The Seventh Madam’s looks and figure were not bad, but in the end, she was just the daughter of an ordinary household.
Her current standing was something she had built through her own scheming.
Saying what she just said—even a fool could guess her intention.
Which was: no matter how much suffering Lang Yu endured today, it would all have been instigated by Feng Jiu’er, with no connection to her, the Seventh Madam.
“Seventh Madam.” Feng Jiu’er stood up with a touch of urgency.
Her eyes, carrying a hint of fear, made anyone who saw them—especially the men—feel an instinctive pity well up.
“I don’t know anything about these matters. I never intended to target anyone by coming in here—please don’t say such things.”
If the other seven madams were blind to it, surely the eight guards who’d come along weren’t, were they?
“Little sister, don’t be afraid!” The Seventh Madam consoled her gently.
“Your friend is Bao Lei’s wife. This is your way of avenging Bao Lei too—it doesn’t matter, the Master won’t blame you for it.”
“Seventh Madam, I—”
Before Feng Jiu’er could finish speaking, the Seventh Madam pulled out a whip from within the cart and struck Lang Yu hard.
“Ahh—” A scream of agony echoed through the entire punishment chamber.
“I’ll teach you to kill without blinking, teach you to run wild, teach you—”
The Seventh Madam kept cursing as she kept whipping, growing more excited with every strike.
Feng Jiu’er watched, looking anxious for quite a while, then turned and went over to the First Madam.
“First Madam, I heard Lang Yu comes from a prominent family—could you persuade the Seventh Madam to stop? I never meant to do anything to Lang Yu, truly, I didn’t.”
When Feng Jiu’er decided to act, if she decided to put on a show, she could do it utterly convincingly.
Several of the guards, watching how anxious she seemed, almost wanted to step forward and help relieve her distress.
But it was the Seventh Madam doing the beating—the Master’s most favored wife—and they didn’t dare intervene.
“Hey, someone!” The Seventh Madam, tired from the whipping, planted one hand on her hip and waved the other.
Feng Jiu’er turned to look at her, her expression still grave.
Having gotten no help from the First Madam, she could only turn and go find the Seventh Madam instead.
“Seventh Madam, what are your orders?” The guard nearest the Seventh Madam stood before her and cupped his hands.
“Untie him!” She waved a hand, then turned and went to sit down.
Seeing that Lang Yu had no way of escaping now anyway, the guard nodded and walked toward him.
Two guards untied Lang Yu’s bonds, while another pushed the prisoner’s cart aside, leaving Lang Yu thrown onto the ground.
“Little sister, it’s your turn.” The Seventh Madam handed the whip over to Feng Jiu’er.
“Seventh Madam, I—”
“Don’t be afraid!” The Seventh Madam cut off Feng Jiu’er’s words.
She smiled faintly, stood up, and pulled a small bottle from inside her robe, holding it out.
“Have him swallow this.” The Seventh Madam glanced at the guard.
The guard’s face showed reluctance, not daring to take it.
“As if I would actually kill someone? I told you to feed it to him, so feed it to him—or you can pack your things and leave right now.” The Seventh Madam said, displeased.
The guard had no choice but to take the bottle and shake a pill out into his palm.
“What are you feeding me? You—” Lang Yu, his whole body weak, watched helplessly as the pill was forced into his mouth.
“You’re all dead! I won’t let any of you go!” Lang Yu swallowed the pill, glaring viciously at Feng Jiu’er.
Feng Jiu’er glanced at him and unconsciously took half a step back.
“Little sister, don’t be afraid! With that pill in him, he won’t have any strength left. You can torment him however you like.”
The Seventh Madam glanced back at Lang Yu, an evil smile spreading across her face.
Her drug was not as simple as it seemed.
Feng Jiu’er appeared not to take notice, but in truth, she had missed nothing of the Seventh Madam’s expression.
The bottle was still the same one specially made by that old man, but the medicine inside had already been switched.
