Chapter 17: Gentleman on a Roof Beam* – Part 1
(TN: "梁上君子"; translates to a gentleman on a room beam but means thief)
Translated by: Kestrel
Edited by: Ritpoppy
In gathering darkness, surrounded by silence, with high winds blowing in the black night – this was exactly the time for skulking about.
Suddenly, a pair of whispering voices could be heard coming from the depths of an alley between the palaces. The two were speaking with lowered voices, acting extremely cautious.
One of them said, "Yan jie-jie, are you done changing yet, it"s really dark here, I-I"m a little scared, let"s get going already."
Ming ChangYan said, "You"re afraid of the dark? You can"t be the best fighter in the country if you"re afraid of the dark, you know."
Zhao XiaoLan immediately changed his tune, "I"m not scared, I"m just worried you might be scared!"
Ming ChangYan slowly walked out, still tying his belt, "This outfit you got me sure looks familiar."
Zhao XiaoLan smiled cutely, and said in an excited voice, "It"s a replica of Ming ShaoXia"s night walking outfit that I bought from LingLong Pavilion. I"ve never let anybody else wear it before, but I"m letting Yan jie-jie because you like Ming ShaoXia!"
Ming ChangYan could feel a tiny headache coming on, thinking to himself that though this Zhao XiaoLan was certainly great at earning affection, he had a real one-track mind, always Ming ShaoXia this or Ming ShaoXia that; it was both funny and extremely embarra.s.sing.
Zhao XiaoLan had a wooden sword strapped to his waist, which swayed back and forth as he walked; Ming ChangYan traveled with him as they headed down the palace halls. He swayed his way down the straight and empty hallway with all the calm of someone taking a walk through a garden. Zhao XiaoLan, meanwhile, was totally immersed in the mood, hiding behind flower pots, crawling forward on the floor, "sneaking" all over the place with boundless energy. Every gust of wind or whisper of gra.s.s was treated like the appearance of some great enemy, prompting him to pull out his sword in defense.
Ming ShaoXia truly couldn"t watch any longer, grabbing him with one hand, "What are you hiding for!"
Zhao XiaoLan was as startled like a rabbit from the sudden movement, "It said in 《The n.o.ble Gentleman Way》! When going out at night you shouldn"t just walk around right out in the open, you"ve got to avoid the opponent!"
Ming ChangYan pointed a finger forward and back, "The spot you picked doesn"t have anybody around for a hundred meters, it"s so desolate there aren"t even birds, where"d these opponents of yours come from?"
Zhao XiaoLan blushed, mumbling, "I, I"m just worried, is all."
Ming ChangYan patted his back, "Stand up straight and walk properly."
At his chiding, Zhao XiaoLan dejectedly replied, "Okay…"
After they"d walked for around an hour, leaving the brightly-lit Daming Hall far behind them, the Ninety-Ninth Temple slowly began to emerge before their eyes.
This palace was situated in the loneliest corner of the Imperial City; surrounded by overgrowth, the towering palace seemed so tall as to reach the clouds, so high one might feel like they were flying if you climbed to the top. Facing the palace, Zhao XiaoLan was overcome with a poetic urge, and standing with his legs apart, posed as he recited, "On a dangerous house a hundred feet high, my hand reaches out to grab the stars. I do not dare to raise my voice, fearing I will frighten the heavenly beings."
Ming ChangYan pulled his arm, "Alright XiaoLan, no more reciting. The Ninety-Ninth Temple is so high, where are we supposed to enter it from?"
Zhao XiaoLan motioned with his hands, "I came here before when I was little, follow me!"
Ming ChangYan said, "Don"t go too fast, I can"t see the road."
Surrounded on all sides by pitch-black darkness, Ming ChangYan"s eyes hurt, his head swelled, and he walked in twists and turns. After coming to the Imperial Palace, he"d been going through tremendous personal torment, afflicted with countless ailments, like now: As soon as night fell, his eyesight suffered a devastating decline.
Zhao XiaoLan quickly pulled a night pearl from his shirt, shocking Ming ChangYan as he said, "We can use this to light the way."
Ming ChangYan: "That"s such a big pearl, XiaoLan-xiong, you sure are rich."
Zhao XiaoLan looked embarra.s.sed, "It"s not that I"m rich, this was a present from my elder sister."
Ming ChangYan had heard Zhao XiaoLan"s history before – his paternal aunt was the empress, plus he was the son of the first wife of the head of the influential Zhao family, so his social status was naturally out of the ordinary. But it was rare to find a person born in such an ill.u.s.trious position who still managed to be so pure and innocent; Ming-shaoxia truly admired that.
As the two crossed through the courtyard, both dressed head-to-toe in black, Ming ChangYan said, "Why aren"t there any guards around here?"
