Yan Sikong took out the silver he had prepared and politely handed it to the warden.

"Master Yan, what do you mean by that?" The warden hastily declined, "No, no."

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "I am here on the orders of the Grand General and the Chief Secretary to persuade Ge Zhong to sign the charges. I hope you can do me a favor and let the brothers stay away."

The warden whispered, "It's no use. He just won't paint even after being tortured."

"I know. The general ordered me to give it a try." Yan Sikong also imitated him and said in a low voice, "You served the punishment wine, I will try to toast."

The warden smiled knowingly and said, "Lord Yan went to Kuizhou alone. With his eloquent tongue, he captured the city without bloodshed. We admire you. No wonder the general sent you here. Don't worry." He told the jailers to follow him out.

Yan Sikong stuffed the purse into his arms: "Buy some good wine for the brothers."

"Then I will respectfully obey your command. Thank you, Lord Yan." The warden and the jailer left happily.

Yan Sikong closed the iron door of the cell and walked down the narrow stone stairs step by step in the dim light. His footsteps were very light, as if he was afraid that he was in a dream and did not dare to make too much noise.

After all, he had been waiting for this day for eleven years.

The cell was filled with a mixed smell of mold and blood, which made it difficult to breathe. Faint moonlight leaked through the high windows, and all kinds of cold and strange torture instruments cast eerie black shadows on the wall. When the moonlight reached the corner of the wall, it had completely disappeared. The darkness seemed like a bottomless abyss, swallowing up everything around it.

Yan Sikong was dressed in spotless white clothes, which was totally out of place in this place filled with murderous aura. However, his originally carefree and calm demeanor had been completely replaced by a cold and gloomy look. This white robe wandering in the dark place could not help but seem a bit eerie.

Yan Sikong walked to the only cell in the prison and quietly looked at the man lying on a simple bed with his back to him. His prison uniform was stained with blood, his hair was disheveled and dirty, and his curled up body looked extremely fragile.

Yan Sikong raised the corners of his lips slightly, revealing a twisted smile.

The person in the cell seemed to have noticed something and slowly turned around. The man with a gray face and who looked twenty years older overnight was none other than Ge Zhong, the once glorious governor-general of the two lakes and now a prisoner.

Ge Zhong looked at him indifferently with lifeless eyes and was about to turn away.

"Master Ge," Yan Sikong said softly, "We will be leaving for Beijing tomorrow. I brought some good wine and food. Would you like to have a drink with me?"

"Don't waste your energy." Ge Zhong opened his mouth, his voice was hoarse, "I am innocent, I have no intention of treason, you can kill me, but I will never sign."

"We will talk about the charges later. Life is like floating duckweed, and we have no control over the wind and rain. Why not enjoy yourself while you can and don't waste this delicious meal."

Ge Zhong was silent for a while, turned around, slowly climbed up from the couch, and walked over with a staggering look. He looked sick and old, like a dying man.

Yan Sikong sat on the ground, put the food and wine into the iron fence, poured two glasses of wine, and handed one to Ge Zhong: "Here, I offer a toast to Master Ge."

Ge Zhong laughed mockingly: "What are you toasting me for?"

"I respect Lord Ge's perseverance and perseverance."

Ge Zhong couldn't tell whether Yan Sikong was mocking him or not, but he didn't bother to think about it. He didn't wait for Yan Sikong to finish the cup of wine. The spicy wine flowed through his throat and poured into his body. His thin body trembled, and the pain and cold were numbed a little. He shouted, "Good, good wine!"

Yan Sikong also drank a glass: "Master Ge, the food is still hot, eat something quickly."

Ge Zhong didn't hesitate and picked up the bowl to take a few bites.

Yan Sikong did not pick up his chopsticks, but just looked at Ge Zhong with a faint smile. The two of them were only separated by a few iron pillars, but the way he looked at Ge Zhong was as if he was looking at a prey that fell into his trap. Life and death were all up to him, and it was refreshing.

Ge Zhong suddenly became aware of something and raised his head, only to meet Yan Sikong's cold yet smiling eyes. His heart shuddered and he felt instantly horrified.

Yan Sikong said, "Master Ge, please eat more."

Ge Zhong paused, looking at the food and wine in his hands hesitantly.

Yan Sikong laughed and said, "Are you afraid that I will poison you, sir?" He also took a few bites.

Ge Zhong snorted coldly: "You and I have no grudges against each other, why would you poison a dying man like me?"

Yan Sikong thought to himself, you and I have grievances and hatreds, but I will never poison you. I want to watch you being taken to the execution platform, and I will watch your head and body being separated from you from below, just like I watched my father from the sidelines back then.

Ge Zhong finished his meal and leaned against the wall weakly: "Go away. No matter what you want to say, I will never sign it."

