Da Ming: I told you to die for your cause, why are you actually going to die?

Chapter 9: If we're brothers, let Old Zhu come and chop me up! [New book, please add to your collection]

clap clap-

The sound of a small leather whip cracking echoed repeatedly in the prison.

Accompanied by shouts and questions.

"Say it or not! Say it or not! Say it or not!"

"What exactly do you want him to say? He's been beaten so badly, and he still won't tell you?"

Zhang Biao looked at the Imperial Guard beside him, trembling.

But then the Imperial Guard grinned and said, "We Imperial Guards only care about the process when handling cases, not the result, because the result is the same anyway. So we beat him for three days and three nights just to ask him if he would talk or not."

"hiss--!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Biao couldn't help but gasp, and even Qi Tai, Lü Ping, and Zhao Qian behind him turned pale.

Although they had long heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard was very ruthless, seeing is believing. Old Zhu was indeed the most ruthless person in the Ming Dynasty!
Otherwise, how could such a bizarre organization have been created?

"Alright, why did you say so much to them? They'll suffer later anyway. How are we supposed to play if you say too much?!"

Seemingly annoyed by his colleague's loose tongue, another member of the Imperial Guard immediately stopped him.

Soon, Zhang Biao and the other three were kicked into their respective cells.

"Bang!"

The heavy iron gate closed behind him, cutting off the last ray of light from the outside world, and also shutting out Zhang Biao's chilling heart.

Imperial Prison?

I was actually thrown into the imperial prison!
It's not execution by beheading, it's not skinning alive, it's imprisonment!
It was Old Zhu who gave the order, the kind of joint trial by the three judicial departments!
The damp, cold air, mixed with the stench of blood, mold, and excrement, instantly filled Zhang Biao's nostrils, causing him to gag repeatedly.

A faint, unsettling sound occasionally drifted into my ears.

The environment was more immersive than any horror movie filming location he had ever seen in the real world.

"Oh no. Barbie Q is gone."

Zhang Biao collapsed onto the grass, complaining incessantly: "Old Zhu, you have no sportsmanship! I even applied for VIP skinning service, and you put me in the Imperial Prison? You think it's dirtying your skills? Is your skill so precious?"

"Where's the procedure? What happened to the promised immediate execution? I want to go back to my air-conditioned room! I don't want to stay here! My crazy Thursday!"

"How to do how to do?"

He grabbed his messy hair, his mind racing: "Am I going to stay in this godforsaken place forever, waiting for the joint trial by the three judicial authorities to end? That'll take forever! What if Old Zhu calms down and exiles me three thousand miles away? I don't even know if I can go back by committing suicide! I can't possibly be locked up for the rest of my life, can I?!"

The thought of spending the rest of his life in this dark, stinking place made Zhang Biao feel like he was going to die.

"No! I have to think of something quickly!"

Zhang Biao suddenly stood up, seemingly lost in thought, and began pacing back and forth in the cramped cell, pondering a way out: "Should I provoke the guards? Make them dislike me and kill me outright?"

"But what if they kill me and I can't get back to the modern world?"

"Logically speaking, Old Zhu should still be angry with me. If I let the jailer kill me, it's practically the same as having the executioner kill me. Maybe."

Thinking of this, Zhang Biao immediately made up his mind: "Okay! Let's do it this way!"

He leaned against the fence, facing the dimly lit passageway outside, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Where are they?! Where have they all gone? I'm starving! Get me a roast chicken! From Juxianlou! And a pot of the finest Nu'erhong!"

"Did you hear me? Are you all deaf? Believe me or not, I'll impeach you! I'll have your commander come over here and drink with me!" "Damn it! Can't you breathe? Answer me—!"

Outside, all was deathly silent, with only Zhang Biao's own voice buzzing in the passageway.

Not even a mouse was disturbed, let alone the jailers.

"Damn! So aloof?"

Zhang Biao was somewhat frustrated, but still unwilling to give up. So he changed his strategy, leaning against the cell bars and loudly singing: "Holding a cornbread in my hand~~ Not a drop of oil in the food~~ How painful is life in the imperial prison~~ How wonderful the outside world is~~ When will I be able to return to my home~~ Ah~~ Home~~~"

The off-key singing, which had drifted to the neighbor's house, echoed in the deathly silent prison like the wailing of ghosts and wolves.

"Shut up! Are you wailing like a mourner?"

Finally, a furious curse, uttered in a heavy accent and weak voice, came from the next cell: "If you howl again, I'll come over and strangle you!"

Zhang Biao's eyes lit up, thinking to himself, "Finally, there's a reaction?"
"Bro! Bro next door!"

He frantically clung to the gap in the railing, lowering his voice and speaking seductively, "Want to get out? Want to be free? I have a plan! Let's work together: you strangle me! Then you say you're doing a service to the people, how about that, a win-win situation!"

Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence next door, followed by a violent coughing fit accompanied by furious curses: "Cough cough... Madman! Cough cough... You're a madman! Get away from me!"

"No, brother."

"roll--!"

An unidentified object was thrown from the next cell, accompanied by a furious curse delivered with all its might.

Zhang Biao dodged the thing, sat back down on the haystack, and began to think about a more radical plan.

"Hit a wall? That looks painful, and there's no guarantee I'll die. What if I get rescued? Wouldn't all that suffering have been for nothing? Besides, I don't even know if I can get back to the modern world!"

"Bite your tongue to commit suicide? It's said to have an extremely low success rate, and it's incredibly painful."

"Could it be."

He looked up at a 45-degree angle, at the dark, dripping, unidentified liquid on the prison ceiling, his face filled with sorrow: "Is Heaven going to destroy me, Zhang Biao?"

Just as he was feeling utterly hopeless and contemplating whether to try the legendary 'Conan-style murder method,' a series of 'tap-tap' footsteps approached from afar.

It wasn't the heavy gait of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, but rather a more casual, even somewhat light, pace.

A young man dressed in a blue prison guard uniform, but noticeably cleaner and tidier than the average prison guard, carrying a food box and humming an off-key tune, strolled to a stop in front of Zhang Biao's prison gate.

"The new guy? Zhang Biao?"

The young prison guard looked quite energetic, but his eyes were a bit lazy as he looked Zhang Biao up and down.

"what?"

Zhang Biao glanced at him irritably, then at the food box in his hand: "Sending you a last meal? Tell Old Zhu I'm not eating it! If you're a brother, let him come and chop me up!"

"puff--"

The young jailer chuckled, squatted down, and stuffed the food box through the bars: "What are you thinking? Last meal? This is a special order from Commander Jiang. Before the joint trial by the three judicial departments, your case must be handled very well, without the slightest mistake! Here, your food!"

As he spoke, he opened the food box.

Zhang Biao glanced at the food box as if he didn't care, then his pupils suddenly contracted as if in a magnitude 9 earthquake!

(End of this chapter)