Chapter 71: The Pretty Prisoner

This world left Lin Jianxi baffled at every turn.

In the first year after transmigrating here, he married his husband, who treated him wonderfully but was always vanishing without a trace and refused to let him step outside.

Lin Jianxi found the whole thing utterly baffling.

Fortunately, he had never been one for going out anyway, so he happily stayed home, eating, sleeping, and keeping the place tidy.

Then came the second year after transmigrating.

Just a week ago, he started vomiting frequently. Thinking it was food poisoning, he was in for a surprise when the System cheerfully announced it was morning sickness—he was going to have a little baby.

Lin Jianxi: “…”

The last time he’d had a child was in his previous world.

By now, Lin Jianxi could accept it with relative calm.

But the vomiting was relentless, and his husband’s line of work seemed unusually secretive. Whenever he was out, he was impossible to reach by phone. With no other choice, Lin Jianxi had no option but to venture out alone to buy some medicine.

In the end, the police arrested him for “stealing a box of Aluminum Magnesium Carbonate Chewable Tablets” and dragged him into the Interrogation Room.

Lin Jianxi: “…”

Five minutes into the interrogation, they slapped him with a “serial killer” charge, shoved him into a vehicle, and shipped him off to an Isolated Island.

The System began to explain: “Congratulations! The Plot has officially begun. This is a prison ‘independent from the rest of the world,’ holding countless brutal inmates. The Interrogator is in charge of maintaining order here—think of him as the king of the prison. There are no laws in this place. It’s all about survival of the fittest.”

And so, on his first day in prison, as Lin Jianxi huddled in the corner of his bunk trying to sleep, he heard rustling sounds all around him.

Several of his cellmates gathered by his bed.

“Just him?”

“That must be him.”

“Fuck, let’s teach this little bitch a lesson.”

They nearly stripped him naked, but in the end, he relied on the pitiful act he’d honed in his previous worlds to leave them stunned long enough for him to slip away and hide in the Bathroom.

…What the hell had the original host done to piss them off?

Lin Jianxi asked the System, but it refused to answer, leaving him to muddle through in confusion.

Over the past week, he’d been sleeping on the damp floor of the Bathroom. To keep his belly warm, he could only sit upright while dozing off, always on guard against someone bursting in to bully him or kick him. So he kept one hand protectively over his stomach at all times.

Aside from mealtimes, he hid in a stall, but it was too cramped. At night, when fewer people were around, he’d slip out to sleep in the open area.

By the end of the week, he was filthy from head to toe. His face was still relatively clean, but his clothes were caked in grime, and his occasionally exposed wrists bore ugly bruises from who-knew-where.

But he couldn’t take a shower.

The baths were communal, and Lin Jianxi truly didn’t dare go there.

In the meantime, he’d picked up some intel.

The Interrogator was terrifying. He would carve flesh from your body, torment and violate you. Anyone who came back from the Interrogation Room was barely clinging to life.

~~~

It was daytime again.

He was holed up in a stall, clutching his wedding ring for a sense of security. Screams echoed from outside from time to time.

“Fuck, still resisting?”

“Stab the little shit dead—he doesn’t know what’s good for him.”

“Hahaha, pants are off too.”

“P-please… don’t do this…”

Lin Jianxi squeezed his eyes shut.

He frowned slightly.

Those voices… they sounded familiar.

The cursing belonged to his cellmates, and the one being toyed with… seemed like one of them too? Infighting?

If they were turning on each other… maybe he could befriend one of them.

Being all alone like this was too miserable. Sleeping in a place like this every day wouldn’t be good for his child.

Lin Jianxi waited quietly for the sounds outside to die down.

After who knew how long, the cries, the punches and kicks, and the lewd noises finally faded away. He waited another five minutes before slowly pushing open the stall door.

He descended the steps with utmost caution when something felt off.

He jerked his head up to find his three cellmates standing right outside the door, watching him with mocking smirks.

Then they started making the exact sounds he’d heard earlier.

Two of them cursed while the third pretended to beg—even the lewd noises were faked. They’d been standing there stock-still the whole time, even laughing about it.

“…”

The most striking among them was a blond young man with a clean, harmless look that clashed completely with the violent, filthy surroundings. He toyed with a lighter in his hand, eyeing Lin Jianxi up and down with keen interest.

