Ch6 - Jailbreak

Qi Nanke was correct. The next day, the little prince got arrested.

Clang clang- 

The iron gate shut tight. Inside the prison, it was damp and dirty. A gray mouse crawled along the wall, making Douding scream in fright.

On the contrary, Du Ci was not very frightened. The look he gave the prison guard was calm; however, the words he uttered were cold.

“Do you really want to lock up this prince here?”

“Heh, still pretending?” the guard said, “The little prince should be living comfortably in Royal City. Why would he come running here? To catch bandits? Did he eat too much and have extra energy? Our master already said, without permission, the little prince can’t leave the Royal City. If he really got His Majesty’s permission to go out, an entourage would follow him around. How could there only be the two of you? And even if it really did happen, the official stationed along the way would have reported such news a long time ago.” 

The prison guard felt his analysis was very reasonable; swinging the key in his hand, he said, “I see that you are still young and have a good look, but your head must be very dumb to think about impersonating the little prince. Don’t you know it’s a capital crime?”

Douding’s eyes turned red with anger, “This is the little prince! We have proof! Look at this jade token!”

How could a prison guard distinguish one jade token from another? He said, “Who knows where you forged this kind of thing? You really think your life is too long already!”

The prison guard took a gulp of wine and walked away, shaking his head.

Douding was so angry he burst into tears: “My Prince, what should we do? That guy surnamed Kong actually lied without batting an eye! The prison guard doesn’t know anything about jade tokens; could he also not recognize it? He has the Grand Preceptor for a relative!”

Du Ci didn’t say a word and silently sat on the tattered haystack in the corner. He looked very relaxed, as if what he was sitting on wasn’t a haystack in the prison cell, but on a delicate rosewood chair in an incense-filled study.

Douding pulled a long face and grabbed the cold iron bars: “Prince! What should we do now!”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Du Ci was so annoyed by Douding’s cry his brows twitched. He clicked his tongue, “Shut up!” 

Gbevlcu tjv ab rtea tlr wbeat lc uglfnjcmfr.

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The man in black opened the door without saying a word and stepped aside.

Douding was so frightened he was about to shout, but Du Ci covered his mouth. 

Douding: “Mm…mm!”

Douding’s eyes were filled with trepidation— Prince! If these people are those mountain bandit’s accomplices! We’re dead!

Du Ci ignored Douding’s struggle and dragged him out of the cell to follow the man in black. His wide sleeves and trousers were smudged with black stains from the prison. Even though his face didn’t look flustered, he still cut a sorry figure.

The five quickly went to the base of the wall. Just as the group was about to escape successfully, Du Ci said, “I’m going to find the study of that magistrate.” 

Douding widened his eyes and murmured in horror, “Young Master, you…?”

Du Ci smiled, “Otherwise, wouldn’t we have made this trip in vain?”

The tall man in black looked Du Ci over from head to toes and was inwardly surprised to see the person was very calm, as if he had anticipated this. He raised his hands and gestured a signal. The other two men in black came forward, one person on the left, the other on the right, grabbed Douding and jumped on top of the wall, intending to withdraw.

Douding suddenly struggled, “I’m not going! I want to follow the young master! Young master! Aaah!” 

Du Ci held his forehead, showing an insufferable look. The tall man in black struck down with his hand, knocking Douding unconscious. One of the other two directly put Douding on his shoulders, then jumped over the wall and left.

Watching the three of them work so neatly, Du Ci’s eyebrows rose slightly. The tall man in black finally pulled down his mask – it was Qi Nanke.

Not only Du Ci didn’t blame him, he even said, “It’s easier to act with two people, not bad.”

Qi Nanke expressionlessly stretched his hand towards Du Ci and beckoned with his fingers. 

Du Ci: “?”

Without waiting for Du Ci to react, Qi Nanke grabbed his hand. His other arm wrapped around Du Ci’s waist and pulled the person into his arms. Qi Nanke’s proficiency in light body skills was very high, he was able to land on a big tree in a courtyard with only a few jumps while carrying an extra person.

Qi Nanke told Du Ci to hold onto the tree trunk firmly as he squatted next to him like a monkey, looking into the distance.

Du Ci: “…” 

The quietness of the person beside him made Qi Nanke look over doubtfully.

Under the dim moonlight, Du Ci’s jade face turned a few shades paler, and then…Blargh, he hugged the tree and puked again.

Du Ci had just vomited a short while ago, so now he couldn’t bring up anything besides some yellow water.

Qi Nanke searched his body up and down, finally fished out a dirty handkerchief, and handed it over. Du Ci didn’t even want to look. He held his orchid fingers up and pushed it back in disgust. 

“Take it away, take it away,” Du Ci spoke in his mother language, continuing to pretend he was a merchant, “Giving such dirty things to this daddy, don’t you feel embarrassed?”

Qi Nanke wasn’t upset. He put the handkerchief away and pointed down.

Du Ci frowned, “What’re you pointing at? I know where this is! Since you brought me here, it should be that surname Kong’s private courtyard, right?”

Qi Nanke suddenly discovered that when Du Ci spoke in Shu Shi’s language, it was very nice to hear. The ending sounds curved and turned upward with ascending pitch. Yet, it was not too effeminate and had its own unique tone. If others want to learn and imitate, it would be very difficult. 

Qi Nanke still used a stoic face to look at Du Xi, as if he was waiting for his next instruction.

Du Ci clutched his chest in discomfort. Enduring the nauseating dizziness caused by the light body skill earlier, he said, “That room on the left looks like a kitchen, the back…looks like there are two rooms in the back, and three in the front… One of them should be a study room.”

Qi Nanke picked a tree high enough to see all the courtyard’s details. Du Ci pointed his finger in the air here and there, then suddenly stopped, “Hm? This isn’t right!”

Qi Nanke turned to him. 

“He oppressed the common people and colluded with the bandits. How could he live in such a mediocre courtyard?” Du Ci crossed his arms and shook his head. “Unless the shopkeeper at the station was talking nonsense, this couldn’t be where the magistrate lived at all.”

Qi Nanke scooted closer to Du Ci like a monkey. The black outfit and his dark skin almost perfectly blended in with the night, leaving only a pair of gleaming eyes, making Du Ci feel a little nervous.

Du Ci touched his face, “Is there a flower blooming on my face?”

Qi Nanke held a fist to his lips to swallow back a laugh, then, with a poker face, stretched out his hand towards Du Ci, again. 

Du Ci hugged the tree trunk next to him tightly, “Don’t touch this daddy!!”