Yun Ye and Cheng Chumo were working hard to train Niu Jianhu. Nothing else—they had tied Niu Jianhu’s hands to a horizontal bar with only his toes touching the ground, similar to Zhazidong torture. Yun Ye held a horse whip, and based on humanitarianism had tied a small piece of fur to the whip’s tip, occasionally lashing Niu Jianhu’s intact right foot to prevent him from using it for leverage. Cheng Chumo enthusiastically used the bamboo stick in his hand to harass Little Niu’s buttocks.
Little Niu was like a righteous martyr full of noble spirit, mouth tightly closed, face flushed red, eyes shooting out hateful glares. His bound hands clenched into fists, teeth grinding with squeaking sounds. His left prosthetic foot, fitted with an exquisitely crafted soft leather boot, touched the ground—this was the only point supporting his body. Over seven days he had already become skilled at using the prosthetic limb to walk, just couldn’t run yet.
After examination, Yun Ye believed it was a psychological problem. Niu Jianhu always didn’t accept that the prosthetic limb was part of his body, being overly protective of his left foot. This wouldn’t do—it completely failed to utilize the prosthetic’s function. Back in the day, Yun Ye had seen mildly disabled people with severed feet at the Paralympics running extremely fast on the competition field—he himself couldn’t catch up no matter what. There was no reason why Niu Jianhu could only walk and not run.
“Brother Jianhu, today you’ve fallen into our brothers’ hands—don’t expect to escape intact. We came today specifically to avenge yesterday’s grudge of you treating us to Hami melon. Now, whoever mentions Hami melon in front of me is my enemy. All of Chang’an knows this joke about me, Marquis Yun, yet you deliberately used it to mock me. Truly hateful! Chumo, use some strength—didn’t you eat?” Yun Ye had a small willow twig in his mouth, speaking in a roguish manner.
“Little Ye, you don’t know—Brother Jianhu’s buttocks are quite plump, even bigger than Madam Yao, the madam of Yanlai Tower. This younger brother plans to appreciate them slowly.” Having said this, he gave another stroke with the stick. The brothers ignored Niu Jianhu’s roars, giggling and teasing Little Niu.
He was a military household’s son after all. With a great roar and straining both arms, the rope that wasn’t tied very securely to begin with immediately broke. Yun Ye and Cheng Chumo saw things were bad and took to their heels while Niu Jianhu was untying the ropes on his body.
Niu Jianhu shouted “I’m going to beat you two bastards to death” while chasing closely behind. Fleeing from the Niu family martial arts field, through the back garden, darting through the flower hall, knocking over the Niu family’s flower stand, shattering Madam Niu’s beloved vase, they escaped past the dumbstruck Niu Jinda and Madam Niu.
Niu Jinda was about to scold them when he saw his son roaring in like a mad tiger. Without answering, he chased out like a gust of wind.
“Husband, was that Hu’er who just ran out? This concubine didn’t see wrong?” Madam Niu asked Old Niu. Old Niu had already recovered his senses and roughly understood what was happening. He laughed heartily: “That’s right, old woman, you didn’t see wrong. Just now it was Hu’er chasing those two boys to kill them. Mm, ran quite fast indeed. Ha ha ha!”
Bursting through the Niu family’s side gate, they rushed into the street, not knowing whose procession was clearing the street. Broad-shouldered, thick-waisted guards filled both sides of the street. Seeing two boys recklessly rush out, they shouted and surrounded them, horizontal blades unsheathed in a flash of bright steel. Just as they were about to capture these two assassins, Niu Jianhu unexpectedly charged out as well, sending people tumbling. Needless to say, all three brothers were captured.
The murderous-looking guard captain, fully armored, ran over with armor plates clanging. Veins bulged on his sword-gripping hand—he was quite angry. Just as he was about to interrogate them, he discovered he recognized all three of these assassins. The fury on his face disappeared in an instant, faster than Sichuan opera face-changing.
An acquaintance! Yun Ye was secretly regretting when he unexpectedly encountered the palace guard captain who had once sought his advice. This made things easier. A big smile appeared on his face: “So it’s Brother Liu! We three brothers were just fooling around and unintentionally collided with the procession. Could Brother Liu show mercy considering we brothers are young and ignorant?”
