Chapter 233: The Pig Cage

When the pair of razor-sharp claws released his spine, Lu Shengzhong crashed onto the riverbank with a muffled groan of pain.

Covered in blood and looking utterly wretched, he slowly raised his head, took in the people before him, and gave a miserable smile.

"Brother Li!" Tan Yaoxian cried out, looking ready to rush forward.

Shao Liuer hurriedly blocked him. She knew perfectly well this was not something her foolish man could involve himself in and refused to let him do anything stupid again.

After his thrashing in the river, the simple disguise Lu Shengzhong had used to alter his appearance had been washed away.

Song Shu's pupils abruptly contracted. He shouted, "Lu Shengzhong! It's you?"

He and Wang Heng of the capital of the State of Yan had once been related by marriage. Lu Shengzhong had formerly served at Wang Heng's side, so Song Shu naturally recognized him.

Shao Pingbo, whose coughing had finally subsided, turned and asked, "You know him?"

Song Shu cupped his hands. "Eldest Young Master, this man is a disciple of Wuliang Mountain. He used to be a retainer cultivator serving Wang Heng, one of the Four Great Commanders of Yanjing. Later, Wang Heng ordered him to assassinate Niu Youdao. Not only did he fail, he sold out the people my Song family had sent with him. The son of our Song household steward Liu Lu died because of him. I would gladly skin him alive!"

Tan Yaoxian stared blankly. Were they talking about Brother Li? Shao Liuer thought to herself, So there really was something wrong with this man!

Su Zhao looked toward Shao Liuer. "Liuer, was he alone?"

"Cousin, there was also a coachman and a boatman. I don't know whether they were with him."

Shao Pingbo gave his sister a sidelong glance, then turned and walked over. He nudged Lu Shengzhong's face with the toe of his boot. "A man who could betray Wang Heng clearly isn't someone with much backbone. If you don't want to suffer, tell the truth. Who sent you?"

Lu Shengzhong let out a weak, miserable laugh. "I don't understand. How did you determine our route and catch up so quickly?"

"That isn't for you to ask." Shao Pingbo lowered his foot. "You heard Song Shu just now. He's been itching to peel your skin off. I'm sure he'll entertain you very thoroughly. I'll ask only once: are you going to talk or not?"

Lu Shengzhong weakly shook his head. "If I'm going to die either way, do you really think I'll bow my head to the enemy who's going to kill me?"

"That depends on whether you're of any value to me. If you are, then with all these people as witnesses, I won't break my word. I can promise you in front of everyone that I won't make you suffer and will leave you a road to live. If you aren't of value, do you think I don't already know who sent you?"

Lu Shengzhong gave a long sigh and yielded with surprising ease. "Niu Youdao. Niu Youdao sent me."

Shao Pingbo immediately asked, "How many of you came?"

"Only me."

Shao Pingbo narrowed his eyes. "Only you?" He plainly did not believe it.

"Niu Youdao should still have people planted in the city to cooperate with me. I don't know who they are, but I do know whom to contact. Follow that line, and you should be able to pull out the others one by one. I wonder whether that's worth anything to Eldest Young Master Shao?"

Shao Pingbo's gaze flickered.

Lu Shengzhong added, "I'm dying from the pain. I need treatment!"

Shao Pingbo tilted his head in signal. "Treat him."

Someone immediately came forward, carried Lu Shengzhong aside, and gave him medicine while tending his wounds.

Chen Guishuo glanced toward him from time to time, worry flashing in his eyes. He was afraid Lu Shengzhong's promise to "follow the vine to the melon" might eventually lead straight to him.

Niu Youdao had given Chen Guishuo the same instruction: if an opportunity appeared, kill Shao Pingbo. The problem was that he had never found any opportunity at all.

Whether because of Chen Guishuo's status or his cultivation, Shao Pingbo would never meet with him alone. Even when they did meet, Shao Pingbo always had people protecting him. Chen Guishuo simply had no chance to strike.

