A day of this Young Master getting teased.
Translation Checker: jellypeaches
Editor: jellypeaches, Dobhsh
As the sky gradually turned dark, the royal guards, with their matching uniforms, stood solemnly on both sides of the path with their swords in hand.
Xu Fanggu and Xu-momo were kneeling on the ground, along with their accompanying servants and maids, emitting deafening cries. Other servants, who had also been summoned, stood to one side.
Lin Bozhou turned a deaf ear to the voices in the room. His eyes were as calm as still water, scanning the whole scene. “Today, this Regent will get justice for everyone. What other wrongdoings have the Xu family and their group committed in this compound besides withholding food from the madam? Anything goes.”
The servants turned their heads left and right, seemingly a little hesitant. But eventually, one of them came forward and kowtowed. “This lowly servant witnessed Mrs. Xu taking things from the compound’s treasury without permission.”
One by one, servants continuously kneeled down.
“The maid A-Liu jumped into the well because she had offended Xu Fanggu and was abused in every way. When her floating corpse was fished up, it was covered in wounds, but this matter was also suppressed by Xu-momo.”
“This lowly servant’s mother offended Xu-momo, who then broke her legs; to this day, she is still laying on the sick bed.”
“Mrs. Xu lent out the compound’s equipment as a way to make profits.”
“…”
The atmosphere was eerily silent; any one evil deed was enough to warrant an outburst of anger. However, Lin Bozhou showed no emotion on his face as he said “All right” to each statement. Once he had heard enough, he slowly raised his hand.
“This subordinate is here!” The commander knelt down with a clang.
“Drag them down and behead them, then patrol with their heads around the compound for all the servants to see.”
The purpose of this last request was the same as patrolling a traitor’s head before the entire army during wartime: serving as a deterrent and warning.
At such a close distance, Meng Huan could see Lin Bozhou’s handsome and beautiful face, which was like a ‘light breeze and clear moon’, looking at the military officer as he gave his ruthless order without showing even a subtle change of emotion.
As the commander motioned to the guard beside him, the latter took out a broadsword.
“This subordinate accepts the order.” The commander replied while raising the dark and glossy blade. It was the kind of oily shine that could only come from having drunk enough human blood.
“Wait.” Lin Bozhou commanded as he thought of something.
“Your Royal Highness, what other orders do you have?”
Lin Bozhou turned his head and made eye contact with Meng Huan.
In a split second, Meng Huan’s eyes emptied, as if he had witnessed a divine being’s true face. When their eyes met, the youth lowered his head, looking as though his eyes had been scalded by flame and shocked by lightning.
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.
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Zfcu Lejc gfqilfv, “Rb.”
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“…” Zfcu Lejc mifcmtfv tlr olcufgr alutais jcv afcrfv tlr yjmx ab atf qblca atja la tega rilutais.
The screaming people were dragged away like objects as the armored forces dragged them by their collars without mercy, leaving a trail of messy footprints on the ground from their wild kicking.
Their heart-wrenching screams made Meng Huan’s chest tingle until it went numb. In shock, he turned to Lin Bozhou in a daze. “Did Your Royal Highness kill them because of me?”
Lin Bozhou clarified, “Not completely.”
Meng Huan couldn’t say whether this put his heart at ease or increased the burden. “Is that so…?”
The reason Lin Bozhou ordered their deaths was more due to the fact that under his employment, they deceived their superiors, killed people indiscriminately, stole the compound’s property, and so on. After thinking about it this way, Meng Huan’s sense of guilt for these lives was reduced by a lot.
But he was still at a loss.
The remaining people gradually dispersed, leaving only a handful of people. Lin Bozhou turned and said, “It is time to eat.”
Yet when he took Meng Huan’s hand, he felt the small hand in his palm trembling.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Bozhou raised his eyebrows.
Meng Huan shook his head and obediently followed behind him until he softly bumped into the man’s back with his forehead. He stopped walking and met Lin Bozhou’s eyes.
Lin Bozhou asked, “Scared?”
Meng Huan didn’t speak.
“Mmm?”
Sensing Lin Bozhou’s sincerity, Meng Huan finally said, “I’m afraid of the way you are right now.”
Lin Bozhou gazed at him with his dark eyes in the pale orange glow of the lamps, looking interested in his reaction. “How so?”
Meng Huan tried very hard to describe his feelings. “It’s like how a person can kill whomever he wants and get whatever he wants. Life, death, giving, seizing—all are in his hands. A portion of people will choose to attach themselves to him and satisfy their personal desires with the help of his abilities, but there is another portion that will feel fear, believing they should be as far away from such a person as possible.”
Lin Bozhou looked at him with slightly darkened eyes. “Which kind of person is madam?”
Meng Huan squeezed his hand, not speaking.
He seemed to have made a choice in silence.
The way he hung his head made the corner of Lin Bozhou’s lips curl inexplicably, as a strange feeling welled up in his chest.
He was surrounded by wolves and ate and slept in the open, stealing food under the edge of a blade. Blood and bones paved every inch of this land, but suddenly, a lost and harmless lamb came into view.
The lamb was snow-white and meek. When it saw the cruelty of the predators, its round eyes widened as its four hooves trembled with fear, not knowing what to do.
Lin Bozhou gently rubbed his head and said, “People don’t take lessons to heart and are selfish. If this Regent doesn’t kill them, the people in this compound will see those two as having a good outcome. In the future, when they take up those positions, they will do so with the expectation of being just as lucky and, thus, will continue to be corrupt and disregard you. To correct this once and for all, the establishment of authority should be firm and sufficient.”
