“What… What happened?!”
Qiu Yutong widened his eyes, his mind completely blank.
He had originally prepared himself. Even if he saw a ferocious demonic face or a made-up effeminate one, he wouldn’t be surprised.
But, but this face in the mirror…
This face was evidently his own!
This extremely familiar face, the skin was so white it was almost translucent, eyes black like paint, his lips were very pale, his jawline was perfectly sharp, even the position of the scarlet teardrop mole under his right eye was exactly the same.
This, exactly what is…
Qiu Yutong stared stiffly into the mirror, his mind a tangled mess.
After a long while, he slowly came back to himself.
He forcefully calmed down and moved closer to the mirror, carefully observing the details, trying to find any differences.
After moving closer, the face in the mirror, compared to his original face, was still a little bit different. This face had a rounder shape, his nose tilted up, his chin sharper, his temperament tended towards cold and delicate, rather than casual and undisciplined.
Qiu Yutong didn’t know what he should say, the many questions from before finally saw the light of day.
So it turned out, that the mysterious “person” the eunuchs mentioned, when Zhang Defu muttered “too alike”, and when Lu Xiao sternly said, “Wearing such a face”, meant this.
The so-call “person”, was the past him, Qiu Yutong.
This male pet’s body looked like him.
Qiu Yutong only felt a splitting headache, silently asking the sky.
He massaged his temples and suddenly thought of an extremely important question.
Since this male pet’s body had a face like his own, that is to say, “that person” who Lu Xiao hated was himself, Qiu Yutong.
But, but… how could this be possible?
That year, towards this Shizun*, Lu Xiao could be said to be extremely respectful, as well as obedient and sensible… How could he (LX) hate himself (QYT)? Or is it because he was too dense and didn’t discover Lu Xiao’s hatred?
[T/N: You guys probably know, but this means teacher.]
Qiu Yutong couldn’t help but remember, just now when Lu Xiao said, “What We hate most is when others look like “that person”,” and felt upset in his heart.
He (LX) actually hated himself (QYT) that much? Going so far?
In any case, they had been a pair of master and disciple and were dependent on each other for a full 10 years; he had even saved that youngster’s life, not just once.
But just now, what Lu Xiao had revealed, was obviously hatred.
Qiu Yutong stared at the brass mirror and fantasised for a long time, not uttering a word.
Maybe because his face didn’t look too well, Xiao Xizi cautiously asked, “Young, Young Master, is there something wrong?”
“… it’s nothing.” Qiu Yutong shook his head after coming back to himself.
He put down the brass mirror. Feeling his head was in unbearable pain, he couldn’t help but massage his temples, “Ugh…”
Xiao Xizi hurriedly spoke, “It, It’s already so late, is Young Master tired? This, this one will attend to Young Master’s nightly ablutions.”
Qiu Yutong was indeed tired so he nodded, “Alright.”
Even though Xiao Xizi’s mouth was not nimble, he was physically agile; soon, he had carried over hot water and a towel, helping Qiu Yutong wipe his face and wash his hands and feet. Then, he helped him (QYT) onto the bed before he blew out the lamps and left.
Qiu Yutong silently lay on the bed, but he couldn’t sleep.
Maybe because this was the cold palace, the bedclothes he was wearing weren’t soft, but it was clean. It smelled faintly of honey locust.
Qiu Yutong looked at the dark bed curtain, smelling the faint honey locust scent, his heart in turmoil, with a thousand thoughts in mind.
He actually fell into such circumstances… he failed to ascend and inexplicably became the male pet of his disciple.
Too unlucky, too embarrassing, too humiliating.
Moreover, Lu Xiao seemed to really hate this Shizun.
A hatred so deep that even after 5 years, when seeing a similar person, he would want to take his anger out on that person.
Thinking till here, Qiu Yutong felt fidgety and turned his body. He couldn’t understand why Lu Xiao hated him so.
No matter what, the way he treated Lu Xiao then, was with all-out effort.
That was his first time teaching so there would definitely be places where he was inadequate, for example, liking to put on airs, sometimes lacking patience, other times being overly severe… But, Lu Xiao had never expressed any dissatisfaction, not a word of complaint, always obedient and sensible, working hard without complaint.
Don’t tell him, Lu Xiao was outwardly respectful and cautious, but inwardly restrained some grievances?
