The Court of Judicial Review’s prison was extremely dark and deep.

Prisons were inevitably gloomy places. Though spring had already arrived, this place remained quite cold. Especially as one went deeper into the prison cells, the chill became heavier. Large rats frequently appeared in the corners or hid in the straw spread on the cell floors, their sharp teeth and pointed mouths quite frightening.

The last time Qi Ying had come here was four years ago, to see Chancellor Shen, with whom he’d only met a few times. At that time, separated by a prison door, that leader had spoken to him about the difficult fate of prestigious families, with far-sighted vision and earnest words. Qi Ying had known then that he was right, but he hadn’t expected this to come to the Qi family so quickly. In merely four years, he would have to come here to visit his blood brothers.

How impermanent worldly affairs were—even he couldn’t help but sigh.

With the current Chancellor personally arriving here, the prison officials of the Court of Judicial Review naturally couldn’t avoid fawning and flattering in every way. They probably didn’t know that this great man had just been stripped of his authority by His Majesty, or they might not be so enthusiastic.

However, the Chancellor didn’t have anyone lead or accompany him, only dismissing them and walking alone into the depths of the prison.

Qi Yun and Qi Ning weren’t held in the same cell. Qi Ying first found his eldest brother.

The Right Assistant Administrator was the legitimate son of the Qi family, holding the second rank, a proper aristocratic noble who had never experienced anything undignified in his life. But when Qi Ying found him, he saw him disheveled and covered in wounds, sitting against the wall with his eyes closed, surrounded by leftover cold food being shared by two large rats in the cell.

His wounds were layered upon each other, clearly whip marks left after interrogation. Though not as severe as the injuries Xu Zhengning had sustained in Northern Wei, they were still shocking to behold.

Qi Ying’s hands secretly clenched tight.

He called to his elder brother through the prison bars, but Qi Yun seemed not to hear, still leaning against the wall without word or movement. If Qi Ying couldn’t see the rise and fall of his chest, he would almost think he was already…

His brow furrowed tightly, and suddenly he heard Qi Ning’s voice from not far away, calling out repeatedly: “Second Brother? Is that Second Brother? Second Brother, is it you who’s come?—Second Brother! Second Brother!”

His voice was very excited, creating echoes in the empty, cold depths of the prison. Qi Ying looked at his elder brother again, seeing he still had no reaction, as if he had a high fever and lost consciousness. His frown deepened.

He naturally wanted to speak a few words with his elder brother before leaving, but his visiting time was very limited. Since he couldn’t linger here with his elder brother at this moment, he turned to find his third brother Qi Ning.

The cell holding Qi Ning was also nearby. The Third Young Master was also in a sorry state, but he had far fewer injuries than his elder brother. He had just lost a lot of weight, but otherwise seemed fine. It seemed the people in the Court of Judicial Review had received instructions from above and all knew that the Third Young Master wasn’t important—what mattered was making the Right Assistant Administrator confess and sign, as this would make it easier to put the Qi family to death. Therefore, all the interrogation focused on Qi Yun alone, allowing Qi Ning to escape disaster.

But though Qi Ning hadn’t suffered much injury, his emotions were extremely volatile. After all, he had grown up pampered and precious—where had he ever suffered such hardship? Now seeing his second brother arrive, he wailed loudly, reaching through the prison bars to tightly grasp his second brother’s sleeve, repeatedly crying and shouting “Second Brother save me,” no longer showing any of the resentment toward his second brother from this past year.

While crying, Qi Ning said loudly: “Second Brother, listen to me! Listen to my explanation! This matter really wasn’t my idea—it was Fu Ran! The Fu family framed me! I didn’t have that much money at all, it was him who step by step incited me to get money! I, I did lose my head and steal elder brother’s seal to borrow money, but, but I absolutely didn’t collect over a thousand acres of land! Absolutely not! The Fu family counted all the land they forcibly seized themselves on my account! Second Brother, please save me. I’ll never dare again. I’ll listen to you in everything from now on. I really won’t dare again…”

He spoke incoherently, crying heartbreakingly, tears streaming down his face, looking utterly wretched.

Qi Ying looked at him and suddenly remembered when he and Jingkang were small—every time they were beaten with a board by their father, they would also grab his sleeve and cry loudly like this, also saying “Second Brother save me” just like now.

He was his younger brother, and in his eyes would probably always be a child whose mind wasn’t fully mature. He could tolerate and care for him, but how severe were the nation’s laws, how cold and crafty were human hearts—how could others be as tolerant of him as he was?

He couldn’t escape this calamity, and had even implicated their elder brother.

But could this all be said to be Qi Ning’s fault?

Not one of the Jiangzuo aristocratic families was without hidden filth—the Qi family was already considered clean. Every family had secrets, so why did the Qi family’s affair come to light? It was simply because the Son of Heaven intended it so. Qi Ning was merely a blade in others’ hands.