There were also people in the city cooperating with him, but he did not know who they were. If he and Lu Shengzhong shared the same contact above them, then there would be trouble.

Tan Yaoxian's face had gone pale. He looked completely lost. No matter how foolish he was, he understood what Lu Shengzhong's words meant. The man had never come to help him at all. Tan Yaoxian had merely been used as a tool against the Shao family... Shao Pingbo turned back toward his sister and slowly approached.

Shao Liuer immediately tensed. She spread her arms once more to shield Tan Yaoxian and called, "Cousin!" Her voice carried an obvious plea for help.

Su Zhao looked troubled. "Pingbo..."

Shao Pingbo stopped. He stared at the man behind his sister, his feelings extraordinarily complicated. When he had first realized there was something improper between Tan Yaoxian and his sister, he had wanted to eliminate Tan Yaoxian. But he had been afraid of hurting his sister. He still remembered clearly what his mother had entrusted to him on her deathbed.

Truthfully, his sister was already of marriageable age. A woman should not delay marriage until the same age he had. He himself had been considering suitable matches for her. Naturally he hoped she would live well and wanted to find her the best, most suitable household possible. Tan Yaoxian had never once entered his calculations, for one simple reason: he was unsuitable.

Shao Liuer's birth alone meant she was not suited to marry a man like this. How many interests, entanglements, grudges, and vendettas were tied to the Shao family?

Shao Pingbo knew what kind of person his sister was. By all reason, she should have understood this. He simply could not understand how she had fallen for such a pedantic scholar.

And back when the poetry society was dissolved, Shao Liuer had already feared he might kill Tan Yaoxian. She had warned him that if he dared touch Tan Yaoxian, she would turn against him.

That was exactly why Shao Pingbo had never acted. He had only tried to force Tan Yaoxian to leave on his own so that he would not have to fall out with his sister.

There had been another reason as well. If his sister truly became determined to marry this man and no one else, what could Shao Pingbo do? In terms of character, Tan Yaoxian was difficult to fault. His sister would not easily suffer mistreatment if she married such a man.

But Shao Pingbo wanted to see what Tan Yaoxian was truly made of when faced with hardship. He wanted to understand the man clearly. He could not let his sister muddle-headedly marry someone without knowing what sort of person he really was. Who would have imagined that one moment of softness would create a disaster like this? Shao Pingbo hated it!

"Did you truly take her body?" Shao Pingbo stared at Tan Yaoxian as he asked.

Tan Yaoxian immediately flushed with embarrassment and had no idea how to answer.

Shao Liuer cut in at once. "So what if he did? I've already said I won't marry anyone but him!"

Shao Pingbo ignored her. He kept his eyes fixed on Tan Yaoxian and waited for his answer. He had investigated the man and knew Tan Yaoxian was not someone who lied. Shao Pingbo suspected his sister might only be using this claim as a shield.

At last, Tan Yaoxian summoned his courage. "Eldest Young Master, I will take responsibility for Liuer."

"Responsibility? Hahaha! Mother, did you see that? Hahaha..." Shao Pingbo suddenly threw back his head and laughed, raising both arms toward Heaven. There was a desolate edge in his laughter. Tan Yaoxian's words were an admission, and the pain in Shao Pingbo's heart was beyond description.

It was not because his sister had lost her chastity. It was because the person he cared for most, the person he most wanted to protect, had abandoned him at a moment like this.

The Shao family had suffered such a catastrophe. Her eldest brother was still imprisoned, his life uncertain, yet she had not cared about his survival at all. Romance between man and woman had somehow mattered more than her elder brother's life. She could throw her brother aside and elope with an outsider. How was Shao Pingbo supposed to bear that? His heart had gone cold.

Shao Liuer bit her lip. She had never seen her elder brother lose control like this, and even she could not help feeling pain for him.

"Pingbo!" Su Zhao stepped forward to comfort him.

