Chapter 014 Chapter 14

The two brothers' rooms are next to each other. Xue Chen came out of his room and walked a few steps to Gong Jiu's door.

Xiao He was chatting with the maid who was sweeping the floor outside. When she saw Xue Chen, she was stunned for a moment, waved her hand, and said something. The maid left with the broom. Xiao He stepped forward and bowed: "What do you want, my lord?"

Xue Chen: [Hehe.]

System: […]

Xiao He's attitude towards Gong Jiu is not the same as I imagined.

Xue Chen thought they would be closer in private, but now it seems that this is not the case. She was slightly defensive and fearful when facing Gong Jiu, and she was not as relaxed as when facing him.

Gong Jiu's special hobby is really harmful.

Seeing Xue Chen staring at her without saying anything, Xiao He lowered her eyes in fear and asked in a low voice: "Shall I get the whip?"

Xue Chen: [He didn't even let go of the people around me! ]

System: [You know that Gong Jiu has no self-control when he is ill, and he will harm whoever he catches. ]

Xue Chen: [If that were the case, my father would have found out long ago. How could he have kept it a secret for so many years? ]

Xiao He felt very uncomfortable when he was looked at by him. Seeing that Xue Chen's eyes were clear and he didn't seem to be ill, she recalled her words and deeds in the past few days. There was nothing wrong with it, so she knelt on the ground: "I really don't know where I did something wrong, please tell me, my lord."

"It seems that you are hiding something from me." Xue Chen said.

"You...you are...the eldest son..."

"Tell me, what does the whip mean?"

Xiao He collapsed to the ground, she knew she was finished.

She had served Xue Chen for many years and knew that the eldest son had a gentle personality. Even if he was not feeling well, he would be kind to his servants and rarely lose his temper. He was an easy-going person. But no one dared to look down on him. He managed the Taiping Palace in an orderly manner despite his frail body. Although Xue Lian was the prince, he did not care about family affairs. The real power was in the hands of Xue Chen.

More importantly, the prince cared about him very much.

Xiao He knew the prince's illness better than anyone else. The prince tried his best to hide it and did not dare to let the eldest son know.

If she exposed the prince's secret in front of the eldest son, the prince would never let her go!

Xiao He thought a lot in an instant. Her face was pale. She knelt in front of Xue Chen and kowtowed continuously: "I know I was wrong. Please forgive me this time for the sake of my many years of service!"

She kowtowed very hard, and her forehead turned blue.

Xue Chen didn't like her behavior and said in a deep voice: "Stop and speak clearly."

Xiao He was immediately silent and knelt on the ground trembling.

Xue Chen pressed: "What's the matter with the whip?"

System: [Aren't you afraid that after you expose her, Gong Jiu will no longer avoid you when she has an attack and will ask for a whip in front of you?]

Xue Chen: [I won't expose her. I just use this opportunity to pull her to my side. 】

Xiao He: "I, I admire the prince... I am so beautiful that I want to seduce him... The whip is..."

Xue Chen couldn't bear to see her trying so hard to make up a story, so he said softly: "Do you know how many mistakes there are in this sentence?"

Xiao He didn't expect that Xue Chen would find out her lie so quickly. The words she prepared couldn't deceive him at all. She was really panicked. She knelt forward and knelt down to the ground: "Sir, please spare my life. I know I was wrong!"

"Since you know you are wrong, don't hide it anymore. You are someone by my side. As long as you still recognize me, I will naturally protect you." Xue Chen helped her up, took out a handkerchief, and put it on her broken forehead, "Let's talk about it in the house."

Xiao He pressed the handkerchief blankly.

Xue Chen said: "Come over."

She followed him in small steps, turned around and closed the door after entering the house, and saw that the white handkerchief was stained with blood. Thinking of how she often secretly reported the whereabouts of the eldest son to the prince, Xiao He felt a little guilty. She knelt on the ground again and took the initiative to explain:

"The prince likes to abuse himself. Every once in a while, he would long to be tortured. Dagger, needle, scissors, anything can make him feel satisfied. What he likes most is the whip. Even under normal circumstances, he will have a reaction when he sees the whip or even hears these two words."

Xue Chen frowned slightly, and his right hand unconsciously grasped the armrest of the chair, as if he was worried about his brother's health: "When did he become like this?"

