Chapter 8 Whipping
The flattering smile on Li Jingzhao's face turned cold, and it took him a while to come back to his senses.
The Lord Su next to me is famous for his cold and heartless nature. Not to mention such an unknown little clerk, even if they were the real royal relatives of Shengjing, he would treat them equally if they committed crimes and would never cover up for them.
The question just now seemed a bit like favoritism and bending the law for personal gain.
Li Jingzhao was extremely annoyed at his self-defeating move. He hurriedly put on a smile on his greasy face and complimented Su Moyi before he said coldly to the audience: "What are you still standing there for? Drag him away and beat him!"
Lin Wanqing was stunned when he heard this. His eyes, which were originally looking directly at Li Jingzhao, flashed with a rare look of worry.
In just a moment, Su Moyi caught this expression.
She...
seems scared?
Oh!
It seems that Lin Lu Shi, who can vent his anger on everyone, actually gets scared sometimes?
Su Moyi suppressed the upturned corners of his mouth, and the surprise in his heart was soon replaced by a slight joy.
Just know that you are afraid.
If you know how to be afraid, you can be controlled. If you can be controlled, you can use it for your own purposes.
While his mind was racing, two yamen runners nearby had already stepped forward and lifted up Lin Wanqing, preparing to drag her away, but Su Moyi's cold voice interrupted them.
"Su just thought about it, is this thirty-board flogging a bit too heavy a punishment?"
"Huh?" Li Jingzhao shuddered and looked at Su Moyi in confusion.
Perhaps to cover up his suspected favoritism, Lord Su, who has always enforced the law impartially, put his fist to his lips uncomfortably and coughed lightly, "It is true that Lin Lu Shi despised the court, but investigating Wang Hu in the middle of the night is also part of his job. Besides, there is something fishy about the Wang Hu case."
At last, he glanced at Li Jingzhao lightly and added, "He cares more about it than Lord Li, and is more perceptive than Lord Li."
He is always justified in killing people and destroying their hearts, even if it is to confuse right and wrong. Just one sentence made Li Jingzhao's breath stuck in his throat, and his legs trembled.
"Yes, yes, yes..." He wiped the sweat off his face and agreed, "Lord Su is right, he is right. Then..."
"Just give him ten lashes as a punishment."
Lord Su gave the order, and naturally those present did not dare to disobey. They all lowered their heads and nodded compliantly, and even the force with which they pulled people was much lighter.
However, Lin Wanqing still had a worried look on her face. After hesitating for a long time, she looked at Su Moyi and said weakly, "Can you not punish me?"
"What?"
Su Moyi almost laughed at her question, and there was a hint of contempt in the look in his eyes when he looked at her.
It is rare to have such a talented person. Although he is difficult to tame, a good horse is even harder to find.
He didn't mind condescending to ask for a favor on her behalf in order to tame her.
But I didn't expect that this person would be so arrogant. It seems that he is just a coward who is afraid of death.
The people in the hall seemed to have guessed his tactful thoughts, as if they were clarifying something, and hurriedly waved their hands and said, "Don't misunderstand, sir. I am not a coward, but my family was poor when I was young, and my legs have left hidden injuries in the winter. I am afraid that I cannot withstand the flogging, so I have this request." "
Oh?" Su Moyi was disdainful. After all, he had heard these excuses so many times when he was interrogating prisoners.
The index finger and thumb were rubbed together under the wide, moon-white sleeves, making a rustling sound.
"But according to the Southern Law, apart from flogging, the only punishment left in the criminal law is whipping."
After saying this, he paused deliberately and raised his eyes to observe Lin Wanqing's expression.
In the Southern Dynasties, flogging was generally used to punish slaves and untouchables who committed serious crimes. The punishment was just as its name suggested, the person was thrown up and whipped on the back with a whip made of cowhide.
But that whip was no ordinary whip. It was covered with barbs, and every time the whip hit it, the skin and flesh were torn apart and blood was blurred.
