Chapter 94 You killed a mute man, how am I supposed to watch the show? ...
After an unknown amount of time, Ah Hui suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded, with a dull ache in the back of her head.
In a daze, he felt as if he were being dragged along, stumbling and staggering through countless long corridors and corners.
Suddenly, a brute force struck him, and he was slammed hard onto the hard floor.
The sack was roughly ripped open, the light so bright it made him squint, and the incense in the air made him cough.
His hands were tightly bound with thick ropes, and he lay on his back in a sorry state, staring at the carved beams and painted rafters above him, the intricate patterns blurring into a blur before his eyes.
When he glanced to the side, he saw Sui En lying beside him, also dazed and not fully awake.
It wasn't until someone reached out and pulled them up that Ah Hui managed to steady his swaying body and see his predicament clearly.
They were standing on a stage that resembled a theater, and he didn't recognize any of the people sitting opposite them.
Zhao Yuanze, Li Yunsheng, and Wang Fengshu, who were facing them, sat in the most conspicuous positions, with mocking smiles on their lips.
The three of them looked at them with an arrogant air, as if they were playing with a cat playing with a mouse.
Zhao Yuanze lay in the dancer's arms, looking down at the audience: "Is this the new prey my cousin mentioned to me?"
Upon hearing this, Li Yunsheng leaned forward slightly.
“Yuanze, aren’t you looking for new companions? These two are lowly bastards who just offended Feng Hu. They’re easy to get rid of, so we can use them.”
Zhao Yuanze opened his mouth to take the grapes offered by the dancer: "Do these two know the rules of wrestling?"
On the other side, Wang Fengqi, who was embracing and teasing a maid, suddenly sat up straight when he heard that the person on the stage was Yu Nie.
The smile that had been on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a fierce glint in his eyes, as he rushed to the railing.
Upon seeing Ah Hui and Sui En's faces clearly, he trembled with excitement, like a hungry wolf eyeing its prey, and slammed his hands on the carved railing.
"It was those two bastards!"
This sleeping quarters was originally a well-regulated palace, but Zhao Yuanze forcibly transformed it into a wrestling arena.
Recently, his birth mother, Consort Xian, has been devoted to Buddhism at the national temple, and Zhao Yuanze, now free from supervision, has become increasingly unrestrained.
In his spare time, he would either drink or watch people wrestle. When he got crazy, he would even make palace maids fight naked, and occasionally he would even join in himself.
wrestling was originally a no-rules deathmatch, until one side was thrown off the stage or killed. It was a common form of entertainment for nobles, and was occasionally performed at large banquets.
But Zhao Yuan played extremely violently, and he wouldn't stop until almost drawing blood.
"Whether they understand or not, we'll find out once they're on the field."
Li Yunsheng glanced meaningfully at Wang Fenghu's retreating figure, as if to instruct him:
"Just don't cause any deaths. We're just having fun. Otherwise, if Shunhe comes knocking on our door, how will we explain ourselves?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Fengshu immediately became dissatisfied and turned to look at Li Yunsheng.
“Shunhe is nothing more than a princess born to a lowly maid. My brother-in-law only gave her a title to find a pawn for a political marriage. Do you think she is so precious?”
“Are the three of us inferior to her in status? Besides, it’s common for people to die occasionally in wrestling. Who can prove that we did it on purpose? And we didn’t even catch the person ourselves.”
Wang Fengqi glanced at Li Yunsheng, his tone full of sarcasm: "What, Yunsheng, are you scared?"
Li Yunsheng remained silent, which made Wang Fengshuo even more smug. He raised his voice and said, "If Yunsheng is really afraid of getting into trouble, with me and Yuanze here, we won't be looking for trouble with you. With the seniority of my Wang family, my brother-in-law won't bother me over the death of a eunuch."
Among the four great clans of Wang, Chen, Gao, and Li, only the Gao family could rival the Wang family, the Chen family was slightly inferior, and the Li family ranked last.
Although they all belonged to the aristocratic families, the families were constantly vying for power, both openly and covertly, and their mutual disdain never ceased.
There are only so many positions in the imperial court. If you rise, I will fall; if you prosper, I will decline. Each powerful family wants to protect its own glory. There is no solid united front. The underhanded infighting and scheming never stop.
That's exactly what Li Yunsheng wanted to hear; even if things went wrong, he would have a reason to exonerate himself.
In terms of intelligence, Wang Fengqu was far inferior to his elder brothers, and even less intelligent than Li Yunsheng.
