A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

38

Pingting registered the figures in her head, face expressionless. "I've heard of his name before, he's one of the Marquess of Jing-An's favourite attendants. He once accompanied the Marquess of Jing-An when he visited the Prince's Residence."

Chu Beijie stroked her hair, "Do you want to accompany me?"

The trial was to be held in a dungeon.

Fire blazed as bright as day and it illuminated the odd shapes of the various instruments of torture. The walls and ceilings were dyed black with blood.

Pingting never have been there before, so she closely followed Chu Beijie while at the same time studied her surroundings.

The sturdy prison walls were certainly not going to be easy to escape from, she secretly noted to herself.

Chu Beijie's breath was warm in her ear as he whispered, "If you start to feel afraid or nervous, don't forget to hold me tight."

Pingting nodded her head feeling pathetic and Chu Beijie burst into laughter.

At the end of the long, stone corridor, the fire suddenly lit up the wall. A teenage boy was hanging in the air, his arms and legs shackled by heavy chains. His head was down.

Pingting looked at him and instantly knew that he really was Dongzhuo. His clothes were tattered but he hadn't many scars. She quickly came to realise that he hadn't been tortured yet.

"Brat, wake up! Our Duke is here," said the person who was in charge of the prisoners, as he nudged him with a whip. He raised Dongzhuo's chin to look at Chu Beijie.

There was an invisible, but frosty glow in Dongzhuo's eyes as he stared at Chu Beijie. "Hmph, Chu Beijie."

The House of Jing-An's worst enemy was standing right in front of him.

"I don't plan to harm you. I am simply an admirer of the Marquess of Jing-An and I would like to persuade him to ally Dong Lin." Chu Beijie smiled again, very sincerely, "After all, the Marquess of Jing-An can no longer go back to Gui Le, so isn't it a good idea for him to find new loyalties?"

"Whatever you say, I won't tell you anything," was Dongzhuo's cold reply.

Chu Beijie shook his head and with a sympathetic-looking face, he said, "I admire tough boys, but unfortunately not many remain tough in my hands." He took a step back and nodded at one of his subordinates.

Pingting, who had been hiding behind Chu Beijie, instantly knew that he was going to whip him. The sound of the whip pierced through the air.

Chaa!

The whip came in contact with flesh and Pingting shuddered at the sound.

Chaa! Chaa! Chaa!

More consecutive sounds of strong, powerful whipping could be heard. It was hard to breathe.

The sound of metal chains clinking in protest slowly decreased, minute by minute.

The whip severely hurt Dongzhuo, but he suffered in silence, not saying a word.

Chu Beijie blocked Pingting's view, seemingly noticing that she was shaking. He gently patted her on the back. She looked up and saw his merciless expression.

"You're still not going to tell me?" Chu Beijie was getting annoyed, "You know, the whip is the most common torture in prisons. And yet, this can only be counted as an appetiser because when I use the main dishes, you might even end up losing your life."

With a hoarse voice, Dongzhuo calmly replied, "There isn't a single person from the Jing-An Ducal Residence who is afraid to die!"

Chu Beijie chuckled at this and Pingting could almost hear his evil intentions from his chilling, dangerous smile. Things did not look good for Dongzhuo.

Then turning to Pingting, Chu Beijie softly assured her, "Why is your face so pale? Are you afraid? Do not fear, for I am here."

"There's a lot of blood," she replied timidly, flinching.

The chains suddenly thumped, as if Dongzhuo had realised something.

"Afraid of blood?" Chu Beijie shook his head and jokingly added, "If my wife is afraid of blood, how is she supposed to accompany me onto the battlefield?"

Pingting's delicate and pretty face weakly smiled at Chu Beijie. She could see Dongzhuo out of the corner of her eye, suspended in the air, covered in blood. Dongzhuo's eyes were wide with disbelief, but somehow he managed to understand her situation and so he hung his head instead.

"I feel uncomfortable." She touched Chu Beijie's forehead and leaned on him.

Such feminism on her part was unusually rare for him to see. He was naturally overcome with sympathy and affection so he asked, "Where do you feel uncomfortable? I shouldn't have asked you to come with me."

Pingting ignored Dongzhuo. She looked into Chu Beijie's eyes. "It's stuffy in here, I want to cough, but I can't. Get someone to take me out, you deal with your work first."

"I'll come with you."