~~~

“Don’t…”

The blond youth grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the Bathroom. He only let go once they reached the bunk, then jerked his chin. “Sit.”

Lin Jianxi eyed him warily.

The blond youth smiled. “Don’t be scared. I don’t want to hurt you just yet. Sit down. Let’s talk.”

Lin Jianxi glanced at his clothes. “I’m filthy…”

“So thoughtful. No wonder you’re the Chief Judge’s Wife.” The youth glanced at the ring on his finger before his gaze settled back on Lin Jianxi’s face, a hint of fondness in his eyes. “It’s fine. Sit. I’ll take you to get cleaned up in a bit.”

Chief Judge’s Wife?

His husband was the Chief Judge?

“Lin Jianxi, right?”

“Mm.” Lin Jianxi quietly tugged a corner of the blanket over his belly.

“A week ago, I’ll admit we went too far.” The youth crouched down. Seeing how pitiful he looked, he pulled the entire blanket over to cover him fully. “We’ve thought it through carefully this week. We shouldn’t hurt innocents. The real guilty party is your husband—that bastard hands down wrongful verdicts while putting on this holier-than-thou act. It’s infuriating.”

“…Mm.”

Lin Jianxi didn’t dare say much. Their behavior screamed that they weren’t ordinary criminals. Life sentences weren’t handed out lightly.

Shouldn’t hurt innocents?

Lin Jianxi didn’t buy that they’d come to that realization on their own.

“Lin Jianxi.” The blond youth’s gaze drifted to his belly. “Pregnant?”

Lin Jianxi’s eyes widened slightly.

“Tsk, nailed it.” The youth leaned in closer, propping his chin as he looked up at him. “That night when we tried to strip you, something felt off. You’re so skinny, but your belly sticks out a bit… So, are you intersex or something?”

Lin Jianxi shook his head.

“A guy getting pregnant? There’s a first time for everything. Does your husband even know?”

Lin Jianxi nodded.

“That’s easy enough,” the blond young man said, eyeing him. “Just be obedient, and we’ll keep you safe in this prison. Otherwise… well, I’m guessing you don’t want to find out what happens next.”

“How exactly?” Lin Jianxi clutched the blanket, his fingers paling slightly at the knuckles.

The young man handed him a black device that looked like an electronic lock.

“Put this on your ankle,” he said with a smile. “If you step out of line, I’ll hit the remote. I won’t go into how much pain it’ll cause you, but the baby in your belly… that’ll be the end of it.”

“…”

Oh. So this was what “not harming the innocent” meant.

Threatening him with his child.

“Put it on,” the blond young man urged. “Interrogators have been checking in every day lately. Those two are keeping watch outside. Make it quick.”

“…”

Lin Jianxi’s throat bobbed.

He lowered his gaze, his long lashes casting a faint shadow beneath his eyes.

The people in this world were lawless thugs at heart, no different from those in the previous ones. He could survive using the same methods as before, striking a balance.

But there was one problem.

This restraint.

He couldn’t act freely right from the start, which made it hard to fully satisfy these madmen. If that button got pressed…

Lin Jianxi didn’t dare think about it.

He couldn’t lose the child in his belly.

The sharp click of the electronic shackle snapping shut around his ankle sent a faint tremor through his lashes.

At the very least, until he figured out these men’s tempers, he had to play nice. He couldn’t afford to be reckless like in the last world.

The blond young man smiled, pleased.

Over the next few days, Lin Jianxi learned that the blond went by “A Yi.” He was ruthless with his methods and commanded considerable respect among the inmates.

A Yi’s background was no small thing either.

His family had once controlled a chunk of the prison’s power structure, but after his husband rose to become Chief Judge, a massive purge swept through. A Yi’s father died in the crossfire, and A Yi himself was handed a life sentence by the Chief Judge’s own hand. From that moment, he’d burned with hatred, vowing revenge and to reclaim what was his.

Lin Jianxi could somewhat understand the root of A Yi’s pain.