Zhao Yuan, who was standing to the side, was getting a headache from listening to their rambling, so he ignored what they were saying.
He directed the people on the platform, saying, "Let them both sober up, then we'll begin."
He grunted and said, "Same as before, win a game and get a hundred taels of gold."
Upon hearing this, Wang Fengqi raised the stakes further: "I'll add another hundred taels. Whoever kills them both gets the money."
On the platform, two bare-chested strongmen with red belts, waists ten spans wide, and weighing over two hundred pounds were eager to move.
The sudden splash of cold water made Ah Hui and Sui En shiver at the same time, instantly sobering them up.
Sui En looked up and saw the physiques of the two strongmen, and his teeth chattered in fright.
He had only one thought in his mind: if he were picked up by such a person and thrown off the stage, he would definitely be smashed to pieces.
Ah Hui staggered and reached out to help the limp Sui En up.
Sui En grabbed his arm, looking into his eyes pleadingly, trembling all over:
"Master Ah Hui... I have younger siblings waiting for me at home... I don't know... should I go first... I want to live..."
Sui En's words were incoherent and illogical.
Ah Hui patted his arm, then his gaze fell on the two strongmen who were closing in, and he frowned.
Fifteen minutes, he thought to himself.
Sui En was still rambling incoherently.
He turned to look at him, his gaze calm, and gestured to him:
"It's almost fifteen minutes. I believe Qiqi will find us."
"I'll lead the way."
Having said that, he released Sui En's hand, straightened his stiff back, and looked at the two strongmen who were getting closer and closer.
Although she didn't know what he meant, Sui En could roughly guess from his posture: "But do you know martial arts?"
Ah Hui nodded.
"real?"
Sui En looked at his physique and knew he wasn't a martial artist: "Daoist Master, if you don't know how, we can just beg them. It's just kneeling and kowtowing. Don't be stubborn."
Seeing his gestures, Zhao Yuanze and the others became even more interested in him, realizing he was mute.
Li Yunsheng said, "Shunhe actually kept a mute person by his side to do things, interesting!"
Zhao Yuanze became irritated when he saw the two people on the platform dawdling and not making a move for a long time.
He slammed his hand on the armrest and roared, "Hey, if you two drag this out any longer, you'll both be sent to feed the fish in the moat!"
"Hurry up and do it!" His voice was full of impatience.
Sui En was so frightened by the angry shout that he knelt down facing the people on the platform with a thud.
"Sui En!" Ahui couldn't stop him.
His face turned pale, but he smiled and kept kowtowing to the three people on the brocade throne:
"Third Prince, Third Prince... and the other two gentlemen, please spare us! We were blind and didn't recognize your greatness. We offended you three. We hope you will see that we are just lowly scoundrels and let us go. We promise that we will not tell anyone about what happened today."
"Why do you talk so much nonsense, you neither-male-nor-female thing?"
Before Zhao Yuanze could get angry, Wang Fengqu waved his hand and had the guards drag Sui En aside: "Kowtowing, kowtowing, all you know how to do is kowtow all day long. Now I just want you all to die."
Wang Fengshu cursed again, then turned to one of the strongmen on the stage and said, "You go first, you on the left. Don't kill him right away, that would be too boring."
The strongmen who responded rubbed their hands together, and Ah Hui, worried about Sui En, had just turned her gaze away from that direction.
He felt the floor beneath his feet shake violently, and a strong gust of wind rushed towards him.
He made a gesture to raise his arm to block, but the difference in physique and strength between the two was too great, and he was not a martial artist.
With a muffled thud, he was sent flying and crashed heavily off the stage, his internal organs aching as if they had shifted.
He could only gasp for breath and couldn't stand up for a long time.
"Ah Hui!" Sui En tried to crawl over to see him, but the guards pressed her to the ground, her face pressed against the ground.
Wang Fengqu leaped over the railing, kicked Ah Hui in the ribs, contemptuously stepped on the back of his hand, and leaned down with a sinister grin:
"Zhao Huayan's dog doesn't seem as tough as her chewing teeth."
Ah Hui was in so much pain that his vision went black. He gritted his teeth and looked at Wang Fenghu, then suddenly bent down and bit his calf.
Caught off guard, Wang Fenghu let out a painful howl and kicked him away in a rage: "You lowly beast! You're a mute, how dare you touch me?!"
Just as he was about to strike with deadly force, Zhao Yuan, who was watching, became very dissatisfied and stopped him.
"Feng Qu, if you kill him, how am I supposed to watch the show?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Feng stopped what he was doing, and reluctantly gritted his teeth to return to his original position.
