CH 58

“Do you intend to go back?” Dan Yi asked, lowering his gaze and swirling the tea in his cup slowly before looking up at Chen Ziqi again.

“I’ll probably go back for a bit to see what Old Second is up to,” Chen Ziqi said, after some consideration. He had better return quickly so that the Second Prince didn’t find out about his habit of living outside his fief for long periods of time. If the Second Prince discovered this, things wouldn’t look very good for him. 

“What are you planning to do with those two women?” Dan Yi asked, pressing his lips into a thin line.

“I’ll just take them in, I guess,” Chen Ziqi said nonchalantly. “It’d be a waste to turn them away.”

Dan Yi put down the cup in his hands abruptly and left the room without another word. Chen Ziqi gulped down his tea in two mouthfuls then chased after Dan Yi. “Hey, wait for me…”

Linghe came over to clear the cups. Just as she picked up the Palace Master’s cup, the white porcelain shattered into a dozen pieces with a tinkling sound. 

Dan Yi accompanied Chen Ziqi to the Roosting Platform. His gaze turned icy as he watched the little sedan floating away into the distance. “Get people to keep an eye on King Wan, and also… keep an eye on Qiqi. If anything happens, report to me immediately,” he said.

“Certainly,” the Dark Cloud Envoy Diao Lie said immediately.

If the White Cloud Envoy had been here, he would definitely have asked why the Palace Master had a change of heart; wasn’t he the one who said that the Cloud Palace subordinates were not to conduct surveillance on Chen Ziqi?

When Lan Jiangxue found out about this, the spies had already been sent out.

Lan Jiangxue yawned deeply as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing a brand new, snow-white spring robe, and he let his hardworking younger brother put a blue belt on him.

“What’s this for?” Lan Jiangxue asked, looking at the blue belt. He had always used silver or white-coloured belts in the past.

“Exchanging feathers,” Lan Shanyu said happily as he fastened the silver belt on himself. “This way, other girls won’t look at you with covetous eyes any more.”

Which girl would look at me covetously? Lan Jiangxue snorted derisively, but he didn’t object to what Lan Shanyu was doing. 

“Wang ye has reached the second level of cultivation?” Lan Shanyu asked his Palace Master. He had walked all around the Cloud Palace before finally locating Dan Yi in the Wutong forest, standing in the pavilion there.

“He’s only about halfway there,” Dan Yi said. He folded his hands behind his back as he looked up at the tall Wutong trees around him.

“If Wang ye isn’t by your side, then you cannot start practising the fourth level of cultivation,” Lan Jiangxue said, his brows creasing slightly. “Didn’t you tell Wang ye about this?”

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“I have my own plans,” Dan Yi said, waving away Lan Jiangxue’s concerns.

Chen Ziqi returned to his mansion and met with the envoy sent by the Second Prince. He was a civil official dressed in scholarly robes, and his head was wrapped in a turquoise silk scarf.

“My name is Jiang Liangcai, and my courtesy name is Maogong. I am the Minister of General Affairs in King Wan’s mansion,” Jiang Liangcai said. He was a bookish-looking man in his thirties, and he spoke in a very polite, refined manner. 

Chen Ziqi sat casually with an ankle over his knee in the host’s seat, looking this Lord Jiang up and down. The Minister of General Affairs in a King’s mansion was equivalent to the Zhongshu in the Imperial Court, and was a powerful official whom the King would listen to. Old Second’s actions in appointing someone to this post was actually quite dangerous – wasn’t he afraid that the Emperor would think he was making preparations to rebel?

He glanced at the sword on Lord Jiang’s belt, then looked over at Wu Bujian and Tu Buxian who were standing by his side. “Lord Jiang, you’re also a swordsman?” he asked, rubbing his chin.

“It’s merely a custom of the Huangshan Sect to carry a sword. I’m no good with the sword, and certainly cannot call myself a swordsman,” Jiang Liangcai said with a smile.