His box of medicine was still nowhere to be found. Without it, he’d been slapped with a life sentence, forced to endure daily bouts of nausea with nothing to ease them, and confined to this filthy, chaotic hole. It was misery.

He also pieced together A Yi’s true aim.

To use him as leverage against his husband—for revenge, and to seize back power.

Lin Jianxi’s circumstances improved a touch.

He no longer had to sleep on the damp bathroom floor but was back in his little bed.

The food became more refined too.

Since Lin Jianxi invariably threw up everything shortly after meals, A Yi had no choice but to bring him food more often.

Sometimes A Yi fed him by hand.

As the spoon brushed his lips, Lin Jianxi parted them obediently. The juice from the food glistened on his pale lips, lending them an ambiguous sheen.

He wore a prison uniform unlike the others’—something A Yi had procured from who-knows-where. A soft white set that kept him warm. It clashed with the grim surroundings, but Lin Jianxi loved it.

He chewed the grains of rice slowly. Every so often, when he glanced up, his amber eyes caught the dim cell light, scattering it into gentle fragments. They were breathtakingly beautiful.

Each time their gazes met, A Yi would freeze for a long moment before placing a hand on Lin Jianxi’s belly and stroking it slowly. Then, as if possessed, he’d murmur, “This kid… will it turn out as gorgeous as you?”

Lin Jianxi didn’t know.

But no matter what his child looked like, he would love it.

“What a shame it’s his,” A Yi said with a tsk. “And now it’s in my hands. Lin Jianxi, you think if he finds out you’re pregnant—that the kid’s life is mine to decide—he’d get down on his knees and beg? Hahaha!”

“…” Lin Jianxi’s fingers curled tight.

That afternoon, A Yi and the others were about to take him out for a stroll when footsteps echoed suddenly from the corridor outside—cold and deliberate.

“Inspection!” came a muffled shout.

A Yi’s eyes sharpened.

Lin Jianxi slipped quietly behind the three men.

For now, better to avoid trouble where he could.

A Yi’s motives weren’t pure—he saw Lin Jianxi as a pawn—but so far, he’d kept him safe.

The cell door flew open with a boom, and a squad of black-clad guards filed in, lining up along the walls.

Then a figure appeared, backlit, stepping slowly into the cell.

The air turned to ice.

The man was tall and imposing in a impeccably tailored black uniform, the epaulets on his shoulders gleaming coldly.

The Chief Judge.

His husband.

At the sight of that familiar face, Lin Jianxi nearly forgot to breathe.

There he was.

Of all days, today.

Lin Jianxi swallowed hard, his heart pounding wildly.

He had so many questions.

Like why throw him in a place like this? Wasn’t his husband the Chief Judge? Didn’t that come with privileges? And he was innocent, after all.

Could it be… that his husband in this world was one of the bad ones?

Lin Jianxi’s hand drifted instinctively to his belly, clutching the fabric.

The Chief Judge’s gaze swept past the others and locked onto him with unerring precision.

It held scrutiny—and the faintest trace of suppressed doubt.

Chief Judge Cheng Yedu advanced step by step, the thud of his military boots striking like hammer blows on every heart in the room.

Amid the stunned stares of the others, Cheng Yedu dropped to one knee without hesitation, bringing himself level with Lin Jianxi on the bed’s edge. His hand rose to gently caress the pale cheek, his voice soft. “Why have you gotten so thin?”

Lin Jianxi stared at Cheng Yedu in a daze, at a loss for how to respond.

Cheng Yedu’s eyes flicked to the white clothes on him, his brows knitting tight. “Who gave you these?”

A Yi stepped forward, his tone defiant. “I did. What of it? Does the Chief Judge dictate what prisoners wear now?”

Cheng Yedu rose slowly, positioning himself to shield Lin Jianxi. His gaze cut toward A Yi like a blade. “A Yi, I warned you. Don’t touch what’s mine.”

“Yours?” A Yi sneered. “Why don’t you ask him whose he is now?

Cheng Yedu drew in a deep breath, as if forcibly suppressing his rage. Then, right in front of everyone, he gently drew Lin Jianxi into his arms. Raising his voice to ensure that every soul inside and outside the cell could hear him clearly, he declared, “From this day forward, Lin Jianxi is under my direct protection.”

