Xing Jun shook his head and hurriedly said in a deep voice, "Don't talk nonsense! This is not your fault, it has nothing to do with our prison! It's because these two have a deep-seated grudge!"
While wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Xing Jun gave Hu Pan a warning look.
Just by smelling the alcohol emanating from Hu Pan and his group, he knew that the prison was poorly managed, which gave Li Geng an opportunity to take advantage of the situation!
But now that things have come to this, he can no longer punish Hu Pan; that would be putting the blame on himself!
We can only absolve the group in the prison of responsibility for now, and then deal with these derelict incompetent people properly later!
After calming down a bit, Xing Jun quickly said, "This matter is of great importance and must be reported to the Prime Minister as soon as possible. The aftermath will be handled by Hu Pan. I need to hurry to the Prime Minister's residence."
As he spoke, Xing Jun glared fiercely at Hu Pan, who quickly adopted a trembling and respectful demeanor, nodded earnestly, and cupped his hands, saying, "Rest assured, sir! I understand! I will handle this properly!"
After Xing Jun left, Hu Pan finally breathed a sigh of relief, and sneered inwardly.
At this moment, a jailer stepped forward tremblingly and asked, "Lord Hu, what should we do with Li Geng's body?"
Hu Pan glanced at Li Geng's corpse on the ground and pretended to be angry, cursing, "That bastard Li Geng, he wanted to die and caused us this huge trouble!"
"Drag his body to a mass grave, dump it anywhere, don't even give him a pit, let the wild dogs eat him!"
The jailer felt a chill run down his spine, but forced himself to nod.
...
On a dark and windy night, in a desolate grove of trees.
Two jailers carried Li Geng by the arms and legs, making him stagger along the mountain path.
"quack!"
The eerie cawing of crows echoed through the night sky, causing the two jailers' hearts to skip a beat.
They quickened their pace and finally carried Li Geng to a crooked old tree.
“This mass grave is too terrifying in the middle of the night. Let’s just leave him here!” a jailer said, swallowing hard and his legs trembling.
Another jailer nodded repeatedly: "Anyway, Lord Hu said there's no need to dig a hole for him! Just throw him here and let the wild dogs eat him!"
"Alright, let's go! Let's get out of this unlucky place as soon as possible."
With that, they threw Li Geng to the ground, turned around and ran away as fast as they could, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye.
"Heh, cowardly rats! If I'd known they were this useless, I wouldn't have brought so many men!"
In the darkness, a chubby figure was hidden.
After confirming that the two jailers were far away, Zhu Fei slowly emerged from the darkness.
He squatted down in front of Li Geng's 'corpse', examined it carefully, and then nodded in satisfaction.
"Everyone, come out and carry General Li to the bridal sedan chair. Hurry up!"
Zhu Fei called out to those around him.
"Hehe, Mr. Zhu, just you wait and see!"
In a short while, several masked men in black emerged silently from the shadows. They were elite soldiers handpicked by Zhu Fei from the surrendered armies, and were absolutely loyal!
Just then, a luxuriously decorated mahogany sedan chair was carried over by several men in black.
In no time, the men carried Li Geng into the sedan chair.
Zhu Fei gave a few more instructions before getting into the sedan chair with satisfaction and leading a group of people away in a cloud of dust.
This luxurious sedan chair was made at great expense by Shuiyunjian, the number one brothel in the capital. There were ten of them, specially prepared for high-ranking officials like Zhu Fei, since the court had laws prohibiting officials from entering brothels to patronize prostitutes!
But what if you send prostitutes to their door? This trick was originally devised by Zhu Fei and taught to the madam of Shuiyun Pavilion!
He was a distinguished guest of Shuiyun Pavilion, lingering there day and night, spending lavishly. Borrowing a sedan chair for spring would be no difficult task for him!
After leaving the mass grave, he swaggered down the street.
Zhu Fei made no attempt to conceal his whereabouts. The bridal sedan chair headed towards his home, and every now and then, Zhu Fei's wicked laughter could be heard from inside the sedan chair, which made the night watchman despise him.
It didn't take long for Zhu Fei to bring Li Geng home and quietly carry him into the study.
"You may all leave now, and remember to close the door behind you."
Zhu Fei waved to the men in black, dismissing them.
After everyone had left and he was the only one left in the room, he took out a white jade bottle from his sleeve.
He quickly poured out a pill, pure white with a faint glint of cold light; it was the antidote for the Turtle Breathing Pill that Qin Yu had given him.
Zhu Fei didn't dare to delay at all, and quickly pried open Li Geng's mouth and put the pill in.
"I hope I haven't exceeded the time limit! Otherwise, what I'll be carrying back tonight will truly be a corpse!"
"Cough cough!"
Just as Zhu Fei was feeling uneasy and worried, Li Geng on the bed suddenly coughed violently and opened his eyes with difficulty.
The environment was completely unfamiliar, luxuriously decorated, and clearly not a prison cell.
Did he escape successfully?
Li Geng's muddled brain finally came to its senses, and he sat up with a big face full of surprise, only to almost bump into a fat man sitting on the edge of the bed!
"who!"
Li Geng was startled and moved to the side, staring warily at the fat man in front of him.
Zhu Fei hadn't expected the pills to take effect so quickly.
"General Li, don't be nervous! I am the contact person mentioned in the Emperor's letter who is responsible for rescuing you!"
"You...you're also one of the Emperor's men?!"
Li Geng frowned and asked, "Zhu Fei doesn't seem like a good guy at all!"
But the fact that they were able to rescue him from the imperial prison and bring him here, along with the antidote for the Turtle Breath Pill, means that the Emperor must have arranged for this.
"Keep your voice down, General Li!"
Zhu Fei quickly lowered his voice, looked around warily, and seeing no one at the window, whispered, "My name is Zhu Fei, and I am the current commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard. I serve only the Emperor!"
"This is all part of the Emperor's plan, designed to lull Sima Lie into a false sense of security and secretly build up his strength!"
Upon hearing this, Li Geng's face showed a look of realization, and at the same time, he breathed a long sigh of relief.
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is extremely important; it is the last line of defense in the palace. Now that it is still in the Emperor's hands, I can rest assured!"
Li Geng looked excited and muttered to himself.
After his initial excitement subsided, Li Geng bowed to Zhu Fei and said earnestly, "Thank you so much, General Zhu, for saving my life! I will repay your and Lord Hu Pan's life-saving grace with all my heart!"
Zhu Fei shook his head slightly: "General Li, you flatter me. We are both serving the Emperor. Besides, it was the Emperor's will to save you."
Upon hearing this, Li Geng immediately showed gratitude. The Emperor had indeed put in a lot of effort for him!
What merit or ability does Li Geng possess?
It's just a pity...
Thinking of this, Li Geng's expression suddenly turned sorrowful, and he said in a hoarse voice, "It's a pity that although I was rescued by the Emperor, my identity is that of a dead man, and I can no longer return to the palace to serve the Emperor!"
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