As the recorder of Jingzhao Prefecture, Lin Wanqing couldn't possibly be unaware that Su Moyi was trying to intimidate her.
However, to his surprise, Lin Wanqing just smiled calmly, as if he had silently breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and bowed to him and said, "Thank you for your grace, sir."
After that, he followed the two yamen runners.
This brought shock back to Su Moyi.
They were afraid of being beaten with a stick, but they took the flogging, which everyone was terrified of, lightly.
Lin Wanqing is becoming more and more interesting.
The moon was at its zenith, and the air on that spring night was filled with a thin layer of mist, staining the eyebrows and eyes with water stains.
When Su Moyi came out of Jingzhao Prefecture, it was already past the hour of Chou.
Ye Qing followed him out of the quiet main gate of Jingzhao Prefecture and put the cloak in his hand on his shoulders.
While Su Moyi was tying the belt, he looked up at the sky and suddenly ordered Ye Qing without any reason: "Go to the residence of the imperial physician, Lord Bai, now."
"What, what?"
Ye Qing almost thought he had heard it wrong and looked up at the sky at a loss.
It was three o'clock in the morning, when everyone was asleep, and you just ran to someone's house...
why?
Su Moyi was completely unaware of his doubts. She leaned over and got into the carriage, leaned lazily against the carriage, and drove away.
Ye Qing: “???”
Could this ancestor please finish what he is saying before leaving? !
*
Lin Wanqing hasn't had a dream for a long time.
In her dream, she went back to the year when she was four years old and it was snowing heavily in Shengjing.
She saw herself standing at a crowded street corner, struggling to cling to a stone tablet beside her, staring blankly at her parents in the distance.
The snow in her memory was incredibly heavy, with the fluff and cotton falling everywhere. The little girl could only see a vast expanse of white in front of her.
Every breath of air I took was painful. Like a sharp knife, it slid down the throat and finally fell into the stomach, turning into a heavy lump.
It was a wooden platform half a person's height, on which sat not only her parents, but also twenty-one members of the Xiao family.
Yes, her surname is not Lin, her surname is Xiao.
These are some of the few memories she has about her childhood and her parents.
She remembered that day when the armored soldiers rushed into the Xiao Mansion, her mother hid her under the abandoned old stove in the kitchen and told her that everything she was about to see was just a game.
If she could avoid being spotted, she would win.
She could then exit through the back door. Uncle Lin, her father's best friend, will reward her. Take her to places she's never been and to eat things she's never eaten.
Once children start to play, they are easy to deceive, even with a flawed explanation.
Lin Wanqing discovered something was wrong on the way out of Shengjing.
Her parents, who always kept their promises, were unable to go with her to the place they described as fun.
Maybe it was intuition, or maybe it was the child's innate fearlessness and courage. She found an excuse to secretly escape back to Shengjing, and only then did she learn from the gossip on the streets that her father was tried by the three courts and the entire family was sentenced to execution.
She didn't know what this meant, but she could tell from the tone of the people that this was not a good thing.
Then she followed the crowd in a daze to the intersection of Xishi.
Just one glance and she was so frightened that she almost lost her voice.
On the high wooden platform, twenty-one members of the Xiao family knelt in a row. Behind them were executioners holding big knives.
Unable to distinguish the surrounding snow, she saw the cold blade of the knife, which made her eyes hurt.
A man in gorgeous clothes walked out from behind the sword light, took out a bright yellow brocade scroll, and read something aloud.
Unfortunately, she didn't understand.
That was the first time she felt regretful. She knew she should have listened to her mother and studied hard with her teacher.
The crowd was in an uproar.
They pushed forward and almost pushed down the stone tablet she was climbing. Lin Wanqing could only hold on to the cold stone tightly, unaware that her nails were breaking and digging into her flesh, causing blood to flow from her tender fingertips.
