I am scared stupid by his bearing and expression. In the brief period when I am struggling to regain control of myself, I accidentally pulled a cord located within the bed. Immediately, two men came into the room, one tall and fat, the other short and thin. They are a pair of odd-looking people. With a deferential expression, these two men greet me with a single "Daren". The short and thin man with a rather large belly had a twelve or thirteen year old boy caught in his grasp. Although he can see Jinzi and I are tangled together on the bed, his facial expression did not even move one bit, making me think my current situation is a common occurrence.
As various thoughts form in my mind, the youth on the bed cried painfully. "Xiao Feng."
The mournful sound cut deep into my heart and a chilliness settled on my back.
That little boy also possesses pretty features, all soft skin and tender flesh, the hints of a beautiful youngster peeking through his childish face. He struggles non-stop, continuously shouting: "Older brother! Older brother!"
Jinzi's head snaps towards me, the ferocious look in his eyes reminding me of a wild beast. Gritting his teeth, he said: "Zhang Qinglian, you are truly unwilling to let my younger brother off?"
My brain is still in a stupid state. "Let off…your younger brother?"
Although my reply was due to me not quite grasping the situation yet, but when it entered his ears, the meaning became: No, I will not let your younger brother off.
The youth let out a loud "then I'll fight you!" before throwing himself at me.
I dazedly stare at him, only coming back to my senses when I saw the silver chains enlarging in my vision. Evading the attack, I yell: "Save me!"
The two obviously-a-bad-guy subordinates of mine originally had no intention of a.s.sisting. Hearing me cry of help, however, they froze for a second before the tall, fat guy rushed over and subdued the youth in two to three moves, laughing darkly: "Yao Family's brat, stop your meaningless struggle. Do you still think you are the 'Brilliant Sabre Yao Jinzi' from those days? It's your good fortune that my Family's Lord looks favourably upon you this pair of brothers, otherwise, both of you would have followed that Old Man Yao to meet Yan w.a.n.g[1] together!"
At those words, the youth glared at me bitter resentment, seemingly wis.h.i.+ng to split me in two. That little kid was also wailing: "Older brother, kill that man and avenge daddy!"
This weird spectacle thoroughly befuddled me to the point of not knowing what would be the best course of action. Suddenly, I saw that the youth is not only chained around his arms, legs and neck, but there were two fine chains coming down from the collar around his neck and piercing through his scapulars.
How painful must that be! My heart trembled and I avoided his gaze.
The youth abruptly spat out: "Zhang Qinglian, I beg you. I beg you to let my younger brother off. He is only a child. As long as you let him go, I will do whatever you want me to do." Although trembling with grief and remorse, his voice is still firm and steady, full of seriousness.
What kind of body did I enter!? What kind of person was this body's original owner!? Oppressing people, preying on the citizens. Apparently the original is a completely evil guy.
I laugh bitterly and said with a low voice. "What can I possibly do to a child? Don't you worry."
The four people within the room froze for a while, but I am able to read the three words reflecting in everyone's eyes: cannot be trusted.
That youth called Yao Jinzi stares at me, then asks nervously: "Zhang Qinglian, exactly what are you playing at?"
I don't know whether to laugh or cry. "You told me to let him off, I agreed. What else do you wish for?"
The youth continue shooting cautious and suspicious looks at me with his phoenix eyes, simply making me have an urge to cry. Oh heavens, I plead with you, other people travel back to the past and are met with chests of treasures, housefuls of beauties, acquiring success and recognition. But you throw me in such a complicated situation! At least let me have some time to adjust first!
In a fit of anger, I coldly give an order to both the fat and thin men. "Remove the two of them from here!"
Both brothers' eyes emitted a hesitantly joyful and hopeful light. Seeing two beautiful youths show such happy expression at the idea of being far away from me, that kind of blow…ai[2]…let's not talk about that.
The thin one asks: "Daren, do you want to lock them in the water prison?"
What. Glancing at the youth's delicate and fine skin, I can't help but wonder how this kind of skin will change to become after being soaked in water for a period of time. Furthermore, I also cannot mistreat a child ah.
I glared at the underling severely. "Bring them to their usual residence. Serve them fine wine and food!"
Hearing what I said, the youth snorted, clearly conveying that he cannot be corrupted by wealth and honour, refusing to easily be bought over. I am honestly too lazy to bother with him for now.
Fatty and thin guy respectfully accept the order, grab my beautiful youngster and the still-yelling brat before withdrawing from the room. The curtain just closed when something stirs in me. "Hold it."
The two underlings halt immediately. The youth raises his head, glancing at me with weariness and disdain, mostly likely itching to say he had long ago guessed I'm not that good-hearted. I ran my eyes up and down his body, slowly said: "Get rid of the shackles on him."
As soon as these words left my mouth, my subordinates turned pale with fright. Fatty said: "Daren, you absolutely cannot!"
I sweep a cold glance at him. "Why not?"
