For the next two days, Sauron completely lived the life of Yan Ziyu.
Every day, he either read books, played the zither, or practised sword dancing.
Of course, the so-called sword dancing was basically for show. The real Yan Ziyu possessed rather mediocre martial arts skills.
In the meantime, some villagers came to deliver rice and meat, and Sauron paid them.
Essentially, he was alone, truly living in seclusion.
During these two days, Sauron felt that time had slowed considerably.
Moreover, the villagers here had no idea that he, Yan Ziyu, was a renowned scholar. They merely regarded him as an eccentric down-and-out, albeit one with some money who had read a few books.
And so, the days passed one by one.
Ash Liren had still not sent anyone. He could hardly go and recommend himself, could he?
…
In the evening, Sauron had eaten his meal, drunk his wine, practised sword dancing for half an hour, read for half an hour, and then lay down to sleep.
He had only just fallen asleep when suddenly Sauron jolted awake.
His spiritual power cultivation was extremely high. Even in his sleep, if someone intruded into his vicinity, he would immediately awaken.
However, he did not open his eyes, for he was currently Yan Ziyu, a man with almost no martial arts ability. He did not even change his breathing rhythm, continuing to feign deep sleep.
“Sir!” A woman’s voice sounded.
Sauron did not wake.
“Sir…” The woman’s voice suddenly sharpened, piercing directly into Sauron’s ears.
At this point, Sauron, playing the role of Yan Ziyu, finally jolted awake. He sat up with a cry of alarm. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Only then did he see that his visitor was a female warrior, dressed in close-fitting martial attire, with a very voluptuous figure. She was a woman of an alien race.
She was, of course, the female warrior sent by Ash Liren.
“Sir truly has the forgetfulness of a nobleman. It has not been long at all, yet you have already forgotten me?” the alien female warrior said.
Sauron feigned sleepy eyes, rubbed them as if only now recognising his visitor, and said, “Oh, so it was you. Why have you come again? Has your master sent you once more? I will not go, I will not go. I cannot be a tutor for your young master. If there is nothing else, please leave. I wish to sleep.”
With that, Sauron lay down again.
The female warrior stepped forward and pressed her hand upon Sauron’s neck.
The Yan Ziyu that Sauron portrayed possessed no martial arts. Once his neck was seized, he was completely unable to move, and immediately cried out, “What are you doing?”
The female warrior produced a coil of rope and, in a few swift movements, bound Sauron hand and foot. She took a cloth wad and stuffed it directly into his mouth, preventing him from crying out.
After a brief hesitation, she struck the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.
Finally, she picked Sauron up in one hand, carried him outside, threw him onto a horse’s back, and galloped away.
And so, Sauron was in for a miserable time. The secluded valley where he lived was over a thousand li from Rouran City.
This female warrior travelled by day and lodged by night, taking a full two days and two nights.
Sauron remained bound hand and foot, slung over the horse’s back.
After being knocked unconscious, the Demon Star quickly restored him to wakefulness. However, he was currently playing the role of a scholar with very weak martial arts. He could neither break free nor do anything else.
“Demon Star, you had better knock me unconscious again. This is simply too unbearable.” Sauron thought inwardly.
Being tied up and slung over a horse’s back was truly agonising.
Thus, at Sauron’s command, the Demon Star rendered him unconscious once more.
…
He did not know how long he had been unconscious when suddenly he felt an icy sensation upon his face. Sauron shuddered and jolted awake.
He then discovered that he was already in a magnificently appointed room. The bindings had been removed from his body, and the floor upon which he lay was covered with soft, spotless woollen carpets.
“Rise and pay respects to my mistress,” the female warrior said.
The moment Sauron awoke, he had already caught the scent of a cold, mysterious, enchanting fragrance.
Moreover, the air was icy cold.
Wherever Ash Liren was, there was this coldness, this fragrance.
He looked up!
It was indeed Ash Liren. She still wore a veil.
However, her exposed eyes were as deep and enchanting as the ocean. The figure seated in the chair possessed a magically seductive allure.
Her beauty was matched in all the world only by Zhiyan.
But Zhiyan was too ethereal.
Whereas the woman before him radiated captivating charm from every curve.
The Dragon Yin Severed Meridians were truly too powerful. Merely smelling her scent, merely gazing upon her silhouette, could cause a man to become entranced and fall.
But for some reason, Ash Liren wore a veil even at home?
Was it that after her husband’s death, she no longer wished for any man to see her peerless countenance?
Sauron should have directly demanded an explanation, even flown into a rage.
For he was a man of high principles, and to be bound and brought here in this manner was a complete insult to his dignity.
But he did not question or grow angry.
Because Yan Ziyu was merely a renowned scholar. Faced with Ash Liren’s such absolute splendour, such an ice-cold, frosty blue enchantress, all anger would be suppressed.
This was true. A single indifferent glance from Ash Liren seemed capable of freezing one’s emotions solid.