Zhao Yuanze began to increase the stakes, spurring on Ah Hui, who was trying to get back on her feet.
"Hey you down there, if you can hold out for half a quarter of an hour, I'll let you go back. If you want to live, then fight with all your might."
Ah Hui wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, struggled to her feet, and faced him.
Zhao Yuanze added, "A prince's word is his bond."
Whether Zhao Yuanze's words were true or not, Ahui knew that he had to drag it out until Yu Nie arrived.
He took a deep breath and dragged his weak legs back onto the platform.
The strongman opposite him could no longer contain himself and swung his mountain-like hand toward his face.
He knew he was no match for them and could only try to dodge and weave.
The strongman's fist slammed against the wooden board with a dull thud. He was furious at being toyed with, but he failed to catch him several times.
On the high platform, Zhao Yuanze, who had been leaning against the dancer's arms, sat up straight upon seeing this scene.
Bored, he picked up a bow and arrow from the side and shot an arrow at the nimble and agile Ah Hui.
The moment the arrow pierced the wind, Sui En's shout rang out almost simultaneously: "Ah Hui, watch out!"
But it was too late. Before Ah Hui could react to the murderous intent behind him, an arrow pierced his knee.
A sharp pain gripped him, causing him to lose his balance and fall heavily to his knees.
Seizing the opportunity, the strongman grabbed him by the collar and punched him in the face repeatedly.
Blood trickled down Ah Hui's forehead and into his collar, staining half of his face red.
Zhao Yuanze said, "His legs are too agile, dismember him."
"Yes, Third Prince!"
The strongman's roar exploded in his ears, and a large, iron-like hand gripped his ankle. Two crisp "crack" sounds echoed throughout the hall, followed by muffled cracking sounds from his wrists.
Veins bulged on Ah Hui's forehead, and his eyes were bloodshot from the pain and horror. He struggled and twisted with all his might, but he was too weak. His wrists and ankles were broken, and his whole body convulsed uncontrollably.
Sui En was already crying uncontrollably, tears and snot streaming down his face, trying to crawl over.
"Ah Hui! Ah Hui! Just hold on a little longer, the princess will be here soon!"
Upon hearing the sound, Ah Hui turned her head slightly in the direction of the sound with difficulty.
In the stands, Zhao Yuan clapped his hands, in high spirits.
Li Yunsheng's hand, holding the wine glass, froze in mid-air, a sinister smile playing on his lips.
Wang Fengchu laughed as if he had avenged a great grudge, and shouted:
"Quickly! Kill him!"
"This is what happens when your master goes against me!"
Upon receiving the order, the strongman grabbed Ah Hui by the hair and pulled him up, his huge fist hovering in front of his eyes.
Ah Hui suddenly laughed, and blood foam spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Faintly, I seemed to hear his familiar voice.
"Junior brother, this candied hawthorn is delicious, I'll share half with you..."
"Junior brother, you often have to go up the mountain to collect herbs, so I bought you a new pair of soap boots. They're much more waterproof than your old ones, and more comfortable to walk in..."
"Ah Hui wants to learn medicine? I will teach you. From now on, Lingbao Temple will be your home. Whatever you want to learn, I will teach you..."
like……
It seems there's still something I haven't done.
He remembered that this year, during the Lantern Festival, who would come to help Aunt Liu make glutinous rice cakes?
Qiqi doesn't know how, her senior sister doesn't know how, and Master is busy performing rituals.
He's probably...
There's no chance anymore.
I promised to give them gifts every year, but I haven't had time to choose any.
In his mind, which was filled with unfinished business.
A heavy punch came straight at him, slamming into his throat.
The three people opposite seemed to be completely ignited by this final blow, their faces filled with wild joy.
*
Inside Changxin Palace.
As everyone was chatting happily, the Empress Dowager praised Yu Nie's conduct and character.
Her words implied that if she returned to the palace, she could stay in Xianyang Palace, so that this old woman would have company.
Yu Nie obediently agreed, but her heart was uneasy, and she felt restless.
The teacup in Hua Ruo's hand clattered onto the table, startling her so much that she stood up unusually.
Xiao Chengyan noticed her unease and was about to step forward to ask her what was wrong.
A commotion suddenly arose outside the hall.
Han Jie, who had just finished his business, rushed in and whispered in Xiao Chengyan's ear with a serious expression.
Xiao Chengyan's expression froze instantly, and his gaze subconsciously turned to Yu Nie.
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