That man, really cannot be taken lightly! He got his hands on me again! It seemed that ZiLi had to run far away quickly, or if he was not careful, he would be torn to the bone and eaten by him!
On the way back, ZiLi was covered in soaking wet clothes and his boots made a soggy sound with every step. With that, a hint of fleeing in defeat was inevitably carried. It was already dark, so he quickly returned to the small courtyard where he was temporarily staying, and changed into clean clothes. His stomach started to rumble.
Are you kidding? I mean, even if there is discrimination of my status, it’s not like you can’t even get a meal, right! ZiLi had no alternative but to sit on the table 1 and pour a cup of tea to suppress his hunger.
After waiting for a while, still no one had brought food. Being really hungry, ZiLi got up in annoyance, stomped to the door, opened it and walked out.
“This was really a case like the tiger leaving its mountain, falling into the flat lands to be trapped, and getting bullied by a dog 2 , ah. Those damn monks and those damn eunuchs, do they really dare to mistreat the great me 3 ?” ZiLi, who was still growing, had an absolute obsession with food and no one could stop that. He could let anyone down, but not his stomach!
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 38 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
The lights of the temple were visible far away on the horizon, but ZiLi, who had no lighting tools with him, could only grope his way forward in the pitch darkness.
“Nghh, ah― don’t. My Lord 4 , Jing Wu― Jing Wu still has to deliver dinner to His Highness of Bei Ling――”
“So what, His Highness of Bei Ling is nothing more than a hostage and a male pet!”
“Ah, but― but― others will find out―”
“Don’t worry, everyone has gone to the front hall. This place is so remote and moreover a utility room. Who would come here in the pitch dark? Be obedient Jing Wu, don’t move, let Daddy 5 spoil you nicely. My old father back home kept a close eye on me, so I haven’t been able to come see you for months. Daddy missed you greatly!”
“Nghh――My― My Lord――”
“My cute baby, call me daddy――”
“Daddy, ah― ah―”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 38 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
ZiLi, who was crouched outside the door, was so angry that his teeth itched. What a couple of a dog man and dog woman 6 , I mean, two dog men. How dare they skip my dinner and do these dirty things here? Who the hell is that shit of a Lord? How dare he contemptuously accuse me of being a hostage and a male pet? The most offensive words come from the mouths of others, making them even more hurtful. ZiLi, trying to hold back his heart full of anger, kicked open the door.
“Who are you?” the two people, who were in the thick of making love, immediately stopped all movements and asked in terror.
“It doesn’t matter who I am, but what matters is that if what you are doing here right now reaches His Majesty’s ears, then― humph!” ZiLi said ominously.
Of these two, one was the young novice monk Jing Wu, whom we will not talk about, and the other was WanQi DongMing, the only son of Chu Jing Empire’s famous Frontier 7 Great General 8 , WanQi PengWei. Since General WanQi and his wife had their child when they were middle-aged, they were naturally very protective of their son. Who would have thought that the excessive doting would make WanQi DongMing’s character increasingly lazy, decadent, ignorant and incompetent. All day long he would watch cock or cricket fight matches, often visit brothels or provoke fights. In short, he completely lacked the temperament of a Young Lord from an influential family. To make matters worse, he also liked to play wantonly with young boys. General WanQi, who had always ruled his family with strict discipline, could no longer tolerate his behavior, so he grounded his unfilial son at home and only allowed him to go out with him because the Emperor was visiting the temple for the Purification Ceremony. How could he have known that these bad habits of his son were hard to get rid of and as soon as he got a chance, he immediately resumed his old habits and dragged this young novice monk, whom he had taken a fancy to a year ago when he had gone to the Purification Ceremony, to make love. Who would have thought that ZiLi would run into them!
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 38 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
When he heard ZiLi’s words, he became frightened out of his mind, not only was it inevitable that his father would beat him up good if he knew about it, but this, if it became known that he was doing such a thing as making love in the Imperial Temple during His Majesty’s Purification Ceremony, he would also be charged with the punishment of being skinned alive! So, how could he not be terrified?
