It wasn’t just General Haoran going through withdrawals within the Zhou Manor.
Even Fu Lin felt like he’d go insane if he continued to stay grounded and confined to this hellhole they call the Zhou Manor. He had always been a chatty person and craved conversation with literally anybody. However, even the very first time he tried to talk to a servant within the manor turned out to be a disaster.
In the beginning, because he wanted to get used to the place, Fu Lin barely opened his mouth and just simply smiled at the servants at the manor. They too, smiled back at him unreservedly, and therefore, he assumed it was good for him to initiate conversation. But when he did, they completely ignored him. This happened with almost every servant, and he began thinking that maybe the servants here were mute. But that was proven wrong when he tried something out.
“Greetings, servitor of the Zhou Manor,” he casually greeted the chambermaid, who came and she smiled at him as usual.
He played along, saying, “The weather is nice, isn’t it?”
She smilingly ignored him and got to washing his feet. A minute passed, and Fu Lin felt a bit awkward, but of course he had no scrap of shame in him! So he tried again with a different approach. “There was some dust on the bed covers last night, and I had a hard time sleeping.”
“Oh?” She stopped washing his feet and checked the bed covers keenly. “I shall immediately get them cleaned, Your Grace.”
Why wouldn’t she reply when he asked something random and only reply when he asked something about their duties? It couldn’t be… it wasn’t something as they’d only ever reply to him for something work-related, right? Annoyed by the thought, he wanted to confirm it.
“Why do the servants of Zhou Manor only ever talk when it’s something about their duty or work?” Fu Lin asked, “I have never seen you people have a happy laugh or chat.”
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.
The maid looked at him, shocked. “Your Grace. Did you not have the privilege to know about the Zhou Manor rules yet? The Zhu family tradition values silence and silent perseverance. Therefore, we have been disciplined to refrain from unnecessary speech—anything unrelated to our work, especially with the masters of the house. Vain speech is only allowed between the masters of the household.” The maid blushed when she told the rest, “And that too is only within the bed chamber.”
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However, the General himself gave him a prime opportunity by giving him one wish. And that was all he wanted.
After that, he did everything he wanted with reckless abandon. Once, he tried somehow tricking a servant into talking with him.
“I found something peculiar on the floor,” he once told a handsome manservant.
“Your Grace?” The servant had looked at him with concern and asked, “What is it? I shall immediately get it cleaned up.”
He held a piece of white cotton cloth in his hand. On top of this cotton cloth, there was a small strand of black hair, curved and thin.
“A piece of hair, Your Grace?” He looked at the floor and said, “Hair is pretty common in the manor, especially since some servants have baby hairs like that.”
“This isn’t any hair, Servitor.” “Then, Your Grace?”
“It is pubic hair if you will!”
The servant looked at him, horrified.
“You know pubic hair? The hair down there? Yeah, that one! I was just looking for a pearl that fell accidentally and came across this treasure. You know there are very clear distinctions between baby hair and pubic hair? Pubic hair is slightly rougher and has an unrefined tangent to its curls. Also, they…”
After having to listen to Fu Lin go on about pubic hair for over 20 minutes, the servant bowed before General Haoran and begged with tears in his eyes to let him resign from his serving duties. Apparently, he had never come across anything so vulgar in his entire life and was traumatised.
General Haoran nearly popped a vein in anger when he heard what was happening. But he couldn’t do anything about it because he had already promised to let Fu Lin do whatever he wanted. So he could only compensate the fellow with a good sum and adjourn him from his duties.
Fu Lin was saddened by the fact that his friend, who had so attentively listened to him talk about pubic hair, had resigned. Just when he thought he made a friend. He was bored and listless once again, but he didn’t try to talk to anybody again—it was too exhausting. So he wandered around the house and came across the General, who was standing by the window observing the scenery.
Fu Lin quickly hid. The General had not seen him this time, and he was the only one who was aware of the other’s presence. He took this opportunity to look at what the General looked like in his home clothes; since he couldn’t gossip about anybody else, he might as well gossip about him!
The General was, of course, wearing the official robe handed down by Zhou tradition. It was so formal that even within the General’s own home; he wore a full-sleeved robe with the collar wrapped up to his neck. His appearance was grand and aristocratic, with intricate gold embroidery lining the black shades of his dress that slid down his erect back. There was no subtlety even in his hair design, as two side braids coiled along his hair to join a very high ponytail, bound by a gleaming crown shaped like the sun. His waist, too, was neatly fastened around a very thick metal belt. Everything about him was pristinely combed down, not a hair or ornament out of place.
And just looking at him suffocated Fu Lin. This level of neatness scorched Fu Lin’s eyes. His bearing and attire screamed honour and dignity, but he knew better. He knew aristocrats loved to show off, but not to this extent. Not even his royal brothers went out of their way to wear official robes within their palaces.
“What a pompous prig,” Fu Lin sneered at him, “and how absolutely disgusting.”
Author’s Note:
(￢‿￢ ) Careful Fu Lin, he might actually be eavesdropping ya, know??! *Insert evil laugh*
Welcome to another episode of Fu Lin digging his own grave (and the General’s)!!! (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ) And the long-awaited clothing descriptions are here? Thoughts , lovelies??
Anyways , 2023 is on the brink of ending so lemme wish you a Happy New Year in advance.
May all your dreams come true this amazing year!! ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡
Until Wednesday then <3
Thank you so so much for the update! And Fu Lin is so much like Wei Wuxia from the untamed . He’s so hilarious, I just love him. Not gonna lie, Haoran’s clothing made me feel suffocated as well. How can someone be this neatly dressed in their own home ?
It kinda looks like the 🦟 is trying to catch attention from the general in a weird way..
This Payjama girl suffocated after reading about General’s clothing 😢
General’s way of living is way too stiff.
Every chapter my 3 Views are changing today I feel like fu Lin is easygoing & deserves freedom (he’s still bit annoying though) 😌
Happy New year to all🌸🌸
Poor guy 😭🩷
FU LIN!! come here for a sec, since when do you bond with people over pubic hair??! I seriously wonder what’s happening in his head 😭
I like that General has 2 braids in his hair, I find it cute ahah. Thank u for the description of the attire, it was good, and just like I had pictured it, actually!!
& a big thank u for this chapter<33 I hope that everyone has a wonderful year 2024!!