lcionline Chapter 496 It turns out to be him
Chapter 496 It turns out to be him
Chiyo Shimazu picked up a jug of uncold sake and poured it over the little girl's face. The cold sake jolted the girl awake; she sat up abruptly, looking around in a daze, seemingly unaware of where she was.
With a "slap," Shimazu Chiyo lightly slapped her across the face. "Look this way, look into my eyes. Who sent you? Tell me, and you can leave. Otherwise, you'll end up like those three corpses on the ground."
The little girl looked in the direction Shimazu Chiyo pointed and screamed in terror when she saw three blood-soaked corpses. Shimazu Chiyo frowned, her face showing some impatience, and reached for the hilt of her sword.
Seeing that things were going badly, Gu Hengbo quickly shook the little girl, "Xiao Hong, what exactly happened? Tell me quickly! If you don't tell me, you won't be the only one who suffers."
The girl called Xiao Hong seemed frightened, or perhaps unwilling to speak, and remained silent no matter how much Gu Hengbo shook her.
Liu Ye said coldly, "Fine, you don't have to tell me. I'll burn the entire Meilou building, people and houses, to the ground, and you can take this secret and sink into the Qinhuai River!"
Gu Hengbo was shocked. Meilou was her life's work; all her savings and hopes for the rest of her life were tied to this building. Moreover, she was only in her early twenties, in the prime of her life, and she didn't want to die so tragically. She grabbed Xiao Hong's arm and pleaded, "I've always treated you well, haven't I? When you were sold here at twelve, you were just a clueless little girl. I taught you to read, play the piano, and sing; you didn't want to be with the patrons, and I never forced you. Today, Meilou is in trouble because of you. Can you bear to watch me and Meilou fall into utter ruin?"
When Xiao Hong heard Gu Hengbo's emotional appeal and thought about all the care she had received since entering the industry, her eyes immediately reddened, and tears streamed down her face, but her lips remained tightly closed.
Seeing that Xiao Hong still refused to speak, Shimazu Chiyo held a knife to Gu Hengbo's neck. The cold blade made Gu Hengbo tremble with fear.
"If you still don't talk, I'll kill this woman and make her die right in front of you!"
Xiao Hong finally spoke, reaching out to snatch the knife, and cried out, "Let her go! It has nothing to do with her! It's all my fault!"
Shimazu Chiyo lightly kicked her away, then pressed the blade down, slicing through Gu Hengbo's neck. Visible blood flowed down her pale neck, past her collarbone, and stained her chest. Gu Hengbo thought she was going to die and began to sob in terror.
After falling to the ground, Xiao Hong got up again, ignoring the sharp blade in front of her, and hugged Gu Hengbo, wailing, "Don't kill her, it's all my fault, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything..."
Hearing that she was willing to speak, Shimazu Chiyo slightly sheathed her sword.
Xiao Hong cried as she said, "This afternoon, several people brought my father to me, saying that he owed eight hundred taels of silver in gambling debts and that I, as his daughter, should pay them back. How can I possibly come up with that kind of money..."
Amidst the cries, the truth came to light. It turned out that Xiaohong's biological father was a gambling addict who, unable to pay his debts, sold her to a brothel when she was twelve. He would frequently come to her demanding small sums of money. Xiaohong was helpless against her father and could only agree to his demands each time. This afternoon, several menacing-looking men brought her father again, claiming he owed eight hundred taels of silver at the gambling den and demanding he pay immediately, or they would stuff him into a sack, tie him to stones, and drown him in the river.
After all, they were blood relatives. No matter how much Xiao Hong hated her good-for-nothing father, she couldn't bear to watch him drown in the river before her eyes. However, eight hundred taels of silver was an astronomical sum for a courtesan who had only recently entered the profession, and she simply couldn't afford it. Just as the father and daughter were in a panic, the other party made a condition: help them kill an enemy at the banquet at Mei Lou that night. After the success, they would take care of the aftermath and promised to send the father and daughter out of Nanjing that very night, and also wipe away all their gambling debts.
Liu Ye wasn't interested in the details and pressed for an answer: "Who sent these people?"
Xiao Hong thought for a moment, then said uncertainly, "They seemed to have mentioned 'Chang Mansion' when they were talking..."
"The Chang family?" Liu Ye and Xu Hongji exchanged a glance. So it was him. In the entire city of Nanjing, the only person with the surname Chang who dared to attack a Duke and an Earl, and who had the power to plan such an assassination, was none other than the garrison eunuch Chang Kun.
Xu Hongji slapped his thigh and shouted, "I should have known it was this old bastard! He even dared to touch me!"
Liu Ye didn't waste any words and ordered Shimazu Chiyo: "Send someone to the military camp to inform Qin Tian to bring the special forces team to come with me to Chang's residence."
After Shimazu Chiyo left to carry out her orders, Liu Ye asked Xu Hongji, "Duke of Wei, I heard from my subordinate Lin San that the Imperial Guards from the capital came to Nanjing with him to arrest Chang Kun. I wonder why they didn't arrest him immediately and bring him to the capital. Why is Chang Kun still able to move freely and plan such an assassination?"
Xu Hongji shook his head: "I can't figure out the ways the Embroidered Uniform Guard works either. But eunuchs are the emperor's servants, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard is the emperor's personal guard. There might be some ties between the two. It's unlikely that the Embroidered Uniform Guard will let Chang Kun go, but it's not impossible that they will delay arresting him for a few days."
"No matter what methods he uses, Chang Kun has done this, and he must pay the price," Liu Ye said through gritted teeth. "I request that the Duke of Wei send men to guard the city gates to prevent this damned eunuch from escaping in the chaos."
Xu Hongji thought to himself, where could a convicted eunuch possibly escape to? But Chang Kun had offended him today, so it was only natural to lay a trap just in case. He nodded and said, "Leave this to you, brother. But don't be impulsive. Chang Kun is, after all, the emperor's appointed eunuch in charge of the garrison. If anyone is to be punished, it will be the emperor himself. Don't act rashly and make things worse."
Liu Ye gave a noncommittal "hmm," turned around, and left the room, followed by the Japanese samurai of the sword-drawing squad.
Seeing the group of fierce-looking Japanese pirates leave, everyone except Xu Hongji breathed a sigh of relief, and Hou Fangyu even collapsed to the ground. After Zhang Pu came to his senses, he looked at Liu Ye's back and thought about how this Earl of Pingnan was so powerful. Not only did he issue orders to the dignified Duke of Wei, but he also treated the garrison eunuchs as nothing and even made the Japanese pirates run around like servants. A thought began to grow in his mind: This boy is no ordinary person. Perhaps he can be a political partner or even someone to rely on in the future.
Gu Hengbo looked at the messy private room, then at Xiao Hong who was only able to cover her face and weep, and a wave of sorrow washed over her, causing her to sob softly.
Xu Hongji also led his personal guards out. As he passed Gu Hengbo, he thought about how this matter involved the girl under her command and wanted to reprimand her. However, he then considered that this was certainly not what she wanted, and that she was a pitiful person in a way. So he sighed, shook his head, and walked out the door.