For Gu Mang’s first few days, Li Wei’s arrangements were—no arrangements.
Mo Xi was very dissatisfied with that. With a dark expression, he said, “What did I bring him back to my estate for? I didn’t bring him to Heyi Manor so he could rest. Give him something to do. Today.”
Li Wei hurriedly replied, “Today won’t work.”
“Why not? Did he bribe you?”
“How could that be?” Li Wei said. “Besides, Gu Mang doesn’t even know what the word ‘bribe’ means.”
Looking at his master’s cold, handsome face, stiff as an ice block frozen through an entire winter, Li Wei helplessly explained, “My Lord, although Gu Mang learned some manners at Luomei Villa, deep down he’s still more beast than man. After losing that fight against you, he was already wary of you. Now that he’s been brought somewhere completely new, it’s only natural that he’s uneasy.”
“Are you describing a person or a cat?”
Mo Xi was clearly angry, but Li Wei immediately seized the opportunity to flatter him. Slapping his hands together, he exclaimed, “Ah, Your Lordship is truly wise! You hit the nail on the head! Right now, you really have to think of him as a cat.”
“…”
Was there anyone better than Li Wei at slipping flattery into every crack?
Yet after being praised so extravagantly, Mo Xi found himself with no excuse to continue scolding him. He could only glare at Li Wei and let him continue.
Li Wei said, “Think about it, My Lord. Even when you bring home a cat, it’s afraid of strangers at first. You have to let it get used to the place before it’ll come out to wander around or catch mice. Gu Mang’s the same. He just arrived, doesn’t know a single person here, and he’s probably hidden away somewhere already. Yesterday I spent an entire hour looking for him. Guess where he hid himself?”
Mo Xi replied coolly, “I have no interest in knowing where he hid.”
“Oh. Well, anyway, after I finally found him, before I could even say a word, he slipped away again.”
Mo Xi was silent for a moment before asking with a straight face,
“Where did he hide?”
“…”
The servants standing nearby could hardly bear to listen anymore. They sincerely admired the fact that Li Wei only twitched the corner of his eye before calmly replying,
“Inside one of the rice jars in the granary.”
After a pause, he added,
“After climbing in, he even put the wooden lid back on himself.”
Mo Xi pressed a hand to his forehead, looking as though he had a headache.
Li Wei continued, “See? Even if I wanted to talk to him or assign him some work, I couldn’t even find him. And even after I found him, he’d run away the moment he saw me.”
Mo Xi: “…”
What Li Wei said made sense.
It just somehow made him even more irritated.
“I think,” Li Wei said, “we should just leave him alone for the next few days. Don’t frighten him. Once he starts coming out into the courtyard to bask in the sun on his own, then I’ll give him work.”
Mo Xi considered it.
That would have to do. There really wasn’t another choice.
So, rather unhappily, he said,
“Give him the hardest jobs.”
“Of course. Absolutely.”
Mo Xi felt that although Li Wei was a shameless bootlicker, he usually did have a point.
Gu Mang’s beast-like instincts were simply too obvious now. Almost everything he did resembled an animal that had just been brought into Heyi Manor.
Over the next few days, Mo Xi deliberately kept an eye on him. Sure enough, just as Li Wei had said, Gu Mang spent the daytime hiding in dark, enclosed corners, watching every passerby with a pair of gleaming eyes from the shadows.
Mo Xi discovered Gu Mang had two favorite hiding places.
The first was the rice jar.
Once, unable to resist his curiosity, Mo Xi walked over with a gloomy face and slid the wooden lid aside with a clack.
Sure enough.
Inside, two glowing eyes were glaring at him.
Mo Xi stared at those two glowing eyes.
Those two glowing eyes stared back at Mo Xi.
After an awkward silence, he quietly slid the lid back into place with another clack.
Apparently, however, Gu Mang had already decided the rice jar was no longer a safe nest.
Mo Xi hadn’t even taken two steps away before he heard another clack behind him.
Turning around, he saw Gu Mang climbing out of the jar in what Gu Mang apparently believed was an extremely stealthy manner.
Unfortunately, before he’d even landed on the ground, still clinging to the rim of the jar, he turned his head—
—and met Mo Xi’s eyes.
Gu Mang: “…”
Mo Xi: “…”
After another long silence, Gu Mang immediately climbed back into the jar and hurriedly pulled the lid shut again.
Curious, Mo Xi walked back over and tried opening it.
This time it wouldn’t budge, as though it had been wedged shut.
Apparently Gu Mang was inside holding the lid down with all his strength, silently competing against him.
