"Lord Jia!"
By now, Jia Chong had long since lost his former arrogance and overbearing manner.
He curled up like a dead dog in the corner of his cell. In the light streaming through the window, his disheveled hair and filthy face were visible.
At the call, Jia Chong jerked his head up, revealing a face covered in wounds.
When he spotted Zhong Hui beyond the bars, an overwhelming desire to live flashed through his eyes.
"Master Zhong! Lord Zhong!"
He scrambled and crawled to the bars, pressing his head against them as he stared at Zhong Hui.
"I've been wronged! I've been wronged! I never betrayed the Grand General! I never leaked any secrets!"
"It really was Cao Mao who told me about this! Wang Su, too-he deliberately set a trap to make me say his name!"
"Everything I said was true!"
Jia Chong's foul, craven display thoroughly disgusted Zhong Hui.
Celebrated scholars could fear death, but they could not beg for mercy. Whether they had any backbone or not, they had to pretend they did. He had never seen a scholar so cowardly and afraid of dying!
Zhong Hui was a complicated man. He greatly admired celebrated scholars of brilliant literary talent, and he yearned for the bold spirit of the former Han.
Yet he himself was very close to the Sima Family...
But that did not stop Zhong Hui from despising Jia Chong.
He turned an angry gaze on the officials beside him.
"Who told you to torture Lord Jia?!"
"Utterly outrageous! Do none of you know of his past achievements?!"
The officials hurriedly begged forgiveness. Zhong Hui then had them open the cell and bring Jia Chong out.
At that moment, Jia Chong could no longer contain his sorrow and burst into tears.
"Thank you, Lord