Chapter 31: Prison Break

  Just as Fei Yi had inferred, on the day he went out with Min An to attend to official business, something unexpected happened at the inn.

  At dawn, when Fei Yu and Min An's luxurious carriage drove out of the mansion through the thin fog, the songstress who had been waiting all night by the main building's railing returned to her own quarters surrounded by maids. She had lingered outside Li Peinan's bedroom but hadn't received his summons, being kept in a state of limbo by him, yet she still followed Wang Huaili's orders and waited for an opportunity to serve at night.

  The carriage left quietly, and the song girl stayed by the railing all night, so she could naturally see the movement below. She immediately dispatched a trusted person, under the pretext of going out to buy cosmetics, to send the message to Wang Huaili's ears.

  Wang Huaili had been worried that Li Peinan would get a handle on his corrupt activities, so he came up with a plan to send the expensive singing girl to the yamen as a gift. He wanted to curry favor with Li Peinan and also leave an eye and ear in place for himself. Sure enough, news arrived at dawn today, and when he heard it, his heart skipped a beat. He hastily went to consult with his newly hired staff.

  The staff knew what Wang Huai was worried about and pointed out to him: "Now, sir, you should make the worst plan. Suppose the young master has already known about the account book. He sent the second prince and Min An out of the county town, which is very likely that they have found the whereabouts of the account book. We are now going to chase them, it's too late, we'd better wait for their return and then take action."

  Wang Huai Li hesitated and said, "Taking the account book from Second Master's hands is not easy...". He was afraid not only of Fei Yi's martial arts skills but also of the authority behind him.

  How could his staff not understand Wang Huaili's mind? He came here to properly dispose of the trouble caused by Wang Huaili. At this time, he had his own plan, thinking that if he couldn't keep Wang Huaili safe, he would abandon him and let Li Peinan deal with it.

  His forte was always to take advantage of opportunities and strike first.

  Wang Huairu was very convinced of the new staff, because he had heard that the staff were more ruthless than Zhu Qiming, the former official historian. Seeing the staff advising him to rob the road, he didn't think much and handed over all the subsequent arrangements to the staff to handle.

  The attendants were ordered to leave and went to the mountains to ask for help from hunters, calculating the time very accurately. Not long after, the prison warden came to report to Wang Huairu, scaring Wang Huairu into a panic again.

  Officer Li Fei Ge died violently outside his cell, and his body was still warm.

  It's not surprising that Li Fei Ge died in prison. Since he took office, he had been to the prison many times to gather information from the detained thieves and robbers about various aspects of the outside world, and had grasped a lot of overt and covert information. Thieves often went to the inner and outer houses of officials and rich people, and often discovered secrets that ordinary people couldn't see. Li Fei Ge was aiming at this, intentionally getting close to these unremarkable people at the bottom, and indeed got a lot of information from them.

  It is said that in the past two days, a thief with green eyebrows was arrested and put in prison. The man had stolen something from Wang Huaili's rear residence. As soon as Li Feigan heard this news, he prepared wine, dishes, and food, bribed the guards on duty, and came to the thief's cell at night.

  Li Fei Ge is an old bookworm, and he calls the thief Lian Shang Jun, thinking it sounds better. Lian Shang Jun chatted with Li Fei Ge for a while, from hunting in the mountains to gambling in the market, and they talked very well. Li Fei Ge listened carefully as usual, collecting more information from his mouth, and occasionally writing down one or two sentences. The guard who was on duty only came back to visit once, saw that it was late at night and didn't urge him, and quietly walked out of the prison.

  Li Fei Ge sensed that it was late at night, and when he got up to leave, Liang Shang Jun would reveal one or two sentences about the movements within Wang Huai Li's inner courtyard, which would inexplicably make Li Fei Ge suspicious. When Li Fei Ge asked again, Liang Shang Jun would look around and change the subject, dragging in all sorts of unrelated idle chatter.

  This meal of wine and food had been going on for two hours, the sky was already bright, and a sharp bird cry suddenly sounded outside the window. The prison guard hurriedly walked back, brought a jug of Huadiao wine, and carefully poured a full glass for Li Fei to thank him for his daily care. Li Fei couldn't resist the persuasion, drank two cups and fell drunk on the ground. At this time, all things were silent, the prisoners in the light and heavy two prisons were still asleep, the prison guard walked into the north courtyard, released Liu Er who was imprisoned for a homicide case, and let him act according to plan.

  Liu Er was born with extraordinary strength, and previously used one iron wrist to strangle Zhu Liu, who had fled to his sister's house. His sister, Liu Ling, committed a crime for him, killing Ma Mie Yu. After the case was exposed, both of them were imprisoned in a heavy cell.

  If it weren't for the subsequent case of Zhu Qiming, the two would have been sentenced to death. Jin Fu was a trusted aide of Zhu's, and he was worried that he wouldn't be able to save his own head, when the Zhu family sent another official to deal with the account books. He immediately surrendered voluntarily, following the official's plan, and persuaded Liu Er to participate in this matter.

