Chapter 180: Money Can't Buy Life

The bailiff nimbly stepped aside.

*Peh peh*, Wang Bujiu spat twice into his palms, warmed up, and then gripped the bamboo board tightly.

"Nanny, I'm starting now." He chuckled, still with that heartless look, "It'll hurt a bit, just bear with it. If you really can't stand it, just scream out."

The louder you scream, the better—scare that stinky woman Jiang Shi to death!

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Bujiu raised the bamboo board high.

*Pa! * The sound of "bamboo shoots frying meat" rang out, accompanied by a muffled groan of endurance from Nanny Kang.

Wang Bujiu's movements paused. *Yo-ho*, she's quite good at enduring. If she doesn't scream even like this, then don't blame this young master for getting serious.

He secretly exerted force, and *pa-pa-pa*, three more boards went down.

This time, Nanny Kang finally couldn't take it anymore. A painful scream erupted from the depths of her throat, like a pig being stabbed in the neck, emitting a tragic cry before death.

The people outside heard this and subconsciously covered their own buttocks.

Jiang Shi's face trembled violently, blood rapidly flooded her eyes, and she stood up abruptly from the ground.

"Lord Li, please, for the sake of the Beian Marquis Mansion and my husband, show mercy to Nanny Kang and hold back your hand!"

The Magistrate lowered his eyes, as if he hadn't heard.

The screams inside became more and more miserable. Jiang Shi was anxious, so she had to turn her attention to Jiang Li and Du Ruo, "As long as you are willing, I can compensate the Jiang family with one thousand taels of silver to settle this. How about it?"

Jiang Li's face was cold, unmoved, "Sorry, I'm not short of money."

Du Ruo, however, was all smiles, her attitude very good, "Spending a thousand gold for a servant—Lady Du is truly a good master with feelings and righteousness."

She thought for a moment and said, "How about this? If you really want to save her, why don't you take those dozens of lashes for her?"

Jiang Shi: "..."

This little bitch is truly vicious, actually thinking of such a rotten idea.

She had been pampered all these years, her body delicate and precious; how could she withstand such lashing? Moreover, a woman's body is so important—if she were left with ugly scars, wouldn't her husband despise her?

Just as she was gnashing her teeth in hatred, a bailiff came out to report, "My Lord, Nanny Kang has fainted."

Jiang Shi's face turned pale, and she rushed into the torture room.

In the torture room, Nanny Kang was lying on the wooden board, no longer moving. Her buttocks were a bloody mess, stuck to the fine silk fabric, which was a shocking sight.

Wang Bujiu, who was carrying out the punishment, had no intention of stopping, and the bamboo board in his hand continued to swing at her without mercy.

"Nanny!" Jiang Shi screamed heart-wrenchingly and rushed over.

*Pa! * That board landed solidly on Jiang Shi's body, tearing her clothes, and a long bloody mark immediately appeared on her back.

Jiang Shi screamed "Ah!" in pain, her whole body convulsing, cold sweat and hot tears falling together.

"It has nothing to do with me! She suddenly ran over herself; you guys have to testify for me!" Wang Bujiu seemed to have been given a huge fright, his bull-eyes wide as he explained hurriedly.

Several bailiffs looked at each other, their mouths twitching.

One of the clever ones immediately said, "Oh, Lady Du, this is a filthy place, covered in blood everywhere; why did you come in?"

"That's right, Lady Du, why are you so anxious? It wasn't finished yet." Another one wasn't stupid either.

Jiang Shi endured the pain and struggled to get up. She couldn't care about anything else and hurriedly reached out to check Nanny Kang's breath.

Although very weak, thank goodness, there was still breath.

"I want to take her away." Jiang Shi pointed to two of the bailiffs, "You two, help me carry her to the medical clinic."

The two bailiffs looked troubled.

Wang Bujiu smiled, revealing his big front teeth, "I'm afraid that's not appropriate, right? Only two lashes have been hit, and there are still twenty-eight to go."

Jiang Shi glanced at him coldly, "Don't you see she's already fainted? If you hit her again, it'll cost a life. Can you take responsibility for that?"

