“Help me undress.”
Xiao Quanchuan walked out first. Jiang Wangnan quickly grabbed something, stuffed it into his sleeve, and trotted to keep up.
A man was kneeling on the wide courtyard outside the door, bound tightly with ropes.
Upon catching sight of him, the man immediately began struggling like a madman, slamming his head against the ground: “Your Royal Highness! This subordinate is useless and failed to rescue Your Highness! Please punish me!”
Jiang Wangnan was startled, his almond-shaped eyes filled with confusion: “Who is he?”
“You do not recognize him?” Xiao Quanchuan asked.
He shook his head.
Was this plot in the original book?
He really had no impression of it; he must have been a nameless cannon fodder character.
Xiao Quanchuan looked at him with extremely dark eyes. Could his brain really have been scrambled by the blow?
Jiang Wangnan watched as he made a gesture, and the people around began looping ropes around the man’s body, connecting his neck and four limbs to five horses respectively.
With a pull, the man was suspended in the air facing upward, his hands and limbs splayed out in a spread-eagled shape. Each horse faced outward, with a soldier holding a horse whip standing beside its flank.
Xiao Quanchuan gently took his hand, led him to the side of one of the horses, took a horse whip, placed it into his palm, and coaxed him warmly: “Nannan, as long as you swing yours, they will follow your lead. These horses will all bolt outward at once, and this person’s body will be torn apart into six pieces.”
Dismemberment by five horses.
One of the brutal tortures.
It meant this person would die directly in front of him, covered in blood, and he would be one of the murderers.
The horse whip in his hand trembled continuously. Jiang Wangnan turned pale and pleaded: “Your Majesty, can I…”
“No.” The tone was resolute, strong, and unyielding.
Jiang Wangnan: “(Silence)”
Why is this person always so fierce?
Xiao Quanchuan’s fingers wrapped around his slender wrist like a viper, his tone alluring as he said, “Do it.”
Jiang Wangnan’s entire body was enveloped under his control, completely unable to move. His wrist was slowly lifted by him, higher than his head, making him look like a puppet being manipulated by the other person.
The horse whip hung in the air, trembling violently. As long as he quickly swung it downward, a human life would perish by his hand in an instant.
“What? Do you want to save your subjects?” Xiao Quanchuan’s expression remained completely calm, his words carrying a deeper meaning.
“Your concubine… Your concubine…” The real Jiang Wangnan had already died of poisoning last night, and the person before him had no ties to this world whatsoever.
Yet since he had taken over someone else’s body, he ought to return something.
If it were the philanthropic original host, he would undoubtedly choose to save the person without hesitation.
However, his abilities were limited. With fierce tigers in front and jackals behind, he was completely under the emperor’s control, so how could he save anyone?!
Drop, drop, drop. Large, soybean-sized teardrops fell onto the grey-blue floorboards, staining a patch of scorching dark color.
Xiao Quanchuan pinched his warm chin with his fingertips, his eyes exceptionally dark and deep: “What are you crying for?”
His eye rims reddened as he sobbed: “Your Majesty, this concubine would not dare.”
Tears dampened his thick, dark eyelashes, hanging on them translucently like grass after the rain, making his pupils look exceptionally clear and bright.
Xiao Quanchuan let out an internal sigh. In this world overflowing with filth, how could these eyes be born so pure?
A moment later, two lines of clear tears slid down the corners of his eyes, slipping between his fingers as if trying to curry favor.
Hot and moist, as if piously begging.
A corner of Xiao Quanchuan’s inner heart involuntarily softened. It was a very unfamiliar feeling, hard to describe in words. However, he disliked things slipping out of his control, so he coldly dropped two words: “Useless.”
Before the words faded, Jiang Wangnan’s hand felt empty as Xiao Quanchuan swung the horse whip, lashing it fiercely across the horse’s flank with a loud crack!
In an instant, all five horses were startled and neighed together, lifting their front hooves and bolting wildly outward.
“Ah!” Jiang Wangnan shrieked, instantly covering his eyes.
“I want you to watch!” Xiao Quanchuan forced his hands apart.
“No. No.” He closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head like a rattling bell.
Xiao Quanchuan said, “What kind of innocence are you putting on for me? You even dared to assassinate me; how could you lack this bit of courage?”
Jiang Wangnan just kept crying loudly, his body slowly sliding down until he squatted on the ground, burying his head to cry bitterly: “I do not know, I do not know.”
Xiao Quanchuan looked down at him from above. After a moment, he let out a breath, straightened his collar, and threw away the whip. “Truly useless,” and then he ordered, “Take him away to the Northern Pacification Commissioner’s prison and guard him well.”
The person?
It also seemed a bit too quiet around them.
Jiang Wangnan slowly opened his left eye, his heart about to jump out of his chest.
Was there any blood on the ground? There were only five messy piles of hemp rope, and the man had been escorted away with all four limbs intact.
His mind went blank.
Were the ropes not tied tightly from the beginning?
Why did he not kill him?
Was he not the notorious, bloodthirsty tyrant and jade-faced Yama?
