Ten Months On

Chapter 19: Servitude

Some food porn again :)

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Another day, another reminder that Su Chen disliked servitude. Perhaps if her master was a benevolent, handsome, gentle master, she would not have been so full of resentment.

But, as fate had humorously placed her, her master had a bad attitude and suffered terribly from delusions that the people around him loved and worship him. A pitiful existence.

She had tried to cheer herself up by convincing herself that what she was doing was charity.

A young, noble Miss like herself traipsing after smelly, uncouth men, occassionally roughing it up in the great outdoors had transformed her into a living Buddha. She now firmly believes that she was reaching the peak of enlightenment from all the sufferings she had gone through.

Da Li had a belief that if one cultivated their heart and mind enough, the heavens listen and will bring forth a set of tribulations. Once that person goes through the tribulations, he or she will ascend to meet the Jade Emperor and be among the other celestials.

She thought it untrue, a children's folklore at best. But recently, she did feel her steps drawing closer to nirvana.

"Rong Su Chen. Did you not hear me? Wake up! Stop daydreaming!"

A sharp rap on her head made her curse out loud.

The name still remained unfamiliar to her. She had opted to use her mother's maiden family's name instead of Sun to avoid any possibilities of Rui Wang finding her.

"Su Chen" was, sadly, such a common name among the nobility and commoners that she was not worried that he would be able to trace her location.

Plus, she was certain that Sun Rui would not bother to find her once his servants saw the wreck of a carriage at the bottom of the cliff. After all, who was she to him? She had known him for almost 17 years of her life but she realised that she barely knew the true him and he himself did not bother to know her.

Realising once more how the thought of Sun Rui no longer brought her jolts of pain, Su Chen was once again convinced about her path to sainthood. Truly, a true saint no longer bothers about the matters of this world.

Another rap to the head.

Shen Yi quickly grabbed her close on his horse and whispered lowly to the other members near him on horseback.

"We are being followed. Stay alert."

His hot breath on her ear jolted her awake.

The content of his whispers further made her more alert.

As the Silver Wolf members swiftly moved, Su Chen reluctantly had to admit that Shen Yi was a skilled fighter, the best she had ever seen.

If he had represented Da Li, she felt confident that he would be among the tops contestants, if not the winner of the competition.

For someone who was so loud, mannerless, rough and rude, Shen Yi was a capable and charismatic leader on the ground. Every decision he made was swift and decisive. He did not make room for errors but he was courageous enough to take chances and risks when he needed to.

As his body protected her in a warm embrace, Su Chen felt conflicted.

There were moments when she was convinced he was a decent man. But those moments don't last for long.

Because that man was once again taking liberties with her, cupping her chest as he pretends to look ahead with all seriousness of a warrior in action.

It took the repeated reminders in her head to not push the big oaf off the horse for the thousandth time that morning.

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