Shen Shijiu was taken to a strange place, which looked like a woodshed. It was very empty inside, with only some firewood piled up in the corner.
The servants threw him in and left. Shen Shijiu was thrown to the ground by a huge force, and his arms and knees were burning with pain. He finally adapted to the dark environment around him, and then groped his way to the corner.
He tried very hard to think back and realized that he really had not used any wrong medicine. How could the second princess suddenly be poisoned? He was puzzled.
It was dark in the woodshed and I couldn't see clearly outside. I could only roughly tell that it seemed to be dark.
Shen Shijiu didn't know when he would be released, but he would never recognize anything he hadn't done.
After it became completely dark, the door of the woodshed was suddenly pushed open, and several candlesticks illuminated the small woodshed.
Shen Shijiu slowly raised his head from his arms, and a familiar dress appeared in front of him.
Qi Bingzhi just stood at the door, unwilling to walk into this dirty and dilapidated woodshed. He covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and looked like he was not feeling well.
Xiaomei walked in, followed by several servants.
"I've given you half a day. Have you thought it over? Do you plead guilty or not?"
Shen Shijiu shrank twice and shook his head.
Xiaomei glared at him and said, "I knew you would be stubborn. Fortunately, I have already prepared the things for you. You just need to sign your name on them."
As he spoke, someone came forward with a piece of paper with evidence written on it and threw himself in front of Shen Shijiu.
"Just put your handprint on it, and the matter will be over. The princess won't pursue your fault anymore. Press it quickly."
Shen Shijiu looked at the paper. His master had taught him to read, and he could recognize almost all the words on it.
Seeing that he had been looking at it for a long time without moving, Xiaomei became anxious, "Stop looking and press it quickly. You two, help him."
One of the two servants next to him grabbed Shen Shijiu's hand and tried to press it onto the ink pad, while the other one came forward with the paper.
Shen Shijiu struggled desperately. He understood the words on the paper. As long as he put his fingerprints on it, it would mean he admitted his guilt.
After trying for a long time, he still couldn't get the ink on Shen Shijiu's hands. He was resisting with all his strength.
The servant simply took a dagger and cut Shen Shijiu's finger, staining his palm red with blood.
Unexpectedly, when he put the paper close to press the fingerprint, so much blood flowed out that it directly dyed half of the paper red, and it was impossible to see what was written on the paper.
Qi Bingzhi watched as several people worked for a long time but still failed to sign the contract, so he called Xiaomei over, explained something to her, and left. After Qi Bingzhi left, Xiaomei also called a few servants to leave, and the door of the woodshed was closed again.
Shen Shijiu's body lost its support and fell limply to the ground.
The ground was cold, but I could still feel the warmth in my palms, which were covered with sticky blood.
I don’t know how long I lay on the ground, it was so long that Shen Shijiu’s eyes were blurred and he couldn’t see clearly.
I heard the sound of the door opening again, and someone came in, it seemed like several people, and a bad smell filled the entire woodshed.
Shen Shijiu's eyelids were heavy, and he vaguely saw that those people were all dressed in rags, like beggars who made a living by begging on the street.
I vaguely heard those people talking.
"Is this the man?"
"He's the only one in this room. Who else could it be?"
"Then hurry up and get started. Finish it quickly so you can get your reward. The people in the Prime Minister's Mansion are so generous. They let us take advantage of them and even give us money." "That's right, if anyone says something bad about the Prime Minister in the future, I will be the first to disagree!"
After a heated discussion, those people rubbed their hands, slowly walked towards the person lying on the ground, and began to untie the person's clothes.
Shen Shijiu didn't know who twisted his body a few times, and he woke up from the pain. He raised his head with tears in his eyes.
"You, what do you want to do..."
When those people saw that he woke up, they didn't show any fear, but became even more excited.
"Hurry up, once a person wakes up, he will start to struggle and won't be so obedient."
Shen Shijiu really wanted to struggle, but he had already used too much strength just now and now he had no strength at all. Moreover, the bleeding palm was in so much pain that he could not move at all.
A crystal tear slid down his face, and Shen Shijiu trembled with fear, but this only resulted in even more rude and abusive treatment.
At this time, the sound of Dada's horse hooves stopped at the gate of the Prime Minister's Mansion. A figure jumped off the horse's back, then rushed into the mansion and headed directly towards the Waterside Residence.
Li Yu had already been waiting at the door. After seeing the black robe, he followed anxiously.
"Sir, the people have been in the Waterside Residence for five hours, and there has been no movement at all. I have no idea what the current situation is."
Pei Zheng had a stern expression and said nothing.
When we arrived at the door of Shuixieju, it was dark inside and it seemed that the people inside had already gone to bed.
Pei Zheng didn't think about it and kicked the door open, and the door frame shattered on the spot.
After the loud noise, candlelight lit up behind the thick curtain.
Xiaomei came out first, and looked very surprised when she saw Pei Zheng.
