In the courtyard, a whole crowd of Jinyi Guards watched helplessly as the three condemned prisoners rolled around on the ground, then kicked their legs out and fell silent.
Wang Yan clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Look. Just look, brothers. The Yan Party's influence is truly immense. How long has it been since I whipped Yan Shifan? Less than two hours, and they'd already contacted their people. Even the imperial Jinyi Guard has their men! Once this comes to light, he'll surely die, yet what happened? They weren't even afraid of dying!"
Zhu Qi and the others' faces turned green as they stared fixedly at the group of cooks being restrained, forced to kneel on the ground. The cooks' jaws had all been dislocated; even if they wanted a quick death now, they could not have one.
The cooks clearly understood the situation and were trembling like sieves. Most of them were surely unrelated to the matter, but whether they were involved was not something they could simply claim—it had to be determined through thorough investigation and interrogation.
They worked right here in the Northern Garrison. How could they not know how things were handled here? Thinking of what might await them, all they could do was let out muffled, miserable wails.
The real poisoner was hidden among them and had wanted to die along with the rest. He had probably truly wanted to die. After all, who could have expected that the dishes had barely been delivered before he even had a chance to observe the result and take poison himself, only to be seized first...
"Take them away and interrogate them! Old Eight, hurry to the Directorate of Ceremonial and notify the eunuchs." Zhu Qi began assigning tasks, and the Jinyi Guards sprang into action.
Zhu