Chapter 161 World 7 (9)

Nestled among the peach and plum trees, rows of houses stand side by side, their white-walled, black-tiled courtyards nestled against the riverbank. Such a grand and vast mansion is said to be the highest standard a princess could possess. This demonstrates the emperor's immense favor to Princess Anning. Furthermore, the emperor gifted her with fertile land and shops, ensuring a carefree life.

According to rumors, Princess An Ning, who was raised on a lavish lifestyle, was not only very particular about her food, clothing, and daily expenses, but also highly valued beauty. Even the servants who entered the Princess's mansion and even the boys who did odd jobs were required to have a handsome face and a well-proportioned body.

Princess An Ning was a princess, so naturally she had a bit of a spoiled temperament. Once when hunting, the arrow shot by Princess An Ning was intercepted by two civilians who had mistakenly entered the hunting ground, causing the elk that was about to be caught to escape. Princess An Ning was furious and wanted to punish the two civilians. But when the civilians were brought before her, the younger one was wearing a gray cloth robe and had a gentle and elegant face of a scholar. Seeing this, Princess An Ning did not punish him. However, the prey escaped, and Princess An Ning lost face. How could the anger in her heart dissipate easily? Her eyes fell on another civilian. But her face was calm, and she asked to pull this person away.

If he could capture an elk alive, his life would be spared.

There were many wild animals in the hunting grounds, so the man had to walk into the dense forest alone in order to survive.

By the end of the hunt, Princess An Ning had already forgotten about the incident. Only after her subordinates reminded her did she send guards to search for the person in the dense forest, but they only found a pair of bones.

This matter was widely circulated in the streets, and the rumor that beauty could save lives also spread from Princess An Ning's mansion.

Upon hearing these rumors, Princess An Ning simply frowned, her tone puzzled. "Looking for the elk and getting beaten were clearly his own decisions, so why are you blaming me?"

For Princess An Ning, servants who did something wrong should be punished.

Because the scholar was handsome, she felt relieved and spared him the punishment.

As for the other person, he did not please her, so he deserved punishment.

Princess An Ning leaned back in the chair, and the guards brought the slaves brought back from the Gold and Silver Pavilion to Princess An Ning.

After being carefully groomed and taught by everyone in the Princess's Mansion, Bada learned simple Central Plains dialect.

Bada was wearing a soft cotton robe, which felt completely different from the coarse linen Hu clothing.

Bada looked up at Princess An Ning, his eyes flickering slightly. His journey from this foreign land to the Central Plains had taught him the lesson that "one who understands the times is a true hero." A clear thought emerged in Bada's mind: by pleasing Princess An Ning, he could escape the lowly treatment of a slave.

Princess An Ning lowered her eyelashes and glanced lightly at the mighty Bada, feeling bored.

Compared to Bada, who has an undegraded wild air, she prefers men with delicate looks.

Princess An Ning longed for the pitiful little one who was exquisitely charming but bullied, just waiting for her to reach out and rescue him, and make him her only slave.

Bada took a slight step forward, bent his right knee, and placed his left hand on his chest, performing the foreign etiquette of allegiance.

But Bada's back was straight, and his eyes flashed with an unyielding light.

Such a contrast really aroused the interest of Princess An Ning. She stood up and looked down at Bada.

After Dong Yixiao inquired about Princess An Ning's temperament and learned many rumors about her, he secretly felt fortunate that he did not rashly visit the Princess's Mansion.

According to rumors, Princess An Ning was not cruel or tyrannical. Instead, like many nobles, she did not care about the lives of her servants.

Princess An Ning prioritized her own happiness. Those who angered her would be punished. Those who made mistakes that pleased her would not be punished. Yet, this clear distinction between gratitude and resentment made her even more fearful. After all, it was unknown what angered Princess An Ning and would result in physical pain.

Dong Yixiao wandered in front of Princess An Ning's mansion for a long time, and finally found an opportunity to say a few words to the doorman.

Looking at the handsome face of the doorman, Dong Yixiao thought to himself: The rumors are indeed true. Even the two stone lions guarding outside the gate of the mansion are probably handsome.

Upon hearing that Dong Yixiao was a horse trader who sold slaves, the doorman frowned and remained silent.

It was not until Dong Yixiao stuffed the silver ingot into the doorman's arms and the doorman felt the heavy touch in his palm that he slowly said, "That's really unfortunate. The princess just got a slave. The slave is both submissive and has an innate arrogance.

The princess doesn't seem to have abandoned him yet. If you want to send slaves to the princess's mansion again, I'm afraid it won't work."

Dong Yixiao hurriedly asked, "Even if a slave has a heavenly appearance, he still cannot catch the princess's eye?"

The doorman's eyes froze for a moment, until he confirmed with Dong Yixiao again and again that the slave's appearance was rare. Then the doorman started to think that if he could introduce the slave to Princess An Ning through himself, it would be a credit to win Princess An Ning's favor.

"Wait here for a moment. I will go to the mansion to report to the princess."

Dong Yixiao stood by, his heart full of anticipation. If he could really present Wu Li to Princess An Ning, the reward he would get would definitely be incomparable to what he could get in the slave market.

The doorman walked through the path and met Bada and the princess's personal guard at the corner.

Seeing the doorman's hurried look, the guard asked him if there was anything important.

The doorman knew the identities of the two men, so he did not hide anything and told them everything about the horse merchant wanting to offer slaves.