Rather than saying it was third brother’s fault, it would be better to say it was his own fault—he hadn’t calculated properly, hadn’t taken good care, which led to this great disaster for the family.

Qi Ying’s expression grew even darker.

“Jingan.”

Qi Ning had been crying, but suddenly hearing his second brother call his name, he immediately looked up at his elder brother with eager eyes, then saw him looking down with phoenix eyes and saying: “I will definitely save you and elder brother. Wait with peace of mind, just remember one thing—don’t mention the Fu family anymore, not a single word.”

His voice was low, his expression magnanimous yet compassionate, making Qi Ning’s tears flow even more.

His second brother… how could he have resented him before?

He was clearly so good to him…

In his heart, Qi Ning actually trusted his second brother completely and knew that second brother truly cared for him. Unfortunately, he had fallen for the Fu family’s trick in a moment of confusion and now had even implicated the entire family.

He regretted it extremely. At this moment he could only look at his second brother and nod repeatedly, saying: “Second Brother… I’m sorry, I’ve wronged our family, I…”

He couldn’t continue and covered his face to cry again.

His second brother said nothing more, only patted his shoulder through the prison bars.

A gentle pat, no different from usual at home, as if he had merely failed to memorize his lessons or written a poor essay and been scolded by their father. At such times, his second brother would also pat his shoulder gently like this. It seemed to have no deep meaning, but it always made him feel confident.

I don’t need to be afraid—I still have second brother.

Second brother will save us.

Definitely will.

When Qi Ying returned to the main residence, it was already the ding hour, deep into the night when all was quiet.

He shouldn’t have returned so late, but after leaving the Court of Judicial Review’s prison, he had arranged for people to go in to treat and diagnose Qi Yun’s injuries, which took considerable effort negotiating with the prison officials, thus delaying his return. The Court of Judicial Review’s prison could only be entered once; after he came out, he couldn’t go in again. So he only heard the physician report that the eldest young master had awakened and begun to recover from his fever after taking medicine, but didn’t have the chance to speak a few words with his elder brother.

Fortunately, elder brother had improved and his life was not in danger.

Though he returned late, the house was brightly lit. Except for father and grandmother who were still bedridden and unable to rise, everyone else had gathered in the main hall waiting for his return.

His sister-in-law was pregnant and still dragging her sick body, so Qi Ying feared she would worry and harm herself. He didn’t tell her about elder brother’s serious injuries, only saying he had lost some weight but everything else was fine. Upon hearing this, his sister-in-law seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and looked better, but still couldn’t help crying. While crying, she said to Qi Ying: “Jingchen, thank goodness we have you…”

When a mother cries, the child naturally cries even more. Little Hui’er cried pitifully, also hugging Qi Ying’s legs and saying “Thank you, Second Uncle.” Qi Ying comforted the child while answering his sister-in-law: “Sister-in-law is too kind. This is all my duty.”

Yao Shi beside them comforted her daughter-in-law while also seeming about to cry herself. At this time, she heard her fourth son ask Jingchen: “Second Brother… what about Third Brother? Is he well?”

Due to the spring examinations, the Fourth Young Master had actually quarreled with his second brother for a while, but he was broad-minded and didn’t hold grudges for long. Moreover, the Zhao family had later relented and agreed to betroth Zhao Yao to him. Having achieved his wish, he naturally cared even less about what had happened during the spring examinations and everything with his second brother was as before.

Recently with so many troubles, the Fourth Young Master had actually changed considerably.

He was naturally playful and usually didn’t worry about anything, the only thing he cared about was his Yao’er sister. Originally he was about to achieve his long-held wish—they had already exchanged birth dates with his cousin and were just waiting for an auspicious day to hold the wedding ceremony. But unexpectedly the family suddenly faced great disaster, everything became chaotic at once, and the Zhao family’s attitude changed accordingly. At first they only said the wedding date was postponed, but later seeing the elder brother imprisoned and father fallen ill, they simply broke off the engagement entirely.

Those who used to eagerly rush to the main residence now avoided them from eight zhang away, afraid of having any connection with the Qi family.

Qi Le wasn’t stupid—he just didn’t care about many things. Actually, he had long known the Zhao family’s poor character, always climbing high and stepping low. He had just always thought only his uncle and aunt would act this way, that his beautiful and lovely Yao’er sister would never be as snobbish as her family members. But in times of trouble, one sees people’s true hearts. His Yao’er sister, whom he had been infatuated with for many years, immediately refused to see him when his family had problems, even formally writing a letter saying she wanted to cut all ties with him and never see him again in this lifetime.

Human warmth and coldness changed so swiftly.

