CH 27

September 24, 2022Merchie

Zhao Litang chased the man on the rooftop relentlessly. He was dressed in black, and wore a mask over his face. His qinggong was excellent; he jumped nimbly along the red and golden palace walls like a dragonfly.

Seeing that Zhao Litang was about to catch up, the black-clad man skillfully changed direction, leaping into a quiet bamboo forest.

Zhao Litang followed close behind; he drew the short dagger from within his sleeve and thrust it directly into the man’s face.

The man didn’t dodge; he merely tilted his head to the side to avoid the flash of the flying blade. However, the black cloth over his face had fluttered away due to the sword wind1.

He turned his head, and Zhao Litang was shocked after seeing his face. He was Pei Zheng’s bodyguard.

The black cloth that had concealed his identity had fallen off, but Cheng Feng showed no signs of nervousness. He cupped his hands3 towards Zhao Litang, “General Zhao, if I offended you just now, please forgive me.”

Zhao Litang suddenly understood, and he sneered twice. “What a great plan to lure the tiger down the mountain2, it’s a pity that Lord Pei won’t join the battles at the borderlands.”

Cheng Feng kept his hands clasped and said, “My lord has his own plans, it’s pointless for me to speculate. General Zhao, we aren’t too far from the palace gates, I urge you to leave. If word got out that you entered the palace without permission, I’m afraid…”

Cheng Feng’s sentence trailed off into nothing. He glanced at Zhao Litang once more, before turning around and jumping onto a palace wall, disappearing in two or three leaps.

Zhao Litang clenched his fists, staring at the spot where the black-clad guard had just been.

“Pei Zheng…”

***

A familiar ‘swoosh’ sound reached Qi Changyi’s ears, and he immediately hid behind Pei Zheng. He pointed at the roof beam and whispered, “Pei-gege, I think there’s an assassin!”

Pei Zheng tugged at the wrinkled robe that had been pulled by the little man, before flicking his forehead with his fingers. “Your Highness, even if there were assassins in the palace, they would never come for you.”

Qi Changyi didn’t dare to believe it. Zhao Litang had chased the mysterious figure for so long and still hadn’t returned, he hoped that nothing bad had happened to him.

He was thinking about it, and asked, “Tang-gege just went through the window, I’m worried…”

Before he finished his sentence, he felt the gaze above his head had turned even colder.

“What are you worried about, Your Highness, General Zhao running into trouble? Or are you worried that no one else will be able to take you to the borderlands?”

Pei Zheng was seething when he thought back to the conversation he had overheard. The little fool didn’t directly refuse; what was he hesitating about? Did he actually want to leave with Zhao Litang?

Qi Changyi hurriedly shook his head and tried to explain, “No, that’s not it, I just didn’t, didn’t know how to explain it clearly to Tang-gege.”

Pei Zheng snorted coldly. “You should remember that, without my permission, you are not allowed to go anywhere, nor can you go anywhere4.”

Qi Changyi nodded in compliance. “I know. I’m not going anywhere, I’ll stay by Pei-gege‘s side.”

Only then did Pei Zheng flash a satisfied smile.

“His Majesty has ordered me to check if Your Highness has completed the transcriptions.”

Qi Changyi turned and ran to the desk. He laid out the character-laden sheets of xuan paper5, before calling Pei Zheng over in excitement, “Pei-gege, look, I’ve been copying nonstop for three days. From the time the sun rises to the time night falls, I was copying. I wrote until my hands were sore.”

Pei Zheng strode over and picked up the stack of xuan paper sheets, flipping through it. The tiny script was neat, and one could see that the writer wrote with heart.

He thumbed through another page. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a small booklet hidden behind the desk. The front cover was filled with unidentifiable words, so he picked it up out of curiosity and opened it.

Unexpectedly, the docile Qi Changyi who had been standing beside him suddenly reached out to grab the booklet.

Pei Zheng wasn’t that interested before, but he certainly was now. He was tall and his limbs were long, so he held the booklet above his head with one hand, and restrained Qi Changyi with his other arm.

He stretched his slender fingers and slowly opened the booklet. The small man in his arms was already dying of embarrassment, covering his face with both hands.

