In the east of the city, at Mingyu Building.
Rumble.
Amidst the torrential rain, a rumbling sound came out. In the alley on the side of the Black Yamen, a groove more than a zhang deep suddenly caved in. The blue bricks were turned over, exposing the soil, and the black bricks and stones below were revealed.
Qiu Tianhe, who was petting a cat in the adjacent courtyard, was so startled by the commotion that he sprang up like a carp and looked around in a daze.
The chief constables' clerks who were staying in the yamen rushed out of the yamen in unison, and a hubbub of voices arose:
"What's going on?"
"Someone is robbing the prison!"
Dong dong dong.
The sound of war drums rang out from above the five-story Mingyu Building and spread far throughout Yun'an City. The constables and soldiers patrolling in each block quickly galloped towards Mingyu Building.
In the dungeon, a huge vibration came out. Suddenly, a hubbub sounded in dozens of prison cells on the first floor. The sound of chains dragging and cries of alarm made the deathly silent dungeon boil instantly:
"What's happening?!"
"Is it an earthquake?"
"Let us out quickly! It's going to collapse!"
Boom! Boom!
Before they could shout a few times, the thick sealing stones fell down by themselves at the entrance of the prison cells.
Countless arrow holes also emerged on the walls and corridors of the prison cells.
Ka ka ka.
The dungeon suddenly fell silent.
On the second floor of the dungeon, the reaction was much smaller. After all, there were less than ten people living there.
In the prison cell at the center, the Wang brothers, who were sleeping against the corner, were awakened by the huge vibration.
Wang Er stood up, dragging the thick iron chain, felt the ground shaking, and looked blankly:
"It seems that the ground has collapsed. What's going on?"
Wang Chengjing had higher martial arts skills. After a slight feeling, he pressed his ear to the floor and listened:
"There's the sound of a hoe chiseling the wall. Someone is robbing the prison!"
Wang Er really didn't expect that on the second day of his imprisonment, he would encounter such a "wonderful" thing!
But before he could figure out how to take advantage of the chaos, he suddenly found that a huge black stone moved horizontally out of the wellhead above, blocking the only exit and completely turning the stone chamber into a hollow square box.
And from several small holes originally located at the top of the stone chamber, a "sizzling" sound came out, and a large amount of black mist was sprayed out.
"Ah?! Ahhh!!"
When Wang Er saw the poisonous smoke pressing down from above, his face turned pale with fright. He leaned against the corner, his eyes full of horror:
"Is this the Soft Bone Incense?"
The stone chamber was not big, and they were still wearing chains. There was simply no place to hide.
Wang Chengjing originally thought it was smoke to anesthetize the prisoners and didn't plan to resist at first. But as soon as he sniffed, the pungent and spicy smell entered his nose. His face changed suddenly, and he quickly lay on the ground:
"It's the Poisonous Dragon Miasma! Quickly lie down and don't move!"
When Wang Er heard this term, his face turned pale on the spot. The Poisonous Dragon Miasma was a highly toxic substance. Once it touched the body, if it got on the hand, the hand would be cut off; if it got on the leg, the leg would be cut off. If it got on the torso, no matter how high one's martial arts skills were, it was just a matter of whether one could resist for a few hours or a few days. Without an antidote, one would surely die. Because it was so vicious, the pharmacist was directly recruited by the court, and it could be regarded as a unique secret medicine of the government.
Seeing the poisonous smoke slowly pressing down from above, Wang Er knew that this was the "deadly system" of the Black Yamen to prevent the serious criminals on the second floor from escaping. They were going to eliminate all the serious criminals on the second floor without discrimination. He immediately shouted:
"Jailer! Jailer! I didn't try to escape. I'm Injustice!"
Wang Chengjing lay firmly on the ground and said in a low voice:
"They can't hear us outside. Don't move. The faster your blood circulates, the faster you'll die. There's Doctor Wang in the capital. If the people who are robbing the prison are eliminated, there's a chance they might still save us."
Wang Er's eyes were full of horror, and he quickly shut up. When he heard the continuous knocking sound below, he couldn't help but curse:
"Can you guys rob the prison faster? Don't harm the innocent."
Wang Chengjing actually wanted to curse too. After all, if it were the powerful martial arts masters with deep backgrounds in the adjacent cells, they might be able to resist the poison for half a day.
And the combined strength of him and his brother was equivalent to that of Xu Bailin. They barely qualified to live on the second floor of the dungeon.
But they could fight together against opponents, and it was obvious that they couldn't resist the poison together. They had also suffered serious internal injuries yesterday. Taking a poison bath here, they would surely die within half an hour at most.
Wang Chengjing realized the seriousness of the situation and also shouted:
"Sir! My brother and I can't hold on! We won't run, sir!"
There was no response.
At the same time, on the third floor underground.
Compared with the dim and lightless second floor, the third floor underground was much more spacious. It was like a large hall. Bookshelves were all around, and there was a tea table and a desk in the middle. Behind the mahogany partition, there was also a bed for sleeping. Except for the lack of windows, it was no different from an ordinary living room.
The sealing stones fell on the first floor, and poisonous gas was directly sprayed on the second floor, but there was not much movement on the third floor.