Only after he ascended did Lu Xiao vent out his grievances?
Qiu Yutong was felt choked with emotions.
He had always been someone who did as he wished, undisciplined, but at this very moment, to say he was fine, that was impossible.
After all, he only had this one disciple.
After all, even though he didn’t have any experience, he had put in his utmost effort, working hard to be a good shizun.
What did Lu Xiao…
Ai, forget it, forget it.
There is no meaning in thinking about all this now; this place is not good for long stays, he had to hurry back to his sect, North Snow City and solve the problem of this body, then slowly think about the situation with Lu Xiao.
But, North Snow City was beyond the great wall, in the land of bitter cold, more than 10 000 Li* away from the capital. This body was so weak, it probably couldn’t even ride a horse, how was he supposed to go?
[T/N: Li is a unit of measurement in ancient China. 1 Li = 0.5 km]
He didn’t know how his shixiongs were doing, did they assume he had ascended?
Qiu Yutong let his imagination run wild for quite a while, and gradually, his eyelids became heavier.
……
On the second day, when Qiu Yutong opened his eyes, it was almost noon.
Outside the window was the sound of rain.
“Yes, yesterday, in the middle of the night, there was a loud thunderclap, scaring people to death.” Xiao Xizi helped Qiu Yutong wash his face, “Was, was, Young Master scared awake?”
There was thunder last night?
Qiu Yutong was slightly stunned. He slept too deeply and didn’t hear anything.
Was Lu Xiao… okay?
From a young age, Lu Xiao was especially afraid of thunder. On the nights when it rained, he would definitely squeeze into Qiu Yutong’s bed, if not he wouldn’t be able to sleep the entire night. Last night had such a bad thunderclap, he…
Qiu Yutong thought better of it and couldn’t help but laugh. This youngster was 23 this year and had been the monarch of a country for a full five years; he couldn’t still be scared of thunder. Now, it was already he was already a clay buddha crossing the river*, hard to protect himself, so why was he still so relaxed as to be blindly concerned about someone else?
[T/N: A clay buddha crossing the river just means being unable to protect oneself.]
After Xiao Xizi finished serving Qiu Yutong, he suddenly slapped his forehead, “Oh no, this, this one nearly forgot, this one has to go to the kitchen to grab food! Going, going late means there won’t be any!”
He frantically ran out, grabbing a coat from the veranda and vanishing into the curtain of rain.
It rained harder, beating against the courtyard’s Japanese banana foliage. Qiu Yutong looked at the Japanese bananas, but his heart had already flown to somewhere far away, thinking about yesterday’s problem.
The top priority now was to return to North Snow City and find Zhangmen Shixiong’s help, reconstruct his original innate sword body… But, North Snow City was very far away, even though it would only be an instant on a sword, but with this delicate and pretty mortal □□, going back would be a troublesome matter.
What should he do?
Just as Qiu Yutong was thinking, he suddenly heard, a loud “bang!”, the doors were pushed open.
He was slightly surprised, looking up, only seeing Xiao Xizi lying on the threshold, having stumbled onto his face, looking entirely like a drowned rat. Firmly in his hands was a food box. He looked both pitiful and ridiculous.
Qiu Yutong helplessly shook his head, going over to help the unlucky eunuch up, “You didn’t break anything right?”
Xiao Xizi’s face was covered in rainwater, tears large as beans rolled around in his eye socket, “Wuwuwu… Young, Young Master…”
Qiu Yutong softened his voice, “What is it?”
Xiao Xizi cried, “Soup! There, there’s soup in the box… it, it’s definitely spilt.”
Qiu Yutong opened the food box, and indeed, there was a vegetable and beancurd soup, four steamed vegetable buns, a plate of salted radishes and a plate of boiled peanuts.
Of course, over half of the soup has been spilt.
Xiao Xizi sobbed, “I, why am I so stupid!”
Qiu Yutong comforted, “It’s fine. If it’s spilt, it’s spilt. Don’t cry.”
“Young, Young Master, you’re so good.” Xiao Xizi embarrassedly wiped his tears, arranged the cutleries a bit and helped Qiu Yutong sit down.
Qiu Yutong looked at the small table and couldn’t help but sigh.
