Chapter 16: Bodhisattva Barbarian (Part 4)
Ni Su ate half a bowl of porridge and drifted back to sleep. But the pain in her body made her restless. The sound of the iron gate opening and closing in the guard room startled her awake.
“Zhou Ting, bring her out.”
Ni Su heard a voice, followed by approaching footsteps. Several Yin Ye Si officers appeared at the cell door, unlocking the lock.
The candles had burned half the night, and Xu He Xue’s condition had improved. His spirit form wasn’t as faint as before. He watched as the officers entered, unlocked the cell, and helped Ni Su up. He didn’t reveal himself, but meeting Ni Su’s gaze, he shook his head slightly and said, “Don’t be afraid.”
Only Ni Su could hear his voice. The officers, oblivious to his presence, led her out of the cell, across the water-filled torture chamber, and strapped her to a torture rack.
Cold iron chains bound her wrists, waist, and neck, forcing her head up and immobilizing her. She could only look at the eunuch-dressed official sitting across the torture chamber.
“Miss Ni, you’ve just arrived in Yun Jing. How did you discover your brother’s body on Qingyuan Mountain?” Han Qing asked, taking a teacup from a subordinate.
“My brother came to me in a dream and led me there,” Ni Su replied weakly.
Han Qing paused, his hand hovering over the teacup. He raised an eyebrow. “Miss Ni, you don’t think the Yin Ye Si is easier to fool than the Guangning Prefecture Yamen, do you?”
The officer standing behind the rack tightened the chains, pressing Ni Su against the rack, aggravating her wounds from the beating. The chain around her neck also tightened, forcing her head back in a humiliating posture.
“I’m sure you’ve already questioned Master Tian from the Guangning Prefecture Yamen,” Ni Su said, her body trembling with pain, her lips bloodless. “I have no connections or resources in Yun Jing. If I had another explanation, why would I subject myself to such suffering? Or do you, sir, have a better explanation?”
Han Qing, seeing the woman’s frail and battered state, yet impressed by her clear and logical words, scrutinized her again. “How can you say you have no connections? An hour ago, people from the Grand Commandant’s residence came to the Yin Ye Si to inquire about you.”
“Do you not know when my letter was delivered to the Grand Commandant’s residence?” Ni Su, her neck constricted by the chain, looked down at him. “If I weren’t imprisoned, I wouldn’t have asked for help so readily.”
Zhou Ting, the commander of the Ji Huo Battalion, standing beside Director Han Qing, was slightly surprised. This frail young woman, strapped to the Yin Ye Si’s dreaded torture rack, showed no fear in her words.
“You have spirit, Miss Ni. But to expect us to believe your absurd claims based solely on that judicial officer Tian Qi Zhong’s talisman… aren’t you being a bit naive?”
Han Qing handed his teacup to Zhou Ting, stood up, and picked up a long whip. As he walked into the torture chamber, the whip trailed in the water, its numerous iron barbs glinting menacingly.
Compared to the Yin Ye Si’s methods, the Guangning Prefecture Yamen’s punishments were child’s play.
The handle of the whip pressed against Ni Su’s cheek, its coldness numbing her skin. She met Han Qing’s gaze and heard him say, “Even men can’t withstand this whip. Miss Ni, how much flesh do you think one lash will tear from your body?”
His words were so cold and brutal that Ni Su’s feigned composure crumbled. She trembled uncontrollably. Han Qing swung the whip, the sound of it striking the water echoing through the chamber as he demanded, “Will you tell the truth now!”
“Every word I’ve spoken is true!” Water splashed onto Ni Su’s face.
“Alright,” Han Qing raised the whip again, water dripping from it. “Let’s assume you’re telling the truth. If you knew you couldn’t explain yourself, why didn’t you run?”
“Why should I run?!” Ni Su cried, her eyes red-rimmed.
Silence descended upon the torture chamber, broken only by the dripping water.
Xu He Xue stood by the edge of the pool. “Ni Su, do you remember what I told you?”
As soon as she heard his words, Han Qing raised the whip again, as if to strike her. Ni Su closed her eyes tightly. “How can you understand, sir!”
The expected pain didn’t come. Ni Su opened her eyes and saw the whip, its sharp barbs stained with dried blood, inches from her face.
“The importance of family outweighs my own life,” she murmured.
Han Qing, his stern face showing a flicker of surprise, thought he had misheard. “What… what did you say?”
“I didn’t run because I want justice for my brother. He can’t die without a proper explanation,” Ni Su said, her voice weak. “Even if I can’t explain myself, I have to do this.”
Han Qing stared at her, almost transfixed.
“Director?” Zhou Ting, seeing Han Qing’s uncharacteristic silence, called out.
