Chapter 4

Ye Xiang rode the horse and left. The lion had finished eating the rabbit, flicking its big tail and followed behind Ye Xiang’s horse.

Liu Yan touched his nose and turned to ask Qi Shu. “What did Ye Ge-Ge’s words mean?”

Qi Shu rolled his eyes. “Rabbit is rabbit, lion is lion, even this you don’t understand. You really lost face for the Prince Jin’s Manor”

Liu Yan glared, “Who doesn’t understand the meaning? What I asked was what he was trying to say with his words.”

Qi Shu smiled. “You living to this age is not easy. Prince Jin probably worried til his heart broke.” After saying that, with a whip of the reins, chased after Ye Xiang.

Liu Yan flared up into a fury, “Bullying me is it?”

Shen Qi rode his horse close, patted him on the shoulder and whispered, “He means that if you even fear the bloody sight of lions eating rabbits, you really shouldn’t have been born in the royal family. When Prince Jin was as big as you, he was not afraid at all. You didn’t inherit any of your grandfather’s character.”

Liu Wei was speechless for a moment.

Chen Shu rode his horse by as well and also patted Liu Yan. “Jin Wang-shu1 holds you very dearly, it is better for you to not follow us in the future. What’s so scary about a lion eating a rabbit? Ye Xiang has eaten human flesh even.”

Liu Yan’s face suddenly turned white, “He……when……..has he eaten human flesh?”

“It was twelve years ago I think, at the border, The Duke and Duchess died from being trapped in battle, in a radius of ten miles were all scorched soil, lives were lost everywhere. At that time, Ye Xiang had just turned five years old and couldn’t find food. So he ripped out flesh from the dead to eat. Otherwise, how could he still be alive? When General Su found him, he had been eating that for seven days. Therefore, General Su later resigned and even til today is deep in guilt.”

Liu Yan’s voice trembled. “There was such a thing? Is this…..true? How come I haven’t heard of it before?”

“So I said that Jin Wang-shu protects you too well. So, better to listen to his words, don’t come out with us. Our gang of people, are like him, all climbed out of bloody piles, as long as can live, so what to eating human flesh?” Chen Shu stated.

Liu Yan’s voice suddenly disappeared, his handsome face becoming extremely pale.

“Let’s go, we still have to go back to get the gold to pay the bet.” Chen Shu rode off with his horse.

Shen Qi also hit the horse and followed.

After everyone left, Liu Yan rode on the horse in the same place for a long time before he also hit his horse and chased after them.

Shen Qi and Chen Shu was going side by side, reproachfully said to him, “Why did you tell him that? If you scared him too badly, Prince Jin would find trouble with you.” Chen Shu sneered, “He has a good grandfather is so great? We are all a bunch of people who nobody cares about, no one loves and no one controls. I just told him clearly to stay away from us in the future. It’s better for a pastry that grew up in a golden jar to stay put in the jar.”

Shen Qi looked at him,” What is it, you lost the bet and not able to let it go, so you are letting it out on a kid! ”

Chen Shu snorted,” What is a thousand gold? Although my grandfather don’t pamper me, stepmother don’t like me, but my birth mother had left a street of shop for me. What can’t I afford to lose.”

Shen Qi is speechless. “That is your mother’s dowry. If you spend it all, your mother will not be able to rest in peace down under.”

“If she is afraid that I would spend it all, then she should not have died early.”

Shen Qi coughed and looked at Chen Shu, “It’s because you think Ye Xiang treats Liu Yan too good, right? So you are angry, right?”

Chen Shu choked.

Shen Qi sighed. “I don’t understand either. Liu Yan is just a child who is not weaned. Why does Ye Xiang always let him stick around? Jin Wang-shu is afraid that following him, Liu Yan will learn bad, always blowing his beard and glaring at him how many times already? But he doesn’t seem to care. Can’t be that he hasn’t married and have kids yet and already grew a fatherly heart?”

Chen Shu hearing the statement burst into laughter and pointed at Shen Qi. “Why don’t you go ask Ye Xiang that?”

Shen Qi also that was funny, shrugging, “I am afraid that the lion he just subdued would eat me.”

Chen Shu laughed, “I am afraid too.”

“Since we are all afraid, this talk we will keep in our stomachs than.2,” Shen Qi said laughingly.

Chen Shu also laughed and nodded.

