"Xu Jinling and his nephew have been kidnapped," Butler He said cautiously.
Without saying a word, Tong Mingshan grabbed his clothes and, before he was even fully dressed, opened the door, his face full of anger. "What did you say?"
"Master, someone from the prison says that Xu Jinling and his nephew have been kidnapped." Butler He had no choice but to repeat himself.
"Go to the government office, these useless people!" Tong Mingshan didn't care about anything else and hurriedly went out the door.
He felt inexplicably panicked. The reason he hadn't killed Xu Jinling and his nephew was because he wanted to find out about the account books they had. As long as those books existed, they would be a threat to him.
Tong Mingshan doesn't like being threatened.
The Tong residence was not far from the government office. When Tong Mingshan arrived at the government office, it was brightly lit, and some of the yamen runners who were supposed to be on leave had also come over.
There were rows of prison guards and several yamen runners lying on the ground, motionless, as if they were dead.
"They're all dead?" Tong Mingshan's eyes turned red with anger.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, they are not dead, they are just unconscious."
"Then hurry up and wake him up!"
"My lord, we've tried everything, but they still won't wake up. We've already sent someone to fetch a doctor to take a look," Magistrate Huang hurriedly explained.
They wanted to wake the person up so they could find out what was going on.
But no matter whether you splash water, pinch their philtrum, or prick them with a needle, these people don't react at all.
"A bunch of useless trash, a complete bunch of useless trash!" Tong Mingshan kicked over a chair in anger and sat down to wait for the doctor to arrive.
Before long, the doctor arrived. Before he could even pay his respects to Tong Mingshan, Huang Tongpan pulled him away to check on the others.
The doctor examined everyone, wiped the sweat from his brow, and looked quite unwell.
"Doctor, what do you mean? What's wrong with these people?" Judge Huang asked hurriedly.
"Your Excellency, these people have indeed fallen into a coma. I will try to prescribe some medicine and administer it to them to see if they can wake up."
The doctor who was called in had no idea what kind of drug these people had been given, nor did he know how to detoxify them.
But he dared not say so, so he could only try it as a last resort, since the remedies for waking people up were all the same.
The constables quickly brought over the prepared medicine and administered it to each of the people.
But after waiting for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, there was still no reaction, so the medicine was obviously useless.
"Guards, drag this quack doctor out and give him ten lashes, then go and fetch another doctor!" Tong Mingshan could no longer suppress his anger.
The government office kept sending people to fetch doctors, causing chaos and confusion.
Meanwhile, at the Yunlai Inn, Su Ruojin and Yanluo were busy treating Xu Jinling and his nephew, who were on the verge of death from the ordeal.
Seeing the injuries on the two of them, Yanluo was so angry that her hands trembled.
"Miss, what terrible crime has this person committed to deserve such torture? Doesn't the law of the Great Chu state that even prisoners cannot be tortured into confessing?"
Xu Jinling was completely unconscious, barely breathing. His clothes were torn to shreds and could no longer be called clothes.
His back was covered with crisscrossing, deep whip marks that revealed the bone. Dark red blood seeped from each mark. Due to the inflammation of the wounds, the red, white and purple marks were mixed together, making it somewhat nauseating to look at.
In addition, there were burn marks on his chest from being branded with a hot iron; the charred skin was rolled up and emitted a pungent, burnt smell.
Both legs were likely broken off alive using a torture device similar to a tiger bench.
Xu Dayi wasn't in much better shape. His back was covered in whip marks, and he had branding marks on his chest. However, his legs weren't broken, but all ten of his fingernails had been ripped off.
Su Ruojin's eyes flashed with a cold light, but her hands never stopped applying the acupuncture needles.
"They are not guilty, their only fault is that they possess something that others envy!"
Previously, she didn't know Xu Jinling and his nephew and dared not make a judgment, but now that she has learned more about them, Su Ruojin has her own opinion.
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