Chapter 104 The Sickly and Tyrannical Crown Prince 2
The soldier held up a booklet and whispered, "Your Highness, his name is Lu Yuanju. His mother was from the Central Plains. He is the tallest and greatest tribal warrior among these prisoners of war."
"The tallest and the biggest?" Xie Rong laughed, but after a couple of laughs, he covered his mouth and coughed, saying intermittently, "The warriors of the northern frontier are all tall and big, but they still became the lowest slaves in this Eastern Palace."
The man's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at him, a murderous intent brewing in them.
[The protagonist recalls the fallen warriors of the northern frontier, increasing their pain level by 10.]
"What, you're not convinced?" Xie Rong was too weak to sit still. He leaned against the pillow and closed his eyes for a long time before saying, "From now on, he will do all the dirtiest and most tiring work in the Eastern Palace. If he can't finish, he and these slaves will go hungry."
In the Eastern Palace, his words carried more weight than imperial edicts.
Lu Yuanju quickly became a lowly slave whom everyone in the Eastern Palace could trample on.
They had to chop wood and carry water early in the morning, continuing until the sun was high in the sky. After a quick bite of leftovers, they would clean the vast Eastern Palace and then wash the clothes of the sickly Crown Prince at night.
Lu Yuanju did this for half a month, deliberately ruining the crown prince's clothes quite often, thinking that the little crown prince might be angered to death by him one day.
Before dawn, he got up from his bed, full of energy, took a quick cold shower, and, with his muscular upper body bare, picked up an axe and started chopping wood in front of the woodshed. He was chopping wood until he was covered in sweat when he suddenly saw the entire East Palace brightly lit.
A group of palace servants hurried past through the corridor.
Lu Yuanju heard them anxiously say that the Crown Prince had fallen seriously ill and was in a coma again.
Not long after, the Crown Prince's personal eunuch, Eunuch Gao, came to arrest him.
The eunuch pinched the tip of his nose, his face full of disgust, and said, "Hurry up and get me ready to see His Highness."
These prisoners of war from the northern frontier always wore shackles and were only fit to do the dirtiest jobs in the Eastern Palace. However, the Imperial Advisor said that this person had a pure yang constitution, and that by pouring water for His Highness's medicinal bath, he could suppress the yin energy and prevent His Highness from catching a cold.
Despite his wariness of the prisoners of war, Gao Gonggong had no choice but to reluctantly come over.
After a cup of tea, Lu Yuanju put on clean clothes and followed Eunuch Gao away.
But he walked slowly, which made Grandpa Gao even more anxious, and he immediately scolded him.
This slave is utterly disrespectful!
Lu Yuanju stomped his foot, the shackles and chains rattling, with a shameless, "Did you hear that? If you want me to walk faster, have your prince take these things off."
To ask him to sincerely serve a sickly prince of an enemy country, a prince who tramples over countless dead souls in the northern frontier just to find the so-called pure yang essence, he might as well be a dog.
Grandpa Gao looked at him coldly, secretly making a mental note of it.
Once their prince is out of danger, Lu Yuanju will have a hard time!
Outside the sleeping quarters, palace servants were carrying hot water back and forth.
Lu Yuanju stood under the porch waiting, his heart filled with malice, wishing only that the young prince would die.
The palace doors opened, and the imperial advisor, whose age was impossible to discern, walked out. Although his eyes were covered with a white cloth, he looked precisely in Lu Yuanju's direction.
"Let him serve His Highness his medicinal bath."
Eunuch Gao hesitated and said, "But what if he takes this opportunity to do something to His Highness..."
The Imperial Preceptor said, "I will be by your side to protect you."
“Then we can rest assured,” said Eunuch Gao. Over the years, he had observed that although the Imperial Advisor was a hermit master invited by His Majesty from Mount Penglai, he had always been extremely respectful to His Highness. Even though His Highness disliked him, his attitude never changed. Therefore, whenever His Highness’s illness worsened, the people of the Eastern Palace would always go to invite the Imperial Advisor.
When Eunuch Gao turned to look at Lu Yuanju, his expression instantly turned cold: "Why aren't you going in with the Grand Preceptor and serving His Highness properly? Otherwise, all the slaves in the Eastern Palace will be buried with you for your recklessness!"
Lu Yuanju walked into the bedroom expressionlessly.
Even though it was late spring, the hall was still burning with underfloor heating and charcoal braziers. He had just stepped inside and taken a breath of the hot air when he broke out in a sweat.
The unconscious young prince was currently leaning against the bathtub.
The bedroom was filled with steam, like a steamer, but the person in the bathtub had pale lips, very little color on their face, and barely breathing.
Lu Yuanju picked up a bucket of hot water, took a few steps closer, and casually glanced up while pouring water into it.
But then they saw the Imperial Preceptor's hand part the man's long, straight, black hair and press and knead the acupoints on the back of the young prince's neck.
Xie Rong frowned slightly and let out a soft groan while unconscious.
The Imperial Preceptor's fingertips had a thin layer of calluses, which slowly moved down to Xie Rong's bare shoulder, leaving a red mark where he had kneaded.
Each time he massaged her gently, Xie Rong would unconsciously hum softly, the last syllable rising in pitch, her cheeks gradually turning red, her head tilting to rest on the Grand Preceptor's arm, her breathing becoming more pronounced than before.
Lu Yuanju stared intently, finding the scene extremely strange, which made his heart pound wildly.
After all, it was strange that being touched by a man was considered a form of healing; he had never seen anything like it in the northern frontier.
With such fair skin, he hardly looks like a prince. If someone dared to bathe like that in a tent in the northern frontier, the line of northern warriors would probably circle the entire tribe. Of course, except for him.
Prince Rong must be very happy, since he seems to love flirting with men.
Wow, her waist is so slim!
"Pour water."
The Imperial Advisor's cold voice rang out, and Lu Yuanju snapped back to his senses, turning around to fetch the second bucket of hot water.
The Imperial Advisor stood behind the bathtub, while Lu Yuanju stood in front of it. The person inside the bathtub gradually regained his complexion, though he had not yet opened his eyes.
After the medicinal bath, Xie Rong was picked up by the Imperial Preceptor and placed back on the bed.
Lu Yuanju glanced at the still warm medicinal water in the bathtub, half-closed his eyes, reached out to take some of the water, and smelled it.
It was all the fragrance emanating from the young prince.
We'll take this back to the northern wolfhounds and let them smell it. Next time the wolfhounds see this little prince, won't they scare him to tears?
Lu Yuanju chuckled and turned to leave the bedchamber.
That night, he heard that the Crown Prince had woken up.
Not only did he wake up, but he was also able to get out of bed and walk around the outside of the palace twice.
"Lu Yuanju, His Highness summons you!" The little eunuch who came to deliver the message had a gloating look on his face.
Lu Yuanju put down the clothes he was washing, gave a look to calm his worried companion from the northern frontier, and got up to leave with the eunuch.
In front of the sleeping quarters, Xie Rong, wearing a fox fur cloak, held a gold-embroidered hand warmer in her hands. Her fair face was wrapped in fox fur, and the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned, with a touch of pinkish rosy color.
"Your Highness, there are so many people in the palace, why do you insist on sending those lowly slaves from the northern frontier?" Eunuch Gao said plaintively, his fingers delicately curled. "I would gladly accept Your Highness's whipping."
“That won’t do,” Xie Rong glanced at the man who had been brought to his feet, stretched out his leg and lifted the man’s chin. “I want to see how well my body is recovering, so of course I have to find a tough, lowly slave to test it out.”
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