Gift of the Fox

Chapter 13: Serving the 4th Prince

Tao was snoring in his new bed. He had never slept in such a fluffy bed for so many years! Yet now, five days had already passed since he acquired this bed, all because he had turned into a boy. Being a boy was truly awesome, if not for him again... 

A bell rang in his ears. He sprang from the bed.

"W... What's wrong?" He looked around. He heard the bell ring once more from the neighbouring room. His countenance changed from the stupefied into the annoyed one. "Ugh, not him again! Which sane person ever gets up at six o'clock?"

He got out of the bed, put on black trousers and stretched his hand towards his orange kimono-robe, but then grunted and threw it back on the chair. He tied half of his hair in a ponytail and left the other half dropping on his shoulders. He combed his hair thoroughly as if he were still a girl, and walked out of his room, appearing in his master's one straight away.

Wang Shao was lying in his bed and ringing a bell with a strict face. He raised both of his eyebrows once he spotted his servant. He heaved a sigh, as if in a reproachful mood. He rolled over the bed, lay on his belly, and looked up at the entered Xin Tao:

"You are late. Again. Maybe thirty whips a day isn't enough? What do you think?"

Tao yawned and rolled his eyes.

"Your Highness, that is old school. Thirty whips are more than enough... Well, if you don't want to kill the one you're whipping, that is."

Shao chuckled at such a carefree remark of the one who was about to get whipped by his harsh hand.

"I see you're not afraid of my whipping you anymore."

"Why would I be? I mean, your hand is too mild compared to how it hurts when Bernard throws me off his back, or when I run on nails, or when I do five hundred push-ups, or when you stab me with your sword each time I fail to dodge, even though it is just training... If I knew you were this much of a battle maniac I'd never have accepted to be your servant, but now it is too late."

He yawned once more and rubbed his eyes, still sleepy. Shao chuckled and shook his head.

"You truly are a hard one, Tao. Qartlandian blood, I assume... Well then, you know what I'm going to do now, right?"

"Why do you think I didn't put my kimono on? I already know your methods, Your Highness." Tao turned around, showing him his back scarred from whips.

"So, you say thirty whips are enough, but I cannot see the result of them being enough. You know I hate it when I don't get the expected result, right?"

"Well, if I die by your hands, I'll haunt you for life, so do whatever you please."

"Okay then, let's try forty whips now, shall we?"

"4th prince, forty whips... Suits you, master." Tao chuckled.

"Oh, good if you look at it in a positive way."

Shao raised his hand and swung the black whip. The young man's back instantly bled, a deep wound appearing on it. However, Tao didn't budge.

"One."

"Don't count up. It will make the whole thing longer. You won't bear it that way."

"Two." Tao shrugged. "You have your methods, I have mine."

"Fine then. It is not easy for me either, rather tiresome..."

"Yeah, your poor hand hurts, eh?" Tao laughed, but then felt pain again - that was 'three'.

"No, my head hurts when I see you do the same again and again no matter what I order you."

"Four. Wee, your number, master!" Tao didn't give a pin for the prince's complaint. 

Shao chuckled at his bitter joke.

"What an irritating boy you are, Tao..."

"Five... Oh, by the way, I had a question since yesterday." Tao recalled, withstanding the pain of whips as if nothing. 

"Ask."

"Six... Well, five days have already passed, right? Seven... So, there are just two days left until we depart for battle? Eight..."

"Yes. So, what about it?"

"Nine... Well, there was this question that hasn't left my mind for all these days. Ten... Why are you the only prince who leads the armies? Eleven... Aren't the Crown Prince or the other two elder princes more suited for that? I mean... Twelve... They're the future rulers of Wanglong if anything... Thirteen... And closest to the emperor... Fourteen..."

"They are, but I am a mixed-blood so if I die on the battlefield they'll bear with it, while if those precious sons of 1st Queen Mu fall, the whole empire is going to grieve. It is like, you throw away things you love less every time you are demanded to sacrifice something, right?"

"Twenty... Yeah, I'm sorry for you."

Finally, after many whips, Tao came up to "forty" and sighed with relief. His back was severely bleeding. Shao threw the whip aside and fell back onto his bed. Tao turned around.

"Well then, let's get prepared now." Shao rubbed the aching hand he had just whipped his servant with.

"Yes, Your Highness." Tao bowed, as if nothing had happened, and brought the master's black kimono. He felt a heavy smell, and grimaced only now (while when being whipped he didn't even groan). "Eww, what a mess! When was the last time you took a bath, master?" 

Shao burst out laughing:

"You dare ask me that so openly?"

"Well, if I don't do it, who else will?"

"Ugh, Tao, you're such a pain... Yeah, I'd better visit the hot springs. Mind coming with me?"

"Am I allowed to say 'no'?"

"Of course not." Shao chuckled.

Tao put a black bath-robe on him and they walked out of the room.