other three walls had windows leading to other areas, but this wall was solid. The two exchanged glances and began tapping it. They had initially thought the secret room would be behind a painting or calligraphy hung on the wall, but when they lifted them, the wall behind was bare.
After tapping several times, confirming it was indeed solid, they continued their search. Finally, near the base of the wall, they discovered a slight indentation. Wu Caiwei tentatively reached her hand in. The next moment, with a click, a brick loosened.
They quickly removed the brick, revealing a hollow space. Inside was a small box containing several letters.
Just as they were about to retrieve the letters, they heard footsteps. The magistrate, carrying a lantern, arrived at the study door. For some reason, tonight he couldn't sleep. He felt something was amiss. He trusted his intuition implicitly, having avoided many dangers over the years thanks to it. He put on an outer robe and, carrying a lantern, went to the study. This was the only place in the entire county yamen that could possibly be in trouble.
He wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. He had clearly seen a faint light emanating from here just moments ago, but upon reaching the entrance, he found it completely dark. Suppressing his fear, he opened the door and found the room empty. He breathed a sigh of relief. Feigning casualness, he approached the wall, looked at the intact surface, and then lit the candle on the desk.
Hiding on the roof, the couple watched the magistrate's actions through the roof tiles, their brows beaded with sweat. They had almost been discovered. They were determined to bring down the magistrate and were not afraid of him, but now was not the time to reveal themselves.
Returning to the prison cells, they waited until they were unobserved before carefully examining the letters. They had expected correspondence between the magistrate and the prefect at most, but it turned out to be his illicit dealings with the Second Prince. Their eyebrows rose in unison. They hadn't expected a mere county magistrate to be bought off by the Second Prince. It seemed the struggle for the throne in the capital was intensifying.
They didn't care who eventually ascended the throne, nor how the two met. The current situation was disadvantageous to them. If a county magistrate could be bought off by the Second Prince, how many others were in his employ here? To avoid alerting them, they deliberated and decided to keep the letters. They reasoned that the magistrate would never imagine that the crucial letters lost from his study had ended up in the prison. Sudancx.com
Meanwhile, the magistrate was sweating profusely, frantically searching his study. He had seen the box earlier and assumed the contents were inside. To be sure, he had opened it, but upon doing so, his mind went blank. The collected letters were gone without a trace. Trembling, he searched for a long time to no avail, finally slumping to the ground, weeping silently.
This was a matter of life and death. If the Second Prince found out he had left evidence, and that the letters were lost, or worse, obtained by another prince and presented to the Emperor, there would be no escape. Regardless, the Second Prince was still a prince, and the Emperor might spare his life. But he, a mere minion dependent on the prince, was likely to be the first to be sacrificed.
This time, he was certain the light he had seen earlier was real. But it had been so long; the person had surely left. It would be as difficult as reaching the heavens to recover the items. Nevertheless, he lied, claiming important items were missing from the yamen, and ordered the steward to immediately investigate.
The servants, sound asleep, could not help but grumble, hiding all their complaints in their hearts. The magistrate summoning them in the middle of the night indicated the lost items were extremely important to him, something they could not compensate for even with their lives. To avoid drawing undue attention, they lowered their heads and assembled in the courtyard.