Shao Pingbo flung her aside with one arm. Pointing furiously at Tan Yaoxian, he shouted, "You will take responsibility? In an age of war and chaos, what will you use to take responsibility? Do you know how many people want the Shao family dead? Do you know how many people would seize her the moment she left the Shao family's protection? In letters, you cannot establish yourself at court; all you know is how to clutch a book and sway your head over it. In arms, you cannot go onto the battlefield and kill the enemy; you don't have the strength to bind a chicken. Do you think teaching a few children to read and write is enough to protect her? Do you think your own self-importance can protect her? A useless scholar like you gives the Shao family nowhere even to begin if we wanted to support you. Tell me, what exactly will you use to take responsibility for her?"

Tan Yaoxian's breathing quickened. His face flushed scarlet under the rebuke.

Shao Liuer hurriedly defended him. "Elder Brother, he isn't as worthless as you make him sound."

Shao Pingbo immediately pointed at her. "Then tell me: can the two of you really leave the Shao family behind? You know the answer better than anyone. Once you leave the Shao family, if the family refuses to protect you, the two of you will certainly die. Stubborn words won't change that!"

"Liuer, you should understand. Born into a household like ours, neither you nor I have any choice! It isn't that I refuse to let you marry him. He simply cannot bear the responsibility. This has nothing to do with whether he is poor or rich. He lacks both the qualifications and the ability to marry you!"

"Would you be willing to watch your future husband bow and scrape in the Shao household, unable to hold his head up? Would you be willing to hear even the servants laugh at him for living off his wife's family? Could you endure that, or could he? If you truly want what's best for him, then let him go. Don't destroy him!"

For a moment, Shao Liuer had no answer. She could only insist stubbornly, "I don't care! I'm already his woman. I only want to be with him!"

Shao Pingbo laughed from sheer fury. "Even if it means dying?"

Shao Liuer shouted back, "If you're so capable, then kill me too!"

"Fine! I'll grant both of you your wish." Shao Pingbo turned and shouted, "Song Shu! Chen Guishuo! Go. Make me a pig cage at once. We're sinking this pair of adulterers into the river!"

Song Shu and Chen Guishuo looked at each other.

Su Zhao hurriedly tried to stop him. "Pingbo, you're brother and sister. Whatever the problem is, go home and talk it through slowly."

Shao Pingbo suddenly whipped around and glared at her. He gave her a meaningful look while saying in a measured tone, "You have about half an hour to bring me that pig cage. Otherwise, I'll sink the two of you instead!"

Su Zhao fell silent. Song Shu and Chen Guishuo swiftly departed. Before long, the two returned carrying a wooden cage. It had obviously been thrown together from freshly cut timber. The bark had not even been stripped away.

At Shao Pingbo's signal, Shao Liuer and Tan Yaoxian were shoved inside. Several large stones were thrown in after them as weights. Song Shu and Chen Guishuo closed the opening, then hammered wooden pegs into place and sealed the cage shut.

"Shao Pingbo, what right do you have to punish me? What authority do you have to decide my marriage? I want to see Father! I want to see Father!" Shao Liuer shook the cage and screamed frantically. She had not expected her elder brother to truly go through with it.

Tan Yaoxian closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. Song Shu and Chen Guishuo had already lifted the cage and carried it into the river. The water gradually rose through the bars.

Shao Pingbo said evenly, "Tan. If you're willing to leave Liuer, I'll let you go. You can save yourself and save Liuer as well. Decide for yourself."

"Don't listen to him! I don't believe he dares kill me!" Shao Liuer shouted back angrily.

Shao Pingbo tilted his head. "Tip it over."

Song Shu and Chen Guishuo released the cage together. It plunged deeper into the river before the two men forced it onto its side. The people inside vanished beneath the surface, leaving only a layer of wooden bars visible above the water. Bubbles churned up rapidly. Soon a hand thrust through the bars, clawing wildly at the river's surface.

Tan Yaoxian gripped the upper bars with both hands. Half his face forced its way into a gap above the waterline. He coughed out river water, gasped desperately for breath, and cried in anguish, "I'll go! Let her go! Let her go! I'll leave..."

[End of Chapter 233]