Chapter 109: Feigning Compliance
In the dim cellar, a single lamp cast a faint glow.
Gong Changan was confined in a wooden cage, just tall enough for him to stand upright. It was quite spacious if he lay down.
The cage was sturdy, made of wood thicker than his arm. The cage door was further secured with several thick chains and a large padlock.
Not far away, in a slightly larger cage, lay the half-dead page, Heming. One of his fingers had been severed, causing him to pass out from the pain at the time.
Now, it was merely crudely bandaged with rags, barely stopping the bleeding.
Gong Changan huddled obediently in a corner of his cage, watching the two men nearby devour braised meat and flatbread.
These two men appeared to be father and son, and both were mute. They communicated through gestures when they needed to speak.
Although there was no light from the sky here, Gong Changan estimated that it was already dark.
His stomach was a little hungry, but the two men had not given him any food.
He buried his face in his knees, recalling the day’s events once more.
In the morning, he heard that Duke Feng’s Family’s horse carriage had come to pick him up. He went out with his page, and upon reaching the gate, he saw that it was indeed Duke Feng’s Family’s coachman.
Therefore, he had no further doubts and got into the carriage.
At first, he didn’t notice anything amiss. After the carriage had traveled some distance, he seemed to catch a faint scent, but it was elusive.
By the time he felt his eyelids growing heavy and looked at Heming beside him, he noticed that the page also appeared drowsy.
But it was too late. He was weak all over and couldn’t even make a sound to shout. He then fell into a deep sleep.
He surmised that there must have been sleeping incense in the carriage.
When he regained consciousness, he felt the horse carriage was still moving.
He cautiously opened his eyes a sliver and saw a strange man sitting beside him, around forty to fifty years old, clearly someone who did manual labor.
Listening to the outside, he only heard occasional bird songs, no sounds of bustling carriages or shouting vendors. It was clear they were no longer inside the city.
His hands and feet were bound, and his mouth was gagged. It seemed his captors were being very careful.
Gong Changan secretly exerted force and found that the rope binding him wasn’t very tight. It was probably because he was a child, so they didn’t take him seriously.
He believed he could untie these ropes using the unlocking techniques he learned from the border soldiers.
He carefully freed his hand from the rope. The man didn’t seem to notice him. However, any larger movement would surely result in him being restrained.
Gong Changan knew that escaping was unlikely, as besides the man in the carriage, there was also the coachman outside. They were definitely in league.
But they were certainly on the road. If any other pedestrians or carriages passed by, he could try to call for help.
It was better than sitting here waiting to die.
So, he carefully took off the amulet from his neck. He knew his family would be searching for him everywhere, so he wanted to leave as many clues as possible.
Indeed, after traveling a bit further, he heard a carriage approaching from the opposite direction.
Gong Changan listened as the carriage drew nearer, then suddenly sat up, tore off the gag, and shouted for help.
The man in the carriage quickly lunged forward, covered his mouth, and held him down tightly.
But Gong Changan had already thrown the amulet out the window, fortunately without being discovered.
Then, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and lost consciousness again.
When he woke up again, he was already in this cellar.
The two men guarding them were not the coachman from before, indicating that this group had a division of labor.
“Who are you people? I have no quarrel with you, why have you brought me here?” Gong Changan asked, feigning fear with a trembling voice.
But the two men merely looked at him coldly, not saying a word.
“Fourth Young Master, we… we just ran into some ruffians,” Heming cried, even more distressed than Gong Changan. “What should we do?”
The younger of the two men walked over and forcefully tapped Heming’s cage from the outside with a wooden stick. He looked very fierce, and Heming immediately shut up in fear.
Afterward, the elder man walked over, patted the younger one’s shoulder, and made a few gestures. The younger one nodded.
Gong Changan then realized that these two men were mute.
After a long while, another person entered the cellar.
This person appeared to be around thirty years old, tall, and reasonably good-looking. However, he had very dark circles under his eyes, and his steps were somewhat unsteady.
Although Gong Changan was young, he had interacted with many adults and knew that such people were depleted by wine and women.
But he was sure he had never seen this person before. Yet, he was also certain that this person’s status was higher than the two guards, and it was clear the two were working for him.
“Little Young Master, don’t be afraid,” the man said, stepping forward and crouching down to look at Gong Changan. “If you stay here obediently, you won’t suffer any physical pain.”
“Uncle, I have no quarrel with you, why are you treating me like this?” Gong Changan asked with teary eyes.
He had to pretend to be like a normal seven-year-old child to make the other party lower their guard.
“You don’t need to know that. What does a child like you need to know so much?” the man said with a dismissive smile.
“Uncle, my family is rich. If you let me go, my father and mother will definitely give you a lot of money,” Gong Changan said softly. “I’m not lying to you.”
“Haha, money! Of course, we want that,” the man said, standing up. “But if I let you go, how would they give me money? They would definitely report me to the authorities and have me arrested.”
“Then… what do you want?” Gong Changan shrank back further, showing more fear.
“Don’t worry, we won’t touch you yet,” the man said, giving a look to the young mute beside him.
The man immediately rushed to Heming’s cage, pulled out his hand, drew a dagger, and with a swift motion, severed one of Heming’s fingers.
Heming screamed in pain and rolled around in the cage, and Gong Changan immediately started crying.
“You don’t need to cry, they didn’t cut off your finger,” the man said with a smile. “But if your parents don’t pay, it will be your turn next time.”
He took out a piece of cloth to wrap Heming’s finger and prepared to write a ransom note.
“U… Uncle…” Gong Changan called out tremblingly. “If… if I’m obedient, can you treat me better?”
“As I said, as long as your family pays the money obediently, we won’t trouble you,” the man said perfunctorily.
“Are you going to write a letter to my parents?” Gong Changan asked. “In my opinion, it would be better if I wrote the letter.”
“You write?” The man turned his head, frowning at Gong Changan. “Are you little brat trying to play tricks?”
“No,” Gong Changan quickly shook his head, saying with great trepidation, “This is what I thought: my parents must be extremely worried right now. If they see a letter written in my own hand, they’ll know I’m safe and will be grateful to you from the bottom of their hearts. I also want things to go smoothly. I’m too scared, I want to go home…”
