From a slave to the Great Qian Martial Saint

"Sister Cui Nong, I have to go back now."

Before he knew it, the sun had already set. Chen Shi climbed out of bed, lowered his head, and said something.

"Um."

Cui Nong pulled the blanket over herself, closed her eyes, and raised her hand.

A moment later, upon hearing the sound of the courtyard gate, Cui Nong opened her eyes and stared blankly at the roof beam.

Although Gu Chengze was lecherous, he was, after all, a scion of a noble family and possessed his dignity. Not only had she been defiled by the groom, but now everyone knew of her affair with the groom. How could Gu Chengze possibly take her as a concubine?

Poor thing, she was bought by a matchmaker at a young age and raised as a "thin horse" (a euphemism for a prostitute), enduring countless beatings and scoldings. She learned to sing, dance, and was proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Finally, she was redeemed by Gu Chengze, who thought she could become a concubine in the Marquis's mansion, but her hopes were dashed in an instant.

Thinking of this, Cui Nong smiled bitterly again. This Second Madam Ze was indeed worthy of her reputation. With a little manipulation, she made Gu Chengze discard her like trash. She was truly a killer without shedding blood.

"Luckily, I made it in time."

Before sunset, Chen Shi jogged all the way back to the Marquis's residence before the side gate closed.

He let out a long sigh, then lowered his head and walked along the roadside, close to the wall, straight to the stable.

As a horse slave, one was responsible for taking care of the master's horses. Each horse cost more than ten taels of silver, and those fine steeds were priceless. If anything went wrong with the horse, the horse slave would be whipped at best, and beaten to death at worst!

Horses won't get fat without night grazing, so nighttime fodder is very important, which is why grooms basically sleep in the stables.

"Is it delicious?"

The feeding trough was empty, so Chen Shi quickly fed and watered the two horses he was in charge of.

After all that work, I can finally take a breather.

Seeing that it was getting late, and knowing that it would take another two hours to feed the animals, Chen Shi decided to take a nap in the haystack next to him.

He was really tired today.

"That's him!"

Just as I was about to lie down, a shout rang out, and a group of servants stormed towards me.

Chen Shi felt a sudden panic, as if the attack was directed at him.

"Brother Lu'er".

Chen Shi recognized that the one in the lead was Master Ze's personal servant, named Lu'er.

Not daring to be negligent, he quickly stepped forward to greet them.

As a personal servant, he belonged to the second-class servants, two classes higher than Chen Shi.

That's secondary. The main thing is that he serves by his master's side. As the saying goes, "The eunuchs by the emperor's side are better than prime ministers." Being able to speak with the master is naturally something that other lowly servants cannot compare to.

Moreover, Lu'er was born into the household, and his foundation in the Jing'an Marquis's mansion was much stronger than that of those who were bought.

"You are Chen Shi!"

Lu'er glanced at him and spat on Chen Shi's face.

"Why don't you take a piss and look at yourself in the mirror? What kind of thing are you! You reek of horse manure, and you dare to serve your master!"

"I……"

Chen Shi was taken aback, and then suddenly understood.

It turns out that she was annoyed that he had gone out with Master Ze during the day.

Indeed, as servants close to their masters, being close to them is their greatest advantage, and they would not allow others to interfere.

"Brother Lu'er, you've misunderstood. It was just that you weren't around at the time, and the master was in a hurry, so he just pointed randomly..."

"Stop talking nonsense! Beat them up!"

Before Chen Shi could finish speaking, Lu'er gave a cold shout and waved to the crowd behind him.

These were all lowly servants, never able to get close to their masters, so they could only fawn over someone like Lu'er. They swarmed forward, pushing Chen Shi to the ground, raining blows upon him, each one beating him harder than the last, vying to show off in front of Lu'er.

Chen Shi alone was no match for all of them.

Moreover, there were two guards among them, both of whom were ninth-rank martial artists. Each of them alone could easily deal with two or three people like Chen Shi.

Chen Shi had no way to resist, nor did he dare to resist, so he could only cover his head with his hands and curl up into a ball.

