"No need, you may all leave." Xiao Nian waved her hand.
"Yes..." The servants were all frightened by his sudden temper, so they all lowered their heads and retreated.
Only Wen Hongye remained standing there, watching longingly. He thought for a moment and said…
Chapter 55 Whispers in the Ear
“Young Master, if you don’t trust the servants to take care of you, then let Hongye do it. You should trust Hongye to take care of you, right?” Wen Hongye said.
Xiao Nian shook her head: "No need, I can do it. You should go back first. It's late, you should rest."
"It's time to rest, so, Your Highness, you'll be staying here..."
"This is my room, where else would I be?"
"Then he..."
"He's drunk, I need to take care of him."
"Young Master, Hongye also wishes to stay..."
"Go back to your room and behave." Xiao Nian then glanced at Wen Hongye.
Wen Hongye's eyes were full of reluctance, but he didn't want to upset Xiao Nian, so he could only nod, then glared at Su Fuliu resentfully before leaving.
Soon, only Xiao Nian and Su Fuliu remained in the room.
The water temperature had dropped a little by now, and Xiao Nian started wringing out a handkerchief to wipe Su Fuliu. When his gaze fell on the belt around Su Fuliu's waist, he couldn't help but feel a chill.
Meanwhile, Feng Muting spent half a day busy in his study but still couldn't find Su Fuliu.
He thought to himself that if Su Fuliu came back, he would definitely come straight to the study to find him, but it was already this late, was that kid out playing around?!
He angrily put down the memorial, then walked out of the study. After glancing at the time, he said, "Where is Su Fuliu? Why hasn't he returned yet? Drag him back to me!"
This Su Fuliu is so inconsiderate. Even though he let him go out and play for a while, anyone with sense would know to come back when he's had enough. But Su Fuliu is still nowhere to be seen at this hour.
This is about to get wild!
Feng Muting waited for a long time before his subordinate returned to report: "Your Highness, the people from Tianwei Restaurant said that they saw Su Fuliu leave with Prince Xiao."
"Xiao Nian?!" Feng Muting's brows furrowed deeply. "Su Fuliu, have you taken my words to heart?"
With that, he turned and stormed off in a huff.
When Feng Muting arrived at the Duke of Huguo's mansion, he didn't have time to knock on the door and wait for someone to announce his arrival. Instead, he climbed over the wall and went straight to Xiao Nian's room.
When he arrived outside Xiao Nian's room, he heard Su Fuliu's voice coming from inside: "It hurts..."
Upon hearing this, Feng Muting kicked the door open.
His furious expression nearly set the roof on fire.
After he rushed in, he saw Xiao Nian preparing to untie the belt around Su Fuliu's waist. He narrowed his eyes and took a few steps over.
Before Xiao Nian could react, he punched her to the ground.
Feng Muting looked at Su Fuliu, who reeked of alcohol, her face flushed, and muttered, "Your Highness, my head hurts, my head hurts so much..."
"You deserve to be in so much pain!" Feng Muting cursed angrily, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He then scooped Su Fuliu up from the bed, picked him up, and prepared to leave.
Xiao Nian stood up, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth where Feng Muting had punched her, and then looked at Feng Muting: "Is Your Highness just leaving like this?"
"Otherwise, do you think you haven't been beaten enough and want me to hit you a few more times?" Feng Muting glared at Xiao Nian. If he hadn't been holding Su Fuliu, he probably would have already attacked.
“He’s drunk…” Xiao Nian glanced at Su Fuliu, “He said the prince is very fierce to him, so the prince shouldn’t be fierce to him.”
"He is my man, and how I treat him is my business. It's none of Prince Xiao's concern." With that, Feng Muting carried Su Fuliu away.
Xiao Nian stood there, still clutching the now-cold handkerchief in her hand.
Feng Muting took Su Fuliu back to the room. He was so angry that he almost threw Su Fuliu on the bed, but he changed his mind when he saw Su Fuliu's drunken state.
He bent down and gently placed Su Fuliu on the bed, looking at the drunken Su Fuliu: "What did I tell you? With your silly look, you were fooled, weren't you? If I hadn't arrived in time, you would have had more than just a headache..."
Chapter 56 Fragments
He was both angry and helpless, so he sat down on the edge of the bed: "Am I being mean to you, that you'd go around telling everyone? Do you think Xiao Nian is the best?!"
Su Fuliu lay there, her hands moving incessantly, as if trying to grab something.
Seeing this, Feng Muting subconsciously reached out his hand, but Su Fuliu grabbed it and stopped moving.
He was still muttering to himself, "Your Highness, please let me in. I don't want to sleep on the street... My head hurts, I need to sleep in the bed..."