  It wasn't until early this morning that Liu Er finally made his move. He walked into Liang Shangjun's cell, stood on the kang and held down Li Fei's legs, while Liang Shangjun used a cotton cloth to block Li Fei's seven orifices and wrapped his body in dry grass. In less than an hour, they let the drunk and full Li Fei die in his sleep, without leaving any marks on his body.

  This method of secretly killing people in prison is called "basin hanging", and only insiders know the hidden situation. After the guard saw that things had been done, he put Li Fei's body outside the cell, called Liu Er and Liang Shangjun to return to their respective positions, and sent out the news.

  The staff who had been waiting in the dark were satisfied and left the county government office to recruit hunters to rob on the mountain, avoiding the subsequent trouble. Wang Huaili was anxious without his staff to make decisions, like an ant on a hot pot, and it took half a day to know that he should call the coroner to examine the body. The coroner examined the food and drink, proved to be non-toxic, and reported the result to Wang Huaili outside the court.

  "Wang Huaili asked: 'How did the old man really die?'"

  The diviner replied: "The signs indicate death from abdominal distension."

  Wang Huairu angrily said: "What nonsense are you talking about? The old man has eaten for over fifty years and hasn't died from indigestion, now he's going to die?"

  Liáng shàng jūn děng rén jiù shì yào wáng huái lǐ zhè yàng xiǎng. Jìn cù zhèng zài zhàn zài yī biān, tīng dào wáng huái lǐ bù xìn kāi zuò chá yàn de jié guǒ, xīn li hēi zhe gāo xìng. Cǐ shí gāng hǎo yòu pèng shàng lei yì men yào qù gè zì de tīng fáng diǎn mǎo yìng bān, tāmen xī xī lā lā de sàn kāi le, jìn cù jiù zhāo jǐn jī huì, yǐn qín quàn zhe wáng huái lǐ jìn láo fáng zài chá kàn yī xià.

  Wang Huaili wiped the sweat with his handkerchief, weighing in his mind, still afraid of being blamed by the superior when he was about to take over the official duties here, and a case of a dead officer suddenly occurred. He had no choice but to follow the prison guard into the light prison cell. Soon after entering, a riot broke out in the prison. Liang Shangjun claimed that the county government had framed him and harmed people, and Li Fei deliberately sent someone to kill him outside his cell, "taking advantage" of the opportunity to snatch the keys and dagger from the prison guard. He held the prison guard hostage, released other prisoners in the light prison cell, shouting and inciting other prisoners to rebel. A group of people ran out of the south wing of the light prison yard, rushing straight to the north wing of the heavy prison yard, releasing even more vicious and evil heavy offenders.

  Liáng Shàng Jūn's success depended on his familiarity with the prison layout and arrangements. According to the county yamen's regulations, at night, light-sentence prisoners were not given additional restraints, and the guards in the heavy-security ward were reduced. Before dawn, all the guards went to the prison hall for roll call, taking advantage of the opportunity to drink hot congee and eat some breakfast, inevitably relaxing their vigilance over the four wards of the prison. Liáng Shàng Jūn chose the right moment, colluding with the guard holding him captive, inciting all the prisoners in the entire prison to create a commotion.

  Then Wang Huaili and the coroner who were invited into the prison cell became hostages. The police officers heard the commotion, picked up their equipment and rushed to the fourth courtyard in the back. The chaos grew bigger and bigger, with 40 or 50 police officers unable to resist the 200 prisoners, especially those serious offenders wielding shackles and iron chains, who were mostly sentenced to death by beheading, waiting for execution after autumn. At this time, they felt extremely excited to have the opportunity to rebel, beating and smashing anyone in uniform, leaving half of the police officers injured.

  The yamen runners retreated in dismay and locked the main gate.

  When Li Peinan led all the guards to the county government office, the prisoners had already occupied the entire prison and were holding Li Fei's body, Wang Huaili and two others hostage, with three "treasures" retreating outward, blocking the entrance to the courtyard.

  Li Peinan walked in wearing the attire of a young master, holding the ancient sword "Sun Yang". The red glow of the sword's aura was truly eye-catching. Any prisoner with some insight could see that this was a precious sword that could cut through gold like mud, engraved with several ancient and simple emblems, emitting an air of imperial majesty. Whether it was County Magistrate Wang Huaili or Yi Shi, dealing with this young master who had a cold glint in his eye would not be easy at all. Just standing face to face with him, without even needing to speak, made the prisoners break out in a cold sweat.

  Li Peinan walked into the prison gate, stepped on the ground with his feet, pressed his hands on the hilt of his sword, and stood firmly without saying a word. The recidivists blocked the corridor, pushed out the exhausted prison guard, and shouted at him with an iron fork: "You, young master! You dare not let us out? We'll kill him! Even if the prison guard is just a low-ranking official, he's still an official, right? If we strip him of his clothes and stab him to death, it will be bad for the imperial court's reputation!"

  Li Peinan looked at the two of them and said: "You choose one."