If this had happened in the past, Qi Le would naturally have been heartbroken, but now with the family in disaster and father and brothers in trouble, he no longer had the heart to indulge in romantic feelings. Instead, he began to realize his own responsibility to this family.

He needed to grow up… he couldn’t depend on father and brothers for everything anymore.

He wanted to help second brother and share this enormous burden.

A person’s maturation might happen in just an instant—there’s a moment when one suddenly understands their responsibility toward certain people or matters. This is what’s called opportunity. Such changes might be very subtle, but there are always faint traces to be found, such as in the Fourth Young Master’s eyes, which now had some prudence and determination that had never been there before.

Seeing such changes made Qi Ying quite gratified, but he knew that personal growth couldn’t be achieved overnight, so he didn’t expect fourth brother to share any burdens for him. At this moment he only raised his hand to pat his shoulder, saying: “Jingan is fine. Take care of yourself and don’t worry about other matters.”

Qi Le was intelligent and naturally understood his second brother’s meaning. At the same time, he began to hate his own weakness—he was too useless, which is why in this time of crisis he could only panic like a three-year-old child, only knowing to wait for second brother to save them.

If he also had some official position, if he also had some social connections, if he hadn’t previously only known to indulge in those unworthy romantic feelings, then now…

He was useless!

Qi Le was both grief-stricken and indignant, but before he could speak, a household servant hurriedly came in to report that Young Master Han had arrived and was waiting outside the corridor, wanting to see the Second Young Master.

Young Master Han… Han Feichi.

Upon hearing this, Qi Ying’s expression showed slight changes, though not obviously. He pondered for a moment, bent down to pick up Hui’er and hand her to his sister-in-law, then turned to his mother and said: “Mother, I’ll go see Zhongheng briefly and return soon.”

Since the Qi family’s troubles began, their gates had long been cold and deserted with no one daring to visit. Now this Young Master Han had come. Though he didn’t know his purpose, it was rare indeed. Yao Shi was somewhat moved and said: “Why don’t we invite Zhongheng inside to sit and have some tea?”

Qi Ying thought for a moment and said: “No need. Given Zhongheng’s temperament, he probably wouldn’t like such ceremony either.”

That was true.

Young Master Han had always had an inscrutable temperament, bold and unconventional, not bound by social customs. Making him enter the main hall to bow to this person and that would be troublesome instead.

Yao Shi blamed herself for not thinking it through and quickly nodded in agreement: “Good, good, then you go.”

Qi Ying nodded to his mother and turned to leave the main hall.

Under the corridor, the night was cool as water. Han Feichi stood tall waiting there, only coming to his senses when he heard Qi Ying’s footsteps. He turned to look toward the Qi family’s main hall entrance and called out “Second Brother.”

This Young Master Han was a famous scoundrel in Jiankang City—with the best birth and the best natural talents, but deliberately willful and unmanageable. Even when his father and brothers forcibly sent him to the provincial examinations, he dared to publicly submit a blank paper, leaving everyone dumbstruck.

He was a noble young master who knew no sorrow, maintaining a casual, dissolute appearance year-round. But now his face was solemn and his demeanor serious, without any trace of joking or games.

Looking at Qi Ying hurrying from the Qi family’s main hall, he took a few steps forward, his expression grave and his eyes sharp. Without any superfluous words, he only asked one question: “Is there anywhere I can help?”

Young Master Han was notorious for his wildness, arguably Jiankang City’s number one dandy, with all sorts of bad reputations. So many people had forgotten that he had been called a child prodigy in his youth. Only now when he showed his serious side again did people remember—Han Zhongheng had once been the most outstanding descendant of the Han family’s generation. His family elders were shocked by his talent and thus named him “Feichi.”

Fearing that when dragons gained clouds and rain, they would ultimately not be creatures of the pond.

At this moment he didn’t ask about Qi Ying’s recent situation or his family members, because he deeply understood that asking such things in these chaotic times was useless. He only asked one question: “Is there anywhere I can help?”

Just tell me, and I’ll do it.

Mountains of knives and forests of swords, thorny undergrowth—nothing would stop me.

Seeing his serious expression, Qi Ying’s expression was also without evasion. He only shook his head.

Han Feichi frowned and didn’t doubt that Qi Ying was being polite. He could see the caution in second brother’s eyes and only asked again: “Then what does second brother plan to do now?”

The long night stretched on, the night wind suddenly rose, making hearts flutter and sway.

Qi Ying’s expression was as stable as mountains and rivers, but his look toward Han Feichi was somewhat complex.

He only said one word.

“Wait.”

Author’s Note: Continue bowing to thank everyone for your companionship and comments. I feel especially happy and warm every time I see them~ This chapter is finished. There are probably about three more chapters until the end of Volume 3 (if divided into detailed chapters there might be four, if roughly divided then three).