The Young Master, Beautiful to the Verge of Cruelty
This was Yue Ce’s first time seeing a real person from the gossip and rumors.
Legends of the Regent’s young master were everywhere in Wangjing City.
He was favored by the Regent, with half of all tributes in the world dedicated to nourishing him. He grew up cradled in the arms of the eldest young master, who was renowned throughout the capital, practically growing up clutching the spine of the eldest young master.
Among the Regent’s many adopted sons, people all across the land had constantly worried as they watched the young master grow.
Would this beautiful little beggar grow up into a beautiful adult, bearing a child for the Regent like a puppet emperor to repay the Prince’s kindness in raising him?
And the pitiful current Emperor would meet a bizarre end amidst the birth of the new Emperor.
No one was unaware of the Regent’s intentions.
This overbearing, world-shaking general, who had single-handedly suppressed the internal and external rebellions of the Dayan Dynasty, had climbed step by step to a position where there was no higher title left to confer.
Not kneeling before the Emperor, carrying a sword into the great hall, and holding command over all military forces both inside and outside the capital.
The lingering majesty of the Dayan Dynasty still protected the Emperor, but it was ultimately a scene like the setting sun.
Yue Ce could not help looking toward the young master.
His astonishing beauty absorbed the cold aloofness of the eldest young master while seizing the arrogance of the Regent.
He was a pitiful young beast crouching in Wangjing City, drinking human souls and crying out for sustenance.
He was beautiful to the verge of cruelty, scraping like a knife across every pair of eyes that watched him.
The Regent’s young master carried an even greater deterrent pressure than the illusory, scarlet rumors, a beauty beyond limits that instead made one’s hair stand on end.
It was as if he had chewed up the previous and current dynasties, bones, skin, and all, leaving a river of blood in his wake.
Tong Lu and Chu Tao both dropped to their knees, prostrating themselves on the ground and offering endless thanks for the young master’s shelter.
As a gift sent by the Regent, far from feeling any arrogance, they felt only a boundless, marrow-deep terror.
Yet the high-and-mighty young master merely looked over the tops of their heads, walked past them, and strode straight into the house.
He was not at all happy about this gift.
888 coaxed him: The three newcomers are quite pretty, and they are safe.
099 did not speak.
888 said: Everyone in the stories is on a different path from you. You can play with them if you like, but you cannot engrave them into your core. Once you bear the imprint of someone or some people, you will never be able to go back to being your old self.
099 muttered in a low voice: So naggy.
888 fell silent.
099 propped his chin on his hand and let out a gentle sigh.
He did not apply medicine to Big Brother’s knee, choosing instead just to mess around with Big Brother for a bit before wandering off on his own.
He truly was the most qualified villain, and he did not need 888’s approval at all.
Yet when night fell, Lin Jiujiu tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.
888 counted sheep for him, counted stars, played sleep-inducing music, and played the sounds of rain and wind. 888 always had the patience to coax him.
But 099 no longer had the patience to listen.
Lin Jiujiu threw on a heavy cloak and walked straight outside.
888 asked him where he was going.
Lin Jiujiu replied: You do not want to know.
888 fell silent.
Lin Jiujiu ran all the way outside Xiao Jinglian’s courtyard gate. The gate was left unlatched, as if anticipating someone would come over.
Lin Jiujiu stubbornly refused to go in.
Lin Jiujiu stared at the dim, yellowish lights in the courtyard.
Lin Jiujiu counted the shadows of the withered tree branches.
Lin Jiujiu wished he could stomp his feet hard enough to cause an earthquake across the entire Prince’s estate, turning the world upside down and filling the air with dust and ashes.
888 said this made him a spoiled brat, and only a spoiled brat would think this way.
A spoiled brat thinking about blowing up the school.
888 realized that years of doting had truly made his colleague willful and hateful.
Yet, it ought to be hatred, right?
Lin Jiujiu squatted down, crouching right at the courtyard entrance, as a wave of hunger welled up, surging into his throat and pouring into his heart.
He did not draw circles on the ground to curse people.
