In an instant, some of the onlookers below the stage covered their eyes, while others screamed.
They simply could not bear to watch a three-year-old child being torn apart by the Wild Hairy Person.
However, in the very next moment, something happened that exceeded everyone's expectations!
The Wild Hairy Person did not roar or attack; instead, it stood quietly in place, allowing the Xiao Jia Huo before it to stroke it.
"Sister!" Shen Jingzhao braked sharply, his breath nearly hitching.
At this moment, Xiao Sui An took the Wild Hairy Person's large hand, shook her head at the chains on its body with disgust, and touched the wounds where the chains had dug into its flesh.
"It hurts a lot, doesn't it? I know. If you don't attack the audience, they will tie you even tighter and deliberately stab you, right?" Xiao Sui An sighed in a milky voice.
The Wild Hairy Person trembled all over, its black fur softened, and it retracted all its ferocity.
The Persian Merchant on the side could hardly believe his eyes, staring wide-eyed.
"How can this beast be so docile? Usually, unless it is put in a cage, even I cannot get within three steps of it."
Xiao Sui An ignored him and just gently blew on the Wild Hairy Person's wounds.
Soon, after feeling the Xiao Jia Huo's heartache.
The Wild Hairy Person fell to its knees with a thud, shedding turbid and painful tears of blood.
"Awoo—"
For these past few years, finally, someone could understand its beast language.
Its pain had been heard by someone!
After the Wild Hairy Person finished weeping, it obediently leaned its head under Xiao Sui An's hand, voluntarily letting her touch it.
Xiao Sui An sighed heart-wrenchingly, "I understand what you mean. You want me to win that gold, right?"
At this time, the crowd below the stage finally reacted and began to boil with excitement again.
"Look, the child touched its head and is still unharmed."
"That Persian Merchant should give her a thousand pieces of gold; this little girl won!"
"Well done, child!"
Hearing this, the Persian Merchant stepped forward, trembling, "Little... little Miss, may I ask, how exactly did you subdue it?"
"I have had it for five years and could never get close to it, but you have only just met it once. How is this even possible?" the Persian Merchant said in disbelief.
Xiao Sui An turned around and stared at him, "Hmph, I never subdued him. I just respect him. If you had the heart and were willing to treat him kindly, it wouldn't be hard to achieve."
"What?" The Persian Merchant stepped back a few paces.
At this moment, thinking of the bet of a thousand pieces of gold, his face turned even paler.
The so-called thousand pieces of gold were nothing more than a gimmick.
He couldn't afford it at all, and he had bet on the fact that no one could do it.
But this little girl, in front of everyone, had actually succeeded. What was he to do now...
Xiao Sui An saw through him and shook her head, "I don't need the thousand pieces of gold, but you must agree to a few conditions for me."
The Persian Merchant's heart, which had fallen into an ice cellar, suddenly returned, "Really? What are your requirements? I—I will definitely agree to all of them!"
"First, go back and treat the Wild Hairy Person's wounds. Second, you are not allowed to abuse or hit it anymore. And third, you must not force it to hurt people again to earn this dirty money!" the Xiao Jia Huo said in a milky voice, yet every word was a pearl of wisdom.
Shen Jingzhao understood his sister's intention and immediately shouted coldly, "That's right! If you dare not to agree, or if you go back on your word after agreeing, and I see you in the Capital City again, I will definitely send you to the Foreign Affairs Office to be punished for illegal trading!"
The Persian Merchant almost cried, as if he had been granted amnesty, "I agree, I agree, I will definitely agree and never go back on my word. Thank you both for your mercy."
At this moment, the Wild Hairy Person also shed tears, looking at Xiao Sui An with gratitude, and suddenly pointed to a stall nearby.
Xiao Sui An noticed it and immediately turned around, walking toward the rare treasures and herbs that the Persian Merchant was selling.
Seeing this, the Persian Merchant hurried over to introduce them, "These are all rare treasures I brought from my motherland, including thousand-year-old beast bones and rare medicinal herbs. If you like them, Miss, just take them; I won't charge a penny!"
Xiao Sui An shook her head, ignoring the treasures before her eyes, and finally fixed her gaze on the stone bowl the Wild Hairy Person had pointed to.
The stone bowl was placed in a corner, dirty, and filled with a kind of grayish-brown grass seed.
"This one, I want this one." Xiao Sui An pointed to it.
The Persian Merchant was stunned. Fearing she didn't understand, he explained, "This isn't worth anything. It's just grass seeds from my hometown. They have a lingering fragrance and are just placed here to remove odors."
"Why don't I pick a few treasures to give you instead?"
Xiao Sui An refused, "No, I just want these grass seeds. How much are they? I will buy them."
Seeing the Xiao Jia Huo's persistence, the Persian Merchant had no choice but to ask for five copper coins and "sold" the odor-removing grass seeds.
The Wild Hairy Person looked relieved, let out two low roars, and then bid farewell to Xiao Sui An.
"Goodbye! I don't know if we will ever meet again, but I hope you stay well." Xiao Sui An sat back in the carriage, waving her little hand continuously until the Wild Hairy Person disappeared from sight, only then was she willing to look away.
On the way back, Shen Jingzhao was full of admiration.
"Oh my, sister, you are too amazing! But next time something like this happens, you must tell Second Brother first, otherwise my little heart really can't take it." Shen Jingzhao looked at his sister with both pride and lingering fear.
Xiao Sui An's eyes curved into crescents as she affectionately snuggled into Jing Zhao's arms.
"I know, my good Second Brother. However, you should think about how you are going to give an Explanation to Mother for spending so much silver today."
Because at this moment, inside the carriage, besides the two siblings.
It was also packed with the large and small bags and various odds and ends that Shen Jingzhao had bought at the Temple Fair!
Shen Jingzhao stuck out his tongue, "It doesn't matter. At worst, I'll just get a beating from Mother's shoe sole."
Anyway, it was for Sui An, so he felt it was worth it.
"Oh, by the way, sister, why didn't you want the beast bones and medicinal herbs just now, but wanted this bowl of broken grass seeds instead?" Shen Jingzhao remembered to ask.
Xiao Sui An blinked mischievously.
"As for that, it's a Secret. You'll know later~"
After returning to the mansion, Xiao Sui An did not stay idle.
She ran to the flower bed in the Backyard, crouched down, and immediately planted the bought grass seeds into the ground.
After working through the night, she finally finished planting them, and Xiao Sui An did not forget to instruct the servants.
"From now on, you must water them every day, three times a day, and you cannot miss any~"
Just like that, with patient care, ten days passed.
The grass seeds in the flower bed broke through the soil and grew to be almost as tall as a forearm!
These "grass seedlings" looked very ordinary at first glance.
But if you got close, you could smell a strange fragrance, and you could see a circle of shallow, velvet-like silver threads growing on the edges of the grass leaves.
At noon, after Xiao Sui An finished her lunch and checked on the "grass seedlings" to see them growing sturdily, she felt like going into the palace to play.
Su Jinhan agreed immediately, "Alright, it just so happens that Mother has nothing to do this afternoon, so I will take you to see the Old Imperial Concubine. Don't keep her waiting for too long."
After getting ready, the mother and daughter were just about to leave.
However, at this moment, shocking news came from the palace...
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