"You didn't know how to judge people, and you let the wolf into the house," Xie Shiguan said, while casually picking up various torture instruments on the shelf. "To put it mildly, it's stupid and useless. To put it bluntly, you have long had evil intentions towards me."
His two casual words made Shen couldn't help but shudder.
God sealed one of his wisdoms, so that he would never hear those clever words in this life. After racking his brains, he could only raise his hand and say: "I don't have any..."
He is clearly loyal to Your Highness, as the moon can attest.
Even if he had to go through thousands of swords and seas of fire, he would never betray Xie Shiguan.
"Zhe'er... never thought I was dumb. In this mansion, only she and Shen Luo were willing to talk to me," Shen gestured with difficulty, "I thought, I thought she was..."
Treat me sincerely.
He lowered his head, but in Xie Shiguan's eyes, he looked like a coward who was hurt by love, and the more he looked at him, the more annoying he became.
During these years, Shen followed him and had seen all kinds of gorgeous and exquisite women in the world, so why did he fall for such a mediocre girl with evil intentions?
Look at his expression, he really takes it to heart.
Xie Shiguan picked up an iron whip with a hook and weighed it in his hand. The whip was not light and had iron hooks all over it. After a few whips, the skin and flesh would definitely be injured and it would be unbearable to look at.
The prince selected the torture instrument, but felt that it was too heavy. However, he had already taken it down, and putting it back would cause some damage to his appearance.
Shen Xiangzhi, who was standing by, stepped forward immediately. When he was picked by the ancestor emperor to serve Xie Shiguan, the little prince was only a little kid. Even if he looks unpredictable now, he was also a child when he was young.
At the moment, he is the only one who can persuade, and he is the only one who dares to persuade.
"Your Highness," Shen Xiangzhi bowed, "Although Shen Que made a mistake and should be punished, he is an old man in the palace after all, and has accompanied Your Highness all the way to now. This child is sincere and will definitely not do anything to betray his master for glory."
Xie Shiguan put his hands behind his back and snorted coldly.
Shen Xiangzhi continued to persuade him, "If that spiked iron whip falls, even a person with a strong body will be crippled. The palace never keeps useless people, and Your Highness has spent a lot of effort on Shen Que. Why not spare his life and let him make meritorious contributions in the future?"
Xie Shiguan seemed to be persuaded by him, and Shen Xiangzhi immediately struck while the iron was hot and went to get a leather whip to replace the iron whip in the prince's hand.
"Fifty lashes," the prince said calmly, "I think it's in consideration of your service over the years."
Shen bowed down as a token of thanks.
Seeing this, Shen Xiangzhi stepped forward again: "Your Highness, this fool was brought up by me. Now that he has committed such a big mistake, it is also my fault for not disciplining him properly. It would be better for me to carry out the fifty lashes myself, so as to avoid tiring Your Highness."
Xie Shiguan said nothing, but threw the whip in his hand to him, and sat at the top, as if he was going to watch the execution.
However, Shen knelt upright on the ground, allowing Shen Xiang to whip him again and again.
The prince was sitting at the top, and even if Shen Xiangzhi wanted to let him off, his men knew their limits and did not dare to go too far, so when the whip came down, the flesh and skin were visibly torn apart.
Chen endured the pain, the veins on his forehead and the back of his hands were visible, and his eyes were slightly red, but he still refused to make a sound, just gasping for breath.
Soon, blood marks appeared on Shen Que's back, and blood oozed out from the wounds. In just a moment, it soaked through his inner clothes, and the blood mist seemed to be spread into the air along with the long whip.
But Shen felt that his mouth and nose were filled with the smell of blood.
After the forty-seventh whip fell, the prince stood up and left the Zhongzheng Hall of the Inner Palace.
On the forty-ninth lash, Chen could no longer bear it. His body tilted slightly, his Adam's apple rolled, and he vomited blood. He was afraid of dirtying the white jade tiles in the hall, so he swallowed it back.
After the fiftieth lash, Shen finally fell down.
He tilted his head, half of his face pressed against the cold floor tiles, and through the half-open side door, he saw the prince's cold and sharp silhouette.
Xie Shiguan didn't look in his direction and disappeared from his sight in a few steps.
When he closed his eyes, it was already dusk of the next day when he woke up.
The wound on his back was painful and numb, and the slightest movement caused a tearing pain.
Fortunately, the wound was only on his back. The person who applied the medicine to him only took off his shirt and didn't bother to change his underwear. Otherwise, he wouldn't know if he would still be alive now.
Shen lay on the bedding, groaned twice, and then he heard footsteps outside, followed by the sound of a wooden door being pushed open with a creaky sound.
Shen turned his head and saw Shen Luo limping in with two packets of medicine.
"woke up?"
Because he was afraid of involving the wound on his back, Shen only dared to nod slightly.
"Master came to see you just now and said you were still asleep..." Chen Luo pulled a stool and wanted to sit down, but just as he put half of his butt down, he bounced up again with a hiss.
