CH 38

Him? The Tiande Emperor looked in the direction that Dan Yi was pointing at, and saw a stunned-looking Chen Ziqi.

This was an official visit to the Cloud Palace by the Imperial family, so Chen Ziqi wore a set of formal Qinwang robes. The powder blue, wide-sleeved robe was embroidered with a dragon pattern, and secured with a teal-coloured belt at the waist. He didn’t wear any outer cloak, and his slender body and narrow waist were plain to see. 

A pair of captivating peach blossom eyes set off his fresh, young face perfectly.

Chen Ziqi was truly the best looking out of all of the Emperor’s younger brothers. The year Dan Yi first visited the Imperial Palace, didn’t he say that he only wanted to play with Chen Ziqi because he was good-looking? The Tiande Emperor thought back on the pink-coloured sedans he’d seen earlier. In addition to pretty young girls, there were handsome young boys amongst the meiren sent as tributes. It seemed that this new Phoenix King’s preferences included beautiful young boys…

As the Master of the Cloud Palace, Dan Yi had his pick of meiren. However, if he wanted to bed an Imperial prince, that would be a lot harder. The Imperial family might not be well-respected in the empire, but they were still royals at the end of the day.

“Is that a joke? Ziqi is my younger brother, and a Qinwang, at that!” the Emperor bit out. 

Actually, to the Emperor, trading Chen Ziqi for a High Priest was a pretty good deal. He had control over Chen Ziqi anyway, and having him stay by Dan Yi’s side as his mole was definitely beneficial to him. Plus, he wouldn’t have to give up five cities… However, if word got out that he’d tossed someone of royal blood cavalierly to the Cloud Palace for the Cloud Palace Master’s enjoyment, he’d definitely be criticised as a shameless Emperor.

Perhaps Dan Yi’s real motive was to humiliate the Imperial family?

Dan Yi ignored the Emperor. He took a languid sip of his tea, then looked up in an unhurried manner at Chen Ziqi, who had shot to his feet in shock.

Chen Ziqi was still stunned. What had Dan Yi said earlier? Dan Yi wanted him? He had no illusions as to what Dan Yi wanted him to do; it certainly wasn’t to run errands for the Cloud Palace, so that meant… Chen Ziqi’s breath caught in his throat, and his fingers twitched involuntarily. He was really caught off-guard and didn’t know how to react.

He looked over at Dan Yi with eyes full of doubt, and coincidentally met Dan Yi’s gorgeous phoenix tail eyes, which were also looking in his direction. Chen Ziqi felt his heart pound a little faster and scolded himself inwardly. He should not be charmed by Dan Yi’s looks; he was about to be given away as a bedslave to this fellow!

“The Cloud Palace has never used intimidation to close deals,” Dan Yi said, pulling his eyes from Chen Ziqi and turning his sharp gaze on the Emperor. “If your Majesty doesn’t wish to give your younger brother to me, that’s fine. I’m not keen on sending any member of the Lan family to the Imperial Palace anyway.”

“W-wait!” the Emperor said hurriedly, becoming tongue-tied in his haste. He took a deep breath. “Zhen can allow you to have Little Seventh, but you cannot let outsiders know of this.”

“Brother Emperor!” Chen Ziqi protested, shocked. He stared at the Emperor in disbelief, and couldn’t help rolling his eyes inwardly. He really wanted to make a small effigy of the Emperor and give it a sound beating. This man’s shamelessness was on a whole new level! 

“Your suffering will be for the greater good of the Chen family,” the Tiande Emperor said, gripping Chen Ziqi’s wrist tightly. He stared long and hard into Chen Ziqi’s eyes, then spoke in a deliberately slow manner. “Don’t forget what you promised me on the way here.”

You motherf*cker… Chen Ziqi nearly cursed out loud at the Emperor, but he somehow managed to keep it in and force out a stiff smile instead. “This brother will not forget your Majesty’s kindness,” he said through clenched teeth.

The Tiande Emperor nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at Dan Yi. He found that the latter was staring dangerously at his hand, which was still holding on to Chen Ziqi’s wrist. With a frightened shudder, he released Chen Ziqi’s wrist immediately.

Dan Yi’s face was cold as he set down his teacup. He got up and cast a glance at Chen Ziqi, whose head was still lowered. He had no idea what Chen Ziqi was thinking. “Send him to my bedroom tonight,” he instructed. With that, he left with a grand flourish of his sleeves. 

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Lan Shanyu stayed behind to attend to the guests. “Your Majesty, Wang ye, may I invite you to rest in a guest room? There will be a banquet held tonight, and you can stay there until then,” he said, smiling genially at Chen Ziqi. Lan Shanyu was also confused by Dan Yi’s request for Chen Ziqi earlier, but was able to keep a straight face thanks to his training.

“Master, how could you do that to Chen Ziqi?” Lan Jiangxue asked. He was following behind Dan Yi, and they both descended gracefully onto a water pavilion. The Dark Cloud Envoy twisted lightly in the air, then landed firmly next to Dan Yi.

