The gloomy prison reeked of decay, with flies buzzing erratically, a mixture of dampness and stifling heat. The sharp pain and discomfort subsided slightly as Su Wenfang, clad in ragged clothes, huddled in a corner of the cell, shivering.

This was Zizhou Prison, and faint cries echoed from afar. He had been captured and held here for a day and a half, and nearly a full day of interrogation had broken him. At least, in his somewhat lucid moments, he felt he was broken.

Perhaps it would have been better to die back then...

Persistent pain and discomfort could erode one's perception of reality, often conjuring memories and illusions. After a day of constant torture, his captors had thrown him back into the cell to rest, and the slight respite allowed his mind to clear a little. His body trembled as he wept silently, his thoughts a jumble, sometimes yearning for death, sometimes regretting, sometimes numb, and sometimes recalling his experiences over the years.

This was the first time in his life he had experienced such things – whipping, beatings with clubs, the torture of the clamp, even branding irons, beatings interspersed with repeated waterboarding. From the first strike, he felt he couldn't endure it.

He never considered himself a strong person.

These past years, starting with working for the Zhu Family, and later participating in the war as a member of the Huaxia Army, his path had not been easy, but relatively speaking, it hadn't been difficult either. Following his sister and brother-in-law, he had learned a great deal, though he had to put in his own dedication and effort. Compared to others in this world, he had been fortunate enough. From the efforts at Zhuji Xia Village, to the assassination of the emperor at the Golden Palace, then to Xiaocang River, defeating Western Xia, and later three years of bloodshed and several years of managing the Southwest, he, as an administrator in the Black Flag Army, had seen many things but had never truly experienced the hardships of bloody battle, the immense terror of facing death.

Many times, passing the grim wounded soldier camps, he felt a chilling coldness in his heart.

Over the years, he had seen many people as strong as steel. But traveling outside, Su Wenfang always harbored fear deep inside. His only weapon against fear was rational analysis. When the situation outside the Greater and Lesser Liang Mountains began to contract and things became chaotic, Su Wenfang also feared what he might experience. But the results of his rational analysis told him that Lu Qiaoshan could see the situation clearly, and whether it was war or peace, the safety of his group was in his best interest. And in the current Southwest, the military effectively held enormous power.

But ultimately, things went in an uncontrollable direction.

From the moment he was thrown into prison, his interrogators demanded that he reveal the names of Huaxia Army members still outside the mountains. Naturally, he refused, and the ensuing torture was unbearable every second. Su Wenfang thought of those comrades who had died before his eyes, and kept telling himself, "Hold on, hold on." But less than half an hour later, he began to beg for mercy.

Begging for mercy bought him some respite, but no matter what he said, as long as he refused to confess, the torture would continue. His skin was soon torn and bloody. At first, Su Wenfang fantasized that Huaxia Army members lurking in Zizhou would come to rescue him, but that hope never materialized. Su Wenfang's thoughts wavered between confessing and not confessing, spending most of the time crying and begging, occasionally threatening his captors. The pain on his body was unbearable, and then they poured salt water on his wounds. He was repeatedly dunked into a bucket of water, suffocating and fainting. After two hours, Su Wenfang begged to confess.

The words of confession reached his lips, but he couldn't say them.

Over the years, the figures on the battlefield, the Black Flag soldiers who died fighting the Jurchens, the harrowing cries from the wounded soldier camps, the severed limbs, the old soldiers who survived those battles but were crippled… these things flashed before his eyes. He simply couldn't understand why these people, after experiencing so much pain, still shouted that they were willing to go to the battlefield. But these things prevented him from uttering a confession.

He sat trembling at the table for a while, then began to cry again, looking up and sobbing, "I can't say it…"

Naturally, what followed was even more vicious torture.