On the high wooden platform, the man in gorgeous clothes made a gesture, and the executioner stepped forward and pressed everyone onto the stone slab, exposing their necks.
The butcher knife was raised high, and a cold light flashed on the sharp blade.
She finally understood something, but she could do nothing.
Tears flowed down cheeks that were numb from the cold, obstructing even the vague vision.
"Dad, Dad..." she stammered, her voice dry and hoarse.
A hand quickly rushed out from the crowd and grabbed her tightly. The force was so great that she was pulled away from the stone tablet.
An embrace wet from the wind and snow came up and held her tightly.
"Don't look!" she remembered Uncle Lin saying to her.
Lin Wanqing was speechless and just cried.
The heavy snow fell rustlingly, touched her eyelashes, and quickly turned into water, making her wet.
"Close your eyes!"
As if the last bit of strength had been drained away, Lin Wanqing did as she was told. She looked behind Uncle Lin and saw a pair of big hands covering her little ears.
Faintly, from a very far distance, she seemed to hear a muffled sound, and everything was silent...
"From now on, you are my, Lin Xiangyi's daughter, and your name is Lin Wanqing."
Lin Wanqing...
Lin Wanqing.
The voices of Lin Wanqing in the dream gradually became illusory, and then slowly accumulated into the hot voice of Lin Wanqing in my ears.
She opened her eyes groggily.
What caught my eye was Liang Weiping's face, which was half angry and half worried.
The dim candlelight shone from behind him, further blurring his already unremarkable facial features.
Lin Wanqing then remembered that after being punished yesterday, he was helped into the small room that Jingzhao Prefecture had left for them to stay temporarily. Because of the day's fatigue and several new injuries, she fainted as soon as she touched the bed.
Liang Weiping must have heard something and came here on his own.
She moved her hands and realized she was still lying on the bed. The grey robe I wore yesterday was stained with blood, which had dried and stuck to my back, causing pain whenever I moved.
The quilt was loosely covering her, but it was of no use at all.
If you are injured, you will feel cold.
The wound had not been treated yesterday, and Lin Wanqing slept in this way all night. Now he just felt dizzy, cold, and weak in his limbs.
It should be a fever.
She looked at Liang Weiping, a weak smile appeared on her lips, and a hoarse "Brother Liang" came out of her throat.
Liang Weiping was stunned and quickly got a glass of water.
Twelve years.
Her obsession brought her here, but it also ended here.
Lin Wanqing thought that she was no longer that helpless little girl.
But now I realize that everything has returned to the starting point. Even for this minor wound, he couldn't find anyone to help him clean it.
She looked at Liang Weiping with a bitter smile and gently waved away the water he handed to her.
"Brother Liang," she called him, still with a hoarse voice, "If I tell you a secret, can you keep it for me?"
The water on Liang Weiping's hands trembled, and he struggled for a while before asking tentatively, "What, what..."
Lin Wanqing knew that he was a timid person and had no intention of dragging him into any danger. But now, apart from Liang Weiping, she can't find anyone else she can trust.
She half-raised herself from the bed, her long, jet-black hair cascading down her shoulders with a faint glow. It made her already delicate face look even softer.
In just such a short moment, Liang Weiping felt a little panicked. An absurd thought that had lingered in his mind thousands of times suddenly popped up in his mind, like a shooting star or butterfly that could not be trapped.
Lin Wanqing calmly pulled off the fake Adam's apple that was glued on her neck, pulled back the hair that was blocking her vision, looked up at Liang Weiping and said, "Brother Liang, have you ever doubted my identity?"
The water in her hand could no longer be held, and it softened and spilled all over the floor, dripping everywhere.
"You, you are... you are..."
Lin Wanqing took over his words in a deep voice, "I am a woman."
———————
Liang Weiping: If this is a secret, please keep it, because I don’t want to know!
