Chapter 56: Rivals in the Same Trade

The four men steeled themselves to endure the agony brought by the torture devices, fully believing that if they refused to confess, their captors would ultimately have to release them.

Seeing their utterly fearless expressions, Jiang Yi knew that ordinary instruments of torture would indeed fail to break them. He thought of certain torment devices that inflicted no physical wounds, yet were virtually impossible for anyone to withstand.

"What torture instrument is this?" Jiang Yi asked, intentionally pointing at a familiar-looking device nearby.

"Reporting to the Township Magistrate, this is the wooden donkey, generally used to punish women who violate female chastity," a guard replied.

The Township Magistrate maintained an official interrogation chamber known as the Hall of Righteous Clarification. For minor cases within the rural district, the magistrate held the full authority to pass judgment. The Hall of Righteous Clarification was fully equipped with all the instruments of torture found in county and prefectural yamen.

The surrounding women gazed at the wooden donkey with intense dread.

"Husband, surely you aren't thinking of using this on them? This kind of torture easily costs lives."

Though the four captured men had attempted to sabotage the workshop, their crimes did not warrant capital punishment.

"You should know that ruining a man's livelihood is akin to taking his life. Since they refuse to make an honest confession, we have no choice but to use certain methods to make them reveal what they know."

Upon seeing the wooden donkey, the four men trembled violently at the prospect of facing such a device in front of a crowd. Even if they survived, every ounce of their dignity would be utterly destroyed.

"Can we not use that particular torture? Use any of the others."

Jiang Yi merely intended to interrogate them; he had no plans to take their lives. However, had these four men proven to be assassins, he would not have shown the slightest leniency.

"What? Are you afraid now? You should know the purpose of this device, and I think it suits you quite well."

Jiang Yi’s smile appeared truly terrifying, prompting most of the surrounding women to avert their eyes. Only Shen Rong understood her husband—he was merely employing scare tactics.

Clearly, the psychological ploy was having an effect. The rest depended entirely on Jiang Yi's interrogation methods.

"Will you talk or not?"

The four men maintained resolute gazes and tightly clenched jaws, determined to resist all forms of torture.

"Heh, quite spirited, aren't you? Let's just see how long you can hold out."

Jiang Yi had never genuinely intended to subject them to the wooden donkey; he had plenty of alternative methods to shatter their psychological defenses.

The guards led in a sheep and placed a basin of salted water on the ground. They securely strapped the four men to wide wooden benches, removed their shoes, and brushed their soles with the brine before bringing the sheep forward to lick their feet.

A sheep’s tongue is covered in tiny barps. Initially, licking the soles of the feet merely induced a tickling sensation that provoked uncontrollable laughter. This laughter bubbled up unbidden, impossible to suppress no matter how hard one tried.

At regular intervals, the guards pulled the sheep away, repeating the process over and over. This form of torture caused no physical injury, yet reduced the victims to sheer misery.

Hearing the four men erupt into relentless, helpless laughter, the onlookers felt a prickling numbness spread across their own skin. The agony inflicted by this punishment was likely no less severe than any other torture; the prolonged, forced laughter induced a suffocating sensation of breathlessness.

"Will you confess or not?" Jiang Yi demanded coldly.

"I'll confess! Someone paid us to destroy the workshop and ruin the finished soaps and perfumes!" one of the men finally broke, unable to bear the goat torture any longer.

Had it been any other physical punishment, they might have managed to grit their teeth and endure. But while the goat torture left no blood or wounds, the overwhelming panic of suffocation was simply too agonizing. It brought them face-to-face with the terror of lingering on the brink of death. If they continued to hold out, Jiang Yi would undoubtedly order the guards to resume the torment—keeping them alive, yet thoroughly wretched.

"Who masterminded this?" Jiang Yi asked.

"We don't know who he is. He wore a mask and gave us a large sum of money, telling us only to follow his instructions."

The four men genuinely knew neither the man's name nor his appearance. Jiang Yi remained half-sceptical, hoping to extract more valuable information.

"If you dare to lie, I will let you experience every single one of these torture instruments."

"We truly aren't lying! That man simply didn't want to expose his identity."

