Yunchu’s Vengeance - Chapter 54
Chapter 54 - Whipping Xie Shiwei
The Old Madam also realized the severity of the situation.
The more prestigious a prominent family was, the more lenient and benevolent they acted toward their servants. If word of mistreating and torturing servants were to spread, their reputation would suffer immensely.
Under no circumstances could this matter be allowed to leak out.
Before she could speak, Xie Jingyu said coldly, "Bring Jiuer out. I want to hear for myself why she wanted to seek her own death."
Looking utterly disheveled and wretched, Jiuer was brought out from the room by people and collapsed onto the ground with a face ashen like dead ashes.
She was only eleven years old—a young maidservant who had just begun to take on the posture of a young maiden. Looking at Yunchu, she broke down in weeping and wailed, "Madam, this servant truly does not want to live anymore. Please grant this servant a quick release."
Yunchu walked over and helped her up. "Jiuer, the master is here. Whatever grievances you have, just speak them to the master."
Looking at Yunchu, Jiuer saw a steady, gentle light that seemed to inject a surge of strength into her.
Without a word, she lowered her head and undid the buttons at the collar of her tunic, exposing her small, frail frame. Across her body, whip scars were visible—some new, some old—intertwined together in a manner that was horrifying to behold.
"It's just a few whip scars after all, hardly reason enough to seek death and destruction." The Old Madam glanced at her and said mildly, "You young maids are tender in years and clumsy in your tasks, so being disciplined by your masters is nothing improper. As a master, the Second Young Master is young in age and acts without a sense of proportion, injuring you all is indeed a failure of household discipline on the part of the Xie family. How about this: I will give each of you ten liang of silver as medical expenses, and transfer you to another courtyard to work. How does that sound?"
Although her old voice sounded very gentle, it actually carried an underlying air of intimidation.
These girls should know better than to make a fuss and should simply accept the money to let this matter pass. If they continued to fixate on it, things wouldn't end quite so simply.
Yunchu sneered inwardly.
In her past life, when Xie Shiwei committed wrongdoing, he was brushed off with this exact trick, and right up until her death, she never saw Xie Shiwei receive the punishment he deserved.
She looked at Xie Jingyu. "Is the Old Madam's meaning Husband's meaning as well?"
Xie Jingyu clenched his hands tightly behind his back. He knew that he had to display a firm stance; otherwise, Yunchu would never manage or discipline these children in the future.
He was simply far too busy, and he needed to rely on Yunchu as a virtuous helper to make the entire Xie household prosper and improve.
Staring at Jiuer, he asked coldly, "Are you unwilling to live simply because you were whipped by the Second Young Master?"
Jiuer lifted her own arm. Using the thumb and forefinger of her other hand, she pinched and pulled firmly against her skin, and suddenly, a silver needle appeared between her fingertips. At the same time, a needle puncture hole was revealed on her arm, bubbling up with a few drops of blood.
"The Second Young Master said he wanted to find out how many needles could possibly be stuck into a human body, and used this servant as an experiment." Jiuer wept bitterly. "Half a year ago, the Second Young Master started sticking needles into this servant's body. The first time, he inserted ten needles into my back, and from then on, he added one more every single day. I have nearly two hundred needles inside my body now, and whenever I move even slightly, my entire body aches terribly. As long as I dare to secretly pull the needles out, what awaits me is the Second Young Master's whip... This servant feels as though those needles have already penetrated my internal organs, and it hurts so much every single day. This servant truly doesn't want to live anymore..."
The courtyard was dead quiet.
Only Jiuer's sobbing cries echoed through the air.
Even the maidservants who shared a room with her had no idea that every night she was summoned away by the Second Young Master, it was actually to have needles driven into her flesh.
The Old Madam parted her lips, utterly at a loss for words.
He Shi had known all along that her son liked engaging in such perverse games, yet she felt not the slightest bit surprised. She simply could not understand why this matter had blown up to such a massive scale...
Consort Concubine Tao was pregnant, and being scared out of her wits by this ordeal, she felt her legs turn weak and could barely stand steady.
Yunchu's heart trembled violently.
Xie Shiwei had just turned eight years old this year. An eight-year-old child was actually capable of devising such tyrannical and brutal methods! She dared not imagine what those concubines who later died at Xie Shiwei's hands had truly experienced. Whether they were tortured to death by Xie Shiwei or driven to suicide by despair, their ends were flooded with blood, tears, and utter hopelessness...
