Chapter 592 The Cunning of Merchants
Fang Ziming and Chen Yongnian talked for a long time.
When Chen Yongnian went to the torture chamber to receive his punishment, Li You had already been beaten.
The brothers in the torture chamber all knew that Li You and Chen Yongnian were at odds, and Guan Nianqiyang was Chen Yongnian's good brother, so they naturally wouldn't go easy on Li You.
Twenty strokes of the cane—not too many, not too few.
If you strike hard with twenty blows, it will be enough to ensure that the other person's skin is torn and their flesh is ripped, and they won't be able to get out of bed for ten days or half a month.
The people in the torture chamber wanted to do this, but Qi Yang didn't allow it.
Using public office to settle personal scores is undignified, easily attracts criticism, and can cause trouble for oneself.
Even so, the executioners did not go easy on him, giving Li You twenty heavy lashes, making him cry out in pain.
When Li You got off the bench, his legs were trembling and his back was aching terribly.
He limped out, not wanting to lose face, so he quickened his pace, but the larger his steps became painful, forcing him to slow down and walk slowly.
Before Li You had even left the courtyard of the torture chamber, he and Chen Yongnian locked eyes.
Chen Yongnian glanced at him, ignored him, walked past him, and walked towards Qi Yang, saying, "Twenty strokes, hit me as hard as you want, don't hold back."
As he spoke, he lifted his robe and lay down to the side.
Qi Yang: "..."
This was truly the first time he had ever seen someone so willing to take a beating.
Even if Chen Yongnian hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have let it slide, because Li You had stayed behind to watch.
If the people in the torture chamber don't do their best, it won't be good for him or for Chen Yongnian.
The constable standing nearby looked at Qi Yang and couldn't help but ask, "Brother, are we really going to hit him hard?"
"Otherwise?" Qi Yang looked at Li You.
The constable looked over and muttered under his breath, "It's because of this guy again. Brother Yongnian really didn't beat him enough. He should have been beaten until he was crawling on the ground with his teeth!"
"Stop talking nonsense, hurry up, I have things to do after this." Chen Yongnian urged.
He just wanted to resolve the matter quickly, inquire about Wan Qiqi's plagiarism of the formula, and find a good solution.
"You're tough on the outside, hopefully your butt will be just as tough later."
Qi Yang smiled, took the long stick from the bailiff, and decided to carry out the execution himself.
Even the strongest yamen runners couldn't match this strength, but Qi Yang had practiced martial arts and was stronger than the average person.
After twenty strokes of the cane, Chen Yongnian couldn't help but curse, "You told me not to make it waterproof, so you hit me harder?"
"No, didn't you tell me not to release the water? Isn't this what I did for you?"
Qi Yang stood the stick upright on the ground, tilted his head and smiled, then looked towards the door. Li You had already disappeared.
“If I don’t take drastic measures, Li Youxu might not leave and will continue to cause trouble for us.”
Qi Yang helped Chen Yongnian up and continued, "I did this for the sake of the prison and for your future."
The moment Chen Yongnian stood up straight, he felt as if his buttocks were on fire, and the pain was excruciating.
He glanced at Qi Yang, looking somewhat helpless, "How can I go back to see my wife like this?"
"Just tell the truth. I believe your sister-in-law will make her own decision and won't blame you." Qi Yang tossed the stick back to the constable and helped Chen Yongnian walk out.
“I’m not afraid of her blaming me, but I’m afraid that if she sees me suffering, she’ll want to take action against Li You,” Chen Yongnian sighed.
Qi Yang's eyes flashed with surprise, and he asked curiously, "Is your sister-in-law so bold? Does she even have this ability?"
"Have you forgotten? She even dared to plot against Tang Qiwen and Xiao Huai, let alone little Li You?" Chen Yongnian raised his hand to signal them to stop; he needed to rest for a while.
The caning was more painful than he had expected.
Qi Yang released Chen Yongnian and said in a deep voice, "Since you know he can't cause any trouble, why do you want to harm yourself and argue with him?"
“He said things he shouldn’t have.” A ruthless glint flashed in Chen Yongnian’s eyes. “I don’t care how he treats me, but I will never allow anyone to insult my wife!”
Qi Yang looked on, then sighed and shook his head. "Yongnian, you did the right thing by protecting your wife. But when your wife is out in the world, there will inevitably be people gossiping and talking. Are you going to hold a grudge against all of them?"
He patted Chen Yongnian on the shoulder and said seriously, "I believe your wife won't care about these things, and you don't need to care about them either. If things really go too far, it's not too late for you to take action."
Chen Yongnian hesitated for a long time before nodding.
When someone insults Wan Qiqi or does something detrimental to her, he often overreacts, but all his emotions stem from his concern for Wan Qiqi.
The two chatted for a while, then went their separate ways.
It wasn't yet time for the government offices to close, and even officials had to adhere to the schedule to avoid giving others cause for criticism.
Chen Yongnian walked out of the prison courtyard and headed towards the county government office, intending to find Wan Qiqi to inquire about the plagiarism incident in order to prepare a response.
Before he even left the county government office, he was stopped again.
"Your subordinate greets Lord Xie."
Chen Yongnian bowed respectfully, appearing somewhat distant, making it seem as if the two were not familiar with each other.
Xie Xing raised his hand to stop the other party.
Chen Molin supported Chen Yongnian's arm and asked with concern, "Brother Yongnian, are you alright?"
He turned his head to look at Chen Yongnian's buttocks, causing Chen Yongnian to dodge for a while.
"I'm fine. It's just twenty strokes of the cane. I don't need anyone to help me up." Chen Yongnian said this half-truthfully.
When the beating was over, if Qi Yang hadn't helped him up, he probably wouldn't have been able to get up on his own. He might have been like Li You, limping and clutching his buttocks, unable to leave the torture chamber for a long time.
"Luckily it's a cane. If you tried using a cane for punishing prisoners, your buttocks would be covered in welts!" Xie Xing said helplessly.
The cane used to punish prisoners was barbed; one blow would tear the skin and flesh, which is why everyone feared caning.
The most shameful aspect of caning was that it required removing one's pants, which caused one to lose all face.
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