The prison had no windows, so naturally there was no distinction between day and night. The only illumination came from a few dim oil lamps that seemed ready to extinguish at any moment.

“Time to eat!” With this impatient voice, the jailer placed two bowls in front of Li Yuanji’s cell door. Li Jiancheng across from him received the same treatment.

Though Li Yuanji didn’t want to eat prison food, he hadn’t had a drop of water or grain of rice since being captured, and his stomach was truly aching with hunger. So he took the bowl inside – one bowl of coarse rice with another bowl of dark soup with a few pickled vegetables floating on top. It was even worse than he’d imagined, but at least it could fill his stomach. However, after just one bite, Li Yuanji immediately spat it out and called to the departing jailer: “This rice is spoiled – how can anyone eat it?”

The jailer turned back to the cell door and said coldly: “Do you think you’re still Prince Qi? So many demands – you should be grateful to have anything to eat.” He was originally a Tang soldier, so naturally had no good feelings toward Li Yuanji and his brother.

Li Yuanji had an explosive temper to begin with. Hearing these words, how could he endure it? He shouted loudly: “What do you mean ‘so many demands’? Is this spoiled rice fit for human consumption?”

The jailer’s face darkened, and he was about to rebuke him when the prison warden walked over and scolded: “What’s all this noise about?”

The jailer glanced coldly at Li Yuanji: “Brother Liu, he’s complaining the rice is spoiled and won’t eat it.”

The warden called Brother Liu raised an eyebrow: “Oh, is it really spoiled? Let me smell it.”

“Brother Liu?” The jailer looked at the warden in surprise. It was clearly he who had ordered them to give these two spoiled rice, so how had he suddenly forgotten everything?

The warden ignored him. After taking the rice bowl Li Yuanji handed over, he didn’t smell it but instead poured it onto the ground, leaving Li Yuanji stunned: “What are you doing?”

The warden grinned with a cold smile: “Since you think the rice is spoiled, then don’t eat it. Keep starving.”

Hearing this, Li Yuanji finally understood and said angrily: “You tricked me!”

His words made the warden’s smile even broader: “That’s right, I tricked you. So what? People like you deserve to starve!”

In fact, if Liu Hongji hadn’t ordered that they not be allowed to die, he wouldn’t want to feed them at all. Now that Li Yuanji was complaining about spoiled rice, it suited his purposes perfectly – starving for a meal or two wouldn’t kill them!

“You!” Li Yuanji was so angry he nearly went mad. Truly a tiger fallen to flatlands being bullied by dogs – in the past, anyone who dared treat him this way would have had their head twisted off immediately.

The warden completely ignored his anger, handed the empty bowl to the jailer, and clapped his hands: “Alright, let’s not disturb Prince Qi here. Let’s go.”

“Yes.” The jailer happily agreed. When stepping over the rice on the ground, he paused and chuckled: “If Prince Qi really can’t stand the hunger, then humble yourself a bit and grab the rice from the ground. Though I stepped on it, it’s still edible!”

Watching their departing figures, Li Yuanji trembled all over. Making him pick up rice from the ground to eat, rice that had been stepped on no less – did they take him for a dog?

After they walked away, he looked at Li Jiancheng across from him, who was calmly eating his rice, and said: “Big brother, how can you still eat that?”

Li Jiancheng swallowed the rice in his mouth and said calmly: “Just treat them like barking dogs – why take it to heart?”

Li Yuanji gritted his teeth: “Easy to say. When I think of their faces just now, I want to kill them with one stroke!”

“As long as we’re alive, we can repay this grudge sooner or later. But if we die, we can’t do anything. Remember, the most important thing right now is to stay alive!” Speaking thus, he handed Li Yuanji the bowl still half-full of coarse rice: “Eat. At least put something in your stomach – your wounds will heal faster too.”

Though Li Yuanji was still full of anger, he understood he had no right to be angry at this moment. He stretched out his arm to take the bowl Li Jiancheng handed him and ate sullenly.

Spoiled rice… he’d never eaten such a thing in his life, not even when exiled to Liangzhou. He swore that as soon as he could step out of here, the first thing he’d do would be to kill those two bastards!

After an unknown amount of time, there was commotion at the prison door, as if someone had arrived. Then a figure walked over surrounded by several jailers.

By the dim lamplight, Li Jiancheng saw that the person in front was wearing a trailing skirt and should be a woman. He couldn’t figure out which woman would come to this prison. When she drew closer, he finally saw the visitor’s appearance clearly and said in surprise: “It’s you?”

The visitor was none other than Yunyi. She looked at Li Jiancheng with cold eyes: “It’s been a long time, Crown Prince!”

Li Jiancheng slowly stood up, staring at that face as beautiful and unmatched as it had been ten years ago: “How are you here?”

“Crown Prince occupied Luoyang city and became an enemy of the Great Tang – how could this palace not come?” Yunyi’s eyes remained as cold as before, without a trace of warmth.

Li Jiancheng stared at her for a moment, then suddenly said: “You came for Li Shimin?”

Yunyi’s eyes contracted slightly, then she said: “Back then, this palace and Jirong were both dancers in the Governor’s mansion. I know very well what her capabilities are. If I’m not mistaken, the poison you put in the Qi River and the plague poison that harmed countless soldiers all came from her hand, correct?”

Li Jiancheng’s expression changed slightly: “You’re quite clever to have guessed even this.”

“If I couldn’t guess something so obvious, how would I dare stand before you without fearing you’d fool me completely?”

Facing her words, Li Jiancheng snorted lightly: “If you came just to say these things, you can leave now.”

Yunyi said coldly: “Li Jiancheng, you should be very clear about your situation. With just one word from His Majesty, you and Li Yuanji would immediately lose your lives.”

“Li Shimin…” Li Jiancheng repeated the name with a half-smile: “You’re right, but… Li Shimin probably can’t give orders right now. Otherwise, it would be him standing here, not you, correct?”

A flash of killing intent passed through Yunyi’s eyes. Li Jiancheng was right – though Imperial Physicians Jiang and Qi had used all their skills, they still couldn’t help Li Shimin turn danger into safety. Instead, his condition was getting worse, and through his clothes you could barely hear his heartbeat.

Imperial Physician Jiang’s final ultimatum was tonight – if Li Shimin didn’t wake up, he would never wake up again. And this was precisely why she had come to see Li Jiancheng!

“This palace knows Jirong’s character very well. She’s thoughtful and thorough, always having backup plans for anything she does. Just like in the Daye years when she simultaneously pleased Noble Dowager Consort while conspiring with you to kill Noble Dowager Consort’s son. This time must be no exception.”

Li Jiancheng’s eyelid twitched, then he said: “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know very well what this palace means, Li Jiancheng. This palace wants to make a deal with you. As long as you hand over the antidote for this plague, this palace will release you and Li Yuanji. Even if His Majesty wakes up, this palace guarantees absolutely no pursuit!”