Chapter 62 – Straightforward and Brutal

Late that night, the Vice Minister of Rites, finally free of duties, met up with his friends and, as usual, headed to the old haunt: Xiaoqing Tower.

The brothel was packed, laughter and clinking cups filling every corner. Ever since Mu Nanjin had invited the Jinyiwei to dine with the Ministry of Rites, everyone assumed Xiaoqing Tower had official backing. That assumption made it feel safe, so it drew even more patrons than before.

The madam of the house was overwhelmed, unable to greet each guest personally, so she shouted down to the man drinking by the stairs: “Baidu, guest! Come receive them!”

The man known as Baidu frowned, set aside his cup, and walked to the door with a cold voice: “Guests, please.”

The Vice Minister of Rites froze when he saw Baidu’s face and stammered: “You aren’t…”

Baidu’s face darkened further. He ground out: “No.”

The Vice Minister stared harder. “You are…”

“Seriously, I’m not.” Baidu glared at him viciously.

The Vice Minister, recalling the man’s identity, backed off hurriedly: “I, I just remembered something urgent, so we won’t enter.” He and his friends left Xiaoqing Tower at speed.

The Right Censorate Deputy Minister turned to him: “Minister Zhou, didn’t we just say we’d dine at Xiaoqing Tower? Why leave so soon?”

The Vice Minister ignored him and turned to the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review: “Minister Xie, can you identify that man?”

The Minister’s face hardened: “That face is unmistakably the Fifth Prince of the Great Wei Kingdom. But he denies it. I can’t be sure, but from his answer, there’s a nine-tenths chance it is him.”

The Deputy Minister almost choked: “The Fifth Prince of Great Wei? Weren’t they already gone from Great Qian? Why would he be working as a ‘keeper’ at Xiaoqing Tower? Did we missee?”

The Vice Minister said: “If he is the Fifth Prince of Great Wei, just have the Jinyiwei check, and we’ll know.”

The next morning, news reached Deng Xingchao: the Fifth Prince of Great Wei was still in Great Qian, and he was serving as a keeper in Xiaoqing Tower. Deng Xingchao was stunned.

Mu Nanjin had really brought that man into Xiaoqing Tower?

To confirm, he called Mu Nanjin in for questioning.

Mu Nanjin denied adamantly: “I didn’t capture him. He volunteered to stay.”

【Though I did bring him in to begin with, once he learned I could raise his martial level to Martial King, he agreed to stay.】

Deng Xingchao didn’t know what to say. “So is he the real Fifth Prince or not?”

“Of course not,” Mu Nanjin replied. “The real Fifth Prince’s martial skills are so poor I wouldn’t keep him around.”

【If Jin Beiyun couldn’t fight someone and I still had to back him up, no thanks.】

【I wanted a keeper to help me run the brothel, not a laughingstock.】

Deng Xingchao fell silent. He wondered how the supposed Fifth Prince would feel upon hearing this.

“So why is he working for you and still using the face of the Fifth Prince?” Deng Xingchao asked.

“He couldn’t bear the shame of being a keeper under his real face. He worried old acquaintances might see him and shame him. But he lacks a disguise, so he temporarily uses the Fifth Prince’s face until he gets a new one.”

Deng Xingchao’s brow furrowed: “Then have you seen his true face?”

“No.”

His concern deepened: “If he exchanges faces and runs off, or commits murder, or sneaks into the palace to kill the Emperor, all under the Fifth Prince’s name, can you take responsibility for that?”

Mu Nanjin said calmly: “You’ve made too many assumptions.”

【When I decide to do something, I don’t worry about this and that.】

【Rather than worrying if Baidu will misbehave, I prefer to think of how to make sure he won’t.】

【If he dares go against me, I’ll punch him until he doesn’t even remember who he is, simple and brutal. No need to overthink.】

Deng Xingchao: “…”

What more could he say?

Mu Nanjin asked: “Anything else?”

“One last thing. Does that man really go by ‘Baidu’?”

“Baidu is the name I gave him.”

Curious, Deng Xingchao asked: “Why the name ‘Baidu’?”

