Old Madam Ling finally raised what had truly been on her mind. “Come to think of it, Wei Yan has been back in the palace for half a month now. I wonder whether he has brought up the Lu Family’s matter before the Emperor.”

She had been anxiously waiting day after day for good news, and the waiting was becoming truly unbearable.

Ling Jingshu had long anticipated that Old Madam Ling would ask this very thing. She smiled and offered reassurance. “Grandmother, please do not be impatient just yet. In a matter as serious as this, one must wait until the right moment presents itself before making the plea. To open one’s mouth rashly and without due timing would likely draw the Emperor’s suspicion and displeasure — that would make things worse rather than better. Since Wei Yan has promised to do his utmost, he would certainly not stand by and do nothing.”

Besides, Wei Yan was inside the palace — whether or not he had privately raised the matter with the Emperor, no one outside would ever know.

To say a few words off the top of her head to placate Old Madam Ling — Ling Jingshu felt not even a trace of guilt over it.

She bore a blood feud against the Lu Family that could not coexist under the same sky. She wished fervently for the Ling woman to never recover from this, so how could she possibly have any heart to save her? In the letter she had written to Wei Yan earlier, she had already made her true intentions perfectly clear.

Wei Yan was also a master of playing the role. When he had come to the Ling residence last time, a few well-chosen words from him had left Old Madam Ling deeply and unshakeably convinced.

As expected, Old Madam Ling’s expression eased somewhat. “I am the one being too impatient. Wei Yan also said that this matter is exceedingly difficult, and asked us to wait patiently for news. It has only been half a month, and already I am in a state of anxiety — truly that is quite unreasonable of me.”

“Concern breeds confusion — Grandmother is only worried about Aunt.” Ling Jingshu picked up the thread of the conversation with perceptive understanding. “At least the silver spent the other day to bribe the people inside the imperial prison to take good care of Aunt — she should not be suffering too greatly.”

Thinking of her daughter shut away in a prison cell without seeing the light of day, Old Madam Ling could not help but heave a long sigh.

As long as she could save her daughter’s life, there was no amount of silver she would begrudge spending.

……

Inside the Ministry of Justice’s imperial prison in the capital were held only the gravest and most serious of criminals.

Over a hundred members of the Lu Family had all been thrown into the imperial prison — the men and the female members of the household confined in two separate sections.

Each cell, not particularly large, held a dozen or so people. The Lu Family’s female members occupied three such cells between them, and the Ling woman was among those within.

The prison was dim and poorly ventilated. Those confined within were accorded no niceties such as bathing or changing their clothes. One and all were disheveled, unwashed, and emanating a thoroughly unpleasant odor.

The Ling woman — who in her former days had been most particular about cleanliness — now sat on the ground with a blank and vacant expression, her gaze dull and unfocused.

When news of Lu Hong’s misfortune had come back to Jizhou, Lu An had been stricken with grief. The Ling woman had put on a show of sorrow and distress on the surface, while secretly gloating inside. With Lu Hong having entered a monastery as a monk, the First Branch of the Lu Family was left with only Lu Qian as the legitimate heir. From then on, all of the Lu Family’s estates would belong to Lu Qian.

What she had not anticipated was that before she had even had two good years of this, the entire sky of the Lu Family came crashing down.

It was all Lu Ping’s fault.

Consumed by fantasies of the glory and merit to be gained from supporting the right claimant to the throne, he had actually dared to meddle in a plot to assassinate the Emperor and Crown Prince. The entire Lu household had been implicated by Lu Ping’s crime, and in the space of a single night, every one of them had become prisoners.

Locked inside the imperial prison, cut off from all daylight, her whole being had begun to descend into a stuporous fog. How many days had passed — or was it several tens of days, or even a month…

The Ling woman could no longer recall clearly. The only thing that occupied her heart was Lu Qian.

Lu Ping was the chief culprit and could not escape death. Lu An, as Lu Ping’s elder brother and the head of the Lu clan, had very little hope of keeping his life either.

