Chapter 48: Get arrested and wait for jail time!

Yao Ningde paused, looking at Zhou Tinglan. "Alright! I'd like to hear if Miss Zhou has anything else to say to me."

Zhou Tinglan's mind raced. "I have an appointment with Princess Zhaoyang for tomorrow. If I don't show up in time, Her Highness will definitely be searching for me."

"It's okay." Yao Ningde didn't care and tightened the dagger in his hand again.

"I can fake an accident. You'll lie in a pool of blood like a mindless puppet, with the carriage crushing every bone in your body. You'll undoubtedly be even more beautiful then."

Zhou Tinglan couldn't help but feel frightened when she heard Yao Ningde's description, and her body trembled slightly.

Yao Ningde is such a pervert, a complete pervert!

She swallowed, pretended to be calm, and kept repeating to herself: Don't panic, the more critical the moment, the less panic.

"Master Yao, have you ever considered that if I were to die suddenly on the street tomorrow, who would be the first person to be suspected?"

Yao Ningde held the dagger in his hand and smiled intriguedly, "Miss Zhou, are you trying to say that I'm the first person to be suspected?"

He then looked up to the sky and laughed wildly, the muscles on his face twitching constantly.

Zhou Tinglan's jaw was lifted by the side of the dagger. "Miss Zhou, aren't you too naive? Your death will have nothing to do with me. When you were thrown into the street, you were already a dead person, unable to open your mouth."

"Do you need me to describe the circumstances of your death in detail to Miss Zhou?"

Zhou Tinglan sneered disdainfully, "No need! If Master Yao wants to describe something, save it for describing your own death!"

"How will I die?" Yao Ningde retracted his dagger and sneered, "How will I die? Miss Zhou, you will soon see how you die."

Seeing Zhou Tinglan gritting his teeth and looking like he wanted to kill him immediately, Yao Ningde became more and more excited.

"Miss Zhou doesn't want to know my description, but I want you to die knowing the truth."

The side of the dagger slashed across Zhou Tinglan's cheek. Yao Ningde smiled and said, "Miss Zhou, your eyes are very bright. I will dig out your eyeballs, soak them in wine, and place them in my wine cellar until the time is right..."

"Why don't you mix cephalexin with wine?" Zhou Tinglan scolded.

"What is cephalexin?" Yao Ningde's eyes flashed with confusion, then he laughed heartily. "Since it can be used with wine, it must be a good thing. It's okay if Miss Zhou doesn't tell me. I will send someone to investigate later."

Zhou Tinglan glanced at him sideways and said, "Go ahead and check it. Check it all you want. You won't be able to find it anyway."

If you can really find out, I will send you, the treacherous minister, to drink forever, which will also be considered as getting rid of harm to the Dazhao Kingdom.

"Let me continue to take a look..."

The dagger in Yao Ningde's hand continued to move down to Zhou Tinglan's jaw: "It's a bit empty. It would be great if it could add some color."

"If Lord Yao wants to add some color, just buy a bucket of paint and pour it on your body. You can get any color you want."

Zhou Tinglan turned his head away, unwilling to look at Yao Ningde anymore. Looking at disgusting people too much would easily make one lose their appetite.

"Miss Zhou, are you joking with me?" Yao Ningde rubbed the dagger in Zhou Tinglan's face a few times.

The feeling of the cold blade scratching against her warm skin made Zhou Tinglan tremble uncontrollably, and the fear from the deepest part of her heart made her hair stand on end.

"You said that if I cut your face a few times, the blood would flow down your cheeks to your neck and drip onto your clothes. Wouldn't that cause bloodstains?"

Zhou Tinglan couldn't stand it any longer: "Master Yao, do you really think that if I died suddenly on the street, you would be the first person to be suspected?"

"Isn't it me? Could it be that Miss Zhou is talking about someone else?"

Yao Ningde had just used a dagger on Zhou Tinglan. He was in a good mood at the moment, and he looked at Zhou Tinglan as if he was looking at a work of art that was about to be completed.

"Master Yao, you are completely wrong. On the contrary, the person most likely to be suspected is Her Royal Highness Princess Zhaoyang."

Yao Ningde said, "Oh," and raised his voice, "Reason? If it's reasonable, I'll consider going a little easier later."

"Does it matter what the reason is? You're going to kill me here anyway."

Zhou Tinglan's eyes were cold and he gave Yao Ningde a smug smile.

"Interesting." Yao Ningde placed the dagger on the table beside him and said, "I will spare your life today. After I hear your reasons, I can kill you tomorrow."

There's hope!

Zhou Tinglan pretended to be disgusted: "It's just one day late, Master Yao, are you treating it like a beggar?"

