Chapter 87: Exposure of the Covert Operations of Wu Er’niu
Translator: DragonRider
“Hey, Wu Er’niu, you’ve been absent-minded all day. What is it that you are thinking about?”
Someone slapped Wu Er’niu on the back with great force causing him to totter.
“No…Nothing.”
“You must be missing some girl.”
“Ha-ha…”
At dusk, servants who had just finished their work grabbed this opportunity to make fun of Wu Er’niu. In his embarra.s.sment, Wu Er’niu gave a smile, his eyes gleaming with alarm that he had failed to conceal, which even he himself was unaware of.
One of those servants who had been surrounding Wu Er’niu teasing him skeptically looked at Wu Er’niu, feeling that the reaction of Wu Er’niu was a little weird.
On that night, after all servants had supper, Wu Er’niu was, as usual, the last one to go to the bathhouse.
“Why are you still here, Wu Er’niu?” asked the man who had previously found the behavior of Wu Er’niu somewhat weird.
“You go first. I’ll be there soon,” Wu Er’niu answered.
The man flicked a glance of perplexity at Wu Er’niu and then left.
Wu Er’niu wiped the sweat from his forehead and fished a note out of his inner pocket. After he read the words on it, his countenance grew slightly more composed. Then he crumpled the note up into a ball, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it and swallowed it.
Like how he did it the day before, Wu Er’niu torn a strip of cloth off his clothes, wrote a couple of words on it in blood, stuffed it into his inner pocket and then went to the bathhouse.
When he walked out of the bathhouse, there was n.o.body else around. He vigilantly looked left and right, which was yet another thing he did the day before, and then wormed his way into the thicket.
What had escaped his notice was that there was another person who sneaked out of the bathhouse and had been quietly following in his wake. The man mumbled, “This guy has been acting absent-mindedly during daytime and furtively at night. He’s definitely been in fornication with some handmaid working in this mansion. Let me find out which girl is stupid enough to have an eye on this moron Wu Er’niu.”
Oblivious of the stalker, Wu Er’niu felt his way to the foot of the wall and meowed several times. Someone outside meowed in response and with that Wu Er’niu wrapped the strip of material around a stone and threw it outside.
Like the day before, after hearing a thud and another meow given by the person outside, Wu Er’niu sighed with relief and then left the foot of the wall.
“He’s not fornicating with a handmaid? Then what is it that Wu Er’niu is doing?” A figure wormed his way out of the shadow and stared fixedly in the direction of the outer wall, deeply perplexed.
“There were meows on both occasions. Did that moron come here to feed some cat? If so, why was he doing it so stealthily? And he’s been absent-minded all day long.”
At this very moment, someone walking in his direction spotted the figure and yelled, “Who’s there?”
The man wondering in confusion was taken aback by this yell. He hurriedly turned around and found that there were two people coming. One of them was carrying a lantern and the other one was wearing steward’s clothes.
“Steward He,” he smiled obsequiously and walked over to pay his respect to the steward.
The one who was addressed as “Steward He” was in charge of miscellaneous affairs in the kitchen of Ling family, which was an important duty. As a trusted henchman of Ling Zhaowen and Fu Caiwei, he had always had a stern look on his face and dealt with everything in a businesslike, serious manner, which was why all servants somewhat feared him.
Seeing that it was this steward who had spotted him, the man who had mumbled to himself in suspicion just now couldn’t help feeling mentally disturbed, though there was an obsequious smile on his face.
“Ma Sanshui, why are you still here at such a late hour of the night?” Steward He fixed a penetrating gaze at him.
Ma Sanshui buckled at the knees. “I…I’ve just finished my bath and I’m on my way back.”
“Speak the truth! This dark narrow path does not lead to the quarters!” Steward He snapped, his eyes so piercing that he seemed to be staring right into Ma Sanshui’s soul.
Ma Sanshui’s face paled visibly. Since he wasn’t here to do any bad things, he couldn’t help but tell the truth after Steward He put pressure on him. “I… I followed Wu Er’niu to this place. Wu Er’niu was stealthily doing something over there at the foot of the outer wall last night, and I noticed that his mind had been wandering all along during daytime today, so I’d been paying some extra attention to his behavior. A moment ago I saw he come here again and I stalked him trying to find out what he wanted to do.”
Steward He knitted his eyebrows. “Wu Er’niu? What did he do at the foot of the wall?”
“I didn’t see it clearly. Originally, I had thought that he was here to meet someone, but he only stayed here for a short while and then left. There was n.o.body else. I merely heard a couple of meows,” answered Ma Sanshui.
“Meows?” Steward He became suspicious. “No wild cats would come here at this season. Let’s go and check.”
“Yes,” the man carrying the lantern for him replied and then looked at Ma Sanshui.
Ma Sanshui immediately took the hint and led the way for them.
After worming their way through the thicket, they arrived at the foot of the outer wall. Steward He took the lantern himself and carefully checked the perimeter but didn’t found anything suspicious, and neither did he find any cat footprints on the wall.
“Are you sure what you heard were meows?” Steward He asked Ma Sanshui again.
Ma Sanshui first nodded and then said in a somewhat uncertain tone of voice, “That thing sounded a little weird. It gave a couple of meows and then disappeared.”
The face of Steward He darkened. He searched the spot with great care one more time and then ordered, “Go and wake all of them. Have them gather together at the mess hall. Remember – don’t disclose anything to Wu Er’niu. Otherwise, you’ll have to take dire consequences!” After hearing his words, Ma Sanshui realized that this seemed to be turning into a serious matter. He couldn’t help feeling a little scared. “Steward He, Wu Er’niu didn’t do anything bad, right?”
