Chapter 235: The Miserable Experiences of the “Beauties”
Great Qian Capital Jinyiwei Command Office.
Cheng Yu’s subordinates were currently gathering evidence.
“That... that beast lied. He deceived me and my elder sister... sob...”
A petite and adorable young girl lowered her head as she recounted her miserable experience.
As she spoke, grief welled up even more strongly within her, and she sobbed until she could no longer form words.
Her long years of suffering had already almost made her numb.
Now that the Jinyiwei had sealed Harmony Tower and rescued her from that abyss, she finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Only at this moment did all the sorrow of the past surge back against the current.
“Do not... do not cry...”
Su Wei and Xiao Qi felt somewhat helpless when they saw this, yet they did not know what to say.
They were young masters from families of officials. In ordinary times, they were used to living carefree lives.
Even if people did not coax them wherever they went, at the very least, they rarely encountered anything troublesome.
They had not expected that now they would have to comfort a young girl here.
The girl still kept sobbing.
“Do not cry. It is all right. Now that you are in the Jinyiwei’s place, no one will dare eat you anymore...” Su Wei scratched his head.
When the girl heard this, her eyes widened, and terror erupted across her expression.
“Do not eat me! Sob...”
Her low sobs instantly turned back into loud wailing.
Seeing this, Xiao Qi’s brows furrowed even more deeply. He fiercely elbowed Su Wei.
What nonsense was this fellow saying?
Has slacking off ruined his brain? He had specifically picked at the most painful memories.
The girl before them was still young.
The time she had spent experiencing those things had also been short, so she had not completely fallen into numb despair.
Among those pitiable women, she was one of the ones in better condition and easier to communicate with.
As for the other women...
There were many who, upon learning that they had escaped the abyss, had fainted on the spot amid mingled grief and joy.
Xiao Qi shook his head helplessly and said, “Do not rush to question her. Let her calm down for a while. Lord Cheng should be able to understand. He will not urge us.”
“But if we are even a moment slower, the pressure my lord faces will...”
Su Wei pinched his chin, extremely worried.
If they could not swiftly and properly handle the matter of the Beauty Banquet and then report it to His Majesty, the enraged Qian Sunbao would definitely not let this intervening time go to waste.
He would seize the chance to twist the facts and retaliate against Cheng Yu.
When Xiao Qi heard this, however, he shook his head firmly.
“Do you think someone like Lord Cheng would be afraid?”
Su Wei immediately fell silent.
That was true!
Why did he need to worry for his lord? How could his lord be afraid?
“When my lord beheaded that beast Qian Shengcai, he had already decided that he would definitely take charge of this matter. How could he hesitate and worry about consequences now?”
Light shone in Xiao Qi’s eyes, and his gaze was filled with Cheng Yu’s tall and imposing figure.
At first, when he saw Cheng Yu suddenly explode into action and kill someone, he had also found it abrupt and shocking.
Only after learning from the girl about the “beauties’” situation in Harmony Tower did the doubt in his heart completely turn into satisfaction.
A good kill!
The treatment of the “beauties” in Harmony Tower as “delicacies” could be said to have completely stripped them of their status as human beings.
They were even worse off than the lowest courtesans.
Brothel women at least had a chance to meet a man who fancied them and would redeem them. But no one would ever pay much attention to a “dish.”
They had been deceived and sold to Harmony Tower, suffering endless torment and being forced to learn the qualities a “beauty” should have.
If they were disobedient, they were beaten and cursed at the slightest provocation. Their bodies had to be scrubbed fiercely many times a day, leaving them covered in scars...
And these were all minor matters.
If they moved even slightly in front of the customers, or shed a single tear, that was an absolute crime.
Even if they were killed by dissatisfied customers because of this, Harmony Tower would say nothing.
Such a situation, one utterly devoid of personal dignity, was simply a world without sunlight. It could be said that they were worse off than pigs and dogs.
When Xiao Qi heard these words, in a moment of impulse, he had wished he could rush into the prison and kill every criminal from Harmony Tower.
But in the end, that was only a wish.
Behind Xiao Qi stood his grandfather, Duke Zhongyi. The slightest overstepping on his part would bring trouble to his family.