After all, the people imprisoned here were not extremely vicious bandits, but an old servant who had been loyally serving the Dongfang family for sixty years.
Although Eunuch Cao had not pledged his loyalty to the empress, he was indeed the most loyal person to the imperial family of the Dongfang clan, without a doubt.
Anyone in the world could kill Eunuch Cao, but the empress couldn't. Since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, he had been working diligently and selflessly for sixty years. It was already known to all that Eunuch Cao was the most trustworthy and loyal servant of the imperial family. His influence was enough to interfere with the court, but he had never crossed the line even once. He had just been an unknown servant beside the emperor, serving whoever inherited the throne according to the宗法 system meticulously. Killing Eunuch Cao after the empress came to power was equivalent to publicly admitting that she had obtained the throne unjustly.
On the desk in the spacious room, an oil lamp was lit. The old eunuch, full of a gloomy atmosphere, sat cross-legged in front of the desk, wearing a red robe as the eunuch in charge of the Si Li Jian (the Imperial Secretariat).
Growing up in the imperial city since childhood, he had paid attention to etiquette all his life. Even though he was in prison, the red robe was still neatly arranged without a single wrinkle, and even his full head of white hair was combed meticulously.
Eunuch Cao had practiced the Face-Rejuvenating Diagram. Originally, he could maintain his youth and it was impossible to tell his age. But after losing all his skills and not seeing the sun for ten years, wrinkles had still appeared at the corners of his eyes. He looked like a thin old man around sixty years old.
Ding ding dang dang.
The sound of stones breaking came from below the wooden floor. Soon, a pickaxe pierced through, and then the floor was smashed open with a punch.
Rumble.
Eunuch Cao's robe was blown by the air wave, but he didn't react at all. He just slowly turned a page of the book.
"Godfather?"
Cao Anning crawled out of the hole. When he saw the old eunuch sitting behind the desk, he was almost overjoyed to the point of tears. He ran forward and directly knelt on the floor, saying eagerly:
"Godfather, let's go quickly. I've dug through the ground. I've sent people to hold back the court's masters in the west of the city. Even the all-knowing Yejingtang was drawn away by my obvious strategy. Now, it's unobstructed to leave."
There was excitement in Cao Anning's eyes. After all, it was easy to deceive the Prince of Wu, but it was extremely difficult to deceive the omnipresent and omniscient Night Demon King.
If it weren't for his initial plan, which was to sacrifice a big "watermelon" to the court in order to rescue the "sesame", making the court have to choose the more important thing and focus on dealing with the Prince of Wu, with Yejingtang's pursuit like the God of Death, the prison robbery would have been impossible to succeed.
Eunuch Cao closed the book, raised his eyes, and looked at the young man kneeling in front of him with excitement in his eyes:
"Anning, I haven't seen you for ten years, and you've grown up. Was it the Prince of Liang or the Prince of Yan who sent you to rescue me?"
When Cao Anning saw Eunuch Cao's old appearance and could hardly recognize him, he was slightly stunned. Then he took a medicine box from the subordinates who crawled out behind him, knelt down and walked forward, and put it on the table:
"It's the people from the Green Bandits. They call themselves Yan Bugui and helped me make connections. This is the secret medicine that the Green Bandits got from the Medical Sage of Beiliang. It can help godfather unblock some of his meridians."
Eunuch Cao sighed: "After being apart for ten years, you've learned to lie to your godfather. If I leave the capital, where are you going to take me, Anning?"
Cao Anning opened the medicine box, revealing the pills inside:
"Godfather has taught me since I was a child to protect the imperial family of the Great Wei. The Princess Chang usurped the throne and ascended the throne, which is not in line with the宗法 system. In the future, the throne will surely fall into the hands of an outsider. I've been operating secretly for these ten years. Among the vassal princes, the Prince of Yan has the greatest power and is also highly respected. The throne should be inherited by the Prince of Yan..."
"So it was the Prince of Yan who sent you."
Eunuch Cao didn't look at the medicine box and said earnestly:
"Your godfather is a steward, managing the daily affairs of the Dongfang family. I will follow the arrangements of whoever is the head of the family. If outsiders have designs on the family property, I have to take care of it. But when the sons are fighting over the family property, the steward has no right to interfere.
"Her Highness the Princess Chang is a woman. She forged the late emperor's will and joined forces with the imperial relatives to seize power, so she obtained the throne unjustly. In the future, if she gives birth to an heir to inherit the throne, it will be even more contrary to the宗法 system. So as a servant of the family, I have to persuade and stop her.
"However, the eldest prince of the emperor was deposed by the court officials, and the court officials established a new emperor. This is a matter of national affairs. It should be decided by the court officials who should be welcomed into the capital to inherit the throne. As a court official, I have no right to interfere, and I definitely can't show favoritism and interfere with the selection of the new emperor. Do you understand what I mean?"