The group returned to the city and it was already dark.

Ye Xiang did not return to manor, but rode the horse directly to the Yipin Xiang3 Teahouse.

Qi Shu, Chen Shu, Shen Qi, and the others to enter the city one by one, after hearing that he went to the teahouse, also wanted to know how much money he spent today, how much remaining from the seven thousand gold bet he had leftover, and all went to the Yipin Xiang Teahouse without a prior set arrangement.

The teahouse has stopped taking in customers, and the shopkeeper is counting the spendings for the day.

Ye Xiang came to the front of the building and dismounted from the horse. The lion also followed him, swishing his tail and following him into the building.

The young assistant saw the big lion behind Ye Xiang and his face went pale from fear, his legs also weakened. Trembling and unable to speak, “Ye…Shi-zi…Lion…”

Ye Xiang glanced back, a rare situation of stopping in his tracks. Saying with a smile, “Without my permission, it doesn’t eat human.”

The young assistant was still scared, his face earth-tone.

Ye Xiang seeing him like this, simply decided to not go in. He stood at the door and asked, “How much did today spend me? Have the shopkeeper calculated it?”

The young assistant stuttered, ” currently … currently counting…”

Ye Xiang nodded, “I’ll wait here for a while, you go in and have a look, after calculated, come out and tell me.”

The young assistant repeatedly nodded, holding onto his soft boned legs and barely crawled into the restaurant.

Qi Shu laughed, “You have a lion now. I’m afraid all the ladies in the Imperial City will need to reroute when they see you. Even the Red Powder House4, I’m afraid won’t invite you in.”

Ye Xiang uninterestedly said, “In this case, isn’t it more to Xu Yun Chu’s advantage? With me to compare to, the ladies in the Imperial City will like him more. Doesn’t he like to be surrounded by the ladies of the Imperial City? He would want to thank me all the more. ”

Qi Shu mouth twitched.

“So what if he is The Imperial City’s # 1 Gong-zi? Since the engagement thing for Lady Su came out, you and him are regarded the same. He does not have any advantage over you.” Chen Shu said in disdain.

Ye Xiang turned to look at Chen Shu, “Being regarded the same as him is not a glorious thing. Yet, you still have to pay attention to that.” The

Chen Shu looked at him, “Have you slept for three months and slept stupid already? That’s the Su Manor’s Young Lady, the only daughter of General Su. Treasured like a pearl in the palm. The Empress Dowager and Emperor have been glued to this matter in recent days. Even all the officials of the court have grown long grass in their hearts from this5. Marrying her, what does that represent? It…”

Ye Xiang continued the words for him, ” Marry her, is married to a tigress who plays with knives and swords. I now have a lion is enough, why do I want a tigress for? To watch her and the lion fight? ”

Chen Shu choked.

Qi Shu was greatly amused, “If you let the people of the Su Manor hear that, you would definitely have no game in marrying Lady Su.”

“The lady who grew up in the countryside, no loss in not marrying, who knows what kind of wild girl she is.” Ye Xiang smoothed his clothes, “I still want to play for a few more years, I don’t want to die early.”

Everyone laughed, “Makes sense.”

The Shopkeeper came out of the building with an account book and after greeting everyone, said to Ye Xiang, “Shi-zi, it’s at total of 11,000 gold.”

“What?” Chen Shu exclaimed, patted his ear, and looked at the Shopkeeper. “My ears must not be good, could I have heard wrong?”

The Shopkeeper shook his head. “Chen Er Gong-zi 6 didn’t hear wrong. It is 11,000 gold.”

“Are the people in this teahouse not drinking tea, but gold instead? How is it so much?” Chen Shu face tensed up, “Don’t think that because we are all prodigals, and you open your mouth like a lion7. Be careful of the lion that Ye Xiang just trained, he will swallow you whole.”

The Shopkeeper bowed, “Your servant8, I dare not to cheat Shi-zi. It’s really because today there was a guest. She packed up ten boxes of Tianxiangjin and took it away.”

Chen Shu blanked, “Take away?”

The Shopkeeper nodded.

“What kind of guest? How dare they think of robbing Ye Shi-zi!” Qi Shu swiftly asked.

The Shopkeeper looked at Ye Xiang and saw that he also showed curiosity. He hesitated and whispered. “It is Su Manor’s Young Lady.”