Chapter 59: I Am Merely Not Killing Him, Not Letting Him Go

The Earl of Kaiyang’s pupils constricted.

Suddenly, he fell silent.

His gaze landed on Yang Suxin, and he was completely unable to utter a single word.

Qin Hao smiled and said, "Yang Suxin, I want you to completely recreate the exact way you tormented my mother."

"If there is even the slightest deviation, I will have Qin Kaizhi killed."

Having said this, Qin Hao slapped his own forehead: "Look at me, my memory is so bad."

"The exact words were: you told my mother that if there was even a speck of dust left unlicked on your shoes, you would make her die."

"That's more like it. Come on, let's begin."

"Remember not to leave a single speck of dust behind, or else I will also make Qin Kaizhi die."

With that, Qin Hao stretched his right foot, caked entirely in mud, out of the prison cell and swung it leisurely.

Looking at Qin Hao's shoe, Yang Suxin turned ashen, her body swaying so unsteadily that she almost collapsed.

"Mother, you can't! You can't do this!"

Seeing this scene, Qin Kaizhi roared in anger, his vision splitting, his eyes brimming with red veins.

"Father! Hurry and stop my mother!"

"Qin Hao, I beg you! It was my fault. Spare my mother, please spare my mother!"

Qin Hao bellowed, "Shut your mouth!"

"If I spare your mother, who is going to bring mine back to life?!"

"Back then, I begged you both in the exact same way, but you just stood by and watched with a smile! Did either of you ever try to stop it?!"

As his voice fell, Qin Hao's tone turned bone-chillingly cold: "Yang Suxin, you probably never imagined that the tables would turn so fast, did you?"

"Let me tell you, my patience is limited. Either you kneel, or he dies!"

Yang Suxin snapped back to reality.

She slumped to the ground like a deflated ball. Supporting her weight with her hands, she gradually forced herself into a kneeling posture.

Then, she began to crawl toward Qin Hao step by step.

Every single step was agonizingly slow, agonizingly difficult!

Yang Suxin knew very well that she had lost again this time, and had even nearly gotten her eldest son killed.

Nearby, the Earl of Kaiyang clenched his fists so tightly that the veins on his forehead bulged.

He just watched Yang Suxin's movements, and in a daze, he superimposed Yang Suxin's image onto that of Qin Hao's mother.

Why did it come to this? Why did he know nothing about any of this?

Meanwhile, Qin Kaizhi was hammering wildly against the cell door, having lost almost all reason, howling like a wild beast.

Qin Hao felt an immense sense of gratification in his heart.

And this was barely the beginning!

When he and his mother had tasted this exact agony countless times, who had ever shown them mercy?!

Watching Yang Suxin's utterly humble appearance, Qin Hao suddenly reached out and grabbed a wooden plaque from the side.

Five characters were neatly carved onto the wooden plaque.

"Biological Mother Shen Huaizhu"

Qin Hao cradled this plaque tightly in his arms, holding it right in front of his chest.

Catching sight of Qin Hao's movement, Yang Suxin instinctively raised her head.

When she saw the five characters on the wooden plaque, a flash of deep malice crossed her face.

A short while later.

Everyone present witnessed with their own eyes as Qin Hao's shoe went from being caked in mud to pristine, wet, and spotless.

Kneeling on the ground, Yang Suxin lifted her head and stared fixedly at Qin Hao, her eyes filled entirely with murderous intent—a murderous intent bordering on psychological collapse.

Yet, she had protected her son.

She glanced back at the son who had tried so desperately to save her—even to the point of biting the wooden prison door until his mouth was full of blood.

To have a son willing to protect her to such an extent, it was all worth it.

Qin Hao laughed up at the sky: "Good, good, good! Yang Suxin, you truly are a heroine among women."

"But this is only the beginning. Everything you did to my mother..."

"I will take it all back, piece by piece."

With that, Qin Hao turned to the Earl of Kaiyang and said, "Lord Earl, how did you find this fine show?"

"Of course, such fine shows used to happen countless times inside your own mansion, only you never bothered to watch them."

As if drained of all strength, the Earl of Kaiyang gasped heavily for air, guilt written all over his eyes as he said, "Qin Hao, I... I truly didn't know."

"That doesn't matter. Just be a good audience member," Qin Hao waved a hand, not even bothering to entertain the Earl of Kaiyang.

Delayed guilt was cheaper than grass.

Knowing that her husband's mind was already in chaos and that he was of no further use, Yang Suxin hastily focused her gaze on Qin Hao: "Qin Hao, I have done everything you asked! Now, can you spare Zhi'er's life?!"

Qin Hao bared his teeth in a smile: "Of course. I keep my word; I won't let Qin Kaizhi die."

A measure of relief finally washed over Yang Suxin's heart.

However.

Qin Hao's next sentence followed immediately: "Since His Majesty has entrusted the right of punishment to me..."

