He moved his body and found he couldn't budge. Looking down, he saw he was bound hand and foot.
"You and I, brother, are truly unlucky. Stuck in this desolate wilderness, guarding such a loser. Let's finish the job quickly so we can go into town and live it up," a rough voice grumbled.
"Yeah, yeah. At this hour, we'd usually be having fun in the city. But the silver the Dai family is paying for this job is generous enough for us to frolic for a long time," said another man, his voice a bit thinner, loudly.
"Yeah, yeah..." A man with shifty eyes agreed, pushing open the door.
Seeing Zheng Yiming had woken up, they became energized, thinking to finish it quickly.
As soon as Zheng Yiming heard their voices, his whole body trembled. From their words, he understood that Master Dai had ordered this, and his heart settled.
Perhaps Master Dai knew about what he had done and was furious, wanting to teach him a lesson. But as he was his future son-in-law, he would likely be restrained.
Although prepared to take a beating, he couldn't help but feel scared when he saw the group of men walk in.
"Young Master Zheng, who else could you have offended but Master Dai? Don't let Master Dai's calm exterior fool you; he's notoriously ruthless in our line of work," one of the men said, looking at him with pity.
"Gentlemen, please be gentle when you act later. I am Master Dai's future son-in-law. If you're afraid of my revenge later, then feel free to do as you please," Zheng Yiming threatened, seeing their fear of Master Dai.
The men exchanged glances, their expressions unreadable. The man who had spoken earlier looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, "No wonder Master Dai is so heavy-handed this time. So, it involves his precious daughter. It seems you, kid, haven't done anything good!"
"What do you mean? Is Master Dai not planning to marry his daughter to me? His daughter is already mine. Who else would she marry? If she goes to another family, they'll only despise her for losing her purity," Zheng Yiming exclaimed in surprise, forgetting even where he was.
"Whether others will despise Miss Dai is not our concern; that's the Dai family's business. But we know you're about to face misfortune."
Seeing the men approaching with ill intentions, Zheng Yiming sobered up, realizing the dire situation but utterly helpless.
"My cousin is the young madam of the Li family, the richest family in the city. Do you know the Li family? If you harm me, and my cousin finds out, she will absolutely not let you off," Zheng Yiming blurted out in a moment of desperation, pulling out Wu Caiwei's name in an attempt to make them back down.
The men did hesitate for a moment. They were well-connected in their circles and knew the Li family had recently taken in a young madam. And indeed, the young madam was a relative of the Zheng family. They also knew there had been friction between the Bai and Zheng families.
After a brief pause, one of the men came to his senses. "If the shrewd Master Dai isn't afraid, it's clear that the young madam of the Li family has no involvement in the Zheng family's affairs."
Hearing their words, Zheng Yiming couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
Although his expression only shifted slightly, the men noticed it. They exchanged glances, extremely angered that he dared to try and scare them. They would make him realize they were not to be trifled with.
Without further hesitation, they drew their knives as Zheng Yiming looked on in terror. One of the men grabbed his right hand and directly severed his wrist tendons with a knife.
The pain was so intense Zheng Yiming wished he could faint. Tears streamed down his face. His life was over. He had hoped to turn his life around through studying, but now he couldn't even write.
Master Dai was truly ruthless, Zheng Yiming thought. He had ruined his daughter, and Master Dai had ruined him.
He had thought the punishment was over, but seeing the three men looking at him with sympathy, and especially as they slowly approached, he instinctively wanted to retreat, but he couldn't.
The three nodded to each other. Two of them held his head and pried open his mouth. Before he could react, the other took out a knife and swiftly brought it down.
At some point, they had untied him. He was alone in the room, slumped on the ground, motionless, as if frozen.
Zheng Yiming's tears had long since dried up. He regretted ever provoking Miss Dai. He hated his father even more. If his father hadn't absconded with the money, how would he have ended up like this?
His tongue had been ripped out, his wrist tendons severed. There was no hope for his life. He truly wished he could die.
But he was unwilling. He wiped his tears with his unharmed left hand, his face hardening with resolve. Why should he be the only one to suffer? They had gotten away with nothing. Let them all go to hell together.
Wu Caiwei had almost forgotten about Zheng Yiming if he hadn't come looking for her. Oh, wait, Master Dai had visited her some time ago, subtly mentioning that Zheng Yiming had offended him and he wanted to retaliate, wanting to gauge Wu Caiwei's attitude first.
What had she said back then? Wu Caiwei felt she had been too busy lately, with too much going on, her memory had declined.
Ah, yes. She had said that after moving out of the Zheng family home, she had no further connection with them and would not interfere in their affairs. Master Dai had seemed quite pleased then.
After returning to her maiden home, she had been busy tending to Li Yuqun's health, brewing medicine and administering acupuncture daily. Besides worrying about her younger brother, she had no time to care about anyone else.
Seeing Zheng Yiming gesturing non-stop with his left hand, Wu Caiwei was somewhat curious. What had he done to make Master Dai so enraged and inflict such severe punishment?
"You mean you want me to avenge you?" Wu Caiwei voiced her guess.
Zheng Yiming nodded frantically, feeling an urge to cry. He continued to write the character for "Dai" on the ground with his left hand.
"You mean Master Dai caused you to become like this?" Wu Caiwei continued guessing.
Seeing Zheng Yiming give a thumbs-up, she couldn't help but ask, "As far as I know, the Zheng and Dai families have no dealings. Master Dai is a decent man. How could he have treated you so harshly?"
Zheng Yiming stiffened. Wu Caiwei recalled how he and Bai Jinxiu had dealt with her. She guessed he had stepped on a hornet's nest and angered someone important.
"Cousin, I haven't settled accounts with you and Aunt for dealing with me in the past. Do you really think I would avenge you?" Wu Caiwei, indifferent to his expression of disappointment, sipped her tea.
Zheng Yiming wanted to defend himself but couldn't speak. His heart was like an ant on a hot pan, extremely anxious.
"Enough. Don't waste my time here. I have other things to do. Do not come to my door again in the future. No matter how miserable your situation, it has nothing to do with me." Wu Caiwei gestured for him to leave. He refused to go, so the servants of the Li mansion half-pushed and half-guided him out the door.
Zheng Yiming looked back at the gate of the Li mansion, his face filled with gloom.