A Yi’s face turned iron-gray, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles whitened, but Cheng Yedu’s authority held him in check—he didn’t dare make a move.

Cheng Yedu tenderly wiped the grime from Lin Jianxi’s face and murmured softly, “Once I’ve sorted out a few matters, I’ll get you out of here.”

With that, he swept a cold gaze over everyone in the cell, pausing meaningfully on A Yi. The warning in his eyes needed no words.

~~~

Lin Jianxi was personally escorted by Cheng Yedu to the Interrogation Room.

The moment the door clicked shut, Cheng Yedu pulled him into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry. I put you through hell. I spent a full week looking for you.”

Perhaps it was the pregnancy hormones, but Lin Jianxi’s eyes reddened in an instant, brimming with tears. All the grievances of the past few days finally overwhelmed him, and he broke down crying.

Cheng Yedu let out a soft sigh, gently brushing away his tears. “This prison is far more tangled than you realize. I may have privileges, but I can’t just spring a life-sentence inmate on a whim. Your arrest this time is tied directly to A Yi. His family still clings to scraps of power on the island, and he’ll stoop to any low to use you as leverage against me. Give me a little more time. Once I’ve rooted out their influence completely, I’ll take you away.”

Cheng Yedu cradled Lin Jianxi’s face in his hands, his gaze tender yet resolute. “Believe me, all right?”

Lin Jianxi gazed into his husband’s familiar eyes and finally gave a small nod.

Cheng Yedu pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Hang in there just a bit longer. I promise I’ll have you home soon… He didn’t lay a hand on you, did he?”

Even as he spoke, Cheng Yedu ran his hands over Lin Jianxi’s body, inspecting him from top to bottom—until his eyes fell on the electronic shackle locked around his ankle.

“…”

Cheng Yedu’s expression darkened in a flash. He even let out a bitter, angry laugh. “He put that on you?”

“Yeah.” Lin Jianxi jiggled his leg. “Can you get it off?”

“Sorry, not yet. It’s a custom job from their family,” Cheng Yedu replied, rising to his feet and clamping down hard on the fury in his voice. “Guess I’ll have to summon him here for a proper interrogation.”

“Wait.” Lin Jianxi caught hold of Cheng Yedu’s arm as he turned to leave. “Husband, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Hm? Shoot.” Cheng Yedu turned back patiently.

“You might not believe this, but…” Lin Jianxi hesitated, embarrassment coloring his cheeks. “I’m pregnant.”

“…”

Cheng Yedu’s face went blank for a beat. “What?”

“I said I don’t want to repeat myself.” Lin Jianxi met his eyes steadily. “That’s the situation. A Yi’s probably banking on using the baby to strong-arm you. He threatened that if I didn’t play along, he’d trigger this shackle… and force a miscarriage.”

“So.” Lin Jianxi caught the grim set of the other’s features and felt a flicker of doubt. “Can you promise one interrogation session will get us the key?”

“…”

Lin Jianxi sighed. “That’s a no, then. Take me back. He won’t hurt me for now, at least not right away.”

Cheng Yedu studied him, his gaze now cool and commanding once more. “Don’t worry. No key doesn’t mean I’m out of options. If he wants to play games, I’ll see it through to the bitter end. I’ll have him on his knees, begging me to unlock that thing.”

A Yi wasn’t an idiot. Take down one Cheng Yedu, and a thousand more would rise in his place. Better to turn the man into a tool, inching back toward the power that had once been his own, than to go for an all-out strike with the child as bait.

And even if A Yi were that shortsighted—just gunning to oust Cheng Yedu outright—Lin Jianxi had been in his clutches a week ago already. No reason to drag it out until now.

Cheng Yedu drew him close again, resting his chin atop Lin Jianxi’s head. His voice rumbled low and unyielding. “Trust me. You won’t be wearing that shackle much longer. For now, I’ll take you back—keep him off balance. Remember: the calmer you stay, the less he’ll know your hand. That keeps you safe… and the little one, too.”

“I’ll visit you every day.” Cheng Yedu rubbed his back soothingly. “You have to believe in me.”

Lin Jianxi managed a smile and nodded. “Yeah. I do.”