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Chapter 3: “Where Did You Bump Into This Marquis?”
In the Great Zhao Kingdom, when the Marquis of Dingyuan was mentioned, there were few people who did not feel a sense of fear.
It was said that this Marquis had grown up alongside the current emperor from childhood.
He possessed an extraordinary natural gift and a remarkably quick mind.
When he was seventeen, the Northern Di invaded three hundred li into Great Zhao's borderlands, and no one was able to resist them.
It was this young Marquis of Dingyuan who put on his battle robes and volunteered to fight.
With his own strength, he resisted the Northern Di and fought them back, thereby establishing an illustrious military record.
Because of this achievement, he was granted the title of Dingyuan and became the Marquis of Dingyuan.
Later, the eight princes fought for the position of Crown Prince.
At that time, the Ninth Prince, who was the current emperor, was also able to defeat his eight older brothers and ascend the imperial throne because of the support of the Marquis of Dingyuan.
Because of all this, throughout the entire court and the common people of Great Zhao, there was hardly anyone who did not fear this Marquis of Dingyuan.
偏偏 this Marquis of Dingyuan had an eccentric temperament.
He had no interest in the trivial matters of court politics.
He simply abandoned everything and ran off to his own fief, where he lived as a carefree Marquis of Dingyuan.
The Marquis of Dingyuan had one son and one daughter.
They were twins, born when the Marquis was seventeen years old.
The boy was Young Master Huo Yingfeng.
The girl was Miss Huo Yingyun, the very young lady whom Xiang Wu was currently serving.
Although Xiang Wu was Miss's personal maid, there were ultimately distinctions between the inner and outer parts of the household.
She had only vaguely seen the Marquis a few times while accompanying Miss.
Each time, she had kept her head lowered and hadn't really looked at him carefully.
All she remembered was that the Marquis possessed an imposing dignity that seemed innate.
He was so intimidating that she hadn't even dared to raise her eyes and look at him properly.
And now, she had suddenly collided with him like this.
Worse still, she had actually opened her mouth and cursed at the Marquis.
She was so frightened that her feet went weak and her legs trembled, and she nearly collapsed right there.
Her trembling hand barely managed to grip the grape arbor for support.
The Marquis before her was in his early thirties.
He wore a golden crown and purple robes.
He was tall, straight, and handsome, his entire bearing radiating an aloof and noble air.
His pair of eyes were even darker and more intimidating, making people instinctively afraid and completely unable to meet his gaze directly.
“Marquis, Marquis... This servant pays her respects to the Marquis!”
Trembling, Xiang Wu dropped to her knees.
“Get up.”
Dingyuan Marquis Huo Junqing’s淡淡 gaze swept over the little maid kneeling before him, but his voice carried a hint of huskiness.
“This servant wouldn't dare!”
Xiang Wu's voice trembled.
“I was wrong just now. I shouldn't have said those things. Please, Marquis, forgive me!”
Xiang Wu lowered her head as far as she could.
It was so low that she could almost smell the scent of the earth beneath her.
The heavy scent of soil carried the sour, tart fragrance of the grapes.
The Marquis was not someone who could be provoked easily.
Never mind the Marquis of Dingyuan's residence.
Even throughout the entire city of Dingyuan, how many people would dare point at the Marquis's nose and curse at him?
Even Miss, his own daughter, became cautious and nervous whenever she saw her father.
Yet Xiang Wu had just spoken to him like that.
Ten heads would not have been enough to pay for her crime.
Xiang Wu knew perfectly well how insignificant she was.
Huo Junqing slightly raised his rather sharp eyebrows.
He calmly looked down at the little maid kneeling on the ground.
The corners of his lips lifted with a trace of amusement.
“Oh? What exactly did you do wrong? Tell me.”
Xiang Wu remained kneeling there.
Within the tart fragrance of the grapes, that deep and slightly husky voice reached her ears.
She felt as though a cold breeze had blown across the back of her neck.
Her entire back went chilly.
She sensed the breath of death.
She could even almost see the grass growing three feet high over her grave, along with white funeral banners fluttering in the wind.
She couldn't help wanting to cry.
She even sniffed involuntarily and gave a small sob.
Above her, Huo Junqing stood with his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow as he watched this little thing who looked as though she were about to cry.
Had he even said anything to her?
She was the one who had said she needed forgiveness.
She was also the one who had knelt down and started crying.
At this moment, Xiang Wu forcefully sniffed back another sob.
Then she raised her hand and wiped away her tears with her sleeve.
Only then did she speak in a tearful voice,
“Marquis, I was wrong. I shouldn't have offended you. I shouldn't have been disrespectful to you. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. And even more, I shouldn't have—”
At this point, Xiang Wu felt utterly miserable inside.
Her chest was still aching.
That shy, soft spot was still giving off a dull, throbbing ache; it was probably swollen.
Covering the area with her hand, she aggrievedly muttered, "I shouldn't have bumped into the Marquis."
Life is so bitter. Being a maid is so bitter! Clearly, she was the one who hurt so terribly from the collision, yet she still had to apologize to the person who hit her. What kind of world is this?!
Huo Junqing lowered his gaze to stare at this little maid.
The little maid was dressed in a scallion-green dress. That vibrant, tender green set off her snow-white skin, and her bright, expressive eyes shimmered with unshed tears, looking utterly pitiful.
Just at that moment, a breeze swept past, rustling the clusters of translucent, jade-green grapes, and blowing against the little maid's half-damp bangs. The strands stuck to her tiny forehead, giving her an even more pitiful aura.
No matter how heartless a person might be, they would feel as though they were somehow bullying this little maid.
"Wasn't it you who bumped into me?" he asked calmly, his voice flat.
Of course not! It was clearly you who bumped into me!