Yan Sikong took out a scroll from his sleeve. Every word on it was written by him, and many of them were evidences he had personally collected. He unfolded the scroll and said to Ge Zhong, "Sir, do you want to see your crime book?"

Without even raising his eyes, Ge Zhong murmured, "I have not committed treason. I am innocent. I will not sign the name."

"I know you are innocent."

Ge Zhong was stunned for a moment, then looked at Yan Sikong: "You know?"

Yan Sikong's tone was very gentle: "Yes, I know you are not plotting rebellion."

Ge Zhong suddenly became excited: "Do you know anything? Who framed me? Who wrote those letters? Who put them in my house? Was it you? Was it you?"

"Although you did not commit treason, there is irrefutable evidence of your other crimes."

"I didn't commit treason!" Ge Zhong'e glared at Yan Sikong fiercely, "What do you know?"

Yan Sikong was in no hurry to answer his question, but just smiled and said, "Are you still waiting for Eunuch Xie to come and save you? Eunuch Xie is so worried about you that he has given up on you a long time ago."

"What do you want to say?" Ge Zhong said coldly, "No matter how you provoke me, I will never sign and will never admit to something I didn't do. Just give up on this idea."

"Your Excellency has committed numerous crimes and cannot escape death. Don't you have any consideration for your son and relatives?"

Ge Zhong narrowed his eyes.

"If you refuse to sign, the final outcome will be either a confession under torture or forced signing. Then every charge will be confirmed. But if you are willing to sign, the general and the chief secretary will treat your son leniently." Yan Sikong smiled and said, "The Empress Dowager has been in poor health recently. Your Majesty is a filial son. As long as you ask Your Majesty to forgive me and pray for the Empress Dowager, your son will be able to survive."

Ge Zhong said coldly, "Why should I trust a mere junior Hanlin like you? If Zhao Fuyi really dares to promise to let my son go, then let him come and speak for himself. Who do you think you are?"

"As a general of high status, how can you bargain with a lowly prisoner? Only I can convey your message."

"You..." Ge Zhong cursed, "Then get out, I don't believe you. I, Ge Zhong, am loyal and steadfast, and I know the sun and the moon as clearly as I can. I will never die with the eternal stigma of treason. As a filial son, I will never live in vain!"

Yan Sikong chuckled twice, then laughed louder and louder, and finally he raised his head and laughed so hard that his whole body was shaking. The laughter echoed in the empty dungeon, hitting the damp and cold walls, the gloomy torture instruments, and the dim candlelight, causing layers of echoes, as if it had attracted ghosts and monsters to laugh together, and it made people's spines cold to hear it.

Ge Zhong looked around nervously and said angrily, "What are you laughing at? Stop laughing!"

Yan Sikong took a long time to stop laughing. He shook his head and said with emotion, "I never thought that Ge Zhong, Lord Ge, is such a strong and unyielding person. He is so proud and has the bearing to set an example for the world. What a pity! If I didn't know your true face, I would admire you."

Ge Zhong said angrily, "I didn't commit treason, I didn't commit treason..."

"You didn't commit treason." Yan Sikong stared at Ge Zhong, "Then you also didn't commit corruption, corruption, dereliction of duty, selling power, or monopolizing power?"

Ge Zhong's face was grim: "This is all a frame-up for me, just like those forged letters, someone is framing me! They are all, all forged!"

"Oh, those letters." Yan Sikong smiled and said, "Lord Ge should be familiar with forged letters. You must also know someone who can imitate other people's handwriting, right?"

"Have you found someone who can imitate other people's handwriting?" Ge Zhong grabbed the iron railing with both hands. "Go and check. If there is no one in Jingzhou, go check somewhere else. Go and check!"

Yan Sikong smiled, picked up the guilty letter that Ge Zhong disdained to look at, spread out most of it, placed it in front of him, and said softly: "Your Excellency is a famous calligrapher and painter. The "Dust Edict" you wrote a few years ago was praised as having the style of "Bo Yuan Tie". I dare not show off my skills in front of an expert, but only ask Your Excellency to take a look at it. Is this imitation okay?"

Ge Zhong blinked and looked at the crime book. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he scanned it quickly. It was not a crime book that he had to sign, but a self-confession. The words on the paper were clearly his!

Ge Zhong looked at Yan Sikong as if he had seen a demon, and pointed at him with a trembling finger: "You...you...you imitated this...you..."

Yan Sikong just smiled and said nothing.

Ge Zhong suddenly roared and rushed over, stretched out his skinny arms like dead branches from the iron bars, and grabbed Yan Sikong.

Yan Sikong gracefully turned aside.

"Who are you?" Ge Zhong's eyes were bloodshot and he looked ferocious. He shouted, "Why did you hurt me?"

Yan Sikong admired Ge Zhong's frenzied and crazy look. He felt extremely happy. He chuckled and said, "Ge Zhong, do you still remember Guangning eleven years ago?"