Chapter 285

Murong Feiyan, Hu Xiaotian, Quan De'an, Wen Chenghuan, Senior Eunuch, Sir, Guard, Emperor. Also maybe Divine Strategy Manor? Not yet.

Hu Xiaotian, Divine Strategy Manor, Wen Taishi maybe appears? Actually line 2: "Tell us, how is that Divine Strategy Manor?" So Divine Strategy Manor appears. Also Wen Taishi not yet.

Murong Feiyan, Divine Strategy Manor, Wen Taishi, Wen Boyuan, Yan Squad, Flying Feather Guard, Zhan Peng. Also maybe Divine Strategy Manor again.

Zhan Peng shook his head and said, "Since entering the Shen Ce Mansion, it's all been training; we haven't been assigned any tasks. They only said we would be responsible for guarding the Emperor's safety in the future, and nothing else has been mentioned."

Hu Xiaotian, Divine Strategy Manor, Wen Taishi, Wen Chenghuan. Also maybe Palace Guard, Imperial Forest Army. Actually line 5: "Protecting the emperor's safety includes the Palace Guard and the Imperial Forest Army."

Murong Feiyan, Wen Taishi, Wen Chenghuan. Also maybe Divine Strategy Manor? Not in line 6.

Hu Xiaotian, Wen Taishi, Wen Chenghuan, also maybe Senior Eunuch? Not.

Quan De'an, Hu Xiaotian, Senior Eunuch. Also maybe Divine Strategy Manor? Not.

Zhan Peng didn't linger long; he left the tavern early, intentionally or not giving Hu Xiaotian and the other some time alone. In fact, Zhan Peng had already noticed when he attacked Quan De'an at the Grace-bestowing Mansion that there must be something between Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan; otherwise, how could Murong Feiyan have risked her life to save him?

After Zhan Peng left, Murong Feiyan visibly became nervous, lowering her gaze. Her long black lashes fluttered a few times, and she clutched her collar, fidgeting.

Seeing her bashful demeanor, Hu Xiaotian found her increasingly endearing, scooting his chair closer. Murong Feiyan bowed her head even lower, whispering, "I should be going too!"

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan.

Murong Feiyan said, "Don't talk nonsense like that, or else… I'll never speak to you again!" Before she finished, Hu Xiaotian wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Feeling useless, she found she had no strength to resist him—pushing him away would be easy, but thinking of his current predicament, she couldn't bring herself to do it, nor did she want to. Hu Xiaotian held her close, lowered his head, and kissed her lips.

Murong Feiyan, Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan.

Hearing him say that, Murong Feiyan couldn't help but laugh, her pretty face flushing as she pushed him away, her bright eyes shining: "You're clearly just a fake…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word "eunuch," it was too embarrassing.

Hu Xiaotian said, "That's exactly why I'm in agony, Feiyan. In the palace, I live each day in fear; if anyone discovered my secret, they'd surely drag me to the castration room and have me completely snipped."

Murong Feiyan replied, "Let him be snipped then. At least it'll stop this bastard from harming more girls."

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan.

Murong Feiyan, Hu Xiaotian.

Hu Xiaotian said, "If I'm snipped, you'll never become a real woman, and you'll never have the chance to bear my little Tian..."

Murong Feiyan jerked her arm away as if bitten by a snake, covering her face as she stood up, "Who would help you have a child..."

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan.

Murong Feiyan, Hu Xiaotian, Divine Strategy Manor.

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan.

Seeing him about to leave, Murong Feiyan felt a pang of reluctance and whispered softly, "Xiaotian, be careful in everything you do."

Hu Xiaotian hooked his arm around her waist, pulled her into his embrace, and pressed her tightly until she could barely breathe, then lowered his head to kiss her lips lightly: "Don't worry, I'll keep my life to wander the world with you."

Murong Feiyan's beautiful eyes filled with glistening tears; she gently nodded, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her smooth forehead against his, whispering softly, "I'll wait for you, no matter what."

Hu Xiaotian, Murong Feiyan.