Cao Anning blinked his eyes: "But now that the Princess Chang has already ascended the throne, the imperial lineage will surely change hands in the future. As servants of the family, we should take necessary measures when necessary. Supporting the Prince of Yan to ascend the throne will keep the imperial lineage in the hands of the Dongfang family. If we wait until the empress cuts off the military power of the vassal princes and completely monopolizes power, as servants of the family, we will be powerless to change the situation. How can we have the face to meet the late emperor and the founding emperor in the underworld?"
Eunuch Cao shook his head: "Do you really think that the Prince of Yan sent you to take me to Yanzhou? Your godfather is just a martial artist. No matter how high my talent is, it can't be higher than Fengguan City. No matter how deep my background is, it can't be deeper than the masters of the Buddhist and Taoist sects. The Prince of Yan has thousands of troops under his command. Does he lack a bodyguard like your godfather?
"Everyone knows that your godfather is loyal to the imperial family. If your godfather stands on the side of the Prince of Yan and just says, 'The late emperor thought the eldest prince was incompetent and once had the intention of letting the Prince of Yan inherit the throne,' the Prince of Yan will have a basis for inheriting the throne.
"The late emperor never said such a thing. He only said, 'It's a pity that Yuhu is not a man'."
Eunuch Cao looked at Cao Anning and sighed:
"Moreover, do you think who becomes the emperor depends on the will of the late emperor? The Princess Chang can even produce a will out of thin air. Does the Prince of Yan need a word from an old eunuch like me?"
Cao Anning blinked his eyes: "The Green Bandits have planned so much, and their purpose is indeed to let me rescue godfather."
"Throughout the dynasties, there has never been a eunuch in charge who defected to a foreign land. One is born in the imperial city and should also die in the imperial city. The vassal princes understand this.
"Eunuch Cao looked at Cao Anning: "The Princess Chang was not selected as the new emperor by the court officials or even the imperial clan. They know that as long as your godfather leaves this prison cell, he will return to the palace and continue to persuade Her Highness the Princess Chang to return the power, or die in the palace.
"Their purpose is just to use your godfather as a test stone to figure out the strength of the guards around the Princess Chang. You've been deceived by them."
Cao Anning knelt on the ground and thought for a while:
"No matter what their intentions are, I've already done this much. I just won't follow their wishes. After we go out, we can hide in the marketplace. When there is a coup d'état in the capital one day and a new emperor of the Dongfang family emerges, we can come back to assist the new emperor..."
Eunuch Cao shook his head: "Your godfather is the eunuch in charge of the Si Li Jian. Since the Princess Chang hasn't removed my position, how can I 'flee on suspicion of a crime'? If I can't persuade the Princess Chang and can't restore the inheritance of the imperial lineage, your godfather will, just like my predecessors, die in front of the palace gate.
"Your godfather has already lost ten years ago. Going into the palace now is just a useless death.
"Death is just death. The Princess Chang obtained the throne unjustly, but her talent and ability are unparalleled in history. She will surely become a great sovereign and bring the Great Wei Dynasty into an unprecedented prosperous era.
"Eunuch Cao picked up the pills on the table and threw them into his mouth:
"Your godfather is a servant of the family. I can't violate the late emperor's will and pledge my loyalty to the Princess Chang, but I also can't stop her. I'm a useless old fool who should have died ten years ago.
"At least the Princess Chang is a descendant of the Dongfang clan. Even if the Great Wei Dynasty changes its surname in the future, it will still have half of the Dongfang family's bloodline. In the underworld, your godfather will still have some face to meet the late emperor and the founding emperor."
Upon hearing this, Cao Anning said anxiously: "I've done everything I can to get to this point, and there will be no more opportunities in the future. Those who achieve great things should know how to be patient. In case the Princess Chang incurs the wrath of heaven and the people in the future and the court officials plan to support a new emperor, if godfather appears in his prime, it will surely make the Princess Chang abdicate more simply..."
Eunuch Cao shook his head: "You don't understand the greatness of the Princess Chang. The only possibility for the Princess Chang to abdicate is if she goes down the wrong path in martial arts and dies young. If the Princess Chang doesn't die herself, with her talent, means, and the military power she controls, no one in the world can directly shake her throne. As for martial artists, in the face of one hundred thousand iron cavalry, Fengguan City is nothing, let alone your godfather?"
Cao Anning opened his mouth but had nothing to say.
Eunuch Cao slightly raised his hand: "Go. Your godfather is a servant of the family. Since I'm useless and don't want to leave my hometown, I can only be buried here."
At the same time, above the dungeon.
Countless constables of the Black Yamen stood at the entrance of the dungeon, holding weapons. Since all the capable superiors were not there, although there was no chaos, no one dared to enter the dungeon with an unclear situation without permission. They were just discussing:
"What should we do? The mechanism seems to have been activated automatically. If we delay for a while longer, all the people on the second floor will die."
"It's not that they will die so quickly. Doctor Wang has already been sent for. It should be okay to rescue them."
"We haven't even figured out the situation in the dungeon. How dare we let Doctor Wang come here? The lives of those people are not as precious as one finger of Doctor Wang."
While they were whispering, the sound of footsteps came from the side of the yamen.
Several constables looked back and saw Qiu Tianhe carrying a rice bucket, emerging from the corridor and craning his neck to look.
The constable Xiao Wang, who was respectfully called