Chapter 20: Imprisonment
He led her to sit in the front hall. The servant brought tea and left. Qiandeng took off her veil and sipped the tea to calm her nerves, but her cheeks were still red. "I see... Congratulations to Mr. Cui on your promotion."
"Actually, my qualifications weren't enough originally. But firstly, after the rebellion, the court suffered heavy losses, and many people were promoted without prior notice. Secondly, thanks to you, I was also credited with saving the crown prince at the manor that day, so I was able to skip the rank and come here."
Qiandeng looked at him while holding a teacup. The bright color of his scarlet clothes made his face look even brighter and his demeanor as graceful as jade.
She thought that another reason was that the Cui family of Boling was the head of a prominent family. If their descendants held important positions in the court, they would be adept at balancing the forces between the court and the opposition, and would face minimal resistance in implementing government policies, which would be the best choice for the court.
Cui Fufeng is the backbone of the Cui family's younger generation and has the hope of becoming a prime minister in the future. He must be familiar with the affairs of various yamen in advance, so it is not surprising that he goes to any yamen for training.
It's great to be born into the Cui family. Qian Deng sighed like this, then thought, but among the thousands of children of the Cui family, there is only one like Cui Fufeng who is worthy of the entire family's cultivation. It is estimated that he will definitely inherit the position of head of the family in the future.
The future head of the Cui family raised his hand and gently stroked his chest. His fair face was a little pale, and it was obvious that he was still in pain from the old injury he had just received from her.
Thinking about how the two of them had just been close in public, Qian Deng felt a little flustered. Having so many fiancés was enough trouble for her, but she ended up having physical contact with Cui Fufeng by accident, which was simply fatal.
Seeing her raise her hand to drink tea in an attempt to hide the blush on her face, but unable to hide the uneasiness in her eyes, Cui Fufeng lowered his eyelashes and smiled, then sat down opposite her: "Are you here for the case of Yu Guangling and Zheng Junshan?"
Qian Deng nodded: "Gao Shaoqing said that Meng Lanxi has confessed and the case has been closed?"
"I confessed. The court repeatedly pressed for an investigation, and the palace even sent someone to investigate. Therefore, Gao Shaoqing worked tirelessly overnight, concluding the case before leaving office and reporting to the Emperor and Empress. Otherwise, the case would never have been handled so quickly."
Qian Deng immediately understood what he meant and asked, "Did they torture him? Were they forcing him to confess?"
"He made the move and confessed. Whether he was wrongly accused or not is still unknown."
Thinking of Meng Lanxi's elegant and fragile appearance, Qian Deng felt a little reluctant and said, "I have some questions about this case. I want to meet Meng Lanxi and ask him in person. Can you take me with you?"
Cui Fufeng pondered for a moment and let Nie Hezheng come over.
"Nie Sicheng, please put all matters concerning the Meng Lanxi case on hold for now. Do not release any information."
Nie Hezheng exclaimed, "Ah!" and said, "But the palace has already come to urge us..."
"Don't worry about this matter. I will report to the palace myself. You can withdraw the notice first. We can discuss all other matters after we have a clue."
The Dali Temple is not big, and the prison was added later, so although it is close, it is not inside the yamen.
The sky was dark, and outside there was a violent storm. Cui Fufeng walked along with Qiandeng, holding an umbrella, and the raindrops hit the umbrella, making a crackling sound.
Qiandeng saw that there was a ditch next to the prison. Cui Fufeng stepped on the slippery edge of the ditch, and his body swayed slightly, like a jade mountain about to collapse. She couldn't help but feel a little worried, and whispered a warning: "Cui Shaoqing, be careful."
Cui Fufeng tilted his head and nodded at her: "Thank you."
Qian Deng's gaze fell on his chest and asked, "Is the wound healed?"
He raised his hand to press the wound on his chest and said calmly, "Don't worry, County Master. I'm not that weak."
Qiandeng nodded, silently holding an umbrella and walking towards the prison gate with him.
Meng Lanxi and Jin Tang were both imprisoned in the Dali Temple, and their cells were even diagonally opposite each other, but their treatment was very different.
The Jin family spent a lot of money, and since he was almost cleared of suspicion, he was sitting in his cell, nibbling fruit and doing nothing. When he saw Qian Deng coming through the bars, he immediately jumped up, holding the bars and asked in surprise, "County Lady, you came to see me? Don't worry, I was wrongly accused. I'll be back in a few days!"
