Chapter 380: Miao Chef Chapter 381: Movement

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Song Miao

After being interrogated for a day, he entered the dungeon at this moment, and he was truly cold, tired, and hungry.

During the day there was actually food and water provided, but seeing the bailiffs who came to question him all putting on an appearance of impartially enforcing the law, Wu Yuanwai hinted several times, both openly and covertly, about his identity and the Lu Wang behind him, but the other side turned a deaf ear, so he naturally knew the situation was unfavorable.

He dared not eat, nor dared he drink, for fear of being drugged, and endured until the end.

When being questioned, his mind was tightly strained, with not a bit of spare energy to think of anything else, but now sitting alone on the floor of the cell, damp and cold, with an indescribable moldy stench, Wu Yuanwai had a moment's respite, and his mind couldn't help but start turning.

Privately storing prohibited military equipment and a dragon robe is a capital crime not pardoned by amnesty.

He took the blame himself, did not implicate the Prince, and even secured an opportunity; with the Lu Wang Fu's capabilities, once they got the news, there would definitely be action within these two days.

Even if he couldn't be released for a while, he would at least be moved to a different prison so he could stay more comfortably, and once things were arranged, he would regain his freedom.

This matter has blown up too big, and he didn't know if after leaving prison the Prince would ask him to go to an outer prefecture to avoid the limelight.

His family and property are all in the Capital, and he is old, so Wu Yuanwai naturally does not want to abandon his family and business.

He still has to grit his teeth and spend a large fortune to properly pay respects; if that really doesn't work, he can only trouble his Old Lady to step in — the wet nurse who raised you, even without merit there is hardship, if she opens her mouth to plead for her son, it would be hard to refuse, right?

Having sorted this out, the panic in his heart eased slightly, but the hunger in his belly became even harder to suppress; he involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva, looked at the baked cake at the doorway, and ultimately still held back.

One or two days, a person won't starve to death.

But if he ate something bad, in this dark place of a cell, those poisoned to death or dead from illness are simply too numerous to count.

He endured the hunger, forced himself to sleep, endured until midnight, but didn't fall asleep, and instead heard movement outside.

Someone was speaking softly.

"Is it this room?"

That voice sounded somewhat familiar, like a bailiff from the Capital Prefecture Office.

He immediately sat up and looked toward the direction of the hole.

The person outside didn't know what instructions they gave to whom, only a light "click" was heard, and the cell door was pushed open from outside.

One person, one hand holding a lantern, one hand carrying a food box, entered the door, saw him, and immediately called out "Yuanwai".

The room instantly went from dark to bright; Wu Yuanwai hurriedly shielded his eyes, and after a good while he finally adjusted, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw that at some point a cloth had been spread on the ground, with many foods placed on it.

There was no wine, but chicken, duck, fish, and meat were all there, and there were also drinks.

That person greeted him a few times, arranged things in hand, handed over an object, and said in a low voice: "Yuanwai, the Prince sent me to pass a message: people have been found, just endure for one or two days and you can get out."

He also asked: "During today's interrogation, you didn't say anything extraordinary, did you?"

Wu Yuanwai heard him ask, but did not answer all along, until he took the thing from the other's hand, brought it close to the lantern to look, and saw it was a jade pendant Lu Wang often wore daily; his heart relaxed, and only then did he reply.

"Tell the Prince to rest assured, I know how to conduct myself!"

He paused, then said: "Three meals a day need not be mentioned, also send some clothing and bedding quickly — this cell is truly not a place for people, getting me moved to a different room is the proper business!"

The person opposite didn't hesitate at all, saying: "I'll go instruct them right away, won't let you suffer grievance!"

Speaking, that person also pointed at the food laid on the ground, saying: "Yuanwai eat a few bites first, later I'll call someone to clean up."

Clearly already starving, Wu Yuanwai still did not immediately eat the things on the ground, but grabbed this person and asked about many outside circumstances and the situation in court and countryside.

That person answered one by one, only saying there were many impeaching, but it wasn't too troublesome.

"Just a few sour scholars, plus some censors, and some idle outsiders following along saying a few words; actually it amounts to nothing, drag it a few days and the limelight will pass; in the past there have been so many such uproars and nothing happened, it's no big deal."

Speaking, he asked for the jade pendant back, found an excuse, and hurriedly left.

Wu Yuanwai heard the door close and footsteps fade away, didn't think much more, calculated in his mind how to operate after getting out, sat on the ground, and began eating and drinking.

