Chapter 4 "Xiao Cui" Goes Mad
The old ancestor was determined to die.
The following night, Duan Jiuyou went to the "Desolate Residence," the mansion of Emperor Jiang, the Lord of the Great Wilderness. It consisted of five courtyards, with artificial hills, waterside pavilions, maids, and servants. As the night deepened, Duan Jiuyou, wrapped in a dark blue robe, crouched in the grass. From any angle, he looked like a mushroom rooted in a corner.
She squinted her eyes to observe carefully, and finally settled on a round-faced, round-eyed maid. This maid was the leader of the servants, named Xiao Cui. Duan Jiuyou had seen her boss around three groups of people within half an hour.
Duan Jiuyou, to become a maid in the Imperial Capital, couldn't use her true form; she had to wear a disguise. Xiao Cui's disguise was quite good—not particularly beautiful, but not ugly either. Most importantly, she could speak to the servants, which was crucial. Duan Jiuyou couldn't be bossed around by too many people; too much would make her irritable. After all, she was getting on in years. Even if she wanted to fawn over her master, she could only fawn over one person; she couldn't just bow and scrape to everyone. It wasn't like she was shameless.
Duan Jiuyou was very satisfied with Xiao Cui. He stretched out his five fingers and bent them into a tiger claw shape, and Xiao Cui, the maid who had returned to her room alone, was put into his sleeve.
Duan Jiuyou then led the person to Xianwei Mountain. Jiuyou sat down, while Xiao Cui stood there dumbfounded. A disciple stood beside them, holding a brush and painting, occasionally glancing up to draw Xiao Cui's face on the paper.
Once this drawing is completed and pasted onto Duan Jiuyou's face, it will become an exact replica of Xiao Cui's face.
Xiao Cui was terrified. She watched as Duan Jiuyou "pressed his face" against hers, the paper "melting" upon contact with her, as if by divine craftsmanship, transforming her delicate, misty Jiangnan-style face into a chubby, round one.
Xiao Cui wasn't particularly clever, but she wasn't stupid either. As soon as she saw Duan Jiuyou transform into herself, she guessed that Duan Jiuyou was planning to infiltrate Di Jiang's inner circle. Xiao Cui was afraid of death, and since she wasn't a member of the Great Wilderness Clan, she lacked any sense of integrity. So, without waiting for the other party to ask any questions, she rattled off a bunch of things she knew.
Xiao Cui said, "The Lord is not picky about food and has no special preferences. He is usually quiet and sleeps when he is tired and asks for water when he is thirsty. He usually does not get up in the morning and goes out to hunt in the afternoon. Just talk to him as little as possible."
"He doesn't need help getting dressed when he gets up. If you see that his belt is tied incorrectly, don't point it out. Just find an opportunity to adjust it for him. Don't talk too much in front of him. He'll get annoyed if he hears too much and will glare at you."
Duan Jiuyou was delighted to hear this and became even more satisfied with Xiao Cui. He patted her head reassuringly and casually swapped their clothes.
Xiao Cui, unsure of Duan Jiuyou's temperament, wore her incredibly expensive dark blue robe with jeweled floral patterns and dragged her knees along the ground.
"Please spare my life, I really don't want to die."
"Please spare my robe first."
Duan Jiuyou looked pained, staring at the layer of dust on his knees, and struggled to lift the person up.
Xiao Cui became a traitor, so of course she couldn't go back to the abandoned house. But even if you asked Duan Jiuyou to make arrangements, she didn't know where to put her, so she temporarily stayed among the disciples of the Ao Sect.
Di Jiang didn't come to Xianwei Mountain to hunt beasts tonight. According to Xiao Cui, he went to the larger Shifeng Ridge. In fact, with Di Jiang's current wealth, he doesn't need to hunt beasts so frequently. Duan Jiuyou can only think of one reason why he is so enthusiastic about it—bloodlust.