"If you dare to get this drunk again, I won't just let you sleep on the streets, I'll make you sleep in a garbage dump!" Feng Muting said through gritted teeth.
The next day, Su Fuliu woke up from her drunken dream and couldn't help but raise her hand to rub her head, which was really in a lot of pain.
He glanced at the room and was startled. Wasn't this Feng Muting's room? Why was he sleeping in the prince's room?!
He was so frightened that he immediately got out of bed, and then subconsciously touched his body. Thankfully, his clothes were still on.
And apart from the headache, it doesn't seem like anything else hurts...
He drank too much last night without realizing it, and after drinking too much, he had a memory lapse.
So I can't remember anything that happened after that.
It must have been Xiao Nian who brought him back. I wonder what Feng Muting's reaction was when he saw him so drunk...
But he must have been so angry he was practically fuming...
His heart suddenly started pounding, and he felt a little uneasy.
I wonder how Feng Muting will punish him when he returns.
He raised his arm and smelled it; it still reeked of alcohol. Then he smelled the bed, which also reeked of alcohol from his sleep.
No, I need to wash up quickly, so that when Feng Muting comes back, he won't smell the alcohol and won't be so angry.
So he quickly took a shower and then quickly changed the bedding in Feng Muting's room, replacing it with clean ones.
He opened the windows to ventilate the room and lit some incense, so the smell of alcohol would soon be gone.
Only then did he feel at ease taking the bedding to wash.
This was the first time he had ever washed these things.
He could have easily left it to the maid to wash, but then he thought that since it was soiled from his sleep, he should wash it himself. That way, Feng Muting would think that his attitude of admitting his mistake was good, and perhaps half of his anger would subside.
Thinking of this, Su Fuliu quickly started washing.
However, these mattresses and blankets sink when soaked in water.
With his thin arms and legs, he really doesn't have much strength.
He couldn't lift it up, so he could only pile it in the basin and rub it little by little.
When Feng Muting returned, he went straight to his room. As soon as he entered, he smelled the fragrance of incense. He then glanced at the bed, which was clean and tidy.
They then summoned someone and asked, "Where is Su Fuliu?"
"Your Highness, Su Fuliu is in the laundry courtyard."
"The laundry house? What's he doing there?"
"He...he said he would wash the prince's bedding..."
Feng Muting paused for a moment, then went to the laundry.
As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Su Fuliu sitting there washing herself in a very serious manner.
Su Fuliu stood up and went to the well to draw water. He struggled to draw a bucket of water, then struggled to carry it to another basin and poured the water into it.
Then, with great effort, he moved the washed bedding from one basin to the other basin of clean water to wash it again.
After repeating this process of carrying and emptying water to wash the bedding, the mattresses and quilts were finally washed.
Next, he faced a major problem: how to wring out such heavy mattresses and blankets and hang them on bamboo poles to dry...
Chapter 57 More Than Good at Making Things Happen
Feng Muting stood there, watching Su Fuliu busy herself with a leisurely air.
Su Fuliu was busy and didn't notice Feng Muting's arrival.
He tried twice and managed to lift it up, but he couldn't wring it dry. He wondered how the maids who did the laundry managed to do it. They were clearly smaller, so how could they wring these clothes dry and dry them properly?
Su Fuliu had never washed them before, so she never imagined that two people would wring them out together, otherwise one person really couldn't wring them dry.
"Ugh, really." Su Fuliu looked at the contents of the basin with a sigh. "I'm not wringing it anymore, I'm just letting it dry in the sun!"
Feng Muting couldn't help but laugh when he saw Su Fuliu's flustered and struggling appearance.
Su Fuliu gritted her teeth, pulled hard, and lifted the heavy quilt to air it out first.
He struggled to hang the bedding on the bamboo pole, and then spread out the wet bedding.
After he finished, he took a few deep breaths; his arm was almost useless.
After stretching his shoulders, he continued preparing to hang the bedding to dry, but as he turned around, the floor was covered with water dripping from the bedding, causing him to slip and fall backward.
His right shoulder hit the back of the shelf, making him wince in pain.
With a crash, the mattress and bamboo frame collapsed onto the floor.
Su Fuliu was supposed to fall hard, but she was caught by a steady and strong arm.
He looked closely and realized it was Feng Muting, and was startled: "Your Highness..."
Feng Muting gave him a disdainful look, then helped him stand up: "What kind of work can you do well?"
"..." Su Fuliu frowned. She had meant well and wanted to do something good, but she still messed it up.
He was hoping that washing these things would calm Feng Muting down, but now, instead of calming down, his anger has only intensified.
He's utterly useless and more likely to cause trouble than anything else!
He rubbed his sore shoulder, head down, like a child who had done something wrong and was being scolded by Feng Muting.