Zuo Huan was startled, his eyes wide with astonishment, and he swayed involuntarily. It seemed that only now did he truly realize the enormity of the mess he had made!
He hesitated for a long time, but finally had no choice and resigned himself to his fate: "Fine, I will report this matter to my uncle in detail and ask him to help the young prince..."
Li Qingchen's cold and handsome face finally softened a bit because of these words, and he nodded to Zuo Huan with satisfaction. The two had reached an agreement.
Before leaving, Li Qingchen suddenly remembered something and turned back to say, "Even with your uncle's help, the Wei family will not be able to regain their freedom in just a few days. During their time in Dali Temple prison, please ask your uncle to treat them with extra care in terms of food."
*
The prison was damp and cold in the late autumn evening, and the whole cell was filled with a musty and rotten smell, which made those who had not yet eaten dinner have no appetite at all.
Wei Shuwan sat with her knees drawn up to her chest on one side of the iron railing. Although it would be colder here because of the air vents, the unpleasant smells could be dispelled by the wind blowing in, making her more comfortable.
Wei Shuyao, however, was different. She sat at the innermost part of the cell, preferring to be less particular rather than risk catching a cold. She knew that if she fell ill in a place like this, there would be no doctor to see her, let alone any medicine to drink, and she didn't want to die here.
The two sisters were in a daze, half asleep and half awake, when suddenly a noise broke out in the quiet cell, startling them awake.
"Dinner's ready! Dinner's ready! We'll be clearing away the bowls and chopsticks in about an incense stick's time, so hurry up!"
The jailer carried the food box from south to north, delivering the food to each cell. For the earlier cells, he simply placed the bowls and chopsticks outside the iron bars, and the prisoners would reach in and carry the bowls in themselves. But when he reached Wei Shuwan and Wei Shuyao's cell, he unlocked the iron chains on the cell door and handed the entire food box inside.
His tone was much kinder than when he treated the previous people: "I'll come back to collect yours tomorrow morning. No need to rush, just eat slowly."
After saying this, the jailer locked the cell door again and turned back.
Wei Shuwan and Wei Shuyao were both somewhat surprised. Clearly, this was a treatment that could only be given after someone had made arrangements. Wei Shuyao was only surprised for a moment, and then she became happy. She stepped forward and took out the bowls and plates one by one from the box. They were red and white, and she actually spread them out on the straw mat to make a small table.
For two days, she hadn't eaten a decent meal. The rice she ate was mixed with sand, stones, and weeds, and some of it was even spoiled!
She endured this for two whole days, and now she finally had a decent meal. Wei Shuyao couldn't wait a moment longer, so she picked up her bamboo chopsticks, grabbed a piece of roasted pork, and put it in her mouth.
"It's delicious! Third sister, aren't you going to eat some?"
While chewing on the fragrant but not greasy roasted pork, Wei Shuyao turned to ask Wei Shuwan, who was still sitting listlessly in the wind.
Wei Shuwan's tone was indifferent, clearly lacking strength: "You dare to eat it without even knowing who sent it? Aren't you afraid that those people who framed my father are plotting to poison us again?"
These words made Wei Shuyao's face turn pale. She quickly spat out the piece of meat she hadn't swallowed, stared wide-eyed at it for a moment, and then her expression gradually returned to normal.
She suddenly became annoyed: "Third sister, are you trying to scare me with those words? Even if someone is framing Second Uncle, they're after him. We're locked up in the women's prison, why would they bother with us?"
"If you ask me, it must be that Master Sheng or Zi Qiao and Miao Xiang used money to bribe their way in and get these things sent in!"
Thinking she had figured things out, Wei Shuyao picked up her chopsticks to eat the roasted meat with peace of mind. But as soon as she took a bite, Wei Shuwan, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up:
"They want my father to admit to this fabricated crime, so they will inevitably try to put pressure on him. Poisoning his family members is the easiest way to achieve this. When we are half-dead, my father will most likely compromise and use his own life to save the rest of the Wei family."
"Pfft pfft pfft—" Wei Shuyao spat out the meat in her mouth again, this time even more thoroughly, not daring to swallow even the juice!
Once her mouth was cleaned, Wei Shuyao felt safe and then said anxiously, "Wei Shuwan, can you finish what you're saying all at once? Are you deliberately trying to torment me?"
Wei Shuwan glanced at her coldly: "You should thank me for saving your life just now."
Wei Shuyao frowned, indignantly saying, "We can't prove that the food is actually poisoned. I only refused to eat it because I was afraid of that one in ten thousand risk. How did that become you saving my life?"
Wei Shuwan chuckled and shifted her gaze from Wei Shuyao's face to the dishes.
"These dishes may look plentiful, but for prisoners who have been detained in jail for two days without any oil or fat, the most attractive dish is actually the plate of roasted pork."
As Wei Shuyao listened to her analysis, her gaze followed her eyes and fell on the plate of roasted pork. Indeed, this was the very dish she had picked up with her chopsticks twice.
"So?" Wei Shuyao pressed.
"So if someone really wanted to poison it, there was no need to work on other dishes; they could just put the poison in this plate of roast pork. Moreover, there were only six small pieces of roast pork in this plate, so most of them wouldn't be left over. The amount of poison ingested would naturally be under their control, and they wouldn't make a mistake."
At this moment, Wei Shuyao stared at the plate of tempting, red-glowing roasted pork and felt a chill run down her spine. "Are you really sure it's poisonous?"
"Because I know that if Lord Sheng or Zi Qiao can get the money, Zi Qiao will definitely bring it in for me personally, instead of just throwing it in by the jailer without saying a word."
As Wei Shuwan spoke, she reached into her sleeve and quickly removed the armband from her forearm.
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