2 Chapter 2

"Master."

When Xie Yutang uttered the words "make people do dogs," everyone fell into an eerie silence.

Although Su Xiaoshizi's status was usually lower than Wu Zhui's, Princess Ning'an was the first to say it so openly.

Lin Tan fell into deep thought.

Su Lu, the study companion, is not talkative and easy to use. He can also write political essays and classics for Xie Yutang to deal with the teachers at the school. If Xie Yutang really takes him away, it will be difficult to find someone to fill the gap for a while.

"Insolence!" Lin Tan said, feigning anger. "No matter what, Prince Su is a member of the Muqing Prince's Mansion. How dare you treat him like this?"

Xie Yutang gave a soft "Oh": "Now you remember he's from the Muqing Prince's Mansion? So, the fact that he was almost slapped by your servant just now wasn't considered a disgrace?"

"you!"

Lin Tan was so angry that she was about to lose her composure.

Everyone inside the palace knows that Princess Ning'an, the most favored princess, has suppressed all her pride for Lin Tan and is completely obedient to him. This is what he is most proud of. But today, Xie Yutang actually embarrassed him in front of everyone for the sake of a dog.

Xie Yutang pretended not to see his increasingly ugly expression, sheathed his knife, and twirled a strand of hair around his neck: "Today I will definitely get an explanation. Either he dies, or I take this person with me."

Xiao Fuzi, whose name was called, trembled with fear. Su Lu remained kneeling there with his eyes down, his face expressionless.

Lin Tan gritted his teeth; he had absolutely no choice!

If Xiao Fuzi dies here today, who will dare to serve a master like him in the future? But he is unwilling to let Su Lu go like this.

Lin Tan pondered for a while and said, "How about this, let's ask Prince Su whether he wants to stay with you or me, and let him choose for himself."

This was a very clever way of putting it, and it fit his image as a kind and tolerant person.

Upon hearing this, everyone lost interest. Everyone knew that the Third Prince was renowned for his virtue, and only a fool would choose that crazy woman, Xie Yutang.

Those who were watching the spectacle brushed the snow off themselves and were about to leave when a clear, crisp male voice steadily rang out from the wind and snow.

Like a stone thrown into an ancient well, or a horse trampling a flat plain, it froze everyone in place.

He meant—"Princess."

Xie Yutang was also stunned for a moment. He was prepared to snatch the person away, but he didn't expect him to choose him.

She looked at the man with his eyes lowered and his expression amused: "Coming here means you have to be my dog, have you thought it through?"

Su Lu did not answer, but silently got up and walked to the nanmu coffin containing Wu Zhui's body.

A palace servant tried to stop them, but Xie Yutang raised his hand to stop him.

The boy's slender fingers lifted a blood-stained gold chain from the coffin—it was a chain that Xie Yutang had specially made for Wu Zhui.

With a rustling sound, he personally wrapped the chain around his jade-colored neck and locked it in place.

Then, the boy knelt down in front of Xie Yutang, his palms clasped together, holding the other end of the gold chain.

The wind and snow were still, and all was silent.

Everyone was shocked by this scene, and then they all frantically stole glances at the Third Prince's face.

Lin Tan forced a smile, but her hands, hidden in her wide sleeves, were already clenched into fists, trembling from the excessive force.

His own study companion knelt in front of a woman in public, holding up an iron chain and saying he wanted to be a dog. This was a slap in the face to the Third Prince, Lin Tan!

Lin Tan used all his acting skills, took a deep breath, walked up to Su Lu, bent down and said gently, "Young Master Su, don't be afraid. With me backing you up, no one can force you to do anything you don't want to do."

"That's right, Prince Su. One is to be a human being, the other is to be a dog. Have you thought it through?"

"The Third Prince has always been gentle and kind, so please don't do anything rash!"

"It will be too late to regret it then!"

Su Lu's face remained expressionless, he simply lowered his eyes and let Xie Yutang scrutinize him with his probing gaze.

