His words made Su Yueyue's legs go weak, and she slumped back onto the stool. "That... I just heard it from others?"
Zhang Qiao frowned, noncommittal. "May I ask, Miss Su, who did you hear it from?"
Su Yueyue was so nervous that she was on the verge of tears. Just as she was hesitating and couldn't figure out who to name, suddenly a tall figure walked in. When Su Yueyue saw him, it was like seeing a savior.
She immediately threw herself into the man's arms. "Your Highness, the King of Yu."
The King of Yu looked down at Su Yueyue, who was crying pitifully, and gently patted her on the back with a hint of heartache. "Zhang, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice, you're really bold. To interrogate a minister of the ministry, you didn't even submit the case to the Three Judicial Departments first?"
Zhang Qiao remained neither overbearing nor humble. "How does Your Highness know that I didn't submit it to the Three Judicial Departments?"
As he said this, Zhang Qiao curled his lips into a smile. "I reported this matter to them yesterday. You can just ask and see if I'm telling the truth."
"Did Your Highness not have the time to ask the people from the Three Judicial Departments, or did some people from the Three Judicial Departments fail to report it to Your Highness?"
As soon as he said this, the King of Yu's face darkened even more. "Zhang Qiao, are you insinuating that I've meddled in the affairs of the Three Judicial Departments and perverted the law?"
Zhang Qiao lowered his eyes. "Of course I wouldn't dare."
However, he looked up at Su Yueyue. "Just now, Miss Su Yueyue said something very valuable. So, could Your Highness please catch up later and let me finish my questions?"
Zhang Qiao was just following the normal procedure of handling the case. Although the King of Yu was very unhappy with his attitude, he could only swallow his anger. "Go ahead and ask."
As he said this, his hand still rested on Su Yueyue, as if comforting her.
Su Yueyue seemed to be really less scared. She swallowed hard, and after a long while, she said, "That person... is, is our butler."
Something flashed across the King of Yu's eyes, but before Zhang Qiao could catch it, it disappeared.
"Now, can Assistant Minister Zhang let Yue'er have some time alone with me?"
The King of Yu's face was not looking good. He seemed as if he was about to devour someone at any moment.
Zhang Qiao just grinned. "Please don't mind my men following you, Your Highness."
"Are you distrusting me?" The King of Yu got angry immediately. "You're just a low - level assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice. Don't act like you have great authority!"
Zhang Qiao still remained unyielding. "Your Highness, this is the rule of our Ministry of Justice. Please don't make things difficult for me."
Seeing his expression, the King of Yu replied impatiently, "Follow if you want!"
Zhang Qiao watched with a smiling face as the King of Yu led Su Yueyue to one side, but there was a cold glint in his eyes.
Seeing that Su Yueyue didn't come back for a long time, Wang Manwen became more and more anxious as she waited. Just when she was about to burst into tears, the King of Yu escorted Su Yueyue back to the cell.
Su Mingyu was startled when she saw the King of Yu. This man actually came to see Su Yueyue?
The King of Yu obviously saw the surprise in her eyes. He glanced at Su Mingyu, who was much calmer than Su Yueyue, and a hint of appreciation flashed across his eyes. "Miss Mingyu seems quite surprised by my appearance?"
Su Mingyu twitched the corner of her mouth. "This is not a place for Your Highness to come."
The King of Yu raised his eyebrows at her veiled words. "Yue'er is my bosom friend. Since she's in trouble, I naturally have to come and take a look."
Then he turned around and glanced at Su Zhengyi. "Has Minister Su been tortured?"
Su Zhengyi got up with difficulty. Just as he was about to bow, the King of Yu stopped him. "Minister Su doesn't need to bow."
Only then did Su Zhengyi heave a sigh of relief and say, "It's just a minor injury. I don't know who impeached me, insisting that I was involved in the leakage of the imperial examination questions. But I was so busy those days that I didn't even have time to drink tea. How could I have had the time to leak the questions?"
Looking at Su Zhengyi's upright appearance, the King of Yu lowered his eyes. "I believe Assistant Minister Zhang will definitely get to the bottom of this. I'll keep an eye on this matter. Minister Su, you must take good care of your health in the cell."
Although their conversation seemed normal at first glance, Su Mingyu just felt that something was off.
However, since the King of Yu was right in front of her, she didn't dare to show too much curiosity. She just stood there indifferently, looking uninterested.
The King of Yu comforted Su Yueyue a few more times before leaving the prison.
Su Mingyu looked at this small cell and couldn't help but let out a soft sigh.
"Mother, it's all right now. With the King of Yu's help, we'll definitely be able to get out."
Su Yueyue grabbed Wang Manwen's hand like a child showing off a treasure. She was extremely excited and completely lost the fear she had before.
Su Zhengyi's complexion also improved significantly. "We didn't do anything wrong in the first place."
Su Mingyu chimed in. "Maybe someone is jealous that the emperor trusts Father, so they're deliberately causing trouble for him."
Wang Manwen also quickly agreed. "That's right. How could our master be involved in that so - called leakage of the imperial examination questions? Our master is a just and upright man."
Hearing these flatteries, Su Mingyu rolled her eyes in her heart.
If they really didn't do anything wrong, why did their faces turn so ugly when they were first brought in?
They clearly had something to hide, but now that they had found a backer, they had calmed down.
After the incident with the King of Yu, Zhang Qiao didn't come to interrogate them anymore.
Their treatment had obviously improved. The food was better, the beds were warmer, and there were even people coming in to treat Su Zhengyi's wounds.
Su Yueyue's face was beaming like a flower. She was so smug that she might as well have written "Look, it's all because of me that you're living so well" on her face.
Su Mingyu was too lazy to pay attention to her. She still ate when it was time to eat, waited for the meals to be delivered, and then went to sleep when it got dark.
After several days of such boring life, it finally ended on a rainy morning.
Gu Ruobai came to pick her up from the cell early in the morning. Su Mingyu looked at his faint smile on the corner of his mouth and couldn't help but curl her lips.
When they were often together before, Su Mingyu didn't really think much of it. But since she was locked up, she found that she often thought of Gu Ruobai.
"You've suffered."
Gu Ruobai's eyes were full of tenderness as he looked at Su Mingyu. Su Mingyu pursed her lips. "What's going on exactly?"
At this time, a luxurious carriage stopped in front of them. The well - dressed and handsome King of Yu stepped down from it.
As soon as Su Yueyue saw him, she threw herself into his arms, and the King of Yu enjoyed having this beauty in his embrace very much.
"Your Highness, the King of Yu, didn't lie to Yue'er. You said you'd save Yue'er, and you really did."
Su Yueyue was both shy and excited. Her blushing face was quite cute.
The King of Yu nodded. "Minister Su didn't do anything wrong. It's all the Lin family's fault. You were just caught in the crossfire."