Chapter 374 Stirring up the enemy in the grass, catching them red-handed
Prefect Jiang's expression froze for a moment, then he laughed heartily.
"My lord, you are quite the joker. How could I possibly poison your wine?"
"Alright then, if you don't believe me, sir, I'll drink this first as a sign of respect."
As he spoke, he downed the wine in his hand in one gulp and swirled the glass upside down.
"Now you can drink it without worry, sir, right?"
Ling Ce chuckled and tilted his head back to drink the wine in his glass.
Prefect Jiang lowered his eyes, concealing the gloom in them.
How could he poison the wine? That's the most foolish thing to do.
"Come on, sir, have some vegetables."
"Lord Jiang also eats."
He greeted them while keeping an eye on Ling Ce's actions.
Soon, he discovered that Ling Ce only ate the food that he had picked up.
If he hasn't touched a dish, the other person won't even reach for it with their chopsticks.
Prefect Jiang was filled with even more doubt and uncertainty, thinking to himself that it seemed he had no choice but to take action.
After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,
Ling Ce held his head, swayed slightly, and murmured:
"Strange, how did he get drunk so quickly?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he collapsed onto the table with a thud.
Prefect Jiang stared at Ling Ce expressionlessly for a while, then clapped his hands lightly.
A trusted aide entered from outside, saying, "Master."
Prefect Jiang nodded and said in a low voice, "Tie him up first and force-feed him the drug."
The confidant was slightly taken aback. "You're not going to kill him, sir?"
Prefect Jiang looked Ling Ce up and down, a strange smile flashing across his face.
"Killing him directly would be a waste of such a fine replica."
"But Jueming isn't here, and no one else's skinning skills are as good as his."
"Don't worry, Jueming will come out. As long as Shen Chu is dealt with, I will have a way to release him once the imperial envoy group is in chaos."
"yes."
The confidant responded, took out a rope, and tied Ling Ce up. Then he took out a packet of medicine, pried open Ling Ce's chin, and prepared to pour it into his mouth.
Clang.
The door was suddenly kicked open with great force, and a figure flashed in.
"stop."
The medicine packet in the confidant's hand was snatched away, along with Ling Ce, who was bound hand and foot.
Prefect Jiang's expression changed drastically when he saw the man and woman walking in through the door.
"How dare you! Who are you? Can't you see I'm hosting a banquet? How dare you barge in?"
Pei Yuan swung a token backhand, nearly hitting Prefect Jiang on the nose.
Prefect Jiang, in a flustered state, caught the object and nearly choked on his breath.
On the palm-sized bronze plaque is engraved a soaring eagle.
Everyone in the entire Great Wei Dynasty recognized it; it was the token of the Flying Eagle Guard.
The man before me was actually from the Flying Eagle Guard!
"Is this token significant enough?"
Prefect Jiang's face turned a deep purplish-red, but he had no choice but to force himself to put the token back on the table and grit his teeth, saying, "Sir, please ask whatever you have to say."
Pei Yuan hooked a chair over with his foot and helped Chen Chu sit down with a smile.
"Come on, ask whatever you want."
What's the meaning?
Prefect Jiang suddenly looked up at Shen Chu, who was wearing a veil.
Is it this pregnant woman again?
She was there when Qingshan Temple arrested Jueming.
She was present when the prefectural government held a trial.
She was still there when Jueming was re-examined at the post station.
Who exactly is she, capable of simultaneously commanding both the Imperial Envoy Shen Chu and the Flying Eagle Guard?
Prefect Jiang was still in shock, and various thoughts kept swirling in his mind.
Before he could figure things out, Shen Chu sneered and launched the first attack.
"Why did Lord Jiang tie up Lord Shen so tightly? Is he planning to skin him alive and pull out his tendons?"
A thin layer of sweat beaded on Prefect Jiang's forehead, but he managed to maintain his composure.
He smirked and slapped himself.
"Oh dear, it's all my fault. After a few drinks, I lost my sense of direction and started joking with Master Shen."
"Don't just stand there, quickly untie Master Shen!"
He secretly gave his trusted acumen a wink.
Before his trusted confidant could take a step forward, Sun Yan kicked him to the ground.
The two Flying Eagle Guards then dragged the man away.
Prefect Jiang's expression changed slightly. "What exactly do you want to do?"
Shen Chu smiled slightly and mimicked his tone, saying sarcastically, "Why is Lord Jiang in such a hurry? He was just joking with your attendant."
Don't worry, they're just going to chat with your attendant; they won't be thinking of skinning you or anything like that.
"Come on, let them talk their thing, we'll talk ours."
A dark glint flashed in Prefect Jiang's eyes. "What do you want to talk about?"
Shen Chu sneered, "Let's talk about how you used the prefect's power to secretly release Jueming and then use a fake corpse to impersonate him."
Prefect Jiang's face stiffened.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Jueming was released by the jailer, and I have already investigated and found out."
Furthermore, the jailer himself admitted to accepting money from Jueming, saying that this matter had absolutely nothing to do with me.
Shen Chu snorted coldly, "It's true that the jailer took Jueming's money, but if it weren't for your instructions to release Jueming quietly and then put a corpse in, it wouldn't be possible."
This is something the jailer couldn't have accomplished by himself alone.
She clapped her hands.
A Flying Eagle Guard brought in an old man with a hunched back.
The old man, dressed in prison clothes and with a messy, honeycomb-like hairstyle, came in and knelt on the ground.
Shen Chu said, "Old man, don't be afraid. Tell me who you are and tell me what you saw the night before last."
The old man said, "I am a prisoner in the jail. The day before yesterday evening, I had some diarrhea."
So I didn't eat the food sent to my cell.
I woke up in the middle of the night in a daze and found that the whole cell was very quiet, without a sound. I was a little scared at that moment.
The prisoners in the cell sometimes shout, sometimes snore, sometimes grind their teeth, and sometimes fart.
In short, it had never been this clean at night before. The little man was frightened and was just about to sit up to check when he heard someone come in.
The person who came in was the prefect, who was accompanied by the jailer and a prison guard named Cao Er.
The three men went straight into the cell next to mine. I even heard the prefect say, "Hurry up and stick the human skin mask on, otherwise it won't stick properly once the corpse has cooled down."
Shen Chu asked, "What kind of prisoners live in the cell next to yours?"
"It was a monk, the abbot of Qingshan Temple, Jueming. I also heard the prefect tell him to go somewhere after he left."
The old man squinted and thought for a long time before saying, "Yes, it's called Osmanthus Lane. The prefect instructed the monk to go to Osmanthus Lane to see if a man named Zhang Shilang had woken up."
They also said that he absolutely mustn't wake up, otherwise things would get complicated.
"Shut up!" Magistrate Jiang's expression changed drastically. He stepped forward and glared at the old man with a gloomy expression.
The old man trembled with fear, shrinking back and daring not to utter another sound.
Shen Chu sneered, "Lord Jiang ordered the jailer to drug all the officials, putting them into a deep sleep. You didn't expect that some of them wouldn't faint because they hadn't eaten, did you?"
Prefect Jiang raised his head, his expression somewhat ferocious.
"How dare a prisoner criticize an official of the imperial court? Their words are completely unreliable."
Shen Chu sneered, "If the prisoners' words can't be trusted, then what about the jailers and guards?"
Prefect Jiang seemed to remember something, and his expression changed slightly.
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