I hate you

Chapter 9

In a small dim room the crakling sound of fire and a hissing noise could be heard. The suffocatingly nauseous smell of burning flesh hung heavily in the air. 

Somewhere in the middle of the room somebody was panting heavily.

Liu Wenhe lay on a stone bed with his eyes screwed shut, enduring the pain of being branded with hot iron.

Burning pain radiated throughout his back. It felt as if his very bones were being burned to ashes. Wave after wave of pain crashed through him as sweat poured out of his body in rivulets. 
His teeth gritted so hard his jaw was starting to feel numb. 

He couldn't think properly and it was hard to even breath. 

As the servant ruthlessly pressed the hot iron down on his back with increasing pressure for every second that passed he felt his mind become fuzzy and black dots appeared in his vision. 

The pain was unbearable.
He felt like he could faint at any moment but he hung on. 

Hell if he let them have the last laugh especially that man.

He refused to call him emperor...for him he would always remain a stone faced demon with a shriveled  prune for a heart.

"...eleven... "

He clamped his hands down hard on the hard stone table beneath him. Refusing to faint even as even more black spots apeared in his vision.

With considerable effort he focused on the count down but it only made the end of this nightmare seem so far away. 

"...ten... " The soft voice said shakily. 

Minister Hu's eyes were flickering with pity and nervousness as he  stared at the beautiful boy. 
The boy had already looked so delicate likely from exhaustion and to suffer this kind of torture... He was afraid that he would break in two. 

He had come with the emperor's decree and had thought he would be able to bear it but he gentle nature made it expremely uncomfortable to oversee such brutal punishment.

But it could not  be helped as the trusted minister of the emperor at 29 he had no choice in the matter.

His slightly drooping eyes filled with unrest he uttered as quickly as possible.

"5"

On the other hand Liu Wenhe was too busy to notice his unrest. He was busy cursing the man pressing down on his back. F**k. Did he have to press so hard?

"...one... Zero" Minister Hu sighed. 

Immediately the iron was lifted.

Liu Wenhe slumped down on the stone table.  He lay there unmoving but he had not fainted. His eyes were still open, dazed and blurry with unshed tears of pain. 

Minister Hu stared at him incredulously. How could an ordinary man not faint when subjected to branding for twelve entire seconds?

He realised that the boy hadn't even utterd a whimper of pain much less scream in agony.

He couldn't help but admire the seemingly delicate boy's tenacity.

Minister Hu took out a small golden container and stepped closer to the boy who groggily looked sideways at him. 
Although unfocused those dark eyes slightly lifted at the edges, seemed to pierce his very soul.

His hands slightly shook as he opened the container. 

"The emperor granted consort Liu Wenhe with this salve. It is the most effective for burns and heals surprisingly quickly."

The boy's eyes  regained a bit of it's vitality as they stared at the small container.

"I...thank...his majesty...for his kindness" He crooked out with a small but tired smile. 

Despite the fact that he looked thankful on the outside, on the inside he was having malicious thoughts. 

His kindness my burned arse. 

He didn't need this kind of 'kindness'.
To injure and also be the one to send medicine to cure the injury that he had caused...he detested this kind of two facedness.

This kind of two faced bastard deserved to suffer pain of his fist on his ****. 

He was in pain and he was imagining these kinds of blissful dreams to distract himself from the pain when in the next moment Minister Hu gently touched his burned back with salve covered fingers.

He was immediately lost to the world.