It was only at that moment that WanQi DongMing secretly cursed himself for being so lustful. How could he screw things up like that! But on second thought, the person who had come had not secretly run away to report the matter after finding out, but offhandedly interrupted and threatened them, indicating that the person did not really want to go and report them to His Majesty. In that case, the reason why the person who had come here had done so was most likely to reap benefits! As long as this affair would not get leaked, WanQi DongMing, was more than willing to give anything to keep the other person’s mouth shut!
So, he quickly straightened his clothes and said flatteringly to the person standing at the door, “Sir, please cultivate your good heart and don’t reveal what happened today. To thank you for your great kindness and virtue, my humble self will definitely repay you, even if my humble self loses a family fortune, Sir!”
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 38 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
ZiLi raised his eyebrows and looked at him disdainfully, but the proposal of this shit of a Lord was exactly what he wanted.
“Hey, you, don’t light the lamps.” ZiLi chided Jing Wu, who had walked to the table to grab the Flame Stick 9 .
“Ye― yes.” Jing Wu was so startled that he immediately froze on the spot.
ZiLi closed the door and approached WanQi DongMing step by step, saying, “Now take out all the money you have on you, and anything else of value, quickly!”
As soon as WanQi DongMing heard this, he secretly heaved a sigh of relief. It turned out that the other person was really after money! That was no problem at all! Obediently, he untied his pouch and the ornaments on his body and handed them over to ZiLi.
ZiLi weighed the considerable number of items he had gotten ahold of in his hand, and his heart burst with joy. Hehe, now the funds to escape have been acquired. However, there was still one thing missing, so he said ominously again, “Are you not forgetting something? I said, take off everything hanging on your body.”
WanQi DongMing froze for a moment, touched his waist, and found that there was nothing of value left.
Please read His Majesty's Hostage Chapter 38 on Project Bezemwagen :-)
“What about the bronze token to enter and exit the city gates?” ZiLi had to remind him.
“Eh― oh, right.” WanQi DongMing immediately complied with the instructions to give the bronze token, but could not help but wonder in his heart, Why does he also want a piece of worthless bronze?
With the things he had just gotten ahold of, ZiLi felt he was one step closer to a successful escape.
“You lustful adulteress, the great me will tell you, if you do not want your scandal to come to light, you’d both better obediently heed my advice and stop what you’re doing now! If you don’t, and it gets leaked, don’t say that the great me didn’t warn you.”
“Ye― yes, I understand.” In any case, WanQi DongMing was also an heir to a noble house. Since childhood, had he ever been derided and accused like this by others? He could not help but burst with anger in his heart. However, information that could be used against him was in the hands of the other person, so he could not reveal any of it and could only think to himself, Don’t let this Laozi know who you are or else―
Speaking of which, ZiLi, who had finally gotten the money and the bronze token to exit the city, had immediately returned to the small courtyard. He stuffed the items he had acquired into the laundry he had converted into a bag, and placing the bundle wrapped in the clothes on his shoulder, sneaked away to the low perimeter wall, climbed over it, and escaped.
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Translation Notes
When the inside of the room where ZiLi is staying was described, there was no mention of chairs, so I guess there are no chairs in the room where ZiLi is staying. 虎落平阳被犬欺 - Hǔ luò píng yáng bèi quǎn qī. – The English equivalent would be: Hares may pull dead lions by the beard. - Those in power have lost their power or advantage. – Probably referring to the fact that ZiLi has become a Hostage Prince. 大爷 – DàYé 世子 – ShìZǐ - Heir of a noble house. 爷 – Yé - Old gentleman 狗男女 – GǒuNánNǚ – A couple engaged in an illicit love affair. – I have kept the translation literal, because I thought it fit better and so that the next sentence makes more sense. 定疆 - Dìng Jiāng – I don’t know if I translated this correctly, please let me know if it should be something else. 大将军 – DàJiāngjūn - The highest rank of the military in Ancient China. 火折子 – Huǒ ZhéZi – The equivalent of a lighter in Ancient China, the stick can be ignited by uncapping the stick and blow on it to ignite it. – Something like this, I think: