Chapter 33

At dusk, Zhao Hongrun, Shen Yu, and Lu Mu were brought back to the Dali Temple by a group of bailiffs.

Zhao Hongrun was puzzled. Luo Rong, the son of Luo Wenzhong, an official in the Ministry of Personnel, how could he have the means to mobilize the bailiffs of the Dali Temple?

This doubt persisted until the three of them were taken to the prison of the Dali Temple by the bailiffs.

It turned out that Pei Kai, the prison warden of the Dali Temple, was an old classmate of Luo Wenzhong, Luo Rong's father. Luo Rong called him uncle, and the two families had a good relationship.

Initially, Luo Rong planned to take revenge on the Fangshui Pavilion, but the warning from Xu Shang, the chief steward of the Fangshui Pavilion, made him reconsider. After sending someone to investigate, he learned that the backer of the Fangshui Pavilion was someone of great influence, someone he could not afford to offend. Therefore, he abandoned the idea of retaliating against the Fangshui Pavilion.

If he couldn't touch the Fangshui Pavilion, it meant he couldn't touch the young lady Su from the Cuixiao Pavilion either. Thus, the only outlet for his anger was Zhao Hongrun.

So, he went to the Dali Temple and found his father's old classmate, Pei Kai, the prison warden. Through Pei Kai's connections, he called a group of bailiffs to the alley where the Fangshui Pavilion was located, waiting for Zhao Hongrun to come out and then had him arrested and brought to the Dali Temple.

As for what happened next, it was simply a matter of fabricating a charge and framing Zhao Hongrun with a trumped-up crime. Although he wouldn't be killed, he would be severely punished and taught a lesson.

After imprisoning Zhao Hongrun, Shen Yu, and Lu Mu in the interrogation cells, Pei Kai, the prison warden, dismissed the others and carefully examined Zhao Hongrun and his companions. Seeing that they were dressed like ordinary people and did not seem to come from wealthy or powerful families, he called Luo Rong aside and whispered to him.

"Nephew, you must not kill anyone, or I will be in serious trouble."

As everyone knew, the criminal law of the Great Wei Dynasty had a strict rule: any death, whether of a prisoner or a victim, had to be reported to the Ministry of Justice for a retrial. The Dali Temple only had the authority to investigate and temporarily imprison, but the final decision had to be handed over to the Ministry of Justice.

Therefore, if a prisoner in the Dali Temple died for no apparent reason, the prison warden would bear a significant responsibility.

"Luo Rong, don't worry. I just want to teach that kid a lesson," Luo Rong quickly replied.

"That's good," Pei Kai nodded, thinking that as long as no one died, it would be fine.

He waved his hand, dismissing the others and leaving only his trusted guards. After all, if the news of private torture got out, his position as prison warden would be in jeopardy.

Seeing the others leave, Luo Rong felt triumphant. He picked up a thick whip from the wooden table filled with torture instruments and cracked it on the ground twice.

As expected, the young boy in front of him, who he considered a mere child, showed a look of fear.

"Scared now? Too late!" Luo Rong sneered mockingly.

However, he didn't realize that Zhao Hongrun's expression was not one of fear, but of disbelief.

Indeed, Zhao Hongrun was incredulous. The Dali Temple, known for its fair and impartial law enforcement, could secretly engage in such corruption: not only using power for personal gain, but also daring to use private torture, completely disregarding the law!

"Is this really the Dali Temple?" Zhao Hongrun said coldly. "I would have thought it was a den of iniquity!"

Pei Kai frowned and shouted, "Impudent! How dare you defame the Dali Temple!"

"No, no, no, it's not me defaming, but you, sir, are ruining the Dali Temple's reputation for fair and impartial law enforcement!"

"You... Bring him a gag!" Pei Kai, either out of guilt or anger, immediately ordered the guards to gag Zhao Hongrun.

During this time, Zhao Hongrun glanced at Luo Rong and coldly smiled, "Go ahead. When this whip lands, you and your men will all die!"

After all, using private torture on a prince was an unforgivable capital crime!

Pei Kai was taken aback by Zhao Hongrun's cold eyes and felt a bit uneasy.

However, Luo Rong paid no attention and mocked, "Who do you think you are?... You, take off his clothes!"

"Ugh—"

Shen Yu and Lu Mu strained their eyes and shouted, their eyes almost popping out, but their mouths were already gagged.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Zhao Hongrun's upper body was stripped, revealing a string of gold locks around his neck.

"Good grief."

A guard stared at the gold locks, his eyes gleaming with greed.

But with Pei Kai standing there, he dared not keep them for himself and had to hand them over to Pei Kai.

"Hmm?"

The moment Pei Kai held the gold locks, he felt their considerable weight, indicating that the gold was of high quality.

'Looks like this boy comes from a wealthy family... Hmm, if I send a message to his family, I might get a good sum of money...'

Pei Kai nodded to himself, carefully examining the gold locks. He judged that this was a longevity lock given by the boy's elders, with the boy's name engraved in relief.

"Hongrun"

"Hmm? Hong?"

Pei Kai shuddered and examined the longevity lock again. He was shocked to find that the front of the lock was engraved with "Hongrun," and the back, a large "Ji" character.

Pei Kai's heart sank.

After all, "Ji" was the ancient surname of the imperial family of the Great Wei Dynasty, and "Hong" was the middle name of the current princes. The implications of these three characters together were clear.

Pei Kai felt a darkness cloud his vision and, looking up, saw Luo Rong about to strike the fourteen-year-old boy. He quickly shouted, "Nephew! Wait!"

At that moment, it was a critical moment for Pei Kai. If the whip landed, as the other party said, they would all die.

"Uncle Pei, what's wrong?" Luo Rong looked at Pei Kai in confusion.

Pei Kai, with a look of terror, glanced at Zhao Hongrun and pulled Luo Rong out of the cell.

Once they were in a secluded area, Pei Kai, drenched in sweat, said to Luo Rong, "Nephew, you've caused a huge disaster, a disaster of epic proportions!"

"What do you mean, Uncle Pei?" Luo Rong's face showed even more confusion.

Pei Kai handed the gold lock to Luo Rong and whispered, "Go back to your house, give this to your father, and ask him to come... Perhaps he can resolve this disaster."

Luo Rong looked at the longevity lock in his hand, his face turning pale, and stammered, "He... that boy is... he is actually..."

"Go quickly!"

Luo Rong was in a panic. After all, he was not ignorant of the consequences of imprisoning a prince.

Without saying goodbye to Pei Kai, Luo Rong rushed away, leaving Pei Kai pacing outside the cell, drenched in sweat.

About half an hour later, Luo Rong returned with a pale face, a clear handprint on one side of his face, making it swollen.

Behind him was a court official in official attire, undoubtedly his father, Luo Wenzhong, a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Personnel.

"Brother Luo." Seeing Luo Wenzhong, Pei Kai, who had been pacing outside the cell for a long time, hurriedly approached and complained, "Nephew Rong has caused a disaster of epic proportions!"

Compared to Pei Kai, Luo Wenzhong was much calmer. He nodded toward the cell and asked, "Is he still inside?"

"Of course!" Pei Kai said with a bitter expression. "How dare I go in?"

Luo Wenzhong thought for a moment and said, "We can't rush this. Find an empty cell, and we'll discuss this in detail."

Pei Kai nodded and led Luo Wenzhong and his son to an empty cell.

Looking around, Pei Kai carefully closed the cell door and complained again, "Brother Luo, what should we do? Using private torture on a prince is a capital crime!"

"We haven't used private torture yet," Luo Wenzhong comforted him. "Don't worry, Brother Pei. There might still be a way out. Rong, tell us everything that happened."

When Luo Wenzhong saw the longevity lock and heard that his son had brought the owner of the lock to the Dali Temple, he was furious and slapped his son hard. He then rushed to the Dali Temple, but he knew nothing about the specific situation.

With the disaster imminent, Luo Rong dared not hide anything and recounted the entire incident to Luo Wenzhong and Pei Kai, causing both of them to frown.

"That Eighth Prince clearly didn't want any conflict with you, but you, this ungrateful son, still provoked him!" After hearing the story, Luo Wenzhong was even angrier and wanted to slap his son again.

Seeing that Luo Rong's face was already swollen, Pei Kai, feeling sorry for him, said, "Brother Luo, blaming your nephew won't help. We should think about how to resolve this. We can't keep the prince in the Dali Temple forever... According to your nephew, one person managed to escape when he was capturing the Eighth Prince. It's likely that person is a royal guard. When a prince is in danger, the royal guards have the authority to call for the imperial guards. It won't be long before the imperial guards surround the Dali Temple, and then it will be too late!"

Luo Wenzhong glared at his son and said angrily, "Do you think I'm not worried? This ungrateful son has caused a huge disaster!"

Seeing his father's fierce gaze, Luo Rong was also in a panic and said softly, "What about a compromise? The Eighth Prince changed his clothes and disguised himself to leave the palace, and he went to a place of pleasure. He didn't reveal his identity even when he had a conflict with me. Clearly, he was afraid of his identity being exposed. We could use this to negotiate a compromise... After all, a prince visiting a place of pleasure is not a glorious thing."

"That's a good idea!" Pei Kai's eyes lit up.

Luo Wenzhong glanced at his son, his anger slightly subsiding. "Your idea is good, but you've already offended the Eighth Prince. Even if he chooses to compromise now, he might seek revenge later. Can you stand up to a prince?"

"Then... what should we do?" Pei Kai and Luo Rong looked at each other in dismay.

Luo Wenzhong stroked his beard and said calmly, "Let's go all the way..."

"Kill him?" Luo Rong was shocked.

Luo Wenzhong glared at his son and said angrily, "Fool! Killing a prince of the current dynasty would mean the extermination of our family!"

"Then what do you suggest, Brother Luo?" Pei Kai asked awkwardly, as he had the same thought as Luo Rong.

"Our only option now is to establish the Eighth Prince's guilt, so we can extricate ourselves from this situation."

He then whispered a few words to Pei Kai and Luo Rong.

"Is that feasible?" Pei Kai asked, frowning.

Luo Wenzhong sighed, "It's our only option now."