Only when the voices of the crowd gradually subsided did she speak softly: "A dog, yet the princess valued it more than the Third Prince, which shows affection; the dog died, yet the princess went to great lengths to seek justice for it, which shows righteousness; moreover, who in this world does not know that Princess Ning'an enjoys the Emperor's favor and is a first-class noble in this imperial city?"

"In the next generation of commoners, those of lowly status who aspire to climb the social ladder will naturally seize the opportunity to gain the favor of the affectionate, righteous, and wealthy Princess Ning'an."

The young man's deep and serene voice rang out steadily through the wind and snow, speaking words of flattery, yet possessing an air of refined nobility.

"Better to be a rich dog than a poor person."

"Your Highness, I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you."

The vast Happy Valley fell silent.

Even the wind seemed to stop for a moment.

Everyone looked at Xiao Fuzi, who was lying on the ground with his pants soaked in urine, and then at Su Lu, who was kneeling steadily in front of Xie Yutang, holding the gold chain around his neck in his hands.

For a moment, I found his words to make a lot of sense.

Xie Yutang suddenly smiled and said, "Well said, 'Better to be a rich dog than a poor person.'"

Her slender, pale fingertips lightly touched the gold chain, and then slowly, she gripped the chain tightly in her hand.

Although Lin Tan was not favored, he was still of imperial blood and was used to being fawned over by his servants. He had never suffered such a humiliation. However, due to his usual gentle and kind image, he could not immediately lash out in front of everyone.

The master can't easily lash out, but the lackey can.

"Bah! You lowly bastard! His Highness Lin Tan kindly advised you, and you dare to be so ungrateful!"

Xie Yutang looked in the direction of the voice and, sure enough, it was Tan Cenguang, the son of Tan Shouzhen, the Minister of Rites.

In his previous life, this person was the most eager of all of Lin Tan's lackeys. After Lin Tan ascended the throne, this scoundrel gained power and, relying on his skills, bullied the people, forcibly took women from the commoners, and even forced the eldest daughter of a sixth-rank civil official to her death. His infamy was so great that even I, living deep in the palace, had heard of it.

Tan Cengguang's outburst immediately drew a large number of his lackeys to his side, and a group of them stood at the Happy Valley exit, blocking Xie Yutang's path.

They were all petty people who couldn't curry favor with the Crown Prince, so they colluded with Lin Tan instead.

Lin Tan's expression finally softened a bit. He straightened his wide sleeves, regained his composure, and waited for Xie Yutang to apologize to him.

He did go a bit too far with what Wu Zhui did, but it's alright. He can leave her out for a few days and then find an excuse to say a few nice words to her another day.

Women are always easily swayed and can't resist being coaxed. In the end, they'll still have to obediently return to his side and let him do whatever he wants.

Lin Tan was calculating his options, just waiting for Xie Yutang to beg him.

But Xie Yutang didn't even glance in his direction.

She simply bent down, removed the clasp between the chain and the collar, and gently patted Su Lu's face as if stroking Wu Zhui: "Do you know what a good dog looks like?"

Her tone was very soft and gentle.

Like snow falling silently to the earth.

Su Lu's thick, lowered eyelashes trembled slightly.

The next instant, the boy stood up, took the sword from his waist along with its sheath, and held it in his hand.

The situation reversed in an instant.

Tan Cengguang and his group looked at each other, seeing hesitation and retreat in each other's eyes.

They originally only wanted to make a good impression on Lin Tan, hoping that Princess Ning'an would back down and the Third Prince would save face. That would have been a happy ending for everyone. But who knew that Princess Ning'an would just flip the table?

"Squeak—"

The sound of a rusty iron gate scraping against the snow came abruptly. Everyone turned around and saw Xie Yutang locking the iron gate of Happy Valley.

The girl shook the huge iron lock, as if to check if it was sturdy enough. After getting a satisfactory result, she patted the snow off her fingers and smiled brightly at everyone.

