When the birds loosened their grip, Lu Sheng Zhong was thrown onto the shore.
Covered in blood, in a wretched state, Lu Sheng Zhong slowly raised his head and saw a group of people before him. He smiled bitterly.
Tang Xiang Yang cried out, "Brother Li!" He wanted to help him.
But Liu Er immediately grabbed him, not allowing her man to make any more foolish moves.
After he was washed by the water, his face became clearer to see.
Song Shu immediately narrowed his eyes and asked:
— Lu Sheng Zhong, is that you?
Song Shu was related to Wang Heng and had seen Lu Sheng Zhong beside Wang Heng.
Shao Ping Bo, coughing, asked:
— Do you know him?
Song Shu cupped his hands and said:
— Young Master, this man is a disciple of Wuliangshan. He used to be a guardian-mentor to Wang Heng, one of the four commanders of the Yan Kingdom's capital guard garrison. Later, Wang Heng sent him to kill Niu You Dao. Not only did he fail to kill him, but he also betrayed the Song family's people. Our steward Liu Lu's son died because of him. I wish I could flay him alive!
Tang Xiang Yang froze upon hearing this. And this was Brother Li?
Liu Er had known all along that something was off with this man!
Su Zhao looked at Liu Er: "Liu Er, is he alone?"
Liu Er: "Cousin, there was also a stableman and a boatman. I just don't know if they are together."
Shao Ping Bo cast a sidelong glance at his sister, then walked up to Lu Sheng Zhong and stepped on his face:
— You betrayed Wang Heng? A spineless wretch! Rather than endure torment, you betrayed others. Who sent you?
Lu Sheng Zhong smiled painfully:
— I don't understand how you knew our direction?
— I ask the questions here. — Shao Ping Bo asked again:
— Did you hear what Song Shu just said? He wishes to flay you alive. I believe he can certainly take good care of you. I ask you, will you confess or not?
Lu Sheng Zhong shook his head helplessly:
— I am already on the brink of death. Do you think I can bow before an enemy who will kill me?
Shao Ping Bo: "That will depend on whether you have value to me or not. Before so many people, I do not break my word. I guarantee before everyone that I will not harm you and will give you a chance at life, if you prove valuable to me... Do you think I don't know who sent you?"
Lu Sheng Zhong took a deep breath, then uttered:
— Niu You Dao. Niu You Dao sent me.
Shao Ping Bo asked: "How many of you are there?"
Lu Sheng Zhong: "I am alone."
Shao Ping Bo narrowed his eyes: "Only you?" He seemed not to believe him.
Lu Sheng Zhong: "Niu You Dao left a person in the city to communicate with me. As for who he is, I don't know. However, I know who to find to establish contact with him. Through this thread, the others can also be caught. I wonder, will I be valuable to Milord in this way?"
Shao Ping Bo's eyes flickered.
Lu Sheng Zhong pleaded: "Heal me, or I will die!"
Shao Ping Bo nodded, and people immediately came forward. They lifted Lu Sheng Zhong, gave him medicine, and began to treat him.
Cheng Gui Shuo watched him, his eyes also gleaming. He worried whether Lu Sheng Zhong would betray him as well?
Niu You Dao had also given him the order to kill Shao Ping Bo. Only, he had no chance. Shao Ping Bo never met him alone, and he was guarded by cultivators whose cultivation was higher than his own.
Regardless of cultivation or other methods, he had not yet managed to carry out the order. There had been no opportune moment at all.
He also knew there was a person in the city with whom he could connect. Only, he didn't know exactly who that person was. If they shared the same line of communication, that would be a problem.
Tang Xiang Yang looked bewildered. It turned out he had truly been used and intended to be used against the Shao family...
Shao Ping Bo turned and walked towards Liu Er.
Liu Er tensed, gripping Tang Xiang Yang even tighter as she cried out:
— Sister!
Su Zhao was a little awkward: "Ping Bo!"
Shao Ping Bo stopped and looked at the man standing behind his sister. He felt a complex mix of emotions.
He had suspected from the very beginning that the relationship between his sister and Tang Xiang Yang was not simple. He had wanted to kill Tang Xiang Yang, but their mother, before her death, had asked him to care for his sister and not harm her feelings.
Truth be told, his sister had already reached the age where she should marry. She shouldn't have to wait until she was thirty, like him, to start a family. He was constantly thinking of whom to choose for his sister and wanted to pick the best possible man for her.
And Tang Xiang Yang was nowhere on his list. The reason was simple: HE WAS UNSUITABLE!
From what family did his sister hail? She could marry in a way beneficial to the Shao family.
He knew his sister well, yet he couldn't understand why she had chosen this bookish scholar?
Liu Er, long ago, when the poetry society was disbanded, had worried that Tang Xiang Yang would be poisoned. So she immediately told her brother that if anything happened to Tang Xiang Yang, she would stop speaking to him.