Tu Buxian gave a low chuckle, then leapt lightly off the dais with his fingers stretched out like claws, pouncing toward Jiang Liangcai. 

Jiang Liangcai instinctively drew his sword and blocked Tu Buxian’s attack skillfully. He looked rather embarrassed after that, and moved back a few steps.

“Tu Buxian, you’re not to be rude!” Chen Ziqi said immediately, leaping down from his chair to support the Minister of General Affairs, who looked like he was about to keel over. He continued speaking in an apologetic tone. “This guard of mine likes to challenge people who have weapons on them. I’ve tried to counsel him otherwise but to no avail. Lord Jiang, you must have had quite the shock.”

Jiang Liangcai turned to look at the burly fellow who had attacked him. Tu Buxian rubbed the bald spot on his head and grinned toothily back, his eyes fixed firmly on his neck, as if he would leap forward and rip his throat out at any moment. Jiang Liangcai secretly broke out in cold sweat, but forced out a casual laugh nonetheless. “Guard Tu is also very passionate about his job,” he said.

After suffering this shock, Jiang Liangcai became much more straightforward, and started talking about why King Wan had sent him here today. 

“Vassal Kings cannot leave their fief willy nilly, but my Wang ye was thinking about you, so he sent me to visit,” Jiang Liangcai said, gesturing to his servants to bring in the two girls.

Two girls dressed in pure white dresses appeared. The sound of bells tinking prettily could be heard as they walked in from behind the screen. Chen Ziqi was unpleasantly surprised; these two girls had been behind the screen for quite some time, but he hadn’t felt their presence at all!

Their slender bodies could be faintly seen through their sheer clothing. Their faces were half covered with the same translucent material, revealing only two almond-shaped eyes.

“Greetings to Wang ye. Our names are Yu Linglong and Yu Furong,” they said in soft, girlish voices that reminded Chen Ziqi of the songbirds on Jade Mountain. 

Chen Ziqi stared at them for a moment. These two girls had a very similar build, walked in pace with each other, and their eyes and voices were exactly alike. “Are they a pair of twins?” he asked.

“Wang ye is most astute,” Liang Jiangcai said, laughing. “They are indeed twins, and apparently very beautiful. This official has never seen their faces, however. King Wan said that this is a gift to congratulate you for moving into your fief, and I pray that Wang ye will not find this disagreeable merely because it has arrived late.”

Now that Chen Ziqi was fourteen and had a fief of his own, he could marry a wife and take in concubines if he wished. There was nothing out of the ordinary in an elder brother gifting his younger sibling with two concubines. Chen Ziqi could only smile and accept. He politely invited Jiang Liangcai to rest in his residence, then went to have a good look at the two girls.

“Take off your veils and let me have a look,” Chen Ziqi said, scooting over and sniffing at the two girls like a lecherous old man. An overpowering, sickly sweet smell immediately filled his nostrils, and he nearly gagged. He rubbed his nose unhappily, thinking that Dan Yi smelt much, much better. The latter always had a clean, green scent on him, much like the smell of freshly cut grass. He always had a good night’s sleep when his nose was buried in Dan Yi’s chest. 

The two girls didn’t move a muscle. The one with bells on her wrist was called Yu Linglong, and the one with a lotus flower in her hair was Yu Furong. Yu Furong looked at Wu Bujian and Tu Buxian. “My sister and I are only willing to let our husband see our faces. Wang ye, if you wish for us to remove our veils, please ask your servants to leave,” she said stubbornly.

Chen Ziqi raised his eyebrows. “So many restrictions? Are you two actually ugly to look at?” he asked.

“You…” Yu Linglong’s temper seemed hotter than her sister’s, and she immediately became angry on hearing this. She wanted to say something, but her older sister pulled her back.

“My sister and I have sworn upon our lives to only let our husbands see our real faces,” Yu Furong said earnestly. 

That definitely meant that they were a pair of uglies! Chen Ziqi’s lips curled disdainfully. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen girls try this sort of trick.