An inopportune word popped into Tan Cengguang's mind:

Close the door and unleash the dogs.

Su Lu stood quietly in the snow. He was no different from the boy who had knelt on the ground and let them beat and bully him a quarter of an hour ago, but he seemed completely different.

The chain around his neck, like some kind of talisman, unlocked the seal of the evil spirit.

For the first time, he made a move.

The sword was not drawn, yet the chilling killing intent raged uncontrollably.

Tan Cengguang grew increasingly alarmed as the battle progressed, as if he were facing not a human, but a demon crawling out of hell, a killing god forged from a pile of corpses—every move was flawless, and every strike meant certain death.

He had only vaguely sensed this aura on one person.

He was an old soldier under my father's command. That old soldier had experienced the most brutal battle since the founding of the Great Yan State. Of the 70,000 soldiers, less than 100 survived. When people dug him out of the pile of dead bodies, his hand holding the knife was half a skeleton, and the blade was stuck in the gap between his finger bones, and they couldn't pull it out no matter what they did.

A scream rang in my ears; the last of my comrades had been shot in the back of the heart and fell into the snow with a scream.

Before he could react, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, and his knees were swept across from behind with incredible speed. He fell face-first into the snow, and the knife in his hand rolled to the ground.

Tan Cengguang suddenly realized that they had drawn their knives at some point and were using the methods for killing people!

No matter how unfavored the other party was, he was still the young heir of the Muqing Prince's Mansion. If they had really killed someone here, and the Emperor had investigated later, none of them would have escaped. Fortunately—

The boy's sword remained sheathed throughout, ending the farce with overwhelming superiority, sweeping away the fallen leaves like an autumn wind, and even managing to avoid seriously injuring anyone—but—

The snowfield was a mess, with some people lying on their backsides howling, others face-planting in the mud like a dog, and still others with a big hole in their underwear revealing their bright red underwear.

It's not very harmful, but extremely insulting.

Decisive in action, unpredictable in strength, and well-founded in advance and retreat, he understood the superior's intentions clearly with just a glance.

Xie Yutang looked at the obedient boy kneeling before him again, head bowed and eyes lowered. Satisfied, he fastened the gold chain in his hand back onto the collar around the boy's neck, shook his wrist, and said with pleasure, "Let's go back."

*

Everyone in the princess's residence was quite frightened when Xie Yutang brought back a living person. Huai Jin, who was waiting in the front hall, was even more shocked and almost shook off the fox fur cloak she was wearing: "Miss, what is this...?"

Many people in the mansion came from the old Xie Prince's Mansion with Xie Yutang. The mistress and servant grew up together since childhood and had a very deep bond. They also continued to address Xie Yutang as "Miss" as they had in the past.

Xie Yutang let Woyu drape a cloak over his shoulders, accepted the hot tea offered by the servants, and instructed, "Huaijin, go to the Imperial Hospital and invite Imperial Physician Liu here."

He then said to Huaijin, "You still have Wu Zhui's recipes. Follow those recipes, and make sure his diet is no worse than Wu Zhui's."

Who "he" is is self-evident.

Huai Jin looked at the young man standing quietly in the corner, her face showing difficulty: "Miss, I'm afraid this is... against etiquette."

"What's wrong with us?" Xie Yutang sat down in the carved mahogany chair and placed the teacup on the table. "He's still my dog, isn't it reasonable for him to eat better?"

Xie Yutang deliberately confused "propriety" and "reason." Huaijin didn't know what her young lady was up to, but once she made a decision, no one could change it. She could only sigh and remain silent.

Physician Liu was an acquaintance of Xie Yutang. Xie Yutang suffered the massacre of his family when he was young, which made him depressed. In addition, he was not used to the water and soil when he first entered the palace, and he would often have fever and faint. He relied on Physician Liu to take good care of him.

Imperial Physician Liu placed his fingers on Su Lu's wrist pulse, pondered for a moment, and said, "Could you please excuse me, Princess?"

