Translator: Henyee Editor: Henyee
Luo Ningcha was scared out of her wits. Ever since she had gotten married, she had suffered many setbacks and hardships, but this was the first time she had been physically threatened. She had always thought that she was enshrouded in a mysterious aura that insulated her from physical pain such as kidnapping, torture, and injury.
There was no lack of torture scenes in her memory. With a simple dream, she could feel herself being tortured, which made her jumpy and even lose some confidence in her own charm.
Therefore, there was no wonder that she trembled and was determined to confess everything at the sight of King Kuari, and that she would only side with the strong and was willing to offer everything for it.
But would King Kuari accept her? Luo Ningcha felt quite uneasy about it. Not all men would voluntarily submit to her, as Shangguan Yun was such an example. When he had picked up his sister-in-law as the third young master of Golden Roc Castle and handed her over to the guards of King Kuari, he didn’t appear reluctant at all.
Luo Ningcha quickly passed through the stage of self-pity which was foreign and not worth her nostalgia, and started cursing everyone, from the Unique King and the Second Consort to the Dragon King and Shangguan Yun. Her swearing didn’t ease her panic but it did make her feel better.
“Calm down,” she said to herself. “What would Servant Huan do in this situation? The first thing is to calm down. Even in the Norland, I’m a beautiful woman. I can feel it from the guards’ eyes. But why does Shangguan Yun seem indifferent? It must be because I didn’t bother to flirt with him. King Kuari is bound to fall in love with me because I’ll use all my tricks on him.”
Luo Ningcha gradually recovered her confidence. She leaned on the soft couch and assumed a panic-stricken but coy posture. She had learned it from Xu Yanwei and only used a few times in front of the Unique King. It had turned out very effective.
“Call a guard in.”
She needed a trial target.
Those three maids standing at the door wished that they could merge into the tent. They were just venting tools for the young lady. Ever since the Miss had been put under house arrest, they had been punished to varying degrees. Seeing that she had changed her attitude, they were both surprised and relieved.
Maid Yi rushed to fulfill the order, quickly lifting the curtain and stepping out, as if she was trying to stay as far away from the young lady as she could.
She did not come back for a long time. Luo Ningcha’s anger rose and her cute expression almost collapsed. “Why does it take so long to call someone? Did she leave her feet behind or forget where her mouth is?”
A man came in from outside.
Luo Ningcha immediately lowered her head and said in her tender and pitiful voice, “Someone help me please…”
The man came up to her with almost silent footsteps, but when Luo Ningcha saw the man’s steady and confident gait from the side view, she judged that he was by no means an ordinary guard.
She raised her head, and it took her a while to recognize that it was her husband.
“How come it’s you?” Luo Ningcha bounced up and returned to her original voice, which was full of surprise and disdain. Although she had heard long ago that Shangguan Nu was also in the Royal Court, she had never thought that the two would meet again.
“When did you turn from a bandit’s daughter to a whore?” Shangguan Nu looked at her with no warmth in his eyes.
Shangguan Nu was forced to save his wife.
He had been betrayed by Wei Song, the Governor of the Western Regions, and became one of the bribes to buy over the Dragon King. So he had no choice but to choose betrayal again.
Shangguan Nu’s original plan was to take refuge with King Dari or King Kuari but he ran into King Rizhu’s army as soon as he entered the prairie. And he changed his mind after exchanging a few words with the lord and decided to pledge allegiance to King Rizhu.
His stay in the Norland was no better than that in the Central Plains. At least he had a period of a honeymoon with the latter. Under King Rizhu, however, he was almost immediately thrust into disfavor, though he had one repeated consolation. “It’s not yet time. You will have the chance to make a great contribution soon.”
Shangguan Nu patiently waited for the day and didn’t expect that the first task he would receive from King Rizhu was to take back his wife Luo Ningcha.
Outside the tent, King Rizhu’s subordinates were confronting King Kuari’s guards face to face. Liman and Wild Horse were standing by watching.
Liman suddenly chuckled inappropriately and turned to Wild Horse, “Have you noticed that it should be the Dragon King working for King Rizhu but every time it is the two of us performing the task? Not only does the Dragon King avoid suffering a loss but he also reaps all the advantages.”
Wild Horse couldn’t speak and could only make a few simple gestures with one arm.
“You mean that we shouldn’t ally with the Dragon King? We’d better not guess at the king’s decision. Let the Dragon King take some of the advantages, as he will return with interest at the end of the day.”
Shangguan Nu came out with his wife. Liman unconsciously nodded and praised inwardly, ‘This woman’s fame is well-deserved, it really would be difficult to find a beauty in Norland who can compare with her.”
King Kuari’s guards were too few to stand in the way, allowing the eunuch Wei Chun to run over, panting. He quickly glanced the crowd and recognized Liman, the son of a general, and rushed over to him, snappily screeching in a shrill voice, “How dare you snatch the people in King Kuari’s office?”
Liman, with a look of great surprise, reached out to hold the swaying Wei Chu. “Chief Wei, where did you get this idea? See, that is Shangguan Nu, the eighth young master of Golden Roc Castle. We came with him to pick up his wife. The reunion of husband and wife is a matter of great joy. How can you say that we are snatching people?”
