Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Xie Licheng stood outside the screen and asked the person inside, "What's wrong?"

He looked fierce, but his tone was still pretty gentle.

Hearing this, Gu Zhangyuan said, "I want to take a bath. Stay here with me."

Xie Licheng found a chair and sat down, saying, clearly confused, "We're back at your place now. What's there to be afraid of?"

Gu Zhangyuan noticed he was no longer as polite to him as before, and silently cursed Xie Licheng as a big villain in his heart.

From the first time he met Xie Licheng, he'd felt this man wasn't simple—he was ambitious, not your average servant.

And as it turned out, he'd been right about him.

This guy was no ordinary man. Not only was he skilled in martial arts, he was also smart and dangerous.

To be honest, having someone like that around was really dangerous. He was like a legendary sword—he could protect Gu Zhangyuan, but he could also hurt him.

Gu Zhangyuan wanted to wield this sharp blade, so deep down, he didn't want to let him go.

Knowing this guy responded better to kindness than force, Gu Zhangyuan said, his voice trembling a little, "But... the ones who want to hurt me are my own family. This place feels so foreign to me too."

Xie Licheng sighed to himself at that. Gu Zhangyuan was a poor thing as well.

A timid, pampered young master like him who couldn't handle hardship—of course he'd be scared by something like this.

He might as well stay with him.

With that in mind, Xie Licheng didn't say anything else.

He sat sprawled out on the chair outside the screen, listening to the occasional splash of water from inside, and before he knew it, he'd dozed off.

His body had recovered, but he was still mentally exhausted.

The room where Gu Zhangyuan was bathing was warm and smelled nice, and sitting there, he couldn't help but fall asleep.

When Gu Zhangyuan finished his bath and Xuan Cui and Yuan Qiao came in to help him, they saw Xie Licheng asleep in the chair, his long hair still wet and hanging loose.

Seeing that, Xuan Cui moved to help dry his hair, but before she could do anything, Gu Zhangyuan—whose clothes were still a mess—took the cloth from her hands.

Xuan Cui glanced at her young master's back and couldn't help but chuckle softly.

Gu Zhangyuan heard her laugh and turned to glare at her, annoyed.

Gu Zhangyuan said in a low voice, "Stop laughing. Go clean up the other side room in my place. We'll move him there together later so he can get some proper rest."

Xuan Cui nodded and quietly slipped out.

Then Yuan Qiao got shooed out too.

Yuan Qiao stood outside the door, looking totally innocent. Her young master's excuse for kicking her out was that her breathing was too loud and might wake up that horse slave.

Good heavens!

She was innocent!

She'd served Gu Zhangyuan since she was a kid. Gu Zhangyuan was very sensitive, so to take care of him, both she and Xuan Cui had long mastered the art of moving without making a sound.

She could swear she hadn't made a peep just now.

She figured her young master had just said that to get rid of her.

Her young master was something else—if he wanted to be alone with that horse slave, he could've just said so.

The three of them grew up together. It wasn't like she'd laugh at him for it—she didn't even have the guts to.

Meanwhile, after shooing Yuan Qiao out, Gu Zhangyuan grabbed a long cloth and started drying Xie Licheng's hair.

Xie Licheng had woken up a while ago—he was a very light sleeper.

He'd already woken up when Xuan Cui and the others came in.

He hadn't opened his eyes right away because he was still a bit sleepy.

He didn't know what was in the incense in Gu Zhangyuan's room, but it smelled really nice.

Then, to his surprise, Gu Zhangyuan shooed the two servants out and started drying his wet hair himself.

A pampered young master like that had probably never waited on anyone before.

Because when he dried Xie Licheng's hair, he was clumsy and even yanked at it.

The original owner of this body had been malnourished and abused for a long time, leaving his hair pretty thin.

Over the past two months or so, Xie Licheng had been eating and drinking well, and only then had his hair grown back thick and healthy.

A bunch of short, new hairs had grown in.

Yesterday, when Gu Zhangyuan grabbed his hair, he'd been really worried about his precious locks.

He was only in his early twenties, still young and strong—he couldn't afford to go bald this early.

Now, seeing Gu Zhangyuan drying his hair and accidentally tugging at it again, he had no choice but to open his eyes.

Gu Zhangyuan saw he was awake and said, a little embarrassed, "I didn't mean to wake you. I saw your hair was still wet, so I wanted to dry it for you."

