Mistakenly recognized as a cousin, thousands of pampered

The jailer's voice was rough and hoarse, without any emotion, as he passed three bowls of white porridge between the wooden stakes.

"Thank you, young man. Excuse me, do you know why we were locked up here?" Tao Jiuxi hurriedly came closer, with confusion in his eyes.

"do not know."

The jailer shrugged his shoulders and curled his lips, looking as if he was used to it.

"But here, regardless of whether they are royal relatives or wealthy people, I have rarely seen anyone escape unscathed."

When Tao Jiuxi heard this, his expression darkened and he stopped talking. He thought that since the jailer didn't know, it would be futile to ask more questions, which would only increase his panic.

Knowing how many lives had been lost here in the past would only make the three people's already tense hearts even tighter.

She raised her hand and fumbled carefully through the hair of the three people, and found a hairpin with a silver luster. She didn't know if it could really test whether the porridge was poisonous. Tao Jiuxi put the hairpin into each bowl of porridge, holding her breath and observing for a long time. Seeing that there was nothing unusual about the hairpin, she felt relieved.

"I know you have no appetite, but you have to eat. We don't know how long we'll be stuck here, so we have to conserve our energy so we can deal with any unexpected events."

Tao Jiuxi picked up the bowl and took the first sip. The rice porridge was bland, with only a few rice grains, but he didn't bother to dislike it.

"Not bad, at least it's not rotten."

"Yeah, it's still hot." Tao Qingwan took the bowl handed to her by Zhong Yunxi and responded softly, suppressing the bitterness and uneasiness in her heart and forcing herself to swallow the few mouthfuls of watery rice porridge.

Several people hurriedly finished their food without tasting it, and then folded their bowls gently. Tao Jiuxi shouted to the outside of the door, "Young man, the meal is ready. Please help."

Soon, the jailer came to get the bowls. Seeing that several bowls of porridge had been eaten up, the jailer couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly, thinking to himself that these new women were different.

In the past, those imprisoned here were either royal relatives of noble status, or wealthy ladies from wealthy families who had been spoiled since childhood. Once imprisoned, they would scream and shout from morning till night, and their cries would be so miserable that they could shake cracks in the walls of the cell.

But these three people in front of me, faced with the bland white porridge, ate up every drop.

"Oh, you guys are quite patient. You didn't make a fuss or cry like others. It gave us brothers a lot of peace and comfort!" The jailer grinned, with a bit of rough ridicule in his voice.

Tao Jiuxi and the others pretended not to hear and remained silent, exchanging glances with each other. Their eyes contained caution, uneasiness, and a reluctance to cause any more trouble.

The time in the cell was long. They would occasionally whisper a few words to each other, their voices as soft as the buzzing of mosquitoes and flies, just to break the suffocating silence and comfort each other.

Tao Jiuxi looked up at the palm-sized window high up. The sunlight faded and dimmed little by little, and her heart tightened as it did.

A whole day has passed and there has been no news from Shen Zhiyi. Could it be that he really met with an accident and is in deep trouble and unable to escape?

At this moment, she hoped that Shen Zhiyi could come down like a god and rescue them, or that Ji Qingyi could show up, even if it was just a few words to tell her the current situation, which would be better than this torment of being in the dark.

Night slowly fell, and the coldness seeped into the cell.

They wrapped themselves tightly in the thin quilt, huddled together, trying to resist the bone-chilling cold. That night, the bed creaked, filled with tossing and turning sorrow.

Three days passed, and there was still no news. The emotions of the three people gradually collapsed, and the words of comfort they wanted to each other were stuck on their lips and could no longer be uttered.

Just when I was in despair, a faint sound came from outside the cell.

I could vaguely hear the call of "Greetings, Your Excellency!" and then a steady male voice pierced the silence: "Where are the Tao family members?"

The sound was like a ray of light.

"I'll take you there, my Lord."

The jailer responded, and hurried footsteps came. A figure came into view at the corner - it was Fang Mingxiu.

Tao Qingwan was originally slumped on the edge of the bed, her eyes empty and full of melancholy. When she saw that the person coming was Fang Mingxiu, her eyes lit up instantly.

She leaped from the bed like a spring, rushed to the wooden pillar, and gripped the railing with both hands. She stared at Fang Mingxiu, her lips trembling slightly, as if she had a thousand words to say. But when she looked down at his miserable appearance, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over her head. The words she wanted to say instantly froze in her throat, stuck in her throat, and could no longer be uttered.

"Sir, this is the room." The jailer bowed and said flatteringly.

"Okay, back off."

The jailer bowed and walked away until his figure disappeared around the corner of the corridor.

Fang Mingxiu bowed slightly, showing all courtesy, and said, "Mrs. Tao, Miss Tao, I'm honored."

After the ceremony, he walked to the side and stopped in front of Tao Qingwan. His eyes looked over the bars of the cell and stared straight at Tao Qingwan. There seemed to be thousands of words hidden in his eyes, but they were covered by his cold expression.

"Tanhua Fang, stop with all this empty formalities. What on earth happened in my family?" Tao Jiuxi was so anxious that he couldn't help but speak first.

Hearing this, Fang Mingxiu slowly shifted his gaze from Tao Qingwan to look at Tao Jiuxi. "Three days ago, in the imperial court, the Chief Censor Cao reported that Lord Tao had secretly colluded with Prince Shou, deliberately creating a plague in Shuzhou to harm the people. He had also recruited soldiers for Prince Shou to expand his power, and had secretly colluded with Xi Yan, committing treason and collaborating with the enemy."

"What?! Didn't Prince Shou die a long time ago?"

"Impossible, my father would never do such a thing!" Tao Qingwan became emotional in an instant, rushed to the front of the prison, grabbed the wooden pillar in front of her with both hands, and argued loudly.

Fang Mingxiu continued, "Prince Shou is dead. But Lord Cao has served in the court for many years and is known for his integrity and abstention from forming cliques. This time, he claimed to have received a secret report from someone, and he did not know the identity of the informant. However, after carefully examining and comparing the evidence, it seemed flawless. Because the matter was of great importance and concerned the country, he had no choice but to report the truth to the court and submit it to the emperor for his decision."

"The Emperor immediately dispatched a thorough investigation, and they discovered letters exchanged between Lord Tao and Prince Shou in a secret compartment in Lord Tao's study. The letters also mentioned that when Duke Shen rescued Lord Tao, Lord Tao wasn't secretly investigating as he had claimed. He actually had a secret appointment with Prince Shou, and was caught by Duke Shen, so he had no choice but to pretend to investigate."

After hearing this, Tao Jiuxi frowned and retorted without thinking: "Impossible!"

"The reason Prince Shou was convicted was because of the evidence in my father's hands! If my father was truly in cahoots with Prince Shou, why would he hand over the evidence? Even if we assume that my father and Prince Shou were in cahoots, if my father had betrayed Prince Shou, why would Prince Shou remain silent and not reveal the truth on the spot, even allowing my father to be promoted because of it?"