Fu Shen had already reached the ancient human’s side. He knelt on one knee with an air of refined grace. As he looked up, those amorous peach-blossom eyes were revealed, looking at Yu Li in a way that made it seem as if one might fall into them just by glancing.
It had to be said that Fu Shen was born with a handsome face.
Seeing Fu Shen interrupt him, Qin Xie felt a slight sense of relief. The hostility in his pitch-black eyes diminished; he decided to give Fu Shen credit for knowing when to act.
Yu Li’s mind had not quite caught up to the situation when he felt Fu Shen gently lift his hand and kiss the back of it. With his gold-rimmed glasses and gentle, scholarly demeanor, Fu Shen said softly, “Li Li, it is time for breakfast.”
Watching Fu Shen lower himself to kiss the back of his hand, Yu Li finally remembered his own grand declaration from yesterday: he had ordered the protagonist shou to kneel and kiss his hand every time he spoke to him.
Yu Li’s dark, curled lashes cast a thick shadow beneath his eyes. Feeling the gaze of the three men upon him, the young boy felt like his skin was crawling. Why were they all staring at him, especially Qin Xie?
Yu Li glanced at the cold-faced Qin Xie. Hadn’t he talked it over with him yesterday? He did not actually like Fu Shen; he was just bullying him. Why was Qin Xie acting like someone had stolen his wife?
Although Qin Xie was grateful for Fu Shen’s timely appearance, the thought that this timeliness was built upon Fu Shen kissing Yu Li’s little hand made his teeth ache with frustration. His fists clenched; if he were not afraid of scaring the little marionette, he would have punched the man away just now. What a shameless man taking advantage!
Fu Shen did not care what the other two were thinking. The little hand by his lips was so sweet and soft that he wanted to stuff it entirely into his mouth and lick it. As he slightly raised his eyelids, his dark pupils reflected the ancient human’s delicate, perfect figure.
The sweet fragrance radiating from Yu Li was faint but persistent. Fu Shen was tall, so even kneeling to hold the boy’s hand, from his perspective, he could see the fleshy curve of Yu Li’s thigh being squeezed by the hem of his dark shorts. It was blindingly white. Because Yu Li was so dainty, even the highest quality silk fabric seemed to have rubbed a red ring around his legs. It made one suspect that he was so delicate that he would turn red at a mere touch. Perhaps even a single kiss would leave a bruise. Fu Shen felt his heart pounding.
This sudden scene left Qi Cai, standing in the center of the hall, stunned. Aside from feeling jealous, he was overcome with an indescribable annoyance.
Qi Cai was so irritated his eyes turned red. He tutted and, no longer caring about keeping up appearances, said loudly and sarcastically, “Ancient humans really are precious. Does he need someone to kneel and kiss his hand just to eat a meal? Do you not have hands or a mouth? Must the food be fed to your lips or placed in your palms for you to eat?”
Even as slow as Yu Li was, he could feel the major villain’s hostility. He felt disappointed; he had wanted to follow him, but Qi Cai was clearly mocking him with barbed, nitpicking words. He feared that if he tried to get closer, he would be kicked away before he even arrived. Thinking of his villain points slipping away, Yu Li felt his heart break. He could not help but redden his eyes and fall silent.
Qi Cai had never been ignored like this before. However, looking at Yu Li with his head hanging low, his forehead, eye corners, and nose tip flushed pink, with his thick lashes soaked in damp tears, he felt conflicted. The ancient human was sniffling, his watery pink lips pressed tight, looking incredibly pitiful.
Qi Cai felt awkward. What is there to be aggrieved about? I am the one who should be aggrieved. Forget it. Why am I arguing with this fool? The ancient human just woke up and understands nothing. Perhaps this is all a show orchestrated by these two to make me angry, so I would punish the ancient human and make Yu Li cry and hate me.
Given how precious this national treasure was, if Qi Cai caused a scene, he probably would not be allowed within a mile of this place again for the rest of his life. Would that not mean they had succeeded?
But he had never felt so stifled. Since he was a child, Qi Cai had never apologized to anyone; others had always thrown their faces on the ground for him to step on. Forcing Qi Cai to admit he was wrong was something he could not do. In his usual temperament, he would have long since kicked the annoying thing away, not allowing it to hover in front of his eyes.
Yet, looking at Yu Li’s aggrieved, flushed face and drooping hair, Qi Cai hesitated. Given Yu Li’s timid nature, he would probably be scared to tears before Qi Cai could even touch the other two men. Yu Li was young, beautiful, slender, and looked like a pet crafted by God with the utmost care. His skin was so thin, fair, and pink that just having tears in his eyes made him red all over.
Qi Cai did not want to apologize, but he was venomous-tongued and never said anything nice. He continued, “Or does this young master need to send an eight-man sedan chair and kneel to kowtow before you will do anything?”
Yu Li could not help but retort, widening his innocent, glassy eyes. “I never said that!”
How could he possibly make a major villain use a sedan chair or kowtow? Yu Li puffed out his cheeks. Anyway, Qi Cai clearly did not like him as a sidekick, and since he had already offended him, a little more did not matter. He no longer cared about flattering Qi Cai. “I would never ask you to do anything. You look so clumsy. If I waited for you to do something, I would be waiting until the end of the world!”
Yu Li’s voice rose a little.
Qi Cai looked at the ancient human, who was standing with his hands on his hips after pulling them back from Fu Shen, and then looked at Qin Xie, who was guarding Yu Li like a knight. A ridiculous thought suddenly occurred to him: it was like a harem fighting for favor. Yu Li had become the little emperor, and the three of them had become jealous concubines. And to make it worse, the little emperor had just told him he was useless!
Qi Cai flew into a rage from shame. He growled, “Who is clumsy? You have not even used me, so how do you know I am not good at it?”
Looking at his flushed face and the way he was fuming, one would think he had just had his wife stolen.
As soon as these words were out, Yu Li’s eyes lit up. He did not hold back. “Then come and feed me!”
He lifted his chin, his tone teasingly sweet. Yet, his words were so provocative that they made people want to pinch his little face and lean in to smell if his breath was as sweet as his voice.
Qi Cai struggled to recover from the beauty of the ancient human and then froze. He said in disbelief, “Who is feeding you?!”
Yu Li was shouted at, and he felt a bit cowardly when he saw the major villain’s fury. The smugness vanished, replaced by a wave of grievance. He had never been shouted at like this, not even before coming to this world. However, Yu Li did not have time to dwell on his grievance; he was now terrified that the major villain might choke him to death for being so offensive.