Xun Li was the late emperor's fifth son. At the age of twelve, he was sent to the imperial prison and locked away for seven whole years.
The late emperor had ordered: Subject him to eighteen kinds of torture, but don't let him die. Keep him barely alive and make him suffer worse than death!
After surviving seven years of torture, he had lost every last trace of kindness.
He could kill a tiger with his bare hands and steal food through underhanded schemes. Even the prison guards on duty had to be on their guard against his revenge. There was nothing left he wouldn't dare do.
After all, he thought, he couldn't die no matter what.
In the seventh year, a new prison guard arrived.
This short guard carefully read every prisoner's file and took special care of those who had been wrongly convicted.
Xun Li was clearly not one of the people he looked after. Still, he had received porridge from this man, though only because he had threatened and intimidated him into giving it up.
This man was an ant he looked down on, one he could crush with ease.
But one day, Xun Li seemed to discover "his" secret.
The moment she became a prisoner and was locked in the imperial prison, Xun Li, as if against his own will, began protecting the "ant he'd once looked down on," shielding her from abuse and hunger.
"Wei Ming will come rescue me."
Xun Li's obsidian eyes glanced at her casually, and he sneered. "Congratulations, then."
Jealousy and resentment burned in his heart: Was that man really so worthy of her trust?
In the end, the person she was waiting for never came. Instead, the madam of Zui Chun Brothel arrived and paid a few taels of silver to buy her freedom.
He should have laughed at her foolishness, but in that moment, he couldn't bring himself to laugh.
Helpless and desperate, she hid behind him and begged him for help.
That night, he went on a rampage through the imperial prison like a madman. He collapsed to the ground, covered in blood, and in the end, he couldn't even catch the edge of her sleeve.
He had never hoped for dawn in the darkness.
After she left, he dragged his broken body onward, and for no reason at all, hope took root in him:
He hoped that tomorrow, tomorrow, he would be able to leave the imperial prison.
He hoped that tomorrow, tomorrow, he would be able to save her from her misery.
He wanted so badly to see her one more time...
Female prison guard x sharp-tongued, secretly sincere fallen prisoner
Purpose: Keep your heart turned toward the light, and a bright future awaits
