"You... you are simply unreasonable! Mother, please discipline Third Sister quickly, for we must never agree to this outrageous matter!"
Upon the grand-taor chair, First Madam ignored the furious Xiao Yuxuan, narrowing her eyes instead as she swept her gaze back and forth for several breaths between her daughter Xiao Ling'er's slightly flushed cheeks and Chen Xuan's humble, stooped back.
As one who had experienced much, and as the mistress who had managed the Marquis's inner courtyard for many years, how could she fail to see the subtle change deep within her youngest daughter's heart?
Having been saved by this brat at the cost of his life on the edge of life and death yesterday-Ling'er, that lass, had always possessed a sharp tongue and a soft heart; though she cursed fiercely with her mouth, in her heart she likely harbored a measure of trust and reliance toward this life-saving servant that even she herself had not noticed. Moreover, one thing Ling'er said struck right to her heart-nowadays, various households within the estate were secretly contending; planting a bond-servant with no background who only knew how to risk his life as a shield by Ling'er's side was altogether more reassuring than employing those outer-courtyard guards of unclear origins.
"Very well, since Ling'er has spoken to ask for you, then it shall be as you wish."
"Mother?!"
"Silence, my mind is made up. Zhao De, go later to the accounts room and pull Chen Xuan's death-contract and waist-token out from the back-courtyard stables, transferring them under the name of the Listening to Rain Pavilion, with his monthly stipend drawn as an inner-courtyard third-class guard."
"Understood, this old servant obeys! This old servant will go and attend to it right away!"
"Chen Xuan, have you heard clearly? From today onward, you shall be freed from the heavy labor of the stables, and promoted to the personal guard of the Third Miss. When serving in the Listening to Rain Pavilion henceforth, keep your eyes sharp; if you dare to commit the slightest mishap and lose face for the Third Miss, there is no need for the heir to take action-I myself will strip your hide!"
Chen Xuan's heart surged with wild joy, yet on the surface he appeared as though stunned dizzy by a heaven-sent pie, holding the tray as he fell with a thud and turned toward Xiao Ling'er, kowtowing three loud times in succession, his voice trembling intensely with agitation.
"This subordinate has heard clearly! Many thanks to First Madam for the elevation! Many thanks to Third Miss for the grace of rebirth! This humble life of mine was bestowed by Third Miss yesterday in the first place; from now on, if Third Miss tells this subordinate to go east, this subordinate will never go west; if Third Miss tells this subordinate to bite someone, even if I have to shatter this body of flesh and blood, I will tear a piece of meat from them! This subordinate is willing to follow Third Miss through fire and water, and will die without regret!"
Having spoken, he abruptly raised his head, looking straight toward Xiao Ling'er with a pair of eyes washed incomparably clear, yet carrying a measure of fanatical worship and gratitude.
Four eyes met.
Xiao Ling'er had originally still maintained the lofty airs of a grand mistress, but caught unawares, she crashed into those burning, utterly sincere eyes of Chen Xuan, which seemed to treat her as the sole deity in the entire world, and her heartbeat suddenly skipped half a beat.
Deep within her mind, without warning, flashed the scorching sensation of his broad, blood-stained palms tightly gripping her slender waist as she fell from her horse yesterday.
"You... what kind of look is that you are using to stare at this miss?! Take your eyeballs back inside for this miss!"
Xiao Ling'er abruptly averted her face like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her snow-white and crystal-clear earlobes instantly stained with an alluring flush, and even the fingers gripping her silk handkerchief tightened by several degrees.
"Why aren't you rolling out of here?! The ground is quite cold, and if you kneel yourself sick, I will still have to waste this miss's healing ointment!"
"Understood, this subordinate thanks Third Miss for her consideration!"
"Enough, Ling'er, stop lingering here either; return to your Listening to Rain Pavilion first. This Chen Xuan is covered all over in the stench of horse dung and the smell of blood; let him return to the stables first to clean up his things, swallow that Blood-Gathering Pill to dissolve its medicinal strength, change into clean and proper clothes, and report for duty at your Listening to Rain Pavilion after noon."
