Xu Ziyi stopped in his tracks. He glanced at Sheng Jiangli, then at Qingqing. Anger seeped into his cold, hard voice.
"Do you two know each other?"
Xu Ziyi wasn't a man who got angry easily. Sheng Jiangli caught a glimpse of the suppressed rage in his eyes. His pupils darted. "Yes... but not well."
Qingqing immediately shot Sheng Jiangli a fierce glare. Her eyes were red-rimmed.
Not well?
Xu Ziyi raised an eyebrow. He watched Qingqing's face change in an instant. Then he recalled how Sheng Jiangli had addressed her earlier. A thoughtful look came over his eyes.
He pointed at Qingqing, grinding his teeth slightly. "It's good that you know each other... This girl is incredibly bold! She dared to cause trouble in my Xu Mansion and even attempted to steal!"
"She paralyzed more than a dozen guard dogs at my mansion!"
Paralyzed the dogs...
Sheng Jiangli stole a silent glance at Qingqing's pouting face. In the end, he tried to persuade,
"Let it go, Second Master. They're just animals. None of them are in mortal danger, and nothing was stolen from your mansion... There's no need to send this girl to the prison of the Ministry of Justice!"
Qingqing exclaimed, "He's as poor as you. There's no money in his mansion. It's not that I couldn't steal anything!"
"Shut up!" Sheng Jiangli interrupted her angrily. "The Xu family is a prestigious family. How could they be as poor as me! You're a good servant, but you go around stealing. How dare you talk back? Keep your mouth shut!"
Rebuked, Qingqing reluctantly closed her mouth. But she still murmured, "You've beaten a court official and stolen from the private treasury of the Minister of War. What's wrong with me causing a bit of trouble at the Minister of Justice's house!"
Xu Ziyi's anger flared up again. "It's not that I'm being petty with a little girl. She's just too hateful! The first time I caught her, I took pity on her young age. After questioning, I learned that she was a servant from the Prince Yan's Mansion, so I let her go. But I never thought she would get even worse..."
Sheng Jiangli's head throbbed. "What else did she do?"
"She put laxatives in the well at my mansion!" Xu Ziyi roared. "All 120 people in my mansion ran back and forth to the toilet yesterday! Even my sister wasn't spared!"
"There weren't enough chamber pots in my mansion. I had no choice but to borrow the toilet from the Minister of Works next door..." Xu Ziyi said, his voice full of despair. "This girl has shamed me to the core!"
"If I don't arrest her, I'm not fit to be a law enforcement official!"
Goodness!
Sheng Jiangli closed his eyes in despair. He nodded in agreement. "Indeed... She should be arrested. Send her to the salt mine for some hard labor to teach her a lesson."
Xu Ziyi waved his hand. "Throw her into the female prison cell and starve her for two days!"
In the blink of an eye, Qingqing quickly grabbed onto the bars of Sheng Jiangli's prison cell and refused to let go. She shouted,
"Brother Sheng, save me! Save me! I don't want to go to the female prison cell alone! I want to stay with you!"
Xu Ziyi looked at her coldly and scoffed. "I knew there must be a reason why a servant from the Prince Yan's Mansion would cause trouble in my mansion for no reason... It turns out General Sheng has left behind a love debt!"
"This little girl has gone to great lengths just to see you. She even dared to provoke the Xu family, all for the sake of coming to the prison of the Ministry of Justice to accompany her lover. General Sheng has good luck with women!"
Sheng Jiangli's headache worsened. "I don't need this kind of luck. This troublemaker can cause more trouble than I can. Just take her away!"
Xu Ziyi raised an eyebrow and looked at Qingqing. He said with a half-smile, "Girl, it's not that I don't want to help you. It's your lover who dislikes you... Besides, there's no such thing as male and female prisoners sharing a cell in this prison. I can't make an exception for you."
"You've got the wrong idea if you think you can accompany your lover here." Xu Ziyi let his tongue rub against the inside of his cheek. "Lock her in the innermost cell in the female prison and let her reflect on her actions!"
Two yamen runners stepped forward and grabbed Qingqing's hands. They pried her fingers open one by one.
Qingqing cried and shouted, "Brother Sheng! How could you bear to see me locked up alone? There are big rats and cockroaches in there. They bite... I'm scared! I'm so scared..."
The little girl gasped for breath between sobs. Her face turned bright red, and tears streamed down her face.
