The three of them walked out of the room. Before they could even leave the courtyard, the Night Guards who weren’t on patrol swarmed them with a RUSH.
"Captain Li, is what happened yesterday true?"
"You’re too damn awesome!"
"I heard from the brothers on the case that Lord Wei’s face turned green."
"What exactly happened? Some say you figured it out with your Fate Skill. Others say you instigated the two of them. And some even say Lord Wei has a penchant for giving away his own nest, did it on purpose, and you exposed him."
"The entire Night Guard Office is blowing up over this. Everyone’s talking about it. I’ve been hanging by the gate waiting for you for ages. I even called in sick and skipped my patrol just to hear a word from you."
Li Qingxian said earnestly, "You guys... instead of thinking about how to serve the Emperor, all you do is chase shadows and rumors. Lord Wei and Madam Wei are both victims. It was that Tao Zhi who used a stupefying drug. As for anything else, I really don’t know."
Seeing Li Qingxian’s dead-serious expression, the crowd instantly understood. They burst into laughter and dispersed.
"We believe you."
"We’ll just take the opposite of what you said..."
Li Qingxian shook his head. "People aren’t what they used to be. They don’t focus on their Cultivation, they don’t focus on their studies, so why are they so obsessed with matters of the bedroom?"
Yur Ping said, "When we rushed into the room yesterday, you were right behind Lord Wei, the first one to dart inside."
"I was securing the suspect! Let’s go!"
The Night Guard Office covered a vast area. The Imperial Prison Department was built in the northwest corner. It took them a short quarter hour of walking before they could see the department’s side gate in the distance.
Towering, bluish-black walls stood erect, their tops studded with rust-covered spikes. Within a dozen zhang of the walls was flat, yellow earth, devoid of any grass, flowers, or trees.
Inside the walls, watchtowers of stone and wood rose above the ramparts. Soldiers stood on them, surveying the surroundings, on high alert.
On either side of the side gate squatted a bronze Great Xiezhi, bluish-black and resembling a Qilin. They were taller than a man, with a single jet-black horn on their heads. Their bodies were covered in fine scales, and they were posed with bared fangs and brandished claws, their dark eyes glowing faintly in the sun.
Li Qingxian said in a low voice, "These two Great Xiezhi, they’re Magical Artifacts, aren’t they?"
"They are gate-warding Magical Artifacts specially created by the Imperial Court. It’s said that each one can fight an ordinary Third-Grade Expert to a standstill. On the four sides of this Imperial Prison, there are eight of them in total," Han Anbo said.
"It would be great if I had one following me around."
"These things are priceless."
As they reached the entrance, Li Qingxian felt the Great Xiezhi’s eyeballs turn. He raised the waist token of an Imperial Prison Department clerk.
The soldier at the main gate first glanced at Han Anbo, then looked Li Qingxian up and down. Cupping his fist, he smiled and said, "This handsome lord looks unfamiliar. What business brings you to the Imperial Prison Department?"
Li Qingxian smiled. "I am Li Qingxian of the Divine Capital Bureau. I have come to the Imperial Prison on the orders of Lord Zhou Chunfeng, Disciplinary Officer of the Divine Capital Bureau and Director of the Imperial Prison Department."
"Ah, an order from Lord Zhou. Please, enter."
The two Guards exchanged a glance, a strange smile on their faces, and quickly made way.
"Thank you, brothers." Li Qingxian smiled, stepped up the stairs, entered the gate, and walked down the steps on the other side. He stopped, gazing at the layers of buildings and pavilions ahead.
Under the midday sun, there were black stones, black roads, black steps, black walls, black tiles, and black eaves.
As far as the eye could see, the architecture here possessed a unique kind of beauty, yet it was also frozen with a gloom that even the sun could not melt.
"Brother Han, lead the way."
Han Anbo stepped forward and said as he walked, "It seems this is your first time here. The Imperial Prison Department is divided into the East and West Courtyards. The West Courtyard imprisons Upper Three Grades and most Middle-Third Grade experts or Great Demon Fiends. The East Courtyard holds normal people, Lower Fourth Grade, or a few Middle-Third Grade individuals. You must never wander into the West Courtyard. There are too many experts there, and the power they emanate is exceedingly strong. An ordinary person who goes there will fall ill in less than three days."