Catching Jiang Yi's icy glare, Niu Xiaoqiang became so terrified he wet himself. A murmur of disbelief rippled through the crowd; they had initially thought these men were immune to intimidation.

"What are your names? Which village are you from?"

"We're from Niutwei Village in Shuangma Township. I'm Niu Xiaoqiang."

The other three identified themselves as Niu Xiaosan, Niu Xiaowu, and Niu Xiaoliu, all hailing from Niutwei Village.

"They're from the same village as Niu Er. Niutwei Village is the poorest settlement in Shuangma Township, and a great many of its residents are exiles."

Hanyang lay close to the Liao border, serving as a primary penal colony for serious criminals. Every year, a fresh batch of exiles arrived in Hanyang, and the locals had no choice but to accept them.

"You know as well that some people in Hanyang are either descendants of exiles or recent arrivals, whereas my family and I are locals."

As a Rong tribeswoman, Shen Rong was indeed a native of the region.

"How shall my husband deal with them? It seems they don't actually know very much."

"Hand them over to the official yamen. The charges will be theft, destruction of private property, and violation of the magistrate's curfew."

Although Jiang Yi possessed the authority to punish the four men himself, he ultimately decided to deliver them to the authorities. Moreover, as they were escorted to the yamen, the guards must beat gongs the entire way—he was keen to see how Li Dongyang would react.

Li Dongyang was the prime suspect, but without concrete proof, he could not be officially condemned just yet.

Upon hearing they were to be handed over to the yamen—a place known for its ruthless and terrifying officials—the men grew pale. Without paying off those greedy clerks and runners, the suffering awaiting them inside would be immeasurable.

The guards escorted the four men away, while Jiang Yi instructed the gathered onlookers to return to work at the workshop. The guards stored the torture instruments back in the Hall of Righteous Clarification, leaving only Jiang Yi and Shen Rong inside the room.

"I have a fair idea of who tried to sabotage our workshop. Now it's time for my counterattack."

Jiang Yi planned to employ various tactics to steadily ruin the business of Lifu Department Store, forcing Li Dongyang to taste the bitter fruits of his own actions.

"Though business rivals are natural enemies, for Li Dongyang to resort to such despicable methods to destroy our workshop is truly shameful and hateful."

The culprit had undoubtedly intended to burn the workshop to the ground, inflicting devastating financial losses upon the couple. Fortunately, the night patrol guards had been vigilant and dutiful, saving the workshop from ruin.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. We've stolen their market share, and Li Dongyang harbors deep resentment."

"You're right. Business rivals are enemies, and the marketplace is a battlefield."

The next step was to investigate the product quality issues at Lifu Department Store, gather concrete evidence, and make it public. This would drive Lifu Department Store's sales into a tailspin and ultimately force them into bankruptcy.

"Not long ago, the goods sold at Lifu Department Store had several quality issues. They never offered a reasonable explanation to the public, merely processing refunds for dissatisfied customers."

"If Husband starts from this angle, we can ruin Lifu Department Store's reputation completely, and then buy out their shops at rock-bottom prices."

If successful, this move would be ruthlessly thorough, likely denying Lifu Department Store any hope of a resurgence.

"That is precisely my intention. Had they not repeatedly targeted us with such despicable schemes, we might have considered cooperating with them."

A century-old establishment, yet growing more degenerate by the day. Entrusting a young man like Li Dongyang as the primary proprietor showed just how overly confident the Li family of Hanzhou was in his abilities, with the clan elders failing to restrain him from running amok.

"The Li family of Hanzhou is a prominent clan. Why would they grant Li Dongyang such sweeping authority? Can they simply watch Lifu Department Store collapse into utter bankruptcy?"

"Our financial resources simply cannot compare to the Li family's. If we fight to the bitter end, our strength remains limited."

Shen Rong knew very well that the Li family of Hanzhou commanded a fortune of at least a million strings of cash, whereas she and her husband possessed less than twenty thousand. Attempting to completely crush the Hanzhou Li family was tantamount to an egg striking a boulder.

"Wealthy as they may be, I still dare to fight them to the bitter end."

So what if the Hanzhou Li family possessed immense wealth? If they dared to stand in the way of Jiang Yi's grand ambitions and wealth-generation plans, he would grind them beneath his feet without hesitation.