Half a small bowl of vegetable and beancurd soup, four steamed vegetable buns, a plate of salted radishes, a plate of boiled peanut… Even though he really liked mortal food, he is quite picky, towards these things, he couldn’t muster up much interest.
He really missed Lu Xiao’s osmanthus cakes, soft and sticky, sweet yet not greasy.
“Growl…” Qiu Yutong was just thinking about soft and sticky osmanthus cakes and his stomach disappointedly let out a sound.
Fine, even though he didn’t want to eat these steamed buns and radishes, this body couldn’t not eat.
Qiu Yutong didn’t have a choice. He could only pick up his chopsticks reluctantly picking up a piece of beancurd and slowly put it in his mouth.
The taste was not that great, much worse than Lu Xiao’s works.
Qiu Yutong endured for an instant, then forced it down.
Xiao Xizi watched him eat, his throat bobbed as he audibly gulped.
Qiu Yutong casually waved his hand, “Don’t stand, sit down and eat.”
Xiao Xizi was startled, hastily waving his hand, “How, how can that be alright, it’s against the rules! When, when Young Master is done, this one will eat a bit of the leftover, that should be it.”
Qiu Yutong was well-known in the cultivation world for being undisciplined and doing whatever he pleased, completely uncaring of the convolutions in the human world. “You youngster, such a young age and you already have so many rules. If I let you sit, just sit; if I let you eat, just eat, where is all this nonsense coming from?”
Xiao Xizi didn’t dare disobey, shakingly sitting down and grabbing a steamed bun, cautiously nibbling on it.
The two of them ate and the rain gradually slowed to a drizzle.
With a mouthful of steamed bun, Xiao Xizi indistinctly said, “Young, Young Master, later I’ll go to the bedroom to clean up. The blanket is thin, I don’t know if the amount of charcoal we were allocated this year is, is enough…”
“What charcoal allo…” Qiu Yutong wasn’t done speaking when he was interrupted by a melodious voice.
“Oh! It’s so late, you’re still eating?”
Qiu Yutong looked up, only to see a beautiful youth, standing beautifully at the door of the room. He faked a smile towards Qiu Yutong.
This youth looked around sixteen to seventeen, large, round eyes, pink cheeks and narrow chin. He was wearing a goose-yellow jacket, looking very beautiful, behind him was a burly eunuch.
The youth saw Xiao Xizi and smiled, “What is it, a servant of Feicui courtyard, is also able to sit at the table? Is this the rules of Young Master Xue Rong?”
Xiao Xizi suddenly stood up, “Young, Young Master Liu.”
Qiu Yutong lightly lifted up his brows. Looks like this good-looking youth was the one Zhang Defu mentioned before, the Young Master Jiangnan’s Liu family offered as a tribute, Liu Bitao.
Liu Bitao completely ignored Xiao Xizi, directly walking into the room, his eyes gazing at Qiu Yutong, “Do you know who I am?”
Qiu Yutong unhurriedly wiped his mouth before lifting his face, smiling at Liu Bitao, “We are honoured by Young Master Liu’s presence, how can I help you?”
Liu Bitao was dazzled by that smile, his entire body stunned, “You…”
Qiu Yutong held back his temper and repeated, “How can I help you, Young Master Liu?”
Liu Bitao suddenly woke up, annoyed at the fact that he had been amazed, his face alternating between red and white, he suddenly flew into a rage, kicking the table over!
Following the “Crash!”, the tabled flipped over, four porcelain plates fell to the ground, vegetable and beancurd soup, dry radishes, boiled peanuts spilt everywhere. A few steamed buns also rolled around.
Qiu Yutong frowned slightly but didn’t get angry.
After all, according to the way he cultivated his frame of mind, the things that were able to make him angry were too few. In his eyes, arrogant and good-looking youth was just a wimpy brat.
He sighed, “Young Master Liu, why are you doing this?”
Liu Bitao said sternly, “Don’t think that just because you’re a little good-looking and become unable to see how high the sky is! His Majesty has thousands of choices, four foreign countries and three vassal states*, don’t be shameless and annoy His Majesty…”
He rambled on quite a bit, voice sharp and shrewd, speaking very quickly with outlandish content. When Qiu Yutong heard him, goosebumps rose, and he wanted to explain a few times, but he couldn’t interrupt at all, so he could only helplessly support his forehead.