Before the guard could speak, Bada frowned and asked, "Are you a horse trader traveling in the desert?"

The doorman nodded: "That's right."

During the time he spent in Princess An Ning's mansion, Bada had already realized that the guard in front of him was the one who bought him back from the Gold and Silver Pavilion.

As for the horse merchant waiting outside the mansion, he should be Dong Yixiao.

The slave that Dong Yixiao wanted to present to Princess An Ning was no one else except Wu Li.

Although Bada is a foreigner, he is not a brainless fool. He knows the appearance of Wu Li very well.

Even though he was injured, just by looking at his face, Princess An Ning was moved with sympathy and took good care of Wu Li.

Bada was naturally unwilling to do so. He remembered that when he was imprisoned, he wanted to take advantage of Dong Yixiao's absence to humiliate the delicate Central Plains woman, but he was stopped by Wu Li and was whipped dozens of times by Dong Yixiao.

Bada didn't want the annoying Wu Li to step on his head, nor did he want Dong Yixiao to get what he wanted and make a fortune.

Bada looked at the guard beside him and mentioned casually that the slave Dong Yixiao wanted to offer was Wu Li, who had heterochromia and was brought onto the round platform in the slave market and no one bid for him.

Upon hearing this, the guard's body stiffened. If Princess An Ning nodded in agreement and took Wu Li into the mansion, wouldn't it mean that he was incompetent? Seeing a slave like this in the slave shop, he did not bid for it in silence, and did not report to Princess An Ning after returning to the princess's mansion.

The guard stopped the doorman and asked in a harsh tone: "Where did this slave come from? What is his temperament? Is he capable of hurting anyone?"

The concierge looked terrified and shook his head to indicate that he didn't know.

The guard's eyes were sharp, and his voice was even colder. "How dare you bring him before the princess without knowing anything? What if that slave has a bad temper, harbors ill intentions, and hurts the princess?"

The doorman was not aware of the standards and details of the slave selection process at the Princess's Mansion, so he was frightened by the guard's few words.

These slaves all came from foreign lands and were somewhat wild. How could they be docile and obedient?

After the slaves were selected, they were taken to the princess's mansion and taught properly.

If we can get Princess An Ning's consent, it is possible that we don't need to teach.

However, the doorman was completely unaware of all this. After being scolded by the guards, he lowered his head and prepared to leave.

Seeing the guard leave, Bada whispered a few more words to the doorman.

Outside the Princess's Mansion, what Dong Yixiao was waiting for was not a summons from Princess An Ning, but a doorman with a frosty face and a cold body.

Dong Yixiao stepped forward and asked, "My Lady, would you like to see that slave?"

The doorman had a cold face and drove Dong Yixiao out, his handsome face full of disgust: "What kind of cats and dogs dare to be sent to the princess's mansion?

These are the slaves presented by Princess An Ning's mansion.

Not only must they be docile, but they must also be able to please others. Is it possible for the crude slaves you mentioned to be able to do that?"

Dong Yixiao was slightly stunned. He had never heard of these requests before.

As a horse trader traveling between foreign lands and the Central Plains, Dong Yixiao only needed to bring those slaves back from foreign lands, but he never did anything else like teaching them their temperament.

But looking at the cold expression on the doorman's face, Dong Yixiao knew that it was pointless to say anything more, so he walked away.

Instead of meeting Princess An Ning, he lost a silver ingot and was humiliated by a child. Feeling depressed, Dong Yixiao turned and walked into the tavern. There were only a few wooden tables and low stools scattered around a crudely built table. Dong Yixiao found a seat near the table and sat down. He ordered two small dishes and a pot of strong liquor.

Dong Yixiao didn't touch the side dishes, only drinking the strong liquor. His dark eyebrows were tightly knitted together, and he was worried about the whereabouts of Wu Li at home.

Dong Yixiao would not do anything that would lose him money, and would not let Wu Li stay at home and eat for free.

Dong Yixiao even began to think that if everyone thought Wu Li was unlucky, no one would be willing to take it away.

So he would keep Wu Li and make him a slave to wipe his daughter Baoshan's feet, and let Baoshan do it to him every day so that he could vent his anger.

Dong Yixiao was lost in thought when suddenly the sound of Hu people's music came from the simple stage. The sound was light and pleasant.

Immediately afterwards, a Hu girl dressed in Western clothing slowly walked out from behind the gauze curtain.

Hu Ji was wearing a brightly colored dress covered with sparkling sequins, which sparkled brilliantly as she danced gracefully.

The hem of her skirt just covers her calves, revealing her white ankles. As she spins and dances, she is dazzling.

Hu Ji's graceful waist and generous and enthusiastic posture were like a burning flame, making the originally deserted tavern suddenly become extremely noisy.

Copper coins were thrown onto the table as a reward for Hu Ji.

Even after Hu Ji left the stage, sighs of lingering regret still echoed in the seats.

"Your body is so soft..."

"This tavern actually has such a beautiful view. Watching this dance instantly dispels most of my fatigue..."

"Haha, the Hu Ji dance and music, if you delve into its origins, you will find that it was performed to please the slave master, so naturally it makes you happy."

Dong Yixiao's mind was groggy, and he could only hear the words "pleasing others." In his hazy state, he parted the curtain and bought the Hu costume from the dancing girl.

It's time to let Wu Li learn how to serve a woman.