"Yes, master!"
Seeing Ye Liuyun closing his eyes to rest,
Xing'Er only answered softly, then tiptoed away, not disturbing Ye Liuyun's rest.
But after closing the door for Ye Liuyun, Xing'Er didn't leave right away.
Instead, she raised her hand and looked at it.
Xing'Er wasn't an ordinary maid, most of the hard and heavy work actually didn't fall to her.
So these little hands were still fairly well maintained.
But times were different now. In these days, even concubines could be bought, sold, or given away at will—let alone maids.
Words of concern might not mean much to Ye Liuyun, but for Xing'Er, it was a feeling she'd never experienced before.
She stood there in silence for a while before finally leaving, but compared to before, there was now a hint of a smile on Xing'Er's face.
,,,
The next day, the trouble Marquis Wanshun was expected to cause never came.
Who knows if he's plotting something bigger or what.
Either way, it didn't affect Ye Liuyun. After adapting these past few days, Ye Liuyun finally decided to head to the Imperial Prison.
The Imperial Prison was located in the rear courtyard, fairly well hidden, and along the way there were plenty of Embroidered Uniform Guards stationed. Luckily, Ye Liuyun's status as Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was the perfect pass.
"Commander Ye? What brings you to my Imperial Prison today?"
The one in charge of the Imperial Prison was also a Commander.
His name was Xiao Yongning, and nearly everything inside the Imperial Prison was handled by him.
On the roster left by Ye Liufeng before, Ye Liuyun had seen Xiao Yongning's name above, and Ye Liufeng only had two words to describe him: greedy for money.
The moment Xiao Yongning saw Ye Liuyun, he obviously froze for a second.
The Imperial Prison was damp and gloomy, with very few visitors under normal circumstances.
"Here to broaden my horizons,"
Ye Liuyun smiled naturally, and at the same time pulled out a silver note from his person.
"Just figured I could learn a bit more. I've heard there are all sorts of interrogation methods in the Imperial Prison, so I wanted to come take a look, to learn a few things!"
When Xiao Yongning saw the silver note offered by Ye Liuyun, the false smile on his face immediately became much more genuine.
He accepted it without a change in expression.
"Hahaha! Younger Brother Ye, with such a studious spirit, how could I, as the elder brother, refuse you? Come, come, I'll personally show you around!"
No matter how things were between us before, as long as you're willing to pay, then we're brothers.
Got to say, what Ye Liufeng wrote on the roster was pretty accurate.
Greedy for money means greedy for money.
,,,
No sunlight ever reached the Imperial Prison. In that dank and gloomy space, the screams and wails of prisoners echoed from time to time.
The sound alone was enough to make your skin crawl.
No wonder people always said that anyone able to last long in the Imperial Prison was either incredibly strong-willed or a straight-up psychopath—at any rate, none of them were normal.
"Basically, once someone's sent to the Imperial Prison, there isn't a single one who walks out alive. The only real job of this place is to make their final days as painful as possible."
If your crime isn't worthy of death, you don't get locked up here in the Imperial Prison.
Anyone thrown in here has zero chance of ever walking out alive.
First, every torture is tried on you once. If you survive, you're locked up for a day. Then they go through all the torture again. Whenever you die, that's when it ends.
While he spoke, Xiao Yongning's tone was completely indifferent.
As if, in his eyes, these prisoners' lives already didn't count for anything.
"..."
Ye Liuyun didn't respond, just glanced around. Besides those being tortured, there were also some locked up in their cells, their bodies covered in scars left by punishment.
Seeing Ye Liuyun's faraway look,
Xiao Yongning only watched for a moment before losing interest himself.
"Alright then, Younger Brother Ye, keep looking around if you want. If you have any questions, just come and find me!"
"Brother Xiao, go take care of your business. I'm fine here."
When he saw Xiao Yongning about to leave, Ye Liuyun certainly didn't stop him.
It just gave him time to carefully check these people's Talent Entries.
Once Xiao Yongning left, Ye Liuyun began seriously observing the prisoners.
Most of them had some Talent Entries attached. Of course, the quality wasn't all that high—if it was, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would never have caught them to begin with.
Passing one of the cells, he saw an Embroidered Uniform Guard whipping a bound prisoner.
When the guard saw Ye Liuyun coming, it was obvious Xiao Yongning had already given him a heads-up. He just nodded at Ye Liuyun, said nothing, and went on lashing his whip.
Screams resounded nonstop.
Truly, seeing is believing—even though he'd mentally prepared himself on the way here.
But seeing it with his own eyes, he still couldn't help some complicated feelings.
If his identity were ever exposed, maybe he'd be the one facing torture right now.
Get stronger!
He must become stronger. Only by being truly powerful could he fear nothing.
"Whew!"
Still not fully used to this. Ye Liuyun took a slow, steady breath, pulling himself together.
At that moment—
The prisoner being whipped abruptly went still after one final scream.
The enforcer glanced at the body, splashed it with some water, saw the man was truly dead, then lost interest and went off to deal with someone else.
But Ye Liuyun's attention,
was fixed on a few small light dots that floated up from the dead man.
"Detected pickable talents: Inhuman Strength (Green), Theft (White),"
"Inhuman Strength (Green): Possesses strength far beyond an ordinary person."
"Theft (White): Unusually skilled at theft."
The white-quality Theft entry he could take or leave, but that Inhuman Strength—Ye Liuyun didn't hesitate, he grabbed it at once.
If he saw it, there was no way he'd let it go.
But then—
"Detected high similarity between 'Inhuman Strength' and 'Sturdy Body' entries, would you like to merge them?"
He hadn't expected entries with high similarity could actually fuse together?
That genuinely surprised and delighted Ye Liuyun.
"Merge!"
No hesitation. He chose to merge immediately.
"Talent Entry System!
Host: Ye Liuyun!
Realm: Second-class Martial Artist!
Martial Skill: Wind-Slaying Saber Skill!
Talent Entries: Luck (Purple), Outstanding Physique (Blue), Saber Skill Talent (Blue),"
"Outstanding Physique (Blue): Your constitution far exceeds that of ordinary people, with extraordinary strength."
After merging, the original "Sturdy Body" entry on his template had become "Outstanding Physique," and the initial green-quality entries all upgraded to blue.
As expected, the Imperial Prison was exactly the right place for him to be.
He clenched his fists.
Just from a single upgrade in quality, Ye Liuyun could already feel his strength had jumped several levels compared to before.
,,,,,