Lou Yu stared pale-faced at his own feet—or more precisely, at the person beneath them.
A chill shot up his spine, and his toes trembled.
If he was not mistaken, the thin, frail, disheveled boy beneath his feet was the future hegemon who would one day have him torn apart by five horses.
In the modern world, Lou Yu had been a rich second-generation heir. He had never harbored any grand ambitions in life, wishing only to drift through his days and wait around to die. In his more than twenty years of existence, the most earth-shattering thing he had ever done was intervene when he encountered a robbery.
The robber had stabbed him to death.
Perhaps Heaven had taken pity on such an upright and kindhearted man and could not bear to see him die unjustly, allowing him to live a second life in this body.
But after combining the memories of this body with the domination novel he had finished reading just before his death, Lou Yu had no choice but to accept a tragic fact—
He had transmigrated into a vicious cannon-fodder character!
In the book, this cannon fodder was nothing more than a tool used to temper the male protagonist in the early chapters. He had no tragic circumstances to explain his behavior; he simply bullied others for the sake of bullying them. In the end, he died a gruesome death.
A brazier burned inside the room, making it as warm as spring. Yet Lou Yu felt as though he had fallen into an icy abyss, his entire body cold.
He glared down at the boy beneath his feet, lips pressed tightly together, cold air seemingly radiating from his whole body. Everyone in the room was so frightened that no one dared make a sound.
Lou Yu was gloomily considering whether he should strike first and eliminate the future threat when the boy, who had originally had his eyes closed, abruptly opened them. His gaze was sharp and icy.
The dark thought flashed through Lou Yu’s mind and vanished just as quickly. He had died while bravely intervening in a robbery, so of course he could not really take advantage of the male protagonist’s youth to kill him.
He rested his right foot on the boy’s chest and applied a little pressure. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he said haughtily, “My feet are cold. Warm them for me.”
Before Lou Yu had transmigrated, the original owner had been in a foul mood after waking up and had kicked the young Huo Yan, who had been standing beside the bed, to the floor. He was just about to beat him when Lou Yu arrived.
Lou Yu did not like bullying people, but he could not suddenly transform into a kindhearted person either. He had no choice but to change the method.
To Huo Yan, however, those words were not particularly harmful—but they were profoundly humiliating.
The boy had been born into nobility. Being reduced to a servant whose job was to warm someone’s feet was a complete violation of his dignity.
He was already seething with resentment. On top of that, he suffered from a chronic ailment and had not eaten properly for several days. In a fit of rage, he fainted.
Lou Yu felt terribly guilty, but with a roomful of servants watching, he could only keep his face taut and sneer disdainfully. “What a useless thing.”
A slender-eyed young man stepped forward with a fawning smile. “Your Highness, shall I have them drag him away? It would spare your eyes the offense.”
Lou Yu lifted his eyes and glanced at him expressionlessly. “Are you teaching me how to do things?”
The fawning young man was named Feng Erbi. He was the steward’s biological son and had followed the original owner since childhood, earning considerable favor in front of him.
This man must have understood the original owner extremely well. Lou Yu had only just transmigrated and had not yet had time to carefully digest the original owner’s memories, so he could only proceed cautiously.
His unpredictable temper was his protective coloring.
Sure enough, Feng Erbi’s expression did not change at all. His eyes curved into slits as he smiled. Without mentioning the unconscious Huo Yan again, he instead said, “This servant overstepped. Your Highness, please punish me. However, His Highness the Prince and Her Highness the Princess are still waiting for you to pay your respects. Afterward, this servant will go receive his punishment.”
“No need.”
Lou Yu answered carelessly. His gaze seemed to sweep unintentionally over the faces of everyone in the room before he pointed to one person. “Sanmo, take him away.”
The young boy standing in the corner froze for a moment, then called over two other attendants and helped Huo Yan to his feet.
Just before they left the room, they heard an instruction: “Find a physician to examine him. Don’t let him die.”
After the group left, Feng Erbi quietly observed Lou Yu.
Lou Yu was leaning languidly against the bed as a maid helped him put on a pair of spotless socks. His mood appeared neither good nor bad.
Feng Erbi boldly asked, “Your Highness, why are you showing mercy to that lowly slave?”
