After Chu Chu left, Lin Xiaofei heaved a heavy sigh as she leaned the back of her head on the wooden walls of the carriage.
If there was an alternative way, she wouldn't have allowed her friend, Chu Chu, to be a part of her plans, lest harming her if ever her plans fail. She couldn't care less about other people. However, if it comes to her loved ones, she doesn't wish for harm to befall upon them.
The sound of knocking was heard on the door.
"Young miss?" Shen Mo called from the outside.
"What is it?" Lin Xiaofei asked.
"Should we go back to the Lin residence now?"
Lin Xiaofei took a moment to respond. Her eyes were closed since she was contemplating..
A while has passed, and her voice sounded from the inside of the carriage, "Not yet, I want to see something before going back."
...
In the midst of the darkness of a secret room, the person hopelessly chained on the wall was moaning and groaning in pain. His half-naked body was a mess, and patches of dried blood were riddling his body. Meanwhile, the injuries on several sections of his skin were still oozing with blood.
Also, if one were to look closely, his face was all swollen and smeared with blood. The man chained on the wall seemed like a vengeful ghost from afar, but his eyes did not contain a shred of hatred nor anger.
Only fear was evident in the glints of his eyes as he gazed at the man sitting idly in front of him.
With perfectly manicured hands, the man flipped another page from the book he was reading. In front of him was a table where a cup of hot tea and a plate of snacks were placed. Anyone could have easily assumed that he was having a picnic, if not for the eerie atmosphere inside the room.
All of a sudden, the man sitting idly on his seat said, "I have heard that the spies hired by the imperial family are all experts and have great loyalty to their masters. Now that I have seen it, I also think the same. It is such a waste that I cannot use such spies as my own personnel." He shook his head as if he was disappointed, yet the beautiful smile on his face told a contrasting story.
"What do you think? Should I recruit you as one of my men?"
Once again, the imprisoned man shuddered in fear as he tried to squirm his way out of the metal chains restraining him. Withal, the cuffs gripped his wrists so tightly that his skin was earning more wounds as he continued to move.
His heart screamed out his regrets for accepting the mission to spy on this ruthless person before him. Still and all, how could he have known that the man he was supposed to spy on was someone utterly frightening and ruthless? The man was even able to immediately capture and torture him upon finding out that he was a spy.
"What seems to be the problem, Spy Master Shang?" The man stood up from his seat and walked closer to the prisoner, "Thousands of men would beg for me to recruit them, but you refuse to answer. Do you think my offer is not up to par compared to your expectations?"
Spy Master Shang fastidiously shook his head. He wanted to speak, but only gibberish came out of his mouth. How could he answer to this cruel man's question when his tongue was cut off?
As a renowned spy, Master Shang was indeed one of the best experts that anyone from the Four Kingdoms would want to recruit. And it was like so when he came to the Zheng empire and was paid a huge sum of money by the imperial family.
He was so happy to acquire tens of thousands of gold in just one mission. For him to earn this huge amount of money, he would've to work nonstop for a year. Then the Zheng empire's imperial family willingly gave him ten thousand gold to simply spy on the Duke of Xin.
Correct. The person who's the focus of his espionage mission and the man in front of him was one and the same, the Duke of Xin, Qu Xing Xu.
Master Shang still couldn't believe that the man who was presumed to have disappeared from the public's eyes, choosing to not interfere with the matters of the imperial court, was now having his fun by torturing someone.
For a whole night, Spy Master Shang had been under great pressure and excruciation, courtesy of Qu Xing Xu who stayed in that dark and dirty room as if it was his own.
Wearing a purple robe, with intricate silver designs that twisted and curled at the sleeves and lapel, Qu Xing Xu was indeed a fine man who could make every woman kneel in front of him, begging for his affection. His black hair was draped across his wide back, and he didn't appear to look like he was in a hurry to tie it up, even in this kind of situation.
Using his clean and strong hand, Qu Xing Xu firmly gripped Master Shang's neck, which has the drippings of dried blood decorating it. He used the amount of force adequate to choke him, but not enough to kill him or make Master Shang lose his consciousness.
Putting a sinister smile on his face, Qu Xing Xu's playful tone became a bit darker as he closed in on the spy, "Or was the offer of the imperial family more desirable than mine?"
Spy Master Shang's eyes widened at the mention of the imperial family.
All this time, he never had the chance to open his mouth. He didn't desire to betray the imperial family in fear of the repercussions of his actions.
He even lost his ability to speak after having his tongue cut off. As a form of torture, his nails were also pulled out along with the endless ravaging of his body. Howbeit, it seems that the moment he was captured, the Duke of Xin had already seen through his guise and had long known of the identity of his master.
Moreover, it comes across that the Duke of Xin didn't care that the imperial family would know of this matter, finding him suspicious after their spy was captured.
Rumor has it that the Duke was submissive to the imperial family, but after seeing and experiencing what he can do, Master Shang finally realized that it was not the case. The Duke did not fear the imperial family.
Perhaps Qu Xing Xu became bored of him, the Duke let go of his neck. A flash of disgust was seen in his eyes as he looked down on his hand.
In the instant that he let go of Master Shang's neck, a figure hidden in the dark, somewhere in the room, appeared beside him and procured a spotless white handkerchief from his pockets.
Qu Xing Xu took the handkerchief, then carefully wiped his dirtied hands with it. When he finished, the Duke let the once pristine handkerchief fall on the dirty ground, like it didn't cost a few thousands of silver coins.
He turned around and was about to walk out of the room when he suddenly uttered with a composed voice, "Clean this room and do not leave a single dirt in sight. I don't want my other 'guests' to feel that they are neglected once they arrive here."
"Yes, sire!"
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