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“PA! PA! PA!”
The sound of a wooden board striking flesh rang sharply through the air, making anyone who heard it instinctively wince in pain.
Sheng Nanxi quickened her pace, pushing through the dense foliage. Sure enough, she saw a ten-year-old boy, dressed as a servant, tied to a long bench.
Behind him, two other young servants—though their faces showed traces of reluctance—continued carrying out their orders with mechanical precision, landing one strike after another on the boy’s back.
Though the boy’s appearance was ordinary, his expression was unshakable.
The pain had flushed his face red, veins bulging at his temples, and sweat dripped onto the ground in large beads.
Yet, he clenched his jaw tightly, refusing to make a single sound.
The moment she caught sight of his brown eyes, tinged with an exotic hue, Sheng Nanxi’s heart sank.
After all, this was ancient times. Officials might be able to disguise their features slightly, but eye color was something that couldn’t be changed.
This… this wasn’t just some ordinary servant boy!
This was the freaking male lead!
No wonder she’d felt uneasy all day, like she was forgetting something important.
So this was the pit waiting for her to fall into!
According to the novel’s plot—
A few years ago, the emperor of Beichen Kingdom, which bordered Nanqi, had fallen gravely ill, and power had shifted into the hands of the Empress Dowager.
But the emperor wasn’t her biological son. The moment she took control, she began systematically eliminating the emperor’s children to solidify her rule.
The male lead, Guyuan Cheng, was the emperor’s most talented son—brilliant, capable, and a prodigy in almost everything he touched.
The moment the Empress Dowager started purging the princes, he escaped to Nanqi.
He spent years roaming the country, gradually building an underground force strong enough to challenge the Empress Dowager.
By the time he avenged his father, the emperor had already died.
After reclaiming Beichen’s throne, he didn’t stop there—he expanded his power, eventually uniting the entire continent.
But at this point in the novel, he was still in the early survival phase—disguised as a lowly servant in the Qin Palace, evading the Empress Dowager’s assassins.
Unfortunately, the villainous male side character had framed him for stealing the princess’s jade pendant, and under Sheng Ningxue’s manipulative guidance, the princess had ordered him to be beaten with ten strikes.
And this wasn’t just any novel. It was a peak male protagonist power fantasy.
From ninety-year-old grandmothers to innocent mosquitoes, if they so much as slightly offended the male lead, they would end up dead.
Let alone actually hitting him with a board.
Although Sheng Nanxi now possessed supernatural abilities, she had zero desire to go against the child blessed by the Heavens.
Realizing this, she immediately strode forward and shouted in a baby-soft yet commanding voice:
“STOP IT RIGHT NOW!”
“Greetings, Your Highness!”
The moment her words fell, all the servants immediately froze, hastily bowing in respect.
Her maid, Cui Liu, hurried forward, attempting to curry favor:
“Miss, these unruly servants are completely out of control! You ordered Laifu to be given ten strikes this morning, yet they’re only carrying it out now.”
“Are you stopping them because you think Laifu is still being dishonest and want to add thirty more strikes?”
Sheng Nanxi: ……
�� Listen to me, thank you~ Because of you, my grave now has two meters of weeds~ ��
When she’d read the novel, she had already thought “Laifu” (Lucky) was an absurdly out-of-place name for a character.
But hearing it out loud still made her lips twitch uncontrollably.
To avoid suspicion from suddenly acting too out of character, Sheng Nanxi deliberately furrowed her brows and snapped impatiently:
“Enough! Stop already! You’re making so much noise, you’re disturbing my sleep!”
“Y-Your Highness, please forgive us!”
The servants immediately knelt down, begging for mercy.
“Please spare us this once, Your Highness! We will take that filthy boy outside and continue the punishment—we promise you won’t hear a sound!”
Sheng Nanxi: ???
This wasn’t over yet?!
Sheng Nanxi: ……
“Enough! It’s just a jade bracelet.” She scoffed. “At the beginning of the month, Laifu took an arrow for me during an outing.”
“I was still thinking about what to reward him with. Since he likes that bracelet so much, I’ll just give it to him.”
“Y-yes, Your Highness…”
The servants hesitated. Their lady seemed different today, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on it. They could only nod meekly and retreat.
Sheng Nanxi watched as the servants roughly dragged “Laifu” away, his bloodstained legs scraping across the floor, leaving behind streaks of red.
Her lips twitched.
“Lift him up properly! Don’t dirty my white jade tiles with his blood!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“And have the steward bring him the best medicine! He still has work to do in a few days. I don’t want his injuries affecting my safety!”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
Hearing this, the servants no longer dared to slack off. They immediately found a stretcher and carefully carried him out.
According to the novel’s plot, Guyuan Cheng was only disguising himself as a servant in Prince Qin’s manor to escape the Beichen Empress Dowager’s pursuit.
Once the Prince’s family returned tomorrow, all the servants—including him—would be dismissed.
From that point on, he would have no further contact with the Qin Manor.
And since the original Sheng Nanxi had only ordered ten strikes, he never sought revenge against her family.
Now that she had intervened and saved him from further punishment, he should have no reason to hold a grudge against her.
Still… anything related to the Heaven’s chosen one was not to be taken lightly.
Better safe than sorry.
Adhering to a “good relationship with the protagonist = mutual benefit” policy, Sheng Nanxi waved her chubby little hand and called for Cui Liu.
“You! Have the steward send Laifu one hundred taels of silver!”
“Just now, my shadow guard told me they saw someone planting the bracelet on him!”
“It’s… it’s my fault! I should pay him back properly!”
“A-A hundred taels?!”
Cui Liu was dumbfounded.
Since when did the young miss treat servants so kindly?!
That was a hundred taels!
It was worth her salary for decades!
Sheng Nanxi’s delicate eyebrows furrowed.
“What? You dare question my words? Am I the county princess, or are you?!”
“N-No, Your Highness, I wouldn’t dare!”
Cui Liu immediately bowed in fear.
But inside, she sighed in relief.
Ah, it seems I was overthinking things. The princess is still as arrogant as ever.
“Y-Your Highness, since you’re awake now, shall I have someone bring your meal?”
Sheng Nanxi: …This girl really knows how to pick the worst time to talk.
She deliberately puffed up her cheeks and shouted in her most spoiled tone:
“NO! I’m so tired today! I’m going back to sleep! Tell everyone to get back to their rooms—immediately!”
“I don’t want anyone walking around and disturbing my rest!”
“Y-Yes, Your Highness!”
Cui Liu pretended to be terrified, but inside, she was ecstatic.
The second branch of the family had bribed her a long time ago to encourage the princess’s arrogance.
Just now, when she had spoken so logically and decisively, Cui Liu almost thought she had changed for the better.
But now?
Hah! Looks like nothing has changed after all.
Satisfied, she quickly instructed a servant to deliver the hundred taels to Laifu, then ordered everyone in Cuiyun Residence to return to their rooms and shut their doors.
The entire courtyard quickly became dark and silent.
No one noticed that the kitchen had already been emptied.
Meanwhile, Sheng Nanxi pretended to waddle toward her bedroom with her short legs—only to sneak off to her personal treasure vault the moment no one was watching.
Hahaha! Gold Mountain, Silver Mountain, Jade Mountain—your big sis Xi is here!