In my mind, scenes from these past months flashed by frantically. At the funeral hall, she cold-bloodedly ordered me dragged away, not letting me near Mother's corpse, because the empress's spies were all around. During her veiled hints in the dark room of Daci Temple, she deliberately provoked me with the power of the crown prince and the Zhang family, just so I would resolutely stay in the Eastern Depot to seek protection. In the study of the Zhang manor, she didn't hesitate to burn down the hidden compartment in the display cabinet. It wasn't to cover up the Zhang family's incriminating evidence, but because she saw the bloodstained oiled paper I had dropped. She would rather anger the suspicious crown prince just to erase all traces of my break-in, firmly covering up this slip-up of mine.
I thought I was borrowing Wei Wuyuan's blade to kill her, never knowing that this blade in my hand was the protective umbrella she personally handed to me.
And yet, I was still gloating. I ruined her marriage alliance. I intercepted and killed the troops from the West Mountain Camp. I forced her into a dead end. I am indeed the stupidest mad dog.
I slapped myself hard, the crisp sound echoing in the dark room. Blood instantly seeped from the corner of my mouth. Wei Wuyuan did not stop me. The way he looked at me was like looking at a pathetic joke.
"You are indeed stupid. By intercepting and killing the troops of the West Mountain Camp, you didn't stop the marriage alliance. Instead, you cornered Li Chongjing into desperate measures. Losing the support from outside the city, he decided to act ahead of schedule. Once they perform the wedding ceremony tomorrow, Li Chongjing will slaughter the entire Zhang family at the wedding feast and raise troops to force the emperor's abdication that very night. Zhang Beiyu has already made her resolve to die. Tomorrow at the Eastern Palace, she will take Li Chongjing down with her."
"Let me out. I have to go stop her. She can't die. What right does she have to make decisions for me?"
Wei Wuyuan's figure flashed and he kicked the iron door, slamming the barely open door shut with a heavy thud. He grabbed my throat with his hand and pinned me hard against the cold iron door.
"Stop her? How are you going to stop her? This game of chess has already reached the endgame. The situation is completely deadlocked. Zhang Beiyu paved this path for you with the lives of her entire clan. If you go throw your life away now, you will destroy all of her hard work."
"I'm not trying to save her. I would rather die with her at the Zhang estate. Commander Wei Wuyuan, I beg of you. You have the Eastern Depot under your command. Please save her. I will give you my life. I will be your slave for generations to come. Please save her."
"My duty is to eliminate the rebels for His Majesty and wipe out Li Chongjing and the empress in one fell swoop. Zhang Beiyu is the most crucial sacrificial pawn on this chessboard. Whether she lives or dies is not part of my bargain. Tomorrow, the Eastern Palace will be under martial law. The forces of the Eastern Depot will seal off all exits. If you dare take even half a step out of the imperial prison, I will be the first to kill you to rally the troops."
The iron door was opened once again, and Wei Wuyuan strode away, leaving behind only the heavy echo of the lock snapping shut. The dark room fell into complete darkness.
Holding that wooden box, I buried my face deeply into my knees.
Zhang Beiyu, you are truly so heartless. You carried all the guilt on your own shoulders, using hatred to sustain my desire to live, only to go and seek your own death. Did you think that by locking me up here, I would just live out my life in peaceful cowardice? Zhang Beiyu, you must give me the explanation you owe me in person. If you think you can leave me behind to die alone, keep dreaming.
The locks of the Eastern Depot may hold others, but they cannot hold me, a mad woman tempered by months of hatred. Tomorrow is the grand wedding. Even if the Eastern Palace is a mountain of daggers and a sea of flames, I will force my way in and drag you out of hell.
The diamond lock of the Eastern Depot's prison was fastened from the outside, but I knew its weak point. When I was tortured here months ago, I had stared intently at every move the old man made to unlock it. I slid the dagger along the thinnest gap of the keyhole, thrusting it in forcefully, and turned the handle with all my might. My palm was cut by the dagger's fuller, and blood dripped down the iron lock. With a click, the lock cylinder shattered.
I pushed open the heavy iron door, knocked out the guard dozing around the corner, and along the dark sewage channel beneath the prison, I managed to crawl my way out of the Eastern Depot.