Su Xi-er watched as the female cook swiftly left the room with the coarse clothes that hadn’t been sewn. She must have been frightened by Pei Qianhao as she wore an extremely nervous expression.
Su Xi-er raised her head to look at him and saw that his brows were now relaxed, but that his gaze was deep and unreadable.
“Prince Hao, the female cook is a Nanzhao citizen, and her daughter had unfortunately passed away many years ago. When she sees this servant, she is reminded of her daughter. If her daughter were still here, she would have been around the same age as this servant.” Su Xi-er clearly mentioned all of this to stop him from making things difficult for the female cook.
“How is her daughter associated with you? Do you think this prince was making things difficult for her just now?” Pei Qianhao spoke slowly, his gaze continuing to move back and forth on Su Xi-er’s body.
Su Xi-er shook her head. “No, you were making things difficult for this servant. The female cook was just implicated.”
“Making things difficult for you?” Pei Qianhao chuckled. This is considered making things difficult for her? If I wanted to do that, how can she still be standing there in one piece?
“Prince Hao, if you don’t like this servant sewing coarse clothes, then this servant won’t do it. What do you want to instruct this servant to do right now?” Su Xi-er bowed with a deferential expression.
Pei Qianhao couldn’t stand her acting this way. Her respectful countenance is all an act, with a fake sincerity to match.
However, since she’s already said that, then I must do something.
“So whatever this Prince instructs you to do, you will do it? No matter what?”
Su Xi-er thought about it carefully and added, “If it isn’t something unremittingly atrocious and evil, and if it doesn’t… take advantage of this servant.”
“Take advantage of you? Do you think this prince needs to do that?” Pei Qianhao walked in front of her, raising his hand to fix a few strands of loose hair around her cheek.
Su Xi-er didn’t say anything. Isn’t that so? He told me to kiss him, take off my clothes and lie in bed, and even pressed me to the wall. There are so many examples that I can’t even begin to list them off one by one.
“This will definitely not be something unremittingly evil, and won’t take advantage of you. It is simple; carry a wooden basin and half squat inside your room. If you can’t last for even an hour, you will immediately be flogged twenty times.”
Su Xi-er asked, “And if this servant endures it?”
“If you endure it for two hours, this prince will not punish you.”
“If it’s more than two hours, will you reward this servant?”
An interested glint flickered across Pei Qianhao’s eyes. “This prince didn’t even immediately punish you, but you actually want to haggle with this prince?”
“This is not haggling. There’s an adage that is well-said ー ‘Reward and punishment come hand in hand’. Prince Hao, If I endure it for more than two hours, will you allow this servant to go out for a stroll?”
“You like to stroll that much? It wasn’t enough last time?”
Su Xi-er nodded. “This servant felt uneasy last time since I had sneaked out. Hope you will allow this servant to go out and casually stroll around by myself this time, Prince Hao.”
What exactly is her intention in specifically telling me she wants to stroll by herself? Does she know someone in Nanzhao?
Pei Qianhao was puzzled, but didn’t reveal it on his visage. He only nodded directly. “Okay, this prince promises you.” His gaze then fell onto a wooden basin, signalling Su Xi-er to start now.
Su Xi-er understood and bent down to grab the wooden basin, raising it above her head as she bent her knees and closed her eyes.
In an effort to prepare herself to adapt better to life in the army barracks, Su Xi-er had practised this exercise in her past life to improve her physical strength. She had practised with Lü Liu every night, supervising and encouraging one another. When she practised, she liked to close her eyes and imagine her life in the future.
