Author: 哔哔 (Bi Bi) / Jin Gang Quan
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 4
What did it feel like to have a whip cracked across your back? In more than twenty years of living, Huo Fenghua had truly never experienced it. But he’d been beaten before and he had common sense. He knew that the moment that leather whip came down, it wouldn’t feel good.
He knelt there in the middle of the main hall in a daze, seeing everyone on both sides with their heads lowered in silence. For some reason, a strange emptiness rose in his chest. He didn’t know why he had to be here, and he didn’t know why he had to kneel and take all of this.
He had the impulse to stand up and leave, to say, “I’m not playing along with this.” But he also doubted whether he even had the ability to get out. He glanced at Lu Xi, whose eyes were sharp and bright, then at Su Zeyang behind him holding the whip as he slowly walked up. He thought he’d probably have to endure these ten lashes first.
Su Zeyang didn’t speak, standing there so silently that even his breathing couldn’t be heard. He didn’t swing the whip either.
That made Huo Fenghua even more tense. Without meaning to, he tightened the muscles in his back, waiting for the whip that could strike at any moment.
Then Su Zeyang moved, suddenly. He was far faster than Huo Fenghua had expected. By the time Huo Fenghua heard the whip cut through the air, his back had already gone abruptly cold, then started burning hot, and only after that did he begin to register the pain.
The pain grew gradually stronger. Just as Huo Fenghua thought he could still withstand it, the second lash came down. After that there was no pause at all. The third, the fourth. The pain sharpened and spread across his entire back. Huo Fenghua had his lips clenched tight, yet he still heard himself letting out small, broken cry every time the whip landed.
Where he couldn’t see, his clothes had been torn open by the whip. Tender skin split, blood sliding downward, then twisting as it met the next wound and changing its course, soaking through the shredded fabric across his back. It was a miserable sight.
Qingqing couldn’t help closing her eyes.
Only Lu Xi knew that the wounds on Huo Fenghua’s back looked frightening, but they were all superficial. The moment the first lash landed, he’d already known Su Zeyang had held back. Asking to carry out the punishment personally was simply another way of pleading for mercy on Huo Fenghua’s behalf.
Ten lashes in Su Zeyang’s hands ended quickly. He lightly tossed the whip to a servant at his side and said, “Take Young Master Huo back to his room.”
Huo Fenghua’s mind was already a mess. He couldn’t even count how many lashes he’d taken. When he heard Su Zeyang say that, the muscles he’d been holding tight finally released all at once. But his body had been weak to begin with. The moment he relaxed, he pitched forward and passed out.
Su Zeyang was closest. When Huo Fenghua collapsed, he stepped in and steadied him, supporting his jaw so he wouldn’t smash his face into the floor. Then he sighed, simply lifted him up, and carried him back to the side courtyard where he lived.
Huo Fenghua didn’t stay unconscious for long. He lay facedown on the bed for a while and gradually came to. Aside from the pain in the wounds on his back, he felt cold sweat constantly breaking out on his forehead. His whole body couldn’t decide whether it was hot or cold as it shook uncontrollably.
He heard Qingqing’s footsteps in the room. After a moment, she came to the bedside and said, “Young Master, don’t move. I’m going to cut your clothes open.”
He gave a soft “Mm.” He didn’t have the strength to thrash around anyway. He heard scissors cutting through fabric, and then his back went cool.
Qingqing sat by the bed and said softly, “I’m going to wipe your wounds.”
Huo Fenghua was half-dazed, but he still remembered to ask, “Is it clean?”
Qingqing said, “The cotton gauze has all been boiled in water. Young Master Su told me to wipe your wounds with alcohol. I’ll be gentle. Bear with it.”
When Huo Fenghua heard her mention Su Zeyang, he couldn’t help giving a cold snort. “Doesn’t he want me dead?”
The moment the words left his mouth, he heard Su Zeyang’s voice at the doorway.
“I don’t want you dead. No one in the General’s Manor wants you dead, except for yourself.”
Huo Fenghua froze, realizing he meant the matter of him throwing himself into the water to commit suicide. He gave a light snort and didn’t speak again.
Qingqing washed his wounds with clean water, then carefully went over them again with wine. He knew exactly how much it would hurt to get alcohol on open wounds, but when it really happened, it was still unbearable. Even though Qingqing’s movements were already very light, his eyes reddened with pain. He clenched his teeth, yet the groans kept slipping out.
All he could do was keep telling himself, “It needs disinfecting. If it’s not disinfected it’ll get infected. Just endure it. It’ll pass.”
He muttered through clenched teeth. Su Zeyang stood by the bed and asked, “What did you say?”
By now Qingqing had finished cleaning the wounds on his back. She set aside the blood-soaked gauze. Huo Fenghua finally let out a breath, slumping weakly onto the bed as he said, “What’s it to you?”
Su Zeyang didn’t get angry. He’d come back because he’d brought some salve for Huo Fenghua. After Qingqing cleaned the wounds, he sat by the bed, took out a white jade box, and set it aside.
