Xie Yuantang swatted his finger away and asked irritably, “What were you just doing?”
So he was the feather, disturbing her sweet dreams.
“My lady is pretty. They’re long, like a fan.”
Her face was covered in wounds, yet he still thought she was pretty?
Xie Yuantang found it amusing. She hadn’t expected this foolish husband of hers, though a bit simple, to be so disagreeable.
She pointed to the side, speaking as if coaxing a child.
“Be a good boy now~ Go play over there for a bit. I need to wash my face.”
She had completely forgotten that she was now a child herself.
“Oh,” Si Tu Yan replied obediently. As docile as a big dog, he sat on the edge of the bed, staring eagerly at Xie Yuantang.
Xie Yuantang hopped off the bed and walked over to the washstand.
When she looked up at the washbasin and towel, which were taller than she was, Xie Yuantang instantly deflated.
Damn it!
She had forgotten she was only nine years old now!
She was no longer Doomsday Boss Tang, but a little bean sprout who couldn’t even reach the towel!
Who on earth hangs a towel this high!
Xie Yuantang stomped her foot in anger. Staring at the towel hanging high above her head, she jumped on the spot!
Damn!
She couldn’t even grab it!
Xie Yuantang grew even more indignant. The big dog Si Tu Yan, who had been watching her series of actions from the side, suddenly tilted his head and looked at her, his eyes full of pure confusion. “My lady is learning from the rabbits. Do you want to grow taller?”
Xie Yuantang huffed irritably. “As if wanting it is enough.”
“It is.”
Si Tu Yan smiled and tilted his head. He suddenly reached out, cupped Xie Yuantang’s legs, and lifted her up. “You’re tall now!”
Holding her with one arm, Si Tu Yan pointed at the towel with his other hand and said, puffing out his chest proudly, “My lady, reach it!”
“…”
With Si Tu Yan’s help, Xie Yuantang finally finished washing up.
Just as she went to the wardrobe to find some clothes, Si Tu Yan disappeared somewhere.
By the time Xie Yuantang had changed, she turned around to see Si Tu Yan running in furtively, like a thief, his pair of bright Peach Blossom Eyes guiltily darting around.
Xie Yuantang looked at him suspiciously. “What are you doing?”
Si Tu Yan mysteriously pulled a steamed bun from his robes and stuffed it into Xie Yuantang’s hand. “My lady, eat this quickly. You’ll be full after eating.”
Xie Yuantang looked down at the crumpled steamed bun in her hand, then at his sparkling Peach Blossom Eyes. She had a reasonable suspicion that he was feeding her like a small animal!
She was just about to ask him where the bun came from when, before she could speak, she suddenly heard a commotion outside the door.
“Fool! Get your ass out here!”
The next second, with a loud crash, the door was kicked open!
“Fool! How dare you steal something!”
“I must teach you a good lesson today!”
A fat eunuch stormed in arrogantly, pointing at Si Tu Yan and screeching curses.
Behind him, two manservants followed, saying in a snide tone:
“Fifth Prince, we already told you that you would be fed at noon. But look at you, daring to run into the kitchen to steal a steamed bun!”
“Why can’t you just be obedient? Now, Chief Steward Du and the rest of us have no choice but to discipline you as ordered.”
The more Xie Yuantang listened, the darker her little face became. The two things she hated most were people entering without knocking and people who chattered incessantly.
These people had hit both marks!
Xie Yuantang rubbed her temples and roared:
“All of you, shut up!”
Tugging on Si Tu Yan’s sleeve, she stepped out from behind him.
In the mind of Xie, the Boss, Yuantang: Cold and domineering, her voice lethal!
In reality, in everyone else’s eyes, Xie, the nine-year-old bean sprout, Yuantang: Childish and high-pitched, delicate and cute.
“Eh?”
Only then did Du Wei and the others notice the small figure next to Si Tu Yan.
Du Wei looked Xie Yuantang up and down, his gaze lingering on the whip marks on her face for a few seconds before he suddenly sneered, “Well, who do we have here? If it isn’t our Little Imperial Consort.”