Of course, there was another reason. If his little sister refused to marry anyone else, what was he to do? But he wanted to see how this soft-hearted Tang Xiang Yang would behave in a difficult situation. He wanted to observe him closely. He couldn't just give his sister away so easily.
But who knew that this fellow would find so much courage within himself!
— Have you truly slept with her?" Shao Ping Bo stared intensely at Tang Xiang Yang.
Tang Xiang Yang faltered, unsure how to answer the question.
Liu Er interrupted: "So what? I've already said it. If not for him, I won't marry anyone else!"
Shao Ping Bo paid her no mind. He continued to stare fixedly at Tang Xiang Yang, awaiting his answer. He knew this fellow wouldn't lie.
Tang Xiang Yang gathered his courage and replied:
— Milord, I am willing to take responsibility for Liu Er.
— Responsibility? Hahaha. Mother, did you see all this? Hahahahaha...." Shao Ping Bo stretched his arms towards the sky and muttered. He laughed bitterly.
Tang Xiang Yang had admitted to sleeping with his sister, which brought a bitter taste to Shao Ping Bo's heart.
It wasn't that his sister had lost her virginity that pained him, but that at the most critical moment, the person he loved and cared for the most had betrayed him.
Such a calamity had befallen the Shao family; he had been imprisoned. It was still unknown whether he would live or die, yet she, paying no mind to this, had run off with her beloved, abandoning her elder brother to his fate. How could he endure this? In his heart, there was only grief now.
Liu Er bit her lip. She had never seen her brother in such a deranged state.
— Ping Bo! — Su Zhao wanted to comfort him.
Shao Ping Bo waved his hand, then couldn't bear it and began pointing a finger at Tang Xiang Yang:
— You are responsible? In this turbulent era, you take responsibility? Do you know how many people wish death upon the Shao family? Do you know that should she leave the Shao family, someone will immediately seize her? You can only read books and shake your head. There is no strength in your hands. You can't even catch and tie up a chicken. You can only teach children, that's all. And how do you intend to protect her? You are a scholar — completely useless! And how could the Shao family take you in? Even if we wanted to support you, how could we take you? As whom? What useful thing can you do? Tell me, how can you be responsible?
Tang Xiang Yang tensed and flushed red.
Liu Er intervened: "Brother, he's not as hopeless as you say."
Shao Ping Bo began pointing at her:
— Then you tell me. Why did you want to leave the Shao family? You understand better than anyone that if you were to leave the Shao family, and if we didn't care for the two of you, you would be heading straight to your deaths!
— Liu Er, you must understand that having been born into a family like ours, whether it's you or me, we have no choice! It's not that I don't want you to marry him. The issue lies with him. Can he take you? It's not about wealth or poverty, but about qualifications and capability!
— Do you wish to see your husband bow his head and obey the Shao family in everything? Do you wish for the subordinate families and servants to mock him and you? Can you or he endure that? If you truly wish what is best for him, then let him go!
Liu Er didn't know how to reply, then quickly shouted:
— It doesn't matter to me, I am already his. I want to be with him!
Shao Ping Bo replied with a smile: "You'd even prefer to die with him?"
Liu Er angrily cried out: "You wouldn't dare kill me!?"
— Fine! I will help you. — Shao Ping Bo turned his head and shouted:
— Song Shu, Cheng Gui Shuo, quickly construct a pig transport cage!
Song Shu and Cheng Gui Shuo exchanged glances.
Su Zhao began to plead:
— Ping Bo, quarrels between brother and sister are best settled at home.
Shao Ping Bo turned his head and gave her a meaningful look. Then, he slowly said:
— You all have the time it takes for one stick of incense to burn. If you fail, you will be in the cage!
Su Zhao fell silent.
Song Shu and Cheng Gui Shuo went to make the cage.
Not long after, they brought a wooden cage. They hadn't even had time to strip off the bark.
At Shao Ping Bo's command, they shoved Liu Er and Tang Xiang Yang inside. Then, Cheng Gui Shuo and Song Shu placed river rocks inside, after which they closed the cage. They positioned the cage in the river, and the water gradually began to fill it.
— Shao Ping Bo, what right do you have to treat me like this? How dare you decide my marriage? I want to see Father, I want to see Father... Shao Liu Er screamed wildly inside the cage. She hadn't thought her brother would dare to do such a thing.
And Tang Xiang Yang closed his eyes and roared.
Shao Ping Bo slowly said:
— Man of Tang, if you but abandon Liu Er, I will release you. You can save yourself, and you can save her. What will you do?
— Don't listen to him! I don't believe he would dare kill me! — Liu Er cried out angrily.
Shao Ping Bo nodded: "Lower it!"
Song Shu and Cheng Gui Shuo pressed down on the cage, sinking it into the river. Only the top section of the partition was now visible within the cage.
Bubbles appeared above the cage, and a hand stretched out.
Tang Xiang Yang frantically clawed at the top of the cage and, forcing his face through the gap, cried out wildly and sorrowfully:
— I'm leaving! Let her go, let her go, let her go. I'm leaving...