The capital city under curfew was deathly silent.
Except for the beggars around the city gate, everyone had returned home and shut their doors.
A carriage appeared at Dinghuai Gate, breaking the desolation and tranquility of the night.
It was cold in late autumn. The city guards were huddling in groups around torches to keep warm. At the corner not far from the city gate, there was an old woman lying shivering in the autumn rain.
The old woman seemed to be ill. She curled up in the corner, mumbling in a slurred voice, "Please be kind... Good people will be blessed with a peaceful life..."
The carriage stopped at the city gate. The curtain was lifted, and a slender hand reached out, tossing a few copper coins into the old woman's broken bowl.
The crisp sound of the copper coins colliding was especially clear in the night. Hearing the sound of money, the old woman opened her eyes happily and kowtowed to the carriage:
"Thank you for the reward! Thank you for the reward!"
The woman in the carriage said softly, "You don't need to thank me. It used to be your family's anyway."
Hearing the familiar voice, Wen Linshi, who was kneeling on the ground, was struck by lightning. She looked up, and Lan Jinqin's serene face was like a ghost to her, making her heart tremble violently:
"Slut! It's you?"
Liuli stuck her head out and spat, "Old hag! Who are you calling a slut? Look at who's the real slut!"
At the sight of Lan Jinqin, Wen Linshi went crazy. She got up and tried to pounce on the carriage, shouting, "Slut! Give me back my son! Give me back the Wen family!"
But she was old and weak, and sick besides. Before she could reach the carriage, she fell to the ground and wailed loudly.
The case of Wen Zilong was presided over by Magistrate Xiao Rencheng.
Xiao Rencheng was a scheming man. He not only quickly finalized the case but also threw the culprit into the Zhaoyu Prison and handed him over to Lord Lu of the Jinyiwei.
Why didn't he hand the prisoner over to the prison of the Ministry of Justice or keep him in the prison of his own Supreme Court?
It was because compared with the Zhaoyu Prison, those two prisons were like heaven.
The Zhaoyu Prison of the Northern Garrison was notorious for its cruel torture methods, collecting the most brutal and terrifying torture instruments in the world.
There were fetters, shackles, clubs, flaying, finger-squeezing, intestine-pulling, back-hooking, heavy cangues, standing with a cangue, spine-breaking, finger-amputation, heart-stabbing, and so on. The variety and cruelty of these torture methods were terrifying.
Xiao Rencheng specifically asked Lord Lu to let Wen Zilong experience each torture method.
Once Wen Zilong entered the prison, he would probably never see the light of day again.
Wen Linshi hated Lan Jinqin and Xiao Rencheng to the core.
Lan Jinqin said indifferently, "I haven't even asked your son for the lives of my Lan family, yet you have the nerve to ask me..."
"Forget it. Now that he has finally received his due punishment and is in prison, and you, an old woman, have become a beggar, there's nothing more to argue about."
Lan Jinqin said "generously", "Lord Xiao has already asked Lord Lu to let Wen Zilong experience each torture method in the Zhaoyu Prison, and he has guaranteed that he won't die."
"If you feel sorry for your son, live a long life and find a way to visit him in prison every month... Oh, by the way, you don't have to worry about starving to death. I'll ask someone to send you a few copper coins every day. As long as you don't do anything stupid, a bun a day is enough."
"Lan Jinqin!" Wen Linshi roared with hatred, "Poisonous woman! You're a poisonous woman!"
Lan Jinqin was too lazy to look at her crazy appearance anymore. She ordered the carriage to leave the city.
The city guard immediately stopped them, "Madam, the capital is under curfew."
Lan Jinqin took out a waist token from her bosom and said, "This is the token of the Chief Censor of the Censorate. I'm his family member. Can I leave the city?"
The family member of Xiao Rencheng!
The guard was shocked. After a moment of hesitation, he let them go.
This Lord Xiao was a trusted minister of the late emperor. Now that he had supported the young emperor, he was becoming more and more powerful.
They didn't dare to offend him.
Not long after the carriage passed through Dinghuai Gate, the coachman stopped the carriage.
Lan Jinqin asked inside the carriage, "Why don't we go anymore?"