The sky was covered in the blood of immortals, and the beasts had no compassion. Although the Dijiang were a divine race, they had no divine roots. Duan Jiuyou was saddened by the disobedience of the Dijiang while stepping into the deserted house with Xiao Cui's face on his back.
The main hall was empty; the servants had already gone back to their rooms to sleep. Nine lamps were left on in the hall, prepared for the emperor who might return at any time.
Duan Jiuyou habitually sat in the main seat. The lamplight was a bit too bright, so she waved away two of them with her sleeve. The dimmed main hall immediately created a warm, soothing atmosphere suitable for sleeping. Duan Jiuyou couldn't help but close his eyes. Because he was preoccupied with the imperial territory, his arrogant and domineering Hou clan image flashed through his mind, and for a moment he was a thin, sickly-looking boy.
Di Jiang returned at dawn. The sky was still, with no sign of dawn. Frost covered the leaves, which stood stiffly on the branches, like frozen broken tiles that had fallen from the sky and stuck to the trunks.
Emperor Jiang, draped in a layer of cold, dewy clothing, stepped into the deserted house, his face colder than the sky.
Feng Chen, that clueless bastard, hasn't worried about him being cold since he threw away the cloak he was given last time. In the dead of winter, even the rats know to huddle together for warmth, but Feng Chen seems afraid that the cold wind won't reach him. When hunting, he and his men stand extremely far apart, so far that he doesn't even have a human wall to form.
The group followed Di Jiang in single file, and even a simpleton could see that he was unhappy. However, they couldn't understand what was wrong with their lord. In reality, Di Jiang was always freezing cold after hunting beasts, but he didn't say anything. To others, it just seemed like he had a bad personality.
There was no fire in the stove. In the past, this work was done by a deaf old man in the house. When it was cold, he thought that the people coming back would be cold, so he would always leave a basin of water in advance. Feng Chen told him that it was not necessary, but he could not hear him.
The Emperor's favorite was the old deaf man. The old man had taken leave a couple of days ago, so the night watchman was changed. At first glance, this person looked like Xiao Cui, but upon closer inspection—
Di Jiang remained silent, his brows furrowed as he lowered his gaze.
Duan Jiuyou was dozing off in the main hall, his cheek resting on his hand, when he vaguely smelled a chill. He lowered his head slightly and woke up in a daze.
The first thing she saw was a pair of satin boots, then she looked up and saw the hem of a silk brocade dress with a vast cloud pattern, and then she looked up again.
The two men, one looking up and the other looking down, met Di Jiang's gaze. Di Jiang's eyes met those of an ordinary, chubby face with small eyes. This face had eyes that were oblivious to human relationships and, because it did not know what fear was, they were filled with audacity.
He watched as she stood up with surprise in her eyes, glaring at his thin bamboo-green robe, and said indignantly, "You went out dressed so lightly?"
Di Jiang remained silent, as if waiting for her to tell him what she wanted to say.
Duan Jiuyou took a moment to react and then began to look around.
She had no warm clothes around her, and the coarse cloth jacket she was wearing was not suitable for him either. After searching around, Duan Jiuyou lashed out at Feng Chen and the others who were in a daze.
"Are you blind? The Lord's face is all white from the cold, and not a single person has put a coat on him? Who put this brazier here? Why is the charcoal cold? What are you all standing here for? Go find something!"
Duan Jiuyou's imposing manner was learned from Xiao Cui; he was arrogant, domineering, and full of self-importance. The difference was that Xiao Cui gave orders to her servants, while Duan Jiuyou berated the direct guards of the Wilderness Clan.
Feng Chen and the others had never been scolded like that by Xiao Cui. They wanted to ask her if she had gone mad, but when they met her eyes, she looked so fierce that she looked like she could eat people. Their minds didn't keep up for a moment, and by the time they realized what was happening, they had already gathered the things and placed them in front of her.
