Chapter 44: Pain

Si Qingyu had been in the cell for a day and night already.

During this time, she hadn’t seen anyone. No one brought her food or water, and the dampness in the dungeon made her entire body feel increasingly weak.

She sat in the corner, rubbing her forehead, not understanding the intentions of the people who had captured her and brought her here. They didn’t even come to see her. Could it be that they wanted her to starve to death like this?

Si Qingyu smiled self-deprecatingly. It seemed they wanted her to become a ghost that starved to death.

She supported herself on her knees and struggled to stand up. After breathing in the damp air all night, her respiratory tract felt very uncomfortable. Covering her nose, she walked to the front of the cell, grabbed the bars, and looked outside. Even though she knew no one would respond to her, she still couldn’t help but tap on the bars. “Is anyone there? Cough, cough, cough…”

As soon as she spoke, her throat felt itchy and she started coughing dryly.

Si Qingyu leaned against the bars and squatted on the ground, coughing violently. She felt her throat was dry and painful, making it difficult to even swallow saliva. A wave of dizziness and confusion washed over her. Si Qingyu rubbed her brow, wanting to stand up and walk inside, but after only a few steps, she collapsed to the ground.

Her head was so dizzy…

Si Qingyu lay on the ground, vaguely seeing someone open the cell door. Two people walked up to her, directly lifted her arms on either side, and carried her out of the cell.

She watched as the two carried her to a wooden frame, tying her arms spread-eagle to either side of the frame. Then the two stood silently to the side.

Si Qingyu had become more alert during the process of them carrying her. She struggled, trying to break free from the ropes tightly binding her arms, but to no avail. Si Qingyu took a few breaths and looked at the women standing to the side, her voice hoarse and dry, “Who are you people? Why did you kidnap me and bring me here?”

The two women remained expressionless, as if they hadn’t heard her words.

Si Qingyu furrowed her brows deeply, knowing they wouldn’t answer this question. She licked her dry lips. “Could you give me a bowl of water?”

Finally, one of the women showed some reaction. She glanced at Si Qingyu. “Your death is near, what’s the point of drinking water?”

Si Qingyu moved her bound arms that had gone numb from the restricted blood flow. She gave a powerless, bitter smile. “Being able to drink a bowl of water before death is still a beautiful thing. After all, dying of thirst is not pleasant…”

“Tsk.” The woman glanced at her coldly and then resumed her expressionless state, ignoring her.

Sigh, this person was really stingy. It was just a bowl of water, yet she was so unwilling. It seemed that what lay ahead would not be pleasant.

The wooden door in front opened and a middle-aged woman wearing gray robes entered. The woman looked at Si Qingyu coldly and turned to instruct the women at the side, “You may proceed with the punishment.”

“Yes!”

The woman walked over to a nearby area with torture devices, pulled out a long whip that seemed specially made, covered in dense barbs. Si Qingyu could even see the dried, blackened bloodstains on the whip.

The woman walked up to Si Qingyu with the whip, giving her a sinister smile. “Physician Si, sorry about this.”

But her words carried not a hint of guilt. She swung the whip, about to lash it at Si Qingyu.

“Wait!” Si Qingyu called out hoarsely, the strain making her throat itch again as she broke into another violent coughing fit.

The woman glanced at the middle-aged woman behind her. Seeing her nod, she lowered the whip.

Si Qingyu looked at the whip in the woman’s hand with half-lidded eyes. If this whip struck her body, she would lose half her life. Si Qingyu turned to the middle-aged woman who seemed to be in charge. “Even if I’m to die, I want to die with clarity. I don’t know how I offended you all for you to want to annihilate me like this.”

The gray-robed middle-aged woman walked slowly to stand in front of Si Qingyu, giving a cold smile. “You don’t even know who you offended?”

Si Qingyu looked at her deeply and shook her head. “I have never shown ill will towards anyone, nor do I remember ever offending anyone. Could there be some misunderstanding?”

“Misunderstanding?” The middle-aged woman stroked her chin. “That I do not know.” She patted Si Qingyu’s arm in an exaggerated manner. “Ah, Physician Si, I’m just following orders.”

Having said that, the woman walked a few steps away and signaled with her eyes to the woman holding the whip. The woman nodded in understanding, turned back to Si Qingyu with a vicious grin, and fiercely lashed the whip.

“Ugh!” Si Qingyu let out a muffled groan as the whip struck diagonally from her left shoulder. Even through her clothes, it could directly tear off flesh, causing a burning pain that made her vision go black for a moment.

“Wait!” Si Qingyu raised her eyes with difficulty and called out to the middle-aged woman who was about to leave. She panted. “I… want to see your master. Since you can’t make the decision, have your master come. I want to ask for clarification.”

“Heh, Physician Si seems to think too highly of herself.” The woman’s lips held a mocking smile. With that, she snorted coldly and left the dungeon.

The woman holding the whip became even more unbridled, laughing maliciously. She abruptly raised her arm, putting immense force into each lash against Si Qingyu’s body.

“Ugh…” Wave after wave of searing pain made Si Qingyu let out muffled groans. Her hands struggled reflexively, but it was all in vain.

By the end, Si Qingyu had no idea how many lashes she had endured. Her entire body was covered in blood. The pain had reached such an extreme that she went numb, unable to even cry out. She weakly dropped her head and passed out.

As Si Qingyu fainted, she vaguely heard the sound of people talking.

“My lord, she has passed out.”

“Hmph, splash water to wake her up.”

“Yes.”

