Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

Both sides received the same treatment, and even the servants in the mansion ate better food than this, so they immediately showed their dissatisfaction.

"Can this be eaten?"

"Is this what you call a meal?"

After all, Gu Nanzhi was the only mistress of the Prince's mansion; the rest were just servants. They dared not speak their anger at the jailers, muttering their discontent under their breath, but they knew they were just lowly servants and dared not offend them.

Those pampered young masters and ladies next door, however, don't yet have this awareness.

"Is this for human consumption?"

"Don't even mention the servants in this mansion, even the dogs eat better than this,"

"This is inedible! It's outrageous! Take it away from me!"

"Outrageous! You lowly jailers try to fool us with this! Go and get us some clean food right now!"

"Hmph, eat it or don't, it's up to you. Do you think you're some young masters and misses from a noble family? You're all prisoners here, expecting clean food. This is all we have. If you don't eat now, you might not have the chance to eat later."

They're already in prison and still trying to act tough? The guards clearly won't tolerate it. These high-ranking families are always so arrogant; how many of them actually leave prison unscathed? Just wait and see, they might not even have their heads tomorrow. And they still want to complain?

"Pah! You're in for it. Trying to act tough with me in jail? I'll beat you to death!"

"What's with the show of power? Learn from those who hate the Prince's Mansion; once you're in prison, you should know your place."

It wasn't that the people in the Prince's mansion were sensible; there was only one master in the entire mansion, and that master maintained an indifferent attitude. The other servants dared to be angry but dared not speak out. In the eyes of the jailers, they were certainly sensible!

"..."

"You...you..."

"You cunning jailer, I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget!"

The few who had been grumbling were now speechless with anger, especially the woman who started crying again. They had never been treated like this before; even a lowly jailer dared to treat them like this.

"Alright, all of you behave yourselves," Qi Su said coldly. He was also dissatisfied with the guards' attitude and the food, but he understood the situation better; the guards were right.

The most important thing now is whether we can get out of here unscathed.

After Qi Su spoke, the women quickly pulled their children back to comfort them, and one of the jailers also stepped forward to speak.

"My lord, we were merely following orders. We hope you will all be understanding. Please be careful in the previous situation. We take our leave now."

This man still held some respect for the people of the Marquis's mansion, but this matter was of great importance, and he was just a lowly jailer with little power to do anything about it.

After saying that, he left with the other jailers.

While they were making a scene, the food in the next cell had already been distributed, and each person was barely given a hard, unappetizing steamed bun.

After distributing the items, Butler Li took his own, the Princess's, and Xia He's belongings and returned to his seat.

"princess"

"Thank you," Gu Nanzhi said, taking the steamed bun in her hand. She squeezed it to test its firmness. This hardly looked like a steamed bun; even a dog would have beaten it to death.

Indeed, no matter what society you're in, you need money and power. Now, it's like a tiger fallen into the plains, being bullied by dogs.

Well, looking at this thing, she said she wasn't hungry, and even if she were, she probably wouldn't be able to eat it. So she tossed it back into Butler Li's hands. "I'm not hungry yet. I ate too much during the day. Butler Li, if you're hungry, you can eat it."

Butler Li initially thought the princess might be disgusted by the food, but knowing full well that this was the standard treatment in prison without special care, he kindly advised, "Your Highness, please make do with this. This is all the food we have in prison. At least don't go hungry."

"I know, I'm really not hungry right now. You guys eat, I'm going to take a nap."

Gu Nanzhi looked exhausted. Xia He knew her young mistress wasn't well and asked with concern, "Miss, are you alright?"

The young lady in the manor told her that her illness was caused by poisoning. The young lady also said that she could cure it herself, but there was no medicine available at the moment. Before, when she was in the manor, she had a chance to get medicine, but now that she has been arrested and imprisoned, it is even more difficult. What should she do?

"It's alright, you can all rest if you're tired. You're already in jail anyway, there's nothing you can do."

Xia He simply obeyed her mistress's orders, replying, "Yes, Miss."

Butler Li looked at the princess with a troubled expression, wondering whether to say she was carefree or what. Shouldn't a normal woman react like the young ladies in the neighboring noble family in such a situation?

The princess's performance was both admirable and somewhat suspicious. Could it be that the princess did not know what it meant to treason and have her property confiscated?

The Emperor is so intolerant of their prince; he might really be sentenced to death, and the princess won't escape either. Alas... if that's the outcome, then it's the prince who has implicated the princess.

Gu Nanzhi had no interest in caring about other people's thoughts, but if she knew that Butler Li had this idea, she would agree wholeheartedly. Isn't it because your prince has implicated me?

The quiet night, especially in this kind of environment, is really hard to bear. I can faintly hear some sounds from next door—mostly quiet sobbing and complaints about the environment. My consciousness probes into the space…

"Xiao Bai, what time is it?"

Xiao Bai: "Master, it's eight o'clock."

Eight o'clock? What time was that in ancient times? Oh right, it's the first watch of the night, or more precisely, the fourth quarter of the Xu hour. Why is it still so early? Time is passing so slowly!

Wait a little longer, until these people have finished complaining, are tired, and gone to sleep. Then she has to use up her three flash opportunities for the day before midnight; she can't waste them.

Just keep going! Just keep going!

Before she could even see how much longer she had endured, another commotion erupted from the corridor outside the cell, heading straight for their cell again. Gu Nanzhi had already heard the noise, but she was too lazy to open her eyes. She figured it was just those guards coming for whoever they wanted, as long as they didn't bother her.

With this thought in mind, she remained completely unresponsive to the noises outside; anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was asleep.

But this thought was shattered in just a few seconds.

"Prince"

"Prince"

"Your Highness, it's Your Highness!"

With her eyes closed, Gu Nanzhi listened to the commotion and silently complained, "Why are you calling out 'Your Highness' so pitifully? Could it be that you're dead?"

Wait a minute, Your Highness?

Gu Nanzhi stopped pretending to be asleep and immediately opened her eyes, looking out of the cell. "Your Highness, is that Prince Yan?" she thought. After all, she had been implicated and imprisoned, so she had to see just how important this prince was.

A quick glance revealed that Steward Li was no longer where he was; he had run to the cell door, gripping it and shouting "Your Highness!" to the people outside. Inside the cell, everyone, whether from his own cell or the neighboring cells, stood up and moved forward.

Looking around, it seemed that she was the only one sitting there; Xia He was standing, but she didn't move forward.