Chapter 415 Ajiu's Accident
Jiang Hongling was led into the embassy by two soldiers, and after many twists and turns, she finally arrived at the courtyard where Min Pan'er lived.
However, when Jiang Hongling arrived at the entrance of the courtyard, she noticed something was wrong.
The courtyard didn't look very big, but it was surrounded by soldiers on guard.
There are more than twenty within sight alone. And who knows how many more are out of sight.
After being escorted to the door, the two soldiers briefly explained the situation and then handed Jiang Hongling over to the soldiers' commander.
The commander glanced at Jiang Hongling, a hint of sympathy flashing in his eyes, but he didn't say anything more.
He called someone in to report, and soon a maid-like person came out with her.
The maid glanced at Ajiu and said in a nonchalant tone, "Come in with me."
Jiang Hongling quickly followed.
Upon entering the courtyard, Jiang Hongling found it so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Apart from this maid, I didn't see a second maid.
Jiang Hongling asked curiously, "Are you the only one serving here?"
The maid nodded. "Yes."
One word, and that was it.
Jiang Hongling found it extremely strange, but the maid clearly didn't intend to say anything more and led Jiang Hongling to a side hall.
"Wait here. The princess just fell asleep and probably won't wake up for a while."
"I still need to prepare breakfast for the princess."
After saying that, the maid was about to go to the kitchen.
Jiang Hongling quickly called out to the person, "Hey, wait a minute."
"Is there anything else?" the maid asked, sounding impatient.
She was the only one serving the entire courtyard, and there were countless things to do!
Last night I spent the whole night fooling around with Min Pan'er, and Min Pan'er just went to bed without a care in the world. I still have to clean up the mess, cook, do laundry, and sweep...
This newcomer is causing her trouble.
Oh well, I'll just have to bear with it. Who knows how many more days this person will live?
Jiang Hongling wasn't entirely oblivious to subtle cues. Seeing the maid's impatient tone, she quickly cut to the chase, asking, "Did Princess Xihe bring someone back last night? Where is that person now? I haven't seen them."
The maid looked at Jiang Hongling with surprise, "What's your relationship with that person?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Hongling thought there was hope and asked with delight, "You've seen her before?"
The maid looked at Jiang Hongling as if she were a fool. "You came in because of that person?"
Jiang Hongling nodded. "Yes. Can you tell me where she is?"
The maid pointed to the location of the west wing.
Then he gave Jiang Hongling a strange look and left without saying a word.
Jiang Hongling didn't pay attention to the maid's gaze. After learning of Ajiu's whereabouts, she immediately got up and headed straight for the west wing.
She originally wanted to run away, but considering her frail physical condition, she had to suppress her anxiety and walk steadily toward the west wing.
Because the courtyard wasn't very big, it was quick to get from the side hall to the west wing.
The door to the west wing was ajar; Jiang Hongling gently pushed it open.
However, the moment the door was pushed open, Jiang Hongling froze on the spot. It was as if someone had grabbed her throat, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Inside the side room, Ajiu was suspended from the roof beam.
Her clothes were torn and disheveled, covered with bloody whip marks.
Her disheveled hair obscured her face, making it appear as if her fate was unknown.
The floor of the side room was scattered with all sorts of instruments of torture. There were whips, daggers, and even branding irons! The charcoal fire on the stove was still smoldering, emitting wisps of smoke.
Jiang Hongling stared at all of this with eyes wide with rage.
After a long while, she trembled as she slowly moved into the house and approached A-Jiu.
She reached out and slowly checked Ah Jiu's breath.
She prayed and pleaded, hoping that Ajiu was still alive.
At that moment, she held her breath, her heart pounding in her chest.
Upon sensing Ajiu's faint breath, Jiang Hongling burst into tears of joy.
"It's good that you're alive! It's good that you're alive!..."
Jiang Hongling grabbed Ajiu's legs and used them to support her as she tried to lower her down from the roof beam.
However, as soon as she exerted her strength, Ah Jiu let out a groan of pain.
