"Your son... your son joined forces with Lin Huai'an not for personal gain, but to sell the old grain in our Liu Family granaries at a good price."
Smack!
Seeing that Liu Taofang was still beating around the bush, Liu Hong lashed him again.
"I don't want to hear your excuses!"
"You need only tell me exactly what you and Lin Huai'an did for that money!"
At that moment, Liu Hong had lost his usual calm composure. He stared sternly at Liu Taofang.
Even dressed in plain white casual clothes, he still carried an air of authority.
By contrast, Liu Taofang's brocade robes had long since been torn to tatters, with blood seeping through the rents in streak after streak.
Even so, he kept his back straight as he knelt on the ground, not daring to move.
His fairly handsome face was filled with terror and grievance.
"Your son... doesn't, doesn't know..."
Smack, smack, smack!
Liu Hong showed no mercy, whipping him three times and tearing his flesh open.
"Don't know, or don't dare say?"
"You think that if you don't speak, I won't know what you did?"
Liu Hong paused slightly, glaring at him with icy eyes as he asked in a low voice:
"Was the Burning of Three Towns' Summer Grain your idea, or Lin Huai'an's?"
Clutching his wounds, Liu Taofang looked up in shock. "Father, how did you..."
A flicker of fury crossed Liu Hong's eyes. He did not raise the whip again, instead stepping forward and kicking him hard, sending him sprawling onto the ground.
"Unfilial son! You unfilial son!"
"What nerve! What monstrous nerve!"
"Father, Father, your son knows his mistake! Your son truly knows his mistake..."
"You know your mistake?"
"No. You do not know your mistake. You are merely hurting from the beating!"