The Fei Chi brothers exchanged a glance, unsure whether to tell the truth or a lie. They had wandered all the way to the capital, but their relatives there refused to acknowledge them. They had spent the last few coins they had and thought of setting up a stall to write letters to make a living, but even that was not something their relatives would grant. They were forced to wander outside the city to a dilapidated temple, where they lived and ate with beggars.
Just when the two were suffering from both mental and physical torment and were about to give up, Uncle Fu appeared, bringing them white steamed buns and saying that if they were willing, they could follow him into the Prince's mansion to become guards.
Both men were scholars and knew that the Fubing (府兵) were different from the Imperial Army. The Fubing were just servants who were slightly higher in rank than household servants, but they still nodded in agreement.
All they wanted was the title of the Prince's Mansion. Only the Prince's Mansion was qualified to have guards. Their relative was just a minor official of the seventh rank. "Even a seventh-rank official is only a minor official in front of the prime minister," they thought. Once they entered the Prince's Mansion, they would never be bullied again.
However, they never expected that the Prince's mansion was so murky. Even the selection of a centurion was so shady. There were several people who were clearly not very capable, yet they were favored by Lord Wei. If those people were of good character, it would be fine, but they were two-faced and looked down on the new recruits like them.
Furthermore, their words and actions were insulting. To tolerate it for a while is magnanimous, but to tolerate it forever is cowardly. That's why they beat the person up.
Fei Chi was still hesitating, but Fei Peng couldn't hold back any longer. He knelt down at Zhao Shu's feet with a thud, "Replying to the princess, I was once a student, and my brother was originally a top scholar, but he was framed for cheating in the imperial examination..."
"Xiao Peng! Shut up!" Fei Chi tried to stop him, but it was too late. He could only look up at Zhao Shu, his face showing both shame and anger.
I am ashamed that, as a scholar, I am kneeling here, powerless against my unfortunate fate; I am angry that all crows are black, and that people's hearts are so blinded by greed.
Along the way, he no longer expected Zhao Shu to be fair and just to him, which was why he hesitated to tell the truth.
However, he couldn't stop his younger brother from blurting out his most important secret. He was desperate. Besides himself and his brother, was there anyone else in the world who believed he was innocent?
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