The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

Du Mingxian could feel her gaze, but it was too dark inside, with only the outer corridor and a dim oil lamp on the wall. "Ask whatever you want to ask."

"who are you?"

"Would you tell on me if I told you?"

Instead of sitting on the bed, Granny Wang gathered some straw and sat against the bed so that Du Mingxian's line of sight was level with hers.

“We’re always together, everyone thinks we’re in cahoots. If I go and betray you, do you think people will believe me?”

Du Mingxian couldn't understand what Wang Pozi meant, but she could only trust this one person right now. If she didn't tell Wang Pozi, who knew what would happen next?

"I am the wife of Lord Ling of the Hanlin Academy and the adopted daughter of Lord Wen."

Granny Wang took a deep breath, somewhat incredulous. "You... then why were you brought to the Sun residence by Niu Bao? Are you paralyzed?"

Du Mingxian also wanted to know what was going on. "It wasn't like that before. I was healthy. I don't know why now."

Logically, after stopping the use of the muscle-relaxing powder for several days, even the strongest medicine should have restored her strength. However, the reality is that she cannot move and can only raise her hand.

"If your identity is genuine, you shouldn't be at home being waited on by servants. What are you doing here?"

“It’s hard to explain in a sentence or two, but I can guarantee that if you have a way to contact the outside world, or if we can meet those officials, I can get you out.”

Granny Wang no longer believed Du Mingxian. "No... we're taking too much of a risk today. If we can't get out, it'll be even more troublesome later."

Du Mingxian didn't know what to do either. She couldn't even send a message outside. Bring Granny Wang into the space? She hadn't considered that possibility.

"How did you end up with Niu Bao?" Granny Wang still wanted to know.

"You know about the Tapa people taking over the Crown Prince's residence. I fainted at the Crown Prince's residence that night. Later, Niu Bao thought I was just a maid in the Crown Prince's residence, so he took me out. He probably wanted to take me back to the Tapa."

"As a result, the capital city conducted a strict investigation, and he couldn't leave, so he went to the Sun residence to wait for an opportunity. He probably didn't expect that we would be arrested by the authorities."

Granny Wang didn't know what to say. How could she serve such a person? He was supposed to be someone of high status, but now... he was in jail just like her, and couldn't get out.

"If this is true... why didn't you tell those people earlier that Niu Bao is a Tapa?"

"I told you, do I still have a chance to live?"

Granny Wang frowned, "Why wasn't there a chance?"

“Everyone in Sun Xiangxiang’s household knows that I was brought there by Niu Bao. Niu Bao is a Tapo woman. How could I possibly survive? Even if others believe me, what do you think those jailers will do to me? I’m just a cripple.”

Granny Wang didn't want to think about it anymore. She had been to prison before, and prison was the darkest place for a woman. The reason she was able to escape in the end was because those jailers were too lecherous and wanted to play with her. She had to serve them desperately in order to escape.

The officials in the capital were a little better than those in smaller places; these officials hadn't tried to bully female prisoners.

Du Mingxian is so beautiful; if a female prisoner with a shrewish temper were to join her, she would be immediately bullied by these people.

"I want to get out. I'll cooperate with you. After I get out, you...you give me some silver. I want to leave."

"Alright, you can leave the capital and go do business."

Granny Wang didn't reply. Now she always felt that being someone else's servant was not as good as being in charge herself. She used to think being a servant was fine, since it was just doing chores. She wasn't afraid of hard work; she had done it all her life when she was a child. But now...

I never imagined that being a servant would lead to imprisonment and even endanger my life.

She wouldn't do it.

“You must have connections in the capital. We’ll have the jailer deliver a message and see if we can get in touch with the outside world.”

Du Mingxian had given up hope, but this was still the best approach she could take: "Can you write?"

Wang Pozi said awkwardly, "I can read, but I can't write well."

"That's fine then. All we can do now is send a message to that old woman Dong you hate, hoping she'll come."

Granny Wang was puzzled again, "Is Granny Dong's daughter with the Ling family?"

"Yes."

"Didn't Granny Dong say she was alone?"

Du Mingxian couldn't explain it well, since she was the one who arranged for the person to be in there. She could only explain that "she probably didn't want people to know that she had a daughter, and she was also afraid that bad people would have designs on her."

"Her daughter is also very pretty, so it's right to be cautious."

Granny Wang reluctantly accepted this explanation, but she always felt that things were not like that. "She and I are mortal enemies, and I'm afraid she won't want to come see me."

"We'll write a letter and send it out tomorrow. At least we'll have a chance."

"Row."

"It's too late, why don't you come up and sleep too? I don't know if they'll bring some food over."

Granny Wang said confidently, "We can take it. They know we have connections outside, and they'll help us to make money. There should be food soon, and I'll ask for some medicine too."

"it is good."

Du Mingxian racked her brains for solutions, but found they were too few.

Since they were imprisoned as servants, the Sun family's masters could at least manage to get them an audience with the Prefect of the Capital.

Who cares whether you live or die, you're just a servant in Sun Xiangxiang's household?

If they were servants serving Sun Xiangxiang, they would at least have some standing. But a cleaning lady from the outer courtyard and a cripple... their status was far too low.

Not long after, the jailer did bring them some food, but... it was just steamed buns, probably made by the jailer's family, a mixture of white and dark flour, at least edible for humans, and they tasted pretty good.

When Granny Wang asked them for medicine, they didn't refuse and brought it over again after a while.

External wound medicine is readily available in Jingzhaoyin, so there's no need to buy it elsewhere, although the quality is quite average.

The jailer brought over four steamed buns, all of them quite large.

Du Mingxian ate one, and Granny Wang also ate one. She also asked for an oil lamp, which was very dim, but could be used to apply some medicine.

Wang Pozi didn't take off Du Mingxian's clothes, but sprinkled some medicine on the torn parts of her clothes to stop the bleeding, something no one else could do.

After sprinkling some medicine, Granny Wang said, "Go to sleep. We can talk about it tomorrow morning."

The two slept side by side on the bed, and Du Mingxian finally fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, when Granny Wang woke up, Du Mingxian had started to have a high fever, but she was still drowsy after waking up.

"You have a fever and need to see a doctor."

Du Mingxian said helplessly, "I want to drink water."

Last night, we brought them water. Granny Wang went to the side and brought the water over, placing it next to Du Mingxian. "Let me help you up to drink."

"it is good."

When Granny Wang helped the person up, Du Mingxian's attention was entirely focused on her hands. She quietly reached into the bowl and quickly changed the water in it.

Granny Wang didn't really notice; she was afraid of bumping into Du Mingxian's injury, so she was very careful while supporting her.

After helping her up and supporting her in his arms, he then brought her water.

Finally, the entrance was filled with spiritual water, and Du Mingxian's heart was filled with joy. Finally... finally, she could drink spiritual water. With the blessing of spiritual water, she would be able to move soon, and it would be much easier to find a way out.

Du Mingxian drank all the water in the bowl, satisfied. Granny Wang asked, "Would you like a steamed bun?"

"I don't want to eat right now."

"Alright, you can tell me when you want to eat." Granny Wang laid her down, took a steamed bun, broke it in half and ate half of it, muttering to herself, "We've been here for two days, why hasn't General Wu come in yet?"