The pages of the booklet were densely packed with the same two characters.

“Pei Zheng” “Pei Zheng” “Pei Zheng” “Pei Zheng” “Pei Zheng” “…”

Even when he flipped through the rest of the pages, the contents were all the same.

In the first few pages, it was obvious that the writer was not very skilled; the ink had smudged everywhere. But the more he turned the pages, the more refined the script became, and Qi Changyi had begun to practice in different fonts6 as well.

Pei Zheng’s eyes narrowed as he reached the last page of the booklet. This handwriting was somewhat similar to his own.

“Your Highness, what is the meaning of this?” The corners of Pei Zheng’s lips curved into a smile, and he looked down at the little man in his arms.

Last time, he had seen a few pages with Zhao Litang’s name, and he had become enraged. But it turns out that there was an entire booklet that had been filled with his own name.

Did that mean that he had more weight in Qi Changyi’s heart?

Qi Changyi still had his hands over his face. He shifted twice but didn’t say a word.

Pei Zheng set the booklet down before gently removing those two delicate little arms with one hand. Qi Changyi’s pale face was revealed, two red patches of flush on its surface, which gave him an adorable, shy look.

Qi Changyi’s eyes shifted awkwardly. He had been secretly practicing writing Pei Zheng’s name, whatever, but now he had actually been discovered by the man himself. It made his ears turn scarlet to the point they looked like they were dripping blood.

“I-I, I….”

Qi Changyi stuttered “I” for a while, unable to explain himself.

Pei Zheng chuckled twice, knowing that he stuttered when he was nervous. He wasn’t in any hurry for a response. He lowered his head, brushing his cold lips against the burning red earlobe, and the little man’s body shook with surprise.

“Your Highness, you completed the transcriptions well, do you want a little reward?”

When Qi Changyi heard the word “reward” he forgot all of his embarrassment. His eyes were shining brightly, “I do, I do, I do!”

Seeing how excited he was, Pei Zheng also temporarily forgot about his gloomy mood. He tapped the tip of Qi Changyi’s nose, “It’s not bad to want a reward. Your Highness just needs to learn some new things. If Your Highness does well, I will reward you.”

Qi Changyi nodded vigorously, “Okay! Pei-gege, what do I have to learn?”

Pei Zheng released his arm and stepped back, smiling, before clapping his hands twice. The palace door slowly opened behind them.

Several beauties floated into the room, they were all wearing revealing clothes. They were all willowy and graceful. Their trail of fragrance filled the entire palace.

Each of these women had a pair of seductive eyes; with smiles on their lips, they winked at Qi Changyi, who was frozen in place.

Qi Changyi glanced at these water snake-like7 women, his face growing redder and redder as he desperately tried to find a safe place to pin his eyes to no avail.

Pei Zheng’s reaction was completely different; he merely stared at the little prince’s numerous facial expressions, examining him from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.

The group of women all turned their bodies to face them as they saluted, “Greetings to Ninth Highness and Lord Pei.”

The chorus of voices was soft and charming.

Pei Zheng’s eyes narrowed, “Do you know why I called you all here?”

“We know.”

Pei Zheng looked down at the helpless little man and raised his chin slightly. “Get started then.”

Notes

We stan Cheng Feng our ninja queen

I was trying to cut down on footnotes because it might be annoying, but I feel the urge to just explain everything urggghhhhh

1. 剑风: the wind caused from the sword flying through the air (that’s too many words to put in)

2. 调虎离山: a diversion to lure away a tough enemy.

3. 拱手: type of salute, used for greeting. It’s the one where you hold your fist with your other hand.

4. I don’t know how to explain it, that’s what he said, it just sounds really weird and I have the urge to explain myself.

5. 宣纸: a very high quality rice paper. It’s very soft, and it’s the ideal paper for calligraphy.

6. A little mini lesson on Chinese calligraphy: there are several ‘fonts’ or scripts, like the ancient seal script, cursive script, and our standard script. Yeah, so just imagine Changyi doodling Pei Zheng’s name with little cursive swirls.

7: 水蛇腰: ‘water snake waist’. I’m assuming this is the insinuation, it means to have a thin waist.