Zhao XiaoLan said, "The Ninety-Ninth Temple has never had guards. Huai Yu-gege"s the only one who lives here. He had them when he was little though, layers and layers of them – they"d always turn me away when I came to play with him."
Ming ChangYan was astonished, "When he was little? So he"s been in the Imperial Palace since he was a kid?"
Zhao XiaoLan, "When I first met him, he was already living in the palace. He rarely came down, just spending all day by himself. So Aunty Empress often told me and Jun to come keep Huai Yu ge-ge company. Jun thought this place was too boring, so she only came a few times and then gave up and ran off to the academy to find Teacher Liu instead. But I don"t think the academy is very fun, either."
Ming ChangYan mentally froze, blurting out, "Isn"t this basically just imprisonment?"
Zhao XiaoLan cautiously continued forward, "I wouldn"t say it counts as imprisonment. Minister Chang and I can go in and see him, and Huai Yu ge-ge gets to come out and play every new year too. He"s got a cold att.i.tude though, so he can"t really manage to play with us."
Zhao XiaoLan had a simple mind, obviously unable to handle the high-level difficulty that was thinking and walking at the same time; he stopped moving, considering for a moment before he said, "Minister Chang returned to the palace when Huai Yu ge-ge was eight years old. Afterwards, the minister stayed to teach him through all his studies, and after that, Huai Yu ge-ge became the Young Prime Minister."
Ming ChangYan said, "What"re you stopping for, move faster."
Zhao XiaoLan promptly ran ahead a few steps, leading Ming ChangYan to remind him again, "Ai, wait a minute, don"t be so loud, be careful carrying that night pearl. Oh forget it, the light"s too bright, bring it over here."
Zhao XiaoLan handed the night pearl over to him, and Ming ChangYan tore a piece of material off his clothes to cover the light. The two nervously and furtively ran up the stairs, and just as Ming ChangYan"s legs were beginning to lose sensation from all the climbing, Zhao XiaoLan quietly spoke, "We"re here, this is Huai Yu ge-ge"s bedroom."
Ming ChangYan thought to himself: This little brat really is supernatural, it took almost an hour just to get up the stairs!
Zhao XiaoLan lowered his voice to ask, "Where does Huai Yu ge-ge put his waist pendant?"
Ming ChangYan thought for a moment before replying, "It should probably be in the inner room. You stay here, I"ll go in to look."
As he softly and quietly pushed open the door, Ming ChangYan"s senses were a.s.saulted by that subtle fragrance he"d been smelling on and off since he came to the palace.
This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal our work I"m going to stab you with a thousand needles.
Ming ChangYan tiptoed around the extremely spa.r.s.ely-decorated room, dodging and hiding as he went; soon after, upon the spotlessly clean desk, there suddenly appeared a well-defined pair of hands. This pair of hands groped about the desk for a moment, failed to find the waist pendant, then skirted the edge of the desk until they reached the tea table.
Zhao XiaoLan bent down, shuffle-crawling over to Ming ChangYan"s side, and used the quietest whisper he could manage, "Yan jie-jie, have you found it yet?"
There wasn"t a sliver of light in the area. Zhao XiaoLan, worried the light from the night pearl would give away their location, had decided to add another piece of black cloth over it and wrap it up tight. Because of this, Ming ChangYan could only rely on touch as he searched for the waist pendant.
"Nope, let"s split up to search. Give me the night pearl, I can"t see a thing without it."
Zhao XiaoLan said, "Yan jie-jie, are you blind?"
Ming ChangYan"s hands groped about until they found his face, and before Zhao XiaoLan could react, flicked his forehead as hard as he could.
Zhao XiaoLan almost cried out in pain, but Ming ChangYan said in a quiet and deadly-serious voice, "No yelling!"
Zhao XiaoLan could only cover his mouth, tearfully nodding his head. Ming ChangYan then took the night pearl and snuck over to the west side of the bedroom.
Suddenly, someone put a hand on his waist. Ming ChangYan at the moment was concentrated entirely on searching for that waist pendant, and quietly said, "Didn"t I tell you to go search the south side, what"re you running to my side for?"
The other didn"t reply, so Ming ChangYan went on carelessly rummaging through everything, sighing aloud, "The brat"s not half bad at hiding things."
He rummaged a little too hurriedly, and the night pearl – which hadn"t been placed carefully enough when he shoved it in his bosom – rolled out onto the floor, letting out an astonishingly loud noise. Ming ChangYan"s heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly and awkwardly crawled over to grab it. Who would have imagined that at this moment, he"d trip over the bookshelf next to him, shaking it hard enough that the books all fell onto his head; immediately following, the bookshelf became unable to support itself, and fell over with a loud bang.
