Chapter 196 - 196 Received News
196 Received News
Su Binglan removed the stinky socks from Zou Kongtie’s mouth so he could speak. He said sobbingly, “I-I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.”
Su Binglan made it clear she was impatient. She said to Lin Zheng, “Slap him.”
She did not want to waste her breath with this person. Su Binglan would not have gone through so much trouble if she was unsure it was Zou Kongtie who was involved in what had happened in the village.
Lin Zheng was in utter awe of his master. He never thought he could vent his anger like this. Lin Zheng towed Zou Kongtie along the way as he sat on his horse and looked at Zou Kongtie’s pitiful appearance. His heart was full of joy.
Lin Zheng thought his master was right. Killing Zou Kongtie would be too easy, and it would be better to deal with him properly. Lin Zheng wanted to show how valuable he was as he was the best at this.
“I’m the best at slapping people around,” Lin Zheng said with a menacing smile.
Su Binglan said, “Don’t go overboard. We need him to talk.”
“Yes, Master.” Lin Zheng rolled up his sleeves and fiercely slapped Zou Kongtie a few times.
Pow! Smack, slap!
The slaps caused Zou Kongtie to lose a few teeth. Lin Zheng noticed how strong he was and was stunned. “I never knew I was this strong.”
Su Binglan said, “I didn’t tell you to soak in the herbs for nothing, did I?”
Lin Zheng became excited because his strength had increased and his kung fu had improved. No wonder the people at Zou Mansion were so weak compared to him.
“Are you going to tell us what you know or not?! Answer the question!”
Zou Kongtie said sobbingly, “If you’re capable enough, kill me.”
Su Binglan sneered. “You’re not afraid to die, huh?”
Zou Kongtie’s hair stood on end when he looked at the person before him. He could not help but feel fearful, and before he knew it, he felt sharp pains all over his body.
Su Binglan was sticking her needles around his body. She brought a set of acupuncture needles and a few needles she could use as weapons. Of course, she knew where to stick them.
Finally, Zou Kongtie could not bear the pain any longer. Tears and snot flowed from his face as he began to explain, “I-I arranged for my people to kill these villagers because it was a remote area, and they had food stored up.
“King Jian needed food for his soldiers, so I had people disguise themselves as bandits to rob the villagers of their food, but I was worried the villagers would report me, so I told my people to kill them.
“Also, this village is far from everyone else, so I thought no one would know what we did. B-But we had yet to dispose of the bodies. T-There, I’ve told you everything you’ve asked. P-Please don’t kill me!”
Su Binglan said coldly, “Don’t worry. I won’t kill you if you do what I say. Come here and write what you’ve done with your blood on this wooden board. Write that you’ve told your people to disguise themselves as bandits to rob the villagers of their food and that you told them to kill the villagers.”
Zou Kongtie looked at the young person before him and thought of how terrified of death he was. “Y-You won’t kill me if I write that on the wooden board?”
Su Binglan lazily said, “I don’t want to dirty my hands, so I won’t kill you.”
Lin Zheng clenched his fist and said, “I’ll kill you if you don’t do as she says.”
Zou Kongtie was so scared that his hands began to tremble. He hurriedly obeyed the duo’s orders and prepared to write his message in his blood. However, he looked at his hands and could not bear to do it.
Lin Zheng was anxious as he looked at Zou Kongtie. He took out a knife and slit one of Zou Kongtie’s palms. A lot of blood flowed from Zou Kongtie’s palm as his heart pounded, but he dared not think about anything else at that moment.
When Zou Kongtie finished writing his message, Su Binglan told Lin Zheng to beat him again. Then she put away the wooden board and dragged Zou Kongtie to the middle of the street. She quickly made some arrangements and left alongside Lin Zheng.
…
The following morning, the commoners walked by and saw their hated Lord Zou in the middle of the street with a big wooden sign hanging from his neck.
Zou Kongtie had written the heinous crimes he committed on the wooden board, and some of the commoners who could read turned pale when they saw the contents on the board.
“He and his men killed every villager in Shixia Village?!”
“A-Am I hallucinating? They killed so many people just to steal their food?!”
“These are King Jian’s men, and they killed commoners?”
“They even disguised themselves as bandits.”
“That’s horrible. I-I have a distant relative that lives in Shixia Village.”
…
The commoners were shocked by what Zou Kongtie and his men had done. They even suspected King Jian of arranging these heinous crimes.
Another wooden board was hanging around Zou Kongtie’s neck. There were a few big words on it, reading, “This is what happens to those who disregard human life.”
The scene became chaotic as some ran away in fear while others discussed angrily. Someone hidden in the shadows even shot an arrow at Zou Kongtie and killed him.
More and more people found out about that matter in the morning. The commoners were outraged and marched toward Zou Mansion to confront King Jian.
However, when the commoners arrived, they found that the door to Zou Mansion was wide open, and everyone inside was unconscious.
That was because Su Binglan had drugged the people in the mansion last night. She had prepared the drugs before leaving Zou Mansion. Therefore, one could imagine how chaotic the scene at Zou Mansion was.
As for King Jian, he found out what had happened and thrashed about in his mansion, smashing everything to the ground.
“You’re all trash! Who did this?!” King Jian was furious.
However, this matter had a significant impact as King Jian had no choice but to restrain his subordinates. King Jian could not allow his men to do such things again because he knew he would no longer be king if he lost the people’s trust.
…
Su Binglan and Lin Zheng watched the commotion and left to continue their journey.
Lin Zheng looked at Su Binglan and said, “Master, are we just going to let King Jian be?”
“Do you want to kill King Jian?” Su Binglan could guess what Lin Zheng thought.
Lin Zheng said, “He’s a terrible person too.”
Su Binglan said plainly, “If you kill him, someone similar might take his place, but what we did will scare him. Others will also learn that there are consequences to their actions. For now, the locals are safe. We can only rock the boat, not sink it.”
…
Luo Ying had been in the shadows all along and had witnessed everything. Of course, Su Binglan’s actions always shocked him. His jaw almost hit the ground as he watched her.
He looked at the young lady and thought, ‘Is she really my master’s wife? Is she really from the countryside? It’s great that my master has someone like her by his side.’
Luo Ying discretely and quickly sent word back to his master.
…
Luo Jin’an ate less ever since Su Binglan left Su Teng Village. Mr. Kong knew his master was worried about Su Binglan, even though Luo Jin’an did not say anything.
When Luo Ying’s message arrived, Luo Jin’an immediately opened it and read its contents. He could not help but laugh at what he saw.
Mr. Kong was in disbelief when he saw his master smiling. His master had never laughed like that before.
“M-Master? What happened?”
Luo Jin’an passed the information to Mr. Kong and said, “Take a look for yourself.”