Chapter 204: In the Imperial Prison, He Was Not Like That at All
“Are you perhaps deceiving Us?”
Xiao Wuji blinked, finding it difficult to accept what he had just heard.
“Your Majesty, these are the criminal evidence Cheng Yu submitted!”
The Shadow Guard hurriedly shook his head, bent forward, and took small steps up to Xiao Wuji, presenting the evidence extracted from Ning Cen under torture.
Xiao Wuji picked up the evidence and examined it carefully. His eyes immediately turned red with fury, and he roared, “That dog! To think We were still considering things on his behalf just now!”
There was nothing wrong with the evidence Cheng Yu had submitted.
That bastard Ning Dingyuan had very likely truly been colluding with Prince Chu. The Great Qian Emperor felt as if he had been bitterly betrayed.
He had treated his ministers with sincerity, and for the sake of Great Qian, he had forgiven them for all their nonsense and misconduct.
He had never expected that someone would not only be ungrateful, but even plot with outsiders to touch his throne!
If he were not distressed over the repair costs and afraid of being criticized by the ministers, he would have wanted to smash the palace to vent his anger right now.
However, a moment later, Xiao Wuji quickly regained the composure that belonged to the Emperor of Great Qian. Boundless fury still flashed in his eyes as his steady voice, like a great bell, rang out.
“Men! Go to Duke Dingguo’s Estate and seize Ning Dingyuan first. Whether he is guilty or innocent can be decided later. If Ning Dingyuan confesses and goes mad, you must protect the Jinyiwei there, especially Cheng Yu!”
“By your command!”
A low, aged voice sounded from above the palace hall. An incomparably powerful figure suddenly rushed out, moving so fast that his speed even caused a sonic boom.
The Shadow Guard was greatly shocked. A royal retainer expert in the Grandmaster Realm had taken action.
His Majesty, who had always been lenient and benevolent, was furious this time!
...
Not long earlier, at Duke Dingguo’s Estate.
Inside a luxurious room.
Ning Cen, whose head was wrapped in bandages, shrank into a corner and hid beneath the quilt, secretly peeking outside.
“What are you doing? Have you come to harm me? Then... then how about I apologize and kowtow to you?”
A group of household retainers and subordinates had gathered in front of him, each one wearing a fawning expression.
“Young Master, do not be afraid. We did not come to harm you. We came to bring you something good!”
As they spoke, the servants of Duke Dingguo’s Estate dragged in a group of weeping young women from outside the door.
“Young Master! These are the women we brought back for you. You can play with them however you want!”
In order to cure Ning Cen’s problem, they had racked their brains.
In the end, they found one method.
Cater to his tastes!
Ning Cen liked using his status to crush and toy with others. When the mood struck him, he had even snatched women from respectable families in the middle of the street.
Then they would capture people for the Young Master and reenact the scene, helping him regain his former arrogant, invincible spirit!
Ning Cen, leaning against the corner, froze when he heard this.
Inside his sensitive brain, which was a complete mess, his memories gradually began to recover.
In the past... he seemed to have been very arrogant and daring. He liked humiliating women who resisted fiercely...
Ning Cen subconsciously looked toward those weeping women.
Logically speaking, the more hatred their expressions showed, the more pleasurable it should have been for him.
But now, the situation was somewhat different. The current Ning Cen was no longer the same as before.
When he saw the sorrowful and hateful expressions in those women’s eyes, a face that had left a deep impression flashed through Ning Cen’s mind.
Song Nian.
Despair, anger, and... excitement.
A hundred kinds of torture devices, a thousand forms of torment, the dual blows to body and mind—all of them exploded in Ning Cen’s mind.
“Ah!!! Grandmothers, do not kill me! I was wrong! I will kowtow to you!”
His entire body trembled, and he jumped from the quilt to the floor. He actually began kowtowing with loud bangs.
The captured young women were not very old, but they had all heard of Ning Cen’s terrifying reputation. They had originally been so frightened that they could not speak.
Yet they had never expected that this son of Duke Dingguo was truly just as the rumors outside said. He had been tortured mad by the Jinyiwei!
