Chapter 80 - Steal A Heart
"That woman did what?" Qu Xing Xu glared at the waiter who almost buckled his knees on the floor.
The waiter was scared shitless at how his master's intimidating aura was emitting. He could feel his body feeling sick just by looking at the vicious look his master was giving him.
Calling the Empress 'woman' instead of her rightful title was beyond disrespectful but Qu Xing Xu rather not care about that when his mind was preoccupied with what the waiter had just said.
"And how the hell did I only get to know of this now?" He shot the waiter a questioning look before waving his hand and a man wearing all black appeared out of nowhere.
The man clad in black kneeled before him and cupped his hands in front of his chest, "Master."
"Is what he said true?" Qu Xing Xu asked the man clad in black who bowed his head.
"Yes, master." Just after he answered, the man clad in black almost laid out on the floor in fear after the tremendous amount of pressure that his master was putting on him.. He knew that his master was angry at this point.
Closing his eyes, Qu Xing Xu stood up and walked towards the window to look outside where people were walking in the central road.
"It seems that my subordinates have a lot of opinion in their minds that my words weren't taken seriously." His statement made both the waiter and the man clad in black gulp down their fears, "Reason… give me a reason why I must let you people stay by my side?"
Qu Xing Xu has been quite lenient towards his men as he trusted them the most to watch his back. However, that didn't mean that he was willing to forgive their little mistakes unless they give him a good reason to let them keep their lives intact.
Gu Yan wanted to curse and beat the people who were left behind in the Capital. Three days ago, Qu Xing Xu was away for a day to procure some materials outside of the borders of the Zheng Empire. As always, he received reports from the spies he spread across the Capital while he was way but unknowingly, it seems that the piece of news concerning the lady whom his master was interested in and the Empress was left out.
After he came back, Qu Xing Xu still hadn't received any reports concerning Lin Xiaofei and assumed that she was busy scheming in the dark. And when she came to the Hong Pei Lou for the two consecutive days he was in there, he finds it quite entertaining to watch her from somewhere else.
Probably, the spies who were in the palace and the Lin residence felt that it wasn't worth reporting it since their master will probably not show any care since he was busy with other things. Also, they assumed that Qu Xing Xu only showed the young lady a bit of interest and had no plans to interfere with her personal matters.
But they were all wrong. Naturally, they weren't always around their master unlike Gu Yan and didn't witness the times when their master has done some actions that were beyond Gu Yan's imaginations. Hence, they didn't know what their master was really thinking about the lady.
If only they knew that their master was more than interested in the lady not as a toy he could play with but something more, they would have to do everything they could to make sure they reported her every move to their master.
"This subordinate has been lacking in disciplining my men." Gu Yan had no excuse for what his men did, "Please, master. Give us a punishment as you see fit."
"Alright." Qu Xing Xu turned around and face Gu Yan who was still kneeling, "Go to the tower along with the others and punish yourselves according to the oath you uttered when you swear loyalty to me."
Gu Yan felt his knees weakening. The punishment according to the oath that his master was talking about was a heavy one and according to their crimes, the spies who didn't report everything will lose their ability to write a report by cutting off two of their fingers or a hand, losing half of their ability to kill.
Gu Yan and the waiter shuddered in fear. However, Gu Yan was staring at his fingers which he had to say goodbye to.
As if reading his mind, Qu Xing Xu said, "I have other things for you to do so you don't need to come with the others." He pulled the cabinet under the table and took out a paper inside before throwing it to Gu Yan, "That woman has a lot of free time for her to use. Might as well make her work hard for her to keep her crown on top of her head."
A smile was on Qu Xing Xu's lips but the smile didn't reach his eyes that was colder than the ice from the northern border.
Gu Yan almost sighed in relief loudly and wanted to pat his chest when he heard his master saying he was excluded from the punishment. It's just that after hearing his next sentence, a cold sweat fell from his temple.
He looked up at Qu Xing Xu and asked, "This… Master, isn't it a bit too soon for the empress to be taken down?"
"Soon?" Qu Xing Xu raised his brow, "I don't think so. That woman dared to touch what is mine. It is only natural for me to retaliate and teach her a lesson."
Qu Xing Xu's words were too scary. If others were to hear his words, they would assume that he was the person who gave the Emperor and the Empress their crowns and can take it from them anytime.
But Gu Yan has no sympathy for the Empress or anyone whom his master considered as his enemy. So, it means that the empress will have to prepare herself from the fire she started.
"Are you going somewhere, master?" The waiter who stayed silent asked when he saw Qu Xing Xu walking towards the door.
Without turning around, Qu Xing Xu said, "This matter is not finished. Better use this opportunity to steal a heart."