Xiao He: "I don't know. When I found out, the prince had been like this for a long time. He was fifteen years old that year." (Note)

Xue Chen sighed softly.

Her voice trembled slightly: "The prince cares about you very much. He has been trying his best to hide it and dare not let you find out. Every time after whipping, the prince will clean up the blood stains himself..."

Xue Chen: "I know."

Xiao He raised her head and looked at Xue Chen tentatively: "Young Master?"

"Since he doesn't know how to face me, why should I make it difficult for him. What happened today, just pretend that nothing happened. You get along with Ren'er as you did in the past, and don't let him find out. But there is one thing."

"Young Master, just speak up, I will do my best to do it."

"Don't be nervous, it's not a big deal. As a brother, I can't really just leave it alone. How can I feel at ease with Lian'er like this?"

Xiao He hurriedly said, "Don't worry, sir, I will take good care of the prince."

Xue Chen had done what he should do, and pretended to express his concern: "Is he... seriously injured? Do you need any medicine? Are there any dietary restrictions?"

"I haven't heard the prince mention this. I will pay attention to it when he returns home."

Xue Chen boasted to the system: [See, I didn't say it wrong.]

Not only did he not expose the lie and give Gong Jiu a chance to show off, he also planted spies around him.

In the future, when Gong Jiu returns home, his every move will be under Xue Chen's eyes, and he can't hide anything he wants to do from him.

The system praised: [Very good, well done.]

The vest slowly regained consciousness. Xue Chen sent Xiao He to treat the wound on his forehead. While changing clothes, he controlled Xie Heng to open his eyes.

Xue Chen's fever subsided and his body was weak. He coughed a few times and his voice became hoarse: "Are you still in a hurry?"

Hu Sheng: "I'm afraid we will have to sleep outside today. Please bear with it. It's cold at night. Wear more clothes and wait for the ninth young master to come."

According to the time Gong Jiu left home, it was exactly the fifteenth day when he got here.

This naughty kid never thought that the questions he asked were not difficult at all.

If I had known, I would not have handed in the paper in advance. After leaving the Xie family, no one would take care of the food, and I had no money, not even a bed or quilt. How would I survive the remaining three or four days?

In the evening, the carriage stopped, and the driver went to pick up some firewood. After lighting the fire, he roasted some dry food.

Hu Sheng asked, "Do you want to stay in the carriage or sit outside?"

Xue Chen: "Let's go out. It's always stuffy to stay in the carriage."

Hu Sheng picked him up and got out of the carriage, put him next to the fire, and handed him a bag of water.

Xue Chen drank half a bag in one gulp, and his throat felt better: "Where are we going?"

Hu Sheng: "Master Jiu said that after faking our death, we should go directly to the southwest and mark the way. He will find us when he sees us."

Pray that Gong Jiu does not get lost, otherwise the hard times will never end.

The sky gradually darkened, and Hu Sheng and the driver discussed taking turns to keep watch.

Xue Chen moved one leg over, bent it inward, and pressed his thigh and calf.

"Friend in front!" A brisk shout came from a distance, and a red figure approached this side, "Great, I thought I would have to sleep alone in the wilderness, but I didn't expect to meet someone here. Can I also get some fire?"

He walked out of the darkness, and his face was exposed to the light.

This is a very handsome young man with sharp eyebrows and eyes. He should look very cold, but because of his friendly smile, he looks easy to get along with.

The most important thing is that he has two neatly trimmed beards on his lips, which are almost the same size as his eyebrows.

Among the three people, Mr. Hu and the driver are very low-key, both dressed as servants. Only Xue Chen is the best dressed and has an extraordinary temperament. He looks like the one in charge.

The young man sat next to Mr. Hu and said to Xue Chen: "My name is Lu Xiaofeng. What is your name?"

Xue Chen smiled and said: "My last name is Gong."

Xue Chen: [Thanks to the fake death, thanks to Lu Xiaofeng, I finally have a name in playing house.]

System: [Gong Ba?]

Xue Chen: [This name sounds weird. I don’t want to be called Gong Ba. I’ll save it for beef soup.

Xue Chen paused and thought of a name for himself: "Gong Wuming." Lu

Xiaofeng said cheerfully: "Master Gong."