What's With All the Freaks? - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I wasn’t being paranoid; he truly was a literal madman.

A servant who had said a few bad words about him was bitten to death by hyenas.

For the princes who competed with him for the throne, death was the best possible outcome they could hope for.

The reason I have survived until now is partly because I have the Tiger Tally on my side, and partly because I value my life far too much. I spend my days being subservient and never cross him.

“Ah Si, what are you thinking about?” At some point, he had looked up, his dark eyes void of light or any trace of emotion.

I lowered my head. “Responding to Imperial Elder Brother, I wasn’t thinking of anything.”

He was accustomed to playing the role of a good brother to deceive others, asking in a low, gentle whisper, “Did something happen today that frightened you?”

The moment he asked, I understood his meaning. I immediately knelt on the ground to beg for forgiveness. “Responding to Imperial Elder Brother, two of the male consorts in Si’er’s manor were jealous of each other today, and a life was lost. Si’er failed to manage her subordinates properly. I ask Imperial Elder Brother for punishment.”

I knelt by his right foot, not daring to raise my head for fear that he would start acting crazy again.

His hand, which had been reviewing a memorial (to the throne), stopped.

I felt his hand slowly being placed on my head.

He started with a light touch, but then, as if he liked the texture, he kept stroking my head like one would a puppy. His tone was unpredictable. “Those who are disobedient… should just be killed.”

I didn’t dare move. If he wanted to pet me, let him; it wasn’t like he would rub me bald anyway.

“Do you want Imperial Elder Brother to kill him for you?” He asked quite pleasantly, his mood having improved significantly.

I hesitated for a moment before looking up at him with a pitiful expression. “But Si’er likes this male consort very much. Please, Imperial Elder Brother, spare his life.”

Playing dumb, acting pitiful, and pretending to be well-behaved-these were the three little tricks I had summarized for dealing with him.

Zhu Yiyan raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised. “Ah Si actually knows what ‘liking’ someone is?”

I nodded. “Yes, Imperial Elder Brother. Si’er really likes him.”

He suddenly withdrew his hand from my head. His smile widened bit by bit, becoming somewhat eerie. “Then Imperial Elder Brother will spare his life. How does that sound?”

“Thank you, Imperial Elder Brother.”

“Imperial Elder Brother can find some more handsome men for you. What do you think?”

I rushed to stop him. “Imperial Elder Brother, to tell you the truth, my beloved is very jealous. These male consorts in the manor are already fighting every day. If more come, I’m afraid the world will be turned upside down!”

Zhu Yiyan gave a faint “Oh,” which served as his agreement.

Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, he reached out again to pinch my chin. His eyes flickered. “You’ve truly grown up.”

I didn’t dare speak; I didn’t even dare to breathe.

After a long while, he released his grip listlessly, as if he had grown bored. “Go back.”

I fled as if escaping for my life.

Leaving the palace, I collapsed into my carriage, utterly exhausted.

Every trip to the palace felt like a walk through the gates of hell. This King of Hell enjoyed toying with people’s hearts; being by his side was like walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss, where a single gust of wind could send you plummeting.

Though I had accepted my fate and was willing to be a princess of ill repute, I truly detested being watched, without even an inch of freedom.

I looked up at the sky. The stars twinkled against the vast, boundless night.

I suddenly thought of Tan Yin.

“Have you found out his identity?” I asked Wu Ming, my personal guard outside the carriage.

I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the frustration and self-reproach in his voice. “Your subordinate is incompetent. I cannot find any information about that man. His origin is unknown; he is truly suspicious.”

There were few people in this world whom Wu Ming could not track down.

Suspicious. Too suspicious.

The more suspicious Tan Yin was, the more he would pique my Imperial Elder Brother’s curiosity. He would spare no effort in sending people to find every scrap of information and investigate everything about Tan Yin.

He possessed an immense amount of patience for people or things that piqued his interest. He wouldn’t strike to kill until that interest had faded, which meant I had a brief moment to catch my breath.

Upon returning to the manor, I headed straight for the small courtyard where Tan Yin was staying.

Not a single lamp was lit in his quarters. The desolate moonlight spilled into the courtyard, making it look exceptionally lonely and cold.

Fortunately, I was carrying a silk lantern.

I pushed the door open. The room was shrouded in a darkness that even the moonlight could not penetrate, and the pungent, metallic scent of blood hit my nose. Subconsciously, I cried out, “Tan Yin!”

Please, don’t be dead!

There was no response.

I hurried toward the bed. With the faint light of my lantern, I could see that no one was lying there. Instead, there was a dark, lumpy mass on the mattress, though I couldn’t tell what it was.

I reached out, wanting to see what it could be.

Suddenly, a low, cold voice spoke right beside my ear. “That is a human head.”

I jerked my hand back instantly, not daring to look at the object on the bed again.

I hadn’t noticed when Tan Yin had appeared behind me. His voice was soft and low, sounding like a private murmur in my ear, yet it carried a suppressed, indifferent weariness. “I was lying. A head doesn’t look like that.”

Madman!

I stole a lingering, fearful glance at the object on the bed and tightened my grip on the lantern. “Then what is it?”

“Nothing.” He was standing extremely close to me. Suddenly, he reached from behind and covered my eyes with his hand. “What does the Princess want with me?”

Though my eyes were covered, I wasn’t deaf. I heard him lean over, pick up the object from the bed with his other hand, and deftly hurl it out the window.

Judging by the sound it made hitting the ground, it was exactly like the sound of some sort of melon smashing and splattering juice everywhere.

I shuddered.

It was hard not to let my imagination run wild.

He clearly noticed my trembling and let out a faint tsk. His tone suggested he found me exceptionally delicate. “I’ve already covered your eyes. Why are you still afraid?”

I had lived for twenty years. Before the age of thirteen, I could say I was raised in a bed of roses. My greatest sorrow and pain had been the illness of my Empress Mother. After thirteen, my Imperial Elder Brother began to shatter my worldview. Gradually, I learned to accept killing, the sight of blood spraying, and life withering away before my eyes.

But today was truly a first in my life.

When it came down to it, I was nothing more than a useless princess who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun.

I couldn’t stop the waves of nausea.

He released his hand from my eyes. I immediately turned around, wanting to run out, but after just two steps, I thought of the sound of that thing shattering outside. My footsteps faltered. I turned back to look at Tan Yin. “You-how is your injury?”

The dim light of the silk lantern only allowed me to see half of his face. The other half was hidden in the shadows, making him look like a ghost come to claim a life.

He tilted his head, the corners of his mouth curving slightly. “Is the Princess no longer afraid?”

I steadied my nerves. After all, having spent so much time around a madman like Zhu Yiyan, I had at least this much mental fortitude. “Who said I was afraid? I only came to ask about your condition.”

“Oh? Not afraid?” Tan Yin stepped closer with renewed interest and extinguished my silk lantern with a flick of his palm.

Everything plunged into total darkness. The room returned to its pitch-black state.

He seemed to lower his head, speaking from just above me. “Since you aren’t afraid, why aren’t you referring to yourself as ‘I, this princess’ anymore?”

“I only put on airs and call myself ‘I, this princess’ in front of outsiders.”

He was so close that I could smell the strange scent of blood mixed with herbs clinging to him. It wasn’t unpleasant; instead, it was almost addictive.