Chapter 181 - The Palace Prison Cell (5)

The disgusting hand that wanted to slap Xiong Jingfei froze in the air. If he left any mark of harm on her, he wouldn't be able to explain it to his majesty. He was ordered to capture everyone in the Xiong Manor but wasn't permitted to interrogate them. 

Xiong Jingfei narrowed her eyes. 

The "leader" drew his hand back and put them behind his back. This interrogation was an order given by 'them', and what they want is a confession by tonight! Yet, Xiong Jingfei wouldn't give him the answer he wanted. 

Then he suddenly turned his attention to Xu Song. Why didn't he think of it earlier? He can't touch Xiong Jingfei, but someone like her servant, no one will even care. 

"Guards! Tie her up!" 

"Don't you dare do anything to her!" Xiong Jingfei shouted and squirmed to release her arms and legs from the rope. "She has nothing to do with this!"

The soldiers chained Xu Song onto the chains hanging from the wooden pole. Her feet barely touched the ground as she hanged with only her arms supporting her body.

"Do you want to start talking now?" The "leader" went behind Xiong Jingfei's chair and crouched down. He whispered, "You don't want to be a heartless master, right? Watching your favorite servant get tortured to death." 

Xiong Jingfei stayed resolute on her previous answer, "There is nothing to confess! We, the Xiong, never betrayed his majesty!"

"Fine." The "leader" shrugged his shoulders. He strode over to Xu Song and caressed her face. "You poor thing~. I gave your master a chance to save you, but she didn't want to take it. Don't you feel hurt and betrayed? She won't even choose you."

Xu Song scrunched up her eyebrows. Opening her mouth, she bit down hard on the disgusting hand rubbing her face. 

"Ahhh!" The "leader" bellowed, shaking his bitten hand. "Hurry! Bring it in!"

Bring what in...? Xiong Jingfei didn't even want to know what type of torture is going to be used on Xu Song. Unfortunately, her nightmare got answered when the guards carried it in. They wouldn't dare do it! They weren't even charged as criminals yet!

"I will give you one last chance!" The "leader" picked up the hot iron that's been cooking in the flaming fire. "Are you going to confess or not!? I am running out of patience with you!"

Xiong Jingfei clenched her teeth. They didn't want the truth! They want to force a fake confession out of her. She doesn't know which answer she should give them. "I-"

If she told them what they wanted to hear, that was an instant death penalty. No one in the Xiong household will survive, including servants and slaves! Even if those servants and slaves are pardoned, the person behind this will make sure none of them survive. They will make sure the Xiong Clan will become part of forgotten history. 

Yet, if she keeps her mouth shut, Xu Song will be scorched and marked as a criminal for life. 

"Please-"

Xu Song looked over to her Miss, who was in a dilemma. She raised her voice, and furiously shouted, "Do not beg these bastards! I raised you better than that!" 

The "leader" mouth twisted in an ugly way. He was so close, but because of the wench behind him...!

"Is this how the court system in this country treats their citizens!? Forcing their citizens to confess to a crime they didn't do!? Do not give in, Miss!" Xu Song didn't back down, and she will never fear these sc.u.ms. "If I ever get the chance, I will make sure to fight and find justice for the innocents! You can mark my words on it!"

"Begin!" He shouted. 

"Songsong! Stop it!" Xiong Jingfei screamed, losing all teaching of being an elegant lady in all situations. She tried to free herself from the rope, tying her down. "We never did anything to betray the country!"

Xu Song's painful shrieking was more painful than the delicate skin around Xiong Jingfei's wrist peeling. The blood grazing onto the rope didn't amount to a single of Xu Song's struggle on the chains. 

The smell of human flesh burning made one want to vomit, but she endured it.

Xiong Jingfei watched everything they did to Xu Song without closing her eyes. How can she shut her eyes when the person whose flesh is getting burned was Xu Song. It wasn't anyone random but the person she called her sister. 

"Songsong!" Xiong Jingfei screamed her name over and over. She lost count on how much she called her beloved sister's name. Because of what Xu Song's said, she kept herself from begging those bastards to stop. 

"What are you doing!?" A sharp and overbearing voice brought everyone down to their knees. 

"Greetings, crown prince!" 

The "leader" dropped the metal iron on the ground. He didn't realize his back became soaking wet because of the crown prince's voice. He cursed at himself for his bad luck! Why did the crown prince come unannounced!?

He wiped away the sweats on his forehead and looked up at Xiong Jingfei. He wasn't sure if she heard them greet the crown prince because she wasn't even looking at them. 

Xiong Jingfei's eyes stayed on Xu Song's body, dangling lifelessly on the pair of chains. Nothing was going to change the fact that she got branded as a criminal for life.

"Release them at once!" 

The soldiers that came with the crown prince quickly slashed the ropes and unchained Xu Song. 

"Go fetch a doctor."

Xiong Jingfei shoved them out of her way and rushed to Xu Song's side. She pulled Xu Song into her embrace as she inspected the burn.

Songsong... She felt her eyes became watery. No! She will not cry!

The iron was so hot that it burned right through her clothes and onto her skin. They branded her right below the neck area. 

"Use this." 

Xiong Jingfei's eyes went blurry, but she can still tell someone kneeled next to her. That person gave her a silk handkerchief.