Yuwen Xuandu rose early that morning and went to the prison. He had long since bribed a jailer, and before he had waited very long, someone came over and handed him a bundle. He took it somewhere secluded; inside was a jailer's uniform. Yuwen Xuandu put on the uniform, strapped on the saber and token, and strode proudly into the prison. Although some noticed that his face was unfamiliar, they could not be bothered to stop him. Luoyang was in turmoil now, and discipline had grown lax. Previously, people had still needed to conceal the practice of hiring substitutes to work their shifts; now they did it quite openly. Yuwen Xuandu was hardly an exception.
As for the troops An Dushan had stationed outside to guard the prison, they did not recognize any of the jailers. They went solely by uniforms and numbered tags, which gave Yuwen Xuandu an opening to enter the prison at his leisure.
He soon found Li Cunshou's cell. Li Cunshou was bound all over with wrist-thick iron chains, and his Pipa Bones had been pierced. Once a towering, imposing man of incomparable might, he was now so emaciated that he seemed reduced to a large skeleton. Only his eyes remained fiery red, an unusual sign produced by the Eight-Nine Fire Origin Art he cultivated.
Seeing one of the world's foremost fierce generals reduced to such a state, Yuwen Xuandu could not help sighing. He asked mildly, "General Li, do you still recognize this old servant?"
Li Cunshou was greatly surprised to see Yuwen Xuandu. "Chief Eunuch, why are you dressed like that? Have you fallen to this state as well?"
Yuwen Xuandu broke into an involuntary laugh. "This old servant's circumstances were indeed poor after the two emperors went hunting in the west. But now