PS Everyone should know this, right? Qingqing was not afraid of being beaten, but was afraid of having her pants taken off when being beaten.
The Lord Su next to me is famous for his cold and heartless nature. Not to mention such an unknown little clerk, even if they were the real royal relatives of Shengjing, he would treat them equally if they committed crimes and would never cover up for them.
The question just now seemed a bit like favoritism and bending the law for personal gain.
Li Jingzhao was extremely annoyed at his self-defeating move. He hurriedly put on a smile on his greasy face and complimented Su Moyi before he said coldly to the audience: "What are you still standing there for? Drag him away and beat him!"
Lin Wanqing was stunned when he heard this. His eyes, which were originally looking directly at Li Jingzhao, flashed with a rare look of worry.
In just a moment, Su Moyi caught this expression.
She...
seems scared?
Oh!
It seems that Lin Lu Shi, who can vent his anger on everyone, actually gets scared sometimes?
Su Moyi suppressed the upturned corners of his mouth, and the surprise in his heart was soon replaced by a slight joy.
Just know that you are afraid.
If you know how to be afraid, you can be controlled. If you can be controlled, you can use it for your own purposes.
While his mind was racing, two yamen runners nearby had already stepped forward and lifted up Lin Wanqing, preparing to drag her away, but Su Moyi's cold voice interrupted them.
"Su just thought about it, is this thirty-board flogging a bit too heavy a punishment?"
"Huh?" Li Jingzhao shuddered and looked at Su Moyi in confusion.
Perhaps to cover up his suspected favoritism, Lord Su, who has always enforced the law impartially, put his fist to his lips uncomfortably and coughed lightly, "It is true that Lin Lu Shi despised the court, but investigating Wang Hu in the middle of the night is also part of his job. Besides, there is something fishy about the Wang Hu case."
At last, he glanced at Li Jingzhao lightly and added, "He cares more about it than Lord Li, and is more perceptive than Lord Li."
He is always justified in killing people and destroying their hearts, even if it is to confuse right and wrong. Just one sentence made Li Jingzhao's breath stuck in his throat, and his legs trembled.
"Yes, yes, yes..." He wiped the sweat off his face and agreed, "Lord Su is right, he is right. Then..."
"Just give him ten lashes as a punishment."
Lord Su gave the order, and naturally those present did not dare to disobey. They all lowered their heads and nodded compliantly, and even the force with which they pulled people was much lighter.
However, Lin Wanqing still had a worried look on her face. After hesitating for a long time, she looked at Su Moyi and said weakly, "Can you not punish me?"
"What?"
Su Moyi almost laughed at her question, and there was a hint of contempt in the look in his eyes when he looked at her.
It is rare to have such a talented person. Although he is difficult to tame, a good horse is even harder to find.
He didn't mind condescending to ask for a favor on her behalf in order to tame her.
But I didn't expect that this person would be so arrogant. It seems that he is just a coward who is afraid of death.
The people in the hall seemed to have guessed his tactful thoughts, as if they were clarifying something, and hurriedly waved their hands and said, "Don't misunderstand, sir. I am not a coward, but my family was poor when I was young, and my legs have left hidden injuries in the winter. I am afraid that I cannot withstand the flogging, so I have this request." "
Oh?" Su Moyi was disdainful. After all, he had heard these excuses so many times when he was interrogating prisoners.
The index finger and thumb were rubbed together under the wide, moon-white sleeves, making a rustling sound.
"But according to the Southern Law, apart from flogging, the only punishment left in the criminal law is whipping."
After saying this, he paused deliberately and raised his eyes to observe Lin Wanqing's expression.
In the Southern Dynasties, flogging was generally used to punish slaves and untouchables who committed serious crimes. The punishment was just as its name suggested, the person was thrown up and whipped on the back with a whip made of cowhide.
But that whip was no ordinary whip. It was covered with barbs, and every time the whip hit it, the skin and flesh were torn apart and blood was blurred.
