Ma Yuantong was thrown onto the county office floor like a dead dog, his eyes wide with terror as he kept shrinking back toward the screen. When Lai Chenglong had gone up the mountain to capture him, the sentries discovered them. To escape, and with the mentality of killing as many as he could, Ma Yuantong had ordered his men to hurl entire vats of venomous snakes at the mountain wall and pour scalding tung oil down below. Perhaps they hadn’t expected him to have this trick up his sleeve—even the usually imposing Imperial Guard Commander with his fearsome reputation had fallen victim to these methods, sustaining over a dozen wounds of various sizes on his body, not to mention being bitten on the arm by a venomous snake.
He knew about the Imperial Guard’s methods of dealing with people. If these men wanted to torture you, they had countless ways to make you unable to live or die. When he had first heard about such things, it hadn’t seemed significant, but once it concerned him personally, just the thought alone made every hair stand on end, his heart convulsing with terror as if he might faint at any moment.
Lai Chenglong glanced disdainfully at the man on the ground and tore off his sleeve with a ripping sound, revealing wounds already blackened from burns. He instructed Hongfa, “Go fetch Advisor Hu.”
Anyone could see these were burns from tung oil. Hongfa kicked Ma Yuantong on the ground in angry indignation, his eyes revealing cold killing intent. He strode outside with large steps, first going to the Grand Prince’s room to summon Advisor Hu.
Advisor Hu took one look and couldn’t help but gasp softly, touching the already blistered edges and frowning. “Truly ruthless and cruel. If the entire arm had been scalded like this, Commander Lai, this hand of yours would be ruined.”
For someone who relied on martial arts and physical ability for their livelihood, everyone knew what an arm meant. Hearing this, Hongfa glared even more viciously at Ma Yuantong, who kept shrinking back. This fellow had dared to use such cruel methods then, but now he was cowering.
Ma Yuantong’s eyes involuntarily revealed a terrified expression, tears nearly falling. He had intended to kill Lai Chenglong, but the man wasn’t dead, and he himself had been captured instead. This wasn’t amusing at all—with the Imperial Guard’s methods, they could even torture him to death.
Advisor Hu washed the dagger with alcohol, then held it over fire for a while before beginning to help Lai Chenglong remove the necrotic flesh from his hand. These blisters were all rotted, blackened around the edges. If the wound wasn’t properly cleaned and treated, it might truly leave lasting damage.
After Lai Chenglong finished applying medicine, Hongfa picked Ma Yuantong up again like lifting a dog. After walking a few steps, he threw him into a room and shut the door with a click.
Ma Yuantong opened both eyes and carefully examined the room. The more he looked, the colder his heart grew—this seemed specifically prepared for him, complete with all the torture instruments used in prisons to interrogate criminals. Before he could speak, Hongfa struck hard at the back of his knees, and his whole body lurched forward, kneeling on the ground. His knees collided with the floor with a clear crashing sound. Hongfa swiftly stuffed his mouth, then grabbed his arm and wrenched it backward. With a crack, his arm immediately hung limply at his side. Ma Yuantong’s eyes bulged wide, drenched in cold sweat from the pain, nearly fainting. Wanting to cry out but unable to make a sound, he whimpered and thrashed about.
Hongfa seemed not to notice at all. Grabbing the fingers of his other hand, he bent them forcefully backward. Ma Yuantong heard several crack-crack-crack sounds, then piercing pain shot through his fingers, immediately causing tears and snot to flow together.
Only then did Lai Chenglong raise his chin toward Hongfa. Hongfa looked down at him with a cold laugh, reached out to pull the filthy cloth from his mouth, and asked coldly, “Where’s the antidote?”
Hongfa had no patience. His hand nearly pinched two holes in Ma Yuantong’s jaw. He laughed coldly and looked at him with murderous intent. “You’d better tell me the truth. Otherwise, today I’ll turn you into a human swine. You know what a human swine is, right? Gouging out your eyes, nose, and ears, cutting off your tongue, severing both hands and feet. Long ago, Empress Lü did this to Consort Qi and even put her in a jar. I’m not that patient—I’ll just soak you in brine. Or perhaps add some mercury? Or pry open your skull and pour some in to see if it’s really true as recorded in medical texts that people can’t die this way.”
What difference was there between living like that and being dead?! Ma Yuantong’s eyeballs nearly flew from their sockets. No, no, no—this was worse than death, far worse! From then on, he would be a monster. He was so frightened he cried out loud. Without realizing it, he felt a warm stream surge from his lower body, soaking his pants through. Waving wildly at the air several times, he shouted in extreme terror, “I’ll give it! I’ll give it!”
He would rather be sentenced to death by a thousand cuts than be turned into a human swine by the Imperial Guard like this.
Seeing Hongfa’s sinister smile, Ma Yuantong hurriedly added, “You’ve already searched my residence. You have all those bottles and jars. Bring them for me to identify. I know, I know which bottle it is!”
He had only learned that the supposed cure for the Grand Prince’s poisoning was a conspiracy when Lai Chenglong led people to attack the mountain. Originally, he had harbored thoughts of destroying all the antidotes, but now he was extremely grateful he hadn’t done something so stupid. Otherwise, he would probably immediately be suffering a fate worse than death.
Hongfa hauled him to the back courtyard. Imperial Physician Yan was leading Qing Luo in smelling the bottles one by one, judging which might be the antidote. Ma Yuantong fell to the ground with a thud, crawling in a pathetic state to the pile of bottles. With trembling hands, he pushed aside bottle after bottle until he finally picked up a pale blue bottle sealed with red silk and handed it to Hongfa. “This one, this one.”
Hongfa glanced at him coldly, reached out to take the bottle, and poured out two pills. He handed one to Imperial Physician Yan and forcibly stuffed the other into Ma Yuantong’s mouth, forcing him to swallow it.
“I wouldn’t dare deceive you, sir. This really is the antidote.” Ma Yuantong was so anxious his voice changed, nearly crying out again. “It really is the antidote for the poison the Grand Prince was given.”
Song Chuyi stood behind the screen, her expression calm and unreadable. After a quiet moment, she heard Imperial Physician Yan cry out joyfully from outside, “It is indeed the antidote!”
Ma Yuantong’s eyes widened, finally feeling relieved. Clutching Hongfa’s leg like a dog wagging its tail and begging for mercy, he pleaded, “Sir, it’s true, it’s true. You heard what the physician said—this is the real antidote. Please spare me. I have copper mines, endless copper coins…”