“Why?” Dan Yi asked, raising an eyebrow. “You’re saying I can’t?” 

“That’s not what I meant…” Lan Jiangxue’s voice trailed off. He was also at a loss for words, and turned to shoot a meaningful look at the Dark Cloud Envoy. The latter didn’t get it at all, and just stared blankly back at him with his twin eagle eyes. After a bit, he suddenly tilted his head to the side.

The dark-clad man who had been standing next to Lan Jiangxue behind Dan Yi earlier was the current Dark Cloud Envoy – Diao Lie.

Diao Lie was a man of few words. He had a fierce, impatient personality, and was loyal only to Dan Yi. Lan Jiangxue sighed. Expecting him to persuade Dan Yi was hopeless. It looked like he could only rely on himself. Lan Jiangxue had no choice but to continue. “It’s just- today, there was no need to…”

“Weren’t they chasing me to start having carnal relations? I’ll relate carnally for them to see!” Dan Yi said, sniffing coldly. 

Lan Jiangxue pressed his lips together and didn’t say any more.

“If Master finds them annoying, I’ll just go kill them,” Diao Lie said seriously, straightening his head.

Lan Jiangxue rubbed his temples, trying to soothe the pounding headache brought on by these two. “Stop adding oil to the fire,” he said, glaring at Diao Lie.

In the guestroom, the Tiande Emperor personally poured a cup of Junshan Yinye tea for Chen Ziqi. 

The Cloud Palace people had refused to bring the Jinwu Guards up the mountain, but they’d brought all their luggage up. Everything was in order when they both arrived at the guestroom.

“You’ve drunk this tea for two years now. Don’t you find that it tastes better and better?” the Tiande Emperor said, smiling as he pushed the cup toward Chen Ziqi.

Chen Ziqi made no move to accept the cup.

“Relax. It’s not poison. If you drink the tea regularly, and I don’t activate the thing, it won’t act up,” the Tiande Emperor said, his voice becoming cold. 

“If it’s not poison, then, is it a venomous blackworm?” Chen Ziqi said, equally coldly. He picked up the cup in the end; he wasn’t one to make himself suffer if it could be avoided. He drained the cup, then found that the throbbing pain around his heart became less pronounced.

“That’s right,” the Tiande Emperor admitted. He didn’t seem ashamed of himself at all, and in fact, seemed to be slightly arrogant as he continued. “This blackworm was raised by a Venom Master and fed with the Venom Master’s own blood. It can only be purged by the Venom Master. You don’t have to tire yourself out looking for another method to remove or cure it. Even if you went to beg the leader of the Thousand Poisons Clan to save you, it would be useless.”

Chen Ziqi gripped the teacup in his hand tightly, then slowly set it down. “I didn’t realise how important I was to Brother Emperor. I’m surprised to be held in such high regard,” he said.

A blackworm cultivated using a Venom Master’s blood was very rare, and it was difficult to obtain one even if you had the money. It went without saying that they were also extremely expensive. For the Emperor to use one of these on Chen Ziqi… what was the Emperor after? 

“You’re certainly worth it. Look at what happened today,” the Tiande Emperor said, smiling sinisterly.

As they were speaking, Lan Shanyu knocked on their door. “The Palace Master invites your Majesty the Emperor to attend the banquet in the front atrium,” he said.

The two in the room opened the door and saw Lan Shanyu smiling gaily in front of them. Behind Lan Shanyu were two green-clad servant girls. The Tiande Emperor followed Lan Shanyu to the banquet, and Chen Ziqi was asked to go with the two servant girls.

“The Palace Master has instructed that he wants to see you immediately after the banquet,” the green-clad servant girl said. Her face and tone were bland, and her chin rose slightly toward the end, as if she were speaking down to him. 

Chen Ziqi smiled at her nonetheless. “I’ll have to trouble you two jiejie to lead the way, then,” he said amiably. His beautiful peach blossom eyes sparkled in the setting sun in a most captivating manner.

The servant girls stared blankly at his handsome face for a while, and after that, their attitude toward him also became somewhat warmer.

Chen Ziqi got a good look at the Cloud Palace’s buildings as he followed the green-clad girls across the twisting and turning corridors. The Cloud Palace wasn’t built like the Imperial Palace, set out in an orderly fashion on level ground. Its construction instead followed the terrain and attributes of the mountain; human intention and orderliness were secondary. Where there was a natural mountain pool, a water pavilion would be built on it, and if a waterfall was in the way, they’d build an arched bridge around it. Wind pavilions were built on protruding rocks, and covered corridors wound through the dense bamboo forest.

These wind pavilions dotted the mountain in a random fashion, rather like avant garde brushwork, and were all connected to each other by exquisitely designed covered corridors. There was no need to open an umbrella to get from one end of the palace to the other, even on rainy days. 

