My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 88 Visiting the Prison

Shortly after the confession was submitted, the verdict was swiftly handed down: Dai Qin was sentenced to death by hanging, with the execution date set for seven days later.

Lin Ziping stroked the jade pendant in his hand, looking at the words on it. Thinking of Yang Xiaobao's pitiful state as he couldn't find his sister, he decided to ask Dai Qin, hoping to get some useful information.

"Brothers," Lin Ziping greeted the two guards standing at the door as he entered the prison cell.

"Master Lin, what brings you here?" a constable asked with a smile.

The county government ostensibly has more than forty positions, but in reality there are far more than that, including many "temporary workers" like the two guards at the prison gate.

"Old Huang asked me to come and take a look." Lin Ziping said, pretending that another constable wasn't paying attention, and secretly slipped a purse to the constable, saying, "Thank you for your hard work."

"This..." The constable glanced at Lin Ziping, then casually stuffed the purse into his sleeve and said, "Since it was arranged by Master Huang, Master Lin may go in."

Lin Ziping nodded in thanks.

Another bailiff opened the door and led Lin Ziping into the prison.

"Please take me to see Dai Qing," Lin Ziping said.

"Yes," the constable said, taking the key and leading Lin Ziping inside.

The prison was clean and tidy, unlike the simple wooden bars often seen on television where people could chat and protest their innocence. This prison resembled a modern prison, with individual cells where those inside could not see outside.

"Right here." The constable opened the door.

"Thank you, I'd like to speak with her alone." Lin Ziping slipped another purse to the constable.

The constable was taken aback, then realized what was happening, coughed lightly with his fist to his lips, looked around, and said, "Master Lin, please go in. I'll be right outside. Just call me if you need anything."

Lin Ziping nodded to indicate that he understood, left the door slightly ajar, and went inside.

The cell was dimly lit and filled with a pungent smell. Dai Qin was alone, his hands chained, huddled in a corner.

"Dai Qin..." Lin Ziping called out towards the corner.

There was no response. Lin Ziping called out twice more, but still there was no reaction.

Thinking back to how Dai Qin had suddenly lost control of his emotions during the interrogation, Lin Ziping felt a pang of regret. What if Dai Qin had obtained the jade pendant by chance? If Shi Yong or Lao Huang discovered his intrusion and he hadn't handed over any evidence, what would he do?

Thinking of this, Lin Ziping decided to leave. He took out the buns wrapped in oil paper from his pocket, found a clean place to put them down, and said to himself, "These are the buns I sell on the east side of the city. I've seen you staring at them several times, so you must like them. In a couple of days... you might not be able to eat them anymore. Try them."

Lin Ziping walked towards the door, intending to leave. Suddenly, a voice came from behind him: "Who are you?"

"I'm from the Fuchun County government office," Lin Ziping said, turning around as he stopped.

"Whoosh..." Dai Qin braced himself on the ground with both hands and "walked" toward Lin Ziping.

"I've seen you before." Dai Qin looked up and sized Lin Ziping up and down. "Thank you."

Lin Ziping also looked at Dai Qin. At this moment, her eyes were sharp, completely different from the charming and broken woman she had shown on the day of the interrogation, and also unlike her usual dullness.

“I have already confessed to killing someone, what are you doing here?” Dai Qin said.

"I...I...want to ask you something." Lin Ziping thought for a moment, then took out the jade pendant and asked, "This...do you remember it?"

Dai Qin looked at the jade pendant in Lin Ziping's hand with a puzzled expression but did not speak.

Lin Ziping said cryptically, "There's a character on it."

“Yang…” Dai Qin slowly uttered a single word.

"Where did this come from?" Upon hearing this, Lin Ziping hurriedly walked towards Dai Qin. After taking two steps, he stopped abruptly, listened to the sounds outside the door, and then approached Dai Qin again, asking in a low voice, "Do you remember where this came from?"

"Why are you asking this? It shouldn't have anything to do with me killing someone." Dai Qin's sharp eyes swept over Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping leaned forward and said, "I have a friend who went missing when she was a child. We've been looking for her for the past few years. Her surname is Yang. Dai Qin, where did you get this jade pendant?"

