Chapter 29: Close-fitting Sword
"That bitch went to the inner prison?" Ah Rong went to the government office to drink tea in anger and sent someone to follow her secretly. When he heard where Tang Ying had gone, he immediately clapped his hands and laughed, "Aunt Chun's face scared her half to death! Don't let her think that it's so easy to get into the Imperial Cavalry Division!"
The inner prison of the Huangzi Department is full of female relatives. The female official in charge of interrogation is named Chunniang, who is close to the Grand Princess. It is said that she was pretty and skilled when she was young. She almost died in a fire while investigating a rebellion case. Half of her face was disfigured. She is very scary, and her personality is changeable, making her extremely difficult to please.
After her face was disfigured, Chunniang was confined to the inner prison, specializing in interrogation. It was said that there was no prisoner that she could not pry open and no prisoner that she could not interrogate.
After the Grand Princess stepped down, most of her capable female officials left the Imperial Cavalry Department with her. Those who stayed behind were either those who could not be replaced in a short time like Chun Niang, or those who were not appreciated by the Grand Princess and wanted to make a name for themselves under Princess Yuan Shu.
Aunt Chun is a special existence.
On the first day Princess Yuan Shu took over the Phoenix Department, she came to pay a visit with a disfigured face, which frightened Princess Yuan Shu so much that she shouted and wanted to kick her out.
She didn't care and turned around and went back to the inner prison.
Princess Yuan Shu had a nightmare as soon as she returned. As a pampered princess who grew up in heaven, she didn't dare to get close to her if her clothes were not tidy. How could she have ever seen such a scary face?
In the past six months, whenever the Fengzi Department had a case that needed the assistance of the Huangzi Department, if Fu Chen was involved, Princess Yuan Shu would mostly avoid him when she heard that Aunt Chun was going with him. Occasionally, she really couldn't help but want to follow Fu Chen, and when she saw Fu Chen and Aunt Chun discussing the case, she could only stand far away.
Ah Rong was considerate and secretly thought about helping the princess solve this problem. He boldly went to the inner prison to give Chunniang a curtain: "Aunt, you should cover your face every time you go out, so as not to disturb the princess."
In fact, she was also very afraid of Aunt Chun's face. She was deeply impressed when she saw it for the first time and had nightmares for half the night after returning. It was only for the princess that she mustered up the courage to come. If she succeeded, it would be a great achievement.
At that time, Aunt Chun had just come out of the interrogation room, with blood still on her body. The inner prison had never seen sunlight all year round, and the oil lamps on the four stone walls flickered, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, illuminating her half-burned and distorted face like a soul-catcher from hell.
Aunt Chun pinched Ah Rong's chin with her cold and scary hand, and moved closer to force Ah Rong to look directly at her scary face, sneering: "Little girl, if you keep talking, do you believe I will cut off your tongue?!"
Ah Rong was so frightened that tears started to flow and he trembled in her hands.
Aunt Chun's voice was hoarse and sharp. It was said that she had injured her throat in the fire. The contempt in her eyes almost turned into a slap in Arong's face.
Princess Yuan Shu has been favored since she was a child, and no one around her dared to look down on her. As a result, A Rong also developed an arrogant and overbearing character. Unexpectedly, he fell into trouble in front of Aunt Chun.
After Aunt Chun had been gone for a long time, she leaned against the stone wall beside her to stand as if she was exhausted, and walked out of the gate of the inner prison step by step. When she felt the warm sunshine outside, she felt that she was alive again.
From then on, A Rong stayed away from the inner prison . When he saw Aunt Chun, he ran away as quickly as he could, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Go outside the inner prison and watch to see when that bitch will come out. It would be best if she was scared to death in there by Aunt Chun."
Tang Ying, whom she hated to the core, was currently in the inner prison, and was watching Aunt Chun's torture on the spot.
Chunniang was halfway through the trial when she saw a little girl rushing in from outside. She was quite surprised that she was not scared away by her. She glanced at the sword at her waist, paused for a second, then quickly looked away and continued the trial.
When the interrogation was over, the woman was dragged away. She wiped the torture instruments in her hands without even raising her head: "Little girl, aren't you afraid?"
The group of little girls brought in by Princess Yuan Shu were only greedy for the fame of the Forbidden Cavalry Department. They wore bright clothes and looked glamorous when going out. They relied on the princess's power to do whatever they wanted outside, but they despised the filthiness of the inner prison. They never learned how to be in charge of the Phoenix Department or how to assist the Phoenix Department in jointly trying cases. It was really speechless.
Tang Ying also figured out something. The woman was the concubine sent to the commander of the Wucheng Military Department, Hong Cong. As his name suggests, Hong enjoyed the beauty's tenderness, but he never let down his guard despite his high position. He suspected that the beauty had other intentions. When the beauty showed her flaws and was blocked in the study when she was trying to steal the city defense map, she was immediately sent to the Forbidden Cavalry Department and handed over to Aunt Chun.