A person’s shadow enveloped him.
Lin Jiujiu looked up, expecting it to be Big Brother.
Instead, it was adoptive father.
Lin Jiujiu sprang straight up. Why on earth would adoptive father appear in Big Brother’s courtyard at this late hour?
What had the two of them discussed, or what had they done?
Lin Jiujiu dared not strike adoptive father because he was utterly cowardly.
He took a step back, turning to run, only to be scooped up by Shi Henzhen.
Shi Henzhen was far too tall, scooping him up completely with a single arm.
Lin Jiujiu sighed: Adoptive father.
Shi Henzhen said: You are a grown man sneaking around like a thief. Are you not afraid of being laughed at?
Lin Jiujiu turned his head away, refusing to look at him or offer any explanation.
If they were going to label him a thief, he might as well just be a thief.
Shi Henzhen said: Your eldest brother is about to enter the palace, and you sleep with him. What kind of behavior is that?
I am eighteen years old, not some little kid, and I do not need a mother.
Dad! Lin Jiujiu glared at him in anger. Big Brother is not Mother, and I do not view Big Brother as a mother.
You sleep with him and get him big with child. Whether he wants to be a mother or not, he becomes one. Shi Henzhen walked away, holding the young man in his arms.
Lin Jiujiu pounded him in fury: No, you are talking nonsense. Adoptive father, you are not allowed to say that.
Shi Henzhen gave his face a rough, abrasive wipe with his massive palm, instantly extinguishing Lin Jiujiu’s bubbling rage.
He certainly did not want any broken bones; if Shi Henzhen used even a little too much force or was not careful enough, Lin Jiujiu would be in pain.
Lin Jiujiu muttered: Why must it be Big Brother when there are so many other geers out there?
Shi Henzhen laughed: Do you no longer want to be Empress?
Lin Jiujiu’s face flushed scarlet, and he lowered his head so no one could see.
Shi Henzhen shifted his posture to hold him more securely.
Do not concern yourself with court affairs, brat. Just focus on eating, drinking, and playing your games. Shi Henzhen said, Your adoptive father is not spineless enough to need a child to share the burden.
What about Big Brother, then? Lin Jiujiu asked stubbornly.
Shi Henzhen said: He is ambitious and wild. His scheming mind matured eight hundred lifetimes ago.
Lin Jiujiu analyzed the implications behind those words. It seemed adoptive father and Big Brother had reached an agreement, keeping up a harmonious front where everyone appeared friendly on the surface.
At this late hour, adoptive father did not forget to pacify and rope people in, while Big Brother did not forget to put on a show of loyalty. They were all master actors.
During the daytime in Tingzhou Courtyard, Cao Xing had settled Yue Ce, Tong Lu, and Chu Tao into the side chambers.
The young master clearly had not taken a fancy to these three pretty people, so for now, he left them out of the young master’s sight.
Throughout the year, if the young master favored Tingzhou Courtyard for even half a month, it would be considered a lot. He spent the vast majority of his time attached to the eldest young master, for that was truly the young master’s home.
Cao Xing was growing older, now in his forties. Back when he was a refugee drifting to Bixian County, Shi Henzhen had still been a child, yet he was already strong enough to lift a millstone for grinding beans. At an age when ordinary children were still drooling, Shi Henzhen had already displayed his unique intelligence.
Holding a bowl of millet, he sat on the old bough of a tree, and whenever he spotted a refugee who caught his eye, he would toss down a handful of millet.
If there was a chaotic scramble, the small stones in his pocket certainly did not show mercy, hitting their mark every single time.
The scrambling refugees would emerge bloodied and battered, yet they would still snatch up the grains mixed with blood and dirt and swallow them whole.
Shi Henzhen gracefully leaped down from the tree.
Someone eyed the large bowl of millet in his hands, then looked at his tender, youthful flesh, the bloodlust in their eyes almost taking physical form.
Shi Henzhen drew the sword behind his back and directly slashed one of them to death.
The refugees finally scattered.
