Silent Lover

c001. mute slave marries instead

The residence of the Northern Garrison Prince boasts decorations of colored banners and lanterns, the thundering of gongs and drums, and firecrackers along with the calls of animals and insects. Amidst the sounds of musical instruments, the marriage sedan and forty eight sets of dowry are lifted together into the prince's mansion.

Outsiders only heard that Prefectural Magistrate Shen's daughter, who is known as the number-one beauty of the current Jing Dynasty, had caught the attention of the powerful Northern Garrison Prince and was to be brought in as a concubine. They assumed that the magistrate's household—which was worrying that it could not curry the favor of the Northern Garrison Prince—had happily married off its daughter.

From the marriage sedan to the bridal chamber, Shen Yu has been restlessly anxious the entire time yet he also does not dare to make any excessive movements, making him seem like a wooden puppet that is being pulled along.

He is frightened about being seen through.

If he is exposed and incurs the wrath of the Northern Garrison Prince, then there will definitely be people commanded to kill him: no, if the Northern Garrison Prince is displeased, he can exterminate Shen Yu with a single finger.

According to rumors, the Northern Garrison Prince requires the utmost respect, being the sole prince of the Jing Dynasty to have a seven-pearl ranking and an unrelated surname.

According to rumors, the Northern Garrison Prince has been raising millions of fearsome soldiers and one man of his could rival a hundred enemies on the battlefield. An invincible force, he could completely sweep away the opposition.

According to rumors, the Northern Garrison Prince has a height of eight chi, a face full of whiskers like a dragon's, and eyes resembling copper bells: a fiendish and malevolent appearance as though he is the King of Hell who has emerged from the underworld. With one glare, he could frighten people into disarmament and surrender.

Beyond his distinguished brilliance and prowess in combat, his infamy is even more extraordinary.

According to rumors, the Northern Garrison Prince chops off the heads of his enemies, digs out the brain tissue, and uses the skulls to serve and drink wine during memorial services for his fallen brethren.

According to rumors, the Northern Garrison Prince is immensely virile and lustful: the nine unofficial concubines he had taken as wives were all unable to bear his ceaseless torment, with not a single one managing to survive.

According to rumors . . .

Shen Yu harbors the mood of an individual waiting to meet death as he sits on the bed; merely thinking about those rumors, he is already scared to the point that both his legs are trembling.

He is not the daughter of the prefectural magistrate, only a small mute slave born into the residence.

When he was young, the people of the residence would all say that he was good-looking, and many maidservants were eager to play with him or bring him food.

After he reached twelve years of age, as he walked around the residence, many people would raise their eyebrows and stare fixedly at him.

At thirteen, there were a few slaves who teased him playfully and told him to strip naked. The mute slave did not know what they wanted, but he did not like it and thus refused, causing a few of the slaves to become displeased. They forcefully pulled off his clothing, but fortunately his mother was there to protect him at the risk of her own life.

Within a month of the previous incident, there were two army guards who came to find him. Without exchanging more than a few sentences, they began to fight, leading to a brawl that even involved blades and bloodshed.

For this reason, his mother received ten strikes from a plank.

The mute slave was aware that it was he himself who was at fault but his mother who had to take the blame and accept punishment.

Within the residence, gossip sprung up everywhere, with some claiming that he was the reincarnation of a fox-spirit, destroying the natural rules and regulations of male and female, stealing the souls of humans. From this point on, "villain," "depraved," and similar terms were frequently overheard.

After that, the mute slave did not really leave the gates anymore, as his mother locked him up in the courtyard and did not allow him to meet outsiders.

The mute slave was aware that his mother was doing this for his own good, for fear that he would cause another mishap.

Until the young miss of the prefectural magistrate's household earned a title as the number-one beauty of the Jing Dynasty and the Northern Garrison Prince gave orders to bring her in as a concubine.

The young miss of the prefectural magistrate's residence was unwilling to become the tenth ghost pressed down under the Northern Garrison Prince's body, and so they came up with such a method to switch in the mute slave as a substitute.

For this purpose, the esteemed prefectural magistrate invited an elderly lady from the Qinhuai Establishment to teach the mute slave how to serve another in bed and how to conceal the truth that he was male instead of female. They even granted him the name of Shen Yu.

The prefectural magistrate said that it did not matter if he was exposed by the Northern Garrison Prince; because the Northern Garrison Prince was famous for his lust, not distinguishing between female and male sexual partners, he would not have the heart to kill Shen Yu.

But who knows?

In any case, he is doomed to die—the previous nine concubines of the Northern Garrison Prince were unable to endure him, and he will soon become the tenth.

The prefectural magistrate's household had promised to treat his mother generously, and that much is enough.

Abruptly, the door of the room is pushed open—leading Shen Yu to tremble in terror—and as the sounds of footsteps draws closer, he is able to see through the bridal veil with the help of candlelight: standing in front of him is a tall figure with a straight and imposing posture.