He did what he had to do, and now, he was going to the study to enjoy a
happy time without Huo Wujiu.
But he didn't see that after he left, the maid who was kneeling on the
ground revealed a look of resignation.
Her name was Tao Zhi. His Highness originally thought highly of her in this
room, and except for Meng Qianshan, she usually attended to His Highness.
She never imagined that His Highness would reprimand her for such a
cripple, so it was quite humiliating.
However, although His Highness lectured her on such a big mistake, he did
not punish her personally, so she assumed that her master still cherished her.
He just happened to hear and so reprimanded her a bit.
She looked up and coldly glanced at Huo Wujiu.
It was all this cripple's fault.
Jiang Suizhou also did not see how cold Huo Wujiu's eyes were hidden
beneath his drooping eyelashes, as he sat in the corner.
When Jiang Suizhou walked out of the room, Huo Wujiu raised his eyes
and gave him a cool, icy look.
He just thought King Jing was quite funny.
If King Jing wanted to send people to spy on him, he should just do it
directly; why bother to pretend to defend him in front of him?
…He even put on a play, spending the night in front of my bed.
These actions were unnecessary.
——
Night had fallen, and it was time for dinner.
The King entered the study and dismissed everyone from the room, even
Eunuch Qianshan was no exception, but this was nothing unusual. Usually,
when the King was busy, he disliked disturbance from others.
Because there was now an additional master in the room, the kitchen still
prepared the evening meal one after another, even when the King had not
come out of the study.
In a short while, someone sent news.
"Two Sirs have invited His Highness to dinner, so His Highness isn't going
to eat in the house today," a young servant reported.
Meng Qianshan was waiting outside the study room, so Tao Zhi had the
final say in the room. The maids looked at her one after another. They saw
her looking around, her eyes finally falling contemptuously on Huo Wujiu.
He was currently sitting under the window, reading a book in his hand.
"Then what are you still standing there for? Serve the meal." She said
coldly. "His Highness is not going to eat in the house today, so do you want
to starve the master in the room?"
The people around her did not dare to provoke her. At her order, they went
about their business.
Seeing this, Sun Yuan, who was waiting next to Huo Wujiu, hurriedly
stepped forward to push Huo Wujiu's wheelchair, leading him to the table.
Huo Wujiu didn't say anything, only put the book aside.
Only he knew how much he hated reading books.
Huo Wujiu grew up annoyed at the sight of words, so he either skipped
class to ride horses in the barracks, or found ways to torment the teacher for
fun. When he was around seven or eight years old, two teachers quit in a
fury. Yangguan was remote, and it was difficult to find a teacher, so his
father chased him angrily with a horse whip for a long time.
Even now, he had a headache after reading a book. But laughable as it
might be, he couldn't do anything else now other than flip through the
things that gave him headaches.
Huo Wujiu glanced at the book.
After Sun Yuan saw him put down his book, he pushed Huo Wujiu's
wheelchair to the table.
Several dishes were already laid out on the table, and Tao Zhi had also
given the word earlier, so hot dishes were brought in one after another. The
evening meal was very rich and exquisite because it was prepared with
Jiang Suizhou in mind. The dishes were warm and appetizing under the
bright lights.
Tao Zhi stood watching, her face as cold as frost.
She was born beautiful, and when she came to the royal residence, even the
dealer said that she might become a concubine if she was lucky. Then she
could rise from servant to master.
She climbed step by step to her present position, but did not realize that her
master only liked men.
What was so great about men? Even if he was a man, Madam Gu was
nothing more than that. Yet how could the tall and big cripple in front of her
still get into her master's harem?!
Because of the disgrace Tao Zhi suffered this afternoon, she became more
displeased the more she looked at Huo Wujiu.
What was the use of his beauty? What was the use of being a general? He
was maimed and had to go to someone's harem to serve men, Tao Zhi
thought with hatred.
Just then, a maid came with soup. When she crossed the threshold, she was
careless and almost spilled it.
…Besides, His Highness was not here tonight.
Tao Zhi walked forward with a cold face and took the soup with one hand.
"Why are you so rash?" She gave the maid a cross look.
The maid apologized evenly.
But she saw Tao Zhi give her a glaring quick glance, and with the soup in
her hand, she turned around and walked towards the table.
The next moment, she rather deliberately bumped into the table, and tipped
the bowl of hot soup downward, pouring all the content onto Huo Wujiu's
lap.
The steam rose, and the whole bowl of soup was suddenly splashed all over
Huo Wujiu's legs, dripping down along the fabric of his robe.
