The fat man waved his hand, and the two soldiers picked up their whips and hit the young man hard on the back.
There was a crisp "pop" sound, and some people in the crowd shrank their necks, but no one dared to make a sound.
The young man leaned forward, put his hands on the straw mat, and dug his fingers into the seams of the mat.
He clenched his back molars, and the veins in his neck tensed up one by one, but he didn't cry out.
The second whip fell next, almost overlapping with the first one. The skin and flesh immediately opened, and blood dripped down the back.
The third whip.
The young man finally groaned and fell forward, his face hitting the straw mat. But he slowly got up with his arms and knelt straight again.
The fat man was pacing next to him, with his hands in his sleeves and a ferocious expression on his face. "Shout again?"
The young man raised his face, his mouth was full of blood foam, and he squeezed out a few vague words from his throat. "Witch... King..."
The fourth whip came down, this time on the shoulder. The young man leaned sideways and fell down without moving again.
The soldier stopped and looked back at the fat man with his whip in hand.
The fat man raised his chin, and the soldier bent down and grabbed the young man's arm, pulling him up again.
"Stop it, stop it..." An old lady in the crowd took two steps forward with a cane, her voice hoarse, "Does this child deserve to be beaten to death just for saying something?"
The fat man turned his head, squinted at the old lady, and said, "Who is talking?"
The old lady opened her mouth and wanted to say something, but was pulled back by a young man next to her.
The fat man's eyes swept around the crowd, and he slowly raised his chin. "Continue."
Lin Ze looked away from the stage and glanced to the other side of the crowd. Arthur squeezed his way to the front of the crowd at some point.
He stood at the edge of the innermost layer of the crowd, clenching his fists with both hands, looking very angry.
Lin Ze moved over silently and held his shoulders from behind.
Arthur trembled all over, turned around and saw it was Lin Ze, and his tense shoulders relaxed a little.
"What? Do you know him? Do you want to save him?" Lin Ze asked in a low voice.
Arthur blinked at Lin Ze, as if he had discovered a new world. He looked at Lin Ze with joy on his face. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but was stopped by Lin Ze.
Just then, the fifth whip fell.
The young man did not get up this time, but lay motionless on the straw mat. His back was dripping with blood and there was no good place left.
The fat man frowned and waved his hand towards the soldier. "Okay, drag him down. Don't die on the platform. It's bad luck."
Two soldiers picked up the young man and dragged him back to the palace gate.
A large dark red mark was left on the straw mat, seeping down along the seams of the mat.
The fat man adjusted his belt, glanced at the crowd again and raised his lips slightly.
"It's all gone."
The onlookers slowly dispersed, no one said anything to each other, everyone kept their heads down and went their separate ways. The vegetable and fruit sellers started shouting again, as if nothing happened just now.
Arthur was still standing there, looking at the person who was dragged away without moving.
Lin Ze pulled him. "Let's go."
The two of them turned into the alley next to them. Arthur suddenly stopped and punched the wall. Blood immediately appeared on the back of his hand.
"Beast!" Arthur's voice was very low, and his teeth gritted loudly.
"Do you know that person?"
He lowered his head and looked at the blood beads seeping out from the back of his hand, dripping down his knuckles and onto the ground.
"His name is Kai. He used to be the bodyguard assigned by the king to the Witch King." Arthur's voice was hoarse.
"I know him, I've known him since we were kids, we grew up together..."
"Oh? Are you finally going to reveal your identity to me? Prince?" Lin Ze looked at him jokingly.
"Huh? When did you..." Arthur was stunned.
Nonsense, knowing that your name is Arthur, and that you are so familiar with the royal capital, I can no longer guess that you are the future King Arthur, so I don't want to live anymore, Lin Ze secretly cursed.
Unexpectedly, King Arthur suddenly squatted on the ground and began to draw strange shapes on the ground with his fingers.
"What are you?" Lin Ze asked strangely.
"I'm a little... a little frustrated..." Arthur muttered quietly.
Lin Ze looked at King Arthur, a young man with a sudden change of style, with black lines on his face, and wanted to punch him on the ground.
Are you drawing circles on the ground here to relieve the embarrassment?
Lin Ze shook his head, grabbed Arthur who was still squatting on the ground, and walked out of the alley.
"Why did the Witch King's bodyguard become a deserter?"
Arthur pursed his lips into a thin line. "After the Witch King was imprisoned, all the people serving around him were scattered and organized into various camps. Kai refused to leave, so he fought with the Imperial Guards and ran away. A few days ago, he was recognized by the city defense troops at the city gate and was arrested."
"So do you know how they locked up the Witch King?"
Arthur shook his head. "I really don't know about this. When I heard that the Witch King was imprisoned, several days had passed. They didn't plan to tell anyone in advance. In other words, I am not trusted by the king."
Arthur After wiping the blood off his hands, his whole body felt more relaxed, as if the suffocation he had been holding in had been released.
"Let's go, don't hang around here." Lin Ze patted his shoulder.
The two of them came out of the alley and went around to the small door of Golden Stag Inn's back kitchen. Lin Ze let Arthur go in first, and he stood under the wall of the back alley, leaning against the bricks and waiting for a while.
Saira took about half a cup of tea before he appeared from the street corner. "The young man who was whipped is said to be the bodyguard of the Witch King."
"Hmm, I just heard about it. This is nothing new." Lin Ze said.
"Oh? Let me guess, you have a showdown with our Prince?" Sela asked funny.
"Of course, but it wasn't me who showed off, it was him who couldn't hold it in first. I felt that continuing to act like this would be detrimental to his physical and mental health, so I simply made it clear."
"What's more, the sooner we talk about it, the better, isn't it? We still have to hope that this guy will work from within." Lin Ze shrugged.
"Where is your highness the prince?"
"He went back to the inn, and said he should calm down." Lin Ze leaned against the wall, watching the people coming and going in the alley, "I guess he is drawing circles on the wall right now."
Saira laughed and didn't ask any more questions. She took out a crumpled piece of paper from her arms and unfolded it. On it was a charcoal sketch of the palace's periphery, with crosses on several key locations.
"I went to meet an old acquaintance in the afternoon. He used to work as a servant in the palace, but was kicked out. Now he runs a blacksmith shop in the east of the city."
"Is it reliable?"
"Who knows? But what does it matter? As long as it can be of some use."
[PS: I have been very busy during the holidays these two days, so I will update two chapters first, and then I will make up for them after the holidays are over!]