Xiao Quanchuan walked inside without looking back, his silhouette cold and solitary.
Sun Nianhai stepped forward to support him: “Come, Attendant Jiang, go attend to His Majesty.”
“Huh?” He blinked.
Sun Nianhai clicked his tongue: “His Majesty is preparing to bathe.”
“Oh.”
“What do you mean ‘oh’? Why are you not going quickly? Whether the Imperial Kitchen can restore the food supply to Xiying Palace entirely depends on this time.”
One sentence woke the dreamer. He hurriedly said: “Oh, oh, oh. Grand Eunuch Sun makes sense. Thank you so much, you are truly wonderful.”
Watching Jiang Wangnan’s skipping figure, Sun Nianhai shook his head. He did not mean to help out; he had simply served Xiao Quanchuan long enough to naturally grasp the inner meaning of it all.
This test had only just begun.
The bathroom was located in the right-side wing room of the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Jiang Wangnan followed eagerly inside. The room was already hazy with steam, and the maids and eunuchs bowed and exited, closing the door very naturally.
He saw Xiao Quanchuan facing him, opening his arms.
Jiang Wangnan had never served anyone before, so he froze for a moment before stepping forward to hug the other person, even patting his back: “Good buddy.”
Xiao Quanchuan: “(Silence)”
“Help me undress.” He had never been so patient before.
“Oh, oh. This concubine overstepped.”
On the surface, Jiang Wangnan was respectful, but inwardly he was cursing: What kind of nonsense is this? Does he not have hands of his own? He only knows how to order others around, damned feudal society!
He stood on tiptoe and untied the belt, peeling him layer by layer like an onion.
Soon, the rack was covered with heavy garments. The room was warm and humid, and a thin layer of peach-fuzz-like sweat coated Jiang Wangnan’s forehead.
Finally stripping down to the last layer, the thin yellow undergarment clung closely to Xiao Quanchuan’s body. His shoulders were broad and sturdy, stretching the small V-neck into a wide V-neck, and his pectoral muscles were visible block by block, looming and ready to burst forth.
One could tell that the emperor’s clothes were specially tailored, the lines perfectly hugging the curves of his body all the way down to his waist, tapering gradually like a wide avenue leading into a forest path, forming an exceptionally standard inverted triangle.
Jiang Wangnan’s fingers gripped the collar and he swallowed hard, feeling a little excited inside like opening a blind box. With a tug, eight sturdy and powerful abdominal muscles almost blinded his dog eyes.
These were not muscles wrapped in thick fat, but lean muscles with an excess of resilience, slightly inward-curving at the back. Calling it a screaming dog-waist would not be an overstatement.
Further down, the front of the underpants squeezed out a flaccid shape, plump and bulky, comparable in size to Jiang Wangnan’s fist.
Jiang Wangnan feasted his eyes, his face instantly turning beet red. Suddenly, he felt that this job was not such a miserable chore after all.
No wonder the original book described him bullying the original shou day and night.
Moreover, Jiang Wangnan remembered that the later original shou hated Xiao Quanchuan to the bone while also twistedly yearning for the pleasure the other gave him.
On one hand, he wanted to escape the imperial palace and start an uprising to restore the state; on the other hand, he did not want to leave this place or see Xiao Quanchuan’s country fall.
Based on this complex love-hate relationship, countless scenes of the two fighting and mating filled the original book.
Jiang Wangnan thought that since this body had changed owners now, fighting was out of the question. If they did that, would he end up following the plot?
He did not even dare to imagine what wonderful feeling it would be if Xiao Quanchuan’s thing shoved its way inside. With just a slight stray thought, his butt began to ache faintly.
From Xiao Quanchuan’s perspective, the delicate and pretty youth occasionally frowned, sometimes pressed his lips together, sometimes shook his head, and occasionally glanced at his lower body while resting his hands on his waistband, rubbing his knuckles back and forth, burning with embarrassment, half-undressing yet not finishing.
Quite cute, actually.
Was this little fellow actually blushing?
Xiao Quanchuan instantly harbored mischievous intentions. He leaned in close to his ear and softly breathed a warm sigh: “The water is going to get cold.”
Mysteriously, an aura of courtship released by a male toward his object of affection washed over him, causing Jiang Wangnan’s heart to tremble violently.
Last night, Xiao Quanchuan had attempted to force him in bed and tasted a bit of the excitement of being tormented. Now, he was deliberately making him serve him, clearly stoking the fire on purpose, likely wanting to try for another round of pleasure.
Because if it were the original shou, a slap would have already landed fiercely by now. The more the other resisted, the more enthusiastic the opponent became. How could a bathroom scene not happen?
With his scalp tingling, Jiang Wangnan bit his lip, relaxed his brow, and put on an obedient look. He pulled downward with both hands, lowering his head submissively until the sound of splashing water entering the tub rang in his ear.
He secretly let out a turbid breath. Sure enough, the moment he acted obediently, the other person would find it boring and lose interest.
“This concubine has a matter, not sure whether I should speak of it or not.” His voice was also made exceptionally soft and coy.