As the recorder of Jingzhao Prefecture, Lin Wanqing couldn't possibly be unaware that Su Moyi was trying to intimidate her.
However, to his surprise, Lin Wanqing just smiled calmly, as if he had silently breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, and bowed to him and said, "Thank you for your grace, sir."
After that, he followed the two yamen runners.
This brought shock back to Su Moyi.
They were afraid of being beaten with a stick, but they took the flogging, which everyone was terrified of, lightly.
Lin Wanqing is becoming more and more interesting.
The moon was at its zenith, and the air on that spring night was filled with a thin layer of mist, staining the eyebrows and eyes with water stains.
When Su Moyi came out of Jingzhao Prefecture, it was already past the hour of Chou.
Ye Qing followed him out of the quiet main gate of Jingzhao Prefecture and put the cloak in his hand on his shoulders.
While Su Moyi was tying the belt, he looked up at the sky and suddenly ordered Ye Qing without any reason: "Go to the residence of the imperial physician, Lord Bai, now."
"What, what?"
Ye Qing almost thought he had heard it wrong and looked up at the sky at a loss.
It was three o'clock in the morning, when everyone was asleep, and you just ran to someone's house...
why?
Su Moyi was completely unaware of his doubts. She leaned over and got into the carriage, leaned lazily against the carriage, and drove away.
Ye Qing: “???”
Could this ancestor please finish what he is saying before leaving? !
*
Lin Wanqing hasn't had a dream for a long time.
In her dream, she went back to the year when she was four years old and it was snowing heavily in Shengjing.
She saw herself standing at a crowded street corner, struggling to cling to a stone tablet beside her, staring blankly at her parents in the distance.
The snow in her memory was incredibly heavy, with the fluff and cotton falling everywhere. The little girl could only see a vast expanse of white in front of her.
Every breath of air I took was painful. Like a sharp knife, it slid down the throat and finally fell into the stomach, turning into a heavy lump.
It was a wooden platform half a person's height, on which sat not only her parents, but also twenty-one members of the Xiao family.
Yes, her surname is not Lin, her surname is Xiao.
These are some of the few memories she has about her childhood and her parents.
She remembered that day when the armored soldiers rushed into the Xiao Mansion, her mother hid her under the abandoned old stove in the kitchen and told her that everything she was about to see was just a game.
If she could avoid being spotted, she would win.
She could then exit through the back door. Uncle Lin, her father's best friend, will reward her. Take her to places she's never been and to eat things she's never eaten.
Once children start to play, they are easy to deceive, even with a flawed explanation.
Lin Wanqing discovered something was wrong on the way out of Shengjing.
Her parents, who always kept their promises, were unable to go with her to the place they described as fun.
Maybe it was intuition, or maybe it was the child's innate fearlessness and courage. She found an excuse to secretly escape back to Shengjing, and only then did she learn from the gossip on the streets that her father was tried by the three courts and the entire family was sentenced to execution.
She didn't know what this meant, but she could tell from the tone of the people that this was not a good thing.
Then she followed the crowd in a daze to the intersection of Xishi.
Just one glance and she was so frightened that she almost lost her voice.
On the high wooden platform, twenty-one members of the Xiao family knelt in a row. Behind them were executioners holding big knives.
Unable to distinguish the surrounding snow, she saw the cold blade of the knife, which made her eyes hurt.
A man in gorgeous clothes walked out from behind the sword light, took out a bright yellow brocade scroll, and read something aloud.
Unfortunately, she didn't understand.
That was the first time she felt regretful. She knew she should have listened to her mother and studied hard with her teacher.
The crowd was in an uproar.
They pushed forward and almost pushed down the stone tablet she was climbing. Lin Wanqing could only hold on to the cold stone tightly, unaware that her nails were breaking and digging into her flesh, causing blood to flow from her tender fingertips.
