Leng Ruoli counted the number of people and explained the rules of the game to everyone.
After listening to Leng Ruoli's explanation, everyone suddenly understood that this way of playing checkers was so simple.
"Second imperial sister-in-law, why didn't you bring out such a fun thing earlier and teach us to play?"
Prince Xian suddenly complained.
Leng Ruoli rolled her eyes at Prince Xian.
"You only know how to play all day long. If you continue playing, aren't you afraid the Emperor will say you're neglecting your duties for pleasure?"
Leng Ruoli teased him on the spot.
"Alas, I have so many capable imperial brothers above me. Father Emperor won't notice me, and I don't want Father Emperor to notice me. Second imperial sister-in-law, you might not know, but attending court every day is very tiring."
Prince Xian said exaggeratedly.
Leng Ruoli raised her eyes to look at Prince Xian and shook her head, smiling.
Prince Xian thought Leng Ruoli didn't believe him, so he quickly said to her, "If you don't believe me, you can ask Fifth Brother, or wait for Second Brother to return and ask him, to see if I'm telling the truth."
"Alright! I don't need to ask anyone. Although I haven't attended morning court, I can still imagine the situation in the imperial court."
Leng Ruoli said truthfully.
"That's right. My second imperial sister-in-law is such a smart and capable person, she can guess some things."
After Prince Xian finished speaking, he chuckled.
"Second imperial sister-in-law, let's start playing."
"I want the green marbles, I want the green marbles..."
Immediately, Prince Xian kept begging.
Prince An: "I want the blue marbles!"
Ye Ying: "I want the white marbles!"
Xing'er: "I want the red marbles!"
Guard: "I want the black marbles!"
Leng Ruoli: "..."
The remaining yellow marbles would have to be hers.
Afterward, everyone placed their marbles in their starting positions. Prince Xian made the first move, and then they took turns in order.
Everyone played a round and had a great time. The first person to win the game felt a sense of accomplishment.
Then, they started the second round.
At this moment, Prince Xian suddenly brought up gossip.
"Second imperial sister-in-law, have you heard about King Ning requesting a marriage with Father Emperor today?"
Prince Xian asked Leng Ruoli while moving his marbles.
"No," Leng Ruoli replied indifferently.
After she had lunch today, she dealt with the incident of Xiao Mengfan being beaten, and then she had been busy at the medical hall. She didn't have time to pay attention to such gossip.
"Alas, Second imperial sister-in-law, why are your news so out of date?"
Prince Xian said regretfully.
"What happened to King Ning?"
Leng Ruoli felt confused when Prince Xian spoke to her like that.
"Second imperial sister-in-law, King Ning requested Father Emperor to grant him and Qin Xixue a marriage in the Hall of Heavenly Purity today. Father Emperor has already agreed to their marriage," Prince An suddenly interjected.
"King Ning is asking for Qin Xixue's hand? Did I hear that right? Qin Xixue's face has become like that. Can King Ning really stomach it?"
As she spoke, Leng Ruoli quickly covered her mouth, almost letting slip something she shouldn't have.
"Second imperial sister-in-law, what did you just say? Qin Xixue might be average-looking, but she's not so unattractive that King Ning can't stomach it."
Prince Xian was a bit confused by Leng Ruoli's words because he didn't know that Qin Xixue had been disfigured by Leng Ruoli, so he asked her strangely.
"It's nothing. Let's continue playing checkers."
Immediately, Leng Ruoli made an excuse to Prince Xian. However, her words were taken to heart by the meticulous Prince An.
Second imperial sister-in-law wouldn't say that for no reason. She must know something.
There must be something fishy about her words. He guessed that Qin Xixue might have been disfigured.
Thus, Prince An continued playing checkers with everyone that night with this curiosity. Finally, it was Leng Ruoli who suggested they stop playing, and then everyone dispersed.
However, the checkers that Leng Ruoli had were taken over by Prince Xian. According to him, he wanted to take the checkers back to the palace to play with their Imperial Grandmother and his Imperial Mother.
...
The next morning, the jailers in the prison specially prepared a sumptuous farewell meal for Lin Zhenfei and his son, Fei Pang, and their families.
"Come, come, eat quickly. After this meal, you'll be on the execution platform. You can be a well-fed ghost on the road to the Yellow Springs!"
The jailers said eerily.
As soon as his voice fell, the prison was filled with desolate cries.
"My lord, no! Save me quickly, I don't want to die, I really don't want to die..."
"Wuwuwu..."
"I don't want to die either..."
"Who can save us poor people!"
Lin Zhenfan and Fei Pang could only close their eyes and listen to their cries.
In the adjacent cell to Lin Zhenfan, another important member of the Lin family was imprisoned – Lin Hongtao.
Lin Hongtao, who was originally as round as a ball, had not eaten or slept well in the prison for three days. He was also often dragged out by the jailers for torture. At this time, not only was his body covered in wounds, but he had also lost a lot of weight and could not stand straight.
"Father, save me quickly, I don't want to die."
At this moment, Lin Hongtao, who used to love eating meat the most, lost his appetite even when he saw the bowl of meat the jailers gave him. Although he was very hungry, his desire to live was much stronger than his desire to eat meat.
Unexpectedly, when Lin Zhenfan heard his words, he only opened his eyes and sighed.
"Tao'er, Father has failed you!"
As Lin Zhenfei said this, his voice was filled with helplessness. If he could choose, he would have taken all the blame to save his son's life.
But he had no choice. He had committed many evil deeds in his life and had countless people's blood on his hands. The Emperor had already regarded their Lin family as a great scourge under his reign.
"No, no, no, Father, I don't want to die, I really don't want to die. Ask someone to secretly send a letter to my second uncle and ask him to save us." Lin Hongtao said naively.
"Tao'er, your second uncle, he can't save you," Lin Zhenfei said with a bleak smile.
"Why? My second uncle holds one-third of the military power of Tianwu Kingdom. If he personally comes to save us, the Emperor will surely give him some face and let us go." At this moment, Lin Hongtao's words became more and more naive.
At this moment, a burst of laughter came from the prison opposite the Lin father and son.
"Lin Hongtao, you are already over twenty years old. Why do you still think so naively? Let me tell you, your second uncle has already arrived in Yingzhou. He cannot return to save you father and son. If he rashly returns to save you, he will be walking into a trap."
Fei Pang poured cold water on Lin Hongtao after listening to the conversation between the Lin father and son.
"Father, is what he said true?"
Hearing Fei Pang's words, Lin Hongtao's heart sank halfway.
Immediately, Lin Zhenfei closed his eyes tightly and nodded forcefully.
Upon receiving this answer, Lin Hongtao slumped to the ground, his heart turning to ash.
At this moment, those concubines of Duke Lin who were arrested and imprisoned along with Lin Hongtao, as well as Lin Hongtao's concubines.
They were preparing to offer themselves in order to survive.