Every moment, he felt like he was going to die. But in the next moment, more pain continued. His mind buzzed with a bloody haze, his cries mixed with curses and pleas for mercy. Sometimes he would appeal to them with emotion, "We are fighting the Jurchens in the North! For three years in the Northwest, do you know how many people died? How they died… When we defended Xiaocang River, how did we fight the war? When food was scarce, some people starved to death… Retreat… some didn't make it out… Ah – we're doing good things…"

"Please… don't hit me…"

"Please…"

This weak voice gradually developed into, "I'll say it…"

Then it turned into, "I can't say it…"

The cycle repeated again and again. The torturers rotated several times, and eventually they grew tired too. Su Wenfang didn't know how he had persevered, but those tragic events reminded him, preventing him from opening his mouth. He knew he wasn't a hero. Soon, a part of him that couldn't hold out any longer might confess, but before that… hold on a little longer… he had endured for so long already, endure a little longer…

Maybe the rescuers will come?

He didn't know when he was thrown back into the cell. When the pain on his body eased a little, he curled up and then began to cry silently, also blaming, why haven't the people coming to save him arrived yet, if they don't come soon he won't be able to hold on… He didn't know when someone suddenly opened the cell door.

Su Wenfang was extremely tired, but still startled awake. His body began to curl into the corner of the cell, but two guards came over, dragged him up and led him out.

Su Wenfang struggled fiercely. Not long after, he was dragged back to the interrogation room, half walking and half carried. His body had been slightly relieved, but now he was even more afraid when he saw those instruments of torture. The interrogator came over, had him sit at the table, put paper and a pen on it, "You've been thinking about it for so long, brother, do me a favor, just write one name… write one that isn't important."

Su Wenfang trembled. The interrogator's hand pressed on his shoulder, touching the wound, and the pain surged again. Su Wenfang cried again: "I can't say it, my sister will kill me, my brother-in-law won't let me go…"

"They won't know."

"They know… Ha ha, you don't understand, there are people around you…"

"… Who?"

"I don't know, they will know, I can't say, I can't say, you didn't see, how those people died… In order to fight the Jurchens, the Wu Dynasty can't fight the Jurchens, they died in order to resist the Jurchens, why are you, why are you doing this…"

After he said this, the interrogator slapped him to the ground and shouted, "Tie him up!"

Several people next to him tied Su Wenfang to a rack. The interrogator walked over: "You refuse to say, then your tongue is useless, but you only have one. I gave you a chance to write but you wouldn't. You have ten fingers, we'll play with them slowly!"

"I don't know I don't know I don't know, don't do this…" Su Wenfang struggled, shouting loudly. The other party had grabbed one of his fingers, and in the other hand took a needle made of iron and approached.

"Will you talk –"

"We fight the Jin! So many of our people died! I can't say!"

"Give me one name –"

"My brother-in-law will kill you! I'll kill your entire family, kill your entire family, let me go, I can't say ah, I can't say ah –"

The frantic shouts carried blood foam from his mouth. After this continued for a moment, the iron needle was inserted, and a desperate scream came from the interrogation room…

What followed was a scene from hell.

************

In the Greater and Lesser Liang Mountains, the encirclement and suppression of the Mangshan Ni tribe had effectively begun.

The autumn harvest was still underway, and the Huaxia Army troops in Jishan had been mobilized, but had not yet officially set off. In the heavy autumn, Ning Yi returned to Heden, waiting for negotiations with those outside the mountains.

On the surface, Lu Qiaoshan's attitude towards war or peace was not clear. He outwardly respected Ning Yi, and was willing to have a face-to-face negotiation with Ning Yi, but the details of the negotiation were slightly haggled over. But the Huaxia Army envoy who came out of the mountain this time had Ning Yi's orders. Under the strong attitude, Lu Qiaoshan finally made a concession.

The date of the negotiation was postponed by two days due to preparatory work. The location was set in a valley on the periphery of Lesser Liang Mountain. Ning Yi led 3,000 people out of the mountain, and Lu Qiaoshan also brought 3,000 people. No matter what the thoughts were, he would clarify everything – this was Ning Yi's strongest attitude – if they didn't talk, then start the war as quickly as possible.