"Miss Zhou, I urge you to first understand your situation! If I hadn't brought anyone with me today and had to come personally to interrogate you, you would have been a lonely ghost on the streets, with no one to care about you!"

Yao Ningde picked up the dagger that he had just thrown on the table and waved it in front of Zhou Tinglan, indicating that she should think carefully.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Tinglan didn't buy his story. She laughed at herself and said, "What's my situation? I'm just a dead person kidnapped by Lord Yao."

"Why are you talking so much nonsense! Miss Zhou, I want to hear your reasons now!"

The tip of the dagger suddenly appeared less than an inch away from Zhou Tinglan's eyes. It seemed that as long as Yao Ningde's hand shook slightly, the eyes would be directly injured.

Zhou Tinglan subconsciously closed his eyes, his lips moving a few times: "I...I'll say."

"If I had known this, why would I have gotten so angry?"

The dagger was removed, and Zhou Tinglan spoke slowly, "I suspect that the reason Lord Yao thought he was the first person to be suspected was because you were scolded by Princess Zhaoyang in prison because of me. If I die, someone will definitely think that Lord Yao is holding a grudge and is secretly seeking revenge."

"Miss Zhou's description is exactly what I thought, so why Princess Zhaoyang?"

Zhou Tinglan glanced at Yao Ningde and continued, "Master Yao's thoughts are not unreasonable, but could it be that Master Yao has forgotten something?"

She paused. "The premise for suspecting Lord Yao is that someone knows that you were scolded by Princess Zhaoyang. Hasn't Lord Yao reacted yet?"

"Miss Zhou has thought very thoroughly."

Yao Ningde showed admiration on his face, but he was anxious.

After arresting Xie Zechuan, he used the power of the Minister of Justice to order that when he went to the prison, the number of prison guards would be reduced by half. Today was even worse, and the prison guards were almost all transferred to the prison gate.

"It seems Lord Yao has thought it through. I wonder if what Lord Yao said before is true."

Now that we have gained a day, we must take this opportunity to escape. I hope Yao Ningde still has a conscience.

"I have always kept my word."

Just at this moment, Fu Chang came in with several big men in black.

They first bowed to Yao Ningde.

"Sir, I'm sorry for being late."

"Get up, I still have some things to take care of. You guys leave a few people here to watch over me. Fuchang, once you've made your arrangements, come back with me."

Fu Chang replied, pointing to the black-clad man behind him: "You, you, and you, stay here to guard him well. If he escapes, do you know what will happen?"

"I know. I will keep him under guard."

Fu Chang left with satisfaction. Zhou Tinglan looked at the three big men in black who were staring at her, wondering how to escape.

Sitting and waiting to die was not her style, but now her hands and feet were tied with ropes, what should she do?

"Master Fu is truly highly regarded by Master."

"That's right. Master Fu's family was in trouble, and he was saved by our master. He has made a great contribution."

"What do you think Lord Yao is doing in such a hurry to return home?"

The three big men in black thought guarding Zhou Tinglan was boring and started talking in low voices.

"Didn't Lord Yao recently carry out an imperial decree to search and confiscate Duke Xie's mansion? Yesterday, when I went to the study, I heard that His Majesty was finally going to issue an order."

"Issue an order! This is a big deal."

When Zhou Tinglan heard what the big man in black said, it seemed that Yao Ningde had to start taking action, and she couldn't be trapped here forever.

She rolled her eyes and shouted, "Is there any water? I want to drink water."

Zhou Tinglan asked the big man in black who was closest to her.

"What kind of water do prisoners need to drink?"

Zhou Tinglan lowered his eyes and muttered, "Your Lord Yao told you to watch me and not to run away, but he didn't say he wanted me to die of thirst here. Well, let me die of thirst. I'm going to die sooner or later anyway."

Although Zhou Tinglan's voice was not loud, the thatched hut was so quiet that the big man in black could hear all his mumblings.

"Go get some water. If the adults blame us, we won't be able to escape."

"What a hassle! You're about to die, and you still want to drink water! What a hassle!"

The big man in black got up cursing and found a broken kettle.

"You two keep an eye on her. I'll go get some water."

Soon, a broken kettle was handed to Zhou Tinglan. Zhou Tinglan looked at the water in the kettle and frowned slightly.

"It's cold. I don't want to drink it."

"you……"

"Take it away and let me die of thirst. After all, I will die in your hands, so I won't be the one to be punished."

The big man in black was amused by Zhou Tinglan's words, but when he thought of Yao Ningde's horrible methods, he shuddered.

