Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 11.1

Chapter 11.1
My Name Is Liu Xiniang

The scream was so sharp that it instantly startled everyone. Luo Family’s members rushed into the cell, but the officials immediately pulled them back. Luo Shangchun became agitated: ”Let us in! That’s my sister, my mother is a doctor! Let her go over and look!”

“Stop! Wait where you are!”

The prison entrance was in chaos as the jailer dragged Luo Wanqing, who had rolled a few times on the ground, away from the fire pit while shouting angrily, “What are you doing? You don’t want to live, do you?!”

Luo Wanqing’s consciousness was hazy from the pain. She curled up on the ground, wanting to touch her face but not daring to, her whole body shivering. She felt like an iron plate pressed her face and peeled off its skin. The sound of “Zzz” when the skin met the heat was still in her ears.

Fortunately, during these days, she had been beaten up by Liu Xiniang too much and could stay awake in pain. She endured the pain and used the last vestige of reason to shout: “The medical office – take me to the medical office – I’m in pain! It hurts!”

Seeing her agonized appearance, the head official gritted his teeth and finally waved his hand, “Take her to the medical office! She is an exiled prisoner. She mustn’t die!”

With that, Luo Wanqing was lifted and sent in the direction of the prison medical office. She heard Yao Zelan and Luo Shangchun’s voice.
She also heard Su Hui’s crying. She struggled to open her misty eyes and saw the white light at the prison entrance in the back getting further away and the silhouettes getting smaller.

The jailer hurriedly brought her to the medical office. The doctor saw Luo Wanqing’s injuries and hurriedly started treating her while speaking: ”What’s going on with you guys lately? Just now, you sent a girl with a rotten face, and now you’re sending another one. They’re all girls. Why do you always treat them in the face?”

“No,” the jailer hurriedly explained, “We didn’t do it. She hit herself.”

“Nonsense!” The doctor didn’t believe it and reprimanded the jailer.

Luo Wanqing said nothing, twisting her head to observe the surroundings.
The medical office was a large room with rows of white cloths near the window. It should be a place for patients to rest. Listening to the doctor’s words, Liu Xiniang should have arrived early.

Luo Wanqing thought briefly, and after the doctor treated the injury on her face, she weakly said, “Doctor, I want to take a rest.”

“Help her over there.” The doctor glanced at her with a sympathetic face and had the medicine boy help her to the nearest beds.

With a white cloth separating the beds, Luo Wanqing couldn’t see who was in the bed next to her. She was pondering how to find Liu Xiniang when she heard a rustling sound beside her. She turned around alertly, only to feel someone pressing down on her mouth, and uttered in a low, hoarse voice: “It’s me.”

Luo Wanqing looked up and saw Liu Xiniang’s eyes.

They had bandaged all of Liu Xiniang’s wounds, and just like her, white gauze was all over her head. She was wearing clean prison clothes. The clothes for the outcast and prison clothes are different. The prison clothes were white with the word ‘Prisoner,’ while the outcasts wore yellow with the word ‘Exile.’

“Change your clothes.” Liu Xiniang said, immediately starting to take off her clothes. Luo Wanqing hurriedly followed. They took off their clothes while quickly explaining the situation to each other.

“I’ve already confessed. I got a death sentence. After a while, someone will come to lead you to the death cell. Remember what I’ve said,” Liu Xiniang handed her clothes to Luo Wanqing while emphasizing, “Stay away from Qin Jue, look for Jiu Shuang, and get into more fights in the death cell.”

“The prison officer doesn’t want to delay the journey to exile. I saw how they acted, so they should come soon to pick you up and leave. If you met my mother and brother, tell them I’m dead, don’t say much.”

“I got you some pain-relieving and life-preserving medicine, and this is my family’s ancestral sword technique,” Liu Xiniang handed her a book and said solemnly, “Take good care of your life.”

“This is the dagger Jiang Shaoyan gave me and the brocade pouch I embroidered for him.” Luo Wanqing handed the dagger and the brocade pouch to Liu Xiniang, “Leave the brocade pouch when you fake your death on the way to exile. Take the dagger with you and bury it under the hundred-year-old tree at the foot of the Dongdu Guardian Temple. If I survive,” Luo Wanqing raised her eyes to look at her, “I will go get it myself.”

Liu Xiniang gave a start, and after a moment, she finally managed to squeeze the dagger. “My bed is seven places further south. I checked when I came over, and no one was in the center. You can go all the way through this way. I stacked the quilt in a ball on the bed towards the window. Don’t make a mistake.” While saying this, Liu Xiniang thrust her dagger into her waist and looked up to see the woman across the room wearing her original clothes and holding the iron shackles.

They both had white gauze wrapped around their faces and underneath their wide prison garments, one could not see the difference in their shapes. From their height alone, it was impossible to tell the difference between them. However, both sides knew what different journeys they would be running to.

Thinking of Luo Wanqing’s future, Liu Xiniang moves her gaze slightly yet only says one sentence: “Take care of yourself ……”

Luo Wanqing looked at the chain in her hands with her eyes downcast. She was afraid to raise her head. She only said softly, “Take care.” After saying that, Luo Wanqing did not say more, turned her head, and left quickly.

She didn’t dare to stay, and with the iron shackles, she quickly stepped forward, counted seven positions, and then came to the bed that Liu Xiniang had marked to lie down. She covered her body with the quilt and closed her eyes, pretending to take a nap.

Not a moment later, she heard the jailer’s voice from outside.
“Liu Xiniang, have you rested enough?” The jailer said, lifted the curtain, and impatiently said, “Let’s go!”

Luo Wanqing didn’t make a sound and quietly stood up. The jailer bolted her to the chain, dragging her towards the death cell. The wound on her face had been hurting, and she carefully ran her internal energy according to Liu Xiniang’s words.