An Jin has always been reliable in his words and actions. Since he said he was confident, it meant he was almost certain. What I could do was to protect the An family with all my might, keep everyone calm, and wait for his return.
He once said that after coming back, we would find a place in the countryside, buy some land, grow some small flowers and grass, raise little Yuan Xiao, have two children, and become a pair of landowners living a carefree life. Imagining the scene he described, I gradually forgot that I was in a prison cell, warmth filling my heart.
I and my father-in-law didn’t stay long in the Ministry of Justice’s prison before being secretly transferred by carriage. This was my first time seeing a prison inside the imperial palace. To be precise, it could hardly be called a prison, more like a three-courtyard, five-room mansion, with the only difference being that the mansion was tightly guarded, so tight that even a bird couldn’t fly in. The facilities in the rooms were quite complete, with warm and comfortable bedding. My father-in-law was exhausted and went to sleep early. I returned to my room, thinking that His Majesty was quite considerate, probably worried that we had suffered in the Ministry of Justice’s prison and specially brought us to the palace.
I just didn’t know where my mother-in-law had gone. After pondering for a while, perhaps because the environment was more comfortable, drowsiness overcame me, and I quickly fell asleep.
The next day, two red-robed imperial guards threw Yuan Xiao in.
I hurriedly comforted it about its bruised self-esteem from being tied up like a sausage. It whimpered in my arms for a while, then began happily running around the new courtyard, trampling many flowers and grass.
However, my father-in-law’s complexion was getting worse. Yuan Xiao circled around him, making a strange and urgent cry, constantly looking at me. My father-in-law weakly raised his hand to comfort it, but it seemed agitated. I was worried and asked the imperial guard at the door to report to His Majesty, at least to have a doctor come and check. The guard impatiently waved me back, saying that His Majesty had ordered that no one could approach here, let alone a doctor.
