"Eunuch Chen, please give me your orders." The jailer said humbly.
"Go down!" Chen Jin pulled out a white handkerchief from his sleeve, gently covered his nose with it, and said in a cold tone.
The jailer bowed and retreated, standing far away, not daring to eavesdrop.
Chen Jin's gaze turned to the corner of the cell, where a figure was curled up, like a ghost escaping from the abyss of hell, withered and barely recognizable as a human.
Of course, in this imperial prison, no matter how strong a hero is, after such torture, he would probably only have the strength to beg for mercy.
"His Majesty's decree...you are sentenced to death!" Chen Jin's voice echoed in the cell.
The ghostly figure trembled slightly and slowly raised its head.
Yan Boxi seemed to be so thin that he was out of shape, with sunken cheeks and eye sockets, and his eyes were empty and lifeless.
"I didn't cheat in the Spring Examination!" His voice was firm, and these resolute words burst out from this dilapidated body.
Chen Jin just shook his head indifferently.
"Whether there is or not? It doesn't really matter." He said softly, "Perhaps there are more than one chess piece like you, but you were just unlucky and fell into the eyes of others."
A bitter laugh rolled out of Yan Boxi's throat, and it was unclear whether he was mocking the tricks of fate or mocking the injustice of the world.
Chen Jin sighed softly and opened the bag he brought with him.
"This is your answer sheet for the three-day Spring Examination. I took it from the Ministry of Rites and left it for you to remember..."
Yan Boxi stretched out his hand tremblingly, but his dirty fingertips suddenly froze in mid-air just as they were about to touch the snow-white rice paper.
These papers carried all his talents and ambitions, but also announced their end. From then on, his life was filled with darkness and filth.
Chen Jin understood what was in his mind, so he quietly put away the answer sheet and put it back into the bag.
Then, he took out an exquisite hairpin box, inside which lay a pair of white jade butterfly hairpins. "The test question was found in the red silk cloth wrapped around this hairpin... You are a smart person, I would like to hear your opinion!"
When Chen Jin asked this question, he looked at the skylight in the corner of the cell, as if he was asking about something very ordinary, but he hoped that Yan Boxi could see the clear blue sky again.
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