Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

The Lebanese people probably never imagined that their fate would change so drastically.

The wealth and houses they had painstakingly seized from the Chu people vanished in a single day.

They themselves became the lowest class of undesirables, and were uniformly assigned to a temporary labor camp outside the city of Guhai.

On the first day, all the nobles and commoners of the Li Kingdom on Three Pages Island, including Jia Nan, were forced to go to the quarry to mine stone by the fierce Chu soldiers who held guns to their heads.

Inside the quarry, the figures of Li Kingdom laborers were busy everywhere. Their hands and feet were locked in shackles, and they worked in groups of thirty, vigorously hammering the prescribed stones.

"Hurry up, don't slack off!"

Ruan Chengtu was used to a life of luxury and had never experienced such hardship in his life. As soon as a heavy burden was lifted from his body, he felt as if his body was falling apart.

He had just leaned against the rock to catch his breath when a thunderous shout rang in his ears.

Snapped--

"Ah~"

As soon as he turned around, he was whipped hard on the shoulder, and screamed in pain.

The Chu soldiers, who were temporarily acting as overseers, were looking at him with resentment.

"You're slacking off after just moving one stone? You think you're here to enjoy yourself if I don't give you a few lashes?"

After saying this, the overseer broke off his whip, pointed it at the other laborers who were looking over, and roared with wide eyes.

"What are you looking at, you bunch of pigs? Let me tell you, if you don't finish the materials the higher-ups are asking for today, don't even think about eating. Get back to work!"

The workers turned their heads away in fear and went about their own business.

The foreman turned around and saw Ruan Chengtu baring his teeth in pain. Without saying a word, he lashed him with the whip again.

"Ah~"

Ruan Chengtu let out a painful howl, and the next moment he was pulled up and kicked in the fat buttocks.

"Get to work! If you slack off again, I'll strip you naked and hang you up!"

Under the brutal threat of the Chu army soldiers, Ruan Chengtu and the other laborers in the quarry dared not slack off in the slightest.

However, these Lebanese laborers, now prisoners, had long been accustomed to laziness.

Over the years, they have relied on exploiting overseas Chinese and have hardly done any heavy work. How can they be expected to behave themselves and meet their quotas now?

Just as Ruan Chengtu was struggling to lift a newly chiseled stone slab and walk toward the carriage a few dozen steps away, another laborer called out to him.

“Master Ruan, that’s not how you do things. You’ll not only work yourself to death, but you’ll also get beaten and scolded by those soldiers.”

Looking at this commoner with a pointed mouth and monkey-like face, Ruan Chengtu immediately asked in a low voice, "Then what should we do?"

"Look at me."

The laborer picked up a piece of ore the size of an adult stone, then bent his knees, bent over, and let his hands hang down. With an expression that looked like he had taken an enema, he staggered and struggled to the front of the carriage, where he finally placed the stone on it.

After finishing everything, he pretended to be very tired and walked back.

As he passed by Ruan Chengtu, he gave him a knowing look.

"So that's how it works?"

In that instant, Ruan Chengtu understood.

Isn't this just slacking off? Why didn't I think of that?

Just as he was about to imitate the laborer and start selecting small stones, a foreman rushed over with a fierce look on his face.

Ruan Chengtu was startled and instinctively stepped aside to avoid it.

But the foreman walked right past him and then kicked the laborer who had taught him how to slack off, sending him sprawling onto a rock.

"Do you think I'm blind and can't see? You think you're so smart? I'll beat you to a pulp, you lazy bum!"

The whip whistled, each lash striking the young laborer harder than the last, making him cry out in pain and roll on the ground.

The overseer only stopped whipping the laborers after they were covered in welts. Then he looked at the crowd and roared, "Let me tell you, keep your little schemes to yourself. Don't think you can fool everyone else!"

"If we don't finish the task today, no one will get a rest, and no food! Did everyone understand?"

Many laborers with similar thoughts trembled at the sight and dared not slack off in the slightest...

As night fell, Ruan Chengtuan and his men returned to the labor camp to rest.

Looking at her hands covered in blisters and her wrists scraped all around, she couldn't help but burst into tears.

Just as he was about to have a good cry, the laborer opposite him started shouting.

"No, I don't want to stay here! Let me out! I want to go home!"

The commotion immediately drew the attention of others, and many even whistled mockingly.

The laborer, however, ignored everything and knelt before the tightly closed cell door, crying and shouting, "Let me go back! I'm innocent! Why are you locking me up here?"

"So what if I harmed two daughters of an overseas Chinese family? So what if I took a few plots of land from them? That's how everyone in Lebanon has done it, why should I be the one to be convicted!"

The cries quickly attracted the attention of the Chu soldiers.

Upon seeing this, an officer who was about to leave duty immediately pulled out a warning baton as thick as a baby's arm from his waist and walked up to him with a fierce expression.

"Shut up, you pig."

"I want to go home! Let me out!"

"Didn't you understand what I said? Shut up!"

"what--"

The laborer ignored the officer's words and, as if possessed, gripped the cell door and swung it back and forth wildly.

"Damn, that's rough!"

Upon seeing this, the officer immediately took off his military cap and tossed it into the hands of his subordinate who rushed over, then ordered the prison door to be opened.

The moment the cell door opened, the laborer's hair was immediately grabbed tightly by the officer and slammed to the ground.

boom--

With a crisp thud, the officer's warning baton struck him directly on the back of the head.

Instantly, blood splattered, and the shouting laborer immediately fell silent, instinctively curling up into a ball and hugging his head.

"I told you to keep shouting, you bastard, keep shouting! Why did you stop?"

The officer had a very bad temper, and his heavy leather boots slammed into the laborer again and again.

The laborer was muttering something unintelligible. The entire camp was silent except for the echoing sounds of officers beating the laborer.

"Fuck you!"

With the final kick, the tip of the officer's leather boot struck the laborer hard in the cheek.

The laborer's body suddenly flipped over, then his four legs twitched a few times before he became still.

The officer checked his condition with his toe and realized he had used too much force; the guy was probably not going to make it.

He didn't pay much attention, but simply took the hat handed to him and ordered, "Hang him up and let the labor camp people see what happens to troublemakers."

Then he yelled at the people who were staring in disbelief in front of the cell, "What are you looking at! Go back to sleep, there's no food for you tonight!"

After saying that, he tightened his military cap and turned to walk out of the labor camp.

Ruan Chengtu watched as the laborer was dragged away like a corpse, and felt a chill run down his spine.

He had only one thought at the moment.

That's it, my life is over.