Then Si Qingyu heard footsteps. A bucket of ice-cold water was dumped on her. Si Qingyu gasped sharply, the wounds hurting so much that her whole body convulsed.

She struggled to open her eyes halfway. The first thing that entered her vision was an official robe with a blue background and crane motif. She slowly raised her gaze and saw a middle-aged woman looking down at her with an arrogant expression.

Seeing that she had woken up, the middle-aged woman laughed mockingly. “Oh, Physician Si is awake? Physician Si probably never thought she would end up like this, right?”

“Who… are you?” Si Qingyu’s breath was faint as she weakly spoke the words. What she actually wanted to ask was why they had captured her, why they treated her this way, what she had done wrong.

But Si Qingyu no longer had the strength to ask more.

The middle-aged woman in the official robe reached out and lifted Si Qingyu’s drooping face, saying with a regretful expression, “What a pity, this face. To think it could make all those young lords flock to you, you indeed have that ability.”

At this moment, with the woman holding her chin, Si Qingyu had no choice but to face the woman directly. Only then did she get a clear look at the woman’s face. A hint of surprise flashed in Si Qingyu’s eyes. This person was actually Lord Mu!

Si Qingyu had once entered the palace to meet the emperor, and Lord Mu happened to be present at that time. They only had that one encounter. Why was it her? Why did Lord Mu capture her? When had she ever offended her?

Seeing the confusion in Si Qingyu’s eyes, Lord Mu gave a cold laugh. “Physician Si, do you want to know why I captured you?”

Yes.

Si Qingyu weakly nodded, even this simple movement felt exceptionally difficult for her.

Lord Mu released her chin, her expression suddenly turning gloomy. “You two adulterous dogs schemed together to kill my daughter. Shouldn’t I do this!”

Mu Shinü?

Didn’t Mu Shinü die of sudden illness? What did that have to do with her?

Si Qingyu swallowed and managed to speak. “I had no grudge against… Shinü. Why would I harm her?”

“Why? You ask me why? You two adulterous dogs were meeting in private behind my daughter’s back and even caused her death. Yet you still dare to play dumb in front of me!” Lord Mu’s eyes were bloodshot, her face twisted in rage. She picked up a whip from someone nearby and fiercely lashed it at Si Qingyu.

“Ugh…” This lash, powered by fury, was not light. It directly cut a bloody gash on the side of Si Qingyu’s jaw. Si Qingyu weakly lowered her head, blood starting to flow from the corner of her mouth due to the strike.

Lord Mu looked at her viciously and threw the whip back to the woman, finding it cathartic. She stepped forward and gripped Si Qingyu’s chin again. “Now does Physician Si understand why I tied you up?”

Si Qingyu’s eyes had gone blurry. She couldn’t see clearly. She only felt immense pain all over her body. Even in her previous life when she died, she had never experienced such agony.

She slightly parted her lips but couldn’t speak. She wanted to say that everyone knew Mu Shinü went mad, slaughtered the entire Luo family, and then killed herself. How could that be blamed on her? She didn’t understand.

“I know what you want to say.” Lord Mu put her hands behind her back and walked to the side. “You think my daughter died of sudden illness, so it can’t be blamed on you?”

“But if it wasn’t you who harmed her, it was you who placed demonic bugs in her body that made her like this!” Lord Mu roared with a face full of resentment and hatred. She narrowed her eyes at Si Qingyu and sneered, “Did you really think you could deceive the world?”

From beginning to end, it was Lord Mu talking to herself. Si Qingyu lowered her head and remained motionless, like a corpse.

“I want to see if that Young Master Luo has the ability to come rescue you. If he really comes…” Lord Mu smiled viciously and glanced at the motionless person tied up to the side. “Then I’ll let you be a pair of star-crossed lovers. How about that?”

The person tied to the wooden post finally stirred. She moved her fingers and weakly lowered her head, struggling to utter her last few words, “Don’t… hurt him…” Then her body went limp and she fell still.

“Hmph.” Looking at Si Qingyu who had fainted, Lord Mu turned to the woman at the side and ordered, “Lock her in the cell. When that adulterous man comes, we’ll execute them together.”

The woman to the side bowed and acknowledged the order.

Lord Mu glanced back at the unconscious Si Qingyu, feeling delighted. Once the two adulterous dogs were together, she would make them suffer a fate worse than death. With these thoughts, she walked out of the dungeon.

The two women in the dungeon untied the ropes and once again carried the unconscious Si Qingyu back to the cell, locking the cell door. Humming a tune, they also left the dungeon.

In the dim dungeon, only the blood-covered figure laying on the ground remained.

The cold floor sent a chill seeping into her skin. Si Qingyu slowly regained a bit of consciousness. Her eyes opened a slight crack, her vision pitch black. She could feel her life force draining away.

She probably wouldn’t make it.

Shaoxuan… I’m sorry, she couldn’t give him an answer anymore…

…

On the other side.

Luo Shaoxuan, who was galloping towards the capital, suddenly felt a piercing pain in his heart. A surge of melancholy rose up and he spat out a mouthful of blood, tumbling off his horse and rolling in a cloud of dust.

Qinghuo, who was following beside him, quickly halted his horse and dismounted, kneeling beside him. “Master, are you alright?”

Luo Shaoxuan clutched his chest, clear tears flowing from his phoenix eyes, tracing his peerless face. His eyes looked towards the direction of the capital in panic, feeling his heart tremble in unbearable pain.

Ziliang…

Luo Shaoxuan disregarded everything else and mounted his horse again, riding towards the capital at top speed.

You must be safe. Wait for me, I’m coming right now!