After passing by many airy pavilions, terraces and open halls, and walking through a dense Wutong tree forest, they finally arrived at an incredibly opulent palace residence.

“Wang ye, please take a bath first. The Palace Master is very insistent on cleanliness, and people who haven’t bathed are not allowed near his person,” the taller of the two green-clad girls spoke.

These words grated on the ear; he was being treated as if he was a mere chattel. Chen Ziqi took no notice of what they said, and smiled cordially at the two girls instead. “How may I address you two pretty jiejie?” he asked politely.

“I’m called Qing Ping, and this is my younger sister, Qing He,” the taller girl said. She pulled open thick silk curtains as she spoke. This palace had a bathing pool cut out of black quartz that was flecked with gold. The pool was as big as a room, and steam rose in great tendrils from the surface of the water. The water was real hot spring water, brought in from a hot spring elsewhere on Jade Mountain. It all looked very pleasant and comfortable. 

“Wait,” Qing He said, shooting a look at Qing Ping before continuing to speak to her in a low voice. “The Palace Master’s bathing pool has never been used by anyone other than him. I’m afraid this isn’t appropriate…”

Chen Ziqi had already mastered the first level of the Divine Dragon’s Howl, and even though he couldn’t kill ten thousand men in a single blow yet, he had heightened sight and hearing. He could easily hear what Qing He said as such. He lowered his eyes, chuckled softly to himself, then walked to the side of the pool and started taking off his clothes right in front of them.

“Ah!” Qing He cried out loud in shock, and pulled her older sister around so that their backs were turned to the happily stripping Chen Ziqi. “Wang ye, you…” Whilst they weren’t paying attention to him, Chen Ziqi had taken off all his clothes except one last piece, his underpants.

Chen Ziqi turned to look at the two servant girls and narrowed his eyes. He’d seen a large number of servant girls from the Cloud Palace when he spent time with Dan Yi in the past. They had all been cut from the same cloth as Lingguan and Linghe, humble and polite, with a warm and obedient demeanour. These two, in contrast, didn’t seem like servant girls at all; they behaved much more like spoiled young ladies of the nobility. 

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you ask me to take a bath? Come over and wash my back,” Chen Ziqi said, acting all high and mighty. He jumped into the warm pool and hooked a finger at the two girls, beckoning them over.

When Dan Yi returned to his sleeping quarters, he saw the two girls standing in front of the door, and one of them had bloodshot eyes.

“Palace Master,” Qing He said, greeting Dan Yi politely.

Dan Yi moved closer. Qing He smiled in satisfaction, but just then, Dan Yi looked right past her and pushed her aside, opening the door behind her and going straight into the room. He had used a bit of the Cloud Dispelling Fists technique in doing so, and that push nearly sent Qing He to the ground. She stumbled a few steps before regaining her balance, and when she turned around, the door had already been slammed shut. 

Linghe and Lingguan had returned with Dan Yi, and when they saw this little exchange, they both looked at each other and pressed their lips together to stop themselves from laughing. “The Palace Master is busy. Why don’t you keep watch elsewhere?” Lingguan said in a warm, sweet voice. She then pulled the two green-clad sisters off with her in a manner that brooked no opposition.

Chen Ziqi had just changed into soft, sheer robes. He flopped down on the bed and rolled around in it. This bed was about one zhang wide. It was very different from the beds in the Imperial palace, which all had high legs and was enclosed by a bed frame. The bed Chen Ziqi was lying on now was about half as short as the ones in the Imperial palace, and had no enclosing bed frame at the sides. Instead, it had four high posters, and indigo silk curtains fell softly over the bed. A windchime made of pearls hung at the head of the bed. The whole setup looked very curious to Chen Ziqi.

On hearing the door open, Chen Ziqi rolled over immediately and sat up straight. He saw that Dan Yi had come in, and his face was cold and distant as he walked toward him step by step. Chen Ziqi couldn’t help swallowing as he looked at Dan Yi. “Fengyuan gege, it’s been a while,” he said nervously.

The author has something to say: Mini-theater 

“The Dark Cloud Envoy needs to improve his comprehension abilities”

Lan Shanyu: (shoots the Dark Cloud Envoy a look)

Diao Lie: (tilts head)

Lan Shanyu: What are you tilting your head for?

Diao Lie: I didn’t get what you meant, so I’m changing perspective

Lan Shanyu: … …

Birdie Gong: Chirp-hahaha, I’m about to start eating meat*!

*T/N: In Chinese, this is 开荤 (kai jun), and whilst the literal meaning is to ‘start a carnivorous diet’, it’s usually used to refer to having sexual relations. This dual meaning is important to understand the rest of the convo below!

Diao Lie: Does Master wish to eat a jade bamboo worm or a plum flower snake?

Birdie Gong: I’m not talking about that

Diao Lie: (tilts head) Then… do you want to eat a bamboo rat?

Birdie Gong: … Scram!