Xie Yutang raised an eyebrow.

Imperial Physician Liu stopped there: "Princess, Prince Su's pulse is fine, he's just a little weak in qi and blood. He'll need to rest and recuperate properly, and with some dietary therapy, he'll be fine. It's just that the prince's external injuries..."

A fresh whip mark was faintly visible where the chain was tied around Su Lu's neck.

Xie Yutang saw the whip marks when she arrived at Happy Valley. When she arrived, Tan Cengguang and his gang were beating and bullying the boy. They were obviously repeat offenders. At that time, Xie Yutang guessed that he had a lot of old injuries, so the first thing she did when she returned was to ask Imperial Physician Liu to come and take a look.

Physician Liu must have thought of this as well, which is why he suggested that Su Lu remove his upper garment to make the examination easier.

"Then take them off. I'll be here watching."

Xie Yutang's words startled the surrounding palace servants once again.

Huaijin advised, "Miss, although it is to treat the injury of Prince Su, it still requires... to undress. You have not yet chosen a consort, and it is already late. If this matter is exaggerated and spread by someone with ulterior motives, it may damage your reputation."

Xie Yutang tapped his chin with his finger: "That's true."

Huai Jin thought she had listened to her advice and breathed a sigh of relief, but then Xie Yutang said, "Wo Yu, give the order that anyone who dares to gossip about the injury examination today, or whose rumors tarnish the reputation of Prince Su, will have their tongue cut out."

Woyu solemnly accepted the order and immediately went to carry it out.

Huai Jin hesitated for a moment, about to persuade him again, when he heard a soft clanging of chains. Su Lu lowered his eyes, his well-defined fingers already tearing open his collar.

Clear and concise, sharp and capable.

This is the first impression Su Lu's body gives.

His skin was very white, like delicate white porcelain covered with a thin layer of snow; it seemed that if you applied too much pressure, you would leave a reddish mark on it.

But this body was also full of tension, with thin muscles taut against the bones, new wounds covering old ones, some from whipping, some from knife cuts, some from beatings with boards...

But these scars did not make the body look grotesque; instead, they added a contradictory vulnerability that made viewers want to further abuse it.

The maid who was nearby hurriedly looked away, her face flushed as she looked elsewhere.

Xie Yutang stared at his injury without any hesitation: "Can I use Jade Skin Ointment?"

Jade Skin Cream is a legendary medicine from the Xie family. General Xie always carried this with him when he was fighting abroad.

Physician Liu was slightly surprised. The herbs required for this Jade Skin Cream were extremely precious, and the preparation process was also extremely complicated. It was no exaggeration to say that it was worth a thousand gold pieces. Even General Xie was reluctant to use too much of it back then.

“That would be excellent. Jade Skin Ointment can stop bleeding and promote tissue regeneration, and it also has analgesic effects. There is no better medicine than this. However…” Imperial Physician Liu paused slightly, then tentatively said, “If I remember correctly, the Princess’s residence may not have enough Jade Skin Ointment. If we were to order more, the money would probably be…”

Xie Yutang waved his hand dismissively: "The money will go through the Princess's private account. You can go with Huaijin to collect it after today's business is finished."

He then said to Huaijin, "There is still half a bottle of Jade Skin Cream in the storeroom. Go and get it now."

Huaijin knew he couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he accepted the order and left.

Imperial Physician Liu realized that the princess had taken a liking to Prince Su, and his men became even more cautious.

The whip mark on Su Lu's chest was from Tan Cengguang's horsewhip. The whip was covered in barbs, and each lash inevitably tore the flesh apart. After the fight just now, the wound had reopened and was now bleeding.

Xie Yutang felt he wasn't professional enough in cleaning the wound, so he watched from the side. Only after Imperial Physician Liu had completely cleaned the wound with boiled hot water did he wave his hand and dismiss everyone.