Feng Jiu’er felt no pity for this Seventh Madam, who was so desperate to take her life.
The Seventh Madam’s drug didn’t sap the strength of whoever consumed it—it did the opposite, granting them a sudden, overwhelming surge of strength for a short period of time.
If she had been a woman with no strength to bind even a chicken, then once Lang Yu’s drugged state took effect, even if she didn’t die, she would be gravely injured.
“But…” Feng Jiu’er furrowed her brow.
“No buts!” The Seventh Madam glared at Feng Jiu’er. “He burned to death several members of the Bao Lei family, including one woman who was pregnant.”
“As Qiao’s friend, shouldn’t you be venting some anger on her behalf?”
The ones burned to death had been Bao Lei’s other wives—Qiao Mu had only entered the picture afterward. Did the Seventh Madam not realize how flimsy her own reasoning sounded?
“Of course I wish this man dead.” Feng Jiu’er coughed lightly, gripping the whip in her hand tightly.
Still, this man wouldn’t live past today anyway.
She stood before Lang Yu, staring at him without blinking, yet made no move to strike.
“Little sister, don’t be afraid! Go on.” The Seventh Madam was growing rather impatient.
In everyone else’s eyes, Feng Jiu’er was hesitating—after all, this was Lang Yu, a man not to be touched casually.
But in truth, Feng Jiu’er was waiting.
In the end, it was the Seventh Madam who couldn’t bear to watch any longer.
She was somewhat afraid that Lang Yu’s drugged state would flare up and hurt her, yet she knew the time still wasn’t right.
The crucial thing was, if Feng Jiu’er didn’t step forward soon, she would miss the perfect moment.
“Little sister, come here.” The Seventh Madam came up beside Feng Jiu’er. “Go on, hit him hard—he won’t die from it anyway.”
“As long as he doesn’t die, the Master certainly won’t hold it against you. Go ahead, don’t worry.”
Feng Jiu’er turned her head to glance at her, then turned back to stare at the man on the ground once more.
Suddenly, Xiao Yingtao stepped forward and shoved the Seventh Madam: “If you want to do it, do it yourself. My young lady won’t fall for your trap.”
“Master Lang Yu, it wasn’t our young lady’s idea to beat you—it was all instigated by the Seventh Madam, and she’s the one who did the whipping.”
“Don’t hold a grudge against our young lady—she never laid a hand on you at all.”
The reason Xiao Yingtao had suddenly stepped in to shove her was that she could see the timing was just about right.
Feng Jiu’er’s drug was similar to the Seventh Madam’s, except stronger in potency and faster to take effect.
Caught off guard by the sudden shove, the Seventh Madam stumbled and fell against Lang Yu, who was kneeling on the ground.
Lang Yu’s eyes suddenly snapped wide open. He lifted his head and viciously grabbed hold of the woman who had fallen against him.
The drug had taken effect—his eyes were bloodshot, and even his face and neck had turned a deep red.
It was as if some enormous force was building inside his body, on the verge of exploding.
“Ahh—” Lang Yu let out a long howl, gripping the Seventh Madam and biting down hard on her face.
What followed was the Seventh Madam’s despairing, muffled scream.
“Help! My face, quick! Save me! Someone help! My face, let go! Help!”
In an instant, the entire punishment chamber descended into chaos.
“What’s going on?” Feng Jiu’er swept a glance over the panicked people around her. “Didn’t you say that once Lang Yu took the drug, he’d be completely drained of strength?”
“What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and save her!”
“Yes.”
“Yes, right away.”
Several guards immediately lunged toward Lang Yu and the Seventh Madam.
Two of them gripped Lang Yu’s arms from either side, another held his head, and someone else restrained his legs.
“Let go!”
“Let go, don’t hurt Madam.”
“Lang Yu, if you don’t want to die, let go of the Seventh Madam now!”
Everyone was straining with all their strength while also shouting warnings.
But Lang Yu, his eyes red, seemed as though he couldn’t hear a single voice around him.