Chapter 4 — I hid my patience in the Hospital Department for ten years, waiting for the day to overthrow the Dog Emperor

Everyone looked at us brothers and sisters like we were watching a good show. Wei Dien raised the wine cup and slowly shook the liquid inside. It seemed that he enjoyed the feeling of controlling the life and death of others. After a long time, he slowly opened his mouth.

“Tieu Triet.”

“God is present.”

“How many years have you followed me?”

“Your Majesty, it's just been ten years.”

“Ten years.”

Wei Dien repeated it once, a flash of complicated emotion flashed through his eyes.

"You are a good, loyal, brave soldier. I admire you very much."

He stopped for a moment, his eyes turned to me.

“But my harem… must have my rules.”

My heart sinks straight to the bottom of the abyss.

"Because of your loyalty for ten years, I can spare her from death."

I breathed a sigh of relief. Tieu Triet's face also showed some joy.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

“But…” Wei Dien suddenly changed his voice. “Death crimes can be forgiven, but living sins are hard to forgive.”

He pointed at me and said to the eunuch next to him:

"Slap her mouth a hundred times, let her know what respect is."

Slap your mouth a hundred times. Compared to directly killing me, it's even more cruel. He wants to trample my face and dignity under his feet. Tieu Triet's face immediately turned pale.

"Emperor!"

“How?” Wei Dien's eyes turned cold. “You want to protest my order?”

“I don't dare!” Tieu Triet heavily bowed his head to the ground. "It's just... it's just that my sister's body is weak. If I hit her with a hundred slaps, I'm afraid she'll lose her life..."

“Then look at her creation.”

There was not a trace of temperature in Wei Dien's voice. Two muscular eunuchs stepped forward, one left, one right, holding me tightly. I don't struggle. Tieu Triet wanted to rush forward, but was firmly held down by the forbidden army next to him. His eyes were red as if they were about to bleed, staring at me. His lips moved slightly, not making a sound, just quietly speaking to me.

“Try to endure.”

I looked at him and nodded slightly. Don't worry, bro. I can bear it. This little bit of pain, compared to the pain of losing one's country and one's home, is nothing. The first slap aggressively landed on my face. Burning, burning pain. My head was tilted to one side, my ears were ringing loudly. The foul smell of blood quickly spread in the mouth. The second one. The third one. I don't cry, nor do I ask for forgiveness. I just kneel straight, like a dry tree trunk pinned to the ground. My eyes pierced the crowd and landed on Tieu Triet. He was held tightly by two forbidden soldiers, kneeling on the ground, his hands clenched into fists, the blue veins on the back of his hands bulging violently. He is looking at me. In his eyes there was pain, anger, and even a torn emotion that I couldn't understand... My eyes slowly turned to Wei Dien on the dragon's chair. He is also looking at me. The corner of his lips hung a cruel smile. He just wanted Tieu Triet to see with his own eyes, to see the sister he cared about most being trampled and humiliated by his own hands. He wants to crush Tieu Triet's will. Suddenly we understand. This punishment looks like it's aimed at me, but in reality... it's aimed at Tieu Triet. Wei Dien is wary of him. Over the past ten years, this young man has climbed from a small soldier to this position of deputy commander. So, he wanted to use me to warn him. I want him to understand clearly who is the real master. I burst out laughing. Blood flowed down the corner of his mouth, making that smile even more ferocious and terrifying. Wei Yan, do you think that you can defeat us? You are wrong. The more you torture us, it only makes the hatred in our hearts burn more fiercely. The slaps continued to fall. My face was completely numb. Consciousness also gradually becomes vague. I saw my mother, covered in blood, smiling at me.

“Go on living, Chieu Ninh.”

I saw my father falling in a pool of blood, his eyes wide open.

“Hold the Dai Dien country…”

Must live on. Must maintain the country. I cannot fall down. I used my last bit of strength, trying to keep my spine straight. Don't know how much time has passed. … fifty… … seventy… … ninety… When the hundredth slap fell, my eyes turned dark, I completely lost consciousness. Before falling into a coma, I seemed to hear Tieu Triet's gut-wrenching screams. When I woke up again, I was lying in my small, dark and damp room in Hoan Y Department. On his face was a heart-wrenching pain. I moved my fingers slightly, wanting to reach out and touch my face, but found that I didn't even have the strength to lift my hand.

“Don't move.”

Tieu Triet's voice rang in his ears. He sat beside my bed, holding a bowl of medicine in his hand. His eyes were red, his chin was covered with jagged green beard, and his whole body was so emaciated that it was out of shape. I opened my mouth, my voice was as hoarse as rubbed sandpaper.

“Ca here.”

He put down the medicine bowl and took my hand. His hands were cold.

“How do you feel?”

“Not dead yet.”

He was silent. In the room, there was only the smell of medicine and mold.