His Punishment to Keep

Chapter 2: It Was All Mr. Shen's Idea

"Well then, Miss Jian Tong, I hope you'll enjoy your prison life here." Shen Xiujin released her chin, turned, waved his hand, and walked away with effortless nonchalance.

He was getting revenge on her. Jian Tong's face drained of color; she couldn't utter a single word.

The women's prison was far from the peaceful place it appeared to be. On her first night in prison, she was dragged awake from her sleep.

"What do you want?" Jian Tong eyed the circle of inmates surrounding her warily. "Don't get out of hand, or I'll call the guards."

Instead of fear, the female prisoners exchanged glances and burst into loud laughter. The leader, a tough-looking woman, pointed at Jian Tong's face. "What did you say? Call the guards? Ha ha ha... Did I hear that right? You're going to call the guards?" As she spoke, her hand shot out like lightning, slapping Jian Tong hard across the face. "Go ahead! You were going to call the guards, weren't you?"

The blow knocked Jian Tong off balance, her ears ringing.

Supporting herself against the wall with one hand, she steadied herself just in time. Then, unexpectedly, she struck back.

"Smack!"

The slap echoed through the cell, silencing everyone. No one had anticipated this delicate-looking woman would dare fight back.

The burly woman went berserk at the blow, her eyes red as she snarled, "Damn it! You filthy b***h! Girls, beat her! Beat her to a pulp! Mr. Shen said not to hold back! Just make sure you don't kill her!"

Jian Tong was stunned, a sharp pain spreading from her heart to every bone in her body! ...Shen Xiujin! Shen Xiujin!! Mr. Shen ordered... Shen Xiujin!!!

Jian Tong's hands and feet trembled, her heart frozen solid.

No wonder no guards came despite all this commotion. No wonder these fierce, burly female inmates surrounding her were so brazen!

Lifting her gaze to the inmates, she sprang to her feet and sprinted toward the prison gate. Clutching the iron bars, she screamed for help: Help! They're beating me! Save me! Someone, please help!" She knew full well no guards would come, yet she couldn't stop screaming for aid—utterly futile cries!

She was gambling. Gambling that Shen Xiujin hadn't ordered these inmates to "take good care" of her. Even if the odds were minuscule... she still clung to the hope—that Shen Xiujin hadn't dealt her a fatal blow, that he'd spared her.

"Ah...!" Hair yanked violently, she stumbled backward, crashing face-first into the dirt. Jian Tong had never been this utterly defeated!

The next instant, hair-grabbed and dragged upright, she was kicked and beaten, writhing on the ground with muffled moans: "Mmm—"

Jian Tong hadn't gotten the "mercy" she'd hoped for from Shen Xiujin.

She stopped screaming, letting them beat her with fists and feet. All she heard was the sound of their cheerful laughter.

She hadn't cried out for help because she feared the pain or the blows. She'd cried out because she still clung to that tiny spark of hope and illusion in her heart.

When they grew tired of beating her, they simply climbed into bed and fell asleep.

Jian Tong lay sprawled on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes and smearing her face.

She had never been bullied like this before, never been so utterly defeated. All she had done was fall for Shen Xiujin—a man she shouldn't have loved!

Why, when Xia Weiming got into trouble, did she have to bear Shen Xiujin's fury and hatred?

After Xia Weiming's accident, Jian Tong explained to everyone around her, "I never harmed Weiming."

No matter how hard she tried to explain, no one was willing to believe her.

She desperately insisted: It wasn't her who invited Weiming to "Nightfall." Weiming, curious about what a "bar" was like, had asked her to go to "Nightfall."

In others' eyes, she, Jian Tong—the spoiled, flamboyant heiress of the Jian family—was the bold one, while Xia Weiming was innocent, obedient, and timid. How could the latter willingly request to go to a bar, a den of all sorts of people?

She claimed their car broke down en route, explaining her late arrival at Nightfall.

But no one believed her. They called it a cover-up—that she’d deliberately left Xia Weiming alone at Nightfall so the thugs she’d bribed could humiliate her and ruin her reputation.

But she had absolutely no reason to do such a thing. Xia Weiming often told her, "Sister Jiantong, I don't feel that way about Brother Jin."

If Xia Weiming were Shen Xiujin's girlfriend, she, Jiantong, would steer clear of Shen Xiujin! But Weiming didn't like Shen Xiujin, did she?

In everyone's eyes, she, Jiantong, was the vicious female antagonist who committed every conceivable evil deed.

Realizing trouble had erupted, the thugs vanished without a trace. Who knew what remote corner they’d fled to? China was vast—murderers hiding for decades in desolate mountain jungles weren’t unheard of. Jiantong wanted these thugs caught more than anyone.

She let the tears fall freely. From the moment the incident occurred until she entered prison, Jian Tong had clung to the conviction: She was innocent. She had committed no crime.

But now she understood. As long as Shen Xiujin deemed her guilty, she deserved every punishment, every death sentence.

And everything that happened today—it was all Mr. Shen's will.

Jian Tong didn't know that countless more "Mr. Shen's intentions" awaited her in the prison life ahead.

No Jian family, no records, no education, a criminal record... Shen Xiujin had erased every trace of Jian Tong's existence! The Jian Tong of today was merely a criminal identified by the number "926"!

Jian Tong grasped everything, hugging her knees as she curled tighter into herself. ...Shen Xiujin had utterly erased every trace of her existence!

Dawn

"Hey, wake up. Go scrub the toilet..." A female prisoner shoved Jian Tong roughly, then screamed in terror: "Ah! She's dead!"

A bolder inmate rushed over, pressing her finger under Jiantong’s nose. After a long moment, she detected faint breath: "Quiet! She’s still alive! Get the guards!"

Jiantong survived the emergency treatment. But this wasn’t necessarily a blessing. Endless humiliation and relentless torment would drive anyone mad—would… transform a person completely.