“After finishing speaking, Ying Xiaowu blinked his big eyes and stared at the breakfast on the table while swallowing. He wanted to eat meat for breakfast, but those women didn’t give him any; they only gave him a dry biscuit. So he relied on his bit of charm and acted coquettishly with those women, but no one paid attention to him. He had always been accustomed to being pampered, and since Jiang Shouzhu had indeed instructed not to harm him, he barged straight into Jiang Shouzhu’s tent.
Jiang Shouzhu did not look at Ying Xiaowu, who was just a step away, her gaze was fixed on Ying Wutu, who was slumped at the door.
The little rabbit wouldn’t be angered to death, right?
He looked very angry.
“Sister Jiang…” Ying Xiaowu’s eyes were fixed on Jiang Shouzhu, but he saw that she only cared for Ying Wutu, and he was jealous to death.
“Okay, stop making trouble, A’ Yan[mfn]it’s a form of adress. You can put A’ before the name when you’re close to someone[/mfn], tell the kitchen to cook some meat for the fifth prince”, Jiang Shouzhu shouted towards the door.
Ying Xiaowu was so happy that he jumped up, shouting “Thank you, Sister Jiang”, and then flew out like a butterfly.
Leaving Ying Wutu at the door, like a homeless dog.
He was originally a homeless dog, because he was a slave of a conquered country, and now he saw the fifth prince fawning over the enemy,his heart collapsed.
“Sitting at the door without wearing clothes, if you freeze to death, you will have 3,000 people buried with you”, Jiang Shouzhu continued to eat breakfast with interest.
Ying Wutu’s heart ached, he looked down at the clothes on the ground, they were the fifth prince’s clothes, probably looted by the enemy army when they swept through the palace. He hadn’t worn men’s clothes for many years, such revealing clothes were very unfamiliar to him, who was used to wearing armor.
But if he didn’t wear it, there was no other clothing available.
Armor, will he ever wear it again in this life?
Ying Wutu propped himself up with his hand on the ground. His palm hurt; it had been injured by her arrow. Slowly, he stood up, his movements unsteady. After much struggling, he finally managed to put on the clothes.
Jiang Shouzhu had already finished eating her plate of breakfast by then.
Well, not entirely finished; she left a small piece of steamed bun.
“Turn around, let me see”, Jiang Shouzhu said, sipping her tea slowly.
Ying Wutu didn’t turn around. He stood still, feeling very uneasy. He didn’t want to wear men’s clothing and tried to negotiate: “Can I wear women’s clothing instead?”
“Don’t push your luck”, Jiang Shouzhu replied, her tone neither cold nor warm. Despite the little rabbit’s disobedience, she couldn’t help but admire him a bit. The little rabbit’s appearance was very beautiful, even more stunning than Ying Xiaowu.
Unfortunately… his face was bruised black and blue, and his graceful body was covered in bruises.
Ying Wutu bent down to pick up the pants from the carpet. He had to get to work, lest he provoked her displeasure and she casually killed someone.
“Stop”, Jiang Shouzhu commanded.
Ying Wutu turned around, head lowered, not daring to look at her.
What now?
“Lock it yourself, be conscious”, Jiang Shouzhu pointed to the corner of the room.
Ying Wutu looked over and gasped.
Was it necessary?
It was a shackle that locked his ankles, to prevent him from running away. But the shackle also had a large iron ball attached to it, which looked to weigh about 20 jin (approximately 10 kilograms).
He was already struggling to walk, and with such heavy shackles on, each step would be even harder.
But he had no right to bargain; locking his ankles was to prevent him from escaping, and not locking his wrists was so that he could still work.
Ying Wutu moved his heavy feet and walked over, locking the even heavier shackles onto his ankles. With two ‘click’ sounds, he knew it would be even harder for him to escape now.
“Now turn around so I can see”, Jiang Shouzhu said, admiring the figure before her.
Ying Wutu didn’t respond to her words. He lowered his head and asked softly, “Where should I wash the clothes?”
Jiang Shouzhu tapped the table with her fingers and asked in return, “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
“I can’t move”, Ying Wutu excused himself.
He didn’t want to be displayed like an object for her to see.
“Then take a few steps closer”, Jiang Shouzhu said with rare patience.
Ying Wutu sighed. He dragged the heavy iron ball attached to his ankle and took three steps towards her.
Each step was heavy, and his ankles were rubbed raw and painful.
Now, up close, Jiang Shouzhu smiled slightly.
Ying Wutu was tall, taller than most men, so the Fifth Prince’s clothes were a bit small on him, making his waistline even more pronounced and accentuating his rounded hips. Since the hem was short, one could easily see a large part of his slender ankles. Most noticeable was his neck, but fortunately, the Fifth Prince’s clothes had thin straps, which he wrapped around his neck.
“You look much more beautiful in men’s clothing than in armor, but it doesn’t fit very well”, Jiang Shouzhu commented.
Ying Wutu didn’t respond. Although his head was still lowered, his eyes quietly looked at her table.
He was hungry; his stomach had been growling since last night. Now, the entire tent was filled with the aroma of food, and even the smell of meat.
It was from her breakfast earlier.
He hadn’t had meat in a long time. As the state of Ying declined, provisions became insufficient, and Jiang Shouzhu’s sneak attack burned their granary, so his army could only eat coarse grains and vegetables.
