CH 29

Chen Ziqi stood in front of the door, observing what was happening in Ah Mu’s room. “Divine Chicken, my mum won’t just be my mum any more,” he said.

“Tweet,” Dan Yi acknowledged. He pecked lightly at Chen Ziqi’s chest. He understood; he had similar feelings when his dad had told him that he wanted to have another egg.

“The good thing is, you’re still my chicken, and no one else’s,” Chen Ziqi said, laughing happily. He bent his head down to kiss the fluffy little head.

“Tweet tweet!” I’ve said it so many times, I’m NOT a chicken! Dan Yi pecked at Chen Ziqi’s incoming lips. 

“Ow…” Chen Ziqi’s hand went reflexively to his lips, and when he released them, the finger that touched his lips came away with a tiny droplet of blood on it. The little chicken’s sharp beak must have broken the soft skin on his lips.

Dan Yi tasted blood. He froze for a bit, then raised his head to look at Chen Ziqi. A small droplet of blood was oozing out of Chen Ziqi’s pink lips, and Dan Yi felt kind of bad. He stretched out a wing to wipe the blood off, but before he could do so, a small finger flicked his head. 

“You dare to peck me? You’re asking to be spanked!” Chen Ziqi said, licking off the blood on his lip. He still wasn’t satisfied after flicking the bird’s head, so he flicked the bird’s backside as well. “You won’t get any green bean cake tomorrow.”

“Tweet?!”

Much to Dan Yi’s relief, Chang Er had not made Chen Ziqi and Ah Mu share a bed. As a favoured concubine with money to splurge, there were many side palaces that she could put Ah Mu in. In any event, because Ah Mu was very young and had not fully recovered from his illness, Chang Er decided to keep him by her side in her room for the winter, the better to help him recover. She also let him sleep in her bed at night. 

Ah Mu was beside himself with joy. The first night, he tentatively hugged Chang Er’s arm beneath the blankets, and when she didn’t push him away, he became braver, and nuzzled his face against her arm happily. This was his mum, his own soft, sweet-smelling mum! Cuddling her was as warm as cuddling his Jiujiu. 

Ah Mu was sure he wouldn’t get nightmares at night any more.

“Sigh. The moon is bright, bright in the night, an orphaned child tells a chicken his plight,” Chen Ziqi said in a singsong voice. He was lying chest-down on a pillow, and he blew out some air at the little red bird when he sang the last word, trying to flatten its two crown feathers. The word “plight” wasn’t very suitable for blowing out air, so he tried again.

“A chicken! His! Plight! Huff!” he sang again, puffing out air at the poor little bird.

“Tweet!” Chen Ziqi had blown the air out with such force that the little fluffball fell off the cushion.

“Hahaha!” Chen Ziqi reached out to pet the bird, then pulled it out of the gap between the cushions. He stuffed the little bird into the blankets. “Shan’t play with you any more, or you’ll probably be frozen.”

The fluffball’s feathers were already cold from the winter chill. Chen Ziqi quickly put the bird into his clothes to let it warm up. Although he knew that the divine chicken wasn’t an ordinary chick, Chen Ziqi couldn’t help but worry. The chicks that hatched in winter often froze to death when they ran around even for a bit. He didn’t want that to happen to his divine chicken, so he felt it was better to be safe than sorry.

Dan Yi struggled a bit in Chen Ziqi’s clothes, and his head bumped into a little protrusion on Chen Ziqi’s chest. He paused in surprise, then, realising what he’d bumped into, turned a brilliant shade of red. He was quiet after that.

Chen Ziqi patted the little bird in a satisfied manner, then closed his eyes and went to sleep.

Under Chang Er’s dedicated care, Ah Mu returned to the pink of health again very quickly. He looked even better than he had been before he fell ill.

“Gege, where’s your little bird?” Ah Mu asked as he trotted behind Chen Ziqi on his little legs. They were headed to lessons at Chunxi Hall.

“I’ve hidden my bird, of course. Do you think everyone’s like you, wearing detachable crotch pants* outside?” Chen Ziqi teased.

*T/N: These are pants worn by little children, to make it easier for them to pee.

