allonlinenovel Chapter 292 Showing Weakness
Chapter 292 Showing Weakness
A smug sneer appeared on the jailer's face.
He turned to the jailers beside him and instructed them, "We cannot make any mistakes in what the master has instructed us to do."
"You guys, get your gear ready, and hurry up when you're done."
Sun Yang stood aside, watching the jailer and his men, his heart filled with a mixture of fear and anger.
They had once received kindness from Lord Su, yet now they repaid kindness with enmity; human nature is truly evil.
Sun Yang lowered his head, a bitter smile appearing on his lips.
What right does he have to criticize others? He only brought shame upon Lord Su...
Half an hour later, the jailer, accompanied by several of his men, carrying lanterns, swaggered toward Su Mu's cell.
Upon arriving at the cell, the warden eagerly peered inside and saw Su Mu lying motionless on the ground, seemingly lifeless.
"Looks like he's dead." The jailer sneered. "Open the door, I'll go in and take a look."
Immediately, a jailer opened the cell door, and the jailer went in to inspect it.
He crouched down and reached out to check Su Mu's breathing.
Suddenly, Su Mu snapped his eyes open, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, and grabbed the jailer's wrist, twisting it forcefully.
The jailer was completely unprepared for this turn of events. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and lost his balance, falling forward.
At the same time, Su Mu, who had been "completely still," suddenly sprang up like a tiger and kicked the jailer in the chest.
The prison warden flew straight backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing into the cell wall with a dull thud.
"You...you're still alive!"
The jailer stared wide-eyed in horror, his face filled with disbelief.
Before the jailer could react, Su Mu grabbed his neck with both hands, and a shard of porcelain appeared in his hand without him even noticing.
With his hand pressed against the jailer's neck, his voice was icy, "Tell me, who ordered you to kill me?"
The jailer's face turned red from being choked by Su Mu, and he desperately tried to pry Su Mu's hands off.
But Su Mu's hands were like iron clamps, gripping him tightly and preventing him from breaking free.
Upon seeing this, the other prison guards were first stunned, then as if waking from a dream, they drew their swords from their waists and rushed towards Su Mu.
Just then, a series of neat and rapid footsteps suddenly came from outside the cell.
Immediately afterwards, a group of guards surged in like a tide and subdued the prison guards in an instant.
The person in the lead was none other than Prince Chen.
The prison guards in the Ministry of Justice turned deathly pale the moment they saw Prince Chen.
"Your Highness Prince Chen?!"
What are a prince, a man of high status and wealth, and a rising star in the court doing in the middle of the night at the Ministry of Justice's prison?!
Prince Chen glanced around, a hint of confusion on his gentle face. "What are you all doing?"
Su Mu met Prince Chen's gaze and immediately understood what was happening. He pushed aside the jailer, knelt down, and said, "I beg Your Highness Prince Chen to do me justice! These jailers, I don't know who instructed them, want to poison me to death!"
Prince Chen's gaze instantly turned sharp. "If I remember correctly, the case of Minister Su of the Court of Judicial Review has not yet been adjudicated. How dare you, mere lowly officials, poison a high-ranking official of the court?!"
The jailer collapsed to the ground in terror, his body trembling like a leaf, stammering, "Your...Your Highness, I was only following orders..."
"On orders?" Prince Chen scoffed. "On whose orders?"
The jailer's face was ashen, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.
He never expected that Prince Chen would catch him in the act of poisoning Su Mu. Now that the matter has been exposed, he is bound to suffer a bad outcome.
He lowered his head and stopped speaking, clearly not intending to say anything.
Prince Chen was not surprised and smiled, "If you don't tell me, can't I investigate?"
……
The news that Prince Chen had suddenly appeared in the Ministry of Justice prison in the middle of the night quickly reached the ears of the Minister of Justice, who was so frightened that he was wide awake.
He practically tumbled out of bed, grabbing his shoes as he ran outside, yelling at the person who had come to report, "What happened? Why did Prince Chen go to the Ministry of Justice prison in the middle of the night? And why did he witness Su Mu being poisoned to death..."
The Minister of Justice felt a wave of dizziness wash over him at the thought of all this.
Although all parties are aware of these matters, once they are brought into the open, the nature of the situation changes!
The man who reported back was trembling with fear, panting as he chased after the Minister of Justice, "My lord, I... I don't know either."
"I only heard that when the jailer led his men to check if Lord Su was dead or not, His Highness Prince Chen and Lord Yun suddenly appeared..."
The Minister of Justice's legs went weak.
Prince Chen wondered why, given his frail health, he was heading to the Ministry of Justice prison.
What exactly was he going there to do?
The Minister of Justice was extremely anxious, but when he arrived at the Ministry of Justice prison, he found it empty.
His face was ashen as he roared at the jailer, "Where is His Highness Prince Chen? Where is Su Mu?!"
The jailer replied tremblingly, "Your Excellency, His Highness Prince Chen has taken Lord Su away. He said... he's taking Lord Su to file a complaint with the Emperor tomorrow..."
Upon hearing this, the Minister of Justice felt his vision go black and finally fainted completely.
The next morning, Prince Chen brought Su Mu to see Emperor Wenjing.
Because Prince Chen had been frail since childhood, Emperor Wenjing still cared for this son to some extent. Although he was displeased to learn that Prince Chen had brought Su Mu into the palace, he immediately ordered Liu Haifu to bring them in.
Before long, Prince Chen and Su Mu, led by Liu Haifu, entered the inner hall.
Su Mu knelt down and bowed, "Your Majesty, this sinful subject Su Mu pays his respects."
Prince Chen was about to kneel and pay his respects, but Emperor Wenjing stopped him, saying, "You don't need to be so polite. If you're not feeling well, you should avoid moving around in this cold weather."
A respectful smile appeared on Prince Chen's pale face. "Yes, Your Majesty, I will follow your teachings."
Emperor Wenjing sat upright on the dragon throne, his gaze sweeping over Prince Chen and Su Mu, his eyes cold and deep. "Prince Chen, you are always known for your courtesy, yet you bring a disgraced official to see me so early in the morning. What is the purpose of this visit?"
Prince Chen glanced at Su Mu, who was kneeling on the ground, and was about to say something when he suddenly coughed violently.
"Cough cough cough-"
Emperor Wenjing frowned.
Liu Haifu quickly offered a bowl of hot pear soup, saying, "Your Highness, please drink this to soothe your throat."
Prince Chen took the pear soup and sipped it a few times.
The rising steam condensed on his long eyelashes, and he gently lowered his eyes.
Yun Shang's words flashed through my mind.
Su Mu was straightforward and honest. He knew that Emperor Wenjing was displeased and worried about his persistent pursuit of the Prince of Yong, but he still insisted on going against him. If this stalemate continued, it would only result in mutual destruction.
Perhaps it would be better to show weakness first.
Judging from the events of the past few days, although Emperor Wenjing was annoyed with Su Mu, he was far from wanting to kill Su Mu, so there was still room for maneuver.
Emperor Wenjing greatly admired Su Mu, a young minister with genuine talent and learning. Only by finding a way to make Emperor Wenjing feel pity for Su Mu could Su Mu overcome this crisis.
Thinking of this, Prince Chen's gaze fell on Su Mu. He coughed twice and said weakly, "Lord Su, you begged me to take you to see the Emperor. Now that I'm bringing you into the palace, please speak quickly."
Emperor Wenjing's gaze also fell on Su Mu.
His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He really didn't want to hear those "punishing the wicked and eliminating evil" rhetoric from Su Mu again.
But then Su Mu, that stubborn and obstinate man, shouted, "Your Majesty, this subject knows his mistake!"