"How much longer do you need?"
Liaochen straightened his back and asked gruffly.
"Almost done, almost done. I'm already at the part about negotiating with the head of the illegal salt operation." Lu Yao braced his notebook against Liaochen's back, his brush dancing like dragons and serpents as words flew onto the page. "Master, I'm only borrowing your back for a little while. Don't be so stingy."
Liaochen did his best to ignore the amused glances Yu Xingmian kept casting at him from inside the cell. His voice strained, he said, "Zhang Ding'an is still lying on the floor..."
A full-grown man had been lying there for ages, yet everyone present acted as though nothing had happened. Lu Yao was engrossed in taking notes, sparing not a shred of attention for Zhang Ding'an, while the adult and child in the corner were chatting merrily and had even begun whispering into each other's ears.
Just then, Lu Yao finished writing the last word and drew a flourish of a circle at the end. Only as he put his notebook away did he glance at Zhang Ding'an inside the cell. "Why bother with him?"
Then-
"Yu Xingmian, don't say I didn't warn you. The one beside you is Great Rui's most doted-on Eleventh Princess." Lu Yao shot him a sidelong look. "Why do you think she has to coax you into taking her out just to buy a Hibiscus Pastry?"
The pair hadn't been whispering loudly, but the space was simply too small, and everyone present had some martial training. They had all heard every word of the little girl urging Yu Xingmian to break out of prison and take her to buy Hibiscus Pastries.
Yu Xingmian froze in the middle of leaning toward the little girl, then sat upright and asked