His heart was filled with sorrow, blaming himself for being an incompetent commander. Look at the Jiang family’s army, able to eat meat even in the dead of winter, while he couldn’t even keep his soldiers fed.
He felt even more ashamed for his sisters.
“Are you hungry?” Jiang Shouzhu suddenly asked.
“You get what you ask for, don’t you?”
Ying Wutu carefully lifted his head, his stomach long since empty and pressing against his back.
It was rare for Jiang Shouzhu to see such a genuinely humble expression on his face, but she felt it wasn’t enough, so she teased him: “If you beg me like your Fifth Prince, I’ll give you a piece of meat to eat.”
Like the Fifth Prince? Grasping her skirt, stomping his feet, and coquettishly calling her ‘Sister Jiang’?
Ying Wutu shuddered. He couldn’t do it.
“How about you just beat me up?” Ying Wutu lowered his head again.
Jiang Shouzhu: ?
Utterly perplexed.
She had asked the little rabbit to act coquettish, and somehow the topic turned to beating him up?
Was the little rabbit beaten too badly last night and damaged his brain?
Or did Ying Xiaowu’s scolding just now make him lose his mind?
“Then I won’t eat”, Ying Wutu saw her expression change and feared he had said something wrong to anger her.
“Are you sure you don’t want to eat?”
Ying Wutu detected a hint of threat in her tone. He felt uneasy and remembered she had said last night that the captives wouldn’t be fed unless… So he tentatively asked: “If I get to eat meat, will they also get some?”
“Are you dreaming?’ Jiang Shouzhu had no intention of sharing the meat with the 3,000 captives. The meat was naturally reserved for her own soldiers.
Has the little rabbit lost his mind?
“Actually, I don’t like eating meat”, Ying Wutu couldn’t bring himself to act coquettish. If acting like the Fifth Prince could ensure that all his sisters could eat meat, he might grit his teeth and try, but since it wouldn’t, he would rather not.
“Quite a temper”, Jiang Shouzhu praised. Then she picked up the small piece of steamed bun from the edge of the plate and threw it into the snow outside, indicating to Ying Wutu, “This is your reward, don’t starve to death. Go now, someone outside will take you to do the laundry.”
Ying Wutu dragged the heavy iron ball attached to his ankle and slowly moved out.
Although it didn’t snow today, the previous snowfall had piled up thickly. The entrance of the tent had a narrow path cleared for people to walk through, and the piece of steamed bun fell into the snow, creating a small pit in the snow.
Ying Wutu held his pants with one hand, squatted down near the snow pit, and dug with his hand, quickly finding the piece of steamed bun.
The steamed bun was already cold, and now it was covered in snow, making it even colder.
Ying Wutu looked at the piece of steamed bun in his hand as the snowflakes melted in his palm.
He remembered when he was a child, before his sister passed away, their father would prepare steamed buns dipped in sugar for her. He could only squat nearby and watch, imagining how delicious the white steamed bun must be and how sweet it would taste dipped in sugar.
Later, when he joined the army and received his first month’s pay, he bought steamed buns and sugar for himself to try and found the taste wasn’t as magical as he had imagined.
Now, he looked at the cold, snow-covered steamed bun and swallowed it in one bite.
It was cold and hard to swallow.
But it was better than starving to death.
He couldn’t die; if he died, his sisters wouldn’t survive either.
Ying Wutu struggled to stand up, and Deputy Yan led the way.
However, he walked too slowly.
The same patrol team passed by him three times, and he had only taken less than ten steps.
He wanted to walk faster because there were not only the howling northern winds, but also the eyes of others around him.
The soldiers of the Jiang army stared at him with fierce gazes.
His men’s clothing, combined with the wrapped neck, made it obvious he was a man.
Those stares were even heavier than the twenty-jin iron ball on his ankle.
All the pressure weighed on him.
Finally, Deputy General Yan led Ying Wutu to the kitchen. She pointed to a water tank and said, “Wash here.” Then she left.
There was no need to keep an eye on him, as Ying Wutu couldn’t run away with the shackles on his ankles.
Apart from the water tank, there was only a wooden basin on the ground. Ying Wutu struggled to move to the water tank, threw the pants into the wooden basin, and looked at the gourd ladle floating on top. He scooped up half a ladle of water and drank it himself.
He had only eaten that small piece of steamed bun in the morning and was very hungry, so he drank some water to fill his stomach.
After drinking the water, he used the ladle to scoop water into the basin and started working, washing the bad woman’s clothes.
He suddenly stopped his actions as he smelled the aroma of meat coming from the pot behind him.
Ying Wutu swallowed his saliva. Although it seemed like no one was watching, if he dared to act rashly, that bad woman would have an excuse to punish him and even more reason to kill innocents.
He wouldn’t fall for it.
He squatted in the snow, washing her pants one by one. His hands were frozen red by the icy water, and his palms, already injured, became numb with pain from the cold water.
Finally, he finished washing. Washing clothes outside in cold weather was no different from being punished, but his hands had no strength left. After wringing for a long time, he couldn’t wring them dry, and the pants were still dripping water. He was panting heavily, supporting his waist.
At this moment, Ying Xiaowu came bouncing over after building a snowman, rubbing his frostbitten hands and excitedly shouting, “Is my meat cooked yet?”
Ying Wutu stood up straight when he heard the voice, and Ying Xiaowu saw him too.
