“That stupid woman!” The Holy Emperor kicked over the low table in front of him in a fit of rage, startling the palace servants into kneeling. The golden plate that had held purple crystal grapes bounced across the stone floor, rolling to the corner where it finally tipped over. “Keep searching! If you can’t find them, come back with your heads!”
“Your Majesty…” The Empress Dowager looked quite haggard, apparently not having rested well for days. “If there are too many errors, perhaps we should pause for now. Pushing too hard will only make things worse. I fear we might lose any chance to turn things around.”
The Holy Emperor sneered, “Just because a dying Xiao Weiran escaped, Mother is starting to panic?”
“But…” Before the Empress Dowager could finish, someone came running with a report. “Your Majesty, reporting to the Holy Emperor, the relay stations have suddenly discovered a Shusha diplomatic mission. Our Princess Xingping and Shusha’s Prince Regent Feng Suige are among them, along with General Zhenyuan’s wife, Ling Xueying!”
“What?! Feng Suige has come too?” The Empress Dowager exclaimed, looking uneasily at the Holy Emperor. “Your Majesty, what do you think…”
“How… unexpected,” the Holy Emperor said through gritted teeth, his expression growing colder. “I underestimated Fu Yi Xiao.”
“Let’s stop here, Your Majesty,” the Empress Dowager sighed, saying bitterly, “What was originally a simple matter has become incredibly complex in an instant. Perhaps Xia Jingshi’s fate is not yet sealed…”
“Who says his fate isn’t sealed!” The Holy Emperor roared in anger. “Has Mother not considered the consequences of letting a tiger return to the mountain? Since everything is already in chaos, we might as well overturn it all and start anew. Guards, arrest Feng Xiyang as well! I want to see who Feng Suige will choose to save!”
Xia Jingshi sat cross-legged on a pile of withered grass, his eyes half-closed. His gaunt face looked even more emaciated in the faint light filtering through the skylight, but he maintained a slight smile.
There was no news of Weiran, but at this point, no news was good news.
As long as Xiao Weiran could escape, he would surely find Yi Xiao. If they could find Yi Xiao in time, the rescue she could bring would be everyone’s lifeline — this was why he had ordered his soldiers to send Xiao Weiran away that day.
If he had led his troops to fight their way out of the imperial capital, the charge of treason would have been confirmed that very day. Once labeled as rebels, they would face attacks from all sides, and in the end, no one would escape. But now, by calmly leaving himself in the Holy Emperor’s hands, not only could the Holy Emperor not easily harm him, but he would also have to divert his attention to explain the situation to the feudal lords — he didn’t believe no one would see through the oddity of it all.
“It seems you quite like it here,” the Holy Emperor said coldly, having arrived silently and seeing Xia Jingshi’s expression. His anger rose from within. “Don’t think that just because Xiao Weiran escaped, you can turn the tables. With his broken body, even if the Yulin camp can’t hold him, they can run him to the ground just by chasing!”
“This subject has never underestimated Your Majesty’s abilities,” Xia Jingshi replied slowly, opening his eyes which shone brightly. “Just as I don’t doubt whether Your Majesty can produce evidence of my guilt — Your Majesty has always been the most outstanding among your peers since childhood. These are mere trifles for Your Majesty, aren’t they?”
“You’re wrong,” the Holy Emperor laughed amid his fury. “I can’t produce evidence, so the evidence will be what you hand over yourself.” He looked down at Xia Jingshi haughtily. “Tell me, will you hand it over or not?”
Xia Jingshi stared at him for a while, then chuckled lightly. “If even you can’t produce it, how could I?”
Laughing loudly, the Holy Emperor turned to summon the jailer and whispered a few words, then turned back. “You’ve always been clever. You can guess what I’m going to do today — I’ll ask you one more time, will you hand it over or not?”
Xia Jingshi said firmly, “No!”
The sound of shuffling footsteps approached as several jailers arrived. The previous jailer brought an iron needle about a foot long and presented it to the Holy Emperor. He then took out the keys to open the cell door, and the rest immediately rushed in, firmly pinning the heavily shackled Xia Jingshi to the ground.
The Holy Emperor played with the sharp iron needle, slowly walking to Xia Jingshi’s front. He smiled wickedly, “I forgot to tell you, Fu Yi Xiao will be here soon. I’ve been thinking, if I were to pierce your shoulder blades with chains in front of her, break your limbs, and twist out your tongue, with your temperament, you’d only beg for a quick death, wouldn’t you?”
Hearing this, Xia Jingshi showed a mocking smile. “If you’re that stupid, I can only accept it.”
“Tsk, don’t be so cold when mentioning your old lover,” the Holy Emperor bent down, his slender fingers lightly tracing Xia Jingshi’s collarbone. “You’d better remember, if you can’t give me something satisfactory after Fu Yi Xiao arrives, I will torture you most cruelly in front of her — I promise, it will allow you to feel the pain more fully, yet not die too quickly!”
“You…” Xia Jingshi struggled angrily for a moment, then suddenly calmed down. “I can guarantee, that not only will you get nothing, but you’ll end up paying the price yourself.”
“Perhaps,” the Holy Emperor said casually, picking up an iron needle. He positioned the sharp tip vertically against Xia Jingshi’s left shoulder. “One last time, will you hand it over, or…”
“No,” Xia Jingshi spat out the two words decisively. At the same moment, the iron needle was deeply inserted into his shoulder socket.
Xia Jingshi’s entire body convulsed violently, his jaw arching stiffly in the air. The excruciating pain of the needle entering his flesh almost made him cry out. The Holy Emperor smiled, admiring his restrained expression, his hand still pressing down on the needle with increasing force. The tearing flesh and warm blood excited him immensely.
“Your body is as stubborn as you are. Whether it’s your muscles or your bones, they’re all desperately resisting me,” he said, his eyes flashing with curiosity, but his hand not relaxing at all. “Don’t you feel pain? Why don’t you scream? Why don’t you beg?”
“Would you let me go if I did?” Xia Jingshi’s lips were deathly pale, his eyes still filled with cold mockery.
“A long time ago, I thought you were born not feeling pain,” the Holy Emperor said softly, a strange smile playing on his lips. “It wasn’t until later that I realized you’re the person who fears pain the most in this world. You just endure it secretly, not telling anyone around you. Do you know? This only makes me want to torture you again and again because seeing you in pain brings me immense joy!”
Large beads of sweat rolled down Xia Jingshi’s forehead, but he clenched his teeth tightly without saying a word. The iron needle had already pierced through his body. The Holy Emperor reached out to grip his shoulder, slowly, no, gradually pulling the iron needle out of his body. “It’s not that I don’t care about brotherly affection, it’s just that you’re too stubborn. I gave you three chances, didn’t I?”
Blood dripped onto the dusty ground, trembling as it formed into beads. “Beg for mercy!” the Holy Emperor commanded viciously. “If you beg for mercy, I’ll kill you. Otherwise, more games are waiting for you.”