The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 63 Li Liyuan

After paying the jailer some money to get through, he rushed in in a great hurry.

The dimly lit cell was filled with a damp, musty smell and a pungent stench of blood. The oil lamp in the corner flickered, sending a chill down one's spine.

Led by the jailer, Li Liyuan walked along the dimly lit alley, through the outer prison, and into the inner prison's torture chamber, where he finally met his father, Li Shichang.

Li Shichang huddled in a corner, trembling; next to him lay a wounded boy, barely alive, clearly having just been brutally beaten.

The jailers in the torture chamber had their eyes light up when they saw Li Liyuan arrive, thinking to themselves, "The God of Wealth has come knocking!"

They accepted the silver from Li Liyuan with smiles, but after weighing it in their hands, their faces immediately fell:

"Young Master Li, your Li family is one of the wealthiest families in Yan'an. You think you can just fob us off with this little bit of silver?"

Having said that, he winked at the jailer behind him.

"Young Master Li is worried that we won't be able to entertain you properly. Brothers, bring all your equipment over!"

As they spoke, several jailers carried out a coffin-shaped torture device—a box bed—from the corner.

The box bed resembled a rectangular coffin, made of thick, black wood, its surface covered with scratches and dark red bloodstains.

The most terrifying thing was the cover of the box bed, which was covered with countless sharp iron nails, making one's scalp tingle.

In order to extort money from Li Liyuan, these prison guards actually planned to torture Li Liyuan's father, Li Shichang, in front of Li Liyuan.

Ignoring Li Liyuan's desperate pleas, several jailers stuffed the limp Li Shichang into the mortuary bed.

The men first used iron hoops to firmly fix Li Shichang's head, and then used locks to tightly fasten Li Shichang's chin, forcing him to lie on his back.
Then, several loops of thin wire with hooks were wrapped around Li Shichang's neck. This way, if Li Shichang struggled even slightly, the wire would embed itself into his flesh.

But that wasn't all. Several jailers then took out several chains as thick as a thumb and tied Li Shichang's limbs tightly, rendering him unable to move.

Upon seeing this, Li Liyuan knelt down with a thud, pleading incessantly with the others:
"My Li family's property has been confiscated. This is all the money we have left. Please, gentlemen, have mercy!"

But the jailers ignored them. They lifted the nail-studded cover and slowly slammed it down on Li Shichang.

The men sneered as they comforted Li Liyuan:
"It's alright, Young Master Li. As long as your father doesn't move around, he'll be fine. The nail is still more than an inch away from him."

Li Liyuan felt a chill run down his spine; he couldn't imagine the terrible state his father must be in inside.

A living person was locked in this sealed box bed, unable to move.

The cover was covered with a dense array of iron nails pointing directly at his father, just over an inch away. If he moved even slightly, he would be stabbed to death.

But that wasn't all. A jailer came over from the corner with a wooden bucket and casually pulled out two rats from it.

He grinned maliciously, opened a small hole on the side of the box bed, threw the rat in, and then quickly sealed the hole with a wooden board to prevent the rat from escaping.

He grinned and said:
“Young Master Li, this is your second brother’s favorite method. He often uses it to deal with disobedient enemies.”

He shook his head, looking regretful.
"What a pity! If the second young master were still alive, we brothers could have let him try, and we guarantee we wouldn't charge him any money!"

After saying that, he lay down on the box bed, ignoring Li Shichang's cries and pleas for mercy inside.

Li Liyuan collapsed to the ground, watching everything in despair.

A jailer crouched down and whispered in his ear:
"Want to save your father? Simple, two hundred taels of silver, hand it over and we'll release him."

Li Liyuan gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and dug his nails deep into his palms. Where was he going to find two hundred taels of silver now?

But hearing his father's screams and pleas for mercy from inside the mortuary bed, he had no choice but to bow his head and submit.

He suddenly stood up, rushed out of the prison, and decided to try his luck at the Zhang family's house.

Li Liyuan stumbled to the Zhang family's house. His wife, who was also the Zhang family's maid, had already absconded with most of the Li family's wealth at Zhang Nian's behest and returned to the Zhang family. He knelt at the Zhang family's door, pleading desperately, "Wife, please help me, save my father..."

But the Zhang family's gatekeeper immediately started punching and kicking them:
"Who's your wife? This is the prefect's gate. If you dare to spout any more nonsense, I'll cut your tongue out!"

Li Liyuan was severely beaten and dared not speak again. He just kept kowtowing to the Zhang family's gate until his head was covered in blood.

The doorman was startled and stopped him:
"Alright, alright, stop kowtowing. Don't die in front of the Zhang family's house. I'll go ask around for you!"

Li Liyuan was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

A short while later, a woman's cold voice came from inside the door:

"Hey Li, we're already divorced, don't come looking for me again."

"You're a complete waste of space! You'll never amount to anything!"

Li Liyuan was in tears, his voice trembling:

"My wife, I know I'm incompetent, but my father... he's dying. Please, for the sake of our marriage, help me this once."

"Marital affection?"

The woman sneered.
"What relationship do we have? It's nothing but a transaction. Now that your Li family has caused trouble and angered the master, you still dare to come asking for money?"

"Get out of here, lest you offend the master's eyes!"

Li Liyuan's heart turned completely cold. He knelt at the Zhang family's door, his forehead pressed against the cold bluestone slab, tears silently streaming down his face.

At that moment, he felt like a complete waste. His family had suffered a calamity, his brothers had died tragically, his father had been tortured, and he couldn't even borrow a few taels of silver!
Li Liyuan knelt in front of the Zhang family's house all night, his legs almost breaking, but no one paid any attention to him.

The next morning, the Zhang family's gatekeeper impatiently threw him two silver ingots:

"This is a gift from the young lady, so get lost now, or I'll break your legs!"

Li Liyuan held the two silver ingots, a hint of despair flashing in his eyes; this amount of silver was far from enough.

Having no other choice, he went to the pawnshop again, took off the only brocade robe he had left, and exchanged it for thirty taels of silver.

Li Liyuan had no choice but to take the thirty-odd taels of silver back to the prison, hoping that the jailers would be lenient and release his father from the bed.

When the jailers saw him return, they wore strange smiles on their faces.

"Young Master Li, have you gathered the silver?"

Li Liyuan took out the silver from his pocket:

"I pawned all my clothes and only managed to scrape together thirty taels. I beg you officers to stop my father's punishment for now, and I'll figure out the rest later."

One of the jailers nodded and was about to take the silver from Li Liyuan when he was pulled into a corner by another:
"His father is dead, and we still want this money?"

The jailer sneered:
"Why not take it if it's free? The Li family has lost power now, I'll squeeze another sum out of them for their corpse later!"

Having said that, he turned and walked up to Li Liyuan, took the silver, and weighed it in his hand with satisfaction.

"Go on, your father is inside."

Li Liyuan rushed into the cell, only to find that the cover of the sack bed had been removed, and his father, Li Shichang, was lying inside, his body stiff, his eyes wide open, his body covered with wounds, and there were also traces of rats gnawing on him.

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(End of this chapter)