"Xiao Hong, what does he want?" Although they didn't want to ask Xiaoyao, they could still ask Xiao Hong.
Xiao Hong frowned and said, "He wants many things, and they're quite varied. The others are fine, easy to handle. But he wants one pound of gold and one pound of silver, which is a bit strange. What does he need these for? However, since Miss told me to listen to him, I can only prepare them first..."
"Watch him and see what tricks he's up to!" The Le family members only gave this instruction. One pound each of gold and silver might be a lot for others, but for them, it was just the tip of the iceberg, not worth mentioning.
Therefore, the Le family members just told Xiao Hong to watch Xiaoyao, but didn't say she couldn't give him things.
This was Le Youran's decision. For such resource allocation, Le Youran had absolute authority and didn't need anyone's approval.
However, because of this remark, Xiaoyao faced an awkward situation.
"..."
Xiaoyao looked at Xiao Hong before him. Earlier, when he was smelting materials in the furnace, he had felt this Xiao Hong had some suspicious tail-like behavior, because after she delivered the materials, she had been following Xiaoyao without leaving for a single step.
Well, Xiaoyao understood this, they didn't trust him and were monitoring him. There was nothing wrong with this; what Xiao Hong was doing was just being dutiful and responsible. But when it came to the end, Xiaoyao felt it was going too far.
...
...
After Xiaoyao finished smelting the materials, he planned to continue the next day, so naturally he went to rest, rest meaning going back to his room to bathe and sleep. At this time, Xiao Hong shouldn't follow anymore, right? But she still continued following.
This was unacceptable to Xiaoyao. Even if he was a prisoner, he should still have basic rights, right? Some privacy space for bathing and sleeping should still be granted.
Well, even if you don't grant it, you shouldn't send such a young lady to do this.
"Miss Xiao Hong, although you're very loyal, you should also consider the situation. I'm right here and can't escape even if I wanted to! Besides, if I wanted to escape, you could also... uh, you could also stop me..." Xiaoyao had originally wanted to say 'you couldn't stop me either,' but soon Xiao Hong demonstrated her combat prowess, so Xiaoyao had to change his words.
Xiaoyao could only pretend he didn't know Xiao Hong's strength, that he didn't know she had already reached General-level martial prowess. This way, Xiao Hong would feel more than capable of handling him and wouldn't insist on staying in his room to watch him.
"Young Master Xiaoyao, you don't need to say that. I'm just here to serve you, not to monitor you!" Xiao Hong said calmly.
"Serve me?"
"Yes! Since Miss told me to follow your instructions, until Miss withdraws this order, I naturally need to serve you!" Xiao Hong nodded, appearing very serious and earnest.
"In that case, could you remove the things in my room?" Xiaoyao pointed to the iron bars on the doors and windows. This was completely prison-like design. This design hadn't been there originally; at least when Xiaoyao was here yesterday it wasn't there, it had been added today.
Xiaoyao also knew that the person who added this wasn't anyone else, but this very Xiao Hong before him. She had arranged it.
"To prevent you from escaping, I reinforced the facilities here!" Xiao Hong didn't hide anything and directly stated her purpose.
"Since you've already considered this for me so thoughtfully, do you still need to watch me from inside?" Xiaoyao asked somewhat helplessly.
"Yes, only by watching you can I determine whether you can escape, and this way I can better serve you. If you need anything, you can tell me directly!" Xiao Hong still had that rigid, cold appearance.
"I need you to go out!" Xiaoyao said.
"No!" Xiao Hong replied directly.
"Alright then, prepare bath water for me and help me bathe!" Xiaoyao smiled, appearing very nonchalant.
"Good... what?" Xiao Hong initially agreed, but then realized something was wrong. Asking her to help him bathe, she hadn't thought of this!
"Since you can watch me bathe, why not just help me bathe? What's the difference? You just said you needed to serve me," Xiaoyao smiled even more cheerfully.
He knew this Xiao Hong before him was just pretending to be capable, but if she really had to do it, she might not be able to follow through. If he was afraid, then he would lose. If he wasn't afraid and went ahead with it, then she would be the one who was afraid.
"Hmph! There is no difference. I'll prepare bath water for you and help you bathe!!" Xiao Hong snorted. She seemed to see through Xiaoyao's intention, feeling he was trying to provoke her and make her leave.
You can't do it.
"Then hurry up, I want to bathe!" Xiaoyao said indifferently. When the time came, they'd see who was afraid of whom.
"Fine, I'll prepare bath water for you!" Xiao Hong said, then went to prepare bath water for Xiaoyao and actually stood to the side.
Xiaoyao completely ignored Xiao Hong and directly began undressing - shirt, pants, undergarments, naked... "Bang!"
The sound of a door slamming shut, and only Xiaoyao remained inside. Xiao Hong had disappeared.