“I’m not talking about that bird…” Ah Mu covered his crotch, his face turning red. “I haven’t worn those pants in ages.” He wanted to ask about the little bird since he saw it hiding in Chen Ziqi’s clothes yesterday, but he was now distracted by Chen Ziqi’s teasing.

“You liar. I just heard my mother ordering you some from the Embroidery Department,” Chen Ziqi said, making a face at Ah Mu.

“No she didn’t…” Ah Mu protested, frowning so hard that his face looked like a steamed meat bun. 

They bantered noisily all the way to Chunxi Hall. Prince Qi saw this and smiled. “Little Eleventh looks much more lively today. It’s true that children grow up a little after recovering from serious illnesses,” he said.

Ah Mu smiled bashfully. Now that he had a mother, he had a lot more confidence, and often smiled happily when other people spoke to him.

Berry Brown looked enviously at Ah Mu, who was practically glowing with happiness. Chen Ziqi winked at him, signalling that he could come and have lunch at Qingyun Palace with them, then applied himself seriously to striking the horse-riding stance.

The little red bird poked its head out of Chen Ziqi’s clothes and looked around. Dan Yi shivered as the wintry winds gusted by his little head and ducked back into Chen Ziqi’s clothes. He nestled in Chen Ziqi’s chest for a bit, then stood up and wriggled about in Chen Ziqi’s clothes until it found one of the meridians that qi had to pass through to master the Divine Dragon’s Howl. He pecked at it with his beak.

This was ticklish, but Chen Ziqi couldn’t move around as he pleased when holding the horse-riding stance, so he tried to use his qi to soothe the itch at that spot. He closed his eyes and tried to visualise this again and again. Suddenly, a burst of warmth appeared in his veins. Chen Ziqi found that he could control this warmth, and directed it toward the place that the little bird was pecking at. That spot stopped itching instantly.

The little fluffball hopped over to another spot to peck at another meridian.

That warmth was like spring water gurgling out of a mountain, bubbling out a little here and there. As time went on, more and more spots of warmth bubbled forth, connecting into little streams that passed through the critical meridians in his body. 

Chen Ziqi was sweating buckets by the time the horse-riding stance practice was over.

“Why are you sweating so much?” Prince Qi asked, puzzled. It was a really cold, blustery day. How could anyone sweat so much just holding a horse-riding stance in these circumstances?

“I think I put on a few layers too many,” Chen Ziqi said, forcing a smile. He excused himself and went to the bathroom, then pulled the little chicken out of his clothes the moment he had privacy.

He thought carefully about what had happened earlier. That warmth he felt – was that qi? According to the Tianyan Wanxiang Gong’s theory, it would seem like he had succeeded in summoning his qi.

“Divine Chicken, I’ve summoned my qi!” Chen Ziqi laughed gleefully. He was so ecstatic that he couldn’t pay attention to the rest of his lessons that morning, and kept trying to experience that feeling of qi flowing through his veins again. He really, really wanted to share this new discovery with Dan Yi, but because he wasn’t here, he could only tell this to the little red bird.

“Tweet,” the little chick chirped tiredly. It slumped down in his palm, not wanting to move. It had transferred some neili into Chen Ziqi’s body in order to catalyse Chen Ziqi’s qi summoning, and it was incredibly tired now.

It snowed a little in the afternoon, and Professor Luo was gripped by a sudden inspiration to compose poems. He flitted off to a temple in the mountains to enjoy the scenery and write his poems. With their teacher gone, the princes were unable to have any lessons, so Chen Ziqi played with Berry Brown and Ah Mu in the Qingyun Palace.

As they were playing, Chang Er called Chen Ziqi into the house.

“Here,” Chang Er said, breaking the thread in her hands with a small snapping sound. She tossed something at Chen Ziqi. “When did you pick up a chick again?”

“It’s the same chick,” Chen Ziqi said, catching the thing Chang Er tossed at him. It was the tiny vest for the chick she had agreed to make earlier. He immediately climbed onto the warm brick bed and set the sleepy little chick down. He tried to put the vest on the chick.

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s already been a few months! Your chick should have grown by now, it’s not a block of wood, is it?” Chang Er said, her lips twisting in disbelief.

The vest was made out of snowsilk that had been left over after Chang Er made Chen Ziqi’s underclothes. Chang Er put a layer of soft cotton between two layers of snowsilk to make it warm. Because it was too small, Chang Er just made it into a pullover. All Chen Ziqi had to do was pull the little chick through the neck and then gently tug its little wings out of the wing openings.