"Look at what the Lady is saying—what responsibility would I take?" Wang Bujiu rolled his eyes, every bristle of his beard showing speechlessness, "The order was given by the Magistrate, and how many lashes to hit was also ordered by the Magistrate. Even if she's beaten to death, that's her own fault; she deserves it. Who told her to do bad things? If you have the ability, go find the Magistrate to take responsibility; why are you showing off your power to a small fry like me?"

"You!" Jiang Shi's heart was about to explode.

Sure enough, they were all cut from the same cloth, with the same stinky and hard temper as that bastard Jiang Li!

Fortunately, she hadn't fulfilled the marriage contract and married Zhu'er to Jiang Li back then, otherwise she would have been angered to death sooner or later.

"Then you wait. I'm going to find Lord Li to plead for mercy right now. Before I come back, no one is allowed to do anything else. Do you hear me clearly?"

Wang Bujiu shrugged, "As you please."

Anyway, it was almost beaten enough.

After Jiang Shi went out, she lowered her face and said many nice things to the Magistrate. Seeing that she, the master, had also taken a board, the Magistrate didn't say anything more and agreed to let Jiang Shi take her back.

Nanny Kang was soon sent to Baohe Tang, and Jiang Shi found the best Doctor Jian in Baohe Tang to treat her.

Before, when Du Mingzhu was poisoned by a cockroach, it was also Doctor Jian who went to the prison to see her.

After examining the wounds, Doctor Jian's expression was very solemn, "The situation is not looking good. Nanny Kang was already physically weak, and the person who carried out the punishment was too heavy-handed. Although it is a physical injury, it is inevitable that she will suffer a great deal."

"Can it be cured?" Jiang Shi asked hurriedly.

Doctor Jian nodded, "It can be cured. Our Baohe Tang has top-quality healing medicine; she can recover after three months of bed rest."

Jiang Shi then set her heart at ease.

Doctor Jian reached out to take Nanny Kang's pulse again, and suddenly his face changed drastically.

"Oh no!"

Jiang Shi's heart, which had just been put down, was lifted again, "What is it?"

Doctor Jian's face changed unpredictably. After a long while, he sighed and shook his head, "If it were just external injuries, it would be fine. Unfortunately, her internal organs have also been affected, showing signs of rupture and bleeding. Coupled with her old age and frailty, I'm afraid..."

The implication was that she probably wouldn't make it.

Jiang Shi felt dizzy for a moment, then hurriedly steadied her mind, "Doctor Jian, you must do your best! As long as you can cure Nanny Kang, money is no problem!"

Doctor Jian smiled bitterly, "Lady, sometimes money really can't buy life. Even the best doctor is powerless."

These words were equivalent to sentencing Nanny Kang to death.

Jiang Shi sat down on the stool, her two eyeballs turning in disbelief, finally drowning in a sea of red.

Past events surfaced one by one before her eyes.

Memories before the age of three had long been blurred. The only thing she remembered was that no matter where she fell, no matter how many times she fell, the first person to appear was always Nanny Kang.

Nanny Kang would always blow on her wounds and then gently tell her that it didn't matter if she fell; she just needed to kick the stumbling block away.

That way, she would never fall again in the future.

She didn't understand this sentence when she was young. Later, as she grew up, ignored by her father, bullied by her legitimate sister, and even servants dared to run wild on her head, she suddenly understood.

So she began to fight back and learned to scheme.

Her father finally noticed that there was a pitiful daughter in the side courtyard, and her legitimate sister's marriage, which had been settled, was also called off because of drunken misconduct.

And that high-and-mighty legitimate brother became her all-or-nothing bargaining chip.

All of this was inseparable from Nanny Kang's decades of daily management. Without Nanny Kang, there would be no Lady Du of today.

She regretted it so much. Knowing there were risks, why did she let Nanny Kang do that thing?

Unfortunately, there is no regret medicine in this world...

Jiang Shi covered her face, tears spilling out from between her fingers bit by bit. Her voice also sounded like it had been crushed by a rolling stone, carrying sobs and sorrow.

"Then, how long can she hold on?" ===== CHAPTER 181 =====