Chapter 62: The Crown Prince Becomes a Servant
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
Lu Yan Shu inhaled deeply, his brows knit in worry. From within the hall echoed sounds of anguished wailing.
Today, the Crown Prince was not himself.
His gaze shifted between ferocity and torment, as if an intense battle raged within his very soul.
“Get out! Get out of here! All of you, leave!” His voice was sharp, laced with an unnatural menace that defied the innocence expected of a seven or eight-year-old child. His eyes gleamed with a sinister edge.
The palace staff knelt at a distance, too terrified to approach. Some had already rushed to summon the Emperor.
Inside the hall, shattered tea cups littered the ground. The Crown Prince, dressed in simple attire, knelt amidst the porcelain shards. His knees were bloodied, yet he seemed oblivious to the pain. Sweat poured down his face as he clutched his head, his expression twisted with agony.
“What vile specters dare to haunt me?! Leave my body at once!” The Crown Prince roared, his mind consumed by searing pain.
“Chao Chao… Chao Chao…” he murmured softly, calling the name of Lu Chao Chao.
“Quick… find Chao Chao!” Xie Cheng Xi’s body trembled violently, his sweat dripping like rain.
[This can’t be real. A rogue soul has possessed my body!]
Fear chilled him to his core. He could feel a powerful force trying to wrench his soul from its vessel.
A sinister voice chuckled within him. “You need not struggle. I shall take good care of this body for you.” It was this intruder who had dismissed the servants.
“Get out!” Xie Cheng Xi’s vision blurred as the pain surged, leaving even his fingertips trembling. His spirit felt as though it were being forcibly torn apart.
Suddenly…
Someone entered the room.
Through blurred vision, he caught sight of… a chubby little figure crawling painstakingly over the threshold. In her tiny hand, she clutched a milk bottle, occasionally taking a satisfied sip. Her unsteady steps wobbled as she made her way toward him.
The warm, milky scent she carried filled the air. She placed her small, soft hand on his forehead, pinning his wayward spirit firmly in place.
[Oh dear, he’s almost dead…] Lu Chao Chao’s eyes widened in shock.
[You were meant to die from an epidemic. I altered your fate, yet the Heavenly Dao corrected it again!]
“You nasty old heavens…” she muttered under her breath.
Exhausted, she plopped down cross-legged beside him, cradling her bottle. [The Crown Prince cannot die. If he dies, he’ll just become the heroine’s pathetic lapdog!]
Chao Chao detested lapdogs.
Her big, mischievous eyes glinted with a hint of cunning. “Heh-heh…” she giggled slyly.
“Cr-Cr… Crow… kwown pwinsh, yu…”
“Want… w-want to live?”
Xie Cheng Xi rolled his eyes in frustration. Did she think he wanted to die?
He tried to speak but could not control his body. The invading soul kept his lips clamped tightly shut, drawing blood.
Chao Chao scratched her little pigtails thoughtfully. “Nod if yes?”
The Crown Prince immediately bobbed his head.
[But even if I save you, the Heavenly Dao will push you back toward death.] She pouted. [Unless…]
Chao Chao’s cheeks puffed out in a disgruntled expression. [Unless you share your life with me.]
Her power of merits could save a life effortlessly, but mortals were unworthy of sharing her essence. To bypass the Heavenly Dao, there was only one solution: servitude.
[You can only live as my servant. Follow me, and the Heavenly Dao will have no claim over you.]
She tugged at her tiny pigtail so hard it nearly came undone.
She plopped down decisively. “Yu, yu… will yu…”
“B-be Chao Chao’s s-servant?” she stammered, her little mouth working hard to form the words.
Xie Cheng Xi’s ragged breaths came faster. He could feel himself losing control, his limbs no longer obeying him. The invading soul tightened its grip, eager to erase him entirely.
Through gritted teeth and bloodshot eyes, Xie Cheng Xi stood shakily, then knelt again amidst the broken shards.
“I, Xie Cheng Xi, vow to serve Chao Chao faithfully for all my lifetimes. If I break this oath, may Heaven strike me with lightning!”
The moment he finished speaking, thunder rumbled through the pitch-black night.
Storm clouds gathered ominously overhead. This was not a sign of his oath’s success but the Heavenly Dao’s wrath, seeking to intervene.
Chao Chao, hands on her hips, tossed aside her milk bottle. Her round little face scrunched in annoyance as she pointed to the heavens.
“Shut up!” she snapped fiercely, her voice a milk-sweet growl.
“If yu sh-till gwumble… I’ll smwack yu!”
The dark clouds hesitated, seeming almost aggrieved, then dispersed.
Xie Cheng Xi stared, dumbfounded.
With a decisive “plop,” he kowtowed twice, the sound of his sincerity ringing clear.
[No regrets!] he thought. [Even the Heavenly Dao yields to her. I’m just a Crown Prince; what’s a little servitude?]
Chao Chao inspected her tiny finger thoughtfully, then bit it hard, her small face scrunched in determination. Two faint tooth marks appeared, but no blood.
[Two teeth? That’s all?]
Her face burned with embarrassment, even though she didn’t fully understand the feeling. Baby dignity was still dignity!
Furious, she scraped her hand over a shard of porcelain, a bead of crimson blood welling up. The air filled with an intoxicating fragrance, refreshing to the soul. She pressed her finger to the Crown Prince’s forehead.
“Kwi… Kwi-yak done!”
The blood vanished into his skin. Xie Cheng Xi felt a surge of strength stabilize his soul, expelling the invading spirit instantly. Weak, he collapsed to the ground.
“Xie Cheng Xi pledges eternal gratitude to Chao Chao. From now on, I am your servant.” He solemnly bowed to her, his voice filled with reverence.
Unwilling to reveal he could hear her thoughts, he kept silent, afraid it might unsettle her. But he now understood—Lu Yuan Ze’s daughter was no ordinary child.
He removed the jade pendant from his waist and carefully tied it to Chao Chao’s.
“Chao Chao, this pendant grants you freedom across Northern Zhao. None shall harm you.”
“Oh.” She responded indifferently.
[Your father already gave me one.]
Her countless allies could scare her father to death. Did she need another trinket?
Xie Cheng Xi hesitated, unsure if she liked it. “Chao Chao, what do you like?”
Her eyes sparkled. “Meat!”
[Big chicken drumsticks!]
[Sugar-coated hawthorn!]
[Sugar figurines!]
She looked at him expectantly.
Lacking experience with children, Xie Cheng Xi knew better than to let a ten-month-old gnaw on drumsticks. He declined immediately.
He watched as the light in her eyes dimmed, snuffed out like a candle.
Chao Chao had thought her act of salvation might earn her a chicken drumstick. But this heartless refusal…
The same Chao Chao who could scold the Heavenly Dao and kick the gates of the Underworld… burst into tears.
“Waaaaah!” she wailed, her tears and snot flowing freely.
[This is betrayal!]
[He won’t even give me a drumstick!]
The hall resounded with the cries of the aggrieved baby hero.
Such sad mc, doesnt have servant who’s willing to serve chiken.