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"Human Lanterns"
"Are you saying that the people of Langya Wangfu actually use human corpses to make lampstands?" Jiang Han exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock as he scrutinized Ling Xue. "You can't be serious!"
Ling Xue looked at Jiang Han with sincere eyes, not daring to deceive him in the slightest. "I lived in Langya Wangfu since I was little," she replied earnestly.
It was a large courtyard with ten sections, where the first four were residences for Jiang Jiang and the retainers. The fifth and sixth sections were where we attendants and adopted daughters lived.
I remember when we were sold to Langya Wangfu as little girls. She began recounting those past years, recalling how the Langya Prince had bought them from human traffickers. Out of all the little girls, only twenty managed to survive and grow up. Among them, only five maintained their purity, and Ling Xue was one of them.
All those girls were adopted daughters of the Langya Prince, but as they grew older, reaching their teenage years, they fell victim to his cruel intentions. In recent years, as Che Chengyun grew up, he also targeted those adopted daughters. He dared not touch those who remained pure, but he had no qualms about the others.
This was why Che Chengyun felt emboldened to act inappropriately towards Ling Xue at the inn, which ultimately led to his castration by mistake.
I remember a girl named Xiao Wu! She was one of my sisters raised in the Wangfu. Two years ago, Che Chengyun wanted Xiao Wu to serve him at night. When she refused, Jiang Jiang beat her up and forcibly sent her to Che Chengyun's room.
Ling Xue's face contorted with pain as she spoke, her voice choked with emotion. "When I saw Xiao Wu again..." Her eyes glistened with tears. "She was already dead, her body contorted in a strange sitting position, every joint nailed down! She couldn't move at all, and there was a wick in her mouth—once lit, it would burn!"
Jiang Han felt his cheeks twitch in horror; the cruelty of the ancient aristocracy was beyond comprehension. He gestured for Ling Xue to sit down and tried to soothe her emotions as best as he could.
As Ling Xue continued her story, her eyes became misty. Later, I learned that Xiao Wu had been beaten to the brink of death by Che Chengyun! But even then, Che Chengyun wasn’t satisfied; he forced Xiao Wu to drink lamp oil!
It was as if they were forcing Xiao Wu to drink a large amount of lamp oil. Just like that, they had effectively killed Xiao Wu. Once the lamp oil in her stomach dried up, Che Chengyun inserted a long wick into Xiao Wu's mouth and lit it, turning her into a human lampstand.
A human lampstand! As long as there was still lamp oil within her body, she could burn and emit light. Moreover, it was highly likely that more lamp oil could be added, and it had already been done before her death. This meant that after a person died, they would not quickly decompose; instead, they could be used for a long time.
Jiang Han sat on the sofa, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead as he murmured, "Killing someone is just a matter of a light touch, yet you resort to such cruel methods!" It seemed that he would have to deal with both of them properly. For no other reason than the fact that they employed such methods, they did not deserve to live in this world.
As a person of his time, he felt a strong aversion and resistance towards such cruelty. He even yearned to retaliate more fiercely against those who used such brutal tactics. Jiang Han once again inquired about Ling Xue, asking about the others in Langya Wangfu. What about Che Chengming?
The same! Four years ago, I inadvertently found myself outside Che Chengming's room when the door happened to be open. I saw several human lampstands inside. The entire Wangfu was the same; I was fortunate because I danced exceptionally well!
As Ling Xue spoke, her expression darkened, and her voice trembled with emotion. The Langya Prince initially intended to use me as a gift for officials like Shangshu! That was how I managed to keep my integrity intact, while my other sisters were not so lucky!
Not only women but many male attendants faced various tortures if they made mistakes! Even if families knew their children were suffering such fates, they could only endure it because there was no way out.
After Ling Xue finished speaking, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Cen Ya and Piao Xue couldn't help but feel sorrowful upon hearing this. They had never imagined that Langya Wangfu was such a hellish place.
Cen Ya gently said, "Ling Xue, it's alright now; you are safe in our tavern! Shopkeeper Jiang will protect you!"
We do not treat anyone with such cruel methods here.
Ling Xue nodded earnestly. I also knew that Shopkeeper Jiang was a very good person, so anything done for Shopkeeper Jiang was acceptable. Su Qianxue mentioned marrying them off to Jiang Han, and I thought the four women might have some small grievances. However, they were all quite happy, which stemmed from the mindset of people during Jiang Han's time; they would not be too harsh on others.
It was precisely because of this that he could win the hearts of the four women. Jiang Han was even more astonished, thinking he was just trying to bluff and provoke a strike against Langya Wangfu. But to his surprise, what he imagined actually existed and was even more exaggerated than he thought.
This was not slandering Langya Wangfu; rather, it was true that the Langya Prince and his son had committed such outrageous acts. "Alright, I will deal with them! You can rest assured, this time, the Langya Prince will no longer be able to laugh!"
Che Chengming and Che Chengyun would both face punishment! I not only wanted to reclaim what belonged to me but also wanted this Old Prince to think carefully about his actions! Jiang Han even considered taking care of the Langya Prince before Jiu Gong and Mu Prime Minister arrived, giving him a good lesson.
He aimed to deal with the Langya Prince before the peacekeeping army arrived. Even if he couldn't bring about the Langya Prince's demise, he wanted to weaken him significantly.
An hour later, Yan Dong arrived. " Shopkeeper Jiang, I have already mobilized the Imperial Guard Brothers!"
Together, we went outside the city to search for bodies and indeed found corpses of disaster victims, which had been discarded by people from Langya Wangfu. Yan Dong brought in a few bodies for the Imperial Guard to carry in.
Jiang Han was astonished; these were indeed female disaster victims. He couldn't help but ask in disbelief, "I remember we distributed instant noodles to them! They shouldn't have resorted to selling themselves into slavery, right? Or were they sold to Langya Wangfu?"
Yan Dong sighed deeply. " Shopkeeper Jiang, it's like this..."
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