Han Qing snapped out of his trance, his grip on the barbed whip loosening. He looked at the young woman on the rack, then turned and walked out of the torture chamber.
Water dripped from his robes. He spoke with his back to her. “You’re a clever woman, Miss Ni. I don’t believe a word of your dream story. But as you’ve guessed, neither the Guangning Prefecture Yamen nor the Yin Ye Si can convict you based on your absurd claims. There’s no such law in Great Qi.”
He turned around and tossed the whip aside. “The Grand Commandant’s second son is now a court official. Since he inquired about you, I couldn’t ignore him.”
He was now calm and composed, as if he hadn’t been the one wielding the whip moments ago.
The rain outside the Yin Ye Si had stopped, and the sky was beginning to lighten. The cool morning breeze brushed against Ni Su’s face as she was led out of the Yin Ye Si, still dazed. The past day and night, spent in the prisons of the Guangning Prefecture Yamen and the Yin Ye Si, had felt incredibly long.
“Don’t worry, Miss Ni. The Director is taking your brother’s case seriously. Since it’s related to the winter examination, he’ll get to the bottom of it,” Zhou Ting said, helping Ni Su into the carriage sent by the Grand Commandant’s residence and holding the curtain open.
Ni Su nodded, watching as he lowered the curtain.
“Since when is Commander Zhou so considerate? Even telling her not to worry…” one of the officers said, watching the carriage drive away, nudging Zhou Ting with his elbow.
“Stop joking. Even though she’s been released, we still need to keep an eye on her,” Zhou Ting said sternly.
The officer looked at the receding carriage. “I admire that young woman. She looks so frail, but she has spirit.”
Many criminals broke down in the Yin Ye Si. This Miss Ni was an exception.
The carriage rattled along the quiet streets.
Ni Su huddled inside, her eyes closed, seeing the barbed whip Han Qing had wielded. She buried her face in her arms, her back drenched in cold sweat.
“Han Qing had no intention of harming you,” a cold voice said. “He was just trying to break your spirit.”
Ni Su didn’t look up. After a while, she asked, “Why did his expression change after I said those words you taught me?”
“Because he saw himself in you.”
Ni Su looked up. The bamboo blind cast the carriage interior in shadow. The young man sat beside her, his eyes dim.
“What do you mean?”
“He was once in a similar situation. Those words… he spoke them himself, years ago.”
“How do you know?” Ni Su asked. “Were you also a court official in your previous life?”
Xu He Xue didn’t deny it.
“Han Qing was castrated and sent to the palace as a child. His only family was his older sister. She was tricked into a marriage where she suffered abuse and humiliation. In a moment of desperation, she injured her husband and was imprisoned, facing execution. The words I taught you were the first words he spoke when he knelt before a minister, begging for his sister’s life. I happened to be there.”
“What happened to his sister?”
“The minister helped her plead her case, and the Emperor, showing mercy, spared her life and granted her a divorce.”
The minister Xu He Xue spoke of was Meng Yun Xian. But Meng Yun Xian hadn’t acted directly; he had used his influence through intermediaries.
Therefore, almost no one, besides Xu He Xue, knew of the debt Han Qing owed Meng Yun Xian.
“No wonder you told me not to be afraid.” Ni Su finally understood why the phrase was “outweighs my own life.” “But seeing that barbed whip in his hand… I was still terrified.”
Terrified that one lash would tear her flesh apart.
“You were brave enough.” In the dimly lit carriage, Xu He Xue couldn’t see her clearly.
Ni Su shook her head. “That’s because I knew you were there.”
“Knowing you were watching gave me courage,” she whispered. “I could only try my best to hold onto the sliver of hope you gave me.”
Xu He Xue lowered his eyelashes, silent.
“Do you smell something?” she suddenly asked, interrupting his thoughts.
Xu He Xue looked up, unable to see her expression, slightly confused. “Hmm?”
“Uncle,” Ni Su called out, raising her voice slightly.
The coachman outside heard her and turned around. “What is it, Miss? We’re still a few streets away from the Grand Commandant’s residence!”
“Please buy me two sweet cakes,” Ni Su said.
The food stalls on the street were already open, their aromas filling the air.
The coachman stopped the carriage, bought two sweet cakes, and handed them to Ni Su through the curtain. Seeing the bloodstains on her clothes, he said, “I’ll take you back to the residence immediately. The Second Young Madam will surely call for a medic.”
The curtain fell. Xu He Xue’s vision blurred. Suddenly, a hand placed an oil-paper-wrapped cake in his hand.
“I promised to buy you sweet cakes.”
Xu He Xue looked down at the cake in his hand, momentarily stunned.
A warm mist seemed to melt the coldness in his eyes.
He looked up, holding the warm sweet cake, and whispered, “Thank you.”
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