Unexpectedly, his room contained many books. She had been wild and unruly before, not fond of reading, but as a member of the imperial family, being a good-for-nothing was one thing—her tutors had still taught what they were supposed to teach. So she carefully examined them, wanting to see what kind of books he read.

Looking through them one by one, she saw political history and military affairs, geography and travel accounts, poetry and literary collections, medicine, divination, and astrology—everything was there. She had previously thought he was just a martial artist, but she hadn’t expected him to have such a scholarly side. But it wasn’t surprising—he was Susu’s brother, and Susu had read many books. It was a family tradition of learning. At the thought of Suzhen, she became so sad she trembled, not daring to think further.

“Sister Wu Ming, who exactly are those two people that the Master has imprisoned here? He’s not even here, yet he specifically assigned you to come execute punishment every day…”

Just as she was thinking this, she heard footsteps suddenly rising, as if a group of people had walked in. She had intended to go out, but upon hearing that the speaker was Wu Tong, who viewed her unfavorably, she immediately dismissed the thought and decided to wait until they left.

“Don’t ask about this matter anymore. This is a painful spot in Master’s heart. Also, you must not mention this matter even once in front of the Princess. Otherwise, if you anger Master, you’ll bear the consequences yourself.”

“Sister, even I can’t speak of it? What connection does this have with that Princess?”

“Wu Tong, sister advises you—don’t harbor any more feelings for Master. Master has experienced many things in the past that you cannot penetrate.”

“That Princess is merely a princess of the former dynasty—”

“Enough. If you say more, go out and conduct business.”

“Alright, alright, good sister, I won’t say anymore.”

As the two spoke, their footsteps went in another direction.

The other speaker was undoubtedly Wu Ming. Lian Xin vaguely guessed something in her heart, and for a moment her emotions surged, filling her chest, making her whole body tremble. She quickly pushed the door open a crack and saw that the group hadn’t gone far, stopping in front of a room opposite. Behind the two women were six sect disciples—that room was quite small, locked with a bolt. Lian Xin had originally thought it was where Wuqing stored miscellaneous items.

Wu Ming took out a key from her bosom and opened the door to enter.

Inside the room was only one table, one stool, and one lamp. It looked ordinary, yet gave people a strangely sparse feeling.

Wu Ming walked to the lamp, bent down and forcefully turned it—left three times, right four times. With a rumbling sound, the ground immediately sank down. A pitch-black opening seemed ready to swallow people whole, and a stone staircase appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Wu Tong felt slightly chilled in her heart. The several young Capture Gate members behind her lit the lamps in their hands and walked down together. A rotten stench hit them in the face. Upon reaching the bottom, the young men hung the lamps on both sides of the walls. By the weak firelight, Wu Tong could see clearly that a prison cage was built in this cellar. In front of the cage were two sets of wooden frames, with torture instruments placed beside them. Some of the torture devices even had thick black bloodstains on them, looking terrifying. A nauseating sour and foul smell quickly penetrated people’s noses, making them extremely uncomfortable.

Two dark, filthy prisoners were huddled in the cage. It was evident that they ate, drank, and relieved themselves all in this place.

Hearing human voices, the two figures suddenly lunged forward. One of them smiled ingratiatingly: “Wuqing, let us out. You know our master—someone close to His Majesty. Whatever you want is fine!”

The other said: “How about this—after we get out, we’ll work for you. I guarantee I’ll keep my word. If you don’t believe us, you can poison us. We two brothers will definitely obey your orders…”

Both voices were hoarse and broken, sounding severely injured. Wu Tong listened with growing surprise and suspicion, when she heard Wu Ming laugh coldly: “You think you’re worthy of working for Master? If you hadn’t captured the Princess, Judge Li wouldn’t have broken his vessels and sunk his boats, dying without a burial place. If you hadn’t been full of filth, treating the Prin…”

Speaking to this point, remembering Wuqing’s taboo, she immediately fell silent, only saying coldly: “You truly deserve death. You two beasts will end your wretched lives in this place where you’ll never see heaven, earth, sun, or moon.”

Hearing this, one of them flew into a rage, vigorously shaking the iron bars: “Where’s Wuqing? Where did Wuqing go? Let him come talk to us!”

“You tell him this won’t end well for him. Master is definitely looking for us. Once he learns the news, he’ll surely tear you all to pieces and raze this place to the ground!”

Wu Tong squinted to look closely. It was a burly, rough man, dressed in rags like a beggar, so filthy that the original color couldn’t be seen. Where his clothes were torn, flesh and blood were mangled, with scabs and fabric all stuck together. As he moved to the side, she could also see clearly that one side of his eye socket was just a large hole, and two fingers on his right hand were severed at the roots, with rotting bone and flesh. She quickly covered her mouth, nearly vomiting.

The other’s condition was probably no better than his, but he seemed more composed and didn’t waste words.