Xie Licheng sat up and took the long cloth from his hand.

The cloth was clearly Gu Zhangyuan's—it was embroidered with delicate peach blossoms and had a faint scent to it.

Xie Licheng picked up the cloth, sniffed it, and asked, "Is the scent on your body the same as the one on this cloth?"

Gu Zhangyuan didn't immediately get what he meant. His clothes did have incense on them, but the cloth didn't.

Realizing this cloth was something he'd used before, and not knowing what came to mind, he suddenly blushed a little and got all flustered.

Seeing his dazed look, Xie Licheng just leaned in toward Gu Zhangyuan.

He wanted to check if the scent on Gu Zhangyuan's body was the same as the scent in the room.

If it was the same, then it had to be the incense.

This incense smelled nice and was calming, so he wanted to ask Gu Zhangyuan for some.

Gu Zhangyuan probably hadn't expected Xie Licheng to suddenly lean in and sniff him like that.

With his clothes still a mess, he couldn't help but step back, his ears turning red.

Xie Licheng, seeing this, wouldn't let him back away. Instead, he slipped an arm around Gu Zhangyuan's waist, not only stopping him from backing up but also yanking him closer.

Xie Licheng's nose was just about touching Gu Zhangyuan's chest.

If it weren't for that thin layer of underclothes between them, it would've been...

Gu Zhangyuan, so embarrassed and ticklish around his waist, almost went weak in the knees when Xie Licheng sniffed him. He quickly reached out to steady himself against Xie Licheng's shoulder, just barely keeping himself from embarrassingly crumpling into the other guy's arms.

Gu Zhangyuan muttered under his breath, "How dare you!"

When he heard "how dare you," Xie Licheng couldn't help but laugh.

Remembering how Gu Zhangyuan liked making him kneel, he grinned and asked, "Are you going to make me kneel again?"

Gu Zhangyuan, who hadn't meant anything like that, pursed his thin lips and suddenly dropped his eyes, saying, "Then get on your knees already. You're just a lowly horse slave, and you dare treat your master like this. I could have you punished for gross disrespect."

Xie Licheng actually did kneel down at that. Dropping to one knee, he said, "Master, this servant knows he was wrong. This servant shouldn't have sniffed you. Please punish this servant."

Gu Zhangyuan, a man from ancient times, had no clue what game Xie Licheng was playing.

Seeing him suddenly act all obedient again, but saying such offensive stuff, he wanted to haul off and slap him.

He figured since Xie Licheng liked playing the servant, and real servants had to take beatings and scoldings, he'd let him really see what it was like to be one.

But when Xie Licheng looked up at him with that steady, unblinking stare, Gu Zhangyuan just couldn't bring himself to actually slap him.

Gu Zhangyuan said angrily, "Go back. I don't want to see you for a few days."

Xie Licheng blinked, thinking, "Weren't things fine just a second ago? How'd the mood flip so fast?"

He still wanted to ask about that fragrance!

But before he could even get a word out, Gu Zhangyuan shoved him out the door.

After kicking him out, Gu Zhangyuan quickly pressed a hand to his own chest, mortified and desperate to change his clothes right away.

He'd never met anyone so shameless, but to say he hated him... well, he didn't really hate him either.

Funny thing was, if any other man had done that to him, he'd have wanted to kill the guy on the spot.

But when it was Xie Licheng, he didn't feel nearly as disgusted or put off.

Over the next few days, Xie Licheng didn't see Gu Zhangyuan at all.

Gu Zhangyuan was busy dealing with estate business and working with the authorities to investigate his second uncle's case.

The Second Master's case was basically a done deal.

Even if the Eldest Master came back, there was no way he could overturn the verdict.

The authorities put up wanted posters pretty quickly, so catching the guy shouldn't be too hard.

The Second Master teaming up with bandits to hurt his own nephew was even bigger news than the bandit trouble in Lingzhou.

Now, everyone in Lingzhou City was talking about the Gu family's mess.

Some folks thought the Gu family shouldn't have let a young master run the household.

If the Eldest Master of the Gu Family hadn't insisted on letting the young master take charge, none of this would've happened.

Others thought the Second Master of the Gu Family was cold-hearted—even if he wanted Gu Zhangyuan's spot, he didn't have to go that far.