Liu Bitao saw that he didn’t utter a word and snorted coldly, then pulled a jasper hairpin from his pitch-black hair that was tied into a bun. “Do you know what this is?”
“Don’t know,” Qiu Yutong shook his head.
In his eyes, this was just a jasper hairpin of ordinary purity, without a single ounce of spiritual energy. He couldn’t see what was so special about it.
“Of course you haven’t seen such a good item before,” Liu Bitao smiled, pleased. “This jasper hairpin was bestowed to me after he stayed the night a Yinyu* residence.”
[T/N: I previously translated this to “listening to the rain”. I read it wrongly, sorry!]
Qiu Yutong was somewhat surprised ad couldn’t help but raise his brows, “No wonder.”
Oh, so he understands how to spend the night and bestow gifts, Lu Xiao, this youngster, had really grown up.
Liu Bitao said, immensely smug, “What is it? Speechless?”
The burly eunuch behind Liu Bitao scratched his forehead, his face looking doubtful, “Young Master, when did His Majesty come to Yinyu residence? Why did this one not know? Also, this jasper hairpin, wasn’t it brought over from home?”
“You, you shut your damn mouth!” Liu Bitao was immediately anxious.
Xiao Xizi, at the side, couldn’t hold it in and laughed out loud.
“What are you laughing at?!” Liu Bitao’s oval face was red all over, “Your master is such inferior goods, His Majesty would never pay attention to him!”
Xiao Xizi also got angry and stammered, “Whether he is paid attention to, this one doesn’t know. But, Young, Young Master Liu, since you’ve come here, you’ve probably heard that His, His Majesty in Jingxin Palace last night, kept my family’s Young Master for a full two hours, in the end, Zhang-gonggong still, still sent my family’s Young Master, wrapped in a cloak, sitting on a sedan chair, back here. This, this matter has already spread all over the Sixth Western Palace, every, everyone already knows.”
“Pff——” Qiu Yutong nearly choked on his tea.
What did he mean by the matter has already spread?
]
Last night, he did spend two hours in Jingxin Palace and was nearly sliced into two by Lu Xiao, what did this become? “Wrapped in a cloak”, “sitting on a sedan chair”, these were all true, but why did they sound so fishy?
Liu Bitao was angered until his mind went blank, not even saying a word.
Qiu Yutong smiled embarrassedly and tried to regain a bit of dignity, “Young Master Liu, actually, after I entered Jingxin Palace last night…”
“So what if you’ve entered JIngxin Palace?! Only relying on some good-looks, what are you arrogant about?!” Liu Bitao flew into a rage out of humiliation and suddenly took a step forward, one hand stretching out to scratch Qiu Yutong’s face.
“Don’t——” Xiao Xizi screamed.
Qiu Yutong reached out, easily catching Liu Bitao’s wrist, his index and middle finger landing right onto the other’s pulse, “Young Master Liu, calm down.”
Liu Bitao’s puled was pinched by him, and half his body became limp and painful, involuntarily, his hand dropped.
“You, what witchery did you do?” He glared death at Qiu Yutong, both suspicious and resentful, “Hurry up and let me go!”
Qiu Yutong frowned at the other, not saying a word.
With Liu Bitao making such a scene, it made him very unhappy and he originally wanted to teach the other a lesson but thought better of it. This was just a mortal child in his teens, why would he take him seriously?
Thinking like this, Qiu Yutong slowly loosened his hold and said amiable, “If there’s nothing, I think Young Master Liu should head back.”
Liu Bitao hurriedly withdrew his hand, kneading his wrist as he said fiercely, “I don’t care what tricks you use, in short, don’t rely on your looks and vainly attempt to climb a branch to become a phoenix! His Majesty will never like you! You, you’re not allowed to seduce His Majesty!”
This brat was actually warning him, disallowing him from seducing Lu Xiao…
Qiu Yutong didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He powerlessly waved his hand and said dully, “You can relax, I won’t.”
“Hmph, who’d believe that! In this Sixth Western Palace, who isn’t staring impatiently at His Majesty, waiting in vain to rise to the heavens in one step…”
“Then what do you want?” Qiu Yutong helplessly said, “Do you still want to attack?”
Liu Bitao just suffered a loss and was slightly afraid. He glared at Qiu Yutong was a moment, and stamped his feet with all his strength, then turned and ran out with thundering footsteps.
