Chapter 126

Chapter 126: She Could Not Get Out

Sure enough, two days later, Emperor Chong Sheng issued an Imperial Edict. Anyone involved in selling private salt, no matter their status, rank, or title, would be escorted to the execution ground at noon the next day and beheaded in public.

Emperor Chong Sheng intended to use these people’s blood to warn the whole world.

After hearing the edict with their own ears, Duke Qi and Qi Shu Xian both looked ashen.

After court ended, Duke Qi thought about Madam Cui’s expression these past two days. In the end, he still told Qi Shu Xian to ask around and see if they could visit Qi Fei Yan one last time before the execution.

Qi Fei Yan was his own daughter. Even if she had married out and caused a disaster so big it reached the sky, the thought of her being beheaded the next day still made Duke Qi’s heart ache.

It was not only Duke Qi Manor. Any household with family members involved in the case heard Emperor Chong Sheng’s order and tried to see their loved ones one last time.

Only Lian Manor did not.

Lian Manor had been raided and confiscated. Assistant Minister Lian had also been punished with three years of reduced salary. The Lian Family was not like other families with many branches. Once they fell, they did not even have a single relative who could help them…

Madam Lian had tried countless times over the past two days to come to Duke Qi Manor to demand an explanation, but Assistant Minister Lian held her down each time.

Even so, Assistant Minister Lian was still furious. He had thought his son committed a great wrong and had cursed and struck him, yet Qi Fei Yan, the true culprit, did not say a single word.

So visiting Qi Fei Yan was impossible. Collecting her bones after death would already be mercy.

When Madam Cui heard the news, she collapsed in despair on the bed.

Only after Qi Shu Xian finished making arrangements and told Madam Cui she could go see Qi Fei Yan one last time did Madam Cui force herself to gather strength again.

Madam Cui ordered the kitchens to prepare Qi Fei Yan’s favorite foods. The main kitchen and the small kitchen both became busy.

Even Meng Yang personally brewed a pot of chrysanthemum wine and sent it over, so it could be brought along.

When Sheng Zhi Wan heard, she only smiled.

In the prison of Da Li Court, Qi Fei Yan curled up in the corner.

This was the fifth day since she was dragged in. In these five days, she saw rats for the first time in her life. Even now, thinking about how a rat crawled across the top of her foot still made her scalp prickle.

But that fear was the smallest of them all.

That very day, Qi Fei Yan even heard the jail warden say His Majesty would behead them.

Beheaded…

Qi Fei Yan’s eyes finally moved.

What kind of scene would that be? She did not dare imagine it. How could she possibly be beheaded?

She was the legitimate daughter of Duke Qi Manor. In the past, even the Princess had come and gone at her command. How could she end up like this?

When did it start?

Right. It started when Shu Xian brought Meng Yang back, and Sheng Zhi Wan suddenly changed. Sheng Zhi Wan stopped listening. Sheng Zhi Wan stopped being meek and obedient. Sheng Zhi Wan stopped letting people take whatever they wanted.

Sheng Zhi Wan even demanded her dowry back, something she had never cared about before…

If Sheng Zhi Wan had not insisted on taking back the dowry, Qi Fei Yan’s husband’s family would not have disliked her.

If Qi Fei Yan had not been despised by her husband’s family, she would not have tried to prove herself. She would not have taken such a risk for a few taels of silver.

Yes. It was Sheng Zhi Wan. It was all Sheng Zhi Wan.

If anyone should be beheaded, it should be Sheng Zhi Wan. How could it be Qi Fei Yan?

Impossible.

It had to be that jail warden trying to scare her.

Qi Fei Yan shrank even deeper into the corner.

Just then, several sets of footsteps came closer. Qi Fei Yan did not hear them at first. It was far too noisy in here. Every moment, there were men screaming until they sounded insane.

Qi Fei Yan had never seen such a place. She did not even dare to look around.