Wu Ming had just mentioned Judge Li, so these two people must be connected to Master’s mysteriously deceased sister. But Wu Ming seemed to have something else unsaid—what was that about? As her doubts deepened, Wu Ming had already ordered people to unlock the cage, drag the two out, and tie them to the torture frames in front. Wu Tong also saw the other person’s appearance clearly—sallow complexion, drooping eyelids, but his remaining eye gleamed with sharp light. The six young Capture Gate members were also ruthless, whipping the two with salt-soaked leather whips. It seemed the two had once been fierce fighters, but after just a few lashes, they couldn’t withstand it. First came continuous cursing, then piercing howls and pitiful pleas for mercy.

Wu Ming only watched coldly, showing no mercy. When she saw it was about enough, she had the young men untie them and throw them back into the cage.

These two were, needless to say, Mao Hui and Yu Jinglun.

It turned out that Wuqing had spent several years establishing the Capture Gate, then sent expert members to infiltrate the capital and track the two men—what time they went where, what they did, when they went out on business, how many people they brought. He thoroughly mapped out their movements. To avoid alerting them, he changed personnel for each location they followed, truly putting great effort into it. Finally, when the time was ripe, when the two went out a month ago to handle business for Master Wuliang, he set an ambush on the road. First using a diversion tactic to lure away all their subordinates, he and Leng Xue and Tie Shou captured the two and brought them back to the gate.

“Wuqing said Lian Xin is his woman, and we did something deserving death. But Wu Ming, I see your anger is so great—clearly you have feelings for your Master. Too bad he’d rather have a little slut we’ve played with than you.”

As Wu Tong followed Wu Ming out, she suddenly heard the thin man’s sinister laugh and was immediately stunned, then furious: “What nonsense are you spouting? How could Master—”

She ran back a few steps, shouting angrily at the cage.

Yu Jinglun in the cage curved his lips into a strange arc. When she realized what was happening, his hand had already shot out in front of her, gripping her neck tightly through the iron bars.

Mao Hui was delighted and shouted sternly at Wu Ming: “Throw over the key, or we’ll strangle her!”

This provocation strategy was devised by Yu Jinglun, originally intended for use against Wuqing. But Wuqing’s martial arts were extremely high—if they failed once, only death awaited them, so the two had never dared to try.

However, this punishment was too severe and increasingly unbearable. Today it wasn’t Wuqing who came, and this Wu Ming had always respected Wuqing—there might be an opportunity. Even if it failed, it would just be a severe beating, which wouldn’t be worse than their current situation. The two senior and junior brothers of many years could understand each other’s thoughts with just a glance, so they decided to take the risk.

Unexpectedly, someone took the bait before Wu Ming! Heaven truly wasn’t abandoning them.

Wu Ming was both shocked and angry, but Yu Jinglun had always been cunning and vicious. With just a “crack” sound, Wu Tong cried out in pain. In an instant, with no time to calculate, she could only throw the key over—

She stared fiercely at the two, wanting to wait for an opportunity to attack, but with life and death hanging by a thread, how dare Mao and Yu be careless? Mao Hui opened the door in a few moves, and the two quickly stepped out.

“Catch her!” Suddenly, Yu Jinglun threw the person to Mao Hui and leaped into the air himself. Wu Ming thought he wanted to escape first and leaped up to intercept him. As they passed each other in mid-air, intending to rescue Wu Tong first before pursuing, she suddenly heard a low cry and her heart shook, thinking something was wrong.

Indeed, when she turned to look, she saw Yu Jinglun had landed on the stone steps, now holding another person in his hands.

That was… the Princess.

Seeing the situation had changed, all the Capture Gate members turned around, but it was already too late!

In the open space of the courtyard, two sides faced off.

Capture Gate disciples blocked the exit, glaring like tigers watching their prey. Wu Ming shouted sternly: “Release them! I can make the decision—when Master returns, I’ll have Master spare your lives.”

“Bah!” Mao Hui spat fiercely on the ground. “Now that we have hostages, how can you bargain with us? If I release them, would Wuqing spare us when he returns?”

“We’re leaving right now. If you dare obstruct us, we’ll kill her first—” He squeezed Wu Tong’s neck viciously again.

Wu Tong was after all a member of the Capture Gate, with considerable backbone. Though her face was flushed red, she said: “Sister Wu Ming, don’t mind me. I absolutely won’t let them threaten Master!”

She tried to bite her tongue to commit suicide, but Mao Hui was prepared and forcefully dislocated her jaw. Meanwhile, Yu Jinglun was about to act when Lian Xin said coldly: “I won’t commit suicide—you don’t deserve it. An intact hostage is more valuable.”

Yu Jinglun was slightly stunned, then laughed chattily: “After three days apart, one should look at someone with new eyes. The Princess has improved and become more beautiful.”

Seeing his frivolous words, Wu Ming was instantly furious: “Release the Princess and I’ll be your hostage!”

“Ridiculous!” Yu Jinglun blinked his single eye. “Wu Ming, you’re foolish, but I’m not stupid. Princess is right—she’s worth much more than you.”

“Fine, if you won’t release them, we’ll do this differently. I swear to heaven—if you release them, I’ll immediately let you leave and guarantee that no one from the gate will pursue you. I keep my word. If I break this oath, may heaven punish me and earth—”

Before Wu Ming could finish, Yu Jinglun signaled Mao Hui with his eyes. The two each took a pill from their hair ornaments and stuffed them into the two girls’ mouths.