“This isn’t a regular chicken. It grows very slowly,” Chen Ziqi said mysteriously. He pulled the fluffy little pullover onto the very uncooperative red chick.

“Mum, something’s missing – where are the openings for its feet?” Chen Ziqi asked, picking up the little chick that had been bundled up like a dumpling. He raised it up for Chang Er to see.

“Oops! I forgot that!” Chang Er exclaimed. She tugged the vest off the chick, took out a pair of scissors, and expertly snipped two holes in the bottom. “Try this. I’ll sew it properly later.”

The two little holes were perfect, and the chick could extend its little feet out. The chick was all set.

The snow white vest was firmly wrapped around the chick’s fat little body, exposing only its crimson head, wings and a fluffy red butt. The little chick had to waddle a bit with the vest on, and looked extremely comical.

“Hahaha!” Chen Ziqi collapsed with laughter onto the warm brick bed.

“You remember that thing you asked me to check? I’ve asked,” Chang Er said softly, packing away her sewing things. 

“Hmm?” Chen Ziqi cuddled the little red chick to his chest and stood up, wiping away his tears of laughter. “What was it?”

“Cheng Jieyu… most likely hasn’t given birth before,” Chang Er said in a measured, serious tone. There were some things that only women who had given birth would know, and when she spoke to Cheng Jieyu about these things over the last few days, Cheng Jieyu had no clue what she was talking about.

Chen Ziqi turned to look out the window at Berry Brown in the distance. He pressed his lips together, placed the little red bird on the warm brick bed, and ran out with his shoes half on.

“Ah? What’s up with him?” Chang Er picked up the little red bird and set it on the table on the brick bed. “Little chick, this old lady’s sewing is pretty good, eh?” she said, poking the vest on the little bird.

“Tweet!” The bird wasn’t used to the added bulk of the vest yet and immediately fell over.

Berry Brown listened to Chen Ziqi, but there was no visible reaction on his face. He just stared blankly in silence, his hands slowly clenching into fists. “I’ll go and ask her,” he said abruptly, turning to leave.

“Huh? Don’t be dumb!” Chen Ziqi exclaimed. He tugged at Berry Brown to stop him from leaving. “You think she’ll just admit it if you ask? You’re asking for another beating, that’s what it is!”

“I really want to know where my real mother is!” Berry Brown said, frustrated. He threw a stone into the pond. A thin layer of ice had formed over the pond, and this broke with a cracking sound where the stone landed.

“Don’t rush into things. I have a plan,” Chen Ziqi said. He thought hard, then suddenly laughed out loud.

“What plan have you got?” Chen Zimo asked urgently.

“A plan to make her tell the truth… But we have to wait for the right moment. If this plan succeeds, though, you have to listen to me after this,” Chen Ziqi said, raising his small chin.

“Done,” Berry Brown said decisively.

“Let’s shake on it!” Chen Ziqi said, extending a hand. They shook hands, and the deal was done.

Later that night, Chen Zimo slowly made his way back to the palace he lived in with Cheng Jieyu.

Cheng Jieyu was in the midst of writing out the gongfa of the Taisu Wuxin Gong from memory. Her face was serious, and the more she wrote, the darker her expression became. The reason why she chose to stay in the palace and give up her status as a direct disciple of the Suxin Sect was to obtain a higher social status, which in turn would enable her to exact revenge for the Cheng family. However, her martial arts ability had been dispersed, and she had no achievements to show after making this sacrifice. Even her youngest jiujiu was now an invalid…

Cheng Jieyu saw Chen Zimo walk slowly into the room, and she was seized by a fit of irritation. “You keep going over to that side every day – why don’t you just go be that village wench’s son?” she snapped.

Chen Zimo had originally intended to ignore her after coming home, but on hearing this, he stopped in his tracks. He glared coldly at Cheng Jieyu, and spoke a frigid tone that Cheng Jieyu had never heard him use before. “It would be better to be a village wench’s son than be your son!” he retorted, enunciating every word slowly and clearly.

Beansprout: The mini-theater for this chapter has been omitted because I don’t really understand it. (///￣ ￣///) Sorry my friends!