"Then, Qin Kaizhi's capital punishment is remitted, but his lesser punishment cannot be avoided. He will go to the northern frontier for five years of hard labor, building the city walls."

Yang Suxin scrambled to her feet like a madwoman, grabbed the prison bars, and glared furiously at Qin Hao: "Qin Hao, you go back on your word!"

Qin Hao scratched his head: "What are you getting so anxious for? Have you forgotten? I said I would recreate everything from back then."

"I remember that after my mother licked your shoes clean, you ordered the servants to pour five barrels of ice water over me and made me stand in the freezing wind for an entire hour."

"It almost froze me to death!"

"And that was during the bitterest days of midwinter."

"When my mother asked you why, you said..."

"You merely weren't killing me, but you never said you were letting me off."

"Now, I am returning those exact words to you."

"I am merely not killing Qin Kaizhi, but I never said I was letting him off!"

"You had five barrels of water poured over me in the dead of winter, so I will send your son to the freezing north to build fortifications for five years."

"That's only fair, isn't it?"

Yang Suxin's body trembled violently, her eyes bulging, her face turning gradually purple from holding back her breath.

Tottering on the edge of collapse, she pointed a shaking finger at Qin Hao: "You, you..."

"Puff!"

A mouthful of stagnant blood sprayed from Yang Suxin's lips, and she collapsed straight to the ground, unconscious.

Qin Hao mocked, "Her stress tolerance is truly pathetic. Back then, when you went back on your word and tried to harm me, my mother never vomited blood and passed out."

"She endured every humiliation, solely to protect me."

"To buy medicine for me, she even pawned the token of affection your esteemed Earl gave her."

The Earl of Kaiyang's heart gave a violent wrench.

Yet he remained entirely silent, bending down to lift and support Yang Suxin.

Nearby, Qin Kaizhi cursed his own father frantically: "You useless piece of trash! Why couldn't you protect my mother? Are you even a father?!"

"You're not worthy of being my father!"

At that moment, the Earl of Kaiyang spoke in a weary voice: "Qin Hao, is this how you cursed me in your heart back then?"

"No wonder you wanted to leave the Qin family."

"Heh, heh-heh-heh-heh."

Accompanied by a desolate laughter,

the Earl of Kaiyang also spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing unconscious right beside Yang Suxin.

Qin Hao felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever.

He had long since grown numb.

The despair he had experienced back then was far more cruel and agonizing than this!

"Qin Hao, I want you to die! I want you to die!" Qin Kaizhi grew even more frantic!

Qin Hao sneered, "If you want me to die, you'd better make sure you survive the frontier first."

With that, Qin Hao turned to Zhang Yi nearby: "Hey, Zhang family."

Zhang Yi gave a start, looking at Qin Hao with eyes full of terror.

"If you don't want to go to the frontier, you'd better tell your family to figure out how to compensate me for my losses this time."

"Do you understand?"

Zhang Yi nodded numbly, taking it as his agreement.

Only then did the chief jailer and the surrounding guards dare to come forward and assist the Earl of Kaiyang and Yang Suxin.

Qin Hao had been far too terrifying just now.

They knew full well that had they dared to step in and stop him, they would have been the ones to die.

"Mother, did you see that? Your son will avenge you sooner or later," Qin Hao whispered to the wooden plaque before tucking it securely into his bosom.

Only then did his gaze fall upon Ma Yingze and Zhao Guangnian, and he asked with a smile, "What are those expressions on your faces? Do you think I'm being too cruel?"

Ma Yingze was the first to speak, his eyes blazing with fury: "Cruel my foot! Old Qin, if I had gone through half the things you did when I was a kid, I'd have stabbed the pair of them to death with a knife by now!"

Zhao Guangnian also chimed in, "You can't judge another person's suffering, let alone preach about virtue. Old Qin, your brothers support you."

"If you ever need anything in the future, just say the word."

Qin Hao laughed heartily, "Good brothers, I'd actually love to finish them off, but I don't want to pay with my life for theirs."

"Besides, you two don't need to do a thing; just wait to collect your rewards tomorrow."

"The alcohol was created by the three of us working together. I'll take forty percent of the credit, and the two of you get thirty percent each."

"If Li Qingyao refuses to request a commendation for you two, then to hell with my share of the credit!"

"..."

At those words, all three of them burst out laughing.

And just as the three of them were excitedly discussing what rewards they might receive,

in a corner unnoticed by Qin Hao and his companions,

a hidden guard who had witnessed the entire process quietly and silently withdrew.

Meanwhile, the events that had transpired within the capital prison

were delivered directly into the ears of the Emperor Xuande in less than a quarter of an hour.

Upon hearing the report, Emperor Xuande's gaze grew so cold it could devour a person.

He put down his brush and murmured under his breath, his voice deceptively calm: "You little rascal, no wonder you insisted on claiming the right to punish Qin Kaizhi."

"So this was the grievance you suffered all these years..."