Mo Xi didn’t know whether to laugh or be angry.
He knocked twice on the lid.
“So what?” he said. “You’re done being the Sacred Platform’s ferocious beast? Planning to become the Rice Jar Beast now?”
From inside came Gu Mang’s uneasy voice, pretending he wasn’t there at all.
Yet the force holding down the lid never lessened.
Mo Xi spoke a few more times from outside.
Each word disappeared into silence.
Gradually, irritation welled up inside him.
Finally, with a sweep of his sleeve, he gave up arguing.
“You’re seriously sick in the head.”
He turned and left.
The next day, when he returned to the granary, Gu Mang had already abandoned the rice jar.
His second favorite “den” was the wine cellar.
After the rice jar, this became the place where he most liked hiding during the day.
This time, however, Mo Xi couldn’t even be bothered to check on him.
The cellar was so dark that all there was to see were those faintly glowing blue eyes.
There wasn’t much entertainment in that.
One night, however, while reading by lamplight, Mo Xi heard rustling outside.
He opened the wooden window just a crack and looked out.
Bathed in moonlight, Gu Mang was wandering quietly around the estate.
His face was peaceful, but his eyes remained alert, his blue irises constantly shifting as he carefully observed this unfamiliar place.
For several nights afterward, it was the same.
Sometimes he would squat on a stone bench, absentmindedly staring at the moon, his expression blank, his eyes always distant.
Other times he would stand by the lake, gazing at the fish.
Every so often he would suddenly reach down and splash at the water, shattering the moonlit reflections around his silhouette.
But more often than not—
—which left Mo Xi utterly speechless—
Gu Mang came out hunting for food.
Mo Xi had no idea just how enormous Gu Mang’s appetite had become.
But from what he’d personally witnessed, it was honestly absurd.
For example, tonight.
Gu Mang had sneaked into the kitchen half an incense stick ago.
Now, half an incense stick later, he finally struggled back out.
Under the bright moonlight, the “thief” looked remarkably enormous.
He couldn’t not look enormous.
Over each shoulder he carried a bamboo basket piled high with steamed buns.
Several strings of cured sausages hung around his neck.
Between his teeth he clenched a scallion-and-pork flatbread—Mo Xi had absolutely no doubt he’d deliberately chosen the biggest one in the basket.
His arms cradled a mountain of cooked corn cobs.
He even had several more tucked under one arm.
“…That’s a bear.”
Mo Xi muttered through the crack in the study window.
The Sacred Platform Bear looked around, making sure nobody was nearby, then hurried toward the cellar as fast as he could.
He hurried a little too much.
Several corn cobs rolled out of his arms.
Gu Mang froze.
After standing there blankly for a while, he squatted down to pick them up.
He successfully picked up the ones on the ground.
But the moment he lifted his hand—
—the cobs tucked under his arm fell out.
Gu Mang froze again.
After thinking for a moment, he tucked the newly recovered corn under his arm, then calmly bent down to pick up the ones on the ground.
He picked up the ones on the ground.
The ones under his arm fell again.
He tucked them back.
Bent down.
They fell.
He tucked them back.
Bent down.
They fell again.
Again.
And again.
“…………”
If Gu Mang was acting…
Mo Xi felt he had chosen the wrong profession.
Instead of becoming a general, he should have joined an opera troupe.
Meanwhile, Gu Mang stood there in the courtyard, completely bewildered.
After staring blankly for quite some time, he cautiously reached out once more.
Success!
He picked one up.
…
The ones under his arm fell again.
Gu Mang simply couldn’t understand why.
Confused, he scratched his head.
Unfortunately, that only caused several more corn cobs to tumble out of his arms.
Mo Xi: “…”
Perhaps because he simply couldn’t bear watching such idiocy anymore…
Or because Gu Mang’s act was just too flawless…
Or perhaps because, somewhere deep down, he was beginning to suspect Gu Mang truly had become this stupid and wasn’t pretending at all…
Whatever the reason—
A surge of irritation suddenly exploded inside him.
He shoved open the window and shouted,
“Are you stupid?! Are you a pig?! Can’t you stuff some of the corn into the baskets on your back?!”
The servants sleeping throughout the estate were jolted awake.
Windows flew open.
Someone yelled,
“What’s happening?!”
“Is there a monster?!”
Then they all saw the scene before them.
Silence instantly fell.
Mo Xi was beside himself with rage.
“You can’t even pick up a few ears of corn! Watching you is driving me crazy!”
“…”
The meat pie dropped right out of Gu Mang’s mouth.
