Ye Ping’s entire body trembled. He said faintly through his swollen face, “Don’t hit me anymore… Just ask me anything you want to know…”
“Why did you do that to the Qin clan and Murong clan?” Zu An asked seriously.
Ye Ping hesitated. When he saw Zu An raise his palm again, he quickly replied, “This was someone else’s idea! I was merely carrying out an order.”
“Whose order was it?” Zu An shouted.
“King Dai, and also the Meng clan…” Ye Ping said quietly.
Zu An’s expression turned cold.
Could it be that those two felt wronged in the court session today and directed their rage toward the Qin and Murong clans?
“Did you also snap their legs? You really are vicious, even leaving behind that vicious scheme so they'd never recover,” Zu An said coldly.
“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me…” Ye Ping protested as he hurriedly waved his hands.
Qin Guangyuan said, “He was the one who ordered someone to break our legs, but the one who did it was someone else. He was entirely wrapped in a black cloak so we couldn't see his face, and seemed to be an elder.”
The others looked at Ye Ping furiously, exclaiming, “Where is that black-cloaked man now?”
Ye Ping quickly waved his hands and said, “I was only taking care of this for someone else too! That black-cloaked man wasn’t one of my people, but rather King Dai’s subordinate. He left after completing the task, so I don’t know where he is now, either.”
Zu An’s eyes narrowed.
This King Dai really is extremely vicious.
Jiang Luofu gave him a worried look. In the past, he had killed King Jin because the other side had offended him. Was he planning to target King Dai now, too? If he killed two kings in succession, not even his identity as the libationer would be enough to hold off the pressure from both sides, right?
“You villain! You actually dare to give the order to break my cousin’s legs?!” Chu Huanzhao cried, unable to hold herself back. She took out the Wailing Whip and sent it down on Ye Ping.
“Ahhh!” Ye Ping immediately screamed like a stuck pig. He rolled on the ground in pain.
His companions all turned to look in his direction.
Isn’t Sir Ye going a bit far with his acting?
It’s just a young girl’s whip, how much could it hurt? Being whipped by such a pretty young girl like this is clearly a reward, no?
Suddenly, Chu Huanzhao gave the other Ministry of Justice officials a look. She didn’t feel satisfied and sent her whip lashing out again.
“Ahhhhh!”
Several miserable screams filled the air at the same time, and the officials all rolled across the ground. Now, they finally knew why Sir Ye had screamed like a pig just now.
Because it f*cking hurts, damn it!
Zu An smiled inwardly. The Wailing Whip was good at magnifying the pain one received. It wasn’t so easily endured.
Chu Huanzhao was still angry. She continued to lash out with her whip.
Qin Wanru felt that beating a Ministry of Justice official in public like this wasn’t too good, but when she saw how much the Qin brothers had suffered, she couldn't swallow down that resentment either.
At worst, we’ll just return to Brightmoon City and bring our three thousand Red Cloak Army troops here!
After he was whipped several times in a row, Ye Ping finally couldn't take it anymore. He quickly said, “Please don’t hit me anymore… I want to atone for my mistakes…”
“How?” Zu An asked as he stopped Chu Huanzhao.
“The black-cloaked man also went to the two state dukes. The two of you need to hurry and save them. You might just be able to salvage something,” Ye Ping said weakly.
“What?!”
The others were all shocked.
Right, since they even did this to the Qin clan’s third generation brothers, why would they let the Qin clan’s lords go?
They had been so preoccupied by Qin Guangyuan and Qin Yongde’s miserable conditions that they forgot about that. They all quickly ran back in the direction they had come from.
Qin Guangyuan and Qin Yongde tried to struggle to their feet, but they were stopped by Jiang Luofu, who said, “You two are injured, so don't move recklessly. Otherwise, you'll really become cripples. At that point, there really won’t be any hope for you to get your revenge.”
When they heard what she said, the two brothers finally sat down again. However, they still clenched their fists tightly, blood even coming out of their lips from biting too hard.
…
Soon after, the others hurried to the rooms where the Qin clan dukes were held. Their statuses were special, so they both had their own rooms.
Qin Wanru could see that her father’s limbs were still intact and he only had some old wounds from torture. She couldn't help but sigh in relief. It seemed that the two state dukes’ statuses were special, so the tortures didn’t dared to act recklessly. However, for some reason, her father seemed to have aged much more compared to before, and he seemed to have become skinnier too...
Zu An’s expression changed. He rushed straight in and grabbed Qin Zheng’s hand. He could only feel a weak pulse, as if it could disappear at any time. More importantly, he couldn't sense the slightest fluctuation of ki. Qin Zheng’s awe-imposing aura from when they had first met was nowhere to be seen anymore! His hair was grizzled, and his body had also become a bit shriveled, as if he were just another ordinary elder of the secular world who could pass at any time.
When he saw Qin Wanru’s confused expression, Zu An said gravely, “The state duke’s cultivation has been sucked dry. He has already become a cripple!”