But her son was innocent. He was only fifteen years old — he had not yet had time to start a family of his own, had not yet had the chance to father children. He was still a young boy who did not yet fully comprehend the ways of the world.

Tears streamed down the Ling woman’s face in torrents.

Her weeping drew no notice from anyone. For every member of the Lu Family’s female household, these days were nothing short of living in hell. The despair of not knowing whether they would see the next day, the terror of not knowing what awaited them — it tormented them all without cease, day and night. Every day, someone broke down into frenzied sobbing. When the sound of the Ling woman’s weeping reached the others, very soon there were others crying alongside her.

A heavily-built prison warden strode over, followed by two prison guards carrying food.

The warden had a fierce and brutal face, and bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Weeping and wailing inside the imperial prison is forbidden. Anyone who dares wail like that again will not eat today.”

Two short sentences were all it took to bring immediate silence.

Above all things, a belly must be fed. Better to go on living wretchedly than to die well — as long as a person is alive for one more day, they cannot go that day without eating.

Seeing everyone quiet and compliant, the warden was satisfied at last. The prison guards opened the locks and chains and carried the food inside. Each person received one bowl of gruel so watery that a person’s reflection could be seen in it, and one bun emanating the faint smell of mold. Being full was out of the question — it was barely enough to stave off half a stomach’s hunger, enough only to ensure that no one starved to death.

Once all the food had been distributed, the warden came back alone and placed a separate food box in front of the Ling woman.

The gruel in the food box was considerably thicker, and there were two buns — white flour, without the smell of mold. There was also a small dish of pickled vegetables and a small dish of fresh greens.

In former days, even the lowest-ranking little maidservant in the Ling woman’s service would have turned her nose up at food like this. Now, it drew the envious eyes of all those present.

After the warden left, someone said sourly, “First Sister-in-law is still the one with the best fortune. Even in the imperial prison, she has her family taking care of her. All that silver spent, and First Sister-in-law still gets white-flour buns with pickled greens and fresh vegetables for every meal, with the occasional bit of meat as well.”

The speaker was a female member of the Lu Family’s Third Branch.

The Ling woman paid her no mind and ate every last bit of her food, leaving nothing behind.

Her family had not forgotten her — they would certainly come to save her. And they would save her son along with her. Until then, she must go on living as best she could, and must not damage her own body.

……

In the other section of the prison, it was not only the Ling woman who received such attention — the meals of Lu An and his son Lu Qian had also been specially “seen to.”

The handsome and elegant Lu An, worn down by these difficult days, was now gaunt, haggard, wretched in appearance, and dark in expression.

He held his bun in his hand for a long while before finally bringing it to his mouth. He managed a single reluctant bite, but it was like chewing on wax — utterly flavorless. It took tremendous effort before he finally managed to swallow it down.

A man waiting for death, with nothing left inside him but boundless despair. Never mind a bun — even the finest delicacies in the world would now be impossible to get down.

Lu Qian was in no better a state. He ate a few hasty bites, then curled his body into a corner. In the moments when no one was paying attention, Lu Qian’s expression was one of utter complexity and anguished distress.

In his previous life, the Lu Family had successfully attached themselves to Princess Changping and then to Prince Yan. Right up until the moment he drew his last breath, they had been riding at the height of glory.

In this life, so many things had changed.

Lu Hong’s clandestine affair with Princess Changping had been exposed. Princess Changping had killed her husband, Xu Fuma, and been confined in the Ciyun Nunnery. Lu Hong had been “sent by imperial decree” into a monastery. Prince Yan had fallen behind in the contest for the position of heir apparent. And now, even his second uncle had been drawn in — implicating every last member of the Lu Family and sending them all into the imperial prison.

Everything was different from his previous life.

The one change that had set it all in motion — was Ling Jingshu.

He did not understand how she, a frail young woman, had managed to bring all of this about. Yet behind every one of these turns of events, her shadow was unmistakably present.

A’Shu — do you truly hate the Lu Family this much? Hate us enough to wish to see every last one of us dead? Hate me enough that you never wish to lay eyes on me again?

Lu Qian closed his eyes, and two trails of tears slowly traced their way down his face.