Zhou Rendong had slept for less than half an hour when he was awakened by a nightmare.
He covered his chest, breathing heavily and trembling. His panic was heightened by the dream, instinctively wanting to return to the place he thought to be safe.
That dilapidated servant’s room.
That was where he should be, from childhood to adulthood.
The suffering there was known, not having enough to eat, not being warmly dressed, having endless chores, and being occasionally whipped by the housekeeper…
The environment here was comfortable, but there were hidden dangers he couldn’t see. He was tortured by this unknown and only wanted to escape quickly.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, the maid who took care of him rushed in.
“What are you doing?” Her voice was sharp, and she intentionally raised it a bit, looking fierce.
Zhou Rendong was taken aback for a moment, shrinking his neck in fear.
Early on, she took the “benefits” of being Fu Rushang’s personal maid, saying that the general was just using this male wife, allowing her to ‘take care’.
Despite being married into the general’s mansion for more than three years, Zhou Rendong lived a worse life than a servant. The general’s disgust towards him was obvious to all, and his favouritism towards Fu Rushang was also well-known.
She was not a fool, since she knew how to curry favor with Miss Fu to have a better life in the future.
So taking advantage of the general’s absence, she put on a stern face for Zhou Rendong.
“You are truly difficult to serve.” She said bitterly, “I must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to end up serving you.”
Zhou Rendong murmured: “I don’t need anyone to serve me.”
“Pah!” The maid glared at him and put her hands on her hips. “Then just behave yourself and don’t cause me any trouble by running around.”
Zhou Rendong lowered his head and said in a low voice, “I’m sorry.”
“Hmph.” She tilted her head, looking down her nose at him. “If you run around again, I’ll tell the general!”
After saying that, she happily ran away, obviously enjoying this feeling of arrogance.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Anyway, no matter how bad the servants treated him, Zhou Rendong didn’t have the guts to complain to the general!
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He hurried back to the dormitory, trying to wake Zhou Rendong up for dinner.
As soon as he stepped into the inner room, he saw Zhou Rendong curled up in a thin undergarment, his head buried in his knees. A small figure sat at the corner of the bed, and the blanket was neatly folded and placed beside it.
Fu Yicen frowned as he approached, about to reach out and shake him.
As soon as he approached, Zhou Rendong suddenly raised his head, as if waking from a nightmare. A frightened expression spread across his face as he blinked his red and swollen eyes. Subconsciously, he used his arms to shield his head, assuming a defensive posture.
Fu Yicen paused and softly comforted: “It’s me, don’t be afraid.”
Zhou Rendong gradually regained his senses. Only then did he remember that he was not in the servants’ room.
In the past, he often worked until the early hours of the morning and slept less than two hours before starting a new day of work.
Sometimes when he was in low spirits and fell asleep for a while, the housekeeper would kick open the door of his room and use a whip to wake him up.
Over time, every time he was in a daze and heard any sound, he would be startled. He would first protect his head, afraid of getting hurt.
He was never smart in the first place, unable to gain others’ favour. If his mind went haywire, he would definitely… become even more irritating.
“I’m sorry.” He glanced around and hesitated for a moment before apologizing habitually.
Fu Yicen sat down on the bed and gently pulled him into his arms. “Did you have a nightmare?”
Zhou Rendong nodded, fearing that Fu Yicen might think he was being perfunctory, he replied again: “Yes.”
“From now on, come find me if you’re startled by a nightmare. I will protect you, okay?”
Zhou Rendong blinked suspiciously, looking bewildered.
He couldn’t even leave this room. How could he find him?
Fu Yicen rubbed his messy hair and said softly, “Have your meal first, and I’ll give you the medicine after eating.”
“Medicine?” Zhou Liandong clasped his fingers nervously, lowering his gaze and saying, “I… I have no money.”
He had read medical books and knew that it was not easy to collect medicines. The medicines were expensive. He was penniless and couldn’t afford them.
“No need for money, idiot.” Fu Yicen smiled helplessly, lifting his chin and lightly touching the corner of his eye with his index finger. “Are you overthinking again?”
While speaking, the maid had already brought in the medicated meal.
When Zhou Rendong saw her, he immediately shrank his neck. His whole body was stiff, and he didn’t dare look at her.