“I thought they were assassins—turns out it’s Marquis Yun, Young Master Cheng, and Young Marquis Niu. Of course we brothers can work this out easily. It’s just that Her Majesty already knows. This brother will go report immediately and ask Her Majesty to calm down. Hopefully Her Majesty won’t take offense.”
Good heavens! The person Yun Ye feared seeing most was Li’er at number one, and ranked second was the Empress. Who else could be the empress whose procession was accompanied by Li’er’s personal bodyguards besides Empress Zhangsun? Falling into her hands today, Yun Ye no longer hoped for a good outcome.
The three brothers hung their heads waiting to be dealt with. At least the guards gave them face and didn’t bind them. Before long, word came from ahead—Her Majesty wanted to conveniently pay a visit to Madam Niu and ordered that the three audacious boys be brought back to the Niu residence for further disposition.
Old Niu and Madam Niu had long since received reports from household servants and waited at the main gate to respectfully welcome the Empress’s grand carriage.
In the warm room, Madam Niu conversed very harmoniously with the Empress, with laughter occasionally coming out. This somewhat comforted the three brothers’ anxious hearts. The warm room door opened and Madam Niu walked out, forcefully tapping her finger on each of the three heads. She had the three brothers follow her inside.
Upon entering, Cheng Chumo prostrated on the ground to pay respects to the Empress. This boy, usually dull-headed and slow-witted, was more perceptive than Yun Ye and Niu Jianhu at this moment. Following Cheng Chumo, they paid respects to Zhangsun, not daring to raise their heads.
“You three stand up and let this palace get a good look at what kind of three audacious boys you are.” The voice carried the unique majesty of royalty while not losing feminine gentleness. Compared to Li Chengqian, she was eight streets ahead.
Grandmother hadn’t been wrong—she was an extremely beautiful woman. As she spoke, the red phoenix facing the sun golden hairpin on her head didn’t move a fraction. Below two curved eyebrows was a pair of pitch-black eyes showing no expression, her face suffused with a faint smile. She wore a blue embroidered soft robe, holding a tea bowl while examining the three brothers. Her gaze fixed on Yun Ye as she lightly parted her cherry lips: “You must be the great and famous Marquis Lantian, Yun Ye?”
“This humble subject dares not accept such praise. Today this small subject was truly discourteous. Please let Your Majesty mete out punishment.” He didn’t dare speak glibly—honestly begging for punishment was best.
Empress Zhangsun didn’t speak or comment. She carefully looked at Niu Jianhu’s leg again, seeing him standing steadily without a trace of disability, and curiously asked Madam Niu: “Sister Niu, this younger sister remembers that Jianhu had an accident on horseback several years ago and injured his foot. How is he now perfectly fine? Could it be the rumors were mistaken?”
Bringing this up made Madam Niu so happy her eyes smiled into crescents: “Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern. Jianhu indeed injured his left foot and sat on his couch for nearly five years. If it weren’t for Little Ye’s great ability in making him two feet, I’m afraid he still wouldn’t be able to stand now.”
“Oh? There’s such a strange matter? This younger sister has never witnessed such a thing.” Zhangsun was very surprised. No matter how supremely intelligent she was, she couldn’t imagine human feet could be made. How could flesh and blood be recreated? That was an immortal’s ability. Looking at the Yun family boy who seemed quite ordinary, how could he have such heaven-defying abilities?
Since the Empress wanted to see, Madam Niu bent down to lift Niu Jianhu’s robe, felt it improper, put it back down, and instructed the steward to fetch the other foot from the young master’s room. Before long the foot was brought and placed on the kang table. Zhangsun lightly poked the prosthetic with her finger, felt it was very elastic, then held it in her hand to gauge the weight. After roughly estimating, she said: “Does changing to such a prosthetic foot affect walking, sitting, or lying down?”
Niu Jianhu hurriedly said: “Reporting to Your Majesty, since this subject installed the prosthetic limb, walking, sitting, and lying down are completely unaffected. The prosthetic uses soft materials and is very comfortable after installation. Just now this subject was playing and chasing with Marquis Yun and Chumo, which is how we collided with the procession. This subject is the oldest and didn’t exercise restraint, leading them in foolishness. Please let Your Majesty punish this subject alone.”
The trusted female official beside her chimed in: “Your Majesty, just now when you were in the phoenix carriage you didn’t see—Young Marquis Niu ran extremely fast and crashed headlong into the guard formation. That really sent people tumbling!”