This day was the twenty-first day of the seventh month of the ninth year of Jianshuo in the Wu Dynasty. In the morning, the autumn wind became a bit cool, blowing across the grassland outside the Lesser Liang Mountain. Ning Yi and Lu Qiaoshan met in a dilapidated shed on the grassland. In the distance behind, there were 3,000 troops each. After greeting each other, Ning Yi saw Su Wenfang brought by Lu Qiaoshan. He was wearing a seemingly clean long robe with patches on his face. The fingers between the sleeves were also bandaged up, and his footsteps seemed weak. Su Tan'er also followed this time. As soon as she saw her younger brother's expression, her eyes turned slightly red. Ning Yi walked over and gently hugged Su Wenfang.

A look of pain appeared on Su Wenfang's face, and a weak voice seemed to come from deep in his throat with difficulty: "Brother-in-law… I didn't say…"

"I know, take care of yourself."

"… The ones who did it were those scholars, they wanted to force Lu Qiaoshan to start a war…"

"Okay."

Su Wenfang finished speaking in a low and difficult voice, and then separated from Ning Yi and went towards Su Tan'er's side.

Ning Yi faced Lu Qiaoshan. Lu Qiaoshan cupped his hands with an ingratiating smile: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding, absolutely not what Lu meant, Mr. Ning, misunderstanding."

Ning Yi nodded and made a gesture of invitation. He then glanced behind him before saying, "After all, he is my wife's younger brother. I have troubled Lord Lu."

"Hey, it should be, it's all the fault of those corrupt scholars. They are too stupid to plan with. Mr. Ning must be appeased."

Ning Yi nodded and smiled. Neither of them sat down. Lu Qiaoshan just cupped his hands. Ning Yi thought for a while: "Over there is my wife, Su Tan'er."

"I have long admired the name of the sister-in-law, she is talented and virtuous."

Ning Yi didn't respond, and continued in the tone just now: "My wife was originally born into a merchant family, Jiangning City, the third-ranked cloth merchant. When I, the Son-in-Law, joined the family, there had been several generations of accumulation, but it was at a very critical time. None of the third generation of the family was successful. Grandfather Su Yu finally decided to let my wife Tan'er manage the family. Wenfang and the others followed her to do some secular affairs and odd jobs. At the beginning, I thought that these houses would be able to maintain the family in the future, which would be a blessing."

Lu Qiaoshan nodded.

"Of course, later, for various reasons, we did not take this path. The old man passed away a few years ago. He didn't have the world in his heart, he always thought about the family around him. He passed away peacefully, because although he rebelled later, Su family has successful children in the end. The young man more than ten years ago used to spend his time going to cockfights and dogfights, and was of mediocre talent. Maybe he would have been a prodigal son who was used to squandering for the rest of his life, and his vision would not have been able to leave Jiangning City in his life. But the fact is that coming to today, General Lu, you see, my wife's younger brother is a real, upright man, even if you look at the whole world, he has nothing to be ashamed of compared to anyone."

Ning Yi looked at Lu Qiaoshan, and Lu Qiaoshan was silent for a moment: "That's right, when I received your message, Mr. Ning, and decided to save him, he had been beaten beyond recognition. But he didn't say anything."

Ning Yi raised his head to look at the sky, and then nodded slightly: "General Lu, over these past ten years, the Huaxia Army has experienced very difficult circumstances. In the Northwest, in Xiaocang River, surrounded by a million troops, facing the Jurchen elite, they have never really been defeated. Many people died, and many people have become real, upright men. In the future, they will still fight against the Jurchens, and there will be countless battles to fight, and countless people will die, but death must be worthwhile… General Lu, the Jurchens have already gone south. I implore you, this time give them a way out, give your own people a way out, let them die in a place more worthy of death…"

"… Okay?"

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