Even so, Shen Luo still smiled at Chen Que with a strong will despite his disability: "It seems that Senior Brother came at the right time."
Shen Que's worried gaze immediately fell on Shen Luo's lower body.
"It's okay," Chen Luo noticed his gaze, "Your brother has thick skin and flesh, so ten boards are nothing. Besides, those people in the Criminal Division are old acquaintances of your brother. They just look terrible on the surface, and they don't hurt your bones at all. You will be all right in two days."
"Your fifty lashes are really fatal."
Shen, however, tried to prop himself up and gestured slightly: “Why did you knock me out at that time?”
Although the force of the gesture was very light, there was a hint of anger in Shen Que's eyes.
Shen Luo felt guilty, so he naturally didn't dare to look at him, so he had to look away: "There's still a wound on your back, don't gesture."
After saying that, he changed the subject: "By the way, this is the medicine that Master asked me to bring over. He bought it with his own money. It's the best medicine for injuries. You were seriously injured and unconscious yesterday, and he has already used it on you. It's time to change the medicine - come, Brother will do it for you..."
But Shen stared at him and asked the same question: "Why did you knock me out?"
Chen Luo said nothing, pretending to be blind in front of the mute, and walked forward to change the medicine for him.
Shen, however, didn’t care about the injury on his back and grabbed his wrist: “Shen Luo!”
His temper has always been lukewarm. Chen Luo has known him for so many years and has never seen him lose his temper. For now, he had no choice but to give up and sighed softly.
"If I don't knock you out, will you just die?" Shen Luo asked back.
Shen Que: "This is my fault. I brought this upon myself. You shouldn't..."
Before he could finish his gesture, Shen Luo interrupted him: "I am your senior brother. I don't understand what is right or wrong, right or wrong. Do you have to teach me?"
Chen Luo hated his tone the most and unconsciously became angry: "If it wasn't for Master whipping you last night, you wouldn't be alive after those fifty lashes."
"Fortunately, His Highness still had some feelings for us and realized the identity of Xi'er early on. Otherwise, if he had really caused a terrible disaster, even if you had ten lives, it would not be enough!"
He finished speaking rapidly, and after relieving himself, he lowered his eyes to glance at Chen Que's expression. Seeing that his face was pale, he felt that he had spoken too harshly.
It really wasn't Chen Que's fault for what happened to Zhen'er. Even he didn't notice any clues in Zhen'er, let alone Chen Que, who was so naive.
"It's my fault," Chen Luo lowered his voice, "If I had seen through that little bitch's intentions earlier, I wouldn't have given her the chance to take advantage of me."
Shen Que is a slow-witted person, but Shen Luo is the exact opposite of him. He has been good at guessing people's minds since he was a child.
Zhen'er usually stays with Shen Que. Her words, expressions, and even her eyes are full of sincerity. Even he thinks that Zhen'er is really interested in Shen Que.
Either he had misjudged the person, or the girl acted really well.
Perhaps because of the severe pain in his back, Chen looked a little listless. He pressed the back of Chen Luo's hand lightly, then took it back.
"Brother," Shen Que said, "Don't blame others."
Chen Luo could see how sad he was, so he stopped talking, silently removed the gauze on his back, and changed the bandage for him with ease.
After changing the medicine, Chen Luo lit the charcoal, opened half of the window, and then got a pot of water and boiled it on the charcoal stove.
Watching Shen Luo busying himself in and out, Shen felt uncomfortable, so he got up and tried to turn over and get out of bed: "No need to bother, I can do it myself."
"What are you trying to do?" Shen Luo poured the boiling water into the teapot, then ran over and pushed him back onto the bed. "What's the trouble? I'm your senior brother. If it was me lying here, you would have to serve me like this, understand?"
Shen looked at him for a long time before he opened his lips and uttered two words.
Thank you, tangible but inaudible.
In the past, the prince could not understand his sign language, so he had to imitate others and move his mouth, but he could only speak a few phrases, and he had to use his hands and feet to help explain, otherwise the prince would not understand.
Shen Luo poured a glass of water into a porcelain cup and let it cool. Seeing this, he muttered, "What are you thanking me for?"
Shen Que replied sincerely: "Thank you, Senior Brother, for protecting me with your life."
"Stop being so cheesy," Shen Luo turned his head away, pretending to be disgusted, but with a smile in his eyes, "I have to go first - since you're not here, we'll have to take turns to serve His Highness."
But Shen gestured for him to leave quickly.
Before Chen Luo left, he looked back at him again. Because of the beating last night, Chen Que's lips were pale and he looked particularly weak.
Shen Luo knew that he was in pain, and his eyelashes were trembling with pain, but he still tried hard to smile at him. When he smiled, half of the dimple on his left cheek appeared, shallow and not obvious.
"Have a good rest," Shen Luo said to him before closing the door, "I'll come see you later."
Shen nodded.
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