"Understood, Mother, then this daughter will take her leave first."
Xiao Ling'er hurried to offer a bow, holding up her moon-white skirt as she walked swiftly outward. Yet at the very instant she passed Chen Xuan and crossed the threshold, her footsteps paused imperceptibly, and in a mosquito-like voice audible only to the two of them, she fiercely tossed down a single sentence:
"Hey, stinky horse-feeder, if you dare to be half a quarter-hour late past noon, see if this miss doesn't use the snake-bone whip to flay your skin!"
"Third Miss may rest assured, even if this subordinate has to crawl, before the hour of three in the afternoon I will certainly crawl to the entrance of the Listening to Rain Pavilion to wait!"
Watching Xiao Ling'er's graceful and poised figure disappear at the end of the covered winding corridor, and retreating from the front courtyard under Xiao Yuxuan's venomous gaze that was practically murderous, Chen Xuan carried the tray, keeping his head lowered and his eyes submissive as he threaded all the way through the cross-alley connecting the front and rear courtyards.
Until he returned to the secluded and desolate rear-courtyard stables, confirming that there were no watchers around him, he abruptly flashed through the doorway, turning his hand to drive the heavy wooden latch home with a solid thud!
"Hah... magnificent! This wave of self-inflicted hardship coupled with a pledge of loyalty has leaped straight across three ranks from the lowestly bond-servant groom, jumping right into the inner sanctum of the inner-courtyard eldest miss's bedchamber!"
Chen Xuan placed the gold-traced tray upon the pile of hay, the humble and spineless servant's expression on his face instantly fading entirely, replaced by extreme calmness and ruthlessness.
"That grandson Xiao Yuxuan used Steward Sun to block me outside the side gate, and after getting cursed into a dog's head by First Madam, he must hate me to the bone right now; he might even send someone to seek trouble for me today. This ten taels of pure gold must absolutely not be carried on my body to make a show!"
With nimble movements, he pried open a loose grey brick in the corner of the stable wall, shoving the two heavy, five-tael ingots of pure gold from the tray-radiating a mesmerizing yellowish luster-deep into the earth hole, leaving only a tiny scrap of silver to stuff into his bosom. Afterward, he tamped the grey brick down seamlessly, smoothing a thick layer of dry horse dung over it to mask the scent.
Having finished all this, Chen Xuan finally picked up the suet white-jade small vial sealed with red cloth on the tray.
With a slight twitch of his fingertips, he tore open the sealing wax and pulled out the stopper.
Hum-!
A wave of intensely fierce and overbearing herbal fragrance mixed with the fishy sweetness of fierce-beast vital Qi instantly filled the narrow corner of the stable!
He saw quietly resting at the bottom of the vial a single round medicinal pill the size of a longan, its entire body crimson as blood. The surface of the pill was covered with fine, blood-vessel-like dark golden patterns, radiating astonishing heat in the dim light like a miniature heart.
"Is this the Blood-Gathering Pill that the outside black market bids up to three hundred taels of silver a pill? Both First Madam and Xiao Ling'er think I am a good-for-nothing who hasn't entered the threshold in three years, and rewarding me with this pill is meant to let me force open the Qi sense and step into the Early-stage Bright Force..."
Chen Xuan stared at the blood-colored pill in the palm of his hand, two blazing fires of ambition igniting in the depths of his eyes, and he licked the corner of his mouth, whispering:
"Yet they never dreamed that last night I had already livered the Boulder Art to Lesser Accomplishment at three hundred and fifty points, and even your Xiao Clan's unpropagated core supreme art, the Eight Desolations Prison-Suppressing Yang Gang, is on the verge of reaching completion and perfection! For me, this Blood-Gathering Pill is by no means some enlightenment medicine, but a heaven-reaching springboard to help me blast open the Middle Stage of Ming Jin in one breath and completely form the Yang Gang True Qi!"