“Sir’s surname is Yan. I wonder where you were born?” Ash Liren asked. Her voice was like ice crystals shattering, like jade beads falling upon a plate, cold, clear, and enchantingly melodious.
She asked thus because she wished to know whether Yan Ziyu and her husband Yan Ping had been born in the same place.
“White Antelope Yan Clan,” Sauron said.
“Oh.” Ash Liren asked no further, and continued, “I ask that Sir be my son’s tutor. I shall trouble you to exert yourself greatly.”
Yan Ziyu said, “My abilities are limited. I may not live up to the lady’s expectations.”
Ash Liren said, “You are capable. Ash Luo was even more unruly than my son before the age of ten. He also drove away countless tutors and ran rampant. Yet after you became his tutor, he was willing to settle down and study. Since you could be Ash Luo’s tutor when he was young, naturally you can also be my son’s tutor.”
At these words, Sauron’s heart trembled.
This information had not been in the intelligence of the Gao Faction eunuch group. Yan Ziyu had actually been Ash Luo’s tutor when he was young?
This brought unexpected danger!
Ash Liren continued, “If you do not teach well, it will prove you have not applied yourself. I am a woman, and possess none of the magnanimity to honour the worthy and humble oneself. If you teach well, you will gain your freedom in three to five years. If you do not teach well, I shall throw you into a dungeon and imprison you for life.”
Sauron started, then understood!
All along, he had been thinking of supporting Ash Liren to destroy Ash Luo.
Ash Luo was evil, so Ash Liren, as his opposite, seemed to be righteous.
In truth, Ash Liren was an ice-cold woman of temperament, both righteous and wicked.
For the most part, she was cold and ruthless, such as when she had watched Sauron die without saving him. Or when, in a fit of anger at the warlock Yao Meng, she had pursued him for thousands of li.
But at other times, she was kind and gentle, such as with little A’nan. To save her life, she had killed over a dozen Dragon Warrior experts in one breath, not hesitating to offend an organisation as terrifying as the Dark Society.
Therefore, her attitude toward Yan Ziyu was perfectly normal. To expect her to put on a show of honouring the worthy and humbling herself was pure fantasy.
This was absolutely an overbearing queen, and an ice-cold, frosty overbearing queen at that.
“Yes,” Sauron, playing the role of Yan Ziyu, said. “I shall naturally devote my utmost efforts to instructing your son.”
Ash Liren rose to leave, saying, “Prepare quarters for the sir. Let A’nan and Qinqin attend lessons together.”
“Yes,” the female warrior said.
When Sauron heard the name Qinqin, his heart trembled slightly.
And when Ash Liren spoke of A’nan and Qinqin, her voice instinctively softened.
…
“Sir, this courtyard shall be yours from now on. There are five male servants and five maidservants inside, all at your disposal,” the female warrior said.
The place where Sauron now resided was not the Rouran City Lord’s mansion, but Ash Liren’s residence. Yet it was still extraordinarily large, covering over a hundred mu.
The courtyard allotted to Sauron, this tutor, also contained over a dozen rooms, two courtyards, and a small garden, with a total area of over ten mu.
The female warrior led Sauron into the courtyard.
Inside, five male servants and five maidservants stood in neat rows, bowing respectfully. “We pay respects to the sir.”
“Where is Fu Yuan?” the female warrior said.
Hearing this name, Sauron could not help but start slightly. This so-called Fu Yuan was none other than his cousin Fu Yan’er.
“Here she comes.” Then, a graceful woman emerged from the room.
Her appearance was truly beautiful, instantly eclipsing all the maidservants in the courtyard, including the female warrior.
Despite bearing the marks of wind and frost, and her eyes being filled with weariness, this beauty was truly one in a thousand, or even one in ten thousand, in no way inferior to Tu Lingduo.
Moreover, having given birth to a child, her figure possessed a voluptuousness amidst its grace, brimming with mature allure.
“This Fu Yuan can read and write. From now on, she shall be your personal maidservant, able to grind ink and trim paper for you,” the female warrior said.
Fu Yan’er stood coldly and indifferently to one side, without the slightest expression.
“Fu Yuan, did you hear?” the alien female warrior said.
“Yes.” Only then did Fu Yan’er respond faintly.
Sauron’s gaze instinctively searched, wanting to see where his daughter Qinqin was, but he could not find her.
The female warrior said, “Then after the sir has bathed and changed, rest well. Tomorrow, prepare to begin lessons.”
She paused, then said, “My young master’s lessons are not easy to conduct. Almost no tutor has been able to finish a single lesson, so the sir had best prepare well.”
Ash Liren’s son was a completely cunning and overbearing little tyrant who had no desire to study whatsoever. Naturally, his lessons were difficult to conduct.
…
Next, Sauron moved into the courtyard, bathed, changed, and after eating, he read books as was his usual habit.