Now he had gone so mad that he was kowtowing and calling them grandmothers.
The young women’s tears and sobs abruptly stopped. They sniffled and opened their eyes wide as they watched Ning Cen kowtow.
Bang, bang, bang!
The more Ning Cen kowtowed, the more effort he put into it. The experiences he had gone through inside the Imperial Prison replayed constantly in his mind.
When the servants saw this, they wailed, “Young Master, do not be like this! These are only a group of lowly commoners. They will not do anything to you!”
Ning Cen had finally quieted down.
Then they had taken matters into their own hands and brought people here, turning the young master into this state again. If the lord found out, he would definitely kill someone to vent his anger.
But Ning Cen seemed not to hear them at all. He only kept kowtowing blindly.
“Grandmothers! Do not kill me!”
He kowtowed until all the young women stopped crying and became completely at a loss. They could only speak weakly. “Stop kowtowing. We are not your grandmothers...”
When the servants heard this, they immediately felt both ashamed and furious. A group of lowly commoners did not take it as an honor to offer themselves to the Young Master, and they even dared to answer with such treasonous words!
They were seeking death!
Malice instantly rose from their courage. They grabbed the young women and were about to drag them outside.
But just then, a burst of mocking laughter suddenly came from the rafters.
“Who is there?”
The servants of Duke Dingguo’s Estate were greatly alarmed and immediately raised their heads to look.
But before they could see clearly where the person was hiding, they suddenly heard bursts of cold laughter from under the bed and within the curtains.
Not only that.
Laughter rang out from all directions at the same time, as if it had surrounded the entire room.
Then a sinister wind swept through, blowing the wide door shut with a loud bang.
Ning Cen, who had been kowtowing, raised his head blankly. His pupils trembled violently. Two of those voices sounded so familiar—so familiar that the feeling had seeped deep into his bones!
The two most terrifying people in his life had arrived!
“Ah! They are here!”
Tears and snot poured from Ning Cen’s face as he rushed to the corner and curled up into a ball.
A guard responsible for protecting Ning Cen shouted sternly, “Who dares to come to Duke Dingguo’s Estate and play tricks like this? You simply do not know whether you live or die! Get out here at once!”
They actually wanted to take advantage of the lord’s absence to deal with the young master!
They were courting death!
He was not someone to be trifled with!
The young women huddled together and trembled, while the servants felt much more at ease. With Zhou Fang, a seventh-rank guard of the estate, present, he could keep everyone safe!
Zhou Fang pulled Ning Cen up. “Young Master, do not be afraid. I will drag out the people playing tricks!”
But Ning Cen only trembled and shook his head frantically, pushing him away before hiding back in the corner.
When Zhou Fang saw this, he felt as if he hated iron for not becoming steel. He gnashed his teeth and said, “Young Master, as the son of a duke, you may be overbearing and reckless, but how can you be so cowardly?”
Having no other choice, he walked to the room door and grabbed the handle. In his heart, he had already guessed the identities of the visitors.
They were people from the Jinyiwei. They were still biting down on Duke Dingguo’s Estate and refusing to let go!
“I would like to see just who dared to turn such a mighty and dignified genius like the young master into this...”
Amid his shock and anger, a tremendous force suddenly erupted from outside the door. The door plank exploded on the spot, and Zhou Fang was blasted several steps backward before falling to the floor.
Cheng Yu’s tall, cold figure slowly stepped out. He extended a finger and pointed toward Ning Cen in the corner.
“A mighty and dignified genius? Are you talking about that fellow?”
His face was filled with a disdainful smile.
“So this is how Young Lord Ning looks in your eyes. In the Imperial Prison, he was not like that at all.”
“Cheng...”
Ning Cen was just wishing he could stuff himself into the wall. When he looked up and saw Cheng Yu’s figure, he felt an extreme chill rise from his heels all the way to the top of his head.
In the next moment, his eyes rolled back, and he actually fainted.
When the others saw this scene, they were completely dumbfounded.
Wearing a Flying Fish Uniform, with a Xiuchun Saber at his waist—Ning Cen had fainted from fright after just one look at him. This person was...
“Cheng Yu of the Jinyiwei!”