"In that case, it seems you and I will have to remain here for quite some time."
Yang Qing looked up at the strangely dark passage beyond the cell door and said quietly, "We simply do not know who can contend with the eldest prince."
Fen Liyou sighed as well. "Truly, when immortals fight, the little ghosts suffer. But my Fen Family has served as imperial merchants for generations. Staying out of this is impossible."
Imperial merchants owed their loyalty to the emperor alone, not to the imperial family as a whole.
Thus, they did not care who ultimately ascended to that lofty seat. In the end, all they needed to do was pledge their loyalty to the victor.
Yet everything that had happened kept reminding Fen Liyou that, as the purse in the emperor's hand, keeping themselves unsullied would be as difficult as climbing to heaven.
"Brother Yang, I know that all of you are capable men. I already feel deeply guilty for dragging you into this. Please take my advice and find an opportunity to leave on your own."
"We have traveled together all this way. How could abandoning you now be the conduct of a gentleman?"
As Yang Qing and Fen Liyou quietly exchanged words, a fresh commotion suddenly sounded outside.
They initially thought someone was coming for them again. Unexpectedly, the footsteps circled outside the dungeon several times before gradually fading away.
This unexpected turn left everyone in the cells exchanging bewildered looks.
"Heh, how interesting. Xiao Shen must have gone mad thinking about silver to have locked up even you, Fen Liyou."
Just as everyone's hearts began to settle back down from their throats, a soft chuckle suddenly rang through the utterly silent dungeon.
Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou sprang up in the neighboring cell,