Forty-two: Savior, Handsome Man, Beautiful Boy

“What’s going on?” Chu Liuxiang asked with a calm, unreadable expression. Lingran saw that only Chief Steward Yu was standing behind him.

Xu Shanquan bowed deeply and said, “Your Excellency, do you still remember her?”

Chu Liuxiang narrowed his eyes, observing for a while, as if unable to recall, and remained silent for a long moment.

Chief Steward Yu leaned over and whispered a reminder in his ear before he finally nodded and uttered, “Oh.”

“That day when we all served you in the Mirror Garden, she dared to take advantage of the few extra drinks you had and made a mockery of you—she disguised herself as an ugly woman and even crossed her eyes. Do you not remember, Your Excellency?” Xu pressed.

With that, Chu Liuxiang seemed to gradually remember. A sharp gleam flickered in his eyes, but he showed no sign of anger.

Lingran silently prayed, hoping he would take this as a trivial matter and not hold it against her…

Sure enough, Chu Liuxiang said, “I am beset by a thousand affairs every day, and you come to trouble me with such a petty matter?” His tone was distinctly displeased.

Xu Shanquan hurriedly fell to his knees. “Please forgive me, Your Excellency, I was thoughtless. But she also broke many antiques you bestowed upon me!”

Lingran had just begun to feel a glimmer of hope when Chu Liuxiang continued, “A yellow-haired little girl dares play tricks before me; clearly she’s grown tired of living. Drag her out and behead her. Place her head in a wooden box and show it to each and every concubine and dancing girl in the house—let them all see the consequence of mocking me.”

… What? Did she hear that right? Behead her?

Lingran drew in a sharp breath. Why did he speak of killing as casually as inviting someone to dinner? Did human life mean so little to him?

“Your Excellency, you cannot listen to one side alone!” Lingran snapped out of her daze and cried out, “I’m ill—when I’m nervous, my eyes cross—” she tried to explain.

“Take her away!” Chu Liuxiang grew impatient and would hear no more. Chief Steward Yu leapt forward, seized her, and yanked her from the ground.

“Chief Steward Yu, save me! Bear witness for me!” Lingran cried out again, but a sharp pain struck her neck, silencing her. Her head swam; soon she was dragged from the grand hall and thrown before the guards at the gate, landing in a dizzy, battered heap.

She heard Chief Steward Yu announce, “By order of His Excellency, drag her out for execution. Her head is to be sent around for all the concubines and song girls to see.”

The guards responded loudly, “As you command!” Four men appeared—two grabbed her arms, two her legs—ready to haul her away.

Lingran could never have imagined that killing someone in the Prime Minister’s residence would be as casual as slaughtering a chicken. Though she had not yet been scared witless, tears of desperation welled in her eyes. She had only just been reborn and was about to die again! This time she would actually face the executioner’s blade—who knew how much it would hurt?

She no longer hoped for anyone’s rescue. Since she’d already crossed paths with Peng Lun, and even he dared not intervene, neither would Wu Wei if he appeared. In this new life, she hadn’t committed any evil—how was it that she was about to die again in the blink of an eye?

Chu Liuxiang truly rivaled the infamous traitor Jia Sidao from the late Southern Song! She remembered stories of Jia’s house—how once, when a singing girl named Li Huiniang admired a handsome young man on West Lake and said, “What a fine young man,” Jia killed her on the spot. Whether that tale was fabricated she did not know, but compared to Chu Liuxiang’s ruthlessness, Jia seemed no worse.

Her thoughts ran wild when a cool, tranquil voice sounded, “What’s happening here?”

The guards halted. Someone answered, “Reporting to you, Young Master, His Excellency ordered this woman’s execution.”

The man replied with a nonchalant “Mm,” as if he was about to leave.

Lingran twisted around and saw that it was Young Master Hongxiao. Excitement surged through her like a jolt of electricity and she shouted, “Young Master Hongxiao! Save me, please!”

He paused, turned, and when he saw her, looked genuinely surprised. “It’s you?” he said.

The guards, quick on the uptake, noticed that the young master not only recognized the woman but came back toward her, and hurried to release her.

Lingran crawled over on her knees, her hands bound behind her back so she could not grab him, and in her urgency, banged her head against his leg. “Please save me, Young Master! You are my lucky star! From now on, I’ll do anything for you—serve you faithfully forever—”

Hongxiao considered for a moment, then knelt down as well. At last, Lingran could clearly see his dark eyes, limpid and glistening, those exquisitely shaped brows knotted slightly together. His expression was far richer than the last two times she’d seen him. “With such fear of death, how did you come to offend His Excellency?” he asked.

“I would never dare offend him!” Lingran nearly broke down in tears. “It’s all because of your new favored concubine, Lady Xu. She and I have a grudge—she insisted I made a fool of His Excellency the other night, and he didn’t even ask for my side of the story. He just ordered me beheaded. How unjust is that?”

Hongxiao watched her animated face, the corners of his lips twitching as if he wished to smile, but the smile faded before it blossomed. He said softly, “Beheading someone like you is far too dull. Keeping you around to warm a bed is much more interesting.”

Warm a bed?

Lingran was dumbstruck. Remembering Chu Liuxiang sprawled on Xu Shanquan, she thought she’d rather be killed and reborn again.

She turned her head away, looking defiant and proud.

“Look at you—rather lose your head than serve us?” Hongxiao stood up, straightened his robe, and seemed about to leave.

Lingran’s tears fell, but she stubbornly refused to back down.

Hongxiao had taken only two steps when the four guards, seeing he would not intervene, returned with fierce faces to seize her.

“Young Master Hongxiao! Please—couldn’t I just serve you, and not His Excellency?” Lingran finally broke down, wailing in earnest.

Her full-throated sobbing made Hongxiao stop and, amused, he paused. Since coming to Chu Liuxiang’s side, he had not felt this kind of genuine amusement in a long time. After a beat of silence, he turned back and said, “Aren’t you coming?”

Lingran instantly went from tears to laughter, shaking off the guards and running after him, leaving them baffled.

Hongxiao glanced sideways at her, a strange light seeming to shimmer across his pale face. With a casual flick of his sleeve, the cloth strips binding her wrists fell away in shreds to the ground.

Wow! Young Master Hongxiao was a top master too—what a talented man!

Lingran bowed and saluted repeatedly, tears of gratitude in her eyes. Even the two maidservants following behind Hongxiao giggled at her monkey antics.

“You truly are a good man, Young Master Hongxiao! The world’s most handsome gentleman, and rightly so—”

“Handsome?” Hongxiao suddenly turned to stare at her, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. “Where did you learn that word?”

Lingran was tongue-tied. How was she supposed to explain? She’d already suffered enough today—she couldn’t afford to be reckless. Watching his surprised expression, she probed cautiously, “Could it be you’ve heard it before?”

He did not hide it. His gaze drifted to the distance, cold and solitary. “The first time His Excellency met me, he used that very word. He also called me a ‘flower boy.’ Do you know what that means?”

“Flower boy!” Lingran nearly bit her tongue. Chu Liuxiang actually spoke with words from the twenty-first century. Could he also be someone who’d traveled through time? Why hadn’t she thought of this before?