“It’s not your place to decide whether he did anything bad or not. Move! Now!” Steward He glared at him.
Frightened, Ma Sanshui ran away immediately.
After the duration of burning joss stick (roughly 5 minutes), all servants a.s.sembled in the mess hall. Apart from Steward He, there was also another steward present whose surname was Li. This Steward Li was the eldest son of Butler Li and all servants of Ling family respected him very much. On the sight of Steward Li, those servants were briefly stunned. Though they had no idea what it was that had happened, everybody had sensed that it must be something urgent, since the two people had grim faces. n.o.body dared to be the first one to speak.
“Let me ask you something. Did anybody hear any meows in the past few days?” asked Steward He.
Meows? All servants shook their heads in confusion, offering negative responses.
Wu Er’niu also shook his head. It was just that the look on his face was somewhat unnatural.
“Then did anybody see any cats?” Steward He asked another question.
Wu Er’niu shook his head again like everybody else, but fine beads of sweat were oozing out of his forehead.
Steward He and Steward Li saw both times that he shook his head, even Ma Sanshui who was standing beside him could tell that something was wrong.
‘Wu Er’niu is trying to hide something!’ he thought.
“All right. Now, except for Wu Er’niu, everybody go and wait outside,” Steward He ordered.
Wu Er’niu felt a s.h.i.+ver from head to toe and began to panic, his eyes darting back and forth. Fl.u.s.tered, he couldn’t help asking aloud, “Why? I didn’t hear any meows or see any cats either!”
This remark was very loud and also very abrupt. All others looked at him in confusion, and naturally they saw his rather unnatural countenance, feeling that he was acting a little weirdly.
Neither Steward He nor Steward Li responded to Wu Er’niu. They just stared at him with piercing eyes.
More fine beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead. He moved, intending to leave the hall with other servants.
“Wu Er’niu, where do you think you are going?” Steward He asked coldly.
Wu Er’niu didn’t dare to take another step, standing there at a loss what to do. When everybody else left, there was nothing he could hide behind. He was in now in full view of Steward He and Steward Li.
“Wu Er’niu, here’s my question for you. Why did you stealthily go to the foot of the wall in the backyard last night and tonight?” Steward He began to interrogate him.
“I didn’t go to the foot of the wall in the backyard. There must be some kind of mistake, steward.” Wu Er’niu’s legs were trembling, but he stubbornly tried to deny it.
“Is that so? It seems that infliction of torture is inevitable. Guards!” Steward He yelled. The look on his face instantly went cold and severe.
Two tough hombres immediately walked in from outside, each having a stick in hand.
“Flog Wu Er’niu ten times.”
“Yes!”
The two strong men walked over with an apathetic face. One of them aimed a kick at a bench which slid up to Wu Er’niu facing him vertically. The other man kicked the back of Wu Er’niu’s knees and forced him into lying prostrate on the long wooden bench.
“Steward, Steward Li, please help me. I have no idea what I did wrong. On what basis does Steward He think I deserve this punishment?” shouted Wu Er’niu, who was forcibly pinned against the surface of the bench, unable to move.
“On the basis that you furtively did something but refuse to admit it. If you confess right now, I’ll have them stop. If you don’t, I’ll show you no mercy.” Steward He threatened him, staring him with an icy look in his eyes.
“I–I didn’t–I didn’t do anything. You wronged me!” Heedless of due formality, Wu Er’niu began to resist fiercely.
“Beat him!”
Slap! A blow ruthlessly landed on Wu Er’niu’s body.
“Ah–” Wu Er’niu let out a pained cry.
The stick was made of wood of high density, so when the strong man raised it high up and swung it downwards, the blow was uncommonly heavy. Blue veins stood out on the forehead of Wu Er’niu due to the great pain.
Slap, slap, slap…
Blows were landed on Wu Er’niu one after another, each followed by an anguished screech of him, which sounded exceptionally horrifying. Servants standing outside the mess hall were so nervous that they were involuntarily trying to make their breathing shallow. None of them knew what it was that Wu Er’niu had done wrong.
Ma Sanshui was the only one who had a vague idea, his face ghastly pale. He was not a fool and had already deduced something from the immediate action Steward He had taken – Wu Er’niu fornicated with some outsider!
Ten blows were meted out to Wu Er’niu and executed right away. No mercy whatsoever was shown.
When the punishment was over, Wu Er’niu’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. Fighting against agony had cost him so much mental strength that his consciousness began to blur.
“Are you going to tell me the truth? Or would you prefer another ten blows?” Steward He fixed him with a cold stare.
Wu Er’niu, who was groaning in agony gripping on to the edges of the bench with all the strength he had left, looked at the stick in the hands of the tough hombre, and said in a quivering voice, “I’ll confess. I’ll confess.”
Steward He waved his hands, gesturing for the two strong men to back off.
“Now, tell me the truth. I want every detail.”
“Some–Someone offered me a hundred taels of silver to provide him with information on Ling family.” Gritting his teeth, Wu Er’niu falteringly finished making this remark with difficulty. After this confession, his face went ashen, as if he had seen the consequences that he would have to face.
“Who’s that person? When did he make contact with you? What have you told him?” Steward He angrily questioned.
“I–I haven’t found the time to tell him yet…”