As expected, Long Wei showed little interest in the brides who had been sent to him. Most of the time he was nowhere to be seen, and when he was, it was only to stroll through his estate. In a few weeks, he would leave the summer estate and return to the Yi residence for the winter. It was an estate that could not be reached on horseback or on foot. Only magic, and powerful magic at that, could grant access. For all the poor souls who had not managed to buy Long Wei's favor by then, certain death awaited. And for those gullible fools who were really only here for the harm, nothing but disappointment awaited.
The late summer sun was still strong, so Shan Yuan walked around wearing only loose-fitting pants and no shirt. A bracelet of small bells was tied around his ankle, tinkling softly with every step. A gift from his uncle. After a few days, the initial shock was forgotten and the first death-defying individuals seized their chance when they saw one. The woman named Ye Zhen Zhen conspicuously positioned herself in the right light as soon as Long Wei was in sight. She was a pro at catching the light perfectly and giving the impression of a wealthy, chaste lady. Another was much more daring. When Yi Long walked past her, she pretended that the water bucket she was using to water the flowers hanging from the pavilion was too heavy for her. She feigned a fainting spell and spilled the water over herself before falling at his feet, soaked to the skin.
"Wei Gongzi," she looked up at him skillfully through her thick eyelashes. Water droplets fell and rolled down her cheek, and to anyone else, she would have looked seductive. But again, Long Wei looked rather disgusted. The thin, transparent fabric revealed everything. He clasped his hands behind his back and gave her a withering look. Shan Yuan watched the scene. He stood just a few meters away, opposite the ridiculous scene, watching the master's every move. Yi Long Wei looked up. He let his gaze wander over the onlookers. Most of the women were in the garden. So were some of the men who were being shown their duties. He seemed to be looking for something. Shan Yuan averted his gaze when it reached him and conscientiously stretched a new cloth over the doorframe to soften the sunlight falling into the rooms.
"I see you haven't been listening to me!"
The smile on the woman's face faded. She quickly got to her feet, but Long Wei didn't let up. He stepped so close to her that she backed away. He pushed her further until she fell into one of the countless small ponds.
"I'm not a monster, I'll remind you again!" Long Wei's voice was ice cold. Again, he let his gaze wander as if searching for something. Frustrated, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and motioned to one of his bodyguards, who always accompanied him, to help the woman out of the pond. She thanked him, trembling, but the man did not let go. His face showed no emotion, neither anger nor hatred nor joy.
Shan Yuan studied him. He only moved when Long Wei ordered him to, his gaze seeing right through the woman. His breathing remained steady, even as he lifted the woman out of the pond with one hand and threw her to the ground. A mindless puppet, Shan Yuan thought. More dead than alive, without any ambitions or desires of their own. They didn't sleep, didn't eat, and couldn't betray their masters. His gaze shifted from the man who was tearing the woman's clothes off, even though he was almost dislocating her arm and leaving bloody welts on her snow-white skin, back to Long Wei. He still looked arrogant and bored.
His thick eyelashes overshadowed his dark eyes, which had no sparkle in them. His lips were closed, his breathing steady, as if the spectacle before him, which terrified the others, was nothing more than a trivial matter to him. A reprimand, perhaps. Much like a father disciplining his son, Long Wei taught the people around him to fear him. There was a crack and the woman screamed as her arm was broken. Shan Yuan did not take his eyes off Yi Long Wei. Only when he looked up and glanced around in alarm did he lower his head and look at the ground. No one made any move to help. Zhen Zhen looked in another direction. Shan Yuan saw what was going through her mind. If she continued to try to attract Long Wei's attention, her death would come sooner than she would like. And something else made the lack of willingness to help clear: everyone here was here for a reason, no one could afford to stick their neck out for someone else, and no one would do it.
"No, please, I'm sorry, stop." The woman's whimpering and pleading turned into violent sobbing. The man undid his belt. Unmoved, he pulled down his pants and, with his other hand, pulled the woman back toward him by one leg when she tried to flee. He turned her around roughly, as if she were a doll. She screamed in pain. Her right arm hung uselessly at her side while she tried to push the man away with her other hand. She scratched his face, tearing off half his lip, but he felt no pain. Completely unmoved and merciless, he thrust again. The scream echoed throughout the entire estate. Shan Yuan gritted his teeth. All the screaming, whimpering, and begging made him feel sick. She had known what she was doing and what she was getting herself into. What did she expect would happen after Long Wei killed the first one of them on the very first night? The begging and pleading disgusted him. It wouldn't help her anyway.
