Chapter 108: Contempt—Actually Showing Her Feet to a Man
Nan Xun stared at him warily and said coldly, “Let go of Cui Huan.”
The man made a shushing sound. “Don’t talk. I’m just borrowing your place to hide for a bit. As long as you master and servant behave yourselves, I’ll release this girl once I get through this.”
Nan Xun caught a strong whiff of blood. She discreetly sized him up and discovered that his chest was soaked with a large patch of blood. Because he was dressed in black, she hadn’t noticed it at first; now the stain was still slowly spreading.
At that moment, voices of the imperial guards sounded from outside the Chimu Palace.
“You, you, and you—take men and search in the other three directions. The rest follow me and search nearby. Do not let this thief escape!”
Nan Xun glanced at the man in front of her and waited for the guards to search their way in, so she could find some excuse to brush them off.
However, as she waited and waited, the voices outside grew fainter and fainter. The imperial guards searching for the assassin actually had no intention of searching the Chimu Palace.
Nan Xun was dumbfounded. They just left? Were these imperial guards here to crack a joke?
When the sounds completely disappeared, Nan Xun couldn’t help but lock eyes with the man holding Cui Huan hostage.
They stared at each other, and in the end the man was the first to lose. He panted twice, clearly at the end of his strength.
Nan Xun looked at the bloody cut on Cui Huan’s neck and frowned, saying disdainfully, “They’re gone. Hurry up and let my Cui Huan go.”
Panting, the man said, “Go find me some hemostatic medicine, and I’ll release her.”
Nan Xun held out her hand to him.
“…” The man was momentarily stunned beneath his mask.
“Give me some silver. If you don’t give me money, are you expecting me to conjure a bottle of medicine out of thin air?”
Man: “I didn’t bring any silver. I’ll give it to you later.”
Wrapped in her cloak, Nan Xun stepped straight toward him.
The man retreated while holding Cui Huan. “Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll kill her!”
Nan Xun rolled her eyes, took several big steps forward, and reached out to pull the jade hairpin from his topknot.
“I’ll keep this hairpin for now. It looks quite valuable.” Nan Xun examined it several times.
Man: “…”
In the end, the man could no longer hold on. His body staggered, and Cui Huan seized the chance to knock the sword out of his hand and then kicked him hard.
The man let out a muffled groan and fell to the ground.
Seeing that Cui Huan was about to start punching and kicking him, Nan Xun rubbed her forehead. “Alright, baby. When you eat someone’s food, your mouth goes soft; when you take someone’s things, your hand goes soft. That kick counts as revenge. Go fetch the hemostatic medicine for him.”
Hearing this, the man snapped angrily, “You had hemostatic medicine all along and still extorted silver from me?”
Nan Xun lazily yawned and explained, “My medicine is expensive. Asking you for a bit of silver is only right. Besides, you scared me and Cui Huan just now. If we’d been frightened into illness, that would also cost silver for treatment.”
The man pressed his thin lips together and said nothing, clearly stunned by the depth of Nan Xun’s shamelessness.
Cui Huan snorted, went to the outer hall to bring in a small box, took out a porcelain bottle, and handed it to Nan Xun.
Nan Xun opened the bottle and first poured some on the cut at Cui Huan’s neck. Only then did she toss the rest down to the man on the floor as if bestowing charity.
The badly injured man reached out to catch it. Looking at the woman’s chin slightly lifted toward him, a surge of anger rushed through his chest.
His life was actually worth less than that of a lowly maidservant—Qin Buyao, this woman!
“Alright, get lost to the outer hall and apply the medicine. I am going to change clothes and sleep.” Nan Xun stuck her bare foot out from beneath the cloak and stepped on the man’s thigh twice.
The man stared at the foot stepping on his leg—white and tender, every toe round and plump—and suddenly felt a little dazed.
“You’re a woman, yet you actually show your feet to a man?” A flash of contempt passed through his eyes.
Only then did Nan Xun remember that this was conservative ancient times—an unmarried woman couldn’t casually expose her body. If there was physical contact with a man, she would have to marry him.
Nan Xun giggled and suddenly stepped her bare foot on the back of his hand. “Hey, man, we’ve had physical contact now. Doesn’t that mean you have to marry me?”
The man opened his mouth, then let out a low shout, furious with embarrassment. “You—you shameless woman!”
Nan Xun burst out laughing, clearly finding it especially amusing to tease him. “Alright, alright, hurry up and go apply the medicine. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to a corpse.”
The man staggered out of the inner hall to apply medicine in the outer hall. Cui Huan slammed the inner hall door shut with a bang, then turned to Nan Xun and made a throat-slitting gesture. “Your Highness, perhaps we should—”
Nan Xun shook her head. “Forget it. If we kill him, we won’t know where to dump the body. No benefit, only trouble. Just wait for him to finish applying medicine and leave on his own.”
Cui Huan was still worried. “This man’s martial arts are above mine. If he recovers, I won’t be his match.”
“Killing us brings him no benefit, so he won’t do that,” Nan Xun said, then yawned. “I’m sleepy. I’m going to sleep first.”
Cui Huan quickly said, “This servant will keep watch at the door and keep an eye on that man.”
Seeing how energetic she was, Nan Xun let her go.
After putting on her undergarments and lying down on the bed, Nan Xun picked at her ear and asked Little Eight, “Little Eight, you seemed to say something to me just now. Say it again.”
Little Eight said excitedly, “That masked man tonight is the big boss! That tyrant! Darling, you were right—His Majesty finally couldn’t hold back and came in person!”
Nan Xun asked blankly, “What exactly is he trying to pull tonight?”
Little Eight chuckled. “The emperor found a way to make a woman suffer unbearably—that is, make her fall in love with him first, and then ruthlessly dump her. So now he’s personally coming to seduce you, nyahaha…”
Nan Xun: “…”
“Yan Mohan really is the big boss, not brain-damaged? How could he come up with such a childish plan?”
Suddenly thinking of something, Nan Xun’s eyes curved into crescents, her smile like two little moons with bright sparkles between them. “Since the big boss has delivered himself to my door and even stabbed a bloody hole in his own chest, acting with such dedication, I’ll cooperate properly and not disappoint the big boss’s goodwill.”
Little Eight made a confused sound. “You clearly heard what I said just now—why did you still tease that tyrant? From what I know, the tyrant is extremely vindictive and very petty. Be careful he retaliates against you.”
Nan Xun immediately shot back, “Isn’t he already retaliating against me? This tyrant has been in a position of power for many years. If I suddenly washed myself clean and became virtuous, wouldn’t he find it strange? Since I’m already a lewd, shameless woman in his eyes, I might as well be lewd to the end. What’s teasing? Next, I plan to go straight for him.”
