The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 89

Prince Rui held the oil lamp aloft.

An ordinary household naturally used no fine lamp oil.

He carried it in his right hand, keeping the smoke away from his eyes, and gently pushed the door with his left.

In the long night, the dry hinges produced a piercing creak.

The door slowly opened.

The black room beyond resembled the open mouth of a giant beast.

Prince Rui licked his dry lips and glanced back.

Only after confirming the woman was nowhere in sight did he enter.

The room was not large, but indistinct objects crowded it.

When he went closer and examined them by lamplight, he realized they were cradles.

They stood in neat rows, at least twenty or thirty in all.

Each wooden cradle was strangely deep, much deeper than an ordinary one.

At the rear of the room, beyond the cradles, stood a raised earthen bed.

A thin reed mat covered it.

The chamber was dry and clean, without the musty smell of an unused room.

Prince Rui carefully inspected it with the lamp.

After finding no obvious danger, he shut the door and slid the bolt into place.

The enclosed, darkened room offered at least some sense of security.

Prince Rui returned to the earthen bed and set down the lamp.

He sat at its edge, trembling, and reviewed everything that had happened.

By now, even he understood that Shen Yan and Zhao Li had made a complete ass of him.

He had willingly charged headfirst into their trap.

Gritting his teeth, Prince Rui could only pray.

He prayed Shen Yan would still respect his imperial status and not truly watch him die.

If Prince Rui died here, Shen Yan would not escape the consequences.

But the mortal danger at sunset had badly shaken that confidence.

Regret filled him.

Had he known things like that existed in Jiahui Ward, he would not have cared whether Shen Yan sealed the place.

Now every trusted guard around him was lost, and he himself was trapped in such peril.

For the first time in his life, Prince Rui desperately wanted to see that villain Shen Yan’s face.

His trousers were wet between the legs, and he reeked of urine.

When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

Yet he did not understand the situation and had no choice but to endure damp, foul cloth clinging to his skin.

He sat in the room for a long time.

Outside remained perfectly silent.

The delayed exhaustion from a day of flight and terror overcame him. Prince Rui leaned his head against the wall and began to drift.

Then a faint sound came from the roof tiles.

He jerked awake.

“Who’s there?”

Cold sweat beaded across his brow as he stared around in fear.

A shaft of moonlight entered through the roof and cast a spot the size of a copper coin on the floor.

Then the light suddenly vanished.

Prince Rui thought for a moment.

A shudder rose from the base of his spine.

Something on the roof had blocked the moonlight.

The realization left him standing frozen.

Only after a long while did he swallow and slowly look up.

A crack had opened between the roof tiles.

A luminous green eye pressed against it.

Each time the eye blinked, its ghostly green light flickered.

A clicking sound came from Prince Rui’s throat.

His eyes rolled back, and he began to faint.

Bang, bang!

Someone suddenly struck the door.

Prince Rui shuddered, and his trousers grew wet a second time.

Before his scream could emerge, a voice called outside.

“Young Master, are you resting?”

In the deep night, the soft female voice sounded like salvation.

Prince Rui sprinted to the door and ripped it open.

“There’s someone up there! Someone’s on the roof!”

Trembling violently, he seized the woman’s wrist.

The warmth beneath his fingers almost made him throw himself into her arms for comfort.

He babbled as he held her hand.

When she did not respond, he looked up.

Only then did he realize she had changed clothes.

Her ordinary bean-green dress had been replaced by bright red gauze.

Skin as soft as tofu showed beneath it, beautiful enough to dazzle the eyes.

The woman seemed not to hear him.

A faint blush colored her face, and a hazy smile appeared.

“Young Master, my husband hasn’t returned, but the children in my belly can’t wait.”

“I want to make children with you.”

Prince Rui’s mind roared.

He had just told her someone was on the roof, yet the woman acted as though she heard nothing. All she cared about was making children?

His sharp eyes caught a thread of red deep within hers.

His heart lurched.

Inside or outside?

Prince Rui nearly burst into tears. Great beads of sweat emerged at his hairline.

Before he could choose, the woman in red gauze lost patience.

Her pale hand reached directly for his lower abdomen.

Slap!

Prince Rui instinctively knocked it away.

The woman’s face darkened at once.

He hurriedly explained, “You are a married woman. How could I commit such a filthy act?”

“Why not wait here, Madam? I will help find your husband and children.”

At this critical moment, Prince Rui’s eloquence gave the woman pause.

Her eyes unfocused.

“All right. Then I will trouble Young Master to look. If you meet my husband, Yang Jian, tell him Zhang E is waiting at home to make children with him.”

Zhang E!

The name struck Prince Rui like lightning.

He had heard it during the meeting.

She was the monster!

His mind went blank, and his legs nearly failed. He hurriedly grabbed the doorframe.

Zhang E blinked.

The movement was unnaturally slow, and her expression grew vacant again.

“But the children want to come out now.”

She stroked her writhing belly and changed her mind.

“Please make children with me, Young Master.”

Prince Rui clearly heard the strange sounds inside her abdomen.

His teeth chattered together.

He swallowed his scream and called on every scrap of intelligence gathered over half a lifetime.

“Please wait, Madam. I… I will change my trousers, then come make children with you.”

Zhang E froze.

Her gaze moved downward. She smelled the urine and appeared to find the request reasonable.

She nodded.

“Please hurry. You don’t smell delicious anymore.”

Unprecedented humiliation filled Prince Rui.

He endured it through clenched teeth.

“Please wait, Madam.”

He closed the door.

With shaking hands, he slid the bolt into place and looked toward the window.

Zhang E had no patience at all.

The instant the door closed, she urged, “Young Master, are you ready? Hurry.”

“Almost. Almost.”

Answering her, Prince Rui hurried to the window and pressed both hands against its frame.

Creak.

It swung inward, and silvery moonlight spilled into the room.

“Young Master!” Zhang E began pounding violently on the door.

Prince Rui swept up his robes and climbed onto the sill.

The Yang family’s rear courtyard lay outside.

His leg struck a clay jar of soap-pod powder sitting on the ledge and knocked it off.

Crash!

The black jar smashed against the ground. Pale powder flecked with black sprayed everywhere.

The sound was extraordinarily loud at night.

Prince Rui no longer cared. He climbed through.

Behind him, Zhang E began ramming her body against the door.

The bolt quickly bent with a sharp crack.