Prince! The political conspiracy is not a play, the show is real

With a creak, the cell door was opened.

Zuo Di came in surrounded by a group of thugs and walked straight up to Tao Yao.

Tao Yao's heart tightened and she couldn't help but shrink back.

As if he could see Tao Yao's fear, Zuo Di suddenly laughed with satisfaction. He took a wine bottle from the guard next to him, tilted his head back and drank it down. After finishing the wine in one breath, he threw the empty porcelain bottle to the ground with a clatter.

The broken porcelain pieces flew everywhere, and several sharp fragments immediately pierced Tao Yao's calves. Blood immediately gushed out, staining Tao Yao's white skirt red.

Tao Yao trembled in pain, but dared not breathe. This crazy fat man in front of her looked like he had gone mad. Who knew what outrageous thing he would do next.

The bloody scenes of criminal cases that she had seen on TV before emerged in Tao Yao's mind one by one, making her shudder.

Zuo Di took a big step forward, almost touching Tao Yao. A strong smell of alcohol mixed with some kind of foul smell of grease instantly hit her. Tao Yao couldn't help but hold her breath and turn her head away.

Zuo Di angrily turned her face back with great force, and with a snap, he seemed to be trying to break her neck.

"Girl, are you Zhou Yan's new bride?" He patted Tao Yao's cheek, took a step closer, and breathed foul breath on her face. "Because you didn't want to marry Zhou Yan, you murdered him and caused his untimely death... Oh, oh, oh, what a pity!"

Tao Yao frowned at his breath, a sour feeling swirling in her throat and stomach, almost vomiting. However, Zuo Di held her slender neck tightly in his hand, forcing her to swallow the urge.

The young girl couldn't hide her emotions on her face, and Zuo Di could see Tao Yao's dislike for him - he was the Minister of Revenue, and in this area, everyone who saw him would bow and salute, and respectfully call him "Lord Zuo" with an apologetic smile on their face.

Zuo Di suddenly felt humiliated and lost his patience. He said harshly, "Little girl, I, Lord Zuo, am very busy and don't have time to talk to you. Right now, you have two paths to choose from: first, live; second, die. Which one do you choose?"

Tao Yao bit her lip, her eyes filled with anger. Facing power, she was not afraid at all. "Master Zuo, although you hold a high position and great power, matters of judgment and punishment are not for you, a Minister of Revenue. The laws of the King of Great Chu are before you. Are you really going to turn a blind eye to them?"

Zuo Di's patience ran out. He slapped Tao Yao on the mouth and shouted, "You little bitch! Who do you think you are? It's not your turn to teach me about the laws of the land!"

After he finished speaking, he turned around and winked at the thugs on his left and right, and immediately four tall and strong men came forward.

Two of them went around behind Tao Yao and hugged her arms tightly, while the other two each picked up an iron hammer as thick as their thighs and slowly raised the hammer heads towards Tao Yao's knees.

Tao Yao watched their actions and shouted in panic: "What are you doing!?"

Before she could react, the two strong men had already raised their hammers and smashed them down on her knees. In an instant, Tao Yao felt dizzy and a sharp buzzing sound in her ears.

At first, there was no pain, only a piercing coldness under her knees. Then, Tao Yao seemed to hear the sound of bones and flesh breaking, and the wetness gradually enveloped her.

Cold, damp, and finally, excruciating pain.

Tao Yao felt as if her legs had lost their strength and could not help shaking. The pain was so severe that she was almost going crazy, but the injured part did not bleed.

She lowered her head and tried hard to find the location of the pain, but she could only see the white hem of her skirt swaying with her trembling, which was very dazzling in the dirty and dark prison.

A deep feeling of powerlessness surged over Tao Yao, and she groaned in anger.

She didn't dare to think, had her legs been destroyed by them? Could she still walk out of this bottomless prison alive?

Zuo Di's voice rang out again from above, sounding particularly eerie and terrifying: "Girl, this is the last time I, your Excellency, will ask for your opinion. Live or die?"

For a moment, Tao Yao's mind seemed to be stuck, unable to think. She closed her eyes, and the past flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern.

Why? Why had it turned out like this? Just a short while ago, she had stood on the warm, sun-drenched cornfield, full of hope, expecting Song Zhishou to uncover the truth and clear her name.

For so many days, she had truly believed Chu Huanjun's words, "He has everything." She almost truly believed that in this desolate world, there must still be some glimmer of hope, which was why she had the confidence to reject Lu Che.

There was no other way at the moment, so Tao Yao almost instinctively shouted out: "Live! Live... I want to live!"

"Okay!" Zuo Di patted his belly with satisfaction and winked at the servant beside him.

The servant took out a blood-red glass bottle from his sleeve, and without saying a word, he pinched Tao Yao's chin to force her to open her lips, and quickly put the bottle mouth into Tao Yao's mouth.

A strong, spicy, sour and smelly smell rushed into Taoyao's lips, teeth and nose, making her cough repeatedly.

Before she could ask Zuo Di what he had fed her, Tao Yao already felt a blockage in her throat. She tried her best but could not make a sound. She could only make a few intermittent sounds.

It's a mute medicine - Tao Yao was frightened and forced herself to make a few more babbling sounds, her facial features wrinkled in pain.

Zuo Di laughed wildly, "Little girl, if you want to stay alive, then I'll just have to shut up. But you won't live long anyway—you're right, I shouldn't be interfering in the affairs of the Ministry of Justice. I can't get my hands dirty with murder."

He bent down to look at Tao Yao again, and couldn't help but raise his hand to touch Tao Yao's painful face, muttering: "Tsk tsk tsk, pretty girl! You are really pitiful. You have become a scapegoat. In the next life, you will be reincarnated into my family. I will make sure you live a good life."

Tao Yao could no longer speak. The intense pain in her knees made her tremble. Unable to moan, she could only squeeze out a few strange-sounding notes from her throat.

Unfortunately, the prison was empty and strange in layout. The sound Tao Yao made swirled back and forth in the sky and finally hit her ears again. She herself found it terrifying to hear.

Zuo Di was about to leave, but turned back. He lowered his head and looked at Tao Yao with a smile. His voice suddenly became gentle: "Hey, girl, I heard that you are not General Shi's biological daughter. You were picked up, right? Oh, General Shi is such a fool. How could he give a smart girl like you to Zhou Yan? Tsk tsk tsk, I guess your life in the Shi Mansion is not easy..."

As he spoke, he placed his plump, white hands on Taoyao's slender waist, his face full of spring, and he smiled more and more proudly: "Tsk tsk tsk tsk, girl, not only are you pretty and beautiful, but your figure is also the best I have ever seen..."

"Girl, it's a pity that you didn't get to marry Zhou Yan as you wished. However, now that you've fallen into my hands, it's not a pity. You're young and don't understand the relationship between men and women. Are you... still a virgin?"

Tao Yao had lost all her strength and could only let this fat, bloated, despicable and lecherous thief do whatever he wanted to her.

Seeing Zuo Di's greasy face gradually approaching, Tao Yao couldn't help but recite the Great Compassion Mantra in her heart.

If God has eyes, she hopes that gods and Buddhas will come down from heaven now to take away Zuo Di, the hateful evil ghost.