Chapter 169: The Art of Finishing ng Liang (VI)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
ng Liang was rely an idiot who fancied himself as great as his ancestor was. Everyone who had heard about him recognized that the truth was the opposite.
If they assud that ng Liang would design to besiege them at the gambling house, they would be overestimating the boy’s ntal competence.
“Still...” A man hesitated. “Didn’t you say ng Liang has been at the Liu’s? The family must be looking for him right now, as they can’t afford to upset the ng’s. It’s possible that they’ve already saved him.”
ng Hun looked at the ground to contemplate. “True. That’s why we must hasten. If we can’t find him this ti, we’ll have to wait for another chance.”
He and so of his brothers had disguised themselves as ordinary civilians to search for ng Liang in town. They had gone to the gambling house and inspected its inner structure while they were “looking for the toilet.”
“I’ve heard that the gambling house usually keeps people at the firewood storage. ng Liang is probably there! Here is a plan of this place. This is where firewood is stored...” The speaking man had been a scout for the ng’s army, and he was specialized in collecting intelligence on the front. To him, surveying a dium-scale gambling house was a piece of cake.
“They’ve got quite a lot of guards. We mustn’t alarm them, or else it will be harder for us to leave Hejian tomorrow.”
One of them suggested, “What about catching ng Liang tonight?”
ng Hun nodded. “We wait until then. anwhile, let’s keep a close eye in case soone else cos for ng Liang.”
After dusk, the stuffy firewood storage fell into darkness. ng Liang’s arms were tied behind his back with a thick rope. The boy was lying on the ground, his body bent inwards for warmth.
His long eyelashes were trembling as his breath shook. His frowning countenance with blue and purple bruises on it could win sympathy from many, although they knew that he was not a girl.
Two guards were chatting at the door, one standing and the other sitting. Their conversation was about ng Liang.
“Why doesn’t he say sothing?” One of them rubbed his arms in the chilly wind and spat at the wall. “Our boss will do anything to get the money back.”
The other man explained, “Well, he can’t. There’s sothing wrong with his throat and arms so he can’t even write. The spooky thing is, the physician said he’s perfectly fine! Our boss was so mad at him earlier.”
They had only caught the boy who lost thousands of silver; they could not find his friend who had taken away more than four thousand. The gambling house had earned money bit by bit, sotis by filthy thods. The boss had never supposed that soone would win away all of his profits after years of his “diligent work.”
They had interrogated ng Liang about where Jiang Pengji and Nongqin were, but the camp boy simply would not utter a word. They had thought he was dogged not to say it, and they beat him hard. But when they saw him cry and moan and kneel and kowtow as hard as he could, they started to believe that he really could not talk.
The guard who spoke first said, “I thought he was pretending.”
The other man rolled his eyes. “He’s too weak to bear even a little pain! Soon after we began beating him, he cried like a pig being slaughtered and knelt imdiately when we told him to. He won’t have the determination to keep silent. You should see how he hugged our boss’s legs and wailed like a girl!”
“Didn’t he say he’s from the ng’s?”
Again, the man rolled his eyes. “We all know how proud the langjuns are. Ordinary langjuns wouldn’t kneel and beg like him, let alone those from the ng’s!”
“So this is definitely a fake one.” This guard missed what had happened in the day because of a nap at ho.
Suddenly, his companion smirked and draped the guard’s shoulders with his arm. “For sure. See his pretty face? I think it’s more likely that he’s from a male brothel. I wonder what will happen when the boss tells us to teach him a lesson. Heh-heh!”
That was what ng Liang heard when he woke, and he clenched his teeth furiously.
“What will the boss do with him?”
ng Liang heard the other guard reply, “We won’t keep him here for long; that would only waste our food. We’ll probably sell him to Southern Mansion to pay back the money he earned, and in a few years later he’ll be freed.”
Southern Mansion was a male brothel that bisexuals and gays frequented.
ng Liang nearly fainted again. His heart was burning with outrage. His mouth opened, but he could only produce hoarse “hm-hm” sounds; it was as if soone had wiped away his ability to articulate.
Further irritated, he banged the floor with his elbow. A fla of hatred was flickering in his eyes. He hated the people in the gambling house only less than his hate for Liu Xi, the reason for all the torture he had gone through!
During dayti, he had been slapped awake and interrogated violently. He had attempted to declare his prestigious birth, yet he could speak no words. It was as if he was born dumb. Worse still, he had lost his strength from elbows to fingers so he could not write.
The impatient guards and the boss whacked him because of it.
The spoiled child could not withstand the pain, and he soon begged the inferior beings in his eyes. He then did sothing more humiliating to please them, which he could not now recollect without feeling sha.
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