Only when a familiar voice, trembling with sobs, reached her did Qi Fei Yan lift her head in a daze.

“…Mother?” Her lips moved.

Tears fell from Madam Cui like broken beads on a string.

“Mother! Father! Shu Xian! Shu Lang…” Light burst into Qi Fei Yan’s eyes. She shakily pushed herself up with the wall and stood.

“Are you here to take me out?”

“Mother, I’ve had enough. I’m never coming back here again…” Qi Fei Yan grabbed Madam Cui’s hand through the iron bars.

Madam Cui choked on her sobs as she stared at her eldest daughter, who had grown so thin she was almost unrecognizable. “Yan’er… my Yan’er…”

“Mother, stop crying and let me out first,” Qi Fei Yan said, frantic.

Once she got out, she would take a long bath and scrub away the stink and filth clinging to her body.

Then she would find the two people who dragged her into the private salt business. She would find them and kill them. If they had not tempted her, how could she have suffered like this?

And those people who dared to sell information to her would all be dealt with as well.

Qi Fei Yan’s thoughts raced.

But aside from Madam Cui’s crying, no one else in front of her spoke.

Duke Qi looked at Qi Fei Yan with grief and pain. Even his usually steady eyes were red.

“Yan’er,” he said, voice thick, “eat something.”

As soon as Duke Qi finished, Madam Cui hurriedly wiped her tears. She placed the food boxes on the ground in front of the bars one by one and opened them.

“Yes… yes, eat something first,” Madam Cui said. She picked up the chopsticks and personally fed food through the iron bars.

Qi Fei Yan froze.

What… what did this mean?

“Mother, I don’t want to eat. I want to get out first,” Qi Fei Yan said.

She could eat after she got out. Besides, she was filthy. How could she eat like this?

“Eldest Sister!” Qi Shu Lang spoke through clenched teeth. “You can’t get out.”

“What?” Qi Fei Yan turned to him.

Qi Shu Lang pressed his lips together and did not speak.

Qi Fei Yan looked at Madam Cui and Duke Qi again. Madam Cui only cried harder. Duke Qi avoided her gaze and sighed.

Qi Fei Yan could only look at Qi Shu Xian.

Toward Qi Shu Xian, she still carried resentment. If Qi Shu Xian had not insisted on going to the manor to demand her dowry, she would not have ended up like this.

When Qi Fei Yan looked at him, Qi Shu Xian’s heart tightened. “Eldest Sister, His Majesty has already issued the decree. Anyone involved in the private salt trade… will all… tomorrow… be executed.”

Qi Fei Yan’s face went rigid.

Tomorrow. Executed?

How could that be possible? She was the legitimate miss of Duke Qi Manor. They were going to execute her?

Qi Fei Yan’s fingers began to shake. “Father! Mother! Save me! I don’t want to die!”

It was the first time she called them Father and Mother since she married.

Madam Cui cried even louder.

Duke Qi turned his head away.

Qi Fei Yan looked back at Qi Shu Xian. Hope flared in her eyes. “Shu Xian, save Eldest Sister! Go make Sheng Zhi Wan beg the Empress Dowager!”

“If it weren’t for Sheng Zhi Wan, I wouldn’t have ended up like this!”

“If it weren’t for her insisting on taking back the dowry, I wouldn’t have risked everything for a few taels of silver. Shu Xian, Sheng Zhi Wan harmed me!”

“You go find her. Make her beg the Empress Dowager and let me out!”

Qi Fei Yan gripped the iron bars so hard her knuckles turned white.

Qi Shu Xian stayed silent.

Qi Shu Lang said, “Eldest Sister, Elder Brother already went to her, but she’s cruel. She refused to save you!”

“How could she? She cared about you so much. She always listened to you…” Qi Fei Yan spoke halfway and suddenly stopped.

How could she forget?

Sheng Zhi Wan had already changed.

If Sheng Zhi Wan were still the Sheng Zhi Wan from before, she never would have demanded the dowry back.