"Pei, Master Pei, why are you back?"
Pei Zheng didn't even look at her. He just waved her away, lifted the curtain and walked in.
Qi Bingzhi was lying on the bed, his clothes half pulled up, his cheeks pale and bloodless, looking pitiful.
"My Lord, ahem..."
She coughed twice, holding her chest and frowning.
Pei Zheng had no sympathy in his eyes. He walked to Qi Bingzhi's bed and said in a cold voice, "Where is he?"
Qi Bingzhi's eyes changed, "Sir, I don't understand what you are saying."
Pei Zheng had no intention of showing her any mercy. He grabbed her collar and pulled half of her body up from the bed.
"I'll ask you again, where are the people?"
Qi Bingzhi's breathing became difficult due to the tightness of his collar, and his face gradually turned red.
Xiaomei, who was standing by, hurried over and held Qi Bingzhi's body from underneath, she was so anxious that tears were about to come out.
"My lord, please put the princess down quickly. The princess has been poisoned by me and can't stand any more torture!"
Not only did Pei Zheng not let go, he held it even tighter.
"Poisoned?"
"Yes, yes!" Xiaomei nodded repeatedly as if complaining, and took out the prescription that Shen Shijiu wrote to Qi Bingzhi from her arms.
"It's this prescription. The doctor has already looked at it. This medicine conflicts with the one the princess took before. But Shen Shijiu still prescribed this prescription. He just holds a grudge against the princess..."
Pei Zheng glanced at the prescription in the dim candlelight, but suddenly froze.
He recognized this handwriting.
But the handwriting can be imitated, Pei Zheng knew it, and he had other evidence to prove it.
Before Xiaomei could finish her words, she was kicked to the side. She lay on the ground with a hunched back and unable to move for a long time.
"I have given you a chance. If anything happens to him..."
Pei Zheng leaned close to Qi Bingzhi's ear and said, "... You must pay it back a hundredfold."
After saying that, he threw the person in his hand to the ground fiercely. Pei Zheng didn't even want to look at Qi Bingzhi.
Qi Bingzhi coughed violently, tears streaming down her face, but the person in front of her was unwilling to show her even a little concern.
She already understood that she had lost the bet. Even if she had gambled with her own life, she still lost miserably.
Suddenly, a large number of guards from the Prime Minister's Mansion rushed in from outside the door and surrounded the entire Shuixie Residence.
Chengfeng and Li Yu were both standing at the door, waiting for Pei Zheng's instructions. At a glance from Pei Zheng, the guards rushed in and began a thorough search of Shuixie Residence.
After a while, several wailing sounds were heard from the yard at the back door of Shuixieju.
Chengfeng came to the outer hall to report, "Master, we found the person, but the situation doesn't seem good..."
Pei Zheng walked through the back door and came to the outside of the woodshed. There were four or five ragged beggars kneeling outside, all pinned to the ground and unable to move.
Pei Zheng took a deep breath, he suddenly felt a little afraid to face it, suppressed the restlessness in his heart, and walked into the woodshed. Shen Shijiu was supported by Li Yu, his little hands tightly protecting his collar, as if he was frightened, his eyes were confused and could not find the focus.
Li Yu saw Pei Zheng slowly approaching and said, "Sir, he was rescued by Guard Feng before anything happened, but he must have been very frightened and hasn't recovered yet."
Pei Zheng walked over and gently touched Shen Jiujiu's head. Shen Jiujiu looked up at him for a long time before his eyes focused on his face.
As soon as he recognized that the person standing in front of him was Pei Zheng, Shen Shijiu's tears welled up in his eyes. The tears kept flowing and he cried until he was almost out of breath.
"My lord... I, I didn't... poison... the princess..."
"Yeah, I know." Pei Zheng's tone was gentle, completely devoid of the coldness and hardness just now.
"I... I only know how to save... save people... I won't hurt anyone..."
"Yes, you won't hurt anyone."
Pei Zheng winked at Li Yu, and Li Yu wisely handed the person to Pei Zheng's arms, then pulled Chengfeng, who was still standing aside, out.
Shen Shijiu buried his head deeply in Pei Zheng's chest, and only when he smelled the pleasant sandalwood scent on him did he calm down a little. His tears didn't flow as violently, but there was still a mist in his eyes.
"Stop crying, I'll take you back to rest, okay?"
Shen Shijiu sobbed, "Okay... But I don't dare to be alone... I, I'm a little scared..."
Pei Zheng put his arm around his waist and led him out of the woodshed.
Of course, there was no plan to let him go back to the small room alone.
When the two entered the Waterside Residence from the back door, there was only a row of candlelight along the way. Everyone had been ordered to evacuate, and Qi Bingzhi and his entourage in the Waterside Residence were nowhere to be found.
Pei Zheng led Shen Shijiu along the row of candlelight, walked into the back garden, and came to the door of the small building.
-----Author has something to say------
In the next chapter, I will arrange for Xiao Pei to see the tattoo