The Imperial Prison of the Northern Commandant Office.
In the cold, sinister interrogation room, Shen Fu sat shackled to a chair.
Far from afraid, he sneered instead:
"A family feud, and somehow I've been dragged into it. To think a Deputy Thousand-Household Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard could stoop to such vile tricks!"
"Threaten me today, tempt me with words, torture me if you must-I, Shen Yangshan, will still tutor Bao Di for the imperial examinations! Though I am only a frail scholar, I will never bow to wicked hawks and hounds!"
Shen Fu laughed as he spoke, displaying a scholar's unyielding spirit to the fullest.
He had thought it all through. He was a Hanlin academician and had placed second in the last imperial examinations. Unless Jia Huan had gone mad, he would never ruin his own future by harming him.
With even a shred of reason, Jia Huan would merely threaten and intimidate him, lock him up for a day, then release him.
Then his iron-clad resolve would win him all the glory, the Nine Gates Commander's favor, and praise from the powerful figure behind him!
Jia Huan stared at him for a while, then suddenly smiled.
Birds of a feather flocked together. Anyone who befriended that Big-Faced Thing was bound to be a self-important idiot.
"Take it out!" Jia Huan ordered.
Scholar pulled aside Shen Fu's sleeve and took out a yellowed, gourd-shaped medicine bottle.
"Did Left Censor-in-Chief Liu Heng buy this for you?"
The words struck Shen Fu like a thunderbolt. His face instantly turned pale, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.
"Scared already?" Scholar said scornfully.
Terror filled Shen Fu's eyes as he hurriedly tried to argue his way out:
"What Liu Heng? I sought out that prescription myself and had a physician prepare the