Qian Deng nodded at him, and looked at his appearance. Seeing that he looked fairer and more youthful after spending a few days in jail, he said, "I'm glad you're okay."
"It's okay, it's okay, don't worry, County Lady! By the way, is Jin Tuan Tuan okay? Is he missing me?"
"No." Qiandeng told the truth and turned to look at the cell diagonally opposite.
Meng Lanxi was tortured to the point of being on the verge of death. The young man, as bright as the moon, became exhausted overnight, and curled up in the corner of the wall wrapped in bloodstained prison clothes. It was unbearable to watch.
Hearing the conversation between Jin Tang and the county lord, he raised his head, and when he saw Qian Deng's figure, a glimmer of hope finally flashed in his desperate eyes.
He propped up his weak body and rushed to the iron bars: "County Master..."
Qiandeng looked at his haggard and gray face and asked, "How are you?"
He didn't answer, but stared at her, not daring to look away, and murmured, "Am I... am I dreaming? Did the county lady really come here to save me?"
Jin Tang's hateful voice came from across the room: "Why are you being so pitiful, you murderer? The county lady won't save you!"
"I don't know if I can save you. The most important thing is that you have to save yourself." Qian Deng saw Meng Lanxi clutching the iron railing so tightly that veins popped out of the back of her hand. She patted him gently with concern and gestured to Cui Fufeng beside her, "Now that Mr. Cui has been appointed as the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, if you are wronged, he will definitely clear your name."
Meng Lanxi simply nodded at Cui Fufeng, then turned to Qian Deng and said anxiously, "County Lady, I confessed under torture. During the interrogation, they forced me to confess and tortured me all night. I… I gritted my teeth and refused to admit anything, so they… brought a brazier and burned my chest and back. Because I refused to admit anything, they even wanted to burn my face…"
He turned his palm over and tightly grasped Qian Deng's hand that was comforting him. His cold fingers trembled as he held on so tightly, as if a drowning person was clinging to his last hope.
"I can die, I can be stigmatized, I can be despised by everyone... But County Master, I cannot be disfigured. If my face is disfigured... even if I survive, the County Master will definitely despise me..."
Qian Deng hadn't expected him to confess for this very reason. Seeing his eyes filled with tears, yet he still stared at her intently, she couldn't help but sigh. She shook his hand and whispered, "Don't be afraid. If you're innocent, then explain clearly. When Yu Guangling was in trouble that day, why did you go to the Imperial College to collect herbs? And did you go to the river and pick up the dagger that Jin Tang discarded?"
"Okay, so it was you who picked up the dagger I threw away! You killed someone and put the blame on me!" Jin Tang on the opposite side started cursing when he heard it.
Meng Lanxi ignored him, staring stubbornly at Qiandeng. She said hoarsely, "Now that things have come to this, I can only... tell the county lady everything truthfully. I did go to the Imperial College to collect herbs, and I went to the river... because I wanted to dump the herbs... and they were washed away by the water. But I definitely didn't see the dagger that Jintang dropped."
"Since you went to collect herbs, why did you throw them away?"
"Because I picked taro." Meng Lanxi lowered her eyelashes, not daring to look at Qiandeng. "This thing is poisonous."
Qian Deng looked at him silently and asked, "What are you going to do with it?"
"Yinyu is mainly used to treat rheumatism. An overdose can cause convulsions in the hands and feet, leading to death, but a small amount will only cause spasms. I heard that Yu Guangling's great-uncle suffered from epilepsy, and a while ago, Yu Guangling was tired from studying and said he was seeing stars. I thought this disease is hereditary, and the daily symptom is seeing stars, so I wanted to use Yinyu to try to induce it and see if he has this disease, so as not to delay the county lady..."
Qiandeng frowned slightly and looked back at Cui Fufeng.
Cui Fufeng's face also looked slightly gloomy. It was obvious that he also remembered that on the day of the selection, Meng Lanxi had drugged Jin Tang without making a sound.
The victim, Jin Tang, who was unaware of the truth, started to cry out again: "It sounds nice, you're trying to induce a disease, but you're actually trying to poison Yu Guangling and cause him to have a seizure, then frame him for having epilepsy and kick him out of the race!"
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