Inside the restaurant, a table had been laid with all kinds of dishes. Jiang Hao had asked Zhu Guang to order them from the inn before going to rescue the men. Seeing the feast spread before them, Zhuge Wolong and Ning Caichen quietly swallowed. They had been locked in prison, fed nothing but cold, stale meals every day. Such a banquet could only have appeared in their dreams.
"Your escape from prison is worth celebrating. Let this be a welcome feast for you both," Jiang Hao said, raising his cup.
Zhuge Wolong and Ning Caichen raised their cups together. Zhuge Wolong said, "If not for Young Master Jiang, how could we have escaped that hungry ghost hell? This cup should be ours to toast Young Master Jiang, with our deepest gratitude."
The three exchanged smiles and drained their cups in one gulp.
"Ah, that feels wonderful! It has been so long since I tasted wine." After downing a cup, Zhuge Wolong could not help crying out.
After drinking his wine, Ning Caichen set down his cup and looked at Jiang Hao. "Young Master Jiang, we have a question. Why did you take such a risk to save Elder Zhuge and me?"
Jiang Hao had long expected them to ask this, and he had already prepared his answer. "I had heard Elder Zhuge's story before, and I could not help feeling saddened. Such an upright and learned loyal minister, persecuted like this—it is truly an injustice to the realm."
"Later, while investigating Elder Zhuge's whereabouts, I heard the guards mention Brother Ning. I learned that you had been wrongly imprisoned. Those people even said they had accepted money and intended, after some time, to use you to replace a death-row prisoner, passing off your head as his."
Ning Caichen was startled.