Su Ziji waited outside for a long while before he saw someone emerge, casting a long shadow in the dim yellow light.
"Your Highness has waited too long," Fang Zhen said. Something was off about his expression; the joy and excitement from before had faded considerably, leaving him dejected, with even a glimmer of tears in his eyes.
When he raised his eyes to Su Ziji, before Su Ziji could ask, he spoke of the matter that had darkened his mood.
"Bianxuan's left eye may not be saved." As he said this, he could not help but sigh.
These words made Su Ziji draw a slight breath.
Bianxuan's left eye could not be saved?
The light had been dim earlier, and Su Ziji had only noticed the injuries on Bianxuan's face and how severely swollen his left eye was. He had thought that even once the injury healed, it would likely leave a scar on his face. He had not expected it to be serious enough for him to lose an eye.
Fang Zhen had seen plenty of wounded people, and Bianxuan was no ignorant child. Since Fang Zhen said so, it was almost certainly true.
For someone so handsome and elegant to be disfigured and blinded in one eye—even an ordinary bystander would find it regrettable.
Su Ziji sighed. "How could this have happened? What a pity. What happened?"
"What else could it have been?" Fang Zhen gave a faint, bitter smile. "In the great prison, they most enjoy tormenting high officials. Do you remember the several such cases from the founding of this dynasty?"
"Bianxuan is handsome and elegant. It was the same thing—they wanted to torment him, to ruin his face."
Su Ziji recalled it. There had indeed been several such cases, one of them involving a