Not yet married, and already injured his waist. Judging by his complexion, the injury seemed serious. This… in the future…
Zhu Pianpian thought bitterly that she must have terrible luck. First, she married a half-dead man, and after so many years of marriage, she was still untouched. Damn it, was she destined to remain a virgin forever?
She was shrewd and selfish, first thinking of her future happiness, but also foolish, never considering that changing to another man would solve the problem.
“Let me see,” Zhu Pianpian said resolutely after her internal wailing.
“Ahem,” Li Qingzhi cleared his throat awkwardly, looking around to find others maintaining their composure as if they hadn’t understood. He thought to himself that his skin was still too thin.
Whether others understood was secondary; the key was that the innocent party involved hadn’t thought in that direction at all. Seeing Zhu Pianpian’s face turn green, Sheng Changyong felt warm and sweet inside, thinking Pianpian was such a good woman to care so much about him! So despite his usual shyness, he blushed and lifted his clothes to let her see, comforting her, “It’s fine, just a flesh wound.”
An Jiu leaned in to take a look.
Zhu Pianpian quickly covered Sheng Changyong’s clothes. “Couldn’t you announce yourself before coming in?”
An Jiu turned and went out, raising her hand to knock on the door frame. “You’re not doing anything indecent, are you? If not, I’m coming in, okay?”
Zhu Pianpian wanted to stop her but was rendered speechless by this remark.
“What are you coming in for?” Zhu Pianpian said irritably. “Our Changyong is injured like this, and you have the nerve to wander around here? Haven’t you seen how everyone else has withdrawn?”
An Jiu went to the corner to retrieve the Fulong bow, then turned and held out her hand. “Storage fee!”
Zhu Pianpian was stunned. “What storage fee?”
“You didn’t pay me a protection fee, so why should I be your man’s bodyguard?” An Jiu sneered.
Sheng Changyong didn’t mind what An Jiu said; at that critical moment, she was the first to think of protecting him.
“You!” Zhu Pianpian worked as Chu Dingjiang’s chief manager with a considerable annual salary. Finding nothing to say, she could only fume, “Heartless!”
“If you can find someone who can’t fight, why don’t you have the ability to tie him to your waistband?” An Jiu added leisurely, nearly making Zhu Pianpian faint with anger.
Before leaving, An Jiu finally offered some consolation, “Regarding the waist injury, it’s best if Warehouse Keeper Sheng is fine. If he happens to develop some chronic condition and can’t work, you’re so capable, you can just take over. Cross that bridge when you come to it, don’t worry too much.”
Zhu Pianpian’s face turned bright red. “Mei Shisi!”
“Huh, I’m giving you some serious advice. Why are you blushing?” An Jiu looked at her puzzled, stepping over the threshold.
Zhu Pianpian rushed forward to close the door. On the bed, Sheng Changyong seemed not to have understood An Jiu’s words at all, looking at Zhu Pianpian with eyes full of tenderness.
Seeing this, Zhu Pianpian felt relieved and sat down by the bed. She instructed Sheng Changyong, “Don’t pay attention to her in the future!”
“Fourteen, does Sister Zhu have a lot of land at home?” Lou Xiaowu asked.
An Jiu shook her head.
Lou Xiaowu asked confusedly, “Then what’s all this talk about labor? At worst, Mr. Sheng can still earn money by selling his calligraphy! Mr. Sheng’s handwriting is so beautiful!”
“Where’s Dajiu?” An Jiu needed to train it properly, while also feeling a bit dissatisfied with Mo Sigui. Look at how he had trained a tiger! Indeed, like a master, like a pet.
“Huh, it was just here a moment ago,” Lou Xiaowu said, looking around without finding a trace of An Jiu’s pet.
Roar—
An earth-shattering tiger’s roar tore through the mist, seeming to shake even the ground. A mountain wind suddenly rose, and the rain fell more urgently.
“What’s happening?” Sui Yunzhu’s expression changed slightly.
Everyone understood Dajiu’s nature; even calling it gentle would be an exaggeration. It was more like a little white rabbit than a tiger, never having let out such an angry roar before.
An Jiu was also startled. Was it encountering an enemy or evolving?
The group quickly descended the mountain, rushing towards the source of the sound.
The leaves in the forest seemed to respond to Dajiu’s emotions, rustling noisily, disturbing everyone’s peace of mind.
The group’s footsteps became more urgent.
In a few breaths’ time, they found Dajiu. It lay motionless on the ground, like a corpse. Everyone remained on high alert.
An Jiu released her spiritual power to scan the surroundings. “There’s no one here.”
Everyone relaxed slightly.
An Jiu walked around to Dajiu’s front. Hearing footsteps, Dajiu listlessly raised its eyes. Its chubby tiger face was written all over with two words—despair.
