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Chapter 281 The Death warrant [Bonus chapter for monthly votes]

Those jailers did use their brains to do things properly. The prison cells where the Chief Secretary Zuo and the Jia brothers were in were not particularly close, so they could not hear or see each other.

Left Chief Secretary Wen Qiming's hair was somewhat disheveled, and he looked rather weak, but there were no visible injuries.

Clearly, the jailer was still somewhat hesitant when he laid a hand on him, and inevitably held back a bit.

He saw Zhu Yu and Lu Qing, and vaguely remembered seeing them at the Jia family the day before, right next to Zhu Cheng. Thinking about it more carefully, it seemed that even earlier, when Zhu Cheng went to the east wing to talk to him privately, these two people were also there.

They must be Zhu Cheng's confidants.

Thinking about this, Wen Qiming felt a mix of joy and worry. On the one hand, he hoped that the two men's appearance was because Zhu Cheng trusted him and had asked them to come and stop the interrogations and torture. On the other hand, he worried that Zhu Cheng did not trust him and had sent people to intensify the interrogation of him.

Lu Qing waved his hand, and the jailer next to him stepped forward and helped Wen Qiming untie the ropes on his hands. Another jailer handed him the bowl of deer blood wine that had been prepared.

"Chief Secretary Zuo has suffered. Drink this bowl of deer blood wine." Zhu Yu said to Wen Qiming with a slight smile and a flat tone.

However, since she was wearing a fake face mask, her expression was somewhat different from what she actually did, appearing forced and insincere.

Wen Qiming couldn't tell what she meant from her face and tone. Somewhat nervously, he took the bowl of deer blood wine and drank it down in big gulps, quickly emptying it completely.

This reaction was, of course, within Zhu Yu and Lu Qing's expectations. Lu Qing said to Wen Qiming, "The Left Chief Secretary has been wronged these past two days."

The prince naturally knows that you didn't kill Jia Jun; you were merely framed by a villain and fell into a trap set by someone else.

Upon hearing this, Wen Qiming felt relieved and immediately knelt down on the ground, kowtowing twice. He then looked up at the two people in front of him and grinned gratefully.

He looked terribly haggard these past two days. After downing a large bowl of deer blood wine, his smile was a bitter one, his blood-red lips making him look both pitiful and terrifying.

"Chief Secretary, you must have some complaints in your heart, right? Since you know you are innocent, why did you still have someone bring you to this prison to suffer like this?" Lu Qing asked in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Wen Qiming quickly waved his hands: "No, no, sirs, please don't misunderstand! The prince has his reasons for doing this; it must be because I have done something wrong..."

"The Left Chief Secretary is right after all." Lu Qing snorted coldly. "If you hadn't been driven by selfish motives, thinking that Jia Jun had a close relationship with the Right Chief Secretary in the past, and that he contacted you privately just when the Prince wanted to personally investigate the iron ore matter, perhaps wanting to expose some of the Right Chief Secretary's mistakes to you, you wouldn't have fallen into his trap."

At such a time, as the Left Chief Secretary, instead of thinking about sharing the prince's burdens, you are scheming for your own benefit and trying to eliminate dissidents, which is truly infuriating.

Therefore, all the fright and suffering you've endured these past two days is entirely your own fault; you deserve it.

"Yes, yes, yes, you're right, sir!" Wen Qiming's earlier plan had been exposed, and whether it was guilt or the large bowl of deer blood wine he had just drunk had an effect, a layer of sweat quickly appeared on his forehead. "This subordinate shouldn't have had selfish motives. This subordinate was truly confused for a moment..."

"It's really because the Right Chief Secretary usually—" "Alright," Lu Qing raised his hand to stop him, "You can talk to the Prince about these things yourself later."

The prince has seen Zuo Changshi's diligence all along, which is why he is so disappointed that you would have such ulterior motives.

However, the prince still highly regards the character and ability of the Left Chief Secretary, which is why he gave him a minor punishment as a warning. His purpose was not to punish you, but to teach you a lesson so that you would not do such a foolish thing again.

Otherwise, the prince might not dare to give you any important positions in the future.

Upon hearing this, Wen Qiming felt as if a light had been lit in his heart, which had been filled with despair. The gloom in his heart was dispelled, and he saw hope again. He nodded hurriedly, his expression revealing excitement.

Zhu Yu listened from the side and couldn't help but sigh. Although this fellow had not grown up by Emperor Jin's side since childhood and had spent most of his time studying with Qiyun Mountain Man at Shanqing Temple, he should have been ignorant of the ways of the world.

But look at what he just said, it was so brilliant. He understood Wen Qiming's thoughts perfectly, using both kindness and severity. He made Wen Qiming accept the punishment he had received for no reason, and then gave him a sweet treat, so that he would continue to work hard for Zhu Cheng in the future.

She strongly doubted that if her father had come in person today, he might not have been able to speak as skillfully and effectively as Lu Qing.

Is this what is called natural talent?

Amidst Wen Qiming's excited and profuse thanks, the two left the torture chamber and asked the jailer to lead the way to the torture chamber where the two Jia brothers were imprisoned.

The Jia brothers looked worse off than Wen Qiming, with obvious scars on their faces, making them look quite disheveled.

Upon seeing Zhu Yu and Lu Qing return, just as they were about to cry out for justice, they saw two jailers behind them each carrying a bowl of blood-red deer blood wine and walking towards them. The two men's expressions immediately changed, and their eyes went from tense to almost fearful.

"My lords, my brother and I have been wronged! My elder brother has just died unjustly, and you cannot treat his brother the same way. This is not fair!"

"Sir, we're innocent! We have elderly parents at home who need care. What's going on here...?"

The two brothers hurriedly spoke, their voices trembling with sobs as they cried out their grievances and complained, but their eyes remained fixed on the deer blood wine in the jailer's hand, never looking away for a moment.

The look in his eyes was as if the jailer was holding not deer blood wine, but a death warrant.

Zhu Yu used the same excuse as Wen Qiming, saying that the Jia brothers had suffered and that this deer blood wine was specially brought from home to help them recover.

Upon hearing this, and seeing the jailer approaching step by step, the two men were so frightened that they forgot to cry out for justice. Their faces contorted as they screamed for help, desperately turning their heads away to avoid the bowl being handed to them.

However, both of them were scholars and not as strong and robust as ordinary men from the Shuo Kingdom. Now that their hands and feet were bound, they were no match for the guards. The two guards grabbed their cheeks and poured the deer blood wine into their mouths.