Yearning Of The Jade

Chapter 10: Qin's abyss

Chapter 9

As the Qin soldiers marched me down the steps to join godmother, a new voice rang across the air. "Stop!"

The entire group turned back once again to see a maid running out to the center. It was Li Chen, crying and sweating.

"Who is it now this time?" Wang Gao irritably said.

"Take me too! I beg of you! I will not leave my madam and young mistress alone!"

Wang Gao looked at her with disgust. I wanted to tear his face apart.

"Since you have a death wish, I will grant it." Wang Gao stated.

With Li Chen beside us, the Qin soldiers marched us out of the manor. With our hands roughly detained, we all assured each other through our eyes. We were certain that we would get through this tribulation. Justice will prevail.

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Chapter 10: 

Rotten. Everything was entirely rotten. The prison. The food that was fed to us. The air. Everything. Odors of urine reeked everywhere, filling up into our nostrils.

The night they pushed us into these nasty cells, we were forced to give up our comfortable silky hanfu and changed into white prisoner uniforms that haven't been washed in months. The food they served us was all rotten with mold. In the eyes of these soldiers, we were no longer human. 

(Hanfu: Traditional Chinese clothing)

"Let's sit down and relax for now," Godmother said. She was obviously trying to ease the tension around us, but it was not working.

Li Chen did what godmother suggested and sat down on the ground next to godmother. However, I continued to stand, looking out between the bars of the cell.

The cell was built with hard stone that was impossible to break through. For ancient people, they really were ahead of their time in terms of prison fortification methods. Being placed into one of these cells, there was no hope for an escape.

After Wang Gao paraded us through the streets of Xianyang, he threw us into the palace prison and stripped us of all of our possessions. We were nothing but walking empty corpses, deprived of our human rights.

Oh that's right, human rights didn't exist yet. A little too early, Tan Ling.

"I wouldn't try to escape if I were you," Wang Gao said as he walked away.

I wished to prove him wrong, but I couldn't. All three of us were uncertain of the future of our fates. We were all framed of treason and became scapegoats of a greater evil. As of right now, godfather was the primary suspect to me.

"Madam, what is going to happen to us?" Li Chen asked godmother.

"Don't worry," Godmother reassured. "We'll be fine. My husband will soon return and he'll clear our names.

Not unless he was the actual thief.

I know. I hated myself for doubting godfather. After all, he was the person who allowed me to stay at his manor with his family. Our interactions were brief, but I established an intense respect for him. But now with his absence, all of the evidence and suspicions were pointed to him.

Why did godfather bring in all those crates into the manor? Why did he lock them up so tightly? Why did he leave so discreetly? Why did he choose now to be absent? Why?

"I know what you're thinking, Ling'er," Godmother suddenly spoke, snapping my mind out of the gutter. "And I don't blame you for doing so."

I didn't know how to respond. What would you say if you were suspicious of your own godfather for committing treason?