Her pitiful state made the yamen runners who were holding her feel a bit sorry for her. They turned to look at Sheng Jiangli and Xu Ziyi.
Xu Ziyi didn't say a word. He just looked at Sheng Jiangli leisurely, his eyes full of scrutiny.
It was said that Sheng Jiangli was well-known for his kindness to women.
But seeing him today, it seemed that the rumors were untrue. He was far from what was rumored.
Instead of being kind to women, he was terrifyingly cold and heartless.
Was it that the rumors were unreliable, or was Sheng Jiangli treating this girl, Qingqing, differently?
No, Sheng Jiangli came to the prison of the Ministry of Justice for another woman - to save Miss Lan.
It seemed that he treated Qingqing differently.
Xu Ziyi twitched the corner of his mouth and asked, "General Sheng, what do you think? For the sake of our colleague relationship, if you say a word, I can make an exception. It's just a matter of locking this girl up with you..."
Sheng Jiangli gave Qingqing a cold look as she threw a tantrum. His mind raced.
This girl was always pushy and cunning. If he agreed to let her in, what if she managed to paralyze him with a silver needle when he wasn't paying attention? In this small cell, he would have nowhere to turn for help. If she forced herself on him, wouldn't his innocence be lost?
Thinking of this, Sheng Jiangli's eyes grew deep and cold. "No need. Keep her away from me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the light in Qingqing's eyes dimmed visibly.
Her fingers, which had been tightly gripping the bars of the prison cell, slowly loosened. She stopped crying, but suddenly burst into laughter. Her laughter was mixed with a kind of fierce pain, like a pearl dropping into a porcelain bowl, making a soft sound for a few moments before suddenly shattering:
"Hehe! Fine, fine... You're the coldest-hearted man I've ever met... Do you think I have to cling to you?"
She suddenly raised her voice and shouted, "I, Ge Qingqing, will stop clinging to you from today on!"
After saying that, she strode away without looking back, heading deep into the prison.
Sheng Jiangli stared blankly at Qingqing's retreating back, feeling as cold and lonely as a frozen winter.
At the same time, Qingqing passed by Lan Jinqin in the corridor. Lan Jinqin had just been released from prison.
Lan Jinqin had heard all the deafening shouts in the prison just now.
She couldn't help but take a few more curious glances at this girl who was related to both Sheng Jiangli and her third sister.
When Lan Jinqin passed by Sheng Jiangli's prison cell, she stopped. She turned to look at him and said,
"Thank you for risking your life to save me this time. After all these years, you still haven't changed a bit. You always keep your troubles to yourself. Jinshu... She doesn't know anything."
Facing Lan Jinqin, Sheng Jiangli put away his usual carefree attitude. He said with a bitter smile,
"What good would it do if she knew? She couldn't help me back then, and she can't help me now. Telling her would only add to her troubles."
For example, he couldn't help but tell Shu'er that his elder brother had gotten into trouble.
As a result, they had made a mistake, and Lan Jinshu had ended up in prison because of it.
Lan Jinqin frowned slightly. "You don't have to feel guilty about this. Even without that silver, Wen Zilong wouldn't have let me go. I know too much. He couldn't keep me alive."
Sheng Jiangli grabbed the iron bars tightly. He said seriously and urgently, "What else do you know? Don't keep it to yourself. Tell me! I..."
Lan Jinqin shook her head. "The affairs of the Lan family have nothing to do with you. Don't get involved and ruin your future... I already have someone else in mind."
Sheng Jiangli paused. He looked at Lan Jinqin thoughtfully.
He was always smart. When Lan Jinqin said she had someone in mind to disclose the information to, he immediately thought of Xiao Rencheng.
To be fair, Xiao Rencheng was indeed the most suitable person to know.
The duty of the Censorate was to supervise court officials and correct unjust cases.
Moreover, Xiao Rencheng was on Song Yinghuai's side.
If there was anyone in the world who could help the Lan family, it would be Prince Yan.
Sheng Jiangli nodded. "Then be careful yourself. Don't let Wen Zilong target you after you leave."
Lan Jinqin smiled. "You too! You're not getting any younger. Don't be so fixated on my third sister. Actually, that little girl just now has a similar personality to my third sister."
After saying that, Lan Jinqin tightened her collar and walked out of the prison of the Ministry of Justice.
The long-lost sunlight made her squint her eyes. A sour feeling welled up in her eyes.
Across the road, a low-key carriage was waiting quietly.