Cang Lan Dao - Chapter 6.2

Chapter 6.2
Beg Master Xie To Redress My Father’s Injustice Case

“Is this his dagger?” Liu Xiniang continued to pursue the question.

Luo Wanqing thought about Jiang Shaoyan’s words and didn’t conceal them. She answered, “He said it was left to him by his master. This dagger was always by his side when I picked him up back then. Is there a problem with this dagger?”

“No.” Liu Xiniang hurriedly shook her head. A smile returned to her face, and she explained, “I just didn’t expect you to have this. This dagger is different from the ordinary ones. Look here,” Liu Xiniang pointed to the dagger’s tip, “Its tip carries a small barb. This barb hooks blood and flesh when it pulls out from the human body properly. Even if one doesn’t correctly use it, it will cause pain that is difficult to produce with an ordinary dagger. This kind of special blade comes from big families. You said he is the Third Highness who lost in the countryside. Then his mother is the current Empress, from one of the four clans, the Wang Clan,” Liu Xiniang analyzes, dropping her eyes and faintly saying, “This should be a special dagger made by his mother’s clan.”

“Maybe.” Luo Wanqing didn’t care. She only thought about what Liu Xiniang said just now, that this dagger would produce great pain, and a sudden pleasure surged in her heart. She had stabbed Jiang Shaoyan. He should be in a lot of pain, right? She didn’t show this morbid emotion as Liu Xiniang took the dagger and weighed it, laughing, “It’s a pity to use it to dig a wall.”

However, she turned back and inserted the dagger into the wall cracks. After clearing out the lime in the wall cracks to reveal the gap, she pinched the top and bottom with her fingernails and steadily drew it out.

After she removed the stone brick, the light immediately shone in from outside. Liu Xiniang looked out from outside the stone brick to confirm that no one was there and then continued to draw the brick upwards.

Luo Wanqing looked at this extraordinary finger strength of hers, remembering the warmth that passed through Liu Xiniang’s hands in the cold water just now, and she couldn’t help but feel a hint of envy. If she had Liu Xiniang’s skill, Jiang Shaoyan would already be a ghost under her knife. But if she did have that skill, Jiang Shaoyan probably wouldn’t even let her get close to him, much less let her hold and stab him and still let her go. He bullied her out of her uselessness.

Luo Wanqing looked at herself in the sewage and couldn’t help but give a mocking smile. After drawing the first stone brick, it was so much easier with the rest.

Liu Xiniang hollowed out a hole in the wall for Luo Wanqing that was big enough for a person. She put the stone bricks back to avoid people finding out. It had already reached dusk when she finished.

Liu Xiniang left an empty brick and used it to observe the outside. This piece of brick has a perfect view of the opposite side of the road to the interrogation room.

After doing this, Liu Xiniang patted the dirt on her hands and began to take credit: “Luo Wanqing, you have to provide for me in the future. There will never be another person who digs the wall for you like this. This job is too tiring. I will never do it again.”

“You’ve worked hard,” Luo Wanqing handed her the steamed buns given out by the jailer and smiled, “If there’s an opportunity in the future, I’ll treat you to dinner. For now, I’ll treat you to a steamed bun first.”

Hearing this, Liu Xiniang snatched the steamed bun and indignantly said, “This was originally my steamed bun!”

Luo Wanqing laughed and didn’t say much. The two of them ate the steamed buns and observed the opposite side using the gap on the wall.

Liu Xiniang bit into her steamed bun and suddenly remembered, “Say, if Xie Heng doesn’t take your case, what will you do?”

Luo Wanqing’s movements paused. Liu Xiniang sensed that she had poked Luo Wanqing’s sore spot and hurriedly said, “I’m just saying, I’ve heard that the Inspection Department is very upright. He’ll take it, don’t worry!”

“I don’t know.” Luo Wanqing opened her mouth softly. She spoke in a low voice as if describing the only hope: “But, I heard that two years ago, there was a peasant woman in Qingzhou who sued King Guangjiang for forcibly occupying the field, and the Inspection Department also managed it, all of them were unjust cases, so Xie Heng …… should care about it, right?”

Outside suddenly came a teenager’s cursing voice: “These people have a brain problem. They don’t say anything even if they die. This old man will skin them alive if they keep dragging it!”

