Chapter 57

Chapter 57: Luckily Treated by Miss Meng

A strange, sour feeling rose in Shang Xing Yu’s chest.

Sheng Zhi Wan asked, “What?”

Sheng Zhi Wan did not understand why Shang Xing Yu had asked that.

Shang Xing Yu looked away. “Nothing.”

Shang Xing Yu asked, “When will Princess meet the person Princess brought back?”

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Now.”

The courtyard only had two sections. The flowers, the grass, and the rooms all looked ordinary. Yet after they went down a set of steps, Sheng Zhi Wan realized there was a hidden dungeon beneath the ground.

Zhang Da Hu hung upside down from a torture frame. His only remaining arm was strapped tight, and an iron ball was stuffed into his mouth to stop him from shouting. When Zhang Da Hu saw Sheng Zhi Wan enter, terror flickered in Zhang Da Hu’s eyes.

Zhang Da Hu had witnessed the horror in the mountain stronghold last night with his own eyes. At the start, when Zhang Da Hu spoke up for Meng Yang, Zhang Da Hu thought Sheng Zhi Wan was only a woman. Even if Sheng Zhi Wan was a Princess, so what? Once Sheng Zhi Wan lost her purity, she would be easy to control.

Even after Zhang Da Hu fell into Sheng Zhi Wan’s hands last night, Zhang Da Hu still did not take it seriously. At worst, it would be a scar as wide as a bowl, and then death.

But Zhang Da Hu never expected Sheng Zhi Wan to be that ruthless. More than two hundred people, and Sheng Zhi Wan did not leave a single survivor.

No… she still left one survivor.

Zhang Da Hu was the mastermind behind her kidnapping. If Sheng Zhi Wan killed everyone else, how could Sheng Zhi Wan possibly spare Zhang Da Hu?

While Sheng Zhi Wan was unconscious, Zhang Da Hu stayed in this dungeon, staring at the torture tools and frightening himself. Now, as Sheng Zhi Wan drew closer and closer, cold sweat beaded all over Zhang Da Hu’s forehead.

Sheng Zhi Wan ordered, “Take the iron ball out of his mouth.”

Shang Xing Yu nodded, and the ghost-masked guards on either side immediately removed it.

Zhang Da Hu spat and cursed, “Damn you, filthy bitch! A poisonous woman is a poisonous woman! You killed over two hundred people the moment you felt like it. Hahaha-no wonder the Heir Apparent doesn’t like a woman like you!”

Zhang Da Hu panted hard, his face twisted with wild cruelty. “If I’d gotten my hands on you, I would’ve had thousands of men use you! You-”

Zhang Da Hu had spent years in the military. The filth in Zhang Da Hu’s mouth was more than most people could endure, especially someone raised in silk and luxury like Sheng Zhi Wan. Zhang Da Hu hoped Sheng Zhi Wan would lose her temper, slash Zhang Da Hu’s throat, and spare Zhang Da Hu the torment.

Zhang Da Hu did not know what kind of wicked trick Sheng Zhi Wan used. Earlier, Sheng Zhi Wan only needed a single silver needle to make Zhang Da Hu hurt so much he wanted to die.

Zhang Da Hu would rather die than experience that pain again.

Zhang Da Hu’s plan was simple. If Zhang Da Hu cursed enough, Sheng Zhi Wan might snap. Even the ghost-masked guards frowned, and Shang Xing Yu’s gaze turned icy, as sharp as a blade.

Yet Sheng Zhi Wan, the one being cursed, stood there the whole time without the slightest change in expression. Sheng Zhi Wan’s dark eyes only watched Zhang Da Hu in silence.

Zhang Da Hu’s heart trembled for no reason, and the words Zhang Da Hu had prepared stuck in his throat like a thick rope.

Zhang Da Hu stammered, “You-”

Sheng Zhi Wan raised her brows. “Finished cursing?” Sheng Zhi Wan’s voice stayed calm. “Then let’s talk about the poison in that Qian Ji Powder.”

Zhang Da Hu blurted, “What Qian Ji Powder? I’ve never heard that name!”

Sheng Zhi Wan smiled and took out a small square bottle. Sheng Zhi Wan opened it.

The moment the stopper came free, a familiar smell spread through the air. Zhang Da Hu’s pupils shook violently.

Zhang Da Hu knew that smell too well. Even now, just catching a hint of it from far away, Zhang Da Hu could tell what it was.

It was the same smell on the arrows that struck Zhang Da Hu and Zhang Er Hu back in Cang Nan.

Zhang Da Hu recoiled in panic. “Poisonous bitch, what do you want to do? You’re an imperial Princess, but I’m a meritorious soldier from the Cang Nan battle! How dare you harm me like this!”

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “You had merit. It’s a pity you later chose the wrong road.”

Sheng Zhi Wan’s gaze swept the dungeon. Then Sheng Zhi Wan did not hesitate at all and sprinkled the powder onto the barbed whip.

Zhang Da Hu shouted, “You’re insane! If you want me dead, then just kill me!”

Zhang Da Hu struggled wildly, realizing what Sheng Zhi Wan meant to do. Sheng Zhi Wan acted as if she did not hear a word.

Sheng Zhi Wan picked up the long whip, and the barbed lash cut through the air in a blur.

In Zhang Da Hu’s terrified stare-

The whip cracked, “Pa!”

Zhang Da Hu screamed, “Ah!”

Almost instantly, Zhang Da Hu felt the barbs tear into flesh. Yet compared to what came next, that pain was almost a relief.

From the broken skin, the pain-and-itch spread like a plague. It sank into flesh, into bone, into marrow. It felt as if countless tiny insects were crawling and gnawing inside Zhang Da Hu’s body.

Zhang Da Hu’s eyes turned bloodshot. “Kill me! Kill me!”

When pain reached its limit, the mind tried to protect itself by making the person forget. So Zhang Da Hu almost forgot that even the silver-needle pain from yesterday was nothing compared to this moment. It was less than a thousandth of it.

Zhang Da Hu cursed hoarsely, “Bitch! Poisonous witch! You should die! I should’ve stripped you naked-ugh!”

The second whip landed.

Zhang Da Hu slammed his head backward into the wooden frame. Zhang Da Hu would rather die.

And Miss Meng had said it herself. With the methods they had now, this poison had no cure. The only way to stop it was to cut away the poisoned area as fast as possible, before it spread.

Otherwise, the poison would rot a person from the outside in, from skin to bone, until it reached the organs. The victim would watch themselves decay and suffer the whole way to death.

Back then, Zhang Er Hu could not endure it anymore. Zhang Er Hu charged straight into the enemy and sought death on purpose.

Zhang Da Hu had only survived because Miss Meng treated Zhang Da Hu in time and quickly severed an arm.