Chapter 97

Yong Ge couldn't help but laugh in anger. Initially, he had been curious because of the familiar figure, as he had never seen anyone who resembled his Cheng Duo so much. However, he quickly realized that the man was putting on a show for him!

Others might not know about his feelings for Cheng Duo, but did he not know it himself?

Cheng Duo had confided all his origin, his space, and the earth-shattering secrets to him. If he still doubted Cheng Duo, he would be unworthy of the affection Cheng Duo had shown him all these years!

However, knowing it was fake was one thing, but seeing a man who looked like Cheng Duo intimately embracing another young man was something else entirely.

A pang of sourness surged through Yong Ge's heart, and his throat felt tight and uncomfortable. He tightly clenched his teeth, unable to help but think that if this were true, he would rather die than see Cheng Duo's affections bestowed on someone else!

"Little Young Master…" The personal guard by his side also noticed the scene in the neighboring courtyard. He wanted to console his young master with a few words but didn't know how to begin.

Over the years, General Cheng had gained high prestige in the army, not just because of his title as a Grand General's son-in-law but also due to his formidable strength and compelling personality. He dared to say that if General Cheng called for it, many soldiers in the northwest would follow him. Even he himself admired General Cheng.

A hero like that, willing to dote on their young master, was already quite rare. Occasionally sneaking around outside wasn't a big deal…

Just as the guard was thinking this, "Cheng Duo" continued speaking, "Tan Shoubei gave you to me to bear me a big, chubby son. You better be more outstanding. Don't end up like my useless wife; I played with him until I got bored and didn't hear a peep from him."

The young man with the slender waist chuckled, "Is General Cheng so powerful that he fears not having heirs? After you left last time, I lay in bed the whole day. This time, you can't act recklessly like last time."

The man domineeringly held him, "You still have many brothers. Let Tan Shoubei send two more to serve us together."

The words were spoken, and he promptly slipped into the young man's clothes. It was evident that they were engaging in an intimate rendezvous, biting and sucking each other passionately.

"You're so hateful. Isn't it enough for me to serve you…" The young man's face flushed with a charming redness, his eyes narrowed, seemingly enjoying it very much. From time to time, he let out ambiguous moans.

However, soon, it seemed like he noticed this side and screamed in alarm. He quickly pushed away the man in his embrace and hurriedly disappeared from the corridor.

"Little Young Master, should we go and take a look?" The guard asked anxiously.

Yong Ge sneered, "Of course, why wouldn't we go?"

After all, the other party had put on a show for him, and if he didn't make an appearance, it would be a shame!

He led two squads of personal guards out of the gate, about to head straight to the neighboring house, when unexpectedly Du Boyan emerged from somewhere, saying, "Little Master Wei…"

Following the prepared scenario, Du Boyan intended to step forward to console him. But to his surprise, when they made eye contact, he noticed that Yong Ge's beautiful face had not shed a single tear, and he appeared unusually composed.

Du Boyan's prepared lines got stuck in his throat. Wasn't Little Master Wei supposed to be a meek and indecisive young man, raised in a mountain village? How come he wasn't crying when he saw his lover being affectionate with another young man and even denigrated himself for being unable to bear children?

"Why are you here, Du Boyan?" Yong Ge narrowed his eyes. In a bad mood, he had no patience to play games, and even the way he addressed Du Boyan changed.

"Li… Little Master Wei, you might not know, but this two-story building used to be my Du family's tea house. I was worried you wouldn't understand, so I rushed over to give you some advice…" Du Boyan stammered in explanation, using the excuse he had thought of earlier due to the sudden situation.

They had anticipated Yong Ge losing his composure, crying like a pitiful soul, and then Du Boyan would comfort him and lead him inside to catch the adulterers. In Yong Ge's panic, he might not even think of asking questions.

However, the reality was that Yong Ge remained chillingly composed, and Du Boyan's words inadvertently played into his hands:

"So, this deed was set by your Du family!"

A cold gleam flashed in Yong Ge's eyes. Fearful that the people in the backyard might escape, he didn't bother arguing further. He directly gestured, "Seize him!"

"Little Master Wei?!" Du Boyan's face changed.

"Yes, Master," the personal guard responded. Immediately, two men stepped forward, and one of them kicked Du Boyan behind his knees, causing him to fall to the ground. Then, they bound him.

Du Boyan winced in pain, but he still protested, "Little Master Wei, Littlr Master Wei, how could you suddenly attack me? I haven't offended you… Is there some misunderstanding here?"

"It's just unfortunate timing. You appeared at a bad moment, right when he's in a terrible mood," the personal guard said. Unaware of the true situation, he thought that Little Master Wei was acting out of anger, and Du Boyan became the scapegoat.

Du Boyan: "…"

This script was wrong! He wasn't supposed to be the gentle and kind man, consoling the hurt and sad young man, looking at stars and moon together, and even rolling in bed with him.

If Yong Ge didn't follow the script, what would happen to their plan?!

"Littoe Master Wei, Little Master Wei, you've truly misunderstood me!" Du Boyan still wanted to plead, but unfortunately, Yong Ge no longer paid any attention to him.

Instead of rushing into the neighboring house, Yong Ge had the soldiers block the front and back doors before entering.

