The Vice Minister of Justice, feeling uneasy, followed him into the prison.

The jailer led Xie Jingyan to see Cheng Yuansheng, a death row inmate in Yunzhou. The death row cell was located at the very back of the Ministry of Justice prison, with three iron gates and layers of guards, making it almost impossible for anyone to escape or be broken into the prison.

As they approached a cell, the jailer said, "This is the prisoner you've been looking for..."

Before the jailer could finish speaking, Tang Ze and Lu Cheng quickly took a few steps forward and arrived at the prison where the Prince of Yanping was being held.

Through the iron bars, one could see the Prince of Yanping lying on a wooden bed. He was dressed in prison clothes, and his body was covered with whip marks from torture, a shocking sight.

Tang Ze and Lu Cheng's eyes immediately turned red.

Is this still their good brother, that elegant prince?

Tang Ze called out, but the Prince of Yanping did not respond, so he became anxious and said, "Open the prison door."

The jailer said, "The Empress Dowager forbids it..."

Before the jailer could finish speaking, Tang Ze, carrying a food box in one hand and pinning him against the iron bars with the other, said, "I told you to open the cell door, did you hear me?!"

The jailer was terrified of dying and kept saying, "I'll open it, I'll open it..."

Tang Ze released him, and the jailer, his hands trembling, opened the cell door.

Almost as soon as the cell lock opened, Tang Ze tore off the chains and strode inside. By then, the Prince of Yanping had already woken up, but he was very weak and barely breathing. When he saw Tang Ze and Lu Cheng, he asked with difficulty, "How did you get in?"

If he could visit his father in prison, his father and mother would have come long ago.

Tang Ze said, "Prince Ling has also come to see you."

Only then did the Crown Prince of Yanping notice Xie Jingyan. He gave a bitter smile, "In the end, I still failed to live up to your repeated instructions..."

Tang Ze and Lu Cheng exchanged a glance, recalling what Xie Jingyan had said to the Prince of Yanping in front of them: if the Prince of Yanping didn't stay away from the son of Princess Huyang, he might one day need a get-out-of-jail-free card.

Thinking about it now, it really sends chills down my spine.

Xie Jingyan had something to ask the Prince of Yanping. He glanced at Chen Feng, who then asked the Vice Minister of Justice and the prison guards to leave.

Once he was sure the person had left, Xie Jingyan asked the Crown Prince of Yanping, "How did you and the son of Princess Huyang get into a conflict?"

The Crown Prince of Yanping said, "It was just...that's how we met..."

Tang Ze said, "Prince Ling is saving you, don't hide it from him."

The Crown Prince of Yanping gave a bitter smile. "I know you mean well, but the one who died was the son of Princess Huyang, the Empress Dowager's own grandson. There's no one left in this world who can save my life, so why drag innocent people into this and cause another death..."

Tang Ze and Lu Cheng both knew that the Empress Dowager would not let anyone get away with anything related to the death of Princess Huyang's son.

The Yun family's get-out-of-jail-free card can save lives, but it can only save one person.

The Prince of Yanping was determined not to speak, and no one could pry his mouth open. Lu Cheng said, "The Princess of Yanping and the Princess of Qinghe are outside the Ministry of Justice prison. They can't come in. This is the food they brought for you."

Tears welled up in the eyes of the Prince of Yanping. Tang Ze helped him sit down at the table. Lu Cheng opened the food box and took out the food, all of which were the Prince of Yanping's favorite dishes.

Tang Ze also brought food, but the Prince of Yanping couldn't eat that much by himself, so Xie Jingyan said, "Give this to him."

He was looking at Cheng Yuansheng, the prisoner he had borrowed to be placed in the Ministry of Justice's death row.

Since he was visiting Cheng Yuansheng under the guise of someone else, it was only right to give him some food. So Tang Ze called over the jailer and had him hand the food box to Cheng Yuansheng.

Cheng Yuansheng, “…???”

The jailer served him food and said, "I didn't expect you to be able to enjoy a little good food before you die. Eat up, the meal before your execution tomorrow won't be as good as this."

The signature dish that Tang Ze ordered from Deyuelou was still delicious, even though it was cold.

Cheng Yuansheng had lived for twenty-one years and had never eaten such good food.

He didn't even care who brought him the food; he immediately picked up his chopsticks and began to eat heartily.

Prince Yanping had little appetite and barely ate half of what he had eaten. He looked gratefully at Xie Jingyan, Tang Ze, and Lu Cheng, and choked up as he said, "You should leave now and not visit me in prison again. If we are destined to be brothers in the next life, so be it."

Tang Ze said, "Don't say discouraging things, we don't like to hear them."

Then they pressed the Prince of Yanping onto the wooden bed, stripped him of his prison clothes, applied medicine to him, and left the medicine for him.

As they left the cell, the jailer quickly locked the door. When Xie Jingyan and the others were leaving and passed by Cheng Yuansheng's cell, Cheng Yuansheng said, "I can only repay this kindness in the next life."

Upon hearing this, Xie Jingyan stopped in his tracks and looked at Cheng Yuansheng. "I have reviewed your file, and there are still some doubts. Did you really kill the person?"

Tang Ze and Lu Cheng were stunned.

The fact that Prince Ling knew the name of the prisoner living next door to the Crown Prince of Yanping was already shocking enough; he had even seen the prisoner's file...

As fate would have it, Xie Jingyan knew that the Empress Dowager forbade anyone to visit the Prince of Yanping in prison, so he had to find another way. He asked Chen Feng to find out who the prisoner next to the Prince of Yanping was and what case he had committed, so that he could shut up the Ministry of Justice if they were stopped. In order to please Chen Feng, the people in the Ministry of Justice directly copied a copy of the case file for Chen Feng, and Chen Feng took the case file back. Xie Jingyan only glanced at it.

Cheng Yuansheng paused for a moment, then said, "I didn't kill him."

Just as he said this, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice came over. Xie Jingyan said, "His case will be reinvestigated. If there is any wrongdoing, I will pursue it to the end."

Cheng Yuansheng stood by the prison bars, his eyes widening in surprise upon hearing this. He never expected that someone would speak up for him.

At that moment, Xie Jingyan could not have imagined that his momentary compassion would actually save an innocent life. In the near future, Cheng Yuansheng would be acquitted, go to the battlefield, earn military merits, and eventually become one of Xie Jingyan's generals, following him through thick and thin.

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