“Because he’s full of poison.”

【It’s a reminder to would-be troublemakers that Baidu carries many poisons. If they dare make trouble at Xiaoqing Tower, they deserve it.】

Deng Xingchao sighed. A name with that much thought behind it?

He couldn’t keep discussing this.

“I have urgent work for you. Go to my document room,” he told her.

“Okay.” Mu Nanjin turned to leave.

【Yay, the commander wants to see me. He must want to spend some private time with me.】

Deng Xingchao rolled his eyes inwardly. The entire Jinyiwei dreaded meeting the Commander-in-Chief. Not Mu Nanjin. She was pleased as punch. She would soon learn whether she could still smile after the meeting.

In the document room sat, besides him, another man wearing orange brocade embroidered with white flying fish.

【Why is there someone else? What a letdown.】

They looked up at her.

The Commander-in-Chief handed a memorial to his Vice Commander: “You’ve just returned to the capital. Go back to your residence, rest well, and attend court tomorrow morning.”

“Yes.” The Vice Commander left. As he passed Mu Nanjin, he gave her a cold glance.

【Huh? Didn’t I see that right? He glared at me? Why? Do we know each other?】

He sped off.

The Commander-in-Chief made her sit at the writing table and pointed to a basin of water and a cloth on the desk. “You have one hour to clean this room.”

【What?】

【He called me here to clean? Isn’t that servant work? Why me?】

【He must have made that excuse so he could see me up close.】

But the Commander-in-Chief remained silent.

From the next room, the Vice Commander coughed.

The Commander-in-Chief’s face darkened: “You’d better start. One hour. If this isn’t cleaned by then, you’ll have no dinner.”

“Okay.” Mu Nanjin picked up the cloth and began wiping the table and chairs.

【Wow, when he’s stern, he’s so hot.】

【His pen-holding hand is gorgeous.】

【His handwriting? Bold and mighty, just like him.】

The Commander-in-Chief’s vein twitched. He glared at her. She, however, kept her back turned.

【Wow, he’s watching me. He’s looking at me. He must be interested.】

【I should show him my best side.】

【My movements should be graceful. Yes, perfect posture.】

Just as she settled into the pose, the door creaked, and the Commander-in-Chief left the office.

【He’s leaving already? Maybe he prefers the clumsy method?】

【The audience is gone. I have no one to show now. No motivation. Okay, no dinner it is. Might as well go home.】

The Vice Commander followed him out to the garden.

He chuckled: “Sir, if you think her mental chatter is annoying, why call her in to suffer?”

The Commander-in-Chief frowned: “Kan Chaoyan and the others spoil her too much. We need to let her taste hardship.”

“She taste hardship?” The Vice Commander laughed again. “I think the hardship is yours.

“You should know, my study is not easy to clean.”

The Vice Commander’s smile paused, then resumed: “That’s true.”

He remembered when he first joined the Jinyiwei, he had to clean the Commander’s study, which had so many hidden traps that he had once been injured. Since then, the Commander turned off the traps when subordinates cleaned the room.

The Commander had a bit of a clean-freak streak. He wouldn’t allow a speck of dust. After cleaning, he had others wipe the surfaces with white cloth. If the cloth showed even a trace of black, the cleaner was doomed.

“That girl isn’t even afraid of you. She’s heard your thoughts praising you. If someone else were in her place, they’d already have collapsed from fear.”

The Commander-in-Chief replied matter-of-factly: “She isn’t afraid of me because she has the power and doesn’t need to fear.”

The Vice Commander blinked: “You mean her martial strength surpasses yours?”

“Hard to say.”

The Commander-in-Chief had heard Kan Chaoyan’s report that Mu Nanjin had drawn even with Tian Yuan in battle. He had met Tian Yuan, a truly unfathomable person. If Mu Nanjin held her own against him, her power must be terrifying.

He looked in the direction of the document room: “One hour, and we’ll know.”

An hour later, they both returned. The basin still sat on the desk. The cloth lay soaked, but there was no grime in sight.

