Qiao Hongyang remembered his father and elder brother's words, but he wasn't stupid enough to say anything. He just drank and ate with a smug look on his face.

Wu Zuo crouched down, looked at the food and wine in front of Qiao Hongyang, and smiled faintly, "Eating well, it seems you are living comfortably."

Qiao Hongyang smiled triumphantly, looking at Wu Zuo, "Don't worry, I will live even better in the future."

Wu Zuo smiled and left the prison.

Three days later, at the early morning court.

After Feng Jin finished speaking about reporting affairs if there were any and dismissing the court if there weren't, Wu Zuo was the first to stand out.

"Your Majesty, I have something to report!"

Wu Zuo's sudden appearance startled everyone.

Wu Zuo was the Minister of Justice. Usually, he would just show his face at the early court and wouldn't actively report anything.

But today, he was the first to report. Could there be some major event recently?

The ministers looked at each other, all at a loss.

"Granted," Jiang Chen responded.

Wu Zuo took a step forward, then suddenly knelt on the ground and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I am guilty! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

This action confused all the ministers.

What was Wu Zuo doing?

Wu Zuo said, "Your Majesty, I heard from the prison guards yesterday that Qiao Hongyang had a stomachache and wanted to go out to see a doctor. I thought it was Qiao Hongyang's excuse, so I ignored it. I didn't expect that in the early hours of this morning, Qiao Hongyang died from a stomachache!"

"I was negligent and caused Qiao Hongyang's death. I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"

The ministers were all surprised when they heard this.

Generally speaking, it was normal for a few prisoners to die in prison.

What's more, Qiao Hongyang had already been sentenced to be beheaded?

But then, the ministers understood.

This Qiao Hongyang was no ordinary death row inmate, but the brother of the Honorable Concubine Hui!

To put it bluntly, he was His Majesty's relative!

The ministers looked at Jiang Chen, wanting to see how Jiang Chen would handle it.

Jiang Chen's expression changed slightly, "What did you say? Qiao Hongyang is dead?"

The ministers were not surprised by this reaction.

Wu Zuo nodded, "Yes."

"Did you ask the coroner to examine him? What was the cause?" Jiang Chen asked.

Wu Zuo nodded, "I arranged for two coroners, and after the examination, they both said that it was the poor environment in the prison that caused the food to spoil, leading to stomach pain."

"Then why didn't you improve the prison environment?" Jiang Chen suddenly roared.

Wu Zuo heard this and kowtowed repeatedly, "It is my dereliction of duty, please punish me, Your Majesty."

Jiang Chen snorted coldly, "Someone, throw Wu Zuo into prison and let him taste the taste of prison!"

This punishment shocked the ministers.

It was too harsh!

Minister of Rites Zhao Liting stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, Qiao Hongyang died in prison, not because Wu Zuo did it intentionally. Moreover, the environment in the prison has always been like this. Please, Your Majesty, give Wu Zuo a lighter punishment."

Other ministers also stood up to plead for mercy.

Jiang Chen shouted, "Anyone who dares to persuade me will be thrown into prison like Wu Zuo!"

The ministers fell silent immediately.

They could plead for mercy, but they didn't want to be thrown into prison.

Wu Zuo was quickly taken away, and Jiang Chen asked impatiently, "Is there anything else important? If not, dismiss the court!"

The ministers shook their heads.

Everyone could see that Jiang Chen was in a bad mood today. Who would dare to provoke him?

Jiang Chen angrily dismissed the court and went straight to Minghui Palace.

Honorable Concubine Hui was not yet out of bed. After hearing the palace maid report that Jiang Chen had arrived, she quickly got up.

"Your Majesty, why are you here so early?" Honorable Concubine Hui said with a smile.

After receiving Jiang Chen's promise, she told her father and elder brother. The news she received later made her completely relieved and felt that she was now deeply favored by Jiang Chen.

And now, when it was barely dawn, Jiang Chen came to Minghui Palace again, which was definitely a great joy for her.

However, when she saw Jiang Chen's angry and solemn expression, she was startled.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong? Who made you angry?" Honorable Concubine Hui asked cautiously.

At the same time, she recalled in her heart whether she had done anything bad recently.

Jiang Chen said, "It's all because of Wu Zuo from the Ministry of Justice!"

After saying that, Jiang Chen changed his tone and said with some self-blame, "Beloved Consort, I am sorry for you!"

As soon as she heard the name Wu Zuo, Honorable Concubine Hui's heart jumped.

Before she could figure out what Wu Zuo had to do with her, she heard Jiang Chen's apology, which made her even more flustered.

"Your Majesty, what happened?"

Honorable Concubine Hui's voice trembled as she asked.

"Alas!"

Jiang Chen sighed, "Because of Wu Zuo's negligence, Qiao Hongyang died in prison!"

"Ah?!"

Honorable Concubine Hui exclaimed and fell straight backward.

Because she couldn't bear the news, she fainted directly.

Jiang Chen hugged Honorable Concubine Hui and shouted loudly, "Quick, summon the imperial physician!"

On the other side, a servant of the Qiao family was carrying a food box and walking towards the prison where Qiao Hongyang was being held.

From a distance, he saw Wu Zuo being escorted into the prison by two soldiers.

This situation surprised him.

Wu Zuo was the Minister of Justice. Why was he being locked up?

The servant quickened his pace and came to the prison guard.

As before, he took out two pieces of silver from his sleeve and said with a smile, "Please have some morning tea, sir."

Unexpectedly, the prison guard didn't take the silver today, but looked at him strangely.

"You're here to bring breakfast to Qiao Hongyang, right?"

The servant nodded repeatedly, "Yes, I hope the two gentlemen will take care of our second master."

The prison guard shook his head, "You don't have to come anymore in the future."

The servant's face changed, and he quickly asked, "Why?"

The prison guard didn't answer but said, "You'll find out soon."

The servant didn't dare to wait any longer. After asking for a while without getting any information, he hurried back to the Qiao family and told them what he had heard and seen.

The head of the Qiao family was stunned when he heard this.

What was the connection between Wu Zuo being locked up and not being allowed to send food to Qiao Hongyang?

Before he could be puzzled for long, the gatekeeper ran in quickly.

"Master, young master, something bad has happened! Second Master died in prison!"

"What?!"

The head of the Qiao family, like Honorable Concubine Hui, also fell straight backward.

Minghui Palace.

After Honorable Concubine Hui woke up, she kept crying.

Jiang Chen kept sighing.

After a long while, Honorable Concubine Hui gritted her teeth and said, "Your Majesty, my second brother must have been killed by Wu Zuo! Please investigate, Your Majesty!"

At this moment, Feng Jin hurried in from outside and said, "Your Majesty, Honorable Concubine Hui, the master of the Qiao family requests an audience."

"Quick, invite him in!" Honorable Concubine Hui said.

Jiang Chen also nodded.

The master of the Qiao family quickly walked in and saw Jiang Chen sitting next to Honorable Concubine Hui with a solemn expression.

A trace of suspicion flashed in his eyes.

Originally, he felt that there must be something fishy about this matter, and he even suspected Jiang Chen.

But seeing Jiang Chen here, he was a little uncertain.

Moreover, he had already sent someone to verify that Wu Zuo was indeed locked up in prison.