After a short quarter hour, he hadn't actually finished eating, when jailers hurriedly came, took everything away, but still didn't send bedding back.

The dungeon was originally gloomy and cold; come midnight, it was even colder, making one's upper and lower teeth chatter; Wu Yuanwai curled into a ball, and didn't dare lean against the wall — leaning against the wall was even colder; he waited until he was somewhat angry, about to go to the door to call someone, when he suddenly felt as if something inside his navel was grabbed and yanked hard, pain making his belly cramp violently.

At first he only thought it was from catching cold, or from starving a day then suddenly eating too much, his intestines and stomach temporarily unable to adapt, but he curled his legs for half a day, old legs and old waist both numb, the pain in his belly not only didn't improve, but grew worse and worse.

Knowing something was wrong, he opened his mouth to shout, but was so weak he fundamentally couldn't shout loud, stomach cramping extraordinarily.

That pain came too wrongly, making Wu Yuanwai suddenly realize.

He carefully recalled the bailiff's movements just now, and thought of Lu Wang's jade pendant; as he gradually understood the flavor, he truly froze from head to toe, hurriedly reached to gouge his throat, and pounded his belly, desperately vomiting to the side.

After vomiting, he forced himself to crawl toward the doorway, tried hard to bang the bars and shout, but shouted for half a day, not only did no bailiff come to check, even the neighboring cells surprisingly had no movement at all, as if inside was empty of people.

"Come, come people! I have things to confess, I have big things to confess! I, I have secret treasures... save me! Dead man!"

His mouth rambled in disorderly shouts, but the more he shouted the more despairing.

Why would the Prince send someone to poison me?

All this time I held firm, who was it for?

Had I known it would be like this, better to have confessed everything I knew early on; maybe the authorities would have dispatched men to protect me, and I could have lived a few more days!

He clearly knows so many secrets; if someone came to ask now, as long as they could guarantee his life, he would definitely not hide a single fraction.

Not to mention his enormous family wealth, newly obtained medicine pills, a house full of beautiful concubines, and another beauty he was about to get his hands on but hadn't had time to enjoy...

If he could live, he wants nothing, he can give up anything!

Just not to die uselessly in a cell!

But no matter how his mind thought, the pain in his belly was still one wave heavier than the last, sharp, keen, like ten thousand sharp knives stabbing his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, stomach, his intestines and belly minced into a lump of meat paste, pain reaching the extreme, Wu Yuanwai's whole consciousness blurred, in the chaos he seemed to hear footsteps, and also the sound of a door opening.

He wanted to open his eyes, but already had not a bit of strength.

Vaguely, someone shouted: "Come people! Quickly come people! Something happened!!"

Wu Yuanwai felt his ears as if covered by a layer of gauze, his body no longer his own.

His throat burned with pain, his belly ached until almost numb, but that pain sensation could not be ignored in the slightest.

His lower garden also hurt, the lower garden and throat hurting the same way, as if scorched by fierce fire, still burning now.

He forced his eyes open, and almost as soon as they opened, his nose smelled a scent.

A very strange scent, medicinal and foul—the stench of excrement and urine.

Not long after opening his eyes, before he could make out the scene around him, he heard shouting: "Awake, the prisoner is awake, quickly call Eldest Sister!"

After Eldest Sister came, examined him, administered acupuncture, and he took medicine, Wu Yuanwai lay in bed, still unable to understand what had happened.

His voice was terribly hoarse; speaking a sentence was like someone grinding gravel in his throat, the pain unbearable, yet he couldn't help asking: "What happened to me? When will I recover?"

The two Eldest Sisters opposite exchanged a glance.

"Slowly recuperate; it will take a while before there is any recovery..."

A Censor nearby hurriedly asked: "Can we interrogate him now?"

"The patient is in this state; it's best he rests more. If interrogation is truly necessary—I'll leave the needle in place to stimulate him, but recovery afterward may be even harder..."

Wu Yuanwai's body was ruined, his reactions slow; when the Eldest Sister brought the needle over, he was frightened into a voiceless cry: "I'll speak! I'll speak! Don't administer acupuncture! Don't administer acupuncture!"

Before he finished shouting, he suddenly felt something was wrong—whether from excitement or not, he couldn't control himself; with a muffled sound, the stench immediately overflowed from his pants, his crotch wet, his rear wet too, his whole body seeming to lie in filth.

He finally understood where the scent he had just smelled came from.

"I, I want to... I want to confess! I want to confess!!"

Wu Yuanwai almost used all his strength before finally making a sound.