Chapter 8: Poisonous Scheme, Iron Blood, Great Qin, Green Bean

  Li Si arrived at Han Fei's cell, looking through the solid wooden bars to see Han Fei sitting comfortably on a soft rug, staring blankly at the teacup in front of him on the jade table. The prison warden, who was used to being arrogant and domineering in the great prison, was respectfully serving tea to Han Fei, occasionally flattering him with a few words. Li Si couldn't help but smile slyly: "Enjoy it, Brother Han, enjoy it to your heart's content. Because today is your day of death, I hope you won't blame me, it's not that I intentionally wanted to harm you, it's just that you shouldn't have come to Qin State!"

  Don't be surprised that Han Fei is treated so well here, because most of the prisoners sent to this special cell are either rich or noble. It's common for people to enter prison one day and receive a special pardon the next, and some have even been pardoned after already being on the execution ground! So the guards in the big prison don't dare offend these nobles who might turn their fortunes around at any moment!

  Especially now, this prison guard knows that Lord Li Si is an old classmate of Mr. Han's, so he serves him even more diligently. But there is one more important point that the prison guard dare not say out loud!

  Li Si arrived, and the prison warden hastily came forward with a flattering smile: "Sir, how did you come here!? I pay my respects to the Lord of the Court!" "Hmph! Get up!" Li Si's official demeanor was full, his face expressionless as he responded. Turning around, he smiled at Han Fei and said: "The prison officials are quite respectful to Brother Han, aren't they?"

  The prison governor was startled, looking pitifully at Han Fei, hoping that Han Fei wouldn't harm him. Han Fei being an honest person, told the truth: "They treated me well!" Li Si sneered in his heart and took credit for himself, smiling: "With my younger brother around, they didn't dare to bully Brother Han!" (The protagonist, Fu Su, was furious and said: "Han Fei, you really are a fool! If it wasn't for my help, you would have been dead this time!")

  The prison governor let out a sigh of relief and forced a few smiles. Han Fei couldn't smile, his anxious face asked Li Si: "Brother Li, yesterday I was still the guest of honor, why did I become a prisoner today? I hope Brother Li can save me!"

  Li Si pretended to be puzzled and said, "I also just heard about it, and I was caught off guard. It seems that someone secretly accused Brother Scholar of being a spy from the state of Han, and that he is in cahoots with Zheng Guo, who had come to Qin under the guise of repairing canals but actually intended to exhaust Qin's resources."

  I'm a humble person with little to say, and I couldn't possibly defend my fellow student. Moreover, having studied together, there are many things that cannot be said. During the time of Qin's "Expulsion of Guests", even Guest Ke was treated as a spy, and I almost got expelled too! Not to mention Brother Han!"

  Han Fei was puzzled, still glaring with wide eyes: "I'm Han Fei... famous, famous all over the world, noble as a young master, can I do special tasks? I'm not stupid!" Han Fei got anxious, his stutter came out again, his face flushed bright red, unable to speak, only slapping the table to vent.

  "Non-brother angry, non-brother angry." Li Si hastily comforted: "I also know that Brother Han will definitely not be a spy or a special agent. But the master believes in this point, and I have no way to do it for the time being. However, Brother Han can rest assured that I will think of a way to let you escape punishment!" Li Si immediately put on an appearance of loyalty and friendship! Han Fei heard this and thanked Li Si with gratitude: "Thank you!"

  Suddenly, Li Si seemed to have some doubts and asked the prison guard, "How do you treat spies here? Now that nothing is wrong, let me hear some interesting stories! If it's too severe, I'll make a call to the officer in charge of the investigation later and ask them to be more lenient!" Li Si was well-versed in Qin law and was also the head of the?ξ (a high-ranking official), how could he not know about various punishments? He was intentionally trying to intimidate the timid Xunzi!

  When Tian Yi heard the judge ask him about his profession, he was overjoyed and exaggeratedly described how he had been coerced into confessing in prison.

  The prison guard smiled and said: Some people refuse to confess, so many methods are used: there is flogging, branding, for a small number of tough guys, hot iron branding doesn't work, so pincers are used to pull out their fingernails. There are even more severe methods, using boiling silver needles to pierce the prisoner's... and even using large wooden donkeys to deal with the prisoner's... and..., these laws are enough to make even an iron man open his mouth!

  "Stop talking! Stop talking!" Under this terrifying remark, Han Fei's handsome face had already turned pale and was trembling all over, almost collapsing to the ground.

  "Stop, stop, stop! Look at how scared Mr. Han is! Hurry up and get out!" Li Si pretended to be a good person again!

  The jailer seemed to be frightened and hastily retreated. As he walked away, he accidentally bumped into Li Si's sleeve.

  In the side hall of the Epang Palace, Fu Su was paying his respects to Queen Dowager Zhao. The struggle between Fu Su and Li Si, Zhao Gao's faction had officially begun!

  Fu Su respectfully said: "Empress Dowager, your son Fu Su has come to pay his respects!" The wise and kind Empress also loved Fu Su very much, this clever child, and hastily said: "Get up, what brings you to see the Empress Dowager today?"

  Fu Su's face turned solemn as he said, "I am here to beg for mercy on behalf of Mr. Han Fei!" The queen consort was shocked upon hearing this and asked, "What happened to Mr. Han Fei that you have come to plead for his life?"

  Fu Su pretended to be surprised and said: "What, Empress Dowager doesn't know? Mr. Han Fei has already been imprisoned! With Mr. Han Fei's weak body and straightforward temperament, he can't last a few days in prison! I, your son, admire Mr. Han Fei's talent very much, so when I heard the news, I was anxious like burning fire, specially came to ask Empress Dowager to plead with Emperor to pardon him!"

  The queen heard this and hastily said: "Li Si and others have repeatedly said that Han Fei has the suspicion of being a traitor, I and the great king are not too believing, so the great king only said to imprison Mr. to wait for investigation! How can it become imprisonment?" Fu Su pretended to be surprised and said: "Mother queen doesn't know, according to Qin law, if the suspect has a house in Qin, he can be imprisoned in his own house, otherwise he must be put into the great prison of Tingwei. It seems that father king and mother queen have both ignored this Qin law!"

  The queen was a woman of the world, who knew there was such a law? Thinking that Han Fei's fate was uncertain at present, she hastily said: "Then you and I will go see your father the king together?" Fu Su shook his head and said: "Mother Queen, it is not possible. This time Mr. Han Fei was imprisoned, obviously it was designed by Zhao Gao and Li Si to frame him. If they knew that I was the one who informed Mother Queen of this, although they would not dare to deal with Mother Queen, they would dare to deal with me, so please forgive my bitter intentions!"

  The queen mother suddenly realized, and hastily let Fu Su be at ease, then hurriedly went to see the King of Qin. Ying Zheng was also neglectful of this law, and since he had some doubts about whether Han Fei was a spy or not, so he immediately dispatched an envoy to the Imperial Prison to pardon Han Fei and bring him into the palace for personal questioning!

  "Brother Li, save me!" Han Fei exclaimed in a panic, no longer stuttering.

  Li Si hesitated and said: "But the king's torture is imminent, and I'm not the main judge, what can I do? Otherwise, I'll give up my career and let Brother Han escape, how about that?"

  "No, no! Brother Li is in the prime of his career in Qin State, you have been waiting for this day for a long time, how can you give up for me? What I mean to say is that I, Han Fei, have always been proud and unyielding, how can I be humiliated by those petty officials! Please, Brother Han, give me a bottle of poisonous wine, I will settle it myself!"

  "Absolutely not, absolutely not! Let me think of another way, farewell!"