"Bring that wretched brat out!"
Xie Jingyu, who was always mild-mannered in public, suddenly roared with rage.
Two elderly women immediately pushed Xie Shiwei, who was bound up tightly, out of the side room. A piece of cloth was stuffed into his mouth, and seeing the Old Madam, he whimpered tearfully for rescue.
Before the Old Madam could manage to say anything, she heard Xie Jingyu say coldly, "Bring the Second Young Master's whip here!"
The subordinates immediately brought the whip forward.
This was a soft leather whip suited for a child to play with. Although it lacked the lethal power of a hard whip, the pain it inflicted when striking someone was hardly much lighter than a wooden paddle.
Xie Jingyu swung the whip and strode toward Xie Shiwei.
With his mouth gagged, Xie Shiwei couldn't even cry out in agony. Bound by his hands and feet, he wriggled across the ground like an insect.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
Xie Jingyu held nothing back. Striking seven or eight consecutive lashes in rapid succession right upon the same spot, he tore open Xie Shiwei's back clothing, exposing mangled flesh and staining his garments bright red.
"My Lord!"
He Shi could no longer bear it. She rushed forward directly, throwing herself over Xie Shiwei's body and shielding him from the fierce, powerful lash.
She knew she couldn't show excessive favoritism toward her children in public, but no mother could watch her own child being beaten like this.
"The Second Young Master is still young! I beg My Lord to show mercy!"
He Shi clutched Xie Shiwei tightly in her arms and pleaded.
The Old Madam finally recovered her wits. Standing up, she said, "Jingyu, if you beat him like this, the child is going to be beaten to death by you! What's done is done; even if you beat him to death, what good will it do? You should properly think about how to educate Wei'er, think about how to treat this girl Jiuer, and think about how to minimize the impact of this incident..."
As a scholar, Xie Jingyu was entirely unaccustomed to wielding a whip and beating people; by this point, he was panting heavily from exhaustion.
He flung the whip aside with a hard toss and spoke coldly, "Xie Shiwei, this kind of behavior of yours makes me, your father, feel the utmost disgrace! I am ashamed to have a son like you!"
His Xie family had generations of scholars; how on earth could such a scoundrel have been produced?
If this scoundrel were allowed to grow up like this, the reputation the Xie family had accumulated over three or four generations would be completely and utterly ruined.
"My Xie family can no longer teach you!" Xie Jingyu's voice was fierce and ruthless. "I'm sending you off to join the military!"
Upon hearing this, the Old Madam was terrified out of her wits. "No, absolutely not! The military camp is a place where impoverished people go; it's bitter and exhausting. If he ends up on the front lines and accidentally loses his life, what then?"
Xie Jingyu took a deep breath. "Military discipline in the army is as unshakeable as mountains. Only there can Wei'er's temperament be beaten into shape; otherwise, if he goes on to commit murder and arson in the future, our Xie family won't be able to cover for him. Madam, your revered father has many trusted connections in the capital. Could I ask Madam to step forward and find a good place for Wei'er?"
A smile surfaced on Yunchu's lips.
She truly had not expected this scene to occur seven or eight years earlier than it had in her previous life.
In her past life, she had nodded without the slightest hesitation, sending Xie Shiwei into the camp guarded by the Yun family on the outskirts of the capital, allowing Xie Shiwei to become a trusted subordinate of the Yun army. The consequences had been far too tragic; she would never test that fate again...
"Husband speaks out of turn." Yunchu said with a troubled expression. "A few days ago, when Wei'er wanted to learn martial arts, I had Qiutong examine his constitution and bones. He possesses no talent for martial arts whatsoever. If he is sent to the military camp, he can only serve as a lowly foot soldier. In the army, a foot soldier has a status as low as the humblest maid in a residential courtyard. Is Husband willing to send him to that?"
Before Xie Jingyu could speak, the Old Madam immediately chimed in, "Wei'er is only eight years old! Sending him to the military camp as a foot soldier—isn't that just waiting for him to be bullied? Even with the Yun family army protecting him, they cannot protect him every single moment. What would happen if they fail to protect him just once and disaster strikes?"
He Shi hurriedly pleaded, "My Lord, the Second Young Master promised Madam earlier that he would study diligently. He has changed for the better, he really has!"
Xie Shiwei nodded for all he was worth, his life on the line.