The back of Xiao Quanchuan’s neck rested against the edge of the wooden tub, the Ear-Wrap Feather hanging steadily from his left ear. With his handsome face tilted upward, eyes closed, and sharp chin raised, he changed the subject: “My beard has grown out.”
On the table beside them sat a brand-new set of shaving tools quietly: a razor, scissors, a brush, and a brocade handkerchief.
Natural light filtered through the thin window paper, landing on the razor’s sharp edge and reflecting a glittering, icy shadow. Any single tool here would undoubtedly be a throat-slitting weapon.
For the sake of food and clothing for everyone in Xiying Palace, Jiang Wangnan smiled sweetly and said, “To be able to serve Your Majesty, this concubine feels supremely honored.”
“You have become very obedient today.” Obedient to the point of being strange.
Xiao Quanchuan appeared to have his eyes closed, but in reality, he imperceptibly cracked open a tiny slit to monitor Jiang Wangnan’s every move.
He saw him fetch a chair, pick up the razor, and lean in close. The blade began to sweep back and forth with a swish sound starting from his right lower jaw.
His eyes were wide open in utter concentration, his posture locked like a statue without swaying, and his gaze never once lingered on his vital parts.
Not long after, the blade drifted to Xiao Quanchuan’s left cheek. The skin right below it was throbbing, that was his carotid artery. The distance between the two of them was merely two or three inches.
The shaving razor was about five inches long in total, with only one inch being the wooden handle, while the rest was a razor-sharp blade capable of cutting through iron like mud.
As long as Jiang Wangnan quickly twisted the angle of the blade, his throat would be slit, and blood would instantly spurt out like a fountain.
It was clearly an unmissable assassination opportunity, so why…
“Why are you not making a move?” Xiao Quanchuan suddenly spoke up.
“What? Is this concubine not already working on it?” Jiang Wangnan did not understand, his almond eyes widening slightly.
What else does this walking disaster want to do? So annoying!
Xiao Quanchuan slowly lifted his eyelids, shifting his pupils over with a blank expression.
Jiang Wangnan blinked and smiled brightly, revealing neat, white teeth, practically wagging a tail: “Does Your Majesty have any other instructions?”
The other person rolled his eyes back to stare at the ceiling and sighed, probably exhausting most of the patience he would use in a lifetime.
Talking to him was like talking to a brick wall, complete communication breakdown.
“You may step down.”
At this moment, Xiao Quanchuan pressed his right temple with two joined fingers, experiencing a sense of helplessness for the very first time.
Was this person playing dumb, or were they genuinely stupid?
Suddenly, a soft mass covered his left temple, and Jiang Wangnan’s soft voice drifted over: “Your Majesty, was the pressure suitable?”
Before he could respond, an object slipped out of his sleeve, falling into the bathwater with a soft thud.
Xiao Quanchuan’s brow pressed down. He sprang up with a splash, flashing three meters behind the clothes rack in the blink of an eye, and asked vigilantly, “What hidden weapon is that?”
Jiang Wangnan was splashed with water all over and felt somewhat speechless. He bent down to fish out the square object, which looked exceptionally familiar.
He saw his finger press the middle and gently pry it open, revealing the milky-white flowing filling inside, was this not the milk pastry from lunch?
Xiao Quanchuan: “(Silence)”
“Um. This was hidden by myself. Sorry for startling Your Majesty,” Jiang Wangnan said, scratching his head.
Xiao Quanchuan pressed his fist against his lips, turned his face away, and coughed twice: “Not at all, you overthought it.”
“Haha, is that so? Then does Your Majesty want to come back and wash?”
“What do you think?” His expression looked entirely like he was looking at an idiot.
“This concubine thinks it is fine. The pastry has no strange smell, and changing the water would be too wasteful.” Jiang Wangnan actually analyzed the logic seriously.
Xiao Quanchuan no longer wanted to reply and began changing clothes on his own: “I remember the Imperial Kitchen prepares tea and pastries for all palaces every afternoon. Was there no milk pastry?”
At the mention of the Imperial Kitchen, Jiang Wangnan’s anger flared up. Looking wronged, he said, “Your Majesty might not know this, but ever since this concubine entered the palace, I have not eaten a single full meal.”
Xiao Quanchuan shot him a cold gaze with a bland expression, making his thoughts unreadable.
“If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can come over to the palace tonight and take a look for yourself.” Jiang Wangnan’s eye rims reddened, every word earnest.
Xiao Quanchuan usually harbored doubts about anything anyone said, but after a moment of silence, he replied, “You go back first, I have my own arrangements.”
“Oh, this concubine takes his leave.”
After Jiang Wangnan left, he summoned Sun Nianhai, who was waiting at the door: “Is the food supply for Xiying Palace completely normal?”
“Replying to Your Majesty, this old servant has never heard of any withholding of rations.”
“Then what he said was a lie? First act obediently, then play pitiful. Hah, I want to see what kind of trick he is trying to play by deliberately luring me over.”
Sun Nianhai said, “Your Majesty, shall we dispatch guards to follow in secret?”
“No need. I will go alone, that will be much more interesting,” he said with a smile.