Chapter 23 - Jokes On You
Chapter 23 – Jokes On You
In the western courtyard, there was an impregnable silence.
Usually, when the daybreak comes and the sun slowly rises, the servants in the western courtyard would idle themselves with their housework and prepare for their masters to wake up.
However, today, the servants didn't rush to and fro as they hurry but instead, they stood rooted in their place as they looked at the thing hanging in one of the beams of the western courtyard's entrance. Their pale faces were also the contrast from the vibrance of the beautiful and colorful flowers around.
"What is that?"
"Is that a person or a pig?"
"This is so scary!"
Some of the several servants gathered near the thing hanging on the beams said.
They couldn't make out what was the thing hanging on the beams as it looked too swollen and there were several patches of bites, bruises, and bloodstains all over it.
Suddenly, several footsteps were heard as a few people appeared behind the group gathered around the thing..
"What's happening here?!" Steward Liu roared at the top of his lungs as he saw the lower servants of the western courtyard being too free and gathered in a group, not doing their jobs to clean the place.
He saw different ranked servants whispering and their faces were so pale that they couldn't even answer his question immediately.
Irritation leaped into his heart as he didn't like the reaction they gave him.
As he was just about to blow up and reprimand the servants, he then felt a tap behind him and a quivering voice sounded, "S-steward Liu, Look!"
Steward Liu's brows knitted tightly as he threw a sideglance to the person behind him, but the attendant behind was, however, not looking at him and was also using his hand to point out something.
Behind the crowd gathered in front of him, there was something hanging on the beam. At first, Steward Liu was unable to take notice of the thin hanging on the beam because of the more noticeable crowd below. However, after getting closer to the crowd, he could finally see clearly what made the crowd gather.
Suddenly, Steward Liu rushed in front of the crowd and observed the thing hanging on the beam, and upon looking at it closely, Steward Lou almost fainted from the shock and fear.
This thing… Isn't this person Ke Song?!!
Steward Liu took a few steps backward and bumped into the crowd like he was struck with lightning. He couldn't believe that the person in front was Ke Song, the male prostitute he paid to defile the Fourth Miss of the Lin family by the order of the First Madam, Wu Jing Yan.
But who would believe it anyway? Ke Song was a good looking man and was one of the best male prostitutes in the Capital. However, the person hanging upside down in front of Steward Liu didn't have any hint of someone having a good looking face.
Although the body was upside down, anyone could tell that the face was extremely bloated and chunks of flesh were sliced off and burned. Both of his eyes were even taken out from its socket that only two hollows looking back at Steward Liu.
And the body was not any better than the face. The skin was severely deformed as burn marks and purplish-blue bruises covered the skin. There were even bite marks around the chest, stomach, and inner thigh. And in the middle, the lump of flesh that Ke Song was so proud of and used as his means to collect money from wealthy older females was missing.
Steward Liu's back was soaking with sweat as he recovered from his shock, and shouted, "Quick! Take that thing down before the masters wake up and see this!"
However, his words didn't even land when another group of people arrived.
"Steward Liu, what's going on here?"
Behind the crowd gathered in front, Wu Jing Yan and Song Yan Yi stood before the entrance of the western courtyard.
The two madams were the early birds in the entire Lin family and would always hang outside the garden to drink warm soup and go to the Prayer Hall to pray early in the morning.
However, that morning, the two madams were especially early to get out of their bed to hear the good news they were anticipating to come all night long. They weren't even able to sleep properly because of the excitement tickling their bones.
They expected that the news of the Fourth Miss of the Lin family being seen by a servant having an illicit affair with a man should have already spread across the residence.
And seeing the crowd in front of them, Wu Jing Yan and Song Yan Yi looked at each other and smiled, thinking that the news has already broken out earlier than they expected.
"Steward Liu, what's wrong? Why are the servants of this courtyard have gathered?" As the renowned gentle Second Madam in the Lin family, Song Yan Yi was the first one to ask with concern in her voice.
The smile on her face was so gentle and amiable that every servant would feel so happy when they serve Second Madam, however, that morning, the servants weren't in the mood to be enthusiastic to greet her.
Steward Liu, who was the one who would always hop around the two madams to curry favors was the same. He didn't dare open his mouth knowing that behind him, a rather undeniably evidence of a mission fail was hanging around.
Wu Jing Yan saw these weird reactions and frowned, however, she ignored it since she felt that he servants were too scared to speak of the dirty news of Lin Xiaofei's affair and didn't get angry.
"Steward Liu, why are you not responding to the Second Madam's inquiry?" Wu Jing Yan thought that Steward Liu was acting according to the script and thus, helped him to speak up.
However, her words hadn't finished landing when a high-pitch sounded behind her.
"Ahh!! Madam! That… That…" The maid-servant behind Wu Jing Yan was the one who screamed and fell on her butt as she shook tremendously and pointed at the corpse hanging on the beam.
Wu Jing Yan and Song Yan Yi was alarmed and were about to look at where the maidservant was pointing when a voice landed behind them.
"First Madam and Second Madam, you're also here?" A gentle and alluring voice sounded behind them.