"I’ve heard of it. That place is considered one of the most cursed spots in the entire Capital City, nicknamed the ’Courtyard of Perverts.’ Legend has it... it holds a Deceitful Demon?" Li Qingxian lowered his voice.
Han Anbo jumped in fright and whispered, "Don’t mention that name often. We usually refer to them as ’that kind of fiend.’ Those things are the most cursed monsters in the world. It’s said that back then, the Demon Race relied on that kind of fiend to force our Daqi to retreat to the South Shore of the Great River, and we still haven’t been able to push north. The ridiculous thing is, the Demon Race slanders us, claiming those monsters were refined by the Human Race."
Li Qingxian nodded.
Han Anbo continued, "The Guard said the lords are waiting for you in Room B. Room Jiazi is just ahead, and it’s right after that."
"Brother Han, don’t tell me you’ve also served a stint in the Imperial Prison Department?"
"Not in the West Courtyard. I served for half a year in the East Courtyard."
Li Qingxian said, "Since we’ll be stationed here for a while, give me a brief rundown."
Han Anbo said, "Alright. The Imperial Prison Department is the most critical place for the Night Guard. In the entire Divine Capital, there are only two places that can imprison Upper Three Grades individuals. One is the Ministry of Justice Celestial Prison, and the other is our Night Guard Imperial Prison. However, the Ministry of Justice Celestial Prison mainly holds members of the Human Race, while the Imperial Prison holds all sorts of Demons and Ghosts. Because the Imperial Prison is so important, its Disciplinary Officer position has always been concurrently held by an Upper Three Grades expert."
"Fugui, right? The Night Guard’s second-in-command, the Junior Third Grade Left Commander, who’s also the acting Disciplinary Officer of the Imperial Prison Department," Li Qingxian said.
"It’s Lord Zhangg Fugui," Han Anbo said helplessly.
Li Qingxian laughed. "Everyone calls them that in private anyway, so what’s there to be afraid of? Aren’t they just the Three Treasures of the Night Guard? The gutless Cowardly King, the shameless Zhangg Fugui, and the useless Yang Meizu."
Han Anbo gave a wry smile. "That’s just idle talk among the lords of the Imperial Court. For us, anyone who can reach that position is by no means an ordinary person. We can’t treat them lightly."
"Don’t worry, Brother Han. I understand perfectly. The Three Treasures of the Night Guard are all Third Grade. How could any of them be weak? Besides, the more we call them that, the more at ease they feel," Li Qingxian said.
"However, I heard the Cowardly King was promoted to Second Grade long ago, but he’s afraid of being targeted, so he’s always pretended to be Third Grade," Han Anbo said.
"That sounds like the Cowardly King’s style," Li Qingxian said.
"I think so too," Yur Ping said, looking around. "I hear some of the prison food in the Imperial Prison is excellent, especially what’s served to the High-Grade prisoners."
Li Qingxian shot Yur Ping a sideways glance. "You really have lofty ambitions, don’t you? Even coveting prison food."
"It’s not a crime to have a taste."
"You... have a good point."
The three chatted idly as they walked, arriving at the East Courtyard’s Room B area.
Ahead, rows of houses were neatly arranged.
On the east side, people were coming and going, seemingly transporting something.
On the west side, a number of prisoners dressed in ochre-colored coarse hemp clothes were chained together by their ankles, in groups of ten. They were squatting in a corner, getting some air and sun.
These people had disheveled hair and grimy faces, with bits of grass and leaves clinging to their clothes.
Li Qingxian swept his gaze over them and suddenly stopped.
A nearby Prison Guard reached for the hilt of his saber, glanced at Li Qingxian’s waist token and uniform, then at Han Anbo, and relaxed his hand.
"Younger Brother Han, here on business in the Imperial Prison Department? And this lord is...?" A middle-aged, gaunt Prison Guard with dark circles under his eyes came forward with a smile. The white-horse-treading-a-river patch on his chest was the same as Li Qingxian’s, but his clothes were dark and stained.
Han Anbo cupped his fist and said, "Lord Fann, we’ve come on the orders of Lord Zhou from the Divine Capital Bureau. This is Lord Li Qingxian."
Fann Xing and the Prison Guards behind him showed a peculiar expression, then looked toward one of the prisoners.
"Aiyo, I truly have eyes but failed to see Tai Mountain! So it is Lord Li. My apologies, my apologies!" Fann Xing clasped his fist, hunched his back slightly, and took the initiative to bow to Li Qingxian.