Chapter 550: Tidying Up

Chapter 550: Chapter 550: Tidying Up

Shen Hao looked at himself in the copper mirror. He had to admit, this silly slave Xia Nu actually had pretty good taste.

Shen Hao had really never worn white clothes before. It wasn’t that he disliked white, but white stained too easily—by the end of a day there’d be smudges on the elbows, the collar... It just wasn’t as carefree as darker colors.

But the outfit Xia Nu picked today was nicely tailored, somewhat like a long warrior robe, with some subtle dark red patterns at the details; overall, it looked pretty good.

Anyway, Shen Hao felt he looked quite decent in this getup.

"And this too, Master. It looks best when you flick it open." Xia Nu pulled out a folded fan from who knows where and handed it to Shen Hao.

With a swish, the fan opened—the surface was black, but written in bold gold script. Looking closer, it turned out to be that very poem he brought to this world: "Song of the Water Melody: When Will the Bright Moon Appear."

"Master, I found an old man who’s really famous to write this! And that’s real gold dust he used!"

Xia Nu had saved up quite a bit, but she barely spent any on herself, never had the heart to, but when it came to buying things for Shen Hao, she never held back, always using her own allowance instead of asking for funds from Hu Tian. In her words, her money was meant for Master anyway. She was foolishly loyal like that.

"Very nice. Let’s go with this." Shen Hao snapped the fan shut with a flourish, held it behind his back, and stepped out of the bedroom to have breakfast in the main hall. Xia Nu stayed behind to tidy herself up—she’d be going out with him today too, no way she’d embarrass Master Shen.

As soon as he arrived in the main hall, Shen Hao couldn’t help but burst out laughing—there, in plain view, were two little fox girls dressed in gaudy colors. Clearly, they dressed themselves, but their sense of style was nothing like Xia Nu’s—or his, for that matter—just dazzling to the eye.

"Master, have some soy milk! I put in extra sugar, it’s super sweet!"

"Master, you look amazing today!"

The two little fox girls weren’t great at flattery, but they were certainly trying. Still, the uneven blush they’d slapped on both cheeks was so glaring it was hard to look away. Learning to dress up wasn’t bad, but messing around with makeup like this was just ridiculous, wasn’t it?

"Xiaoma, come here." Shen Hao picked up his bowl of soy milk, trying not to let his hand shake from laughter, and called Ma Jiu Fu in, since he’d been howling with laughter at the door.

"Master Shen." Xiaoma bowed, but clearly had no idea why he was being called over out of the blue.

"What are you laughing at out there?"

"Uh... I wasn’t... I was just laughing at Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk’s makeup." Xiaoma stuttered and didn’t dare to lie.

The two little ones, hearing this, were immediately offended. They glared, hands on their hips, about to snap back at the jerk who just complimented their makeup—but thought better of it, remembering the master was there. Still, the anger in their eyes was obvious.

Xiaoma snickered dryly; he wasn’t worried about the two fox girls, he just felt embarrassed being scolded in front of Shen Hao. I mean, he was a grown man, teasing two little Barbarian girls—what did that even look like?

"It really is hilarious." Shen Hao just couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, nearly choking. Still catching his breath, he said amid the two fox girls’ wounded glares, "You two have never learned how to do makeup, have you? Aren’t you scared Xia Nu will hassle you later, after you smeared her powder everywhere? If you want to put it on, do it right. Asking Xiaoma—someone who knows squat about makeup—what good will that do? Ask Xia Nu, have her clean you up. Go on, now!"

The master spoke, so the two fox girls had no choice but to sulk off towards the backyard. It was just excitement that made them mess with Xia Nu’s cosmetics. Now that they’d been called out on it, they were anxious about being scolded, but knew there was no escaping it, so off they went, dragging their feet.

After breakfast, Shen Hao lounged in the main hall, sipping tea and chatting with Xiaoma, until eventually Xia Nu appeared, bringing out Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk.

After a good dressing down and a round of cleaning up, the two fox girls’ faces were still a bit sulky, but they looked completely different—no more the weird, random makeup from before. Now they were charming and adorable, and, with those fox ears and tails, the three of them standing together in the main hall looked quite a sight.

"Master."

"All set? Let’s go, then."

Shen Hao stood up. Behind him trailed three fox girls, two Nursing Home guards, Xiaoma the gofer, and several Xuanqing Guards.

Shen Hao himself rode in the carriage, the rest walked, making their way slowly towards the auction.

All along the way, even inside the carriage, Shen Hao could hear Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk chattering at full speed, cheerful as could be, and Xia Nu’s tireless quiet scolding. The whole scene drew a lot of attention on the street.

Whose slaves dared talk this loudly? And clearly, the master was still in the carriage—weren’t they afraid of being beaten to death for disturbing their master? Besides, with guards and house attendants in the mix, this was no small caravan. Why didn’t anyone stop those two slaves? No discipline at all!

If it weren’t for this entourage being quite impressive, someone probably would’ve stepped up by now to meddle.

That’s just the state of things nowadays. No Barbarian Race People dared show their faces in the Dynasty anymore—used to be, a few who surrendered would wander around, but now, not even one in sight.

As they neared the brokerage, some sharp-eyed folks in the crowd started talking.

"See that? What uniform is the carriage driver wearing? Xuanqing Guard? Duh, I know it’s Xuanqing Guard, but did you notice anything different about the Taotie Pattern on the chest? Tch, that’s the Black Banner Battalion robe! You really need to guess who’s in that carriage?"

"Who?"

"Who in Fengri City’s Black Banner Battalion can go anywhere flanked by guards?"

"You mean that Evil St—er, Lord Shen?"

"Exactly. Didn’t you hear? Lord Shen’s household has three stunning fox women all doted on, and look—aren’t there three of them right there? So, listen—stop gossiping about them, okay? If someone overhears and it gets back to him, you think you’ll get away with it? You do the math."

Do the math? You already said that’s Shen Shaxing! Why the hell would I take that risk? If someone hears me badmouthing him and it reaches his ears, who knows what’ll happen to me? Didn’t you see how he raided both the Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue’s houses one after another? Not someone to mess with, not at all!

Word spread fast. Pretty soon, the onlookers pointing and whispering about Shen Hao’s group vanished. Some thick-skinned types even managed to squeeze up to the carriage to smile and curry favor with the three fox girls, though the guards wouldn’t let anybody get too close. If not for that, there’d be plenty of folks eager to schmooze with Lord Shen or at least get their faces known.

Sitting inside, Shen Hao said nothing, but his Perception let him know exactly what was happening outside. Slaves laughing and joking outside—that was already breaking the etiquette. Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk had never been to a brokerage, so they didn’t know the rules. Xia Nu did, but at home they were used to being noisy, and out here, since nobody scolded them, she just let it be.

As for what other people thought, Xia Nu’s attitude was: My master’s fine with it—what business is it of yours?