However, how could Xiangwu ever dare say that? Enduring humiliation and swallowing her grievances, Xiangwu let out a tearful hiccup, gritted her teeth, and said, "It wasn't the Marquis who bumped into this humble servant; it was this humble servant who bumped into the Marquis! This humble servant committed a crime ten thousand times over for hurting the Marquis and showing disrespect to him. This humble servant deserves to be dragged out through the back courtyard's dog hole and fed to the wild dogs—"
Hearing this, Huo Junqing furrowed his brow. A dog hole? Does Marquis Dingyuan's estate even have a dog hole?
Yet, just as Xiangwu finished speaking, she happened to steal a timid glance at Huo Yingfeng. Seeing his brows sink and an unprovoked aura of fierce oppression bearing down upon her, her heart skipped a beat with terror, and she nearly lost her footing entirely.
"Marquis, spare my life! Marquis, spare my life! Wuwuwu, Marquis, spare my life! This humble servant shouldn't have bumped into the Marquis, hurting the Marquis is a crime punishable by death!" Xiangwu kowtowed like a pestle pounding garlic.
This Marquis was no ordinary man. Word had it that he had taken eighty-three concubines in his back courtyard, and all eighty-three of those concubines had ended up being fed to the wild dogs!
Although she was just a lowly maid, what if he took a dislike to her and threw her to the wild dogs?!
Right at that moment, she suddenly heard a deep, calm voice drop from above: "Where is it that you bumped into me? Exactly where on me did you bump, that I somehow know nothing about it?"
Upon hearing this, Xiangwu froze for a moment. Feeling the dull ache still lingering ahead, she felt a wave of shyness, vexation, and anger rise within her.
Is the Marquis being serious, or is he just pretending not to know?! How could he possibly ask something like that?!
Consequently, the Huo Junqing standing above watched as the kneeling little maid's snow-white, jade-like face flushed pink. That pink deepened to rose-red, and the rose-red burned into a glowing crimson. Her water-filled eyes shimmered with rippling waves of pure fury, and even her cheeks puffed out in indignation.
His gaze deepened as he stared at her. "How old are you?"
Xiangwu was furiously clenching her tiny fists, wishing she could rush over and beat the person in front of her to a pulp, though she hadn't actually mapped out how to do it—when she was suddenly hit with this question. Her mouth parted involuntarily: "Huh?"
Huo Junqing’s expression remained unmoved. For the first time in his life, he exercised immense patience and repeated himself, "How old are you?"
Xiangwu blinked in a daze, her rosy little mouth slightly ajar. After a long moment, she finally lowered her head and mumbled defensively, "I... I'll turn sixteen this coming summer."
Huo Junqing reined in his expression, gave a light cough, and simply said, "Get up."
With that, before Xiangwu could even figure out what was happening, the swirling hem of his purple robes fluttered, and the Marquis had already turned around.
It wasn't until she stupidly watched that retreating purple figure walk far away that Xiangwu patted the dust off her clothes and stood up. Steadying herself against the grape trellis, she muttered to herself, "I escaped a disaster. My luck really is amazing. Amitabha!"
Escaping from the back garden, Xiangwu walked in a daze, her mind scattered and her steps stumbling. She kept recalling the terrifying dominance she had felt while kneeling before the Marquis, as if a single breath from him could grind her into dust. Never before had she so clearly realized that she was nothing more than an ant, her fate entirely dependent on her master's whims.
This made her think of the scenes from her dream. In fact, recalling the details of the dream, she remembered that although she hadn't been entirely innocent in the dream, she had also been instigated by her young mistress.
At the time, the young mistress was locked in a struggle with the young master's outside mistress. Unable to win, she came up with the idea of having Xiangwu seduce the young master, promising her numerous benefits in return. That was why she had foolishly charged forward and truly consummated things with the young master.
Once she was established in the room, the young master became infatuated day and night, casting the outside mistress aside.
Seizing the opportunity, the young mistress employed her methods and wiped out the outside mistress in short order.
However, who could have guessed that once the outside mistress was gone, the young mistress grew tired of Xiangwu as well? The mistress even went so far as to run to the Madam to lodge a complaint, claiming that Xiangwu was clinging to the young master day and night, preventing him from studying properly, and alleging that her nominal duty of grinding ink was actually just a cover to seduce and entangle the young master in the study.
As a result of all this back-and-forth, Xiangwu fell out of favor with the Madam of the Chu household. Soon after, she grew despised and loathed by the young master himself, eventually being cast aside to await a miserable end.
Dwelling on these thoughts, Xiangwu clenched her fists, her resolve hardening: she had to—absolutely must—find a man and get married as fast as possible.
He didn't need to have a father who worked as a steward, he didn't need gardening skills, and he didn't need the solid, muscular physique of Chen Zhong down in the stables, but he had to marry her as soon as possible!
Just as these thoughts crossed her mind, she ran straight into Afu. Afu looked at her with a hesitant, lingering expression, as if he had something to say.
Xiangwu remembered how he had abandoned her just moments ago. It was precisely because he had dropped her that she had collided with the Marquis—and the Marquis's chest was so hard, his body so formidable, that the crash had left her aching and throbbing to this very moment.
Biting her lip, Xiangwu lifted her chin high and walked right past Afu without even sparing him a glance.
"Xiangwu, little sister…" Afu called out.
Xiangwu glanced at him sideways, then declared A-Fu froze.
Seeing him like that, Xiang Wu felt immensely pleased.
Hmph, who told you not to take the initiative just now?
If she waited for him to come and marry her, she was afraid that by then she would already be lying in the Chu family's young master's study, serving him.
With that thought, she didn't bother with the stunned A-Fu anymore. She simply took a step forward and walked away.
She had to find another way.
She had to think of another man.
A man who could marry her immediately!
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