965 Embrace (1/2)

Panting for breath, those handmaids didn't know how many screens they had moved here, but their master was still discontent.

With a frown on her face, Luo Ningcha peered at one of those screens. \”This one's not suitable. Who chose this one? Who do you think the guests will be looking at when they come? Me or the woman on this screen?\”

The painting on the screen was of a beautiful woman on a spring outing. Afraid of being ordered to carry another screen, a handmaid, who had been serving the master for many years, ventured to say, \”All the women in the world are overshadowed in front of you, My Lady, not to mention a painting-\”

Luo Ningcha casually threw a teacup at the handmaid, and due to her many years of practice, the teacup hit her full in the forehead and smashed into pieces, the blood mixing with hot water and tea leaves as it flowed down.

\”Please have mercy on me, My Lady.\” The handmaid hurriedly knelt down. She knew that she probably wouldn't be killed, but kneeling down was a standard procedure as well as the only way to appease her mistress.

Luo Ningcha had already forgotten about the handmaid. Staring at the screen again, she said, \”Um… Go and get another one immediately. It must be silken and translucent so that people on the other side can see my figure. However, the view they have can't be too clear. It has to be vague. And there mustn't be any women on the screen. Do you hear me?\”

Luo Ningcha's tone became severe. The handmaids hastily answered, \”Yes,\” carried the screen out of the tent, handed it to the Iron-Mountain soldiers waiting outside, and then went to some nearby tents to pick out a suitable screen.

Finally, the lady was satisfied with the new screen. There was only one defect: the screen was made of four segments. She was worried that too many frames might have an adverse effect on her beautiful figure, so she ordered a handmaid to stand behind the screen and walk step by step. Finally, she figured out which position was the best. \”Here it is. Do you have any idea how great a sacrifice I have to make because of you people?\”

\”We'll never forget your great kindness, My Lady,\” all handmaids said in unison out of force of habit, hoping that this farce would end as soon as possible.

Sitting on a couch with her body slightly tilted, Luo Ningcha pictured her guests' possible reactions and felt that everything was perfect. Suddenly, she sighed, which startled the handmaids standing at her sides. Fortunately, the lady had just been carried away by her melancholy, and had no intention of changing any of the screens. \”Why did he only decide to see me after such a long time? Was it because the Iron Mountain and I are not famous enough? Or is it because some base guy stopped him from coming?\”

The handmaid, whose forehead was wounded, was the mistress' favorite servant. Her companions kept signaling her, so she had no choice but to resignedly say, \”I guess-\”

\”Who allowed you to speak?\” Luo Ningcha reprimanded and tried to grab something but failed to find anything suitable to throw, so she let it go. She contemplated her situation for a while, but her mind kept wandering. She clenched her teeth and uttered two words in a low voice. \”Ungrateful guy.\” Her handmaids hung their heads even lower. They all knew that this \”guy\” was the Dragon King. The lady blamed him every time she couldn't get her way.

Luo Ningcha was not good at thinking, so she snappily said, \”Little Xin, if you want to say something, then say it. You holding your words back makes me uncomfortable.\”

The handmaid named Little Xin had been serving Luo Ningcha for many years. She had become Luo Ningcha's handmaid when Luo Ningcha had still been a teenager. The names of her four handmaids: \”Chen,\” \”Xin,\” \”Ru,\” and \”Yi\” had stayed unchanged, but the girls who bore these four names had been replaced again and again. Little Xin was the only one who had never been replaced. Throughout all these years, she had witnessed many of her fellow colleagues be killed or injured, and had developed an unperturbed and numb attitude, which was more than enough to handle her mistress' unpredictable and violent temper.

\”I think… it is said that Governor Pang is Prince Xiao's friend. There are many rules and courtesies in the Central Plains. Governor Pang was probably too embarrassed to come here to meet you because of your relationship with Prince Xiao.\”

Luo Ningcha felt that this explanation was very reasonable, so she involuntarily nodded along. \”Then why did he decide to meet me here today? And he's coming here himself too.\”

This was all Little Xin could think of with her limited intelligence. The more opinions the people around the lady expressed to her, the more of a punishment they received. So, she was unwilling to try to figure this out. \”Maybe… Maybe it is because you're too famous, so Governor Pang couldn't help himself from coming here.\”

\”Nonsense.\” Luo Ningcha's voice was severe, but she didn't search for anything to throw, which indicated that she wasn't really angry. After sitting there and pondering it over for a while, she said, \”Prince Xiao is also ungrateful. He left me here and didn't come back. There wasn't even a letter from him. Who does he think I am? Does he really think that I'm going to wait in Jade City for the rest of my life, waiting for him? Humph. You can't blame me. You're all from the Central Plains anyway. Everyone who has troops and power are the same to me. Pang Jing is younger than you and also more handsome than you… \”

Luo Ningcha was talking to Prince Xiao who was thousands of miles away. The more she talked, the angrier and more determined she became.

A small figure ran into the tent, interrupting Luo Ningcha's angry and self-defensive soliloquy.

\”Mother,\” Shangguan Cheng called excitedly.

\”Eek! Cheng'er? Why did you come?\” Luo Ningcha was rather surprised.

Shangguan Cheng walked around the screens, raised his head, and looked at his mother before saying, \”Wasn't it you who requested that I come to the Iron Mountain Camp and spend a day accompanying you every ten days?\”

Luo Ningcha suddenly recalled it. She had left her son in the Dragon Army's camp, but after a few days, she found that she missed him very much. However, she had no interest in rearing a child. So, she had requested Shangguan Cheng to come to her every ten days, so that she could have some fun playing with him and then send him back to the Dragon King before she got bored.

\”Oh, has it already been ten days? How time flies. How's your life in the Dragon King's place?\” Luo Ningcha asked in a tender voice.

Every time he came to the Iron Mountain Camp, his mother would always ask him this question at the beginning of their conversation. Shangguan Cheng climbed onto the couch with the help of a handmaid, pouted, and said, \”I miss you. I also miss the stone castle.\”

Shangguan Cheng had evaded his mother's question. It was his childish opinion that the Dragon King was still an enemy. Besides, they seldom met. But every time he showed hatred towards the Dragon King, his mother would become angry, so he had already learned how to dissimulate his thoughts.

\”Soon,\” Luo Ningcha said excitedly, regarding her young son as an adult. \”When the kung fu competition is over, we'll go back to the stone castle. That's your home. You'll be in charge of everything, but you'll have to follow my orders.\”

Things like being \”in charge of everything\” didn't interest Shangguan Cheng. He was more concerned with the kung fu competition. \”Father is invincible. He will surely defeat all my enemies and take me back.\”