Phoenix Rising

080

"Let me out! I didn't do anything! You can't just lock me in here like this!"

Lady Min banged against the wooden bars of her cell, screaming and shouting as she had been for hours. Her usually well-pressed silks hung disheveled upon her shoulders, laced with the filth and grime that covered the cold stone floors of the city's jail.

She was living a nightmare.

"Let me go! My husband is a minister in the king's royal court. My brothers hold official positions! There must be some misunderstanding."

Any minute now, the guards would come and set her free, because this was all one giant misunderstanding. Then, she would have to give them a piece of her mind. How dare they treat her, the principal wife of a court minister, in such a terrible manner?

"Shut up, you noisy hag!" a gruff voice bellowed from a neighbouring cell. "There are some of us who want to get some sleep! You've already been here for half a day and no one has come for you, which means no one will."

She froze. The man's words slowly sunk into her mind.

Had she really been here for half a day already?

Lady Min turned towards the tiny window of her cell, where moonlight was filtering in through. The sun had already set. When she had been dragged here, it was barely midday. By now, her husband should have rescued her from this hellhole—unless he wasn't going to.

Unless no one was coming.

She collapsed onto the ground, despair seeping in. How did things end up like this? Hadn't Fanye said that everything was foolproof? Han Zi-ning wasn't supposed to have return home this morning, and she wasn't supposed to be locked away like this.

Just then, footsteps echoed down the corridor, accompanied by some voices. There were people approaching.

Hope lit up inside her once more.

She clutched onto the bars of the cell door, trying to peer through to see who it was. Finally, someone was coming to get her out.

"Miss, I'm afraid you can only stay for a short while. Technically you shouldn't be allowed in here..."

"I understand. Thank you so much for accommodating my request. I shall not be long."

"Meiyan?" Lady Min's eyes lit up. Her daughter was here! She knew that Meiyan wouldn't give up on her. Perhaps it was unsuitable for Meiyan's father to be seen at such a place, so he had sent Meiyan in his stead. As long as the minister was willing to intervene, then everything could be salvaged.

Moments later, Han Meiyan's slight figure appeared in front of the cell. The guard that had led her there swiftly unlocked the door to let her in. Lady Min immediately grabbed hold of her daughter tearfully.

"Meiyan, it's really you!" she cried. "Can we leave now? Has your father settled things with the magistrate? I can't stand being in this horrid place a moment longer. Quick, we must leave at once!"

"Mother..."

Meiyan took her by the shoulders, preventing her from stepping out of the cell.

"What? Why aren't we leaving? Aren't you here to take me back home?"

"Uncle has been sentenced to exile... I can't bring you home, Mother. I'm sorry..."

"What do you mean?" Lady Min's blood ran cold. How was this possible? Hadn't her brother been extremely confident that they would be able to get away with this? That none of it would be traced back to them? "There must be some mistake. Your uncle couldn't possibly be sentenced to exile. We're innocent! I'm innocent. I didn't do anything! We must get them to reopen the case. Someone must have set us up!"