Chapter 7
Chapter 7
Seeing his expression shift through every shade imaginable, as if someone had opened a rouge shop on his face, I could only spread my hands helplessly. “See? I told you not to read it.”
“There is no Records of Qingming. This is clearly Eighteen Fragrances, a custom order from the bookshop… essential late-night reading for the young men of Great Jin. Deputy Commissioner Yan, surely you didn’t know?”
At that, the perfectly still mask on his face shattered completely.
“You! You are a woman. How can you be so-?!”
I knew exactly what he was about to say. Nothing but the same tired old lecture. I picked at my ear. “Now, now. When cultured people write something risqué, can you really call it risqué?”
“…I don’t believe you.”
I reached out and snatched the manuscript back with effortless ease, then held it in my hands and flipped through it at leisure. “If you don’t believe me, shall I read you another passage?”
He stood frozen in place, his expression dark and unreadable.
“That will not be necessary.”
Seeing that I was utterly shameless and impervious to threats, he flicked his sleeve. The two cinnabar moles beneath his eyes looked red enough to drip blood. “You refuse to confess.”
“I have ways to make you confess.”
He was not joking.
After that, he clapped his hands lightly, and several burly servants rushed in from outside. They carried me off like a chick in their hands, hauling me through corridors and courtyards until we arrived at a desolate yard.
Several odd-looking wooden frames stood there. In the center was a large bronze cauldron, and the bases of the pillars were streaked with dark red and black stains.
Before I could get a clear look, I was carried over to a smooth, round object.
The thing was as tall as a person, supported from below and shaped like a duck egg. It was sealed tight all around, and when opened, it looked very much like an oval coffin.
Yan Luoxi stood beside it and gave me a calm glance. “This is a torture device I have newly developed. What does Lady Yu think of it?”
Before I could offer my opinion, two burly servants took one side each and stuffed me inside. The corner of his mouth curved faintly, as if he were admiring the ugly sight of my terror.
I felt around me. “Pretty comfortable. Just a little cold.”
“How about a blanket?”
“…”
His smile stiffened. The servants on either side acted as if they could read his mind and hurried forward to tie me tightly to the bottom of the coffin. Then, with a smack, they shut the lid.
Everything before my eyes went black.
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t scared. But the moment I struggled even slightly, the wooden coffin began to flip and sway, and before long I was being tossed around until my head spun and my stomach churned.
Fortunately, before last night’s dinner could come back up, I figured out the trick.
This torture device was a lot like a balance beam, but heavy enough that it easily lost equilibrium. Since I was inside the coffin, as long as I pressed my palms against both sides and relaxed my body, the shaking would gradually slow down.
By the end, it even felt a little comfortable.