Rebirth of the Abandoned Male Empress

Chapter 3

Chapter Three:
The Runaway Bride Meets the Blind Servant

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After lunch, Xiaoniao rushed back to his yard. His face looked horrified, and he seemed like he might pass out at any moment. Zhuque, who had been sleeping in the hay, woke up and nestled on his shoulder.

"How did it go?" Zhuque asked as Xiaoniao paced around his room anxiously.

"It turned out to be horrible!" Xiaoniao exclaimed.

Zhuque watched silently.

"I don't have much time left. Tomorrow, before sunrise, the emperor will leave the Central Plain Nation to return to the North Nation. If I don't run away tonight, I won't have another chance. Zhuque, I need to escape tonight," Xiaoniao said as he started grabbing some things and filling his bag with items he thought he would need.

"Oh yeah? And how are you planning to do that? The whole place is heavily guarded, and there are a ton of imperial guards outside. I flew around as you said, and it wouldn't be easy to get out without anyone noticing," Zhuque said, observing Xiaoniao's frantic movements.

"It's alright; I already know what to do, so don't worry. But for now, I have a job for you," Xiaoniao said, and the bird blinked its eyes, feeling uneasy.

So, that's how the poor bird ended up hanging upside down from a maple tree branch, with its left leg tied with a small thread. The annoyed bird glared at its owner, who was hiding behind a large water jug, giving an exaggerated thumbs-up and a huge smile.

The bird just rolled its eyes. Xiaoniao's "smart" plan was to attract the attention of one of the servant boys who was cleaning in Concubine Mengtao's yard.

Based on what Xiaoniao said, one of the boys, named Lixin, is Xiaoniao's friend and the one who often takes good care of him. But recently, Lixin got punished, not because he did something wrong, but because he took the punishment that was meant for Xiaoniao.

Xiaoniao stole one of the rice cakes from the kitchen, and those rice cakes were specially made for Concubine Mengtao. In reality, Concubine Mengtao urged Xiaoniao to steal it so she could have a valid reason to beat him. Sadly, Lixin didn't give her that satisfaction because he knew how rotten she was. As Xiaoniao's caretaker, he begged the Sect leader to punish him instead. In anger and disappointment, Concubine Mengtao punished him with 50 lashes and starved him for a day.

This punishment was actually normal for Lixin, as it had happened several times over the past few years, and he had lost count.

Lixin had been a companion to Xiaoniao since they were children. However, in Xiaoniao's last life, he had been ignorant of that fact and hadn't recognized Lixin's existence until five years later, when Lixin vowed to accompany him on his deathbed. By then, Xiaoniao considered him a sworn brother, along with Yangfan.

Similar to Xiaoniao, Lixin was also born with White Qi and blind.
He didn't remember much about his childhood with his parents. All he remembered was that when he was four or five years old, Young Master Peng bought him from a brothel and took him as his disciple. Life wasn't always kind, and when Lixin was almost six, his master died. Lixin vowed at his master's grave that he would protect his little master.

Xiaoniao's eyes welled up with tears as he saw a young man, not older than him, with pale mahogany-colored hair tied in a high ponytail, wearing a white bandage over his eyes. This young man gently swept the pavement, moving gracefully, like a bamboo swaying in the wind.

Xiaoniao couldn't help but clench his fists. He wouldn't leave his big brother Lixin behind. Despite his blindness, Lixin had excellent hearing, which allowed him to move around confidently.