After a while, a deep and magnetic male voice came from outside the carriage. He asked slowly, "My lady, do you have anywhere you want to go?"
Lan Jinqin was startled. She immediately pushed open the carriage door.
The coachman sitting on the carriage frame had already been replaced. In his place was a broad back like a mountain.
"My lord?!" Lan Jinqin blurted out. Then she nervously grabbed the carriage frame and asked, "Why are you here?"
Xiao Rencheng turned his face to look at her.
Under the moonlight, the man's face was bathed in silver light, looking even more handsome and gentle.
He wasn't angry or annoyed about Lan Jinqin's sneaking out. He just said calmly:
"I've said that where my lady is, that's my home."
Lan Jinqin's heart trembled slightly. Looking at his serious face, she felt a pang of sadness:
"My lord, I'm not worthy."
Xiao Rencheng raised his eyebrows and asked in confusion, "I don't know where my lady got the conclusion that she's not worthy. I'm just a poor scholar, while my lady comes from a famous family. If we talk about status, it's me who's overreaching by marrying my lady."
"If we talk about my lady's own reputation, you were once the most beautiful woman in the capital. It would be my great fortune if I could marry my lady. Why does my lady have such thoughts?"
Lan Jinqin's lips trembled a few times. She couldn't help but say, "I'm a divorced woman. My lord has never been married. You should marry a young woman of the right family background to be the mistress of the Xiao family."
"Does it really matter whether it's a second marriage or not?" Xiao Rencheng didn't care, "I think whether I like someone or not is the most important thing. Since my lady has been married once, you should know that Lord Wen and you didn't get along well. There was only hatred between you two. How could your marriage last?"
Lan Jinqin was speechless. Her heart was beating faster, but she didn't dare to trust a man again so easily.
After hesitating for a long time, she finally asked, "Besides my face, what else do you like about me? My lord is in a high position and has many women around you. You should know that beauty is as fleeting as the morning dew. I'm not young anymore, and this face won't last long."
Xiao Rencheng threw away the whip and bent down to squeeze into the carriage.
The narrow carriage suddenly became even more cramped.
Liuli blushed and scrambled out of the carriage.
The carriage was filled with the man's refreshing scent. Although she was already familiar with it, Lan Jinqin still felt her ears heat up. She squeezed into the corner of the carriage.
"My lord, what do you want to do?"
As she shrank into the corner, Xiao Rencheng squeezed towards her until she had nowhere to go.
The man stretched out his arm and propped it beside her ear, firmly imprisoning her in his arms. He lowered his eyes and said softly and seriously:
"My lady, don't you really remember me at all?"
"Ah?"
Lan Jinqin looked up blankly.
Her smooth forehead brushed against his stubbly chin, making her shrink back. She quickly lowered her head again and said in confusion:
"You... I recognize you. You were the top third in the imperial examination back then. You paraded through the streets on horseback with the top scorer and the second scorer. I remember that."
"It wasn't then," Xiao Rencheng said. "It was much earlier."
Lan Jinqin:??
She couldn't help but look up carefully again. Looking into the man's starry eyes, she tried hard to recall for a long time, but finally shook her head. "We... did we meet earlier?"
"Eight years ago, when I came to the capital for the imperial examination, my lady gave me a tangerine-flavored rice ball at the city gate. Later, you also fed me medicine in the refugee camp and saved my life. At that time, I said to myself that if I was lucky enough to marry my lady in this life, I would cherish and love her and protect her for a lifetime."
Lan Jinqin's eyes widened in surprise: "This... this sounds familiar. Wasn't the person that day Wen Zilong...?"
"It was me," Xiao Rencheng frowned and said definitely. "I don't know if Wen Zilong said the same thing to you, but if he stole my name and my experience... I will definitely ask Lord Lu to take good care of him again."
Lan Jinqin felt like her life had restarted. She murmured in disbelief, "It's you? Is it really you?"
"How could it be you..."
Xiao Rencheng leaned down and kissed her surprised red lips.
He didn't let go until a long time later. Breathing heavily, he said, "If I missed my lady for so many years because of this and made my lady suffer so much injustice with that scumbag Wen Zilong, then I would rather die a thousand times."
"My lady, I'm willing to spend the rest of my life to make up for this mistake."