Manbao also opened her mouth wide as both of them looked at the books placed beside the kang bed. Today, when Zhou Lijun ca to deliver their food, she also brought the dicinal herbs they needed.
Of course, she didn’t forget to bring the two books they needed.
Bai Erlang and Yin Huo had slipped letters inside the books because it wasn’t sothing that could be openly discussed. Bai Shan spoke in a suppressed voice when he ntioned this.
He swallowed hard, leaning against the wall and asked, "And then? What else did you hear?"
"Then you lowered your voices so much, how could I hear anything? But I did sll chicken soup, did you guys have so?"
Bai Shan wasn’t sure if the anxiety in his chest could be eased, because it wasn’t sothing they would believe just because he said so. What if he was lying to them?
Manbao, worried, lifted the basket’s cover to check the rolled noodles inside, and somberly said, "Let’s scrape together a bowl."
Then, at lunchti, they all ate a little less, saving an extra portion of noodles to be secretly sent by the guards to the inmate nad Ba living just behind their wall.
The guards never expected inmates to make friends while imprisoned. Bai Shan seized the opportunity to squat by the prison door and quietly ask one of them, "Brother, what did the guy behind us nad Ba do?"
Because Bai Shan spoke in such a secretive manner, the guard couldn’t resist squatting down and whispering, "Robber and murderer, not good people. He’s been sentenced to be executed this autumn, doesn’t have many days left. Hiss, why so secretive, you know him?"
Bai Shan shook his head continuously and lowered his voice even more, whispering, "Do you know, he can hear even our quietest conversations from this side."
The guard’s eyes widened in disbelief, "Really?"
Manbao and the brothers of the Xiang Family nodded together, tightly closing their mouths, not daring to speak, clearly frightened.
The perplexed guard delivered the noodles to the other side, watching as the disheveled, filthy, and thoroughly evil Master Ba ate the noodles, then asked, "You’ve got sharp ears."
Wiping his mouth from the soup, he let out a loud laugh, "Yeah, my ears are alright. What, did I scare the friends behind ? They sound so young, what kind of serious trouble did they get into at such a young age?"
He laughed and asked, "You’re not going to be executed with , are you?"
The guard scoffed, "Don’t flatter yourself too much. Their cris are much bigger than yours, but even if they die, they probably won’t be beheaded like you. Look, everyone around here will be on the road with you soon."
Master Ba retracted his gaze and asked while folding his hands, "So what did they do, how many people did they kill?"
"They haven’t killed a single person, but if what they planned had succeeded, there would have been rivers of blood. Of course, if their plan hadn’t worked out, there still would have been a greater river of blood," said the guard before taking the bowl away.
Master Ba had only intended to scare people into getting a good al; although he could eat well before the execution, it would be just once, and who knows if he’d have the appetite on that day.
Not expecting such an answer, he beca intrigued and knocked on the wall, asking, "Hey, neighbors, what did you guys do?"
Manbao, still in a bad mood after giving away a bowl of noodles, flipped a page of the book and irritably said, "Can’t you talk about your own story before asking others?"
Master Ba didn’t mind and laughed, since he was about to die, there was nothing to hide, and said aloud, "Nothing to hide, really. Just stole so stuff and accidentally killed a few people, that’s all."
All four of them frowned simultaneously, feeling uneasy inside, "No regret in your heart after killing soone?"
"What’s there to regret? If I hadn’t killed them, they would have killed ..."
Tao Yi stood in the shadows, listening to the bandit boast about how he killed people and stole things when he was young, and couldn’t help but frown. He asked the bailiff, "How did they even start talking to each other?"
"That one surnad Ba has ears that are too sharp. He can hear even whispers through a wall. No idea what those four are quietly plotting, but most likely he’s caught them in so compromising situation and so extorted a bowl of noodles from them. They’re feeling quite resentful over here."
Tao Yi: ...
Unable to contain himself, he turned to look at Minister Feng, who was standing with his hands behind his back, and whispered, "My lord, should we inquire with that Bapo?"
Minister Feng seed indifferent, "They are in prison, whatever they plot they can’t carry out."
"But their contact with the outside has never been cut off..."
Minister Feng glanced at him and said, "Isn’t that a good thing? I’d rather they incite soone outside to create trouble, the palace would then imdiately order their release, which would be better. Do you think it’s good for them to stay in prison?"
Tao Yi imdiately lowered his head and said nothing.
Minister Feng touched his chest and said, "As long as they are here, my heart can’t be at peace for a day, and I’ll have to spend the days with my eyes open. I can’t bear it at my age."
Tao Yi’s mouth twitched slightly as he asked quietly, "Shall we send a ssage outside, discuss this Bapo situation?"
Minister Feng looked at him sideways with annoyance, "Are you hoping the situation outside gets even more chaotic? Do you think Lord Tang is blind, or deaf? Do you think your maneuvers could escape his notice?"
Tao Yi: ... So this won’t work, that won’t work, what exactly do you want then?
Minister Feng looked at his confidant in frustration and said, "Rember, you are the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice, the vice minister of the Ministry of Justice. Let them fight amongst themselves; don’t interfere. As long as the people are in our prison, we just need to guard it well."
Minister Feng turned around to check the surroundings and, seeing that everyone had retreated far away, he lowered his voice and said, "Do you know why our Book of Docunts head always sits in the middle during reviews but never speaks?"
Ji Xiang, who is also the Book of Docunts head of the Departnt of State Affairs, is the top official.
After thinking for a mont, Tao Yi said, "Ji Xiang does not wish to be too deeply involved."
Minister Feng glanced at him and somberly said, "No, it’s because Ji Xiang lacks confidence. He has been nad one of the three chief review officers of the provinces; whether he speaks or not, he’s already involved."
Tao Yi was startled and asked, "Why does Ji Xiang lack confidence?"
Minister Feng lifted his lips, then feeling that this was inappropriate, he said, "After this review, Ji Xiang is likely to retire and return to his hotown. This is because he did not seek to manage affairs while in his position; you should not follow in his footsteps."
Tao Yi took a while to understand Minister Feng’s point, and his back was instantly covered in cold sweat. Looking at the cell where the four were kept, he finally understood Minister Feng’s feelings—these four were indeed hot potatoes.
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