  Everyone who heard his first sentence was shocked and amazed.

  The young man's face was pale and frightened as he opened his mouth to ask: "What does the prince want me to choose?"

  Li Peinan didn't look at the executioner, but instead swept his gaze over the repeat offenders with eyes as sharp as a hawk's. His gaze seemed to have a sting to it, causing Liu Er, who was hiding behind someone, to lower his head slightly and hide himself even deeper. Li Peinan only looked once, but it was enough to make the restless prisoners quiet down and listen intently to his words that cut to the bone: "Die with dignity, and the imperial court will give your family 400 taels of silver, and your descendants will be exempt from ignoble status; fall into the hands of prison slaves and suffer humiliation, die without a proper burial, and your descendants will inherit your former occupation."

  The doctor looked at the official standing behind him, shaking and searching, thought that he was also stripped of his clothes and humiliated, gritted his teeth and replied: "First."

  Li Peinan beckoned with one hand, and Lü Qun stood on the stone stake, drawing his bow and shooting swiftly. One arrow pierced through the throat of the man who was about to speak.

  Everyone was shocked and took a big step back.

  Li Peinan looked at Wang Huaili, who was as pale as paper. Li quickly strung his bow and aimed the arrowhead's cold light at Wang Huaili, waiting for the order to shoot. Liu Er, hiding behind someone, hastily shouted: "Quickly pull him back! If he dies, we'll have no hostage!" The prisoners came to their senses and hurriedly pulled on the ropes binding Wang Huaili, dragging him back from the passageway.

  Wang Huai-li's hair was disheveled, his official uniform torn to shreds, and his back scraped against the ground, leaving a trail of blood. He didn't care about maintaining his dignity as an official, and under the blows of the prisoners' fists and feet, he wailed: "Crown Prince, save me! Save me!"

  Li Peinan did not save Wang Huaili, but instead sent his guards to retrieve the corpse of the deceased. The reason why the county officials were able to persuade him to come to the county government office was that the highest official in the county had been taken hostage by a group of prisoners, and it would be a shame for the imperial court if the news got out. Li Peinan did not care about Wang Huaili's life or death, but only considered suppressing the situation and blocking the news from spreading. A long time ago, Wang Huaili had sent a songstress to spy on him, but he neither accepted nor rejected her, just wanting to avoid stirring up trouble and see what kind of waves Wang Huaili could create. Today's prison riot involved Li Feige, who had served the Li family for many years and had now died under strange circumstances. If Li Peinan did not handle the matter properly, it would be a disaster if the old retainers of the Li family heard about it, and it would leave a bad reputation on his father's regency.

  So Li Peinan made a prompt decision, sending Flowing Star Horse to rush back to Changping Prefecture, and hastily dispatching his trusted troops from the military camp to Qingquan County. There were also 2,000 local guards in the suburbs of Qingquan County, but he didn't trust them. From the moment Wang Huailai was involved in the prison riot, he knew that there must be some ulterior motives behind the whole thing, so he kept a watchful eye on things.

  The prisoners retreated to the second courtyard, where the guards and sentries lived, a total of five large houses. They tied Wang Huailai to a chair and lit a fire at his feet to roast him for fun. Li Fei's body was thrown alone into the corner of the house, still with a purplish face.

  Outside the wooden fence, the county government's chief officer negotiated with the recidivists, demanding the release of Wang Huaili. The prisoners took advantage of the situation to extort wine, meat, and rice, which they tasted for poison before sitting down to enjoy a hearty meal. Seeing that the county government had retreated a step and given them some sweet treats, they became even more boisterous and attempted to charge towards the main gate. Li Peinan ordered the guard troops to kill any prisoner on sight, forcing them back into the second courtyard.

  After that afternoon, the prisoners couldn't break out, and the bailiffs were afraid to throw in mouse-catching devices, nor did they dare to launch a hard attack. They could only wait for the orders of the prince's mansion. Li Peinan was waiting for the deployment of his trusted troops and would not provoke trouble, allowing the three factions, including himself, to remain at an impasse.

  Li Peinan was asked to sit down by Li Qun, but he stood still with his sword for the whole afternoon, his face always cold and expressionless, making everyone guess what he was thinking. He stood there motionless, but forced himself to think about the trouble on the other side of Fei Yi, secretly deducing that since Fei Yi had returned late, she must have encountered the ambush set by Wang Huailie.

  Of course, he believed in Fei Yu's martial arts and adaptability, otherwise he wouldn't have sent Min An out as a target under the consequences of being scolded by Fei Yu - since Song Ji was King Hua Li's informant, news of Min An's outing would eventually reach King Hua Li's ears, and King Hua Li would naturally take action, making some moves to harm Min An. Li Pei Nan had thought all this through long ago, but didn't remind Min An, and even let Fei Yu follow along, it was clear that after the event, Fei Yu figured out the twists and turns, and couldn't help but come to fight with him again.

  Li Peinan waited expectantly for Fei's return, still crossing his hands on the hilt of his sword, standing there with an air of indifference.