Liu Xiniang’s complexion flinched and immediately said, “They’re coming!”

Luo Wanqing and Liu Xiniang went over and saw that in the distant alley, several figures appeared. Those people were all youthful in appearance, with uniform crowns and bundled hair, all dressed in black clothes, with swords hanging from their waists, paired with golden strands and white jade beads. The white jade beads stood out on the black clothes, rising and falling with their movements.

Liu Xiniang and Luo Wanqing came together in one brick gap, one eye on each. “These are the people from the Inspection Department.” Liu Xiniang said. She began to frantically draw the bricks while anxiously saying, “Who is Xie Heng in this group?”

Just after her words fell, a young man clad in a white wide-sleeved cloak with a white jade lotus flower crown on his head, surrounded by the crowd, appeared in Luo Wanqing’s field of vision.

It was too far away. Luo Wanqing could not see his face. She could only see that the crowd surrounded this person. His posture was upright, like a pillar of jade. His body carried the elegance and calmness of a noble family as if he were a lone crane vibrating its feathers.

“The crane is standing in the crow’s nest. It must be him!” Next to her, Liu Xiniang drew out the last brick, then picked up Luo Wanqing and urged, “Hurry up!”

Luo Wanqing didn’t hesitate. Borrowing Liu Xiniang’s force, she climbed out of the dungeon. After she went out, Liu Xiniang shoved the dagger into her hand and whispered, “Hide it well. Stab it three inches from the lower abdomen.”

Luo Wanqing was unsure but still listened to her and hid the dagger in her sleeve. She turned her head and tumbled out of the wall, rushing straight in Xie Heng’s direction while shouting, “Xie ……”

Before the words fell, a hand suddenly came from behind her, covering her mouth and dragging her sharply towards the side. She subconsciously struggled. The other’s hands were like iron, deadlocked her, pulled her away. Her shoes fell on the ground, and as she drowned in the darkness, Luo Xiniang’s words burst out in Luo Wanqing’s mind.

Three inches from the lower abdomen. What Liu Xiniang had reminded her of was this person! Realizing this, she flipped out her hidden dagger. Without hesitation, she stabbed violently towards the other party’s lower abdomen! This stab was decisive, and the other party was unguarded.

When the blade entered the abdomen, the person grunted. Fear overwhelmed Luo Wanqing, and she couldn’t control her madness. She stabbed the other person several times. When the other party let her go, she ruthlessly struck the other party away. She sprinted in the direction of Xie Heng’s disappearance, shouting out, “Lord Xie!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Her shriek resounded throughout the prison, and Xie Heng stopped abruptly. The sharp whistle from the watchtower pierced through the night, the guards on the stage beat the drum to summon people, and the entire guards obeyed the order, quickly lit the lamps, and organized the people to rush towards the direction of Luo Wanqing.

Xie Heng stopped in the middle of the night and looked up. He saw a woman as beautiful as a demon, holding a blood-stained blade with bare feet and hair, running wildly towards him. Her scarlet clothes and wide sleeves danced in the wind. Blood on her face was like flowers. Her pupils shone with a desperate determination as if carrying the roar of fate.

She used a clear voice to shout: “Luo Qushu’s daughter, Luo Wanqing, begs Master Xie to redress my father’s injustice case!”

Author’s Note: [Mini Theater -1]
Luo Wanqing: “Mom, recently I made a good friend.”
Yao Zelan: “That’s good. If three people walk together, there must be a teacher. What did Wanqing and friends learn?”
Luo Wanqing: “We’ve known each other for just a day. She first taught me to fight, then taught me to dig holes in walls, then taught me to climb over walls, and taught me to kill people! Superb!”
Yao Zelan: “…… Stop it, Wanqing. You’re not fit to befriend this kind of person. Come back and learn medicine or read and embroider!”
Liu Xiniang: “Huh? Auntie Yao, look at your daughter when she stabs someone. She’s not suitable for liberal arts. You chose the wrong major!!!”

[Mini Theater-2}
Luo Wanqing: “While I was killing, escaping, and complaining to the imperial court, may I ask what you, as the most awesome member of the assassins’ organization, were doing?”
Liu Xiniang: “Laying bricks and sealing up the hole in the wall so I don’t get implicated.”