39 Bribery (1/2)

Chapter 39: Bribery

Translator: TransnEditor: Transn

Gu Shenwei hoped that justice would prevail at this moment. He thought that God owed him an explanation and wondered, ”Why am I abused like this now? Was I an evildoer in my previous life? If I was and I'm doomed to be punished in this life, why did God let me enjoy a carefree life for 14 years?”

Seven sparring boys took turns slapping him in the face. If anyone of them did not hit him hard enough, Shangguan Yushi would beat that boy.

Reality was cruel. Shangguan Yushi was a young master, while Gu Shenwei was just a slave boy. The sparring boys had no choice at all.

Gu Shenwei had to suppress his killing desire, and every time he got a slap in his face, he would beg for mercy. ”Master Yu, Please forgive me. I'll never dare to do that again.”

God seemed to neglect his prayer for help. During the whole process, no one stood up to put an end to this abuse. Shangguan Yushi easily achieved her goal of punishing an obnoxious slave. She cast a disdainful look at Slave Huan and said, ”Well, I will spare your life this time.”

With these words, she left with her companions.

The sparring boys were left behind. They seemed at a loss for words. A boy took a step forward, wanting to help Slave Huan up, but he quickly moved back since he saw everyone else was just standing by.

Slave Qing came over and glanced at them as if nothing had happened. ”Get out. What are you doing here?”

Gu Shenwei stood up and walked toward the gate. When he walked past Slave Qing, the slave caught him with one hand.

”I knew from the beginning that you would get into trouble. Your eyes are different. No slave has this kind of look in their eyes. You behave as if you are the owner of the fort. You might have been a prince of a small country before, but you are a slave in the fort now and you'll remain a slave until you die. If you want to survive here, you'd better behave yourself. Stop striving for a position by pleasing the young masters. You are just a toy. Don't be so ambitious.”

Gu Shenwei humbly expressed his thanks to Slave Qing and hurriedly returned to the stone house. He grabbed a rag to wipe the blood stains off his face. He did not mind the physical pain but he found it hard to endure the emotional torture. He felt as if his heart was stabbed by numerous sharp knives and each knife caused him endless pain. He was overwhelmed by the burning desire to kill all his enemies and, at the same time, tried his best to remain calm.

Elderly Zhang came home with lunch in hand. Since being frightened by Slave Huan last night, he had been vigilant of the slave boy. The fact that Slave Huan came back heavily wounded further strengthened his belief—people were not as reliable as cattle.

Elderly Zhang placed a big bowl of rice topped with meat and vegetables on the edge of the brick bed and pushed it to Slave Huan. After a while, he picked out a few pieces of meat from his own bowl and put it in the slave boy's bowl.

Gu Shenwei looked at the silent horsekeeper in amazement.

Elderly Zhang hunched over his bowl to eat without looking at Slave Huan at all.

Gu Shenwei did not know what to say. He held his bowl and began to gobble down his food.

Mama Xue was not as kind as Elderly Zhang. When Gu Shenwei went to report to her in the evening, she looked exceptionally grave. She already knew what had happened to Slave Huan through her own channels. The sparring boys did not think it was necessary to conceal Slave Huan's public humiliation and shame.

”If it was Slave Yao, things like that would never happen,” Mama Xue complained.

That being said, she actually knew very little about the pointy-faced teenager and had never shown any appreciation for him when he had been alive.

”You managed to kill him, so you should do better than him. Don't forget about your little secret and the hidden danger in your Xuanji acupoint. I'll never cure a useless slave, let alone help him avenge his father.”

Mama Xue was a rigorous person but she seldom gave out a threat. Hearing what she said, Gu Shenwei was clear that she was very dissatisfied with his current progress.

He knelt down on the ground and decided to tell her what he had thought about the whole afternoon. ”Mama Xue, please forgive my stupidity. I promise I'll fix it. I've got a plan already.”

Mama Xue remained silent. Gu Shenwei continued.

”I'm going to give Shangguan Yushi a lesson in front of Master Ru. It's the thing she fears the most and it will be totally beyond her expectations.”

”You seem to forget that you are just a slave and she's a master.”

”That's what makes it a terrible shame for her. Master Ru only likes strong fighters. In the past, Shangguan Yushi was the best fighter in the school. I'm going to prove to her that Shangguan Yushi isn't as powerful as she thinks.”

”Will this childish game work?”

Gu Shenwei explained after a while, ”For Master Ru, everything is a game.”

Mama Xue frowned. She poked the arm of the chair with her iron-like fingers, making a rat-a-tat sound.

She was too old to understand adolescents and did not remember that she had liked to play games in her childhood. She was not satisfied with Slave Huan's plan, but at the same time, she somehow felt that it might work.

”If you get into trouble again, you should make sure that Miss Luo won't be affected.”

”Yes, I promise. It's just a little game between children. Adults will never care about such trivial things. Besides, Shangguan Yushi is very disrespectful to Miss Luo. She deserves this punishment.”

”You don't need to drive a wedge between us and Shangguan Yushi. I already know that she's Lady Meng's minion. Of course she likes to speak ill of Miss Luo.”

Mama Xue sounded a little agitated all of a sudden. Gu Shenwei knew that what he had said was right.

”Yes. Mama Xue knows everything.”

”Are you sure you can defeat her? I've heard that the little girl is a good fighter and she's probably even stronger than Master Ru.”