The First National Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 146

After leaving the palace, he went to the kitchen, took a rather lavish meal, and then mixed the medicine powder into the food.

Just then, lunchtime arrived quickly, and a considerable amount of food was gradually delivered to the prison.

The sergeant placed the lavish meal directly in front of Xu Tian and said coldly, "Eat up. I paid for this extra meal myself. It won't kill you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tian raised an eyebrow, somewhat puzzled.

A soldier from the Western Regions, who originally hated the Tang people, is now treating them so well.

But after the soldier finished speaking, he left immediately.

Xu Tian didn't say a word. He picked up the plate of food and leaned against the corner, looking at it again and again. Just as he was about to fiddle with it to see what was inside, A-Jie suddenly rushed forward and knocked the plate of food out of his hand!

The sound of a bowl breaking echoed through the prison. Xu Tian was somewhat puzzled. He turned his head and asked, "What happened?"

"This food is inedible!" A-Jie said quickly.

"Why?" Xu Tian asked.

At this moment, the guards and soldiers on the side all turned to look, and they all looked at A-Jie with suspicion.

Just as A-Jie was about to explain, the Western Region soldier heard the noise and immediately turned back, only to find that all the food in front of him had been smashed to the ground.

His eyes widened in anger, and he asked coldly, "Who threw this?!"

Ah Jie gritted his teeth and remained silent.

At this moment, the soldier noticed the expressions on their faces, then turned to look at A-Jie and immediately realized that it was this kid who had done it.

He sneered, walked straight into A-Jie's cell, grabbed A-Jie by the collar, and said with a deliberately cold smile, "Kid, if no one confesses, I'll start with you!"

He said this hoping Xu Tian would feel guilty and confess, or that A-Jie would frame Xu Tian and kill him on some fabricated charge, making it easier to explain when the Tang people arrived. But if Xu Tian didn't confess, then using this kid as a scapegoat was acceptable!

All the onlookers saw was that after a moment of contemplation, the soldier grabbed A-Jie and dragged him away.

The crowd was puzzled and worried.

Immediately, the soldier slammed A-Jie to the ground and kicked him hard!

Ah Jie was kicked so hard that bruises immediately appeared all over his body, and he kept screaming in pain.

After being beaten for quite some time, Ah Jie coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Xu Tian was extremely surprised and immediately called out to A-Jie by the cell door, "A-Jie, are you alright?"

Ah Jie didn't say a word; his eyes were glazed over, and he was clearly about to faint.

The soldier was exhausted from the beating, but he hadn't expected A-Jie to be so resilient, surviving the beating. He also had heard that A-Jie was the son of a wealthy merchant in Chang'an, so he figured A-Jie might still be of some use.

Thinking this, he picked up Ah Jie again, threw Ah Jie into the cell, and spat into it, cursing, "You worthless brat."

Xu Tian frowned and hurriedly walked towards A-Jie, but was stopped by the wooden fence between the prison cells.

He could only lean against the side and call out to Ah Jie, "Ah Jie, wake up."

But now Ah Jie is suffering from constant tinnitus and can't hear what he's saying at all. Ah Xian is frowning and spitting out mouthfuls of blood, clearly seriously injured.

Xu Tian was deeply worried upon seeing this.

Ah Jie was beaten up because of him, so naturally he couldn't just ignore it.