Chapter 79: No One Wants To Follow The Rules
“Beast—”
Peng Zeng, whose stomach felt like it would burst from eating porridge, cursed to the sky and started snoring loudly again.
Feng An and Liang Kun couldn’t move this burly strong man. Yun Ce lifted him, threw him onto the sheep cart. The high fever had mostly subsided, but the excessive weakness, coupled with six fractures and countless superficial wounds, left his mind unclear.
Yun Ce was very interested in this. Truly, such a person, with such injuries, would have died seven or eight times over on Earth. After eating a little food, he was actually recovering. The only thing comparable was ancient Earth creatures like cockroaches.
It had snowed last night. Tonight, the sky was cloudless. The full moon was more than half smaller than three months ago, finally resembling Earth’s moon a little. If not for the bothersome blood moon and crescent moon on the horizon always showing their presence, Yun Ce might have remembered his homeland.
As soon as this thought arose, Yun Linchuan’s bald head, covered in age spots, appeared before Yun Ce’s eyes. He couldn’t help but shiver, and even his sleeping posture became more proper.
This was terrible. Whenever Yun Linchuan appeared in Yun Ce’s mind, he would stubbornly linger for days, making Yun Ce recall the time spent with him again and again.
Yun Ce hated waking up at five to run, hated running until seven, hated brushing his teeth after exercising, and even more, hated the unchanging meals on the table.
As dawn approached, Yun Ce impatiently opened his eyes. Seeing that others were still asleep, he took out his mobile phone from the Dragon Pearl and glanced at it. Indeed, it was five in the morning, and by Earth time at that.
He threw the phone back into the Dragon Pearl, stood up, wet a towel with ice water, casually wiped his face, and then poured some water into his mouth. After a few casual swishes, he considered it brushing his teeth.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like brushing his teeth; that damned man in black hadn’t prepared a toothbrush or toothpaste for him. The contents were entirely for special forces wilderness survival training, not even a single gun.
For the convenience of travel, Yun Ce’s camp was by the roadside. If it were daytime and they heard dense footsteps, it wouldn’t be unusual; quite a few caravans passed by on this road. After all, the Royal Hunting Ground yielded quite a lot.
Now, with the full moon high in the sky, for a group of people to arrive was naturally inappropriate. Feng An and Liang Kun, who were sleeping fully clothed, also heard the commotion. As they opened their eyes to shout, they saw Yun Ce standing by the sheep cart. He spat out a mouthful of water, signaling them to continue sleeping. Then, he leaped up, over the high sheep cart, and left through a gap in the sky.
Yun Ce went out at five and returned before seven.
Feng An saw that his clothes were not out of place, his hair was neat, but his hands seemed freshly washed, much cleaner than usual when he only washed them once.
Yun Ce said nothing upon his return, and Feng An didn’t ask. Whether the visitors in the early morning were people or wild beasts, it no longer mattered. Yun Ce must have resolved the situation.
Today, they were to take over the Royal Hunting Ground. E Ji was a little excited. She got up early and didn’t see Yun Ce, thinking he had gone out on an errand. She quickly urged everyone to make a simple breakfast to make do, saying they could eat well once the Young Master took over the Royal Hunting Ground.
Peng Zeng was sleeping very soundly. Perhaps his instincts told him he was safe now, so he entered a deep sleep. Yun Ce knew that this kind of sleep was irreplaceable for repairing the body and spirit. Thus, he didn’t let E Ji, who was eager to arrange work for Peng Zeng, get close.
E Ji’s beliefs were very simple: if you ate my food, you must work for me. She believed this was the greatest principle in the world and would dare to say so even to King Huo if he were alive.
In the early morning, after breakfast, everyone set off again towards the sunrise. The Royal Pasture was located at the foot of Gaoliang Mountain to the east. The sun peeking over Gaoliang Mountain signaled the start of a new day.
Along the way, Feng An carefully observed the surrounding terrain, hoping to find some clues from the subtle changes in the environment. He firmly believed that Yun Ce’s departure that morning was not for an errand, as E Ji had claimed.
The Royal Hunting Ground was a mountainous hunting ground. It was said that one could hunt a creature rarely seen throughout the Great Han here, a *Zhu*, which was a sacred beast. Legend had it that Emperor Liu Shou and King Huo simultaneously drew their bows; the Emperor shot a *Zhu*, while King Huo returned empty-handed.
Emperor Liu Shou then had the skin and fur of this *Zhu* made into a hat, which he wore all year round without ever taking it off.
When Yun Ce arrived at a vast hall, there was no one at the gate. Feng An shouted loudly into the hall for a long time before an old woman timidly came out and asked who they were looking for.
Feng An explained that the newly appointed Chief Manager of the Royal Hunting Ground had arrived and that the officials inside should come out to greet him.
“Wei Dun’er is not here.”
No matter what Feng An said, the old woman repeated the same sentence: Wei Dun’er was not here.