He could not act willfully for the sake of momentary satisfaction!
It was precisely because everyone under heaven had all kinds of reasons not to do what should be done that Harmony Tower had been able to act so arrogantly and rampantly...
But now, a completely different person had appeared—Cheng Yu.
Lord Cheng had never cared about such things. In his hand, there would forever be a sharp Xiuchun Saber. Wherever his heart pointed, his blade would arrive.
What did Duke Dingguo count for? What did Qian Sunbao’s nephew count for?
They were all people who could be killed!
Then he would kill them!
At this moment, Xiao Qi’s heart was filled with reverence for Cheng Yu, vast and endless like a surging river.
Being able to follow such a lord was his absolute fortune!
As the girl cried, she also heard Xiao Qi and Su Wei’s words. For a moment, she actually stopped sobbing and raised her head to look at the two of them.
“The lord you spoke of... is he the one who killed Qian... that beast Qian Shengcai?”
Su Wei proudly raised his head.
“Naturally, he is my lord. He is the one who saved all of you! The questions we are asking you are also so that my lord can better punish those villains.”
Lord Cheng truly had the heart of a Bodhisattva!
The girl nodded dazedly. After Cheng Yu was mentioned, her mood seemed to improve considerably.
She sniffed and wiped the tears from her face.
Then she spoke in a soft, delicate voice, “My lords, whatever you wish to ask this humble girl, I will answer truthfully.”
It still came down to Lord Cheng’s personal charisma!
Xiao Qi nodded and asked, “I heard that among you, there was once a female martial artist with quite a good realm and strength.”
“Yes... yes. It was Sister Yan. She was very powerful. I think she was something like... Fifth Rank?”
The girl raised her head and kept recalling.
“She told us that she was framed by her enemies and only ended up in that place because of it.”
“Fifth Rank?”
Xiao Qi and Su Wei exchanged a glance. They seemed to have uncovered something important.
One had to know that the most important things in a martial artist’s cultivation were inheritance and resources.
In the eyes of young masters from the Great Qian Capital like them, a Fifth-Rank martial artist was not much.
But looking across all of Great Qian, such a person would absolutely not be a nameless nobody. She could even serve as the strongest person in a single prefecture.
If even such a person could be brought by Harmony Tower to perform such humiliating acts, then unimaginable secrets were definitely hidden behind this matter.
“Then where is she now? We did not see any martial artists just now, did we?”
The girl’s eyes again grew misty with tears.
“Sister Yan tried to escape before, but she failed. Those beasts killed her...”
Xiao Qi carefully recorded these testimonies.
“Then according to this, all of you were forced into this against your will? No one was voluntary?”
The girl nodded firmly.
“Those beasts told outsiders that we were all willing, but everyone understands. How could any perfectly decent person willingly do something like that...”
Hearing this, Xiao Qi and Su Wei exchanged another glance.
It was enough!
Whether it was the regular customers who knowingly violated the law or the arrogant Harmony Tower, they were all finished!
Justice stood on Lord Cheng’s side. No one could protect them!
...
Not far away.
Inside the temporary prison of the Jinyiwei Command Office.
A group of richly dressed people were squatting in the cells as if their parents had died.
Cheng Yu had brought over a chair and was sitting not far away. He looked at these people and sneered.
“Everyone, enjoy this last bit of sunlight and fresh air. Once you enter the Imperial Prison, the conditions will not be so good.”
Ever since he had taken charge of the Imperial Prison not long ago, that place had finally gained a bit of the dark and terrifying atmosphere an imperial prison ought to have.
Water dripped from the corners of the walls, and cold winds blew through it.
Because of this, a few people who had originally been stubborn had even been frightened into retracting their earlier statements, hoping to receive reduced sentences.
A place without sunlight, without any sense of day or year, was not something ordinary people could endure.
The people who had been arrested stared fixedly at Cheng Yu, their faces filled with strange expressions. Only just now had they learned why this Jinyiwei had been so bold that he dared kill Minister Qian’s nephew by force inside Harmony Tower.
Because he was Cheng Yu, the man who had destroyed Duke Dingguo!
An extremely fierce man!