Lou Yu stood up and spread his arms, allowing the maids to dress him. He revealed an unpleasant smile. “I’ve only been playing with him for a few days. How could that possibly be enough?”
Thinking he understood the deeper meaning, Feng Erbi smiled and echoed, “Your Highness truly has long-term vision.”
The corner of Lou Yu’s mouth twitched. This Feng Erbi and his younger brother, Feng Sanmo, were practically impossible to believe had come from the same womb.
He endured the discomfort of being touched by a whole group of maids, finished washing and dressing, and then stepped out in a pair of leather boots.
A howling winter wind swept beneath the corridor, and Lou Yu shivered.
Damn, it was cold.
A cloak settled over his shoulders. When he turned to look, he saw only the maid standing there with her eyes lowered.
The words “Thank you” lodged in his throat. He silently repeated, “I am the heir to the prince’s estate,” several times before finally managing to hold them back.
Guided by the memories in his mind, he left the courtyard and turned left toward the main residence, with Feng Erbi following close behind.
The prince’s estate was built on a grand scale and occupied a sizable area. It took quite some time to walk from the eastern courtyard to the main residence, giving Lou Yu the opportunity to quickly digest the original owner’s memories.
By the time he reached the main residence, he had a general understanding of the situation.
The rules among royal and noble families were strict. Parents and children often treated each other with the courtesy of strangers, and the original owner had spent far less time with his parents than with his attendants and maids.
Moreover, in front of his parents, the original owner often pretended to be obedient and ingratiating, acting completely differently from the domineering way he behaved before outsiders.
In short, the original owner’s parents did not truly understand him.
Lou Yu put on a bright smile and said sweetly to the woman guarding the door, “Aunt Lianfang, I’ve come to pay my respects to Father and Mother.”
He was only thirteen years old, with a face as fair and lovely as jade and snow, red lips, and pearly teeth. When he acted sweet and obedient, it did not look forced in the slightest. If anything, it made him even more endearing.
Aunt Lianfang smiled warmly. “Your Highness, go on in. Her Highness the Princess has just finished practicing her sword.”
Lou Yu: “…”
That was right. His mother, Princess Qing, loved nothing more than dancing with swords and wielding blades. She was a formidable woman. Perhaps because of that, there was not even a personal maid in the prince’s estate, much less any concubines or favored consorts.
He steadied himself and stepped into the main room.
Incense filled the room with a fresh, elegant fragrance that cleared the mind and refreshed the spirit.
Within his line of sight, a man and a woman sat on opposite sides. The man was dignified and refined, while the woman was spirited and heroic. Both were silently looking at him, their faces devoid of any unnecessary expression.
Lou Yu, however, was deeply shocked and nearly blurted out, “Mom and Dad!”
The Prince Qing and Princess Qing before him looked exactly like his parents in the modern world!
His modern mother had been a formidable businesswoman who had the final say in her company and possessed an imposing presence. His father had been a university professor, and the cultured air about him was practically identical to that of the Prince before Lou Yu.
When he had digested the memories earlier, he had indeed “seen” the appearances of Prince Qing and Princess Qing. But he had assumed his own memories had become mixed up with the original owner’s, so he had not dared believe it.
Lou Yu had not been entirely without fear after being transported alone into another world. Now, upon suddenly seeing two people with faces identical to his parents’, he was overwhelmed by a surge of familiarity, and his eyes reddened.
Still, he could tell that these two were not his parents who had somehow transmigrated with him.
When Prince Qing and Princess Qing saw their son staring blankly at them, his eyes red, they exchanged a glance, unable to help feeling worried.
Princess Qing was the first to lose patience. She immediately took Lou Yu’s hand and pulled him to his feet. Discovering that both his hands were freezing, she hurriedly had someone bring him a hand warmer, muttering softly, “There’s no need for you to pay your respects every day in weather this cold.”
As she spoke, she secretly glared at Prince Qing.
Prince Qing stroked his beard. He did not want this either, but they were members of the imperial clan—and princes of a fiefdom who were not in the emperor’s favor. Every move they made had to be cautious. Otherwise, someone might impeach him for “the heir’s lack of filial piety,” which would give the emperor the perfect excuse to strip his beloved son of his position as heir. The emperor could then go further, accusing him of such baseless crimes as “failing to properly educate his child” and stripping him of his title as prince. That would be disastrous.
Perhaps the emperor would not go that far, but Prince Qing could not help being afraid.
The silent exchange between father and son did not escape Lou Yu’s notice. With his quick mind, and after taking the era’s circumstances into account, he was able to guess at most of the truth.
Because the two looked exactly alike and had similar temperaments, Lou Yu could not help feeling a little familiar with them. His initial resistance to having transmigrated here eased somewhat. He quietly finished breakfast with the two of them before returning to the eastern courtyard.
Feng Sanmo came to report at just the right moment. “Your Highness, the physician has examined him. He says that the man is plagued by injuries and illness and has a weak spleen and stomach. He needs to recuperate properly and eat regular meals.”
Feng Erbi glanced at Feng Sanmo and inwardly grumbled: His foolish little brother is far too honest.
Feng Sanmo kept his eyes lowered and his nose pointed straight ahead, looking as if he could see and hear nothing.
Lou Yu found this amusing and asked Feng Sanmo, “Has the medicine been decocted?”
Feng Sanmo replied, “Not yet. I came specifically to ask Your Highness for instructions.”
“Erbi, what do you think?” Lou Yu turned to Feng Erbi.
Feng Erbi answered with a beaming smile, “Of course we’ll follow Your Highness’s arrangements.”
Fortunately, Sanmo was not truly stupid. At least he knew to ask for His Highness’s instructions instead of making decisions on his own.
Lou Yu said, “I’ve thought of a new way to torment people. Sanmo, that lowly slave will be in your care for the next few days. You must keep him in good health for me. If he passes out halfway through the torment again, I’ll hold you responsible.”
“Yes.” Feng Sanmo respectfully acknowledged the order.
“Have A-Zhi and A-Yan go help as well,” Lou Yu instructed.
A-Zhi and A-Yan were also his personal attendants, but unlike the steward’s sons, they had never been particularly useful. They did not even have proper names.
Lou Yu disliked having too many people around him. One capable servant was enough, so he might as well take this opportunity to send them all away.
There were also all the maids in the room. He would have to find a way to deal with them too.
As far as he knew, he alone had four personal attendants, four maidservants, and four rough laborers assigned to him. The number of people in Prince Qing and Princess Qing’s courtyards was even more absurd.
He made a rough calculation. In the entire Prince Qing’s residence, there were more than a hundred servants alone. Added together, he had no idea how much grain they consumed in a single day, to say nothing of the household troops that every fiefdom prince was required to maintain.
Prince Qing’s residence had three thousand household troops—the minimum permitted for a prince’s fiefdom. The maximum could be as high as ten thousand.
Even so, the daily expenses of the entire residence amounted to a staggering sum. The key problem was that none of these people engaged in production; they all lived off the taxes collected from the fief.
And the common people suffered most of all.
There were only three masters in Prince Qing’s residence, yet more than a hundred servants. In Lou Yu’s eyes, it was an appalling waste of manpower, resources, and wealth.
If he had not known the fate awaiting Prince Qing’s residence, if he had not understood his own eventual end, then given his lazy nature, he would not have bothered with any of this.
But troubled times were approaching. Even without the hatred Huo Yan would harbor in the future, Prince Qing’s residence, with its current strength, was doomed to be swallowed up piece by piece.
Lou Yu did not want to die, nor did he want to be at the mercy of others.
He frowned as he pondered. As the number-one lackey at his side, Feng Erbi instinctively asked, “Does Your Highness have something on your mind?”
Lou Yu raised his eyes and sized him up. Seeing his fair face, broad cheeks, and slightly plump build, he could not help asking, “How many bowls do you eat in one meal?”
Feng Erbi froze. Could His Highness think he had gotten too fat?
Trembling, he held up three fingers.
Lou Yu: “…”
No wonder they say a growing boy can eat his family out of house and home!
Of course, Feng Erbi was Lou Yu’s favored attendant, so he naturally enjoyed the privilege of eating his fill. Among the lower-ranking laborers, there were plenty who could not even get enough to eat.
Lou Yu continued, “How much grain does the residence consume each day?”
Feng Erbi scratched his head. “This servant doesn’t know. I’ll have to ask my father. Why does Your Highness suddenly want to know?”
Lou Yu shot him a glance.
“Enough nonsense. Go call your father.”
