Dandere General and his Lord

8. Pulling her Head out of the Sand

Inside the government office of Weibei Marquis. 

Weibei Marquis; Hua Yuzhi, governor of Hanzhong; Han Quanlin and King of Yunnan; Yuan Yizhi were all drinking at the same table.

“What does Duke Yuan think of Marquis Jin Yue?” Hua Yuzhi asked casually. 

Yuan Yizhi sneered and replied, “A child with no schemes. Not worth mentioning.” 

Han Quanlin chimed in and said, “Right now, our army’s momentum is flourishing and they will certainly be able to break through the Quanrong, scoring us great achievements. That duke of Jin Yue is young, but he’s greedy for the pleasures of life and fearful of war. After the death of the old Marquis of Jin, I’m afraid that the State of Jin will cease to exist.”

Hua Yuzhi raised his glass in a toast and laughed, “It is not as if he is completely devoid of merit. I’ve noticed that he’s got a keen eye for beauties. The two little pets by his side have smooth, tender skin, as if water will come out with a pinch. It really makes me envy him, hehe.” 

“When mentioning a capable person who knows beauties well, Duke Hua is fully deserving of the honour.” Yuan Yizhi embraced the beauty who was serving by his side. He narrowed his fishy eyes and joked, “Hua Gong’s centurion from that day really made this old man feel like I still haven’t had enough.” 

Han Quanlin twirled his sparse goatee and said, “Bringing up that day, that slave who first rushed up the city wall, Mo Qiao Sheng, is still fresh in my mind. It’s a pity that Duke Jin Yue was a step ahead of me. I don’t wish to compete with him, but I still can’t seem to forget about it. I wonder whether Duke Hua can arrange an appearance today?”

Yuan Yizhi waved his hand. “Ah Old Han, you really don’t know how to judge a person. That Mo Qiao Sheng looks too masculine, not at all charming or graceful. Moreover, his hips don’t look soft and bendy, obviously still a chick. There’s no flavour.” 

Han Quanlin’s face looked wretched as he leaned in towards Yuan Yizhi. “Duke Yuan, you’re mistaken. I’ve measured up that Mo Qiao Sheng. Although his looks aren’t all that charming, he has a tender waist and slim legs. Training this kind of inexperienced chick has a really special taste. I heard that Gong Ziyu tossed him all night and didn’t let him out until the sun was bright the next day.”

“Oh, is that so? Then we’ll have to ask Duke Hua to call in that slave and let us have a taste.” 

Hua Yuzhi laughed heartily. “What’s the difficulty in this? I’ll call him in immediately.” 

Mo Qiao Sheng was sitting on a stone block in the barracks. He recalled the unforeseen encounter in the morning and felt somewhat nervous and flustered. 

He couldn’t help taking out that small porcelain bottle he carried with him and stroked it gently. 

I… do I have the right to enjoy such happiness? 

He lowered his head and fearfully looked forward to it. 

“Sheng.”

He heard A’Feng call out to him and raised his head. 

A’Feng walked up to him and looked at him, his expression gloomy. 

He slowly said, “Master, the King of Yunnan and Governor of Hanzhong are having a drinking party. They called you to go and serve wine.” 

The white porcelain bottle in his hand slipped and fell to the ground with a ‘crash’, shattering into pieces. 

A’Feng’s face was downcast, his jaws clenched tight. He extended his hand and hauled the dazed Mo Qiao Sheng to his feet. 

“Go. Don’t die. Come back alive.” 

____________

Cheng Qianye had been riding for the most part of the day and she had finally gotten a knack for it. Her legs, waist and bottom were all sore from constantly being bumped by the horse,her body aching all over. 

Although horse riding looks graceful on TV, it turns out that it’s actually so hard. 

She grumbled inwardly as she hobbled back into the city. 

She saw Xiao Xiu waiting to meet her at the city gates, craning his neck and looking around. 

As soon as he caught sight of her, he exposed a brilliant smile and ran over to her in excitement. He handed over a towel and water to her, extremely attentive. 

Cheng Qianye looked at the exuberant pink shrouding his body and felt somewhat guilty. 

Xiao Xiu, he’s really infatuated with Gong Ziyu huh?… When can I tell him that the real Cheng Qianyu is already dead?…

“Xiao Xiu.” Cheng Qianye looked at the charming man in front of her. “Do you want to take charge of some affairs around me like Lu Yao?” 

Xiao Xiu’s smile froze and he said helplessly, “My Lord, do you not like Xiu’er anymore?” 

Cheng Qianye sighed. Although Xiao Xiu was beautiful, Cheng Qianye hadn’t really liked him very much in the beginning. 

On the one hand, maybe it was because he was very young in addition to the fact that he did not possess that sort of heart-stirring colour. 

But these days, he had been waiting on Cheng Qianye every day. He was meticulous and attentive, always looking at her with a worshipping and adoring gaze.

Everyone was made of flesh and blood and Cheng Qianye unavoidably felt pity for him. 

“What would you like to do? Being around me all day must not be that great.” 

“My Lord is especially gentle these days and treats Xiu’er even better than before.” Xiao Xiu bit his lower lip, shooting her with an aggrieved glance. He bowed his head and twisted the corner of his clothes. “It’s just that My Lord hasn’t called Xiu’er to serve him at night as of late.” 

Cheng Qianye supported her forehead. 

This is an issue I can’t do anything about. 

