Chapter 299 - 74: The Little Emperor Begins to Make Backup Plans! Escape? No Need at All_3

He was just weighing his options in his heart.

If his own father, the Emperor, really went after Ye Liuyun, then, even if it cost his life, he’d beg the Emperor for a way out for Ye Liuyun.

...

After leaving the imperial palace, Ye Liuyun—

went straight to the place he’d been targeting.

The time left for him was running out; there was almost no hope of breaking through to Grandmaster. What Ye Liuyun needed to do now was, before the old Emperor emerged from seclusion,

to snatch as many Talent Entries as possible.

As for where he could go—the only options were Purgatory and the Imperial Prison—only those places could possibly provide that many Talent Entries for him.

But because of what happened before, the prisoners in Purgatory were already nearly all dead, hardly any left. And replenishing inmates in Purgatory happened extremely slowly. By the time there were enough new prisoners—

the old Emperor probably would’ve reclaimed the throne by then.

Then what the hell would be the point.

"Lord Ye!"

The one guarding the Imperial Prison was still that same Xiao Yongning from before.

From the very beginning until now, Xiao Yongning’s attitude towards Ye Liuyun changed every time he saw him.

Can’t be helped—Ye Liuyun’s promotions had honestly been a bit ridiculously fast.

At first, they could be equals, but by now, all Xiao Yongning could do was look up to him—there wasn’t any other way he could face Ye Liuyun anymore.

"Lord Ye, you haven’t been to the Imperial Prison in a while. I must say, I’ve been missing you!"

He sidled up to Ye Liuyun, grinning broadly.

Piling on the flattery with every word.

Now that Ye Liuyun was already Governor, which was the top position in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it wasn’t like Xiao Yongning could afford to be anything but respectful.

"Mm."

Ye Liuyun nodded slightly.

Then strode straight into the Imperial Prison, with Xiao Yongning trailing behind, still wearing that sycophantic smile.

"Knowing you like this sort of thing, I’ve had some of them kept alive just for you!"

Xiao Yongning, to his credit, was pretty sharp.

He knew Ye Liuyun liked to see prisoners with special abilities—the so-called rare talents and eccentrics.

Such people weren’t common, but for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, finding them was still pretty easy.

"My lord, take a look!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yongning gestured to the cells on either side.

Last time, all these cells were empty, but this time, each one had four or five prisoners in it, a pretty decent number.

Ye Liuyun nodded, satisfied.

Then shot a look in Xiao Yongning’s direction.

"Are you sure all these people were actually arrested for crimes?"

Ye Liuyun wasn’t such a scumbag that he’d just drag in random innocent folks to torture and steal their talents.

Tsk!

I really am a good guy, aren’t I?

"Rest assured, my lord!"

Catching Ye Liuyun’s meaning, Xiao Yongning immediately waved his hand, face going solemn.

"All these people abused their ’talents’ to commit crimes, and were caught afterward. With someone as wise and mighty as you, how could I drag in random innocents and tarnish your name?"

As he spoke,

Xiao Yongning was the very image of righteousness, looking as bold and upright as could be.

Honestly,

in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, not much else mattered, but knowing what to say to whom, and how, was definitely the bare minimum survival skill.

"Not bad."

Ye Liuyun nodded again, clearly pleased.

His gaze swept the prisoners in their cells—some of them hadn’t even faced execution yet, even though they’d already been brought to the Imperial Prison.

That was mostly thanks to Xiao Yongning

keeping the prisoners around for public executions for Ye Liuyun’s sake. If any dies ahead of schedule, it’d be a waste, right?

So for now they were just kept alive in their cells.

Which meant, when some people were first thrown into the Imperial Prison, they’d been utterly terrified—as it was famous for its horrors outside.

But then, when nothing happened after arrival, each and every one of them relaxed rather quickly.

As soon as they sensed Ye Liuyun’s gaze—

a burly brute with a full beard shouted right up, voice raised to a yell.

"Oi! Look at the pretty little thing—come here, let your granddaddy have some fun!"

As soon as he said this, the nearby cells all erupted in raucous laughter.

The bearded brute kept eyeing Ye Liuyun up and down, greed in his eyes completely blatant.

Ye Liuyun grinned, too.

"Let’s start with him."

"Got it!"

Xiao Yongning nodded in perfect understanding.

He looked at the brute exactly like he was already a dead man.

He immediately waved at his men.

"What are you doing! What do you want! Let me go!"

As they dragged him out, the brute was still struggling wildly, completely unaware of what was about to happen to him.

"Right here’s fine."

Seeing they were about to drag this guy to the execution chamber, Ye Liuyun cut in directly.

And had them bring the execution tools over and set them up right in the corridor—about to handle it all right in front of the other prisoners.

They were all dead men anyway.

No need to drag them off one by one.

"What are you all gawking at? The lord gave an order, get a move on!"

Seeing his men hesitating,

Xiao Yongning snapped. Useless. What if they dawdled, and Ye Liuyun thought he was a lousy manager?

Bottom line—

when you’re in a position of power, even if you don’t mean it, your men will always overthink things for you.

"Wait—wait! What are you doing?!"

As they tied him to the wooden rack, the brute finally started to panic.

Weren’t they not executing anyone?

Why were they starting all of a sudden?

Too bad, questions like these were never going to be answered for him.

"Start!"

Ye Liuyun gave the word, and the executioners from the Embroidered Uniform Guard got right to work.

"Smack!"

The first whip came down hard—a little appetizer to get things started!

...