Yun Ce pushed open the gate, drove the sheep cart into the Royal Hunting Ground, and looked back at the old woman. He saw that she was still standing there dazedly, muttering constantly, “Wei Dun’er is not here.”
“Wei Dun’er’s full name is Wei Xiao. For many years, he has served as the Deputy Chief Manager of the Royal Hunting Ground. He is said to be a simple and honest person,” Liang Kun easily found the corresponding person from the official gazette in his mind.
Yun Ce curled his lips. He didn’t believe a single word of what Liang Kun had just said. This morning, when he went out for his run, he had encountered Wei Dun’er and twenty-nine other people.
Among them, the six most formidable strong men were Wei Dun’er’s sons, and there were eleven young men, said to be Wei Dun’er’s grandsons. The youngest, according to Wei Dun’er, was only thirteen this year. They had come to broaden their horizons, build courage, and coincidentally, choose a pleasing girl from E Ji’s group to be their wife.
Wei Dun’er, who was sixty-eight this year, was still strong. From the age of eight, when he took over from his father as an attendant at the Royal Hunting Ground, he had considered this place his home. Over time, it truly became his home.
For a full sixty years, he spent sixty years, through various means, pushing out the existing attendants and stewards. Those who couldn’t be pushed out were killed. Eventually, after all the stewards and attendants at the Royal Hunting Ground were related to him, the Royal Hunting Ground, which the royal family never visited, became Wei Dun’er’s paradise.
Yun Ce’s arrival at the Royal Hunting Ground and the absence of stewards to greet him, as well as the general attendants, was within his expectations.
Just this morning, he had personally beaten twenty-nine stewards and attendants of the Royal Hunting Ground to death with his fists.
The corpses were left for a doggy that had been tracking him for a long time. It was estimated that if the doggy couldn’t finish it, it would summon all its companions.
Feng An and Liang Kun searched the entire palace grounds of the Royal Hunting Ground and found no stewards. In the end, they had no choice but to summon some subordinate attendants and people specifically responsible for labor. After Yun Ce casually read out the appointment letters, he became the Chief Manager there.
Only the people Yun Ce brought acknowledged him as the Chief Manager. The people of the Royal Hunting Ground did not think so. The old woman with a poor mind even told Yun Ce earnestly after he finished reading the appointment letters, “Wei Dun’er will return.”
Yun Ce also thought carefully and was certain that Wei Dun’er would not return. When this man saw his youngest son’s head explode with a single punch from Yun Ce, he began to curse Yun Ce furiously. Until Yun Ce punched, punch after punch, exploding his sons’ heads one after another, his curses turned into pleas. He begged Yun Ce to kill him and spare his youngest grandson’s life.
Yun Ce felt he couldn’t spare him. Someone who knew how to kill, rob, and steal women at thirteen was a menace to keep alive. So, he punched through his chest, killing him.
Wei Dun’er was the last to die. The process was not complicated. In any case, there was no possibility of Wei Dun’er returning to the Royal Hunting Ground.
Yun Ce specifically wrote a report accusing Wei Xiao and the other stewards and attendants of dereliction of duty and selected the most intelligent servant to deliver the letter to Chuyun City.
For two consecutive days, Yun Ce was busy organizing various bamboo slips and wooden slips in the Royal Hunting Ground, re-establishing the hunting ground’s rules and regulations. He sincerely hoped that the servants here would abide by the rules he set.
While Yun Ce was overwhelmingly busy, Peng Zeng, who had slept for two days and two nights, finally woke up. This fellow had lost a lot of weight after sleeping for two days. His once bright eyes were now sunken into his eye sockets; there was no trace of the boldness he had when they first met on the wasteland.
“You saved me?” Peng Zeng’s voice had also become hoarse.
“You saved yourself. I merely provided a little insignificant help; the rest was all done by you.”
“Good. Great kindness needs no thanks. Shall we consider our grievances settled?”
“That won’t do. I beat you twice, and neither time did I kill you. This time, I’ve genuinely helped you, so you still owe me.
“Besides, do you see that Young Lord who is always looking this way? You ate her food, slept in her carriage, and drank her water. How will you repay these kindnesses?”
Peng Zeng struggled to stand up. Due to his unhealed fractures, he bent over and pleaded with Yun Ce, “A drop of kindness will be repaid with a gushing spring.”
Yun Ce shook his head and said, “You’ve already signed a contract of servitude. That cannot be changed.”
“I am not a slave.”
“Of course, you are a slave. You are also part of E Ji’s limited wealth.”
“I—”
Seeing Peng Zeng about to start cursing again, Yun Ce punched his left ribs. A faint cracking sound came from under his ribs. This was likely the sound of his left rib fracturing.
Peng Zeng slowly fell onto the bed. The intense pain returned and quickly overwhelmed him.
Yun Ce called for the old woman and said to her, “Take good care of him. Three green coins per day.”
The old woman nodded and said, “Wei Dun’er will return.”
Yun Ce also nodded, placed three green coins into the old woman’s calloused hand, and left the room.
“If I yell again, do you have any extra monthly tickets for me?”