“I’ll apply the medicine for you.” Then he instructed Qingqing, “I’ve already sent someone to fetch the physician. Go bring him in to take Young Master Huo’s pulse. These next few days, he still needs to take his decoction every day.”
Qingqing acknowledged with a yes and withdrew.
Huo Fenghua lay facedown on the bed, feeling Su Zeyang’s fingers dipped in ointment and slowly spread it over the wounds on his back. His movements were gentle, and the ointment was cool and smooth. The searing pain eased immediately by quite a bit. Huo Fenghua let out a long sigh and said, “You’re afraid I’ll die in the General’s Manor, aren’t you?”
Su Zeyang actually replied evenly, “If you die right now, I won’t be able to explain it to the General.”
He answered without the slightest attempt to hide it. Huo Fenghua was so angry he laughed, and the movement tugged at the wounds on his back in stabbing waves of pain.
Hearing him laugh, Su Zeyang paused. “What are you laughing at?”
Huo Fenghua had a knot of anger in his chest. With a cold laugh he said, “What does it matter what I’m laughing at? Anyway, even if I die, I won’t die in your General’s Manor and get in the way of you and the General living blissfully together. Don’t worry.”
Su Zeyang stopped moving his hands. He sat quietly at the bedside for a moment, then said, “You aren’t Huo Fenghua.”
Huo Fenghua jolted. Twisting awkwardly, he forced himself to turn his head to look at him. Su Zeyang’s expression was still calm and serious, making Huo Fenghua’s heart tighten a little.
“If I’m not Huo Fenghua, then who am I?”
“How would I know?” Su Zeyang said. “But you don’t resemble Huo Fenghua.”
Huo Fenghua had originally been a spoiled young wastrel. When he’d first been forced to marry into the General’s Manor as a concubine, he’d been choking on resentment, ready to kick up a storm. Back then, Feng Tianzong was still in the manor and would mercilessly teach Huo Fenghua a lesson. After that, Huo Fenghua had been frightened into submission. He’d go out of his way to avoid Su Zeyang, and his words and actions became timid and trembling, until he finally chose to throw himself into the lake.
The Huo Fenghua lying here now might not be any more principled, but Su Zeyang still felt he was different. At the very least, even facedown on a bed with his back full of whip wounds, he could still laugh.
Huo Fenghua didn’t want to explain his identity to Su Zeyang. He turned his head back and lay still again, saying, “If I’m not Huo Fenghua, then who could I be? Maybe I’m a water ghost, and the real Huo Fenghua died as my substitute.”
Su Zeyang lowered his gaze to the ointment in his hand and suddenly felt that what Huo Fenghua said might actually be true.
He slowly snapped the lid shut, tore off a clean strip of cotton cloth, and gently laid it over Huo Fenghua’s back. Then he stood and said, “Let the physician take a look at you in a bit. I’ll go first.”
Huo Fenghua was drenched in cold sweat. His hair was sticking damply to his face and it felt awful. He said, “Wipe my face for me.”
Su Zeyang paused slightly. “You’re ordering me?”
Huo Fenghua said, “Is there anyone else in the room?”
Su Zeyang fell silent for a moment. He set the ointment on the table, actually took the face towel from the room, wet it, wrung it out, then sat by the head of the bed and carefully wiped Huo Fenghua’s face.
Huo Fenghua watched Su Zeyang’s slender, pale fingers moving in front of him. Su Zeyang brushed the hair stuck to Huo Fenghua’s face aside as well. When his vision cleared, Huo Fenghua lifted his eyes and stared at Su Zeyang.
Su Zeyang was also studying him. In truth, he’d never looked closely at Huo Fenghua. Not just Huo Fenghua. Ever since he’d married into the General’s Manor, aside from Feng Tianzong, he hadn’t held anyone else in his eyes. Since he’d made this choice, he would walk this road to the end no matter how hard it was. The baseless criticism and blame, he heard it and didn’t take it to heart. Man or woman, for him, having Feng Tianzong in this world was enough.
Ever since Huo Fenghua married into the General’s Manor, Su Zeyang had never once looked him in the eye. He’d only seen him from afar on the day he entered the manor. In his memory, he’d been a young man with refined features and an elegant manner. After that Su Zeyang never examined him carefully. His impression only worsened, until he became nothing more than a timid, cringing coward.
But looking now, although Huo Fenghua had grown noticeably thinner, his features were still delicate and handsome. And that timidity was gone. In its place was a livelier spark.
He was lost in thought, staring off at Huo Fenghua when Huo Fenghua suddenly grabbed his hand. Su Zeyang yanked his hand back at once and said coldly, “What are you doing?”
Huo Fenghua let out a breath. “Nothing. You’re about to scrub my face raw.”
Only then did Su Zeyang notice Huo Fenghua’s forehead and cheeks were flushed an unnatural red. He stood and said, “Rest. The physician will be here any moment.” With that, he tossed the towel into the bronze basin by the door and turned to leave Huo Fenghua’s room.
The author has something to say:
First, win over the General’s wife. The General can wait.
<<< || Table of Contents || >>>
Kinky Translations 