"I'm quite worried that we won't be able to interrogate the mastermind behind this, and maybe there will be a big chaos." Tang Ying heard that the Wanshou Festival was just around the corner, and the security of the capital was of utmost importance, so wouldn't the interrogators have to use some ruthless methods?
Aunt Chun glanced at her unexpectedly. She really didn't expect that the little girl was not perfunctory, but listened carefully to the interrogation and had a certain understanding of the case. She looked at the little girl with her face that could scare a child and said, "Aren't you afraid of me?"
Tang Ying has been in the military camp for many years, and has seen countless wounded soldiers. Sometimes when Marshal Tang was busy and didn't need her, she would still take time to go to the wounded camp to help. She was an expert in dealing with various external injuries. She stared at Chunniang's horrible scars and carefully distinguished: "This is... a burn, right? Without timely care, the wound has festered. Senior, it must have been very painful at the time, right?"
Chunniang stood there in a daze.
She had been loyal to the royal family since she was young, and had been working hard beside the Grand Princess without complaint. She was also smart and studious. Before she was injured, she was the most capable female official beside the Grand Princess. After she was injured, she came back to report, and because of her excellent handling of the case, she received many commendations. However, no one had ever asked her with concern: You must be in pain, right?
Does it hurt?
Of course it hurts!
It hurt so much that when she saw her young and pretty face in the brass mirror for the first time, it looked like a ghost. She was so scared that she screamed and threw the mirror away, but it was soon replaced by deep panic.
If she fails to become an irreplaceable person in the Forbidden Cavalry Division, she will most likely be abandoned and will not know where to go.
From then on, she gradually became an expert in torture in the inner prison, until she was in charge of the inner prison and was irreplaceable.
The girl had a sincere look on her face, her eyes were clear and concerned, and she also felt the pain of empathy: "I have seen many injured people before, wailing all night, in unbearable pain. Those who can survive are people with very strong willpower. It is not easy. Not to mention that it will be cloudy and rainy afterwards, and there will be various sequelae."
She didn't know what she was thinking of, and her voice turned darker: "...Did I say too much?"
"The little girl is quite brave." Chunniang's expression softened. Although there was actually no difference in the eyes of others, Tang Ying sensed kindness from her distorted face and gave her a warm smile.
"What is your relationship with that kid Fu Chen?"
Tang Ying was dumbfounded: "How did you know that, Senior?"
Could it be that there are four big words "Fu Mansion Horseman" on her forehead?
Chunniang pointed at the sword hanging on her waist and said, "If it didn't matter, why would he give you his own personal sword, Feiluan?"
Tang Ying scratched her head: "...I am the groom of Lord Fu's mansion." She recalled Commander Fu's cold and icy face, and she really didn't expect that he had such a caring side. "Maybe... Lord Fu just lent it to me temporarily?"
Chunniang laughed loudly: "What a...stupid girl!"
Princess Yuan Shu even used the favor of the Imperial Concubine to chase that boy to the Forbidden Cavalry Department, but Fu Chen never gave the princess a friendly look.
Tang Ying asked shamelessly: "What is your name, senior?"
※※※
As lunch time approached, the Ninth Princess felt a little uneasy.
"Go call Zhang Ying over."
When A Rong got the news, he hurriedly sent someone to find Tang Ying.
The person who was watching her came back with a pale face and told her, "Sister Arong, she has never come out since she entered the inner prison. Could she... could she be scared to death in there?"
Ah Rong himself didn't have the courage to go to the inner prison to take a look. He stamped his feet anxiously and said, "You two, hurry up and call the person over to the inner prison. No matter if he is scared to death or alive, you must give the princess a reply."
The two of them encouraged each other to go to the inner prison, greeted the gatekeeper, and invited her to go in and take a look. As a result, the gatekeeper came out as if sleepwalking and said, "That girl... is drinking tea and chatting with Master Chun. There are people guarding outside, so we dare not disturb them."
She had been guarding the inner prison for twenty years, and had never seen the disfigured Chunniang be so kind and gentle to any little girl. Although there was no kind expression on her face, her tone was the gentlest she had ever heard.
They both: “…”
Ah Rong reported Tang Ying's whereabouts to the princess: "I only took her to the gate of the inner prison, but she insisted on going in. After entering, she refused to come out for a long time and had a very pleasant conversation with Aunt Chun. I don't know what they were talking about."
The princess looked gloomy.
Ah Rong continued to make false accusations: "Princess, did you see the sword on the girl's waist this morning? I didn't see it clearly, but it looked like Master Fu's Fei Luan. I don't know if it's true or not."
Princess Yuan Shu had actually noticed this a long time ago, but as a princess, she couldn't ask any more questions. Unexpectedly, when Ah Rong mentioned this, her eyebrows immediately raised: "I promoted her to the Forbidden Cavalry Division, but I didn't expect that she would dare to betray me. She is so bold!"
"Go, drag her here from the inner prison."
