Chu Yunge saw Yan Feng’s gaze, then looked at his appearance, and hurriedly closed the book and stuffed it under the pillow. She had only one thought in her mind: she could not lead the child astray.
But then she suddenly thought that Yan Feng had such sharp ears before; he could hear words from so far away. That meant whatever she said or did, he could hear it all.
For example, the things she said and did to Li Guangi.
No wonder Yan Feng had shown such strange panic; he had probably been scared.
She thought about how in the future, whenever she wanted to do some intimate stuff, he would hear it all. Then she looked at the baby fat on his face, and an indescribable sense of guilt welled up.
It was probably that baby fat of his that made even someone like her, who had little conscience or moral bottom line, feel a twinge of guilt for seducing and stimulating a young boy.
The world of an adult woman was indeed a bit dangerous for him.
“Yan Feng, pick someone from among the guards and train them up. Later, have them take over for you. Once the poison is lifted, you can leave.”
She would soon let loose and no longer worry about leading the child astray. It would also let him avoid the risk of the castration punishment.
Chu Yunge’s gaze lingered, causing Yan Feng’s breathing to stutter.
But her words shocked him. The princess was not asking him to offer himself in marriage; she was telling him to leave?
Yan Feng flipped over, landed on the floor, and knelt. “Your Highness, Yan Feng has no second thoughts. You saved Yan Feng, so this one’s life belongs to you.”
But Chu Yunge flipped through the original host’s memories and found no recollection of saving Yan Feng. Without surprise, it must have been the Chu Emperor in disguise as a woman who saved him.
She fell silent for a moment. So the loyal dog couple between the Chu Emperor and Yan Feng had started with a life-saving grace.
Very clichéd, but such stories endured for a thousand years. What was shippable was shippable.
She did not know if the princess would falsely claim credit, but she would not.
“When did this princess ever save you? I have no impression.” She could not outright say it was the Chu Emperor, so she denied it.
But Yan Feng was a stubborn and straightforward sort. Upon hearing this, he did not suspect anything and instead directly said:
“On the night of the Lantern Festival, when the Zhao State envoy group arrived, this subordinate attempted to assassinate the Zhao State’s eldest imperial prince. After the assassination failed, this one was saved by Your Highness.”
At that time, it was a dragnet. If he had been caught, he would have been dead for sure. When he was at the end of his rope and about to be captured, the princess had saved him.
“Your Highness, your grace is etched in Yan Feng’s heart. Unless death takes me, I will never betray or leave you.”
The Yan People had lost their country and their home, but they would not lose their unyielding spirit.
For a life-saving grace, one must repay with a gushing spring; even death was no excuse.
Yan Feng knelt on one knee on the ground and looked up at Chu Yunge. His face was youthful, but his gaze was utterly resolute.
Chu Yunge paused. After the Yan State was destroyed by the Zhao State, the Yan People had never submitted. They resisted and dreamed of restoration, so in the end, they suffered a great massacre to intimidate the remaining Yan People.
The Yan People were forced to flee everywhere and became people without roots or a home.
Too many Yan People had died, but even that had not made the Yan People bow their heads. The surviving Yan People’s lifelong pursuit was vengeance and repaying kindness.
From childhood, they were taught that whenever they saw anyone from the Zhao State imperial family, they must kill without mercy. They were taught to repay life-saving grace with a gushing spring.
So he had attempted to assassinate the Zhao State imperial prince, regardless of success or his own death.
After being saved, besides vengeance, he now had the duty of repayment.
To avoid implicating his benefactor, he paused his vengeance until repayment was complete.
The Yan People had unyielding pride, kept their word, and were understanding. Even after their nation fell, they were respected by the world. Both the Chu State and the Chen State welcomed them and took pride in employing them.
Yan Feng was highly skilled in martial arts and kept his promises. He was someone Chu Yunge needed, but she did not want to lie about this. Not only would it cause big trouble if discovered later, but for them, it was more than just falsely claiming credit.
Chu Yunge put on a thoughtful expression and shook her head as usual. “You must have remembered wrong. This princess has no impression.”
A rare flicker of bewilderment appeared on Yan Feng’s perpetually serious face.
He had long prepared to repay the kindness, even ready to offer himself in marriage. The only thing he had not expected was to have mistaken his life-saver.
That night, he had seen clearly; it was the princess. But there was no reason for the princess to deny it deliberately.
For the moment, he did not think of other possibilities and subconsciously asked, “If not you, then who?”
“Go find your life-saver yourself. In any case, it is not this princess.” Do not waste time and energy on her.
Yan Feng let out an “oh” and stood there dazed, still not recovered.
A trace of blankness flashed across his face. If not the princess, then should he go find his life-saver? Or leave the princess and continue his vengeance?
Speaking of vengeance, Yan Feng recalled his past days of constant martial training, going hungry and cold, and being hunted.
Then he felt the warm and soft bed beneath him, and Yan Feng hesitated.
After becoming a personal guard, he had grown taller and gained weight.
He no longer went hungry at any time. Not only did he eat his fill of good food, but he could stuff himself round-bellied.
He was not afraid of hardship—the Yan People were never afraid of hardship or death, only of dying without meaning. He was used to hunger, but his previous failure to kill the Zhao State eldest imperial prince was because he had gone three days without food, too starved to have strength.
If he had been full, perhaps he could have succeeded.
Vengeance was important, but to pursue vengeance, one needed to eat one’s fill and stay warm for efficiency.
That was the lesson learned from this failed assassination. Staying by the princess’s side not only let him eat his fill and have strength for vengeance, but it might be better than rashly going to the Zhao State or hunting enemies himself.
After all, the princess was the princess. Staying by her side offered far more chances to contact the Zhao State imperial family than being an ordinary Yan Person.
Yan Feng finally figured it out.
“Your Highness, this subordinate will select and train the person, but before the poison is lifted, may this subordinate continue to stay?”
Chu Yunge looked at Yan Feng in confusion. “This princess is not your benefactor.”
“This subordinate knows.” Yan Feng’s face was full of seriousness. “But the personal guard’s monthly salary is high, and there is no danger.”
He had room and board at the Princess Mansion. His monthly salary could support dozens of wandering Yan Person orphans, and occasionally he could pick up clothes and things others in the Princess Mansion discarded. It was truly one man’s gain lifting everyone around him…
The last part did not sound quite right, but he wanted to stay.
Once he found an opportunity for vengeance, he would leave the Princess Mansion.
Yan Feng promised, “Your Highness, this subordinate does not need rest days.”
Yan Feng did not know that when he said this with his baby-fat face tense, it gave Chu Yunge the illusion of being a black-hearted boss using child labor without rest.
She did not refuse. “Fine, continue your duties. No need to push so hard; rest when you should.”
Who was not a worker? This worker had even been poisoned by her.
As fellow workers, she understood Yan Feng. A high-paying, low-risk security job was tempting, and Yan Feng was capable and dutiful. He had caught her the best and most accurately when she fainted.
Fainting anytime was dangerous; bumping into things hurt. As a personal guard, he was indeed professional.
In any case, the matter of the life-saver had been clarified. Now they were purely in an employer-employee relationship.
Yan Feng was delighted. “Many thanks, Your Highness.”
In his heart, he secretly decided that he absolutely would not rest.
“No need to thank me. The poison I gave you is not lifted yet. Come back up.”
Yan Feng lay back down again, still stiff and straight.
Chu Yunge smiled. “You know the detoxification process, right?”
With that, she grasped Yan Feng’s wrist.
Yan Feng trembled slightly, not daring to move an inch, even lightening his breathing.