"Report to the Master, apart from the kitchen maid and the kitchen workers in the back kitchen, and a little maid who serves tea, we've searched everywhere else, and there's no one else." The soldier in charge of the search swallowed nervously and reported cautiously.

He suspected that there might be hidden mechanisms or secret passages in the room, but they had too few people, and half of them had to protect Little Master Yong. Finding it in a short time would be difficult.

Moreover, if there were secret passages in the house, the other party would have already escaped by the time they found them.

What the personal guard didn't say was that even if they found them, they couldn't defeat General Cheng. Their young master probably wouldn't do anything to him either, so it was better not to find them.

Yong Ge pondered for a moment, "I remember Cheng Duo said they were going to visit the ironware shop and the armory in the Shoubei Camp today."

The whereabouts of the two generals were unknown to Yong Ge's personal guards, so they didn't know how to answer. Luckily, Yong Ge didn't ask for their response and directly ordered, "Bind them all and let's leave the city immediately."

"But, Little Master, Young General Cheng forbade you from leaving the city. What if there's an ambush?" the guard worriedly asked.

Yong Ge considered, "Then, let's go back. Send two people to wait near the nearest city gate. If they spot the two generals, immediately inform them about what happened here."

"Understood…" The personal guard noticed his little master's unwavering confidence and knew something was different. He promptly followed the orders.

They vigilantly escorted Yong Ge back to the other courtyard, taking Du Boyan and the kitchen maid from the next house along with them.

Fortunately, the journey back was uneventful.

Du Boyan's face was gloomy. Of course, nothing would happen. Tan Yulou had surrounded Jianxin City like a tight bucket. It was already challenging to sneak in the man resembling Cheng Duo and the ventriloquist. Moreover, after leading the tiger away from the mountain, assassins from Jiangdong County were still waiting outside the city to ambush Wei Ling…

If anything happened to Wei Ling, and if there was a rift between Cheng Duo and Wei Ling due to their infidelity, he could take advantage of the situation and perhaps win over Wei Zhenyuan's only son. At that point, the Northwest's 200,000-strong army would be his for the taking. What a missed opportunity!

Now that the situation had reversed, Du Boyan couldn't care less about the others. He only wanted to plead for his innocence and find a way out.

However, Yong Ge paid no heed to that and directly ordered the personal guards to use severe methods to extract confessions.

"Littlr Master…" The personal guard hesitated. Although they were soldiers, they didn't want to harm ordinary civilians.

Yong Ge's eyes turned sharp, "Do as I say!"

Surprisingly, he looked just like Cheng Duo in this moment. The guard trembled and quickly complied.

They bound the four individuals to a bench, prepared to use military sticks to beat them. The kitchen maid, the kitchen workers, and the little maid were so frightened by the sight of the military sticks that their faces turned pale, and they were about to collapse. Before any questioning, they confessed everything.

However, they were just hired servants and knew very little. They only knew that the people in the courtyard gave them instructions, and their job was to deliver meals. They didn't need to bother with anything else.

Yet, the little maid knew there were three people living in the courtyard. Apart from the young man and the ventriloquist that Yong Ge had seen, there was also a peculiar-looking man in his thirties with a goatee.

The little maid stammered, "I… I've seen him imitate bird calls; he imitated them very well…"

The personal guard's eyes lit up, "A ventriloquist!"

Yong Ge didn't want to implicate the innocent, so he immediately said, "Leave the three of them. As for Du Boyan, beat him until he confesses!"

Du Boyan: "…"

He had planned to impress Yong Ge and show resilience. If he persisted and didn't confess, Yong Ge might relent, thinking he had mistakenly targeted the wrong person. Then he could use the pretense of recuperation to sow discord between Cheng Duo and Wei Ling…

Unfortunately, he had underestimated his own endurance for pain. The military stick was no joke – solid ironwood that made him want to pass out with every strike. If he had truly lost consciousness, it would have been better, but he was painfully awakened with each hit. Du Boyan endured about ten strikes before hurriedly surrendering, "Stop, Little Master Wei, I surrender, I surrender!"

Yong Ge looked somewhat disappointed, "You surrendered so quickly. I thought you were some heroic figure. Young Master Du doesn't know, but our Wei family's army has a special iron clamp stick for dealing with stubborn spies. They use two sticks to clamp the ankle or knee joint, and with a forceful push, the joint dislocates. Cheng Duo said that spies under this clamp punishment scream particularly miserably. I wanted to hear it myself!"

Yong Ge had spent these years with Cheng Duo, and not only had he copied Cheng Duo's mannerisms, but he even imitated his sarcasm.

Du Boyan, lying weak on the bench, shuddered upon hearing Yong Ge's words. Since the soldiers had released him, he accidentally fell from the bench, and his rear end hit the ground, causing him to gasp in pain, "Ah, no need, Little Master Wei. I will tell you everything. I won't dare to hide anything…"

In his miserable state, he was far from the handsome and confident appearance when they first met.

The surrounding personal guards looked down on him, thinking, how could someone like him dare to seduce their young master?

In truth, they had overestimated Du Boyan. He indeed was a young master of the Du family. However, because the Du family had secretly sided with the Jiangdong County Lord, he was selected due to his handsome appearance.

(T/N: In this chapter we learned never get on Yong Ge's bad side… ᕙ( ︡'︡益'︠)ง )