Chapter 17

Luo Yu’s face turned cold as he fiercely kicked the leg bone again.

The bone broke, and the stark white bone protruded out.

Xie Yunyan’s pupils shrank in pain, his whole body drenched in sweat as if soaked in water. His clothes, mixed with blood and sweat, stuck to his body, yet he still didn’t cry out. Instead, he chuckled softly.

“What you want is nothing more than evidence of the Xiao family’s treason… But the Xiao family has never done it, and I don’t have it in my hands…”

Luo Yu said, “Once I break your bones inch by inch, it will naturally appear.”

Xie Yunyan, however, was unafraid. “Is that so? You seem to forget that I surrendered without resistance and followed you back to the capital. Unless you can silence everyone in the garrison camp and the entire world… Otherwise, if I die here…”

“You, your people, and His Majesty… None of you can explain it to the military…”

“Shut up!!” Luo Yu’s face turned livid.

Xie Yunyan laughed heartily, blood staining his mouth as he tilted his head back. His phoenix eyes still carried arrogance. “Angry now? Then go ahead and kill me!”

Luo Yu’s expression twisted with rage.

“No matter how many years pass… You, Luo Yu, will always be that pitiful creature who can’t make it to the stage… Ha… Haha…”

“Slap!!”

Seeing Xie Yunyan still daring to insult him at this point, Luo Yu, furious, raised his hand and slapped Xie Yunyan’s face.

Xie Yunyan’s gaze turned fierce but softened when he thought of the Xiao family’s women.

Su Jinyuan just stared at him lying on the ground, covered in blood, her palms trembling uncontrollably. For a moment, she even wished Xie Yunyan would stop talking, even if it meant yielding or begging for mercy. At least he wouldn’t be beaten to death. But the young man, while coughing up blood, still had bright eyes. Even though he was beaten to the brink of death, he remained unyielding.

Seeing Luo Yu beating Xie Yunyan until there was hardly any intact flesh left, Duke Yu spoke in a deep voice, “Enough!”

After stopping Luo Yu, he walked up to Xie Yunyan.

“Xie Yunyan, why are you so stubborn?”

“I see you as a talented person. Why must you follow the Xiao family to seek death? As long as you truthfully confess and hand over the evidence of Xiao Jin’s treason, I guarantee that once you leave this prison, your future will be bright, and your life will be no worse than when you were with the Xiao family, perhaps even better!”

Xie Yunyan only panted, saying nothing.

Duke Yu said, “You are loyal to the Xiao family, but the Xiao family only regards you as a lackey.”

“Your father died for Xiao Jin, and your mother perished because of it. Although the Xiao family took you in and raised you, they never truly considered you one of their own; otherwise, why didn’t Xiao Jin change your name and include you in the Xiao family genealogy?”

“Xiao Jin treated you well, yet he never let you join the military. The sons of the Xiao family are all brave and formidable warriors, but you have become nothing more than a notorious playboy. Everyone calls you ‘the Sixth Young Master,’ but who really takes you seriously?”

Duke Yu continued seductively, “Xiao Jin kept you only to show off his benevolence and deep affection—hoping to use you to win over the hearts of the soldiers so that others would follow him loyally—yet he never truly regarded you as a close kin.”

“Now that Xiao Jin is dead and the Xiao family is at its wits’ end, why must you suffer so much for such a hypocritical gentleman?”

Xie Yunyan looked at the incessant Duke Yu and said, “I do not side with the Xiao family. So… am I then siding with you, Duke? Once I send the Xiao family crashing into oblivion, are you going to come and wipe me out completely?”

Duke Yu frowned. “Why would you think that of me? I am merely carrying out the Emperor’s orders to investigate Xiao Jin’s treason. I have no grudges against you. As long as you confess honestly, I promise not to harm you in the slightest.”

“Promise?” Xie Yunyan laughed lowly. “How do you promise? Write me something to put my mind at ease?”

Duke Yu’s expression darkened immediately at these words. How could he possibly write anything for him? If he did and it fell into the wrong hands, that writing would become evidence. Without securing the evidence of the Xiao family’s crimes, he’d only be incriminating himself—and he isn’t that foolish.

“Master Xie, why deliberately taunt me? I swear on my life that if you agree, afterward I will protect your life, and I will not go back on my word!”

Xie Yunyan laughed sarcastically. A promise—what sort of thing is that? As if coming from a three-year-old?

Duke Yu took a deep breath; seeing that Xie Yunyan remained unmoved by his words only stoked his anger further.

Nearby, Luo Yu stepped forward, intending to continue the assault, but Duke Yu, noticing Xie Yunyan’s barely there breathing, reached out to hold him back. He had beaten him and employed punishments, yet Xie Yunyan’s bones were stubborn and hard to break.

Moreover, as Xie Yunyan himself had mentioned, when he surrendered and was brought back to the capital, at least a hundred soldiers in the garrison witnessed it—and many knew well that he had been escorted into the capital and thrown into the Ministry of Justice’s prison.

If Xie Yunyan were to die in prison, not only would they be unable to account to the Emperor, but the military would also suffer greatly over this matter.

Duke Yu drew another deep, impatient breath: “Think it over carefully—this is your one and only chance. Will you accompany the Xiao family on a journey to the underworld, or will you keep your life intact to plan for the future? I believe you’re a smart man; you should know which choice to make.”

“I will return in a couple of days. By then, I hope that Master Xie has made up his mind.”

After he finished speaking, he said no more. Leading Luo Yu, he turned and left, while Xie Yunyan collapsed to the ground, his entire body marked by blood.

“Xie…” Hearing the footsteps recede, Su Jinyuan, who had just been about to crawl out from under the plank, suddenly locked eyes with Xie Yunyan’s phoenix eyes. Though his eyes were tinged with blood, they remained clear, and he silently shook his head at her.

Su Jinyuan’s heart skipped a beat, and she quickly retreated.

The cell was utterly silent. The two of them stared at each other through the overgrown weeds as thick, dark red blood pooled all around Xie Yunyan’s body.

After a long while, someone approached silently. The black leather boots that had earlier departed reappeared in the cell.

Su Jinyuan held her breath sharply—she even ceased breathing—and Luo Yu looked around the cell. Seeing no one else there and noticing that Xie Yunyan lay with his eyes closed and head drooping as if he had fainted, he finally frowned. “Have I guessed wrong? Is that Yang Hong really here only to interrogate the prisoner?”

Luo Yu glanced around, and as his footsteps drew closer, Su Jinyuan’s heart leaped into her throat.

Seeing the black leather boots make a circuit of the cell, then suddenly stopping in front of the wooden board, grasping the sword sheath, and thrusting it toward the bed, Su Jinyuan pressed herself tightly against the wall behind her, her eyes filling with alarm.

“Mm…” At that moment, Xie Yunyan let out a muffled grunt; painful, labored breaths emerged from his throat.

Luo Yu, who had initially intended to lower his head, halted his movement. Turning to look at Xie Yunyan, he sheathed his sword and walked over to the injured man.

“You have this day too.” He prodded Xie Yunyan’s chin with his sword, watching his face turn as pale as a ghost as he teetered on the verge of unconsciousness from the pain.

He grunted lowly—after all, he couldn’t bring himself to let the man truly die.

“Find a doctor to perform a post-mortem rite for him. Just make sure he doesn’t die.”