Xie Yuantang stood there, only reaching Si Tu Yan’s waist. She was sallow and thin, her face a crisscross of old and new scars.
She looked every bit the sickly child who wouldn’t live long!
“Oh my, the Little Imperial Consort is glaring at me! Do you want to eat, or do you want some milk?”
“What a pity~ I don’t have any milk to feed you…”
Du Wei held up a limp wrist, the flesh on his face twitching as he laughed.
“Her? A Little Imperial Consort?”
“More like a little bean sprout, I’d say!”
The two manservants beside him were bent over with laughter.
“What about me?”
Xie Yuantang’s eyes turned cold. “And what breed of dog are you, to dare bark at my door!”
Bullying people right at her doorstep—were they getting too full of themselves, or did they think she, Xie Yuantang, couldn’t wield a knife anymore!
The last person who dared to do this still had their corpse on display in her dissection room!
Although her voice sounded incredibly childish, it carried an oppressive weight that could not be ignored.
Du Wei subconsciously took a step back.
Realizing he had been frightened by a little girl, his face instantly turned ashen. He slapped one of the manservants on the head.
“Imbecile, what are you standing there for? The Fifth Prince has behaved improperly. Hurry up and teach him a lesson. If His Majesty blames us, I can’t bear the responsibility!”
Xie Yuantang took a step forward, her small arms firmly blocking Si Tu Yan. “I’d like to see who dares!”
Du Wei gave a humorless smile.
“You overestimate yourself!”
“Don’t you even bother to ask who’s in charge here at the Fifth Prince’s Estate!”
The two manservants at the side were quick. They lunged forward, kicked Si Tu Yan viciously, and began dragging him outside.
Perhaps because he was used to such treatment, Si Tu Yan’s face had turned pale the moment these people burst in. He was frozen, not daring to resist as they dragged him away.
Xie Yuantang’s eyes sharpened.
Reacting with extreme speed, she instantly kicked out at one of the manservants!
Swish!
Her foot shot out, precisely kicking… the air!
—Her legs were too short.
“Huh???”
The room fell silent.
Everyone seemed to freeze, their gazes all turning in unison to Xie Yuantang’s… short little legs.
Xie Yuantang stared at her own leg in disbelief. It was stretched out into a straight line, yet there was still a meter of distance between it and the manservant.
Not even a thread on the manservant’s clothes had stirred!
The two manservants were stunned for a moment, then burst into unrestrained laughter.
“Ahahahahaha!”
“What is the Little Imperial Consort trying to do? Perform a dance for us?”
Damn it!
She had forgotten about her shrunken size again!
Xie Yuantang stomped her foot in frustration. She, Doomsday Boss Tang, had never been so humiliated!
In that brief moment, Si Tu Yan had already been dragged to the doorway and forced to kneel before Du Wei.
Du Wei looked at him with satisfaction, raising a hand to pat his head as if he were a dog. “That’s a good boy.”
His tall body trembled slightly. Si Tu Yan kept his head down, and no matter how the men kicked or shoved him, he remained hunched over, protecting what he held in his arms.
Glancing at the steamed bun in his arms, Du Wei’s face twisted into a malicious grin. “Your Highness wants a steamed bun, eh? Same old rule. Give me two loud kowtows, and I’ll give it to you!”
“Chief Steward, you are too kind!”
The manservant flattered Du Wei, then reached out and roughly slapped Si Tu Yan’s face. “Hurry up and kowtow to show your gratitude! You don’t want to eat today, is that it?”
Seeing this, a fire of rage shot up in Xie Yuantang’s heart!
No matter how foolish her husband was, he was still her, Xie Yuantang’s, man. Besides, he was so handsome!
How dare these people slap his face!
“You… deserve… to die!”
With a thought, a silver needle shot out from her hand.
Du Wei felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and immediately lifted his head, looking around frantically.
“Who! Who was it!”
Xie Yuantang’s face wore an innocent expression, her big eyes holding a hint of mischievous glee. In a childish voice, she exclaimed in surprise:
“Wow! Heavenly justice has been served!”
“Oh my gosh, Chief Steward Du, you’re bleeding so much from your nose! Oh no, Chief Steward Du is about to die!”