The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 1175 - 1154: Out of Prison

Chapter 1175: Chapter 1154: Out of Prison

In the sky prison where no candles were lit, it was mostly dark, and Bai Shan’s sense of time mainly came from listening to the movements of the jailers.

When he heard the knocking and calling from outside, he knew it was time for breakfast—time for the cells to have their morning meal.

Now, aside from delivering items at noon, the jailers basically didn’t come their way since they did not partake in the prison meals anyway.

Bai Shan easily got up from the kang upon hearing the noise, washed his face, rinsed his hands, gargled, and then started to light a fire and boil the noodles. Today, they still had one last meal of minced meat noodles left. By noon, according to the pattern Bai Shan deduced, their family was supposed to send them big white steamed buns, delicious pickles to accompany the rice, and well-stewed pork.

The two were separate, and when it was time to eat, they would stew some pickles and pork together and then heat the steamed buns on top of a jar—it was convenient, simple, and tasty.

Manbao also got up to wash, and then she twisted her body in the center of the cell. Since two people were still asleep inside, she silently recited poetry in her mind. Everything was exceptionally normal.

They thought it would be just another ordinary day, maybe having to attend a court session later, but not long after breakfast, Tao Yi came in with a document and, opening the cell, said to the three of them, "Bai Shan, Zhou Man, Xiang Chao, you are free to leave."

The three of them never expected such a sudden joy and opened their eyes wide in surprise.

Tao Yi coughed lightly, "Aren’t you going to leave quickly?"

Xiang Chao was the first to react, pointing to Xiang Mingxue and asked, "What about my younger cousin then?"

Tao Yi glanced at Xiang Mingxue sitting on the kang and said, "His Majesty didn’t say, and the officials didn’t either, so he must remain detained in the sky prison. Are you leaving or not?"

Manbao was conflicted, "Can I still come every day to treat his illness?"

Tao Yi glanced at her but said nothing.

Bai Shan asked in a different way, "Can we still bring him his lunch every day then?"

Tao Yi said, "His Majesty’s handwriting didn’t specify a time."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Bai Shan then gave the books in the cell to Xiang Mingxue to read so he wouldn’t feel lonely in the cell.

Manbao only took a few things with her, leaving most of the items in the cell.

Xiang Chao hesitated, "Otherwise, I won’t leave. I’ll stay in the cell to take care of the Second Young Master? Can I stay?"

Xiang Mingxue hurriedly said, "Please go out quickly, I can manage by myself."

"That’s not okay, your Achilles tendons have been cut, making it hard to walk," Xiang Chao pleaded with puppy-dog eyes toward Tao Yi.

Tao Yi said, "If you don’t leave now, who knows when you will have another chance."

Xiang Chao gritted his teeth, "I will not leave."

Just as Xiang Mingxue was about to speak, Manbao clapped her hands in approval, "Good, then you stay here and keep him company. We will come to see you tomorrow."

Bai Shan also nodded, "We’ll bring you something delicious tomorrow. What do you want to eat?"

Xiang Chao: ...Aren’t you going to persuade me?

Bai Shan and Manbao were already cheerfully squeezing out of the cell.

Xiang Chao watched the two run away with longing eyes, and Tao Yi looked back at the two brothers, smiled faintly, and had the cell door closed again.

After signing the documents, Bai Shan and Manbao stepped out of the grand doors of the sky prison together.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and the two, who had not seen the sun for a long time, couldn’t help but squint their eyes looking at the sunlight that filled the world.

As soon as Bai Erlang, who was standing in front of the carriage early, spotted them, he shouted loudly, snapping Bai Shan and Manbao out of their daze. They looked up together towards the front.

The moment their eyes met, they burst into cheers and rushed up to embrace each other in a group hug.

Yin Huo couldn’t help but smile with his eyes narrowed when he saw them jumping around with their arms over each other’s shoulders.

Tao Yi, who had accompanied them out, saw that they had been shouting for so long without stopping, he couldn’t help but put on a straight face and coughed loudly twice, saying, "Since you’re out, hurry along. What kind of behavior is it to shout and holler like this in front of the Sky Prison?"

Bai Shan and Manbao then turned back with smiles on their faces and bowed to Uncle Tao, then, draping their arms over Bai Erlang’s shoulders, they ran towards Yin Huo and the others.

Zhou Wulang was leading Zhou Lijun, Yin Huo was with Changshou, and to their surprise, Feng Zongping, Ji Hao, and Liu Huan had also come. The carriages were lined up across the street from the Sky Prison’s door, an impressive sight indeed.

The trio ran over, and Yin Huo, Feng Zongping, and others came up to greet them, "You’ve finally come out! How come I feel like you’ve even gained some weight?"

"Come on, I’ve specially prepared some mugwort water for you, wash with it, and then spritz some on yourself. I don’t know if your family has prepared a brazier or not." Feng Zongping, clearly experienced in such matters, brought up a steaming basin of mugwort water and the group, all hands on deck, began to sprinkle the water onto the two of them.

Bai Shan and Manbao wanted to say that it was enough, but somehow, someone, rather fiercely, scooped up the water and splashed it directly onto their faces, causing the two of them to shout indignantly. They simply snatched the wooden basin, and no matter who was in front of them, they returned the favor.

A group of young people suddenly started causing a commotion in front of the Sky Prison’s gate.

Uncle Tao, just about to turn back to the Sky Prison and having mustered his energy, was about to yell out when someone’s hand slipped, or perhaps did it on purpose, the remaining mugwort water in the basin splashed out, drenching Uncle Tao in the face.

The scene suddenly fell silent.

Uncle Tao wiped his face clean of the mugwort water and opened his eyes to look at the group of youngsters in front of him.

Feng Zongping was the first to react, calling out, "Uncle Tao, this mugwort water is for washing away bad luck, a good dousing indeed. I’ll send you another basin later; I’ll take my leave first."

"I should be leaving too—"

Bai Shan also grabbed Manbao, saying, "We’re all wet, we should go change our clothes too, no need to see us out, Lord Tao..."

Boys and girls scattered like the wind, and Uncle Tao’s chest heaved twice, as he held back his reaction. What could he do? Among these youngsters, not only was there the grandson of a high-ranking official, but the grandson of the high-ranking official’s superior. He endured!

It wasn’t long before the carriages in front of the Sky Prison gate had disappeared, taking with them many onlookers who had been keeping an eye on the prison’s doors. After a while, when everyone had dispersed, a carriage not too far away lifted its curtain to glance at the empty space in front, chuckling before saying, "Alright, let’s move forward."

The driver moved the carriage to the front of the Sky Prison, where Wei Zhi got down from the carriage and went straight into the prison.

Xiang Chao had just moved all of Bai Shan’s books in front of Mingxue when footsteps were heard outside the prison door.

Everyone looked up to see Wei Zhi leading people over and opening the prison cell door.

Meeting the gaze of the Xiang brothers, Wei Zhi smiled slightly and said, "Mingxue, let’s change locations."

Xiang Chao’s expression changed, positioning himself in front of Mingxue, he said, "What, what are you going to do?"

Wei Zhi, with hands clasped, replied, "Don’t worry, the Sky Prison isn’t that safe either, so we’re going to move you two to another place."

With that, he clapped his hands, and two people dressed in prison attire similar in build to them stepped forward. Under Xiang Chao’s glare, they walked into the prison cell.

Wei Zhi stated, "From today on, they will take your place here."

Mingxue, however, remained unfazed, gave Wei Zhi a deep look, then turned to Xiang Chao and said, "Let’s go, carry me out."