Wei Chun struggled a few times but Liman’s grip only tightened further. “Shangguan Nu has ceased being a man of Golden Roc Castle long ago.”
“Yeah, but even so, they’re still married, right? Is King Kuari going to break the couple up?”
Wei Chun blushed with embarrassment but could not think of a word to refute Liman. King Kuari had ‘invited’ Luo Ningcha under the banner of Shangguan Yun of Golden Roc Castle, but it was not as fair and aboveboard as taking her away under Shangguan Nu’s banner.
Seeing Luo Ningcha enter the carriage, Wei Chun was at a loss as to what he could do. He suddenly shook off Liman’s hand, turned around, and ran to a horse.
“He’s gone to report this to his lord. Let’s get out of here,” said Liman.
All went well. Although King Rizhu’s action would greatly offend King Kuari, the enemy could not find any reason to retaliate openly as long as King Rizhu still held the pawn, Shangguan Nu, in his hands.
‘Why could only the Dragon King have thought of such a simple thing?’ Liman admired in puzzlement. Then he realized that the relationship of the husband and wife, Shangguan Nu and Luo Ningcha, had existed in name only for many years now. Even the people of Golden Roc Castle no longer regarded them as a couple. Only the Dragon King, who was once a servant to both the eighth young master and eighth young mistress, still remembered it in his heart.
Next, Luo Ningcha would be escorted to the Flower Camp in the northern area and the task would be successfully completed. But before long, Shangguan Nu, who had always been obedient, was now causing great trouble.
“Sent to your place? What do you mean?” Liman’s surprise was real this time.
“She’s my wife. Of course, she should be sent to my place. Is there a problem?”
“The king ordered …”
“I’ll talk to the king about this.”
Shangguan Nu’s face was cold and gloomy, and he seemed intent on fighting with all those who disagreed. Liman found himself also obliged to report this to the lord. “Whatever, but you’d better give an explanation to the king.”
“It won’t be long before I send her to the Flower Camp.”
Liman revealed an understanding smile. If that was his woman, he would probably also do the same thing when they met again after several years of separation. After all, how could a husband resist exercising his legitimate rights in the face of such a beauty?
Luo Ningcha was puzzled. Shangguan Nu’s appearance had disturbed her mood. As she sat in the carriage, she did not know what to make of her husband.
She was helped into the tent by three maidservants, and it took her a long while before she came to herself, asking, “What is this place? What are we doing here?”
The maids looked at each other in bewilderment. Like the young lady, they did not know where they were.
Just as Luo Ningcha was about to attempt breaking out, Shangguan Ru walked inside and waved at the three maidservants who felt like they had been granted amnesty and hastily exited the tent.
“Where is this?” Luo Ningcha asked coldly. She was safe now, as she remembered how much she hated her husband who had a broken palm.
“This is my living place, and it’ll be our living place from now on.”
Luo Ningcha frowned. It was a common camp tent, low and narrow with shoddy carpet. The decoration was simple, and most importantly, there was no screen, not even a single one. “Don’t try to make me live here. I have my own place in the Royal Court.”
“A wife has to live with her husband,” said Shangguan Nu flatly while he took off his saber and put it on the table.
“Humph, now you want to live together. You didn’t hesitate or even think of taking me away when you ran away.”
“So you slept with the King Lord and gave birth to a brother of me.”
The affair between the eighth young mistress and the Unique King was a taboo in Golden Roc Castle, and no one dared to talk about it in private, let alone accuse her in person.
Luo Ningcha blushed, not because she was ashamed but because she was angry. “You should have thought of that when you killed my father. Yes, I slept with the King Lord and he wasn’t the only man I slept with. They were all better than you. Even though the King Lord was old, he could still get me pregnant, but you couldn’t leave anything…”
Shangguan Nu slapped her in the face. Luo Ningcha fell to the bed like a puppet but she sat up straight away. With fingerprints imprinted on her face and her hair disheveled, she became even more insubordinate. Full of anger, she put the plot and seduction techniques she had learned from Servant Huan and Xu Yanwei entirely out of her mind.
“You call yourself a killer, so why don’t you kill me in one move? Huh, because you dared not, so what are you now? You’re a dog of King Rizhu, a dog that has escaped from his former lord, a stray dog. You follow whoever’ll give you a bone. Look at the place you live, it’s like a doghouse, no wonder…”
Luo Ningcha spoke very fast. Shangguan Nu couldn’t get a word in, and he didn’t want to talk either.
He directly went to the bed and grabbed Luo Ningcha’s neck with his left hand, revealing the iron hook of his right hand, which was the part of him Luo Ningcha most feared and hated.
But the former daughter of the Big Head God’s temper flared up, though even she could not control herself. Luo Ningcha struggled and scratched but could not move a hair.
Shangguan Nu tore at his wife’s clothes with his iron hook, his anger and desire each rising in turn. Years of humiliation and failure seemed to have concentrated themselves in this perfect body, waiting for the opportunity to vent, retaliate and destroy.
“Go to hell.” Shangguan Nu increased the strength of his left hand, and his iron hook skillfully unbuckled his belt.
Luo Ningcha’s face turned blue due to a lack of air, but she did not give up resisting as if the one pressing upon her was not her husband but the vilest and despicable beggar.
For the first time, she felt that she would rather die than submit.