The Vice Commander clicked his tongue: “That little girl dared ignore your order and leave without cleaning. She really doesn’t respect you.”

The Commander-in-Chief gazed around the study: “She cleaned it.”

“Cleaned it?” the Vice Commander exclaimed. “But the basin’s still there, and the water is still clean. Did she swap the water at the last minute?”

He moved to inspect the corners. No dust.

The cleaners before had never managed that. So how did Mu Nanjin do it?

“Did she trigger your traps?”

He shook his head: “No.”

The Vice Commander was even more stunned.

The Commander-in-Chief fell into deep thought. The only way to clean the room without touching any of his traps would be to use Cleaning Technique.

【Mmm, two meats and a vegetable soup. The Jinyiwei rations are finally improved.】

【So delicious. The new chef’s cooking is amazing. I want to knock him out and carry him home.】

【If that won’t work, I’ll pay double to hire him as our personal chef.】

【No, wasteful inside the house. Better at Xiaoqing Tower. Eat good food and make money too. I’m so smart.】

Everyone: “…”

Having a princess as head courtesan, capturing the deadly Poison Master of Great Wei for guard duty, now hiring another chef, totally shameless.

【Ah.】

Mu Nanjin startled in her mind. Sixth-rank and above Jinyiwei spun at her shock.

Captain Liu in the dining hall even bit his tongue: “That brat is freaking out again. Can’t we just eat in peace? She’d better have a good reason, or I’ll really box her later.”

【I just remembered.】

【I know who that man in the orange flying-fish brocade was in the study. He’s…】

From the far-off Left Document Office, Captain Liu raced out, shouting with internal power: “Mu Nanjin!”

The dining hall trembled at the wave of sound.

Mu Nanjin’s hand quivered, and meat fell onto the table.

【If I die here from his shouting…】

【Why this trivial errand again? Can’t he let me eat?】

“…”

Who was the one not letting the other eat?

Captain Liu stormed into the dining hall: “Mu Nanjin, remember you’re supposed to deliver meals to the prison?”

【I thought he’d call with something big, but it’s just that. His trivial errands are endless.】

“Got it. I’ll go after I finish eating.” Mu Nanjin ate slowly.

【What was I thinking just now…】

“Um…” Captain Liu started to stop her thinking, then heard her internal voice:

【Oh, I just remembered. The Commander’s physique is nice.】

“…”

He froze.

Her brain jumped so fast he couldn’t keep up.

【Even through clothes, you can feel his chest muscles are stronger than the dark guards’. Just thinking about it makes me lose my appetite.】

Mu Nanjin stuffed two big mouthfuls.

【And his tight little bottom. Oh wow, like a ripe peach, round and perky.】

Everyone: “…”

They would never look at peaches the same again.

The Commander-in-Chief’s face turned black as a pot, murder seething in his eyes.

“I think…”

Captain Liu tried to interrupt: “You’d better go deliver the meals now.”

He was genuinely worried about her life. If she kept thinking like that, maybe she wouldn’t live past sixteen.

【If you won’t let me eat here, I’ll just eat in the prison.】

Mu Nanjin picked up her bowl and walked out of the dining hall.

Captain Liu exhaled: “I am trying to help you, and you’ll know someday how much I did for you.”

Mu Nanjin reached the prison and ate as guards delivered plates.

One guard, seeing her start eating there, asked: “Miss, aren’t you disgusted eating in here?”

Mu Nanjin asked back: “Why should I be disgusted?”

The guard: “…”

This place reeked, blood and excrement everywhere. Just seeing it made one want to vomit.

But she smiled calmly, carrying her tray inside.

Unknown to them, Mu Nanjin had sealed her sense of smell and left only taste active.

The two guards delivered to the front cells, but no one wanted to go further inside.

Just then, a sinister laugh echoed from the deepest cell. Spooky.

“Ah!”

The two guards fled like they had seen a ghost, sprinting out.

Mu Nanjin pushed her cart to the door, calling: “Dinner time.”

From the last cell came a cold, male voice: “Little girl, it’s you again. Weren’t you supposed to be dead?”