Thinking about his current predicament, Yuan Zhen rolled his eyes and fixed his gaze on the two jailers. Suddenly, he put away his coldness and smiled amiably.
"I'm not hungry yet. You two brothers have been working hard on guard. You can take this food and enjoy it."
At this moment, he was already famished. However, worried that the food had been poisoned in advance, he could only endure his hunger and try to test the jailers.
Hearing Yuan Zhen's words, the two jailers exchanged glances.
One of them smiled and said,
"Your Highness the Third Prince, this food was specially prepared for you by our master. You'd better keep it for yourself. You'll get hungry eventually."
The way the jailer avoided the food as if it were a venomous snake made a glint of malice flash across Yuan Zhen's eyes. The jailer's last words sounded rather meaningful to Yuan Zhen...
He paused for a moment and then smiled as he tried to get information from the jailer.
"May I ask if your master said anything else besides ordering this table of dishes?"
Facing Yuan Zhen's inquiry, the jailer answered honestly.
"Our master ordered that if Your Highness the Third Prince has any requests tonight, we should try our best to meet them and not let Your Highness have any regrets."
Tonight? Have regrets?!
Hearing this, Yuan Zhen's fairly handsome face almost contorted.
The more he listened, the more it seemed like a last bit of mercy for a prisoner about to be executed!
The smile that Yuan Zhen had barely maintained on his face gradually became stiff. Suddenly, he stood up from the square table filled with wine and dishes, turned back to the couch in the cell, and said in a muffled voice,
"I want to rest. If I think of something, I'll let you know."
Yuan Zhen looked cold and aloof, keeping people at a distance.
The jailer wasn't offended by Yuan Zhen's sudden change of attitude. He replied respectfully,
"Yes, Your Highness the Third Prince. Please rest."
After saying that, the jailer turned around and walked back to the octagonal table where the two jailers had been drinking. He didn't pay any more attention to Yuan Zhen.
Yuan Zhen lay on the slightly damp couch facing the wall. His eyes were wide open as he stared fixedly at the wall in front of him, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.
At this moment, he was in a complete mess. He urgently needed to calm down and think about the serious problems he would face next!
If the emperor had already decided to take action against him tonight, what could he do to save himself?!
Just as Yuan Zhen was wracking his brains and had been silent for a long time, the two jailers whispered behind him.
"He has a really big heart. He can still sleep even when he's about to die. No wonder people often say, 'Ignorance is bliss.' It seems to be true!"
Hearing this, Yuan Zhen's body trembled slightly, but he didn't turn around to scold them.
From the voice, he could tell that it was the jailer who had spoken to him just now.
The phrase "about to die" he had heard no less than three times tonight, but this time he didn't get angry.
It was just that his mind was in a complete muddle now, and he wanted to know more about his real situation!
"Keep your voice down. What if he hears you?"
The middle - aged jailer who had been silent all this time deliberately lowered his voice and scolded his talkative colleague. The young jailer, however, didn't care.
"Don't worry. He must be asleep by now."
After a brief pause, the jailer said gleefully,
"He's just a prince of Kekeqin. He really thinks highly of himself. How dare he poison his weapon during the competition? He's really asking for death!"
As soon as the young jailer spoke, the other one also whispered in agreement,
"That's right. I'm afraid he still doesn't know who wants his life even now!"
"Isn't it the emperor who wants to kill him?"
The young jailer looked confused. The middle - aged jailer looked mysterious and said,
"Do you know who our master went to see in the palace this afternoon?"
"I don't know." The young jailer shook his head.
"It was the Empress Dowager."
"How could it be the Empress Dowager? I heard that the Empress Dowager pleaded with the emperor for him. How could she want to get rid of him?"
The young jailer was surprised. Yuan Zhen, who had been listening to their conversation silently, couldn't help but clench his fists. His dark eyes were filled with suppressed anger.
No wonder the previous two jailers dared to treat him like that. He had just been glad that he had been moved out of the death cell, but it turned out that the Empress Dowager had already secretly decided his death sentence!
Even he wanted to know why the Empress Dowager would do this?!
The middle - aged jailer glanced at Yuan Zhen, who was lying motionless and extremely quiet on the couch. A glint of light flashed in his eyes. He deliberately raised his voice a little and said,
"This time, Princess Eight was originally supposed to marry into Kekeqin. But the Empress Dowager couldn't bear to let Princess Eight marry far away, so she proposed that Princess Five of Kekeqin come to the capital to marry the Crown Prince. However, I heard that the Crown Prince had someone he loved in his heart. He refused this marriage even before the princess of Kekeqin came to the capital. So the burden of the marriage alliance fell on Princess Eight again."
"But everyone in the capital knows that Princess Eight is the apple of the Empress Dowager's eye. And the only unmarried prince in Kekeqin who still has a chance to become the Khan is the Third Prince. In order to avoid Princess Eight marrying far away and to force the Crown Prince to take on the responsibility of the marriage alliance, the Empress Dowager naturally took an unconventional approach..."
Knowing this truth, Yuan Zhen was extremely shocked! His eyes were bulging with anger! He gritted his teeth and whispered,
"I'm going to kill that old hag!"
He had no grudges against Prince Xian Qi Rong originally. It was because he had followed the Empress Dowager's order that he had become an enemy of Qi Rong.
He had thought that he had ended up in this situation because of Qi Rong. He didn't expect that it was actually a case of the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole lurked behind.
In the end, he had hated the wrong person!
The Empress Dowager's scheme of killing with a borrowed knife was ultimately aimed at using Prince Xian to kill his ten warriors and then get rid of him!
He had wondered why there were always people sent by the Empress Dowager secretly guarding the mansion where they lived. How could poison be found on the weapons of the ten warriors? Now it all made sense.
It was the Empress Dowager who had ordered someone to poison the weapons. On the one hand, she wanted to use him and the ten warriors to get rid of Qi Rong, the Empress Dowager's arch - enemy. On the other hand, after getting rid of Qi Rong, she would use the poisoning incident to frame him!
His father had told him more than once that the Empress Dowager was extremely cunning and that he should be careful.
He didn't expect that the saying "the most venomous thing is a woman's heart" was really true!
He had finally fallen into this poisonous woman's trap!
Although their Kekeqin tribe was small, they were a people of blood and spirit, believing in an eye for an eye. Even if he risked his own life, he must vent the anger in his heart!
But how could he get out of this cell now?
Yuan Zhen wracked his brains. Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind. He couldn't help but think of that table of wine and dishes.
The two jailers were still whispering to each other. Yuan Zhen yawned as if he had just woken up and sat up from the couch.
The two jailers immediately fell silent. The young jailer stepped forward and said eagerly to Yuan Zhen,
"Your Highness the Third Prince, are you hungry? Hurry up and eat the food. We also need to report to our master so that no one can treat you badly."
Facing the jailer's persuasion again, Yuan Zhen couldn't help but snort.
"You seem very eager for me to eat this food. Don't tell me there's poison in it?"