Cao Xing did not fight for food. Instead, he picked up the few grains scattered on the ground, trying to wipe them clean with his tattered garments, only to make them dirtier. Dropping to his half-knees to show submission, he offered the millet to the child.
The young child asked: Are you willing to acknowledge me as your father?
Even in his youth, Shi Henzhen already loved acting as people’s father.
Cao Xing replied: I am older than you. Acknowledge me as your younger brother instead, Young Master.
Shi Henzhen accepted thirteen younger brothers, leading this train of followers back home.
Later on, one of those thirteen betrayed him and was personally sent on his way by Shi Henzhen. Five died, perishing on the battlefield and in political conspiracies.
Four were injured.
Cao Xing’s luck could not be called terrible since he survived, nor could it be called great since he accidentally suffered an injury to that lower region during battle, leaving him without descendants. He voluntarily stepped down to become Shi Henzhen’s steward, working his way up from the general’s household steward all the way to the mansion steward he was now, and perhaps soon enough, he would enter the palace to become the Emperor’s steward.
In the dead of night at Tingzhou Courtyard, Tong Lu harbored a heart that refused to find peace. He was blessed with good looks, and the Commander had scoured the place to round him up, packaging him as a gift to be presented to the all-powerful Regent.
Yet the Prince’s gaze had merely swept over them like they were a string of glittering jewels. Such treasures, untouchable by ordinary households, were placed in the Prince’s estate merely to be worn casually by the young master as everyday trinkets.
He was not even a gift worthy of a grand fanfare.
Casually given away. No red sedan chair, no formal title.
Tong Lu’s heart could not find peace. Envy, jealousy, fury. Having met the young master, he understood for the very first time what was meant by the difference between clouds and mud, what was meant by an impassable chasm.
They were all human beings, all with two eyes and one nose, so how could the gap between people be so vast?
The appearance he relied on had amounted to absolutely nothing once inside the young master’s courtyard.
What on earth should he do?
In Lanting Pavilion, Xiao Jinglian had extinguished several palace lanterns.
Shi Henzhen had carried Lin Jiujiu far away, but Xiao Jinglian did not chase after them, merely using the snuffer to slowly put out the lamps one by one.
The entire hall was empty and chilling, with cold sounds echoing through the corridors. Xiao Jinglian’s shadow grew dim as well, illuminated only by the moonlight.
In Shi Henzhen’s arms, Lin Jiujiu suddenly struggled a bit. But that meager strength of his was no different from a drop of water falling into the ocean, unable to stir up the slightest ripple.
Lin Jiujiu looked back, wanting to catch a glimpse of Big Brother’s courtyard.
However, it was already pitch black, dark to the extreme. Big Brother must have been in a wonderful mood. Since he did not come over, Big Brother had simply gone to sleep.
All those endless times Big Brother coaxed him to sleep were fake. Growing tired of him long ago and wishing he could sleep alone was the real truth.
Very well, wonderful.
Lin Jiujiu wrapped his arms around his adoptive father’s head, demanding to ride a big horse.
Shi Henzhen refused to indulge him.
Lin Jiujiu felt desolate and dejected.
Shi Henzhen simply hoisted him onto his back: Such a big person hanging around your father’s neck, are you not afraid of spraining your own waist?
Lin Jiujiu clamped his legs around Shi Henzhen’s waist. The muscles felt somewhat firm and sturdy, and adoptive father carried him with rock-solid stability so he was not afraid of falling, freeing up his hands to touch the gold crown on adoptive father’s head.
Adoptive father was a gloomy, vicious, and gorgeous man whose tall, fierce stature was enough to stop crying children at night.
Clinging to his shoulders and back, Lin Jiujiu gradually drifted off to sleep.
The fine gold crown was pulled loose and clattered down onto the ground.
Shi Henzhen’s hair tumbled down loose, yet he remained as arrogant as ever. Even the moon in the sky could not match his supreme loftiness.
Yet the little thing he carried on his back was light, weightless, and soft as a ball of dough.
Shi Henzhen had no choice but to plant his feet firmly on the ground, walking a little steadier, and then steadier still. Every single step landed solidly on the firm earth.