Shangguan Wanning had been counting on her fingers the time of Xiao Yujue's arrival, but there was no news at all.
Even the letter she sent to her father seemed to have fallen into the sea.
She began to worry vaguely.
Although the prefect is willing to give her some face and not punish Mu Jingrui for the time being because of the support behind her, this is not a long-term solution after all.
Late at night, Shangguan Wanning tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.
"Miss...open the door quickly, Miss..."
When Shangguan Wanning heard Lutong's hurried knock on the door, he suddenly had a bad premonition. He immediately got up, put on some clothes and opened the door.
"Lutong, what's the matter?"
"Oh no, Miss. Just now, the jailer in the prison sent me a message that the prefect went to the prison to interrogate General Mu overnight. I heard that he was going to behead him in public."
Shangguan Wanning's face suddenly changed. She immediately went back to her room, put on her clothes, and hurried to the prison.
"Mu Jingrui, I thought you were such a great young hero, able to become a general of the Shenjiying at such a young age, but it turns out..." The prefect looked at Mu Jingrui through the wooden bars of the prison door and sneered, with contempt in his eyes.
Mu Jingrui had an indifferent expression. He sat cross-legged, slowly opened his eyes, and looked calmly at the prefect.
After all, Shangguan Wanning was too naive.
The struggle in the court is changing rapidly, how can it possibly stagnate?
"Come here, take him out and take him to Caishikou. He will be executed after daybreak." The prefect found that Mu Jingrui did not show the panic he imagined, and he could not help but feel dissatisfied. "I want everyone to know that if you violate the court's laws, even if you are a third-rank military officer, you will die."
The jailer stepped forward, opened the door of the cell, and rushed over to pull Mu Jingrui.
"ah!"
The four jailers were knocked away by Mu Jingrui's internal force and fell heavily to the ground.
"You are indeed quite capable." The prefect looked at Mu Jingrui with disdain, "You want to resist?"
Mu Jingrui stood up calmly and brushed off the dust on his clothes. "I can walk by myself."
The prefect did not argue with Mu Jingrui on this issue and watched Mu Jingrui walk out of the cell by himself.
"Are you really not afraid of death?" The prefect walked to Mu Jingrui's side and said in a low voice, "You are still so young and have a bright future. If you are willing to give in and cooperate, maybe... you can still save your life."
Mu Jingrui was slightly startled, looked at the prefect with deep eyes, and snorted coldly.
“I don’t know, how can I cooperate?”
"Show your sincerity, kill the old master, and join the new master."
Mu Jingrui suddenly understood.
He was a little surprised that there were Xiao Zhenting's accomplices in this remote northwest region. It seemed that it would take some effort to completely eradicate Xiao Zhenting's power.
"If you don't agree, you will really die." The prefect had a ferocious look on his face and stared at Mu Jingrui viciously, waiting for him to give a satisfactory answer.
Mu Jingrui turned sideways and took a few steps towards the prefect.
For some reason, the prefect suddenly felt his scalp tingling and an inexplicable fear surged in his heart.
The powerful aura emanating from Mu Jingrui made him a little frightened.
"You...what do you want to do?" The prefect swallowed his saliva and asked calmly, "Killing an official appointed by the imperial court is a capital crime..."
"Do you think I'm afraid of the death penalty? Isn't opening the granary to release grain a death penalty? You asked me to kill my old master, isn't that a death penalty? Since I'm already dead, what does your life mean to me?"
The prefect stepped back hastily, waved his hand to signal the guards to stop in front of him, and looked at Mu Jingrui vigilantly.
Mu Jingrui sneered contemptuously, turned around and walked out of the cell.
"Jing Rui."
Mu Jingrui saw Shangguan Wanning walking towards him in a hurry and with a nervous look.
He frowned slightly, feeling a little more helpless.
"What are you doing here?" Mu Jingrui said in a reproachful tone, "Go back."
Shangguan Wanning ignored him and walked straight to the prefect.
"The prefect promised me that he would deal with Mu Jingrui after receiving my father's reply. Why did he go back on his word and take him out of the cell overnight?"
After the prefect discovered Shangguan Wanning's appearance, the tingling feeling on his scalp disappeared.
He knew that this was Mu Jingrui restraining his murderous aura.
The prefect calmed down. "Miss Shangguan, everything I do is in accordance with the laws of the court. There is no partiality or usurpation. After all, this is an important matter of the court, so it is better for you not to interfere."
"I don't want to get involved in government affairs, but I don't want the court to lose a pillar. General Mu is the commander of the Shenjiying Camp appointed by the emperor. It is understandable that he opened the warehouse to release grain. The prefect can give me a few more days, and my father will definitely be able to ask for the emperor's pardon."
"Miss Shangguan, you may not know something. Given the current situation, even if the Prime Minister comes in person, I'm afraid he won't be able to save Mu Jingrui."
The prefect glanced at Mu Jingrui. "The war on the northwest border has already broken out. The Eagle Kingdom and the Wuxiong Kingdom have joined forces to attack us from both sides. The court must send troops to reinforce and suppress it. But... the granary is empty. What do you want the soldiers to fight with?"
This news surprised Mu Jingrui.
The blizzard disaster in the pass caused huge losses and damage to the people. However, Cang Ying and Wu Xiong also had a hard time when facing the natural disaster.
In the past, they invaded only to rob property and food. Now, the food inside the pass is so scarce that the people are eating snow. What benefit can they gain by attacking again?
"In short, Mu Jingrui is doomed this time. No one can plead for him." The prefect no longer cared about Shangguan Wanning and shouted, "Come here, take Mu Jingrui out and execute him immediately to serve as a warning to others."
Shangguan Wanning watched the jailer about to put shackles on Mu Jingrui, and many past scenes suddenly emerged in her mind.
She quickly stepped forward and opened her arms to block Mu Jingrui.
"Think twice, Governor. If General Mu was arrested by you for corruption and abuse of power, and I said something good for him, it would be considered that our Shangguan family had poor upbringing. However, that is not the case. He opened the warehouse to release grain and did not embezzle a single grain of rice. It is too severe to kill him like this."
"Ms. Shangguan, you can't say these things to me. This is what the court law says. Please get out of the way. Otherwise..."
In fact, the prefect would not really do anything to Shangguan Wanning, but he had received a death order from his superiors, requiring him to take this opportunity to get rid of Mu Jingrui.
"What if I don't let you?"
A trace of contemplation flashed across the prefect's eyes. He raised his hand and waved, and two guards rushed forward to pull Shangguan Wanning over.
Before the guard's hand touched Shangguan Wanning, heart-wrenching screams were heard in the cell.
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