He turned and stared at Mo Xi with wide eyes.
Seeing Mo Xi’s murderous expression…
He actually—
Actually…
Coldly grabbed an ear of corn…
And threw it straight at the shouting Mo Xi!
Mo Xi roared,
“You dare attack me?!”
Gu Mang missed.
With all his stolen food still hanging off him, he immediately turned and ran.
He nearly tripped in his haste.
But just before smashing face-first into the ground, his martial instincts suddenly emerged.
Supporting himself with one hand, he flipped smoothly back to his feet and disappeared into the cellar in one fluid, effortless motion.
Perfect.
Under the moonlight…
Golden ears of corn were scattered across the entire courtyard.
The servants: “…”
Mo Xi: “…”
Li Wei reacted first.
Bang!
He slammed his own window shut.
Then, with lightning speed, extinguished the lamp in his room.
He pretended he’d seen absolutely nothing.
The others weren’t so lucky.
All of them received Commander Mo’s furious scolding.
“What are you looking at?! Why aren’t you asleep?!”
Being publicly pelted with corn wasn’t something Mo Xi could get over so easily.
He remained angry the entire night.
The next day, he burned ten full baskets of corn with fireballs before his fury finally subsided.
Even then, he still wasn’t in a good mood.
While feeding fish beside the pond, he ground his teeth and muttered darkly to Li Wei,
“How does he still have the nerve to throw things at me?”
Li Wei sighed inwardly.
Their Lord Heyi was excellent in every way…
Except he was far too awkward.
And his temper was terrible.
So while peeling fruit for him, Li Wei chattered cheerfully,
“Oh, My Lord, don’t be angry. If you get sick from anger, no one can take your place. It was only one ear of corn. If you make yourself ill, who benefits? Besides, karma always comes around. He hit you today; tomorrow you can hit him back. Just endure this for now. Here, have a pear.”
Mo Xi thought about it.
There really didn’t seem to be any better solution.
With a frosty face, he accepted the pear in silence.
Just like taming certain animals…
As time passed, Gu Mang gradually became less wary of everyone at Heyi Manor.
Occasionally he would come out during the day, quietly sitting in some corner, carefully observing every blade of grass and every tree.
When the courtyard was empty, he would even sit peacefully beside the pond, basking in the sunlight.
One sunny afternoon, Mo Xi sat beneath a tree cultivating.
Apparently a squirrel had been storing food there for winter.
The leaves rustled constantly.
Every so often, fruit pits dropped from above.
At first, Mo Xi ignored them.
They were merely annoying.
Then—
Thunk.
One fruit pit landed squarely on top of his head.
“…”
Never before had he encountered such an outrageously audacious rodent!
Mo Xi instantly opened his eyes and looked up in fury.
High among the branches, half-hidden by swaying leaves, sat Gu Mang hugging the trunk.
He busily stuffed berries into a little cloth pouch while occasionally tossing one into his own mouth.
He was clumsy.
Each time he grabbed a handful, some berries slipped through his fingers.
Like little coral beads, they rained onto the ground.
The one that had hit Mo Xi was probably one of them.
For a moment, Mo Xi was both speechless and furious.
Speechless.
Furious.
Finally he simply lifted one long leg and kicked the tree trunk hard.
Bang!
Fruit rained down everywhere.
Standing amid the shower of berries, Mo Xi shouted,
“Gu Mang!”
Only then did Gu Mang notice someone below.
He lowered his head.
Their eyes met.
They glared at each other for a long while.
Gu Mang silently moved his cheeks.
One side bulged slightly.
Apparently he had more than one berry stuffed into his mouth.
Mo Xi said coldly,
“Get down here.”
Gu Mang chewed a little more.
Then he hung the little berry pouch around his neck.
Using both hands and feet, he climbed even higher into the thicker branches.
Carefully hiding himself.
Mo Xi was nearly driven mad.
“Fine. Very good. Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall to your death?”
His answer was—
Thunk.
A berry pit dropped from above.
Mo Xi: “…”
After grinding his teeth through quite some time like this, winter finally arrived.
One cold morning, Mo Xi got out of bed and found Li Wei already waiting outside.
As soon as Mo Xi stepped out, Li Wei bowed respectfully.
“My Lord.”
Mo Xi glanced at him.
Today was a national rest day in Chonghua. Li Wei would never wait outside his door without reason.
So he calmly asked,
“Something happened at the Military Affairs Office?”
Li Wei smiled ingratiatingly.
“No. It’s another matter.”
“I’ve come to report some exceptionally good news to you.”