Discuss with you

Chapter 282 "Reliable" [Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets]

No matter what they did, the Jia brothers were unable to break free from the grip of the two jailers. Half of a large bowl of deer blood wine was spilled on the ground and their clothes, while the other half was still poured into their mouths.

The two brothers looked truly terrified, frantically trying to break free of their bound hands and feet, even vomiting and crying with snot and tears streaming down their faces, shouting that they didn't want to die.

The two of them weren't very cooperative when they were first forced to drink the deer blood wine. Now, their faces and bodies were already covered in blood, and their expressions were contorted as they vomited all over themselves and the ground, looking utterly disheveled.

"Release them," Lu Qing gestured to the jailer beside him.

The jailer untied the ropes from the two men's wrists. One immediately clutched the skin in front of his neck, looking terrified, while the other simply stuck his fingers deep into his throat, trying to vomit as cleanly as possible.

"What? Your own deer blood wine is good for your health, and your elder brother drinks it every day. Why are you two so afraid of it?" Zhu Yu looked at the two people in front of him with some disdain.

The two Jia brothers realized that their evil deeds had been exposed, and they dared not argue anymore. They knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy, saying that they did not want to die.

Zhu Yu made them tell the truth, and the two of them, with snot and tears streaming down their faces and trembling, finally managed to tell the whole story.

As expected, things unfolded exactly as they had predicted.

This matter was indeed instigated and facilitated by Yang Chengxuan, the Right Chief Secretary.

He had previously approached the two Jia brothers privately and told them that the Jin Kingdom had requested Shuo to send a batch of weapons as tribute, and the King of Shuo had entrusted Jia Jun with the task of supervising the matter.

As a result, Jia Jun secretly colluded with others to resell a large amount of the iron ore that should have been used to forge this batch of weapons, and added a lot of other things to it. Although he managed to make up the number of weapons, they were actually no match for the enemy.

The weapons were discovered to have problems before they even set off for Jin Kingdom. Now the higher-ups are going to investigate the matter. If they are investigated, not only will Jia Jun lose his head because of his audacious act, but the rest of the Jia family will probably be implicated as well.

Although these two brothers were of mediocre talent, they were usually arrogant and thought that the northern lands were full of uncouth people, and only scholars like them who studied the classics had the opportunity to pass the imperial examinations and achieve success.

Hearing that he would be implicated because of his brother's greed, not only would his hopes for success be dashed, but he might even end up in prison, he panicked. He was filled with resentment, but he didn't know how to deal with it.

Seeing this, Yang Chengxuan pointed out a "clear path" for them, telling them to take the initiative and kill Jia Jun before the Prince of Shuo held Jia Jun accountable. They should then shift the blame for the shortage of iron ore and Jia Jun's death onto Chief Secretary Zuo, saying that Chief Secretary Zuo was guilty and afraid that Jia Jun would report him, so he took the initiative and killed him.

In this way, only Jia Jun died in the Jia family. After all, he was destined to die no matter what he did. This way of dying would at least prevent his family from being implicated, and his two younger brothers could continue their studies and take the imperial examinations. Their future appointments would not be affected.

The two Jia brothers initially hesitated, after all, he was their elder brother who had treated them well since childhood, never asking them to do anything to support the family and supporting their studies. However, Yang Chengxuan's words that Jia Jun was doomed to die anyway deeply affected them.

Ultimately, they couldn't resist their greed. Following Yang Chengxuan's method, they secretly poured the "poisoned blood" he had brought into the deer blood wine jar in their home when Jia Jun's wife was away, making it easier to act, and waited for Jia Jun to be poisoned.

Following Yang Chengxuan's instructions, they first strangled Jia Jun with a rope around his neck as soon as he died, making a tight loop. After a while, they hung the body up as if it had been hanged, making sure there was a mark on the neck. Only then did they hand the body over to the men sent by Yang Chengxuan to take away and hide it.

The people sent by Yang Chengxuan also brought a huge painting, which they hung on the beam of Jia Jun's study.

The two only told outsiders that the elder brother had been summoned by the Left Chief Secretary to oversee official business. After all, no one in the family dared to go and ask the Left Chief Secretary if he had taken Jia Jun away. Apart from Jia Jun, no one else in the family was allowed to enter the study on ordinary days.

So they waited like this for several days, until they were starting to panic. Finally, they received news that the men had brought back Jia Jun's frozen corpse, hung it on the roof beam, and then hid in the room of the two Jia brothers. They waited until Wen Qiming came to the door, and then waited alone in the study for Jia Jun. When he didn't come, he left alone and then sneaked back into the study, tore down the painting, and took it with him.

These things weren't supposed to be urgent, but unexpectedly, their sister-in-law suddenly returned home ahead of schedule. The two had no choice but to ask a "reliable" servant to help them go out and keep their sister-in-law occupied, ensuring that everything in the study was arranged properly so that everyone who needed to leave could leave in time.

Zhu Yu inquired about the background of the so-called "reliable" servant and learned that he was a gift from the Pang family to thank Jia Jun for the generous gifts he had prepared when Jia Jun accompanied the Right Chief Secretary to a banquet at the Pang family's residence.

Because this servant was particularly clever, he was highly valued by the Jia family even though he wasn't born into the family.

This time, the two brothers conspired to harm their elder brother, and naturally they dared not let the old servants and the servants in the house know about it. So this young servant became their only hope.

Zhu Yu ordered the jailers to hang the two brothers up and whip them severely before locking them back in the prison and keeping them under strict guard, ensuring they had no chance to commit suicide, and to wait for their execution later.

The two then hurried back and presented all the collected findings to Zhu Cheng.

After reading it, Zhu Cheng was furious, even though he had expected it. He immediately sent people to arrest Yang Chengxuan and took guards to interrogate him personally, demanding that he explain his collusion with the Pang family.

I thought that once I caught him red-handed, Yang Chengxuan would be unable to deny it and would honestly explain everything. But to my surprise, he showed "unyielding integrity" in this matter, insisting that he had no connection with the Pang family and that he was innocent.

Zhu Cheng tried everything to persuade him, from appealing to reason and persuading him, but Yang Chengxuan remained as stubborn as a rock in a latrine, refusing to admit his mistake. Zhu Cheng was furious, but to no avail.

He thought and thought but couldn't figure out if he could still count on water at this point. After hesitating, he had no choice but to call Zhu Yu and Lu Qing over to make a decision.