Either way, Gu Zhangyuan was still Gu family blood. If he'd actually fallen into those bandits' hands, everyone could guess how bad it would've been for him.

And some thought the Gu family's hundred-year legacy was about to go up in smoke.

With such a huge scandal blowing up in the Gu family, whether or not the Second Master got caught, it was like cutting off one of their own arms.

Besides, with Gu Zhangyuan, a young master, now at the helm, the Gu family's path ahead would likely be difficult.

...

Speaking of which, the smooth handling of the Second Master's case owed much to that prince at the prefect's residence.

Gu Zhangyuan had previously sent him both a snake and a wolf, and honestly, it had done some good.

When the prince heard that Gu Zhangyuan had nearly been harmed by his own uncle, he said a word to the prefect, which was why the matter was resolved so quickly.

Of course, Xie Licheng knew nothing of these matters, nor did he particularly care.

He was now like a neglected concubine again, and with nothing else to do, he turned his "grief" into appetite, binge-eating over the past few days.

Xie Licheng's level was now quite high, and continuing to level up through hunting was getting slow.

He had nothing else to occupy his time—besides raising horses and wolves, he was focused on fattening himself up.

He no longer had to eat at the outer courtyard's dining hall. Gu Zhangyuan had arranged for him to have his own meals, and these days, his food was prepared to the standard of the inner courtyard's masters.

Breakfast was lighter, while lunch was more sumptuous.

Lunch typically consisted of four dishes—two meat, one vegetable, plus a soup.

One day at noon, Xuan Cui personally came to deliver his meal.

Watching her take the dishes out of the food box, Xie Licheng asked, "When can I see the Eldest Young Master?"

Xuan Cui knew that Gu Zhangyuan and Xie Licheng had been in a spat these past few days.

Though she didn't know the specifics, she was Gu Zhangyuan's personal maidservant, so naturally she sided with her master.

Hearing this, she replied dismissively, "To answer you, sir, my master has been very busy lately. I'm afraid he won't have time to see you."

Xie Licheng curled the corner of his mouth, clearly not believing her words.

Xie Licheng: "Go back and tell him I'll come find him tonight."

Xie Licheng wasn't exactly a docile person. The reason he was giving Gu Zhangyuan a heads-up was mainly because he worried Gu Zhangyuan might be easily frightened.

If he went directly to see him and accidentally scared the man, and Gu Zhangyuan started crying, Xie Licheng would have a headache on his hands again.

Xuan Cui had now seen through Xie Licheng's true nature as a horse slave, knowing full well that this fellow had real skills. If Xie Licheng truly wanted to see Gu Zhangyuan, not even she—or for that matter, all the house guards in the entire Gu estate—could stop him.

She said somewhat helplessly, "If you have business with the young master, I can relay the message for you."

"No need. I'll tell him myself."

Xie Licheng had serious matters to discuss with Gu Zhangyuan, so he had to see him in person.

But Xuan Cui didn't know he had legitimate business to attend to. When she returned to report to Gu Zhangyuan, she couldn't help but embellish the story a bit.

Xuan Cui said, "My lord, that stable boy is too much. I told him you were busy and couldn't see him for the time being, but he flat-out said he has to see you tonight, with that cocky look on his face. Seems ignoring him these past few days did the trick—he's dying to get into your room and serve you."

Gu Zhangyuan glanced at Xuan Cui upon hearing this. "Did he say he wanted to come into my room tonight to serve me, or did you add that yourself?"

Seeing that her lord had seen through her immediately, Xuan Cui couldn't help but secretly stick out her tongue.

Xuan Cui said with a hint of grievance, "My lord, your maidservant meant no harm. I just figured since you're going to take him to bed anyway, it's better to secure him early. With his impressive skills, he won't stay a servant forever. He might soon find a chance to make a name for himself, and by then he may not be willing to be your bedmate."

Gu Zhangyuan asked, "You think that once he's freed from servitude and gains his own abilities, he won't be willing to stay by my side and serve me?"

Xuan Cui replied, "It's not just my opinion—that's what always happens in the romance novels."

Gu Zhangyuan was about to tell her that she, being just a maid, should stop meddling in his affairs with Xie Licheng.

But before he could speak, a servant outside announced that Xie Licheng had arrived.

Gu Zhangyuan looked at the sky outside. It wasn't even fully dark yet—how had the man gotten here so quickly?