Yi Long Wei bowed his head and motioned to his guard with a hand gesture. The guard grabbed the almost unconscious woman and threw her face down onto the stone. Blood spurted from her nose and lips. She twitched unnaturally as she tried to support herself with one hand. She did not succeed. The man spread her buttocks. In a final burst of panic, she begged once more. He thrust forward. She screamed, helplessly stretching out her arms, but no one looked except Long Wei. Her face scraped across the floor, tearing the skin from her flesh. Shan Yuan watched Long Wei's reaction. But his expression hadn't changed. Although he was watching, he looked more like he was doing an unpleasant task. Things that had to be done. But there was neither fear nor resistance in his gaze. What he was doing didn't repulse him, but it didn't fulfill him either. Shan Yuan observed the pretty face, the thick eyelashes, and the bored expression. A smile stole across his face as a plan took shape in his mind.
There it was again, that piercing, stabbing gaze. But every time he looked up, he couldn't make out who was watching him. Long Wei didn't know when he had last been observed so fearlessly. Whoever it was, they had a lot of practice and experience in watching from the shadows without being seen. Even for him, the master of mysteries, they remained hidden, despite having trained all his senses to the utmost. Had an assassin sneaked in? He had already sent countless ones back to their owners in pieces. But the gaze that pierced his perception had nothing murderous about it.
It was intense, like fire. Yet whoever was watching him had no intention of killing him. He was watching the woman's ordeal. Her suffering did not move him; her pain brought him neither satisfaction nor temporary pleasure. He snapped his fingers and his guard let her go. She remained lying there, sobbing, whimpering, a picture of misery. Her entire body was covered in blood, her cheek scraped down to the bone. Long Wei sighed.
"Take her away and clean this up!" he ordered. The women looked at each other and the men also turned away. No one wanted to scrub the blood off the floor.
"If no one can be found to clean up the mess, I'll continue until my courtyard has a new coat of paint," he threatened coldly. Most of his servants had already returned to the winter residence to prepare everything for his arrival, so only a handful of servants and the new recruits remained.
A young man stepped forward. His hair was wild and unkempt, and his dark eyes had an inscrutable look. He wore loose pants and red silk cloth wrapped around his hips, was barefoot, and his bare chest was adorned with several gold chains and jewelry. Long Wei's gaze lingered for a moment on his chest, his muscular stomach, and his full lips. He looked strong and untamed, definitely not from around here. He bowed slightly but said nothing as he took a bucket of water and emptied it onto the blood-stained floor.
Shan Yuan remained silent and did not look up as he knelt down directly in front of Long Wei and began to scrub. "The rest of you can go!" Yi Long Wei instructed them as he watched the muscles play across the man's back. The guard grabbed the woman, threw her over his shoulder, and left first. When they were alone, he slowly walked around the young man. He knelt on the floor with his legs spread apart and used his skilled fingers to remove the blood from the white stone. When Long Wei stood behind him and watched him, he didn't move a muscle or flinch.
"What is your name?" Long Wei asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.
"Nan Shan Yuan!"
"Nan? That name is unfamiliar to me."
"It's very common in the south!"
"Are you from there? The south?" Long Wei continued to pace around him until he was standing in front of him again, so close that if Shan Yuan continued scrubbing, he would splash his robe, so he stopped. Shan Yuan stood up, sat on his heels, and did not look Long Wei directly in the eyes. He knew that would be provocative. As long as they didn't want to, men like him never looked directly at you.
"That was a long time ago. My mother came from the south!"
"Came!" echoed Long Wei. "It's the first time I've seen skin like yours!"
"Too dark for the north, too light for the south!"
Long smiled at his remark.
"If you volunteer, do your job conscientiously. Don't expect mercy if I'm not satisfied!"
"What would you do then?"
The question made Long Wei pause, who had just turned to leave. A smile stole across his lips as he looked at Shan Yuan.
"Then I'll hurt you!" The young man raised his eyes, just his eyelashes, just a millimeter, and looked directly at him. Long Wei recognized the feeling immediately, the glowing eyes, the burning gaze. "I can take a little pain... Master!"
He lowered his gaze again. Long Wei turned away.
"We'll see about that!"
His mood had clearly improved.