Meng Huan stared at him in a daze.
“Which is why,” Lin Bozhou whispered, “madam shouldn’t fault this Regent.”
Meng Huan, “…”
Lin Bozhou smiled with both his lips and eyes, sheathing his sharpness. “All right?”
–
After Lin Bozhou’s furious display, the things on the table were immediately replaced with a thirty-course meal as servants lined up like butterflies making trips to collect nectar, crowding dishes onto Meng Huan’s medium-size table.
Lin Bozhou sat in a chair, lazily reclining. He had just sent several servants to death, but he only felt his excitement wane slightly and was not at all plagued by psychological burdens.
Meng Huan silently picked up his bowl and chopsticks, sat beside Lin Bozhou, and shouldered the responsibility of a humble concubine, serving the man his food. “Your Royal Highness, time to eat?”
Speaking so sweetly.
The dishes served to Lin Bozhou from the compound’s main kitchen were different each day, but there were always people watching and counting. For example, if His Royal Highness ate more than three bites of a dish, then that dish would make it onto the menu again in the future. If His Royal Highness merely glanced at a dish without tasting it, the dish would cease to appear. Grasping his preference was the servants’ life mission.
Probably because he had not eaten this well in days, Meng Huan was so focused on enjoying his meal that he didn’t notice Lin Bozhou’s chopsticks had stopped moving as he opted to quietly watch the youth eat.
Without letting his thoughts show, Lin Bozhou asked, “Why did you not take the initiative to tell this Regent that someone bullied you the other day?”
“…”
Meng Huan’s chopsticks froze for a moment.
He licked his lower lip, tasting the remnants of grease from the food, and gently wiped the corner of his lips with a handkerchief. He didn’t know how to explain himself for a moment.
In his mind, no matter how Lin Bozhou treated him, whether like a concubine or a wife, it would never change the way Meng Huan saw the other man, which was as a traitorous minister who bullied many officials and killed them without blinking an eye.
If he were to borrow the man’s power whenever he was wronged, he would start to feel like a minor treacherous minister himself from having received too many benefits.
After all, having received a modern anti-feudalist education, Meng Huan always felt incapable of accepting him mentally.
With his head down, he mumbled hesitantly, “Your Royal Highness is busy with official business, so I didn’t want to disturb Your Royal Highness over this trivial matter.”
Lin Bozhou didn’t seem convinced. “Really?”
Meng Huan nodded. “Your Royal Highness goes to the court to deal with political affairs every day and only comes back once the compound is shrouded in darkness. You work so hard, so if I were to bother you with some small domestic squabble, I would also feel embarrassed, as it’s shameful.”
“Tch—” Lin Bozhou lowered his gaze, chuckling with an uncertain meaning.
“…”
He stopped asking questions.
Seeing that he had managed to bypass the topic, Meng Huan hurriedly lowered his head and dug into his meal to prevent the other man from bringing the topic back.
After a while, Lin Bozhou’s voice sounded in his ear again. “Madam, what made you want to read and write?”
Meng Huan stopped moving his chopsticks once more, and his back tensed again at the thought of the two letters.
He was so jittery and panicky that every little bit of emotion was shown on his face. Taking in all of the youth’s reactions, Lin Bozhou grinned slightly and said off-handedly, “Could it be that you wanted to write something or read something?”
“…”
Damn… What a guess.
Meng Huan’s nervousness only intensified. He put down his chopsticks and then picked up his handkerchief to wipe the corners of his lips.
He got goosebumps. After a long time, he finally managed to stumble through his words. “Life in the compound is boring, so I thought about learning to read to pass the time or to write things to kill the loneliness when Your Royal Highness is away. After all, Your Royal Highness never came to see me during that time, so I really thought I lost favor.”
Lin Bozhou raised his eyebrows. “Is that so?”
“Yes, exactly.”
The emotion in Meng Huan’s eyes was more valuable than genuine pearls.
Lin Bozhou leaned forward slightly as he looked into the youth’s eyes with his dark-brown eyes, his breath landing on the tip of Meng Huan’s nose. In the burning air, he spoke with a slight breathy tone, “If this Regent doesn’t visit you, would you keep missing this Regent?”
Meng Huan blushed uncontrollably, lowered his head, and mumbled slightly intermittently, “Yes.”
Lin Bozhou tapped the table gently and smiled. “It’s true that this Regent has been neglecting you the past few days. This Regent will reflect on his actions and come see you every night after the court, all right?”
“…” Meng Huan soundlessly opened his mouth.
Lin Bozhou stood up and said in a calm voice, “Then tonight, this Regent will stay overnight in madam’s chamber.”
The author has something to say:
Meng Huan: Did I really act like I love you this much?
Lin Bozhou (smiles): Is that not the truth?
Hehe, the Xu Family finally got what was coming to them! rubbing hands maliciously
An ending befitting for such greedy people… Love how the regent always teases his wife~~
Thanks for the chapter! 😘
Thank you for your translation 💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝💝
This two are so weirdly romantic lol.
Byebye Xu family, it wasn’t nice to meet y’all
This story is so entertaining and I do like a proper scary ML. No cinnamon roll here (of course IRL cinnamon rolls only).
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
Too complicated, too complicated fate~
Thank You for the new chapter ♡⃛ ヾ(๑❛ ▿ ◠๑ )
Haha, I do feel for Meng Huan, but it’s still funny how he unintentionally makes it seem like he’s a simp for Lin Bozhou XD
Thanks for the chapter!
Meng Huan is an expert at shooting himself in the foot! 😂
Bang! Bang! Hahahahaha!
❤️❤️❤️