"A-Jiu, you're awake? A-Jiu?..."
Jiang Hongling clung tightly to Ajiu's legs, using her own strength to support Ajiu's weight, but after only a short while, she was already panting heavily.
But Ah Jiu's hands showed no sign of breaking free of the ropes.
Just as Jiang Hongling was about to remind Ajiu, she heard Ajiu say with difficulty, "There's a knife on the ground."
Jiang Hongling quickly let go of his hand and bent down to pick up the dagger.
Ah Jiu's wrists, which had just been relieved, were tightened again by the rope, causing her to let out a muffled groan in pain.
Jiang Hongling was startled and frantically picked up the knife from the ground, only to find that she couldn't reach the rope suspending Ajiu even when she stood on tiptoe.
He immediately burst into tears, "I... how could I be so useless? Cough cough cough, I'm sorry... I... I can't reach the rope!"
If it weren't for the pain that kept her from complaining, Ajiu would have loved to roll her eyes at her.
But all I could do now was helplessly remind him again: "Stool."
"Oh, right, right, a stool, a stool."
Jiang Hongling hurriedly ran to fetch a stool, stood on it, and cut the rope that was suspending Ajiu.
With a loud bang, Ajiu fell heavily to the ground.
"A-Jiu, A-Jiu, are you alright?"
Jiang Hongling dropped the dagger and bent down to help Ajiu up, only to find that Ajiu couldn't stand up at all.
She lifted Ah Jiu's trouser legs and discovered that the tendons in both of Ah Jiu's feet had been severed.
"No! This isn't real!"
Jiang Hongling burst into tears instantly. She looked at Ajiu's feet in disbelief, and then started from the feet, checking Ajiu's injuries little by little upwards.
Then, she saw the countless whip marks on Ah Jiu's body, more than a dozen brand marks, as well as the severed tendons in her hands, and her injured lips, tongue and throat from being filled with charcoal.
Whip marks crisscrossed her body, but fortunately, Min Pan'er wasn't a martial artist and lacked the strength to apply them. The whip marks only looked horrifying; they didn't damage any vital organs. In fact, they were the least severe injuries on A-Jiu's body.
Jiang Hongling knew without even thinking how painful branding, how painful charcoal pouring, and how painful it was to have her hands and feet crippled!
"Why? Why did Pan'er do this to you? Why?"
Jiang Hongling really couldn't understand what kind of hatred would make Min Pan'er treat Ajiu so cruelly.
Just because Ah Jiu chose to save her, did he leave her alone and let her fall into the hands of the Big Slugs?
Just then, Min Pan'er, dressed in her nightgown, appeared at the door of the room.
Do you want to know why?
Upon hearing Min Pan'er's voice, Jiang Hongling abruptly turned her head, glared at her resentfully, and angrily questioned, "Why?"
Min Pan'er, leaning on her crutches, limped into the house.
She walked up to the two of them, looking down at Ajiu, "Do you think you've been wronged? Do you think I'm cruel?"
"But what does this matter compared to the harm you have caused me?"
Jiang Hongling glared at her fiercely, "Aren't you perfectly fine? Except for a broken leg."
"Hehe, hehehe..." Min Pan'er laughed, "Do you think the only injury I suffered was a broken leg?"
"Haha, quite the opposite, losing a leg was actually the least injury I suffered!"
"What do you mean?" Jiang Hongling frowned in confusion and snapped impatiently, "Just say what you have to say. Why are you beating around the bush at a time like this?"
Min Pan'er chuckled and said, "I'm not keeping you in suspense; I'm just mocking your ignorance and fearlessness."
"Do you think that getting a few lashes and having your arms and legs broken is bad enough?"
"Do you know what I went through after I fell into the hands of the Great Shrimp?"
“They made me live in the stable, they treated me like livestock, they even treated me like a prisoner, taking turns to humiliate me!”
Do you understand the kind of pain that's worse than death?
"But I lived like that for a full ten days!"
"In ten days, do you know how many barbarian soldiers have humiliated me?"
Do you know how I survived those ten days?
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