The main hall warmed up in less than fifteen minutes. The charcoal in the stove glowed red, and "Xiao Cui" forcibly wrapped the heavy fox fur cloak around Di Jiang's body. This time, Di Jiang didn't say he wasn't cold, but just peeked at "Xiao Cui" scolding the vassal.
The vassal still felt that the lord was not cold, and thought that Xiao Cui's actions were unnecessary.
With her hands on her hips and a shout, "Xiao Cui!" immediately commanded more authority than the feudal lord.
"Who told you it's not cold? Look at the weather outside, is it the season to go out in just a shirt? Do you think the Lord is made of copper and iron, or invulnerable to swords and spears?"
“Didn’t I just tell you to go make some soup? Why are you still standing here? This place is freezing cold. If we don’t take good care of him, won’t we be making our lord suffer? And this window, that crack in the middle…”
The more "Xiao Cui" scolded, the more engrossed she became, always keeping in mind her disciple's instructions, and throughout the whole process, she held the heart of an old mother caring for her son.
Her "son" was freezing outside, and she had a bunch of good-for-nothing idiots under her command. How could she, as the "mother," not be angry?
The vassal, feeling wronged by her scolding, looked to his lord for help.
Emperor Jiang kept his hands tucked into his sleeves and didn't move. He lazily raised his eyes, and even the dull-witted vassals could sense his comfort and ease at that moment.
Xiao Cui wrapped him up quite tightly, even putting on a hood and a collar around his neck that bunched up at his chin, leaving only half of his delicate and pretty face visible.
The vassal was a blockhead, rarely able to understand what the emperor was thinking. But today he seemed to have seen the light, and it was rare to read a single word on that face.
—I feel quite relieved right now.
The vassal didn't know what his lord was so happy about, but he was quite uncomfortable. He had been scolded by "Xiao Cui" for no reason and was also ordered to cook soup in the kitchen.
Breakfast consists of four dishes and a soup. The rule has always been to make whatever is available in the kitchen for the Lord. This is an unwritten rule that the Imperial Empire has never complained about over the years.
Xiao Cui was quite well-behaved at first, standing obediently by the table, sleeves rolled up, serving food to Di Jiang. She used one chopstick to pick up a little of each dish, eating it herself first, and only using another pair of chopsticks to pick up the ones she liked, pushing the ones she didn't like aside. When she got tired of standing after picking through everything, she sat down next to Di Jiang, and he didn't say anything.
As the real Xiao Cui said, Di Jiang is indeed not difficult to please. He will eat and drink whatever is given to him. But if you say he is not picky, why doesn't he touch the finely chopped cucumber strips with sour vinegar and minced garlic?
After observing the meal for a while, Duan Jiuyou came to a new conclusion: it wasn't that he wasn't picky, but that he didn't like the food and was too lazy to say so.
—Is it really that hard to say something?
Duan Jiuyou was a little confused, but when he caught a glimpse of Feng Chen's silly, wooden face out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to understand a bit more.
The Hou tribe has weak family ties. When the cubs are young, their parents will leave them to be served by subordinates. These subordinates are only responsible for protecting their lives and are not allowed to help except in times of crisis.
Duan Jiuyou looked at Di Jiang, who had grown up almost "self-sufficiently." After finishing his meal, Di Jiang silently moved to the main house to sleep. From the main hall to the master bedroom, one had to cross a small courtyard. The wind blew against him, revealing a thin and frail figure. His robes were always loose. If Duan Jiuyou disregarded his identity as the Lord of the Great Wilderness and looked at him, he would seem like an unattended child.
Duan Jiuyou unconsciously followed in Di Jiang's footsteps, but before he could form any more emotions, he was devoured by several boxes of beast cages that passed by them.
Those were his spoils of the night: the mutilated bodies of the beasts in the cage, and some human hands he had picked up by chance. A chilling, pungent smell permeated the air, like a waterfall of blood spilling across the ground.
Duan Jiuyou stopped and looked at the even more mutilated corpse, then closed his eyes in annoyance.
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