Everyone was numb and withdrew without saying a word.

Xie Yutang washed her hands in the basin of water before sitting down next to Su Lu with the medicine bottle in her hand.

He picked some with his finger and applied it to the wound under his collarbone.

Su Lu had remained silent in front of everyone, letting Xie Yutang give orders. Now that only the two of them were left in the room, he finally tried to speak.

Are you trying to say that your life is worthless and not worth the princess's trouble?

Xie Yutang's hands kept moving, and he even imitated the tone of voice perfectly.

Su Lu lowered his eyes, it seemed that what he said was right.

"You belong to me. I can give you whatever I want, even mountains of gold and silver, and you'll have to accept it."

When Su Lu heard such shocking words for the first time, he was stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but lower his head and chuckle.

Hsieh Yu-tang asked, "Does it hurt?"

"fine."

She didn't say anything, but deliberately pressed the ointment onto the wound. Su Lu gasped and obediently said, "It hurts."

Xie Yutang smiled with satisfaction, immediately softening his grip and gently blowing air onto the wound.

Su Lu felt a shiver rise from the depths of his heart, a tingling sensation that ran from his spine to the top of his head, leaving him stiff and unable to move.

The small patch of skin on my chest that had been blown on felt like it had been branded with a hot iron.

He deeply regretted saying "pain," wishing she had hit him harder; even excruciating pain would have been better than his current predicament.

What's even more terrifying is that when Xie Yutang leaned over, a few strands of hair fell down, the ends of which brushed against the back of his hand resting on his lap.

The fragrance of orchids gently enveloped him, and the pain from his wounds subsided, but what followed was a tingling, numbing sensation that sent shivers down his spine.

The boy's taut bowstring stretched taut, but his ears slowly turned red.

He was so close that he could even see her individual, drooping eyelashes.

I was suddenly patted on the waist.

Why are you so tense? Relax.

Su Lu: "..."

Xie Yutang could roughly guess Su Lu's current state.

She had discovered in her past life that he was easily swayed and blushed at the slightest provocation.

At first, she praised his triumphant return; then she toasted him at the banquet; and then, amidst the clamor of the crowd, she called him "Minister Su"; or even, it was a casual glance from her.

She once smiled at Lin Tan in front of him and said, "It's time to arrange a marriage for Minister Su." This youngest and most handsome general in Da Yan had always been single, and he would even blush in front of a woman like her.

And now, what she wants is for him to blush.

Xie Yutang knew she wasn't a good person; she was selfish, calculating, and even her few acts of kindness were ulterior motives.

In this life, she is determined to establish herself as empress, and she must firmly grasp military power. Su Lu is the first blade she is determined to obtain.

She was deliberately teasing him, and with the help of applying the medicine, she slid her fingertips across the hollow of his collarbone.

"Master." Su Lu squeezed her wrist briefly, then quickly released it. Although he didn't say anything, his trembling voice was already a plea for mercy.

This was the first time he addressed her, not as "princess" or "miss," but as "master."

Xie Yutang raised an eyebrow.

“Now that you have acknowledged me as your master, Princess, you are now my master.” Su Lu explained, his eyes lowered, the tips of his ears completely red. “If you don’t like this title—”

“I like it,” Xie Yutang said. “I really like this title, as well as the sound and the way you say those two words.”

For every word she spoke afterward, his head drooped even lower. Unable to bear it any longer, his doe-like eyes glanced at her quickly before darting back down, a sight that stirred Xie Yutang's heartstrings.

Enough, I won't tease him anymore.

She withdrew her hand and said in a low voice, "What I value most is loyalty. From now on, you may speak freely about anything."

Upon hearing this, Su Lu's lowered eyelashes trembled slightly: "Yes."

Xie Yutang was pleased with his obedience: "What classes will we have at school tomorrow?"

“Lecturing and archery.”

After Xie Yutang finished applying the last ointment to the wound, he slowly sealed the porcelain bottle: "I'll go with you."