“Dajiu, what’s wrong?” An Jiu crouched down.
Dajiu’s ears drooped as it glanced at a cluster of tender sprouts before it, utterly disheartened.
The medicine boy, with the weakest lightness skill, arrived last.
“Little Medicine, come see if it’s sick,” An Jiu said.
The medicine boy approached, panting. Seeing the cluster of sprouts, he smiled and said, “I understand now.”
“Is this Dream Flower?” Sui Yunzhu asked.
“Yes,” the medicine boy said. “Dajiu only eats poisonous things and has been craving Dream Flower for a long time. Before Master left this time, he gave it a small package. It likes to bury things, so maybe the Dream Flower sprouted… Once sprouted, Dream Flower loses almost all of its toxicity.”
“Ha!” An Jiu laughed out loud. “You truly live up to your reputation as a fool!”
Dajiu already felt that tiger life had lost all meaning and had no interest in arguing with these unkind humans.
“Dajiu Master hid your food under the bed in the medicine room,” the medicine boy crouched in front of Dajiu, explaining with gestures.
Dajiu roughly understood that delicious food was in the medicine room. Immediately energized, it turned and rushed back like the wind.
The atmosphere in the room was delightful, with even the air seeming sweet.
Sheng Changyong cupped the back of Zhu Pianpian’s neck with one hand, his lips gently kissing and nibbling her soft, pink lips.
Just as the two were kissing passionately, the door was suddenly slammed open. A huge shadow darted into the room, rummaging around as if no one else was there, its nose pressed to the ground, sniffing.
Zhu Pianpian shuddered and let out a shrill scream.
The group in the forest, knowing the young lovers were having a tender reunion, had considerately walked slowly to give them some intimate time. However, after walking just a short distance, they saw Zhu Pianpian standing halfway up the mountain with her hands on her hips, shouting angrily, “Like master, like pet! Mei Shisi, control your tiger!”
An Jiu clicked her tongue. “Isn’t Dajiu’s master Mo Sigui?”
“I didn’t expect Miss Zhu to be so fierce. Changyong is going to be eaten alive,” Li Qingzhi sighed.
An Jiu said, “That’s because you don’t understand Warehouse Keeper Sheng.”
Who was Sheng Changyong? He was the person who compiled all sorts of gossip from across the land. An Jiu had seen the Konghe Academy’s reports, written in great detail, almost like storybooks. As the saying goes, “Even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen pigs run.” An Jiu didn’t believe he was ignorant of amorous affairs. Although he was indeed a bit shy and slow to react to matters between men and women, he was quite shrewd.
“It’s hard to say who will be the boss,” An Jiu said.
“That will indeed be interesting to see,” Sui Yunzhu said with a smile.
When they returned to the medicine room, Dajiu was already lying under the bed with a round belly, all four paws in the air, contentedly burping.
“Miss Zhu, how is the situation in the city?” Sui Yunzhu couldn’t help but ask.
“How would I, a mere commoner, know?” Zhu Pianpian was still upset, so her tone wasn’t pleasant. “However, before I left the city, I went to see Aunt Mei. She said the Emperor’s passing was just a matter of days. Many court officials have been forced to choose sides. The Hua family has sided with the Second Prince. The Second Prince doesn’t have much chance of winning. I don’t know what the Hua family is thinking!”
“Why would the Hua family suddenly support the Second Prince?” Ling Ziyue asked, puzzled. Having been at the border for years, he wasn’t very well-informed about court matters, but he knew that although the Hua family hadn’t explicitly stated their position, they had always leaned towards supporting the eldest legitimate son’s succession.
Sheng Changyong said, “Hua Rongtian has long been secretly supporting the Second Prince. The Second Prince is not the legitimate heir, and his strength is no match for the Crown Prince. To succeed to the throne, he must sacrifice a lot. The Hua family is trying to secure a future for themselves.”
Sui Yunzhu sighed, “There are many cases of ‘when the birds are gone, the bow is put away.’ Surely the Hua family doesn’t think that by fully supporting the Second Prince’s ascension to the throne, they can protect their entire family in the future!”
“What if the Hua family cuts their wings?” Sheng Changyong asked in return.
The reason the Emperor was wary of the Hua family was that their roots in the Great Song dynasty were too deep and vast, already showing signs of threatening imperial power. If the Hua family sacrificed seventy percent of their power to help the Second Prince ascend to the throne, even if the Second Prince worried about the Hua family’s potential to overshadow the throne, he wouldn’t rush to “kill the donkey after the grinding is done” due to public opinion.
“Great families are truly frightening!” Li Qingzhi couldn’t help but sigh.
For the vast majority of people, there is no gain without sacrifice. If one wants to stand above tens of thousands, one must consider what price one can pay. The glory and survival of families like the Hua clan are inevitably built upon the accumulated bones of their clan members.