A beautiful man such as yourself is not my cup of tea. Even if I had the heart, I still can’t do anything. 

Besides, what you want is a man and I’m the wrong gender. 

In fact, she hoped that Xiao Xiu could slowly change his thoughts and become more independent instead of blindly relying on his sexual appeal for survival. 

But he had always lived like this and it wasn’t something that could be changed in a short time. 

Cheng Qianye rapped her knuckle against Xiao Xiu’s head. “Don’t think too much. Go, follow your lord to Weibei Marquis’ place.” 

Cheng Qianye led Xiao Xiu and the rest of her entourage along with the white speckled horse and arrived at the government office of Weibei Marquis. 

By the entranceway, there was a crowd of people encircling a slave with his pants shed off and pushed down on a flogging bench.

Two bare chested men held red coloured rods as they stood on either side as they brought down the rods like rain. From a distance, you could only see the bright red of the lower half of the tortured man’s body, his blood even dripping down along the edge of the bench. 

Cheng Qianye felt somewhat afraid to look and was just about to walk away. 

Within the crisscrossing gaps between the crowd, she caught sight of a familiar blue. 

Mo Qiao Sheng? 

Was he the one being tortured? 

Cheng Qianye pushed through the throng of people and saw that person with that clean and pure sapphire blue was soaked in a dazzling pool of blood. 

“Stop!” Cheng Qianye obstructed the men carrying out the punishment. 

Crossing over to this society pervaded with slavery, she had witnesses many cruel and unjust affairs. 

But Cheng Qianye had always felt that she could not even take care of herself, let alone have the leisure, or the ability to manage these matters. 

She had been using such an ostrich like mentality all along in order to avoid the cruelty of this world. 

At that moment, faced with this gory scene of abuse, Cheng Qianye’s heart was awash with moral indignation for the first time since she had come to this filthy world. 

Mo Qiao Sheng was lying motionless on his stomach, his hair sosked with cold sweat and covering his face. She could not tell whether he was dead or alive. 

Cheng Qianye carefully raised his chin and gently separated the wet strands of black hair, exposing his pale face. 

She softly stroked him with her hand and felt that he was fortunately still breathing weakly. 

Mo Qiao Sheng opened his eyes with difficulty, and seeing her face, his most eyes slightly brightened. His lips quivered, unable to say anything. 

Cheng Qianye gritted her teeth. I’m sorry I was late. I’ll bring you back with me. 

“Haha, how is Duke Jin Yue so leisurely today? We are honoured by your presence. It truly brings light to this old man’s humble dwelling.” 

Cheng Qianye raised her head and caught sight of the three nauseating old men waking toward her. 

Leading the men was Mo Qiao Sheng’s master, Weibei Marquis, Hua Yuzhi.

“I happened to pass by and just wanted to pay a visit to Duke Hua.” Cheng Qianye repressed her emotions and began dealing with the men. “Might I know, what crime did this slave commit?” 

“Hmph, it was my fault for not disciplining him properly. Originally, we were going to let the two lords play with him for some amusement, unexpectedly, this good-for-nothing creature had the audacity to bite Duke Han’s finger.” Hua Yuzhi’s face was chilly as he pointed at Mo Qiao Sheng, “Beat him hard for me! Best him to death!” 

Before Cheng Qianye could say anything, Han Quanlin opened his mouth and interrupted, “Wait a minute!” 

His finger was dressed with gauze and there were faint traces of blood. 

That wizened face had a look of anger as he quickly walked over to Mo Qiao Sheng and grabbed his hair, lifting up his head. The muscles on his face trembled as he said maliciously, “You wish you could die! It’s not that easy. I’m going to torture him so he can’t live or die and make this lowly swine regret doing such a stupid thing!”

Cheng Qianye grabbed Han Quanlin’s withered wrist, gritting her molars as she restrained her blazing fury. 

Han Quanlin released his hand and Mo Qiao Sheng tumbled back onto the bench. “Does Duke Jin Yue have any comments?!”

Cheng Qianye walked over and stood between him and Mo Qiao Sheng. She turned to face Hua Yuzhi and cupped her fists as she stated bluntly, “This slave served me very well the previous night. I am very satisfied with him and was wondering whether Duke Hua would be willing to part with one of your treasured beauties and sell him to me?” 

Han Quanlin snorted coldly. “Gong Ziyu, don’t be insensible. Everything has an order of arrival and Duke Hua has allowed me to handle this slave as I see fit. Are you going to snatch him from me? Even your father would not be so rude before me.” 

Cheng Qianye felt a hand grab tge bottom of her trousers from behind, tugging gently. 

She turned her head to the side and saw Mo Qiao Sheng looking at her with his limpid eyes, his emotional colour revealing his pleas as he stared at her nervously. 

She had not had much contact with this young slave. Nevertheless, she knew that he was introverted and reticent, and that he didn’t know how to express his emotions. 

At the moment, although his body was shrouded with the thick, black colour of terror and despair, at most, he gently tugged at her clothes to express his request. 

“As for the principle of ‘first come first served’, I should take presence since I used him first.” Cheng Qianye steadily entered the state of a business negotiation as she directly skipped over Han Quanlin and talked directly with Hua Yuzhi, Mo Qiao Sheng’s master.” 

Hua Yuzhi laughed and said, “It’s not worth it for two good brothers to fight over a lowly slave. I have all sorts of beauties waiting to be spoiled on my side. Please don’t break our harmony.”