On the high wooden platform, the man in gorgeous clothes made a gesture, and the executioner stepped forward and pressed everyone onto the stone slab, exposing their necks.
The butcher knife was raised high, and a cold light flashed on the sharp blade.
She finally understood something, but she could do nothing.
Tears flowed down cheeks that were numb from the cold, obstructing even the vague vision.
"Dad, Dad..." she stammered, her voice dry and hoarse.
A hand quickly rushed out from the crowd and grabbed her tightly. The force was so great that she was pulled away from the stone tablet.
An embrace wet from the wind and snow came up and held her tightly.
"Don't look!" she remembered Uncle Lin saying to her.
Lin Wanqing was speechless and just cried.
The heavy snow fell rustlingly, touched her eyelashes, and quickly turned into water, making her wet.
"Close your eyes!"
As if the last bit of strength had been drained away, Lin Wanqing did as she was told. She looked behind Uncle Lin and saw a pair of big hands covering her little ears.
Faintly, from a very far distance, she seemed to hear a muffled sound, and everything was silent...
"From now on, you are my, Lin Xiangyi's daughter, and your name is Lin Wanqing."
Lin Wanqing...
Lin Wanqing.
The voices of Lin Wanqing in the dream gradually became illusory, and then slowly accumulated into the hot voice of Lin Wanqing in my ears.
She opened her eyes groggily.
What caught my eye was Liang Weiping's face, which was half angry and half worried.
The dim candlelight shone from behind him, further blurring his already unremarkable facial features.
Lin Wanqing then remembered that after being punished yesterday, he was helped into the small room that Jingzhao Prefecture had left for them to stay temporarily. Because of the day's fatigue and several new injuries, she fainted as soon as she touched the bed.
Liang Weiping must have heard something and came here on his own.
She moved her hands and realized she was still lying on the bed. The grey robe I wore yesterday was stained with blood, which had dried and stuck to my back, causing pain whenever I moved.
The quilt was loosely covering her, but it was of no use at all.
If you are injured, you will feel cold.
The wound had not been treated yesterday, and Lin Wanqing slept in this way all night. Now he just felt dizzy, cold, and weak in his limbs.
It should be a fever.
She looked at Liang Weiping, a weak smile appeared on her lips, and a hoarse "Brother Liang" came out of her throat.
Liang Weiping was stunned and quickly got a glass of water.
Twelve years.
Her obsession brought her here, but it also ended here.
Lin Wanqing thought that she was no longer that helpless little girl.
But now I realize that everything has returned to the starting point. Even for this minor wound, he couldn't find anyone to help him clean it.
She looked at Liang Weiping with a bitter smile and gently waved away the water he handed to her.
"Brother Liang," she called him, still with a hoarse voice, "If I tell you a secret, can you keep it for me?"
The water on Liang Weiping's hands trembled, and he struggled for a while before asking tentatively, "What, what..."
Lin Wanqing knew that he was a timid person and had no intention of dragging him into any danger. But now, apart from Liang Weiping, she can't find anyone else she can trust.
She half-raised herself from the bed, her long, jet-black hair cascading down her shoulders with a faint glow. It made her already delicate face look even softer.
In just such a short moment, Liang Weiping felt a little panicked. An absurd thought that had lingered in his mind thousands of times suddenly popped up in his mind, like a shooting star or butterfly that could not be trapped.
Lin Wanqing calmly pulled off the fake Adam's apple that was glued on her neck, pulled back the hair that was blocking her vision, looked up at Liang Weiping and said, "Brother Liang, have you ever doubted my identity?"
The water in her hand could no longer be held, and it softened and spilled all over the floor, dripping everywhere.
"You, you are... you are..."
Lin Wanqing took over his words in a deep voice, "I am a woman."
———————
Liang Weiping: If this is a secret, please keep it, because I don’t want to know!
PS Everyone should know this, right? Qingqing was not afraid of being beaten, but was afraid of having her pants taken off when being beaten.
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