Murong Feiyan twisted her waist shyly, trying to escape his pressure on her private parts. Hu Xiaotian, however, lifted her ** and pressed her even harder. Murong Feiyan finally gave up resisting, clinging tightly to his body, her pretty face pressed to his ear, whispering softly, "You must come back whole and unharmed!"

Saying "whole and intact" is easy, but truly staying that way in the palace is not so simple. Hu Xiaotian is somewhat fortunate—at least for now he remains whole.

Gao Yuan, Hu Xiaotian, Divine Strategy Manor? Not.

Hu Xiaotian chuckled helplessly, obviously this child still doesn't understand what entering the palace means—not everyone can be as lucky as I am. He said, "Xiao Yuan, now isn't the time; I haven't yet found my footing in the palace. Once things settle, we'll discuss this. Also, my parents now live in Shui Jing Hutong; after this calamity, our family has fallen on hard times, and there's no one left to care for them. I want you to go attend to their filial needs—would you be willing?"

Gao Yuan was very sensible; he nodded and said, "Don't worry, Elder Brother Tian, your affairs are mine as well."

Suddenly, the neighing of a fine horse rang in his ears, interspersed with rough shouts. Hu Xiaotian lifted the carriage curtain and saw, beside the horse pen, a stocky short man whipping a small horse. The horse was covered in mud, thin-bodied with long hair, its body laced with welts from the lash. Though it strained against the tether around its neck, it could not break free and could only endure the beating; the little horse kept jumping, never giving up its struggle.

Gao Yuan saw this, his eyes reddening involuntarily. Having suffered bullying and hardship since childhood, he felt a surge of empathy and shouted, "Stop!" His yell merely made the short, stout man pause for a moment; when he saw that the one trying to stop him was just a scrawny dark-skinned child, he curled his lip in disdain and continued whipping the small horse.

Gao Yuan reined in the horse and jumped down from the carriage. Worried the child might come to harm, Hu Xiaotian hastily lifted the curtain and stepped out. Gao Yuan, eyes red, pointed at the horse dealer and shouted, "You, stop it!"

Horse trader not a named entity; it's a role.

Gao Yuan said, "It's just an immature young horse—how can you bear to abuse it like that?"

The horse dealer laughed, and the onlookers around him joined in. He said, "If you feel sorry for it, just buy it—twenty taels of silver. As long as you can pay, I'll hand it over right now." In fact, this is a common tactic at the horse market: some dealers bring out scrawny, weak horses to whip publicly, because such animals rarely fetch a good price; this method can stir sympathy among onlookers, and if lucky, they can still sell it for a decent sum. Though effective, the approach is somewhat underhanded and borders on animal cruelty.

Hu Xiaotian immediately understood the situation, but Gao Yuan did not. Hearing the dealer demand twenty taels, Gao Yuan blanched—he indeed didn't have that much on him, even though Hu Xiaotian had given him some money, he couldn't always carry it all. Coming from a poor background, he was loath to spend money, and twenty taels seemed an astronomical sum to him.

When the onlookers heard the horse dealer's lion-sized asking price, they all shook their heads, thinking it was excessive to swindle a child like that.

Gao Yuan said, "You mustn't hit him… I… I'll go get the money for you…"

The horse dealer laughed loudly, "Little brat, you probably don't even have a single tael on you—my horse, I'll whip it whenever I want!" He raised his lash and brought it down hard on the horse's back again, making the poor animal cry out even more miserably.

Hu Xiaotian silently cursed the dealer's baseness, walked over calmly, and said, "I'll give you twenty taels—please give this horse to that young brother."

Seeing Hu Xiaotian's attire, the horse dealer recognized him as a palace eunuch and chuckled, "Oh, so you're a sir eunuch. But the twenty taels I quoted was just the boy's price; for him I'd only charge half. If you, a eunuch, want it, the price isn't that low." These market horse dealers are extremely crafty; accustomed to the world, they can tell at a glance from Hu Xiaotian's dress that he's merely a low‑ranking palace eunuch with no real status, so they seize the chance to jack up the price.

Hu Xiaotian, Horse trader.

The horse merchant thrust out four short, thick fingers and shook them hard in front of Hu Xiaotian, saying, "Forty taels of silver."