Fatty said: "The father of these two is Imperial Censor[3] Yao Qianjin, a name revered by the world and dubbed Yao Qingtian[4]. He always opposed Daren's political views. Two years ago, due to harbouring fugitives, the previous emperor beheaded him after interrogation. The family properties were all seized, every member of the family was given to you as slaves. These people are very laughable, insisting to the end that this Yao Qianjin was framed by Daren, you. These two brats also constantly go against you, but Daren is benevolent and kind, helping the Yao family preserve their lineage. Regardless of their fuss, you suffered untold hards.h.i.+ps to find a specialist skilled enough to forge 'Binding G.o.d Thousand Pearl Lock' to bind a martial arts expert. This Yao Jinzi is hence bound, ensuring he cannot commit a grave blunder. From childhood, this Yao Jinzi was already hailed as a martial arts genius. He displayed his abilities before the Imperial family and his magnificent name spread. The previous emperor conferred him the t.i.tle of 'Brilliant Sabre'. If you allow him to restore his martial prowess once more, although Daren, your martial arts is…um…excellent, you will always need to be on guard lest he plots against you."
The youth has yet to say anything when the kid hollered angrily. "Pei[5], you traitor who forced my father to his grave! Older brother's martial arts is incomparable, it's not something any of you insignificant people can measure up to. If he restores his strength, he can use a single finger to press you to death!"
Fatty and thin guy chide him loudly, but the kid continued being noisy. Meanwhile, I wallow in misery at being dragged to this complex event. According to Fatty's words, I'm more than a normal bad guy, but a despicable villain. Ah! Copyright protection! Respects to the author! Protest against illegal pirating!
The other party is Yao Qingtian, as his opponent, I'm naturally a treacherous court official who brings damage to the country and suffering to the people. The Yao family is now bankrupt and nearly perished. This is absolutely the doing of my body's original owner. But that's not all I (he) did. I (he) still took a prestigious family's n.o.ble son as a boy toy, performing a taboo act like sealing their martial arts, piercing their scapulars to make him easy to play with. And now, I (he) was even planning to make the kid brother another boy toy. A person who is able to do all these things is lower than a sore on one's head or a festering boil on the sole of one's foot. Even I myself s.h.i.+ver at the thought of doing all those evil things.
I lift my eyes to look at the obstinate youth, a feeling of pity arising involuntarily. Originally the son of an official up high, possessing excellent martial arts, handsome features, high self-esteem, the pride of his peers. In just a single moment, his father died, his family destroyed, his younger brother and himself becoming the slaves of their hated enemy, his martial arts wasted, humiliated by the enemy, wrong himself in order to protect his sibling by catering to his enemy's desires. This last point is surely the most shameful one.
I couldn't help but walk towards him, lowering my head to look him straight in the eye. He did not shrink away, gazing back at me indifferently. Smiling sweetly, I said softly: "I removed your shackles, do you still plan to kill me?"
He eyes are cold as he thinks over how to answer me, whether he should lie or not, eventually nodding his head. "Yes."
I really was not given any face, but truth be told, I'm also rather foolish, unexpectedly forgetting the body I have now is not that of some s.e.xy, charming beautiful woman, but an enemy who people wish to tear apart and devour. What was I expecting him to say?
Dully letting the underlings bring them away, I thought in my heart: Handsome guy, although I let you down, but I also cannot simply put my neck out for you to chop, right? After all, I did not do all that to you. I'm also innocent ah.
At this moment, a maid brought over bathing supplies in order to help me make myself presentable. I am finally faced with a copper mirror and will be able to see my present appearance. Although it's a pity this is not a full-length mirror so I wouldn't be able to see the complete picture.
When my reflection appeared on the surface of the mirror, I'm also slightly dazed by it. For the mirror shows an extremely gentle and lovely face, one that's more beautiful than Yao Jinzi's. However, while that youth is still not fully matured, he already exudes masculinity. On the other hand, this person in the mirror is completely feminine. If it were not for the 'proof' I already saw, I would have thought my body is that of a good-looking woman. Approximately twenty-seven or eight years old, the corners of the mouth and eyes are a little slack, which are signs of over-excessive indulgence in debauchery.
Looking at those few men standing together earlier, my current height is approximately only 170cm with a slender body structure. The saying "too weak to bear the weight of one's clothing" is used to describe this type of man, I suppose? If Fatty did not tell me Zhang Qinglian practiced martial arts, I totally would not have been able to tell just by looking. Really don't understand why a person who's naturally born with wife-like disposition would choose to work as an official?
As I daydream, another maid entered. "The carriage is ready. May Daren not miss the morning court."
Footnotes:
[1] see/meet Yan w.a.n.g = to meet your maker
[2] ai = sound of sighing
[3] Imperial Censor: The Censorate was a high-level supervisory agency in ancient China, first established during the Qin dynasty (221-207 BCE). The Censorate is a branch of the centralized bureaucracy, paralleling the Six Ministries and the five Chief Military Commissions, and was directly responsible to the emperor.