Drops of bright red dripped down from the corner of her lips onto the dirty sand.
There was a strong smell of blood in his nostrils.
Looking up and looking around, there was only a glimmer of light coming in through the skylight, breaking the darkness of the dungeon.
This was the dungeon of the Court of Judicial Review. Before she came here, Shen Qingci had never known that there was such a purgatory in the world.
Each of the 72 kinds of punishments was enough to make people wish they were dead.
Here, people died every day. Their faces were dragged down, and their clothes were torn into pieces by the whip. No one could have imagined that the beggars' bodies had also been prominent figures.
Here, people's lives were as humble as grass.
"So dirty." A man's playful voice came from above her head.
Qing Ci opened her eyes with difficulty, and what came into sight was the moon-white, hot golden python robe. The four-clawed coiled dragons were embroidered on the hem of her clothes with gold and silver threads.
The man stood with his hands clasped behind his back and looked down at her.
However, the teasing voice came from the young man beside him. He was dressed in a navy blue brocade robe, and his amorous eyes were more charming than a woman's. "You have a tough mouth, why don't you admit it?"
Qing Ci was curled up in a corner. Her messy hair covered her pale little face, so she couldn't recognize her face.
She laughed wildly. Although her face was filthy, her eyes were surprisingly bright and clear.
"What should I recruit? Does Prince Ningxi think that I am the one who has made Su Ruyan stronger?"
"How dare you!" The red-robed Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Su Mingtang, rebuked him angrily. She was only in her early 30s, but she was born with a cold face. Her handsome face lacked a sense of humor. "The criminal Shen Qingci is disrespectful to Prince Ningxi, so she has to be punished 20 times..."
She lay on the corner of the wall, her expression unchanged. She seemed to be listening to something that had nothing to do with her. There was even a disdainful smile on her lips.
Her leg tendons had been cut off. She was already a cripple. Did she still care about this beating?
Two prison guards came up with torture tools in their hands and rudely pressed her to the ground.
The rough stick was about to fall.
Prince of the West, Leng Huaining, smiled and said nothing. His eyes were full of playfulness, as if he was waiting for a good show.
The man in white, who had been indifferent and silent, slowly raised his arm, and his eyes were full of gloom.
Su Mengtang was shocked and hurriedly winked at the prison guards. The two prison guards thought that they had offended their master by mistake, so they were scared out of their wits and stumbled to kneel on the ground.
"Your Highness, please spare my life. Please spare my life."
"Get lost." Her casual words were as cold as jade.
The two prison guards scrambled and crawled away in a panic.
The corners of the man's mouth lifted slightly. He slowly bent his head and stretched out two fingers to pinch Qing Ci's dirty chin.
She was forced to look him in the eye. What came into view was his clean and slender hands. His fingers were so clear that even his fingers were so proud.
"Do you still remember the death of Ruoyan?" The man smiled like a flower, but his eyes were not deep at all.
A look of terror flashed across Qingci's calm eyes. It was so fast, but it did not escape his eyes.
The man smiled with disdain.
Fortunately, she knew that she was afraid.
Qing Ci was not afraid. Su Ruyan's death was still vivid in her mind and had once become a nightmare for her every night.
The gang members died. Ruyan's snow-white body was covered with dirty marks, and her broken nails sank into her bloody palms.
His face was ferocious, and his eyes were wide open in horror. He really died with a grievance.
"Shen Qingci, I'll give you a taste of your own medicine. What do you think?" Her phoenix-like eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a sinister and cold light.
Qing Ci was stunned for a moment, and then a bitter smile spread on her lips. "Do you really love her so much? You even didn't hesitate to... destroy me."
"You don't deserve to be compared with her." He released his grip on her with disgust, took the white handkerchief from the servant and wiped his hands, and then threw it on the ground. "You have a day to think about it. Do you want to bow down and admit your guilt? Or do you want to force me to do it?"
"I'm innocent." The woman was indifferent. Her answer was the same as before.