And for half the day, Fu Yan’er, as his personal maidservant, never appeared. When Sauron glanced at her in the afternoon, he could sense the resentment in her eyes.
This resentment was not directed at any particular person, but at everyone and everything in the world.
One could understand this resentment. She had originally been the legitimate daughter of the world’s second greatest noble house, the favourite granddaughter of Count Fu’e.
Not only that, she was about to marry the son of the White Antelope City Lord. In the future, she would become the mistress of White Antelope City.
What an exalted status, what glory and wealth?
But because her affair with Sauron was exposed, all of this was lost to her. She was exiled to a desolate convent, where she helped with laundry and cooking, performing coarse labour she had never done before.
Now, having finally left that boring, desolate Autumn Wind Convent, she had fallen to become a maidservant.
At that time, she and Sauron had been mutually attracted, unable to resist temptation. There had been kissing, touching, hugging, and cuddling.
But she had never wanted to cross the line, never wanted anything truly to happen. After all, she was about to be married, to become the young mistress of White Antelope City.
Pre-marital indulgence was very common in aristocratic circles. Even if something truly happened, one could simply visit a warlock to have a hymen restored.
But she had never imagined that she would be drugged and have everything happen with Sauron, and be caught in bed on the spot, the affair exposed.
From then on, glory and wealth left her. From a phoenix, she became a chicken fallen from its perch. How could she be reconciled?
Now, Ash Liren had actually sent her to serve this tutor. She could not be bothered with him.
In her eyes, how could such a scholar even exist?
However, in the evening she suddenly appeared before Sauron again.
At that time, Sauron was reading in a recliner. She put on a show of trimming his candle, then stood to one side.
“Is something the matter?” Sauron asked.
Fu Yan’er asked, “I hear that Sir Yan has just returned from visiting friends in the Angry Wave Kingdom?”
Sauron nodded. “Yes.”
Fu Yan’er said, “Then, then has Sir Yan ever heard of Sauron?”
Sauron started, then nodded. “I have heard of him.”
Fu Yan’er said, “How has he been recently? Is his father still alive? Has he become the City Lord of Tianshui?”
Sauron nodded and said, “He is already the City Lord of Tianshui.”
Fu Yan’er’s eyes lit up, then a flash of resentment crossed them. Finally, her gaze shifted, as if she were plotting something.
“Thank you, sir. I shall take my leave.” Fu Yan’er said.
Sauron was most adept at reading people’s expressions. He knew what Fu Yan’er intended to do. She truly could not endure this austere life. She wished to live a life of glory and wealth.
But she could not go to the Fire Worship City, and the White Antelope City was even more impossible. The only place that could offer her glory and wealth was Sauron’s Tianshui City.
Although she knew she could not be Sauron’s wife, she was after all the mother of his daughter.
This Fu Yan’er was the typical lazy, vain, and frivolous aristocratic woman. It was merely that she was especially beautiful and sensual, so a few years ago, even knowing she was about to be married, she had still been unable to resist temptation and carried on with Sauron.
After reading for over an hour, Sauron lay down on his bed to sleep.
…
In the middle of the night!
Suddenly, several black shadows burst into Sauron’s room, then violently pressed the sleeping Sauron down upon his bed.
Sauron jolted awake!
Immediately, he saw four martial arts youths pressing down his arms and legs.
Then a ten-year-old boy, holding a dagger in his hand, slowly walked toward him.
This little boy had a tiger’s head and a tiger’s brain, very pretty indeed, but his eyes were both bright and cunning. Without a doubt, this was Sauron’s future student, Ash Liren’s son, Ash Yuanba.
He came to Sauron’s bedside, placed the dagger upon the vital spot between Sauron’s legs, and said, “I hear you wish to be my tutor. But all my tutors must be eunuchs.”
Then, he pressed the dagger against Sauron’s root of life, and said, “I give you two choices. Tomorrow, immediately resign to my mother and then get out. Or I shall castrate you now and make you a eunuch.”
He knew Ash Liren’s son was overbearing, but he had never imagined he would be so lawless as to come and castrate a tutor.
Moreover, a child of ten or so was at an age when he feared neither heaven nor earth, and would truly do anything. The dagger in his hand would really cut off Sauron’s root of life.
Of course, the four martial arts youths could not possibly hold Sauron down. He could break free with the greatest of ease.
But the Yan Ziyu he portrayed was a weak scholar. Once he broke free, he would reveal a flaw.
The only thing Sauron could rely upon was his gift of gab.
The unruly child Ash Yuanba said, “You must make your choice. Either be castrated by me, or get out. I shall count down from five.”
“Five!”
“Four!”
“Three!”
“Two!”
“One. It seems I shall have a eunuch tutor. It will hurt quite a bit. Bear with it!” The unruly child’s eyes shone brightly, and he was about to slash down with the dagger, castrating Sauron’s root of life.
At this moment, a smile suddenly appeared upon Sauron’s face.