"Alright, kill him. If no one feeds the horses for a while, it will delay the master's business."

Seeing that the fight had almost ended, Lu'er finally spoke.

He didn't dare to actually kill Chen Shi.

He glanced at Chen Shi, who was curled up on the ground, and snorted coldly again.

"Remember who you are, you filthy slave! If there's a next time, I'll skin you alive!"

After saying that, he called to the crowd and left.

After a while, Chen Shi finally got up from the ground.

He was in pain all over his body, and he grimaced in pain.

Fortunately, these people were careful not to hurt anyone, and the injuries were only superficial. They were painful, but they didn't cause any serious damage.

Chen Shi had no money to buy medicine, so he could only fetch some water and gently wash the wound.

Then he nestled in the haystack and drifted off to sleep.

The next day, despite his injuries, Chen Shi still had to clean the stables and take care of the horses.

The other servants watched with sneers. They thought, "Don't they know their place? They want to show off in front of their master? Serves them right!"

As noon approached, Chen Shi provided his horse with enough hay and water, then left the Jing'an Marquis's residence and headed towards Sweetwater Lane.

This was a leave of absence given by Grandma Ze, so he dared not refuse.

Furthermore, Master Ze had instructed him to learn how to please women.

"What did you do?"

Seeing Chen Shi covered in injuries, Cui Nong couldn't help but ask a question.

"It's nothing, I just fell."

Chen Shi lowered his head and said something in a low voice.

Did you fall into someone's fist?

Cui Nong gave a soft hum and fetched the medicine for her injuries.

First, she applied medicine to Chen Shi's face, then reached out to take off Chen Shi's clothes. Chen Shi was a little hesitant and grabbed the hem of his clothes, not letting her take them off. Cui Nong patted Chen Shi lightly, and he let go.

"You think being a servant is so easy? There are many tricks to this grand mansion. You, a mere riding slave, went out with your master yesterday and received this favor. Do you think Gu Chengze's servants will be happy? A beating would be the least of their worries..."

As Cui Nong applied medicine to Chen Shi's body, she spoke.

Chen Shi looked up at Cui Nong with a face full of surprise. She had guessed everything, as if she had seen it with her own eyes.

"You need to know that in this world, not only tigers eat people, but people also eat people, and they're even more ferocious, devouring you until not even bone fragments are left!"

"I know."

Chen Shi nodded, though he knew that his father had been devoured until nothing was left.

"If tigers don't eat people, they'll starve; if people don't eat people, they can't climb the social ladder. If you want to rise to prominence, you have to eat people!"

Cui Nong suddenly leaned closer to Chen Shi, lowered her voice, and breathed her fragrant scent on his face.

Chen Shi shuddered; he felt a slight itch, an itch in his heart.

Just as he was getting distracted, the two of them got too close. Chen Shi's hand, which had nowhere to go, accidentally touched Cui Nong's lower body. As if he had been burned, Chen Shi quickly withdrew his hand. Then he was stunned. Why was there something hard under her clothes?

Cui Nong was also flustered and quickly took a few steps back, looking at Chen Shi with shame and indignation.

Do you want to know what that is?

Before Chen Shi could ask a question, Cui Nong suddenly spoke up, and then, as if in a fit of pique, she untied her skirt.

"this……"

Upon seeing what was under Cui Nong's skirt, Chen Shi was stunned and stood frozen in place.

Two triangular copper pieces, like a pair of shorts, were securely fastened to Cui Nong's body.

"Never seen this before, have you?"

Cui Nong gave a light, seemingly relaxed laugh, but couldn't help but shed tears.

"Gu Chengze had someone lock it for me last night. He said that if he can't use it, no one else can either."

"Lock……"

Chen Shi snapped out of his daze and looked more closely before realizing what had happened.

Yes, there's another keyhole on it.

As long as you have the key, you can take off these iron shorts!

"Good brother."

Just as Chen Shi was overjoyed, Cui Nong spoke again, looking at him with eyes that seemed like two pools of spring water.

"Would you be willing to help me get something back from Gu Chengze?"