The Regent Keeps Flirting With Me - Chapter 30

Having reached this point, Shen Lingyan had no choice but to nod and admit it.

“Isn’t it rumored that the Empress and the Regent’s relationship is utterly incompatible, like fire and water?” So, what was the meaning of the Regent holding Shen Lingyan in her arms now?

Zhou Jin heard this and laughed wildly, holding Shen Lingyan even tighter, as if afraid she might escape.

“Where is there any fire and water incompatibility? Rumors stop at the wise, oh…” As she said this, Zhou Jin’s smile held a hidden blade, as if Su Zhaozhao dared to say a single ‘no’, she could cheerfully twist her head off.

Su Zhaozhao quickly nodded and smiled obsequiously: “Yes, yes, yes, yes, rumors stop at the wise…”

The others locked up in the adjacent cells did not share such good spirits. They were either sighing or wailing, which made Shen Lingyan’s mood also feel somewhat low.

Zhou Jin saw her head drooping, and a pang of distress arose in her heart. She pulled Shen Lingyan closer into her embrace and shouted at the people in the cells: “If this King hears one more person dare to shout or cry, that person’s fate will be just like his!”

With that, another dark needle flew out from her sleeve, plunging squarely into the temple of the person crying the loudest. That person fell straight down, unconscious, which, in the eyes of the others, was a sign of death.

In an instant, everyone was filled with boundless terror, yet they dared not defy Zhou Jin’s command. They could only desperately cover their mouths, revealing frightened eyes as they looked them over.

“Looking again? I’ll dig your eyes out.” This time, Zhou Jin did not actually find someone to make an example of, but those people all believed her. They all lay down on their straw mats simultaneously, with many pretending to sleep and some genuinely falling asleep.

Zhou Jin watched them with satisfaction, then turned around with Shen Lingyan in her arms and sat down on the clean straw mat, with Su Zhaozhao sitting across from them.

Su Zhaozhao’s gaze towards them had already started to become peculiar. That kind of smile on her face made even Shen Lingyan start to feel embarrassed.

“Ahem, stop smiling. Tell me about the approximate locations and number of people who have the same small scar as you,” Shen Lingyan finally found a serious matter to change the subject. Shen Lingyan, who was usually not very good at changing topics, finally succeeded this time. Su Zhaozhao’s attention was instantly captured. She propped up her chin and tried hard to recall, and soon enough, she remembered.

“That Li Xiuxian, he basically forcibly took most of the decent women who sold their artistic skills but not their bodies from our Chunxing Courtyard, and a few women he kidnapped right off the street. He either gifted them to official colleagues or kept them as concubines for himself, not even counting as official concubines.”

Su Zhaozhao tried hard to remember, but grew increasingly angry, finally standing up, her eyebrows tightly furrowed as she spoke: “Every woman was stabbed with a needle by him, leaving this scar. Before I was locked up, I heard that the sisters from our Chunxing Courtyard who were abducted by Li Xiuxian were basically all played with by him and then sent back to Chunxing Courtyard to start receiving customers. And those like me who would rather die than submit were locked up in the grand prison. If you’re looking for others with the scar, you probably need to go to the Chunxing Courtyard to find them.”

These words were soul-piercing, pricking Shen Lingyan’s heart like needles. Those women from Chunxing Courtyard who sold their art but not their bodies might have had a piece of pure land in their hearts, only to be bullied and trampled upon in various ways by a greasy, obese man, annihilating that tiny piece of purity, ultimately sinking into receiving customers?

These matters chilled Shen Lingyan, making her unwilling to believe they were true, yet Zhou Jin seemed unsurprised, merely shaking her head and sighing.

Sensing Shen Lingyan’s gaze drifting over, Zhou Jin had no choice but to explain slowly: “It can’t be helped; this world is just like this. If merely this matter makes Her Majesty the Empress sister so angry, then what about the other things happening in many dark corners? Will Her Majesty the Empress sister directly get so angry that she’ll throw herself into A-Jin’s arms?”

She was clearly speaking in the tone of a senior trying to counsel the currently angry Shen Lingyan, yet Zhou Jin was deliberately flippant. A light sentence made Shen Lingyan’s face flush.

“Who… who wants to throw themselves into your arms!” Shen Lingyan deeply felt her reputation was being harmed and wanted to salvage it in front of Su Zhaozhao. Who knew this Zhou Jin would be even more outrageous.

Zhou Jin was seen helping Shen Lingyan stand straight. She herself half-crouched down, imitating how Shen Lingyan had rushed straight into her embrace when she first arrived at the grand prison, and then annoyed Shen Lingyan in a delicate manner: “Sister, look, doesn’t it look like how you just threw yourself into A-Jin’s arms?”

This remark was extremely loud, and echoes reverberated through the cell. Those who were covering their mouths dared not let go, but their watchful gazes secretly shifted back.

Zhou Jin didn’t need to guess. She used the excuse of wrapping her arms around Shen Lingyan and twirling her to observe the surroundings for any places where people might be eavesdropping.

Sure enough, through cracks in the walls and gaps in the doors, the stares of those people were very direct and the hardest to conceal.

“The two of you… are truly a beautiful story,” Su Zhaozhao didn’t notice any eavesdroppers nearby; she just foolishly applauded, making her seem unintelligent, yet the quick wit in her eyes was clearly seen by Shen Lingyan.

“Stop spreading rumors!” Shen Lingyan’s face was red, and she looked desperately angry, about to cover Su Zhaozhao’s mouth. It was at this moment that Zhou Jin perfectly used her dark needles to strike pressure points, causing those peeping and eavesdropping people to collapse, presumably not waking up for at least three days.

By the time Shen Lingyan walked back to Zhou Jin’s side, everything looked calm and peaceful.

“What time is it now?” Shen Lingyan suddenly asked.

Once locked in the grand prison, everyone loses all sense of time, only knowing that one day follows another. Perhaps the delivery of a meal serves as a marker for the time of day.

Su Zhaozhao had just finished the lunch brought by the jailers, and some time had passed since then. It was likely getting close to evening now. In any case, dinner had not been brought in yet, so it was not yet nighttime.

Su Zhaozhao briefly analyzed the situation for Shen Lingyan, and all three of them felt a little worried. They had only just been locked up, yet they already found it extremely difficult to bear.

“Zhou Jin… I feel miserable…” Shen Lingyan couldn’t keep up any pretense anymore. She leaned weakly against Zhou Jin’s shoulder, even though this person always said so many embarrassing, frivolous things.

Zhou Jin gently rubbed Shen Lingyan’s head, and the two of them looked up at the tiny bit of sunset glow filtering in through the small window of the cell. The coldness inside the cell surpassed the stuffiness of high summer.

“It’s alright. Her Majesty the Empress sister should use this time to figure out how to make them submit willingly after getting out. I still can’t appear publicly, after all, everyone thinks I should be soaking in water right now…” Zhou Jin glanced specifically at Su Zhaozhao, who was sitting in the corner, as she said this.

Both she and Shen Lingyan could sense that this woman was very tactful. She wasn’t overly eager in front of the Empress, and she would move away when others were discussing things. Her personality was also straightforward, saying what she meant, which made her quite worthy of friendship.

Shen Lingyan snapped back to attention and heard that she would have to resolve this matter alone. Her heart was instantly filled with a mix of tension and anticipation.