Fu Yicen immediately noticed the abnormality. He raised his eyes coldly, and glanced at the maid.
The maid’s legs softened, and she knelt down instinctively.
“General, please forgive me…”
“What did she do to you?” Fu Yicen didn’t let her stand up, nor did he ask her. He scooped a spoonful of medicated meal, blew it cool and handed it to Zhou Rendong.
Zhou Rendong shook his head with a mouthful of porridge in his mouth. His cheeks were bulging, like a squirrel hoarding food, incredibly affordable.
Seeing that Zhou Rendong didn’t say anything, but still glanced at her distractedly from time to time, Fu Yicen said coldly, “Go and kneel outside.”
“Don’t force yourself, just say it after you’re full.” Worried about the recurrence of the tragedy from the morning, Fu Yicen specially reminded him.
In the end, after eating less than half a bowl, Zhou Rendong obediently said, “I’m full.”
Seeing the remaining half of the bowl, Fu Yicen frowned.
Zhou Rendong hurriedly said: “I… I won’t waste it. if I can’t finish it, I can eat it tomorrow…”
Fu Yicen put down the bowl, wiped his mouth for him, and said patiently: “You need to eat fresh food for three meals a day. It will be rotten and cannot be eaten if you leave it tomorrow.”
Zhou Rendong lifted his face, pursed his lips, and obediently let him wipe it without arguing.
After finishing his work, the housekeeper gave him food, which was leftovers from others, slightly spoiled but not too badly. He considered even the mildly spoiled food to be delicious.
Fu Yicen had also said that he was not worthy of eating the food from the General’s Mansion, and even feeding it to dogs would be better than feeding this enemy’s son.
Now, whether these words were true or false, who knows?
Fu Yicen didn’t know what was going on in his mind. He took the wound medicine left by Chu Yu and carefully changed the bandages for him.
Breathing heavily, Zhou Rendong leaned against Fu Yicen’s chest, sniffing slightly, with a hint of redness at the corners of his eyes. His obedient appearance resembled that of a lazy kitten.
Fu Yicen embraced Zhou Rendong as he followed his hair. “Come with me for a while, okay?”.
Zhou Rendong didn’t dare to refuse. In his heart, he thought that as long as he was obedient, at least he wouldn’t be beaten or scolded.
If he was told to sleep, then he would sleep obediently.
After being reborn, Fu Yicen felt as if a heavy mountain was pressing on his heart. After dealing with many seemingly trivial matters that were actually filled with danger, holding onto the quiet little person at this moment, there was a rare sense of calm.
He coaxed the person in his arms to fall asleep, but he himself couldn’t fall asleep.
After Zhou Rendong had curled up into a ball and fallen asleep, he got up quietly and went outside.
The maid was kneeling at the door. Her forehead was pressed against the ground, shivering in fear. When she saw Fu Yicen coming out, she kept begging for mercy.
Fu Yicen had the guards take the person to the torture chamber and lock her up together with the housekeeper, who had already undergone a round of torture, and began to interrogate them.
The two confessed to taking benefits from Fu Rushang, and they also detailed the hardships Zhou Rendong had suffered over the past three years.
In addition to washing clothes that he couldn’t finish every day, he had to get up early to fill the large wooden bucket with water. Occasionally, he had to help pour the slop, and if unable to finish his work, he would be beaten and starved.
The clothes were rough hemp garments discarded by the servants after wearing them out. The food consisted of leftovers and scraps that others had left behind. There was no rest even when sick or injured, and several times he was so exhausted that he fainted.
Fu Yicen turned his back on them, his deep gaze filled with remorse.
He said coldly: “Execute them.”
These vicious servants could be executed, and Fu Rushang, the Dog Emperor and the Zhou family would not be spared either.
But what about him?
How could he repay the debt he owed to Zhou Rendong?
I’m so angry at everyone!! 😡😤
You can atone by protecting dong’er as his hubby of course!! Looking forward to more pampering and soft moments between these two >w<
+1!!! I hope he treats him way better than before, be the pampering husband for him!!!😤
Of course protect him at all costs
He could totally do away with fu rushang right now and make it seem like an accident. And totally purge his current staff!