Chapter 87: with translation of chapter title

In the gloomy dungeon south of the city, Madame Chen begged for mercy, wailing to heaven and earth, but her hands were tightly bound, so she could only curl up like a shrimp and plead through tears.

Old Man Chen was tied up elsewhere, his mouth stuffed with a sticky paste, he could only whimper, unable to speak.

Chen Cuihua, whose body was still weak from major surgery, knelt beside Madame Chen with a deathly pale face, lifted her head and looked in terror at the man seated before her on the chair.

The man wore a dark robe, was tall and strikingly handsome like a demon, his expression icy as frost, he leaned casually against the chairback, appearing careless but actually exuding killing intent.

On the opposite iron pole, a man dressed as a farmer was bound, half of his face having been flayed alive, exposing bloody flesh.

The man was in so much pain he could no longer shout, only gasping heavily.

"Noble one, spare my life! Noble one, please spare my son! I beg you, noble one!"

Madame Chen watched helplessly as her son was flayed, nearly driven mad; she had been promised wealth and honor, so how could she suffer such disaster?

This man before her was hardly human—he was a devil!

She crawled forward on her knees repeatedly before this dangerous man, kowtowing nonstop, though she did not know him; being brought here by him felt like a scene from hell.

Madame Chen kept kowtowing until her forehead split open.

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Xiao Yin slowly leaned forward, coldly staring at Madame Chen: "You want to beg for wealth and honor? You can!"

"But you shouldn't have stepped on my woman to beg for your damn wealth and honor—before framing and harming the Princess Consort of Rui, didn't you bother to find out who her husband is?"

Xiao Yin made a gesture, and the man on the pole screamed even louder as the skin on his left arm was peeled off.

Madame Chen was stunned, her eyes fixed, unable to speak.

"I confess! I confess everything! Please release my brother—it's all our fault!"

Chen Cuihua burst into tears: "We shouldn't have been ungrateful, we shouldn't have harmed the Princess Consort of Rui—it's all our fault."

"The Princess Consort of Rui saved me and gave me silver to spend; I, this wolf-hearted dog-lung scoundrel, don't know gratitude!"

Xiao Yin coldly regarded Chen Cuihua and gave a light laugh: "Isn't that exactly a wolf-heart, dog-lung?"

"Fine! If you want the life of the Chen family's sole male heir, come with this prince to see the emperor tomorrow—misspeak by half a word, and I will have every member of the Chen family flayed, stuffed with grass, and burned as sky lanterns!"

He slowly rose, ordered the flaying subordinate to stop, turned and looked toward the doorway where his brother-in-law Gu Kang was bound to a chair.

At this moment, Second Master Gu trembled all over like chaff in a sieve; seeing Xiao Yin slowly approach, he panicked.

"Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law, don't kill me! Brother-in-law, don't kill me!"

Xiao Yin snorted angrily: "You little beast, now you remember I'm your brother-in-law?"

Gu Kang shivered uncontrollably; he had heard from his dissolute friends that Prince Rui was a good-for-nothing, now incapable of anything.

However, the emperor still remembers his past achievements, keeping him around like a pet.

At this moment, Xiao Yin had easily seized him from the Gu household, and he personally witnessed the flaying scene, terrified to the point of "one Buddha leaping out of his skull, two Buddhas ascending to heaven."

Now, seeing Xiao Yin standing before him, he could hardly call him brother-in-law, let alone father.

Just as he was about to cry out "Father!" for mercy, Xiao Yin coldly looked at him and said: "Because of a little regard for your sister, I spared you once at the poetry gathering in Hibiscus Garden."

"You must understand: without your sister, you are nothing in this prince's eyes!"

Gu Kang, terrified, dared not lift his head to look at Xiao Yin, who coldly said: "You know in your heart how to speak before the emperor tomorrow; get one word wrong……"

Xiao Yin suddenly raised his hand and the blade fell.

"Ah!" Gu Kang screamed as Xiao Yin chopped off his left little finger clean off.

Xiao Yin raised the blade again; Gu Kang was in such pain he was about to faint, yet he sucked in air and begged Xiao Yin: "Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law! Brother-in-law, don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

Xiao Yin wiped the blood from his blade onto Gu Kang's head and coldly said: "Tomorrow before the emperor, say what you ought to say; get one word wrong, and I will lop off a finger, then your limbs, reducing you to a human stick!"

The next morning, Gu Jiu Ling was shaken awake by sunlight streaming through the window; she hurriedly rose from the chair, feeling somewhat dizzy and light-headed from sheer exhaustion.

Beside her, Jiu Yue heard Gu Jiu Ling's movement and also woke, grabbing her to steady her.

Mistress and maid had spent the whole night rescuing, only finishing in the early hours; they still dared not relax, keeping watch beside Cheng Ming all night, but eventually they could not stay awake and, leaning on the chairback, both fell asleep.

Gu Jiu Ling hurriedly checked Cheng Ming on the sickbed; finally all his vital signs stabilized.

She immediately breathed a sigh of relief, lifted the blanket, and examined the wound on Cheng Ming's lower abdomen.

"Trouble……move……more gently, it hurts!"

Cheng Ming's hoarse, weak voice came through.

Gu Jiu Ling's hand holding the tweezers paused midair as she lifted her gaze to the awakened Cheng Ming.

"Master! The young marquis is awake! Awake!"

Jiu Yue burst into tears.

Gu Jiu Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside, accompanied by the voice of a palace eunuch: "His Majesty summons the Princess Consort of Rui to the palace!"

Gu Jiu Ling frowned; this was going to be a hard confrontation.

However, they used the word "please," not a summons, so it was all right.

She gave Jiu Yue a few instructions, turned and walked out of the room, where a large crowd was already waiting outside.

Princess Consort of Rui also had spent the night sleepless, her visage wan; this time her look at Gu Jiu Ling held a mix of complexity and anxiety.

Gu Jiu Ling walked up to her and said: "The young marquis is awake; Jiu Yue is watching, nothing will go wrong—remember not to let anyone enter this room."

The Princess Consort of Rui's eyes instantly flashed with delight; she wanted to thank her, but Gu Jiu Ling said no more and turned away.

Outside waited a palace carriage; Gu Jiu Ling boarded it directly and followed the eunuch into the palace.

That Emperor Longqing would inquire about this matter was within Gu Jiu Ling's expectations, after all so many people had been stirred up, and the key Princess Changping had even brought her out of the Ministry of Punishment—none of this was trivial.

But Xiao Yin had returned, and she felt her spine stiffen considerably.

Gu Jiu Ling was led into the Hall of Nurturing Heart; upon entering, she sensed the atmosphere was so oppressive it could wring out water.

Rows of people knelt on the ground, including Madame Chen and Chen Cuihua, and even her own brother was among them, his hands wrapped in bandages that were actually soaked with blood.

Gu Cheng knelt beside Minister Gu, his face ashen; Princess Changping wept with tears like pear blossoms in rain, and Lady Duan the Noble Consort also knelt.

Only Xiao Yin stood by Emperor Longqing's side, a sinister expression on his face concealing a smile.

What does that mean? Xiao Yin had already kicked up a fuss before she even came in?

It feels like her man has won a great victory!

Gu Jiu Ling stepped forward and knelt before Emperor Longqing, saying, "Your servant wife pays respects to Your Majesty!"