“They’re all lost people, what’s the point of looking for them? If you don’t find them, at least you have something to look forward to; if you do find them, it will only add to your troubles,” Dai Qin said leisurely.

Lin Ziping's eyes lit up and he said, "How can we not look for her? What if she's just waiting for us to find her? Can you tell us where she came from?"

Dai Qin didn't speak, and after a long while sighed, he said, "This was given to me by an old friend when I was at Chunhua Tower."

"An old friend? Where is she now?"

“She’s already dead. She gave this to me before she died.”

"Dead?" Lin Ziping murmured. "Was he male or female? What year did you meet him? How old was he?"

“She was a girl. She was sold to Chunhua Tower in Zezhou in the seventeenth year of Hue. She was about eleven or twelve years old when I first met her,” Dai Qin replied.

In the fifteenth year of Hue, Yang Xiaobao's older sister was sent away when she was ten years old. In the seventeenth year of Hue, she was twelve years old. The timeline matches up!

Before Lin Ziping could even feel happy, he remembered Dai Qin saying that she was dead: "How could she be dead?"

"Ha, what kind of place is Chunhua Tower? Her parents sold her here, did they think they could let her eat and stay for free? Of course, she's supposed to be entertaining guests!" Qin Niang mocked.

"Prostitutes? She's only eleven or twelve years old, how could she be..." Lin Ziping frowned.

"She didn't want to either. She longed to leave, saying she wanted to find her parents and brother, and was willing to disfigure herself for it. How could Chunhua Tower do such a losing business? They just threw her into the backyard to entertain those lowlifes. Later, she contracted an illness and died."

"Weren't her parents the ones who sold her?"

"Does it really matter? Even if she hadn't, she still went to Chunhua Tower and is now dead. That's just fate."

"Then...how did this jade pendant end up with you?"

“It’s because that girl is stupid. She was about to die and didn’t use this jade pendant to exchange for some money to treat her illness. Instead, she stupidly gave it to me and made me…” Dai Qin suddenly stopped, and after a while, he laughed at himself: “Let’s not talk about this anymore. Since you recognize this jade pendant, I’ll give it to you. Please take it to that girl’s family for me. It will be a way to fulfill her wish.”

Although the age and other details matched, there were so many people in the world that Lin Ziping wasn't sure if the girl was Yang Xiaobao's sister. He wanted to refuse, but then the scene of Chunfan's death came to mind, and he said, "I'm not sure if this jade pendant belongs to my friend, but I'll ask her family. If not, I'll try to help find it."

Dai Qin looked at Lin Ziping, then suddenly leaned closer and said, "You're a woman, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Ziping's pupils dilated, his mind went blank, and after a long while, he forced himself to suppress his panic and said, "Don't talk nonsense! How could I be a woman!"

Dai Qin chuckled: "Look how scared you are. I was just saying."

Lin Ziping remained silent, his mind racing, constantly trying to recall where he had slipped up.

“There is a medicine that can delay the development of female characteristics in women, but they have to keep taking it. Once they stop, the female characteristics will slowly appear. People who take the medicine for a long time will also have a special smell on their bodies, which can be detected by something called the Bee-Seeking Butterfly,” Dai Qin said leisurely.

Medicine? Lin Ziping thought of the medicine that Granny Liao had given him. Could it be the medicine that Dai Qin had mentioned that would slow down growth and development?

"Is...is it poisonous?" Lin Ziping stammered.

"Hehe, young sir, every medicine has some toxicity, did you say that?" Qinniang said with a smile.

Lin Ziping was devastated, feeling as if he had lost his parents. Although he had never wanted to live, he didn't want to die either!

"Is...is there an antidote?" Lin Ziping asked Dai Qin hesitantly.

Before Dai Qin could answer, a constable's voice came from outside the door: "Master Lin, is it ready?"

Lin Ziping casually agreed, planning to give the jade pendant to Yang Xiaobao next time he returned. If it wasn't his sister, he would ask Yang Xiaobao to help find the pendant's owner's family.

"Young sir, please help me dispose of my house after I die. After all, it represents my hard work, and I don't want it to fall into the hands of others," Dai Qin pleaded in a low voice.

Knowing he was about to die, Lin Ziping had no desire to ask any further questions, so he nodded and left.