The queen is sober in the world, and she is winning every step of the palace fight.

Cui Liang took a few spoonfuls and then refused to eat anymore. His throat was broken from shouting during the torture, and swallowing was extremely painful.

But Cao Bin tried to persuade him to eat a few more bites.

Tell him to eat more so that his body can hold on and survive until the moment he is released.

"Yes, yes! Son, I'll listen to you!"

Cui Liang was in a daze and endured the pain to eat and drink.

I ate half of what my godfather brought me, but I couldn't eat any more, so I stopped.

"Son, stay here and I'll come see you tomorrow when I'm free."

Cao Bin wiped the corner of his adopted son's mouth.

Move gently.

Cui Liang had been Cao Bin's adopted son for many years, but he had never been treated so gently by his godfather. He was mostly lectured and disciplined.

He couldn't help crying.

"Dad, I'm in pain. Can you please ask them to put me down? I want to lie on the ground and take a nap."

"Okay, Dad, go tell them."

Cao Bin touched his adopted son's cheek soothingly.

He applied the pain-relieving ointment again before turning and leaving the cell.

He only brought this ointment. He had many other good medicines for stopping bleeding, reducing inflammation, and promoting wound healing, but he didn't need them, so he didn't bring them.

"Eunuch Cao, take care."

The head of the heavy punishment cell escorted Cao Bin out.

This jailer was older than Cao Bin. When Cao Bin first entered the palace, they both did odd jobs downstairs. Cao Bin relied on his care, so they had some old friendship.

Therefore, the jailer advised Cao Bin to mourn: "Outside the palace, there are many families with unfilial sons. You raised him and treated him well, which is considered to be his due. Everyone has his own destiny, especially people like us. We have no control over our own lives. We should live one day at a time and enjoy the blessings. Don't be sad, eunuch. If you feel unhappy, let someone know and I will come to your house to drink with you."

"If possible, unchain him, put him down and let him lie down for a while."

Cao Bin bowed to his old friend with pleading eyes.

The jailer nodded and said, "Okay, when the supervisor isn't keeping a close eye on him, I'll take him down for a while and then hang him up again when the patrol arrives."

"Thank you. I'll remember this kindness."

The jailer waved his hand to indicate that it was not necessary and watched him go away.

He secretly thought that this eunuch rarely asked for help from others, but now he owed him a favor for a son who was doomed to die.

Poor parents in the world.

Who says eunuchs are heartless and ungrateful and only care about money?

The son did it, but the affection between them was not.

Later, the jailer actually untied Cui Liang's chains and let him down to relax.

Over the next two days, Cao Bin tried to find time to visit his adopted son in the cell, applying painkillers and feeding him nourishing soup every day.

The emperor issued an imperial decree ordering the execution of all the criminals involved. However, on the eve of the execution, Cui Liang suddenly developed a high fever after the torture and his heart stopped beating while he was sleeping.

However, his body, like other sinners, was thrown into a mass grave outside the city to feed wild dogs and wolves.

Cao Bin was on duty before the emperor as usual. On the night when Cui Liang was dragged out of the palace, he was ordered to deliver rewards to Chunxi Palace and was invited by Fei Wan to have tea in the hall.

After asking about the emperor's injuries and daily life as usual, Fei Wan went straight to the point and called Xiao Linzi over.

"Eunuch Cao, I roughly uncovered the details of Cui Liang's case half a month ago, but in order to catch the spies and lure them out, I was unable to warn you in advance. Xiao Linzi has had people monitoring Cui Liang's movements for some time, but he was only following orders, so please don't take your anger out on him. He was bullied by Cui Liang while in the Imperial Court, and only came to my side to protect himself. If I say I have no motive for revenge against Cui Liang, I'm kidding. But he didn't do anything extraneous, so if there's any blame, you'll only hold me responsible."

Cao Bin bowed with a solemn expression: "I dare not!"

Fei Wan sat upright on the rose-shaped chair and said slowly, "I have no intention of using my power to pressure you. I have always been grateful for your care, eunuch. I will always remember it. I really don't want to sever our friendship because of this incident."

Cao Bin bowed his head deeply.

"Your Highness, you are praising me. I want to tell you what I am thinking."

"Just tell me, sir."

"Your Majesty, I have failed to raise my son properly, and I feel guilty. I only regret that I adopted him as my adopted son even though I knew he had bad character. I also regret that I didn't correct him all these years. He deserves to be punished, and I deserve to suffer the pain of losing my son. I dare not blame you, Your Majesty, and I will not take my anger out on Xiao Linzi and others. Your Majesty, please understand that if I hold any grudge against you, I will not have a good death."

Fei Wan stood up and walked to Cao Bin.

Cao Bin looked up at Fei Wan, then lowered his head according to etiquette.

Fei Wan sighed and said softly, "It's human nature to have resentment. No matter how just my cause is, you have reason to hate me because your adopted son is gone. Eunuch Cao, I'd rather you hate me."

"I don't hate you."

Fei Wan was silent for a long time.

"Cao Bin, you are a good person."

She turned back to her chair, muttering to herself, "It's a shame, in this world, good people always suffer. Why?"

Cao Bin closed his eyes slightly.

After waiting for a while, I heard no more sound from Fei Wan. When I looked up, I saw Fei Wan with her eyes downcast, as if in a trance.

Xiao Linzi bowed to him, and Cao Bin bowed lightly and left.

Xiao Linzi sent Cao Bin to the gate of Chunxi Palace, and knelt down beside the holly bush and kowtowed three times to Cao Bin.

"Master, I am unfilial and have caused you to suffer. From now on, I will respect you well, provide for your well-being, and live with you for the rest of your life."

Cao Bin asked him to get up.

He said calmly, "What if I ask you to betray Concubine Zhao? Will you still respect me?"

“…You won’t.”

"Ah!"

In front of Xiao Linzi, Cao Bin finally frowned and was no longer as respectful as he had been in the hall just now.

"Xiao Linzi, now that you have a master, don't acknowledge me as your master anymore. I appreciate your filial piety, but Cui Liang...is gone after all. I can't be happy when I see you."

He turned and left.

Accompanied by two young eunuchs, his steps were steady and quick.

People who don’t know the inside story would never be able to tell that he would be sad about Cui Liang’s death.

Xiao Linzi returned to the hall and told Fei Wan exactly what Cao Bin had said.

"Your Majesty, do you think Eunuch Cao really doesn't hate you? Will he try to trip you up in the future?"

Fei Wan said: "Probably not, but he is very sad, that's true."

"What if later..."

"If the enemy comes, we will stop him; if the water comes, we will block it with earth. If anything happens, we will deal with it later."

"Slave understands!"

Fei Wan asked Xiao Linzi to cooperate with Dong Bao to clean up the palace again to see if there were any fish that had slipped through the net.

Last time, something went wrong when He Shuangying was feeding the emperor. The entire palace was investigating spies. Although they found many, they always felt that there were still some who slipped through the net.

That's why Fei Wan later conducted a secret investigation, and with the help of He Shuangying and Cui Liang, she lured those people out to take risks and expose them.

But I never expected that they not only used He Shuangying, but also dared to assassinate her directly.

Wouldn't it be terrible if there were still such crazy spies left out?