The entire courtroom instantly devolved into a bloody inferno.
Blood flowed from their bodies, pooling on the ground, staining the grey stone floor a dazzling crimson.
Liu Yujing leaned against a pillar, retching with nausea.
Zhang Yi and Sun Minglong, their faces ashen, covered their mouths, while Zou Cheng abruptly sat on his chair, his expression so grim it seemed to drip water.
The bailiffs, pale-faced, clutched their long sabers tightly.
Only two individuals in the entire courtroom remained unchanged in their demeanor.
Feng Quan’s face was cold, his expression no different than before. Nan Shiying’s slightly upturned lips seemed to be a smile, her entire being radiating like the brilliant sun.
How perverse!
She crouched beside the man’s corpse, looking at his nearly severed throat. With a casual flip, the saber dropped from his neck, and more blood spilled out.
Nan Shiying pried open the man’s mouth, her fingers searching inside. After a moment, her eyes lit up. She reached in and dislodged a poison pill wrapped in a sugar coating.
Then, she stood and walked towards the woman, performing the same action.
Nan Shiying placed the two extracted poison pills before Zou Chengyi. The pills, mixed with blood and saliva, carried a foul, unbearable stench. Zou Chengyi frowned, looking at the viscous poison stained with saliva.
“Sir, do you understand now?” Nan Shiying asked Zou Chengyi.
Zou Chengyi nodded. He understood. These people had all hidden poison in their mouths, clearly indicating they were a group.
But why hadn’t they taken the poison to commit suicide earlier? Evidently, they didn’t want to be discovered so quickly. They could never have imagined that the perverted Feng Luan would pry open their mouths the moment they died.
“In that case, Feng…”
“Alright, I’ll stay in the Ministry of Justice’s prison for a while then.”
Zou Chengyi’s words were cut off by Nan Shiying, but what she said made him freeze for a full minute.
“Young Master Feng, you…”
“I know, I know. Sir has no choice. After all, they are dead, and the evidence is gone. Even if you know I’m innocent, the procedures must be followed, and I must be wronged by going to the Ministry of Justice’s prison. I understand, I truly do. Sir needn’t blame yourself.”
“It’s not…”
“No, no, Sir truly needn’t blame yourself.”
Zou Chengyi fell silent, watching her talk to herself.
When had he ever asked her to go to prison? When had he ever blamed himself? Zou Chengyi was almost amused to the point of anger.
Liu Yujing and the others stared at Nan Shiying, their mouths slightly agape.
Feng Quan looked at Nan Shiying several times. The face that had remained expressionless from beginning to end now held a faint smile.
Zou Chengyi looked at Nan Shiying, beginning to understand what she was trying to do.
He turned to Liu Yujing. “Brother Liu, I hope you can keep what happened in court today confidential. The death of your son is clearly more than just a homicide case; there may be deeper and larger matters hidden behind it. To clarify this matter, I ask Brother Liu not to reveal a single bit of it!”
Liu Yujing understood now. However, the thought that his son’s death might merely be a setup targeting Feng Luan stirred his grief and anger, which he could not quell. Even knowing that Feng Luan was not directly responsible for his son’s death, he still could not find peace.
But now, this matter concerned the truth, and he would naturally not do anything foolish before the truth was revealed.
He nodded, thereby agreeing to Zou Chengyi’s request.
Seeing that he had agreed, Zou Chengyi then looked at everyone present.
Everyone solemnly agreed to maintain secrecy.
Nan Shiying smiled and said, “Since we’re putting on a show, let’s go all the way. I’ll have to trouble all you esteemed sirs for the next few days.”
Sun Minglong’s lips twitched. He finally understood his fate; he had to go to the Ministry of Justice’s prison whether he wanted to or not.
Several bailiffs were also confined to the Ministry of Justice.
…
Ministry of Justice Prison.
Nan Shiying strolled through the prison as if walking in her own courtyard. The corridor was only a meter wide and reasonably clean, but the prison cells on either side had walls stained with unknown substances. Occasional cockroaches and mice scurried through the dry grass on the ground. Although Nan Shiying didn’t mind being imprisoned, she didn’t want to share her quarters with these ‘little animals.’
Fortunately, Zou Chengyi was considerate enough to arrange Nan Shiying and Zhang Yi in a ‘deluxe’ cell.
Next door lived the Qin siblings.
Nan Shiying hadn’t expected to see Qin Xiaorong again in prison.
She and Qin Xiaorong were separated by only a single wall.
On the wall, whether due to years of disrepair or someone’s prying, there was a hole. The opening was near the head of the wooden bed in the cell. Nan Shiying propped her chin on her hand and looked through the hole to the other side.
The first thing that caught her eye was a carved pearwood canopy bed. The bed curtains were made of the latest fabric in the capital. Beside the bed was a matching dressing table. The table facing the bed was also carved pearwood, with fruits and pastries laid out on it. Apart from not being able to go out, Qin Xiaorong’s life here was no different from her life in the Qin or Zou residences.
Nan Shiying then looked at her own bed and sighed softly.
However, her envy didn't last long before servants from the Prince’s mansion brought in a bed and a table.
The bed was a *boju* bed, and the table was made of golden-grained nanmu. The Prince remembered her current identity and hadn’t prepared a dressing table for her, but instead provided a daybed and a bookcase.
The food box brought by the servants was ten layers high, almost as tall as a person.
Inside were pastries and fruits that wouldn’t easily get damp, and her favorite Taiping Houkui. Jia Huan had said that the jailers would bring hot water every half an hour.
There was plenty of tea and abundant food.
Putting aside other matters, Nan Shiying looked at Lu Wan, who was disguised, and twitched her lips slightly. Was a maid really necessary?
“Master, eat fruit!”
Lu Wan cracked the shell of a nut and placed the kernel in Nan Shiying’s palm. Nan Shiying looked up at her. Lu Wan had merely changed her hairstyle and altered her eye makeup. However, unless one was very familiar, it would be impossible to recognize that this maid, willing to enter prison to serve, was actually the Prince’s personal maid.
Nan Shiying tossed the kernel into her mouth and, after a few minutes of shock, gladly accepted the Prince’s kindness.
When Zou Chengyi heard the report, he almost choked. He thought the Qin family was excessive, but he never expected that there were stronger people. This Feng Luan needed a maid to sleep with him in prison?
Was the Prince’s illness truly just a cold and fever?
Zou Chengyi dared not dwell on it, fearing that thinking too much might cost him his life!
He indulged the Qin family because of his useless son. He indulged Feng Luan purely out of fear of the Regent Prince, Ji Jinmo.
“Let him be!”
Zou Chengyi dismissed the jailers, wanting to avoid the sight.
…
Nan Residence.
Nan Yujin was restless. A small servant from the Ministry of Justice, who had been standing guard outside, hurried back, shouting anxiously.
“Young Master, Young Master, Feng Luan has been imprisoned!”