"..." Xiaoyao knew this would be the result. Even if Xiao Hong really didn't leave, he didn't care, he would still undress and bathe. If she liked to watch, let her watch.
"Red hands, yellow rice wine, the city full of spring scenery and palace willows. The east wind is evil, joy grows thin, a bosom full of melancholy, several years apart. Wrong, wrong, wrong! Spring remains the same, but people grow thin, tear stains red soak through the silk gauze. Peach blossoms fall, idle pond pavilion, though the mountain oath remains, letters are hard to entrust. No, no, no!" While bathing, Xiaoyao smugly sang "Phoenix Hairpin" - this was a famous song of this continent, a tragic tale of a scholar and his wife!
Xiaoyao's voice was very emotional at this moment. This emotionally tragic song sung by him could truly be said to make listeners heartbroken and hearers weep!!
"... This Xiaoyao is really detestable! Why sing such a sad song while bathing!!" Outside, Xiao Hong really wanted to beat Xiaoyao up, because at this moment she was already in tears.
Xiaoyao was doing this on purpose. He wanted to make Xiao Hong outside cry, cry her heart out. Who told Xiao Hong to be his little tail just now? Being my little tail comes with a price.
Because of this, Xiaoyao wouldn't just end with one song. He would continue singing, keep singing, until Xiao Hong couldn't stand it and left. Not just Xiao Hong, even others wouldn't dare approach this area.
"Damn! Who is this? Making people cry in the middle of the night, do you want people to live?!"
"I'm done for, why am I crying..."
"..."
Crying is contagious - a chorus of weeping... This night, a strange phenomenon occurred in the Le family: people in one area were all crying. This crying attracted the attention of the entire Le family. After investigating, they all felt this was somewhat tragicomic.
Not because they found the cause, but because they discovered many people didn't know why they were crying - they only knew that in this atmosphere, they felt like crying, so they cried!!
The next day...
"Xiao Hong, why are your eyes so red, like a rabbit's!" When Xiaoyao got up and came out, he found Xiao Hong guarding the door with swollen, red eyes.
"That's none of your business!!" Xiao Hong turned her head away, seeming unwilling to acknowledge Xiaoyao, but her hand handed him a paper bag containing warm steamed buns.
"Hehe, thanks! Today we'll continue smelting!" Xiaoyao said gratefully.
"..." After hearing this, Xiao Hong's face darkened somewhat. She didn't seem to like Xiaoyao going to smelt, and the reason was probably known to Xiaoyao.
That was a high-temperature place. How could a young lady like that kind of place? Not to mention the environment, just the heat alone could make a girl sweat, and sweating was one of the things girls hated most.
"You can wait outside, you don't need to go in with me!" Xiaoyao said.
"I need to watch you!" Xiao Hong gritted her teeth. She didn't give up her duty. Le Youran still hadn't come out of seclusion, so she needed to watch for her.
Speaking of Le Youran, she hadn't appeared since going into seclusion yesterday. The Le family members were all surprised by this situation. They also knew Le Youran was about to break through, the longer the seclusion time, the greater the possibility of breakthrough.
Therefore, after knowing this situation, the Le family members didn't check on her or disturb her, only arranging some people to guard outside.
"Alright then, you can watch me from outside. I won't leave your sight anyway, and you don't need to be inside. If you can't see me, then come in, this way you won't violate your duty!" Xiaoyao said.
"But..."
"If I wanted to escape, I couldn't anyway. You're an expert, and besides, there are no exits around the furnace area!" Xiaoyao continued. He didn't want Xiao Hong following him inside.
This wasn't just because he had some secrets, but also because Xiao Hong wasn't suitable to go in. Her eyes were already somewhat swollen from crying, if they got irritated further, there might be damage.
Although Xiaoyao didn't particularly like this Xiao Hong, he didn't want her eyes to be damaged because of him. Eyes were among the most important things for a person and could affect someone's entire life.
Sigh, this Xiao Hong was really persistent, she actually listened to me sing from beginning to end, and what's more interesting is that she actually took it all in, not even doing something like blocking her hearing.
Later when Xiaoyao asked Xiao Hong about this, the answer he got was, "Although the songs made people want to cry, they were really beautiful. I really wanted to keep listening!!"
Just like this, for several days Xiaoyao continued doing one thing, forging gauntlets for Le Youran. During these days, Xiao Hong constantly stayed by Xiaoyao's side, also because Le Youran still hadn't come out of seclusion.
As for the gauntlets Xiaoyao was forging, Xiao Hong never really understood them, because Xiaoyao didn't let her know too much. At the same time, Xiao Hong couldn't understand some of Xiaoyao's work, there were things she clearly saw but didn't know what they were for.
(End of Chapter)