Chapter 13: Peeking

After coaxing Zhu’er, Su Tang returned to Little Forest Castle. He stayed honest for less than half an hour before he became restless again. He took a roundabout way to sneak toward the east courtyard of the Inner Castle. However, this time, there was someone trailing him—Ke’er. Zhu’er had repeatedly instructed her that Su Tang must never leave their sight.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the east courtyard, Su Tang found a large locust tree and climbed up. He pushed aside the leaves and peered toward the east courtyard. There was no one in the courtyard; it seemed everyone was resting. However, in the bamboo grove of the backyard, a girl seemed to be playing on a swing. Su Tang observed carefully for a moment and confirmed he was not mistaken. The girl looked to be around fifteen or sixteen years old, similar in age to Ke’er, and was likely a maid.

Su Tang climbed down and walked toward the backyard along the base of the wall, with Ke’er following closely behind him.

When he felt he had reached the right spot, Su Tang looked left and right and leaped up, gripping the edge of the wall with both hands. With his current physical strength, climbing over such a wall should have been no problem at all. However, as he pushed with his arms, his body did not rise; instead, it sank back down.

“What are you doing? Let go!” Su Tang shouted in a low voice.

“I won’t!” Ke’er refused firmly. Her pouting lips showed her stubbornness, and her arms were wrapped tightly around Su Tang’s leg.

“You girl… you’re almost pulling my pants off! Let go!” Su Tang became somewhat embarrassed and annoyed. He could feel his pants sliding down bit by bit. If this continued for another twenty or thirty seconds, it would become a joke.

“I won’t!” Ke’er remained steadfast.

“Fine, fine, fine. Let go first, and I’ll come down. I’ll come down, okay?” Su Tang said.

“I won’t!” Ke’er replied crossly. “Young Master is trying to trick me again!”

“You…” Su Tang had no choice but to give in. He let go of the wall. Ke’er was quick; sensing that Su Tang was coming down, she hurried to step aside, otherwise, Su Tang would have sat right on her face. Once Su Tang stood steady, she leaned in and grabbed his sleeve.

“What exactly are you trying to do?!” Su Tang looked at Ke’er with a very stern gaze.

“Young Master…” Ke’er was not afraid; instead, she replied in a heartfelt tone, “Uncle Shang has said it several times—you must never provoke those guests. I am doing this for your own good!”

Seeing Ke’er acting like a little adult, Su Tang almost laughed. He couldn’t bring himself to keep scaring her, so he thought of a plan and decided to use his old trick.

“Fine, I’ll listen to you.” Su Tang shook his head with a look of helplessness. “Come on, accompany me for a walk over there.”

Su Tang walked in front, and Ke’er held onto his sleeve, not leaving his side for a step. After walking for a few minutes, Su Tang yawned and sat down on a stone bench beside some flowers. “It’s a bit hot… Ke’er, go to my room and bring me my green bamboo fan. Oh, and bring a pot of tea while you’re at it.” Su Tang’s expression was natural, and he took a deep breath of the floral scent in the air, as if he really liked the scenery here.

Ke’er glanced sideways at Su Tang, then gave him a big roll of her eyes and replied with a nasal tone, “Hmph…”

“Why are you just standing there? Didn’t you hear me?” Su Tang yawned again. He was accustomed to using various gestures to create psychological suggestions for others. His meaning was clear: I’m a bit sleepy and won’t cause any trouble…

“Young Master, do you want me to bring you another outer garment?” Ke’er said sarcastically. The little girl held a grudge. This morning, Su Tang had said it was a bit cold and asked her to find an outer garment, but he vanished without a trace in an instant. She later found out that Su Tang had run back into the forest, which resulted in her being scolded harshly by Sister Zhu’er.

Su Tang’s face remained calm. He showed neither annoyance nor guilt, as if he hadn’t heard Ke’er’s words at all. After a moment, he said to Ke’er with a serious face, “Ke’er, tell me… why is Uncle Shang afraid that someone might disturb those guests?”

“Because they are great nobles!” Ke’er explained patiently. “Uncle Shang also said that if they get annoyed, they could just blow a breath and our Little Forest Castle would suffer!”

“Great nobles, huh…” Su Tang murmured. Then his eyes suddenly lit up. “If I could become friends with them, wouldn’t that be very beneficial for my future?”

“This…” Ke’er was stunned.

“Uncle Shang recognized the tokens in their hands; those are things only generals can have… To have a general as an attendant, their master must be very, very powerful!” Su Tang became more excited as he spoke. “If their master likes me and is willing to cultivate me, with just one word, I could become a county… no, I could become a City Lord, for sure!”

“City… City Lord…” Ke’er began to stutter. That was a very, very big master!

“When that time comes, I will bring you all to the big city. You can eat whatever you want and buy whatever you want, haha…” Su Tang slapped his thigh hard, as if the dream could be realized immediately. “That’s right, I should go find them right now!”

Just as Su Tang stood up, Ke’er blocked him again. Although her mind was a bit confused, she did not forget her primary duty.

At that moment, two servants of the Inner Castle patrolling outside the east courtyard walked over. Seeing Su Tang and Ke’er talking by the flowers, they didn’t pay much attention. They simply offered a greeting from a distance and walked past.

Ke’er remembered something and looked at the backs of the two servants. She opened her mouth to call out. Shang Bin had given a strict order that no one was allowed to approach the east courtyard. If the Young Master was determined to be reckless, she might not be able to stop him alone; she had to seek help from the servants.

“Ke’er, do you really want to ruin my great future?!” Su Tang said in a low voice. His lips trembled slightly, and his eyes were filled with sorrow. He sounded extremely sincere.

Ke’er felt as if she had been struck by lightning. She could never bear such a crime. As long as it was for the Young Master’s own good, she was willing to do anything. Therefore, she would rather make the Young Master angry than let go of him. But when it came to the Young Master’s future, she didn’t know how to judge.

If it had been Zhu’er or Shang Bin, they would never have believed Su Tang’s lies, but the inexperienced Ke’er was different.

Seeing that the two servants had already passed the corner of the wall, Su Tang breathed a sigh of relief and shook his arm. “Let go!”

He shook off Ke’er, but after only two steps, Ke’er grabbed his sleeve once more and said in a pleading tone, “Young Master… but… but what if we provoke them?”

“If someone came to find you and wanted to be your friend, would you be angry?”

Ke’er shook her head. If someone wanted to be her friend, that was a good thing; of course she wouldn’t be angry.

“Exactly. So why would they be angry?”

“Then… Young Master, I want to go too!”