"Okay, I'll change it for you!" the big man in black said viciously, turned around and cursed, and went to find hot water for Zhou Tinglan.

When the big man in black handed the kettle of hot water to Zhou Tinglan, she rolled her eyes.

"It's such a remote place, I'm lucky I could find you some hot water. If you don't drink it, I won't stay with you!"

Remote? Where in Shangjing City did Yao Ningde take me?

"How do you want me to drink?" Zhou Tinglan raised her tightly bound hands: "You want to feed me?"

After saying that, she curled her lips and looked at the face of the big man in black: "Forget it, I feel so uncomfortable."

The big man in black was really furious: "You come and give her some water. I need to go out and calm down."

He was afraid that if he stayed any longer he would disobey the adults' orders and kill people.

The rope on Zhou Tinglan's hands was untied, and she drank the hot water as she wished.

"Drink quickly, and then tie it back!"

Zhou Tinglan held the broken teapot in her hand, a light flashed in her eyes, she quickly threw the teapot to the ground, turned over with her hands on the ground and kicked the big man in black.

The big man in black had no time to react and was kicked to the ground by Zhou Tinglan.

"What are you doing!"

Seeing this, another big man in black was about to step forward to grab Zhou Tinglan.

There was a sudden noise outside the house, and she looked towards the door vigilantly.

Could it be that Yao Ningde regretted letting her go and came back to kill her?

At the door, Fu Chang, who had already returned home with Yao Ningde, appeared again. He looked at the chaos in the house calmly.

The black-clad man's eyes suddenly lit up, and he quickly complained: "Master, she's disobedient, please teach her a lesson for us!"

"The master changed his mind. He asked you to return home first and leave the rest to me."

The big men in black took orders, and when they were about to walk out of the house, Fuchang quickly took action and knocked them out one by one.

Only Fu Chang and Zhou Tinglan were left in the thatched hut.

Zhou Tinglan raised his eyebrows and asked, "Master Fu, what do you mean?"

Fu Chang chuckled: "Miss Zhou, can't you see that I'm saving you?"

He untied the rope tied around Zhou Tinglan: "This place is quite remote, I'll take you away."

When the two walked out of the thatched hut, it was already dark. Zhou Tinglan then noticed that they were in the woods east of Shangjing City.

"Master Fu, why did you save me?"

"Do you need a reason to save me?"

Another reason. Yao Ningde asked her for a reason, and she asked Fuchang for a reason. Zhou Tinglan felt that she didn't want to know the reason anymore.

Seeing that Fuchang didn't want to talk, she stopped asking. There was still a long time to come, and the most important thing now was to escape.

The two of them walked quickly towards the exit of the woods and were about to walk out of the woods.

A gloomy voice came from behind the two of them.

"Fuchang, my good attendant, where are you taking Miss Zhou?"

The two of them paused. This voice...

Zhou Tinglan turned around abruptly and saw Yao Ningde standing behind them, looking at them with cold eyes.

"Although I know that Miss Zhou is quite capable, I didn't know that Zhou Tinglan actually had any dealings with my good follower."

Fu Chang was the first to ask, "Didn't you pass out in the carriage?"

"That's all thanks to you! Fuchang, if you hadn't spoken out to save her at the gate, I wouldn't have been wary of you. How could I have fallen for a mere drug?"

Zhou Tinglan heard Fu Chang curse softly, and then he drew his sword from his waist: "Since I've been discovered, there's no need for me to hide any longer."

Fu Chang thrust a short knife into her hand: "Miss Zhou, use this for self-defense for now."

Zhou Tinglan looked at Yao Ningde and his three big men in black opposite him. The number of people was really mismatched. Could he win?

She raised the knife and kept an eye on Yao Ningde's movements, fearing that he would directly order them to fight.

"Don't worry, before I arrest you, I want to ask you something."

Zhou Tinglan's eyes were filled with anger. "Master Yao, it's already this hour, and you're still trying to get words out of us!"

Yao Ningde didn't really think that they would tell him now that they were in this situation, right?

"Miss Zhou, where is the letter you found in my study?"

"Master Yao, I've already moved the letter. Don't even think about finding out where it is. Just wait till you're in jail!"

"Alright, alright, bring them both here. I'm going to torture them and execute them on the spot. I want to see who's more ruthless: my methods or yours!"

Three big men in black approached the two men step by step. Fu Chang retreated cautiously, as if they were about to engage in a fight with them in the next moment.

"Sir, I'm sorry."

The big man in black suddenly swung the long sword towards Fuchang.

At the same time, the sound of horse hooves suddenly rang out in the woods.

"Don't move! His Majesty has ordered the immediate arrest of Minister of War Yao Ningde."