Back in Jiuru Town, there had been a top courtesan in the Scarlet Robe Court who went by the name of Lady Tanhua, who had always worn a veil, saying that she would only let her future husband see her face. The people of Jiuru Town had all assumed that she was a great beauty, and had spent money like water to spend time with her. One day, when Chen Ziqi snuck into the brothel for fun, he had seen her face clearly. Under that veil that hid the lower half of her face, she had two huge buck teeth, and he had been shocked out of his wits.

“You two ladies are like fine jade, and I am only a little stripling. I can’t be your husband, so if you don’t want to remove the veil, so be it,” Chen Ziqi said. After his disgust had passed, he put on the look of a righteous gentleman and invited them to rest in his houyuan.

The two girls were stunned. They looked at each other in confusion. Yu Linglong spoke up first. “We have already been given to Wang ye, and we’re now considered your people. Wang ye, you can look if you want,” she said. 

“There are plenty of days ahead,” Chen Ziqi said with a smile, as if he weren’t the least bit curious. He politely brought them to meet Chang Er. “This is my mother, and in this mansion, she makes the decisions. You’ll be fine as long as you listen to the Taifei.”

The two girls greeted Chang Er, who looked at them suspiciously, then gave a cold sniff. “These two look so sultry. I can tell with just one look that they aren’t ladies from a good family. If the two of you want to live peacefully in this mansion, then make sure you remain squarely inside your own residence. You’re not to come within ten feet of Wang ye until he hits sixteen. If I hear that Wang ye lost his virginity because you seduced him, I’ll sell you into prostitution!” she threatened.

The two girls’ first impression of the beautiful Yue Taifei was that she was a naive, soft-hearted creature, and were absolutely stunned when they heard her spout these threats and coarse language. Yu Linglong and Yu Furong could only stare blankly at Chang Er after hearing this spiel. Yu Linglong felt very wronged, and wanted to speak up, but her older sister pulled her down onto her knees to kowtow to Chang Er. The two then followed the maids to their residence.

“… …” The corners of Chen Ziqi’s mouth twitched in amusement. He had originally wanted to play good cop and bad cop with these two girls and find out the real reason why Old Second had sent them to him, but they were really scared stiff by his mother now. 

“How did I do? Didn’t I act the part of an evil mother-in-law well?” Chang Er said proudly.

“You didn’t need to act; you are one,” Chen Ziqi said, lowering his eyes as he spoke.

“You little brat, I think you’re asking for a beating!” Cheng Er said, grabbing hold of one of Chen Ziqi’s ears. “I warn you, succumbing to feminine wiles will harm your body. If you’re feeling restless, go to the Cloud Palace and play with Dan Yi. You’re not to go to your houyuan.”

In the past, Chen Ziqi and Chang Er lived in a place that was under the Jingang Sect’s jurisdiction, and she had often heard the people of that sect say that losing one’s virginity early was harmful to one’s physical development, and would also shorten one’s life. For this reason, she had watched Chen Ziqi very closely in this regard. She had also heard that Dan Yi was pressuring Chen Ziqi to practice his martial arts, and she thought that was a good thing, which was why she pushed him to go and look for Dan Yi more, the better to avoid falling prey to some woman’s seduction. 

Dan Yi had been a child she’d watched grow up. He was hardworking, polite, good-looking and good-tempered. She always felt very much at ease when she knew Chen Ziqi was at the Cloud Palace.

Chen Ziqi scratched his head, muttering in his heart that when he stayed with Dan Yi, he would probably also lose his virginity, so what was the difference, really?

The author has something to say: Mini-theatre

Birdie Gong: Listen to your mum, come to Laogong 

Qiqi: What’s the difference between going to you and going to my houyuan?

Birdie Gong: You’ll harm your body if you go to the houyuan

Qiqi: Then I won’t harm my body if I play with you?

Birdie Gong: Of course! When you play with me, you don’t need to move, so you won’t injure your back! 

Qiqi: That sounds legit

… …

Qiqi: You liar! My back hurts QAQ