The maids all around the room cried out in alarm. Sun Yuan at the back also
jumped up in shock and hurriedly grabbed a cloth towel to help wipe him.
Huo Wujiu was the only one sitting there motionless.
Even if the boiling hot soup spilled on his robe and not directly on his skin,
it still hurt.
But the pain of the flesh was nothing to him. He only lowered his eyes and
looked at his legs.
He watched as she deliberately poured the soup over him. That move in the
eyes of martial arts practitioners was the most clumsy slow motion, but he
could not avoid it.
Because his legs could not move.
This kind of humiliation was much harder to endure than physical pain.
A moment later, Huo Wujiu raised his eyes and gave Tao Zhi a faint look.
If she hadn't been a woman, he would have returned the hot soup a
hundredfold, pouring it all down her throat.
But he would never raise his hand against a woman.
However, this cold and sinister glance also made Tao Zhi shiver with fright,
and she retreated back involuntarily.
Then, she came back to her senses.
What was she doing? This cripple glared at her, and she actually got scared?
What was so scary about him? The King was not in the residence today
anyway! She was the only one in the courtyard who had the final say right
now. She didn't believe that other servants dared to rat her out to the King,
nor did she believe that this cripple had the face to go to the King to
complain!
Tao Zhi immediately glared back and sneered: "Blame me for being
careless and tripping accidentally. It's just that Master didn't know how to
dodge. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been scalded."
Then, she raised her eyes and looked at Sun Yuan at the back of the room.
"Why are you so stupid, you servant? I asked you to serve here and push
Master's wheelchair. What are you doing standing there? Since you're so
stupid, you should go out and sweep the yard tomorrow!"
The King usually stayed in Anyin Hall for a short time, and Meng Qianshan
would accompany him everywhere he went, so she was used to playing the
tyrant in this courtyard.
Naturally, she scolded everyone around her to her heart's content. After the
scolding, a few bolder ones would step forward to pacify her and smooth
things over.
However, this time, when she finished scolding, the room was so quiet that
even a pin drop could be heard.
She took a few breaths and looked around with a frown.
The room was full of maids, each with their heads hung low, like a group of
quails.
Tao Zhi sized them up and frowned unhappily.
What? Was it because a concubine was in the room today that they were
scared like this? He was just a cripple who couldn't even walk. What was
so scary about him?
She snorted coldly and turned around to leave.
But just as she whirled around, she spotted two people standing in front of
the door of the room.
Tao Zhi's legs went limp, and she dropped on her knees.
"Y-Your Highness!"
——
Jiang Suizhou stayed in the study until twilight.
An invitation was sent to him early, and two officials from the Ministry of
Works invited him out to drink at night. Jiang Suizhou was new to this
place and didn't even know how well he could drink, so he weighed his
options and chose to abstain from the banquet.
He stalled for a while and simply asked Meng Qianshan to personally take
the post back, saying that he did not sleep well last night and caught a cold;
he was recovering at home today.
Fortunately, he was notoriously known for being sick, so the excuse went
quite well, and the two did not press the issue any further.
After dealing with this matter, Jiang Suizhou left the study.
Although his room was now stuffed with a ferocious sick tiger, he couldn't
take this excuse to skip dinner.
To his surprise, just as he reached the door of his main room, he happened
to hear Tao Zhi reproaching Huo Wujiu cryptically.
The maid was standing in front of the table, blocking Huo Wujiu, who was
sitting in his wheelchair. She stood with arms akimbo, and her shrill voice could be heard from a distance.
When Meng Qianshan saw this picture, his face changed drastically. He was
about to speak, but Jiang Suizhou raised hand to stop him.
Although Jiang Suizhou couldn't see the maid's face, he could tell from her
clothing that she was the one who bumped into Huo Wujiu when carrying a
box at noon today. He thought that she would no longer dare to act out after
he had scolded her, but he didn't expect this maid to be so arrogant.
Jiang Suizhou couldn't tell if she thought her own life was too long or if she
had lived long enough.
He just quietly watched her arrogantly fly off the handle, and then watched
her turn around and look at him in surprise. Then her legs went jelly in
fright, and she collapsed to the ground.
Jiang Suizhou looked at her shivering appearance, a little speechless.
What was the use of being afraid now? Why didn't she know how to be
afraid when facing the fiendish-looking Huo Wujiu just now?
He had always loathed people with these deep-rooted bad habits.
As a man transmigrating back a thousand years, he thought he retained the
respect he should have for life and personality. However, there were some
people who were respected for their personality, but wanted to trample on
others'; originally, they were enslaved, but turned their heads to put on a
superior air to enslave others.