Ming ChangYan mentally shouted a single line: Heaven strike me down!
In his rush to get out of the way, he grabbed the person behind him and rolled to the side, stopping once they"d rolled three times: Ming ShaoXia had sprained his ankle.
No matter, ever since he climbed out of the YanBo River if he didn"t have a hundred ailments head to toe he had at least eighty, so getting a sprained ankle was just adding flowers to the brocade. He let out a sigh of relief, then hurriedly turned his head to ask, "Did you get hurt anywhere?"
Ming ChangYan was currently blind as a bat, and totally unaware of the situation. Although his eyes were opened quite wide, the only thing he could see was pitch-black darkness.
Still, he said, "He"s got to have woken up after all that noise, we should get out while we can."
Ming ChangYan thought yearningly of that priceless night pearl, and decided to try searching for it before he left. Unexpectedly, just as he was about to do so, "Zhao XiaoLan" suddenly reached out and pulled off his shoe.
Ming ChangYan said, "Ssss – what"d you pull my shoe off for, ow, don"t touch it, is it broken, it really hurts."
"Zhao XiaoLan" didn"t say a word, ice-cold hands touching his ankle and quietly pressing on it. Ming ChangYan"s legs were perfectly straight, his feet elegantly attractive with a full instep, his skin pale enough for the veins beneath to be visible. Consequently, the red swelling on his ankle looked particularly frightening.
Ming ChangYan felt around in the darkness, and touched upon the corner of a square box. There was a complicated decorative design on the box, and as he felt his way onwards, a hidden snap b.u.t.ton jumped into his hand. Ming ChangYan was quietly surprised, energetically feeling around some more. No good, better pull the whole box into his lap to search it.
He couldn"t see well, but his actions were still quite serious. As long as the object was a precious one, Ming ShaoXia, who is used to being dest.i.tute and dejected, could pretty much always feel it out. This sandalwood box, regardless of whether it was the decoration or the material, was all top quality. What could be stored inside such a nice box as this?
His heartbeat sped up uncontrollably. Fu Ling"s words suddenly leaped up in his head: The Young Prime Minister was always given precedence in choosing rare and priceless herbs given as tribute from foreign lands.
Who was the Young Prime Minister? Huai Yu. Where would he put the herbs he picked? In the Ninety-Ninth Temple! Moreover, if you didn"t keep such a treasured object as the Immortal Gra.s.s in an even more treasured box, what could possibly suit that high-quality herb! What would a treasured box look like? Regardless of whether it was the fine wood quality, or the fancy decoration, or the number of snap b.u.t.tons, or the heavy weight, it had to be the box in his hands, no doubt about it.
Ming ChangYan gulped, forgetting even the pain of his injured foot, and hurried to open the b.u.t.ton. The sandalwood box opened with a snap, and inside was a little dried herb lying quietly on a layer of silk. Ming ChangYan only touched it for a second, then closed the box again, inwardly coming to a conclusion: This had to be the Immortal Gra.s.s!
Having now gotten his hands on the Immortal Gra.s.s, Ming ChangYan temporarily pushed all thoughts of waist pendant and clothes to the back of his mind, saying, "Xiaolan, let"s get out of here, we can come back tomorrow night-"
He hadn"t finished speaking when Zhao XiaoLan"s voice suddenly came from the west side of the room: "Yan jie-jie, how"re you making so much noise over there? Good thing I just found out there"s n.o.body in Huai Yu ge-ge"s bed, or else we"d definitely have woken him up by now."
Hearing that, Ming ChangYan froze in terror!
If Zhao XiaoLan was over there, then-then who was the person grabbing his ankle!
Zhao XiaoLan called out, "Yan jie-jie? Are you listening to me? I"m coming over!"
Ming ChangYan immediately used both hands and legs in tandem to stuff the box into his bosom while frantically crawling backwards. Unluckily, when that bookshelf fell and the two had gotten pressed together, Ming ChangYan"s hair was trapped under the other person"s hand. His moving tugged his hair, leading to Ming ShaoXia letting out a long whine, "Ssss-it hurts!"
Zhao XiaoLan pulled another night pearl from out of his shirt, and in an instant, a large portion of the room was lit up.
Now, having finished yelling in pain, Ming ChangYan subconsciously fell back down, just in time to smash into the head of the person under him. With the two of them knocking their heads together so enthusiastically, Ming ChangYan let out a brief shriek, putting his hands over his head as he rolled over to the side.
"It hurts!"
Zhao XiaoLan was so scared that a shiver went through him from head to toe, as he guiltily called out, "Huai Yu ge-ge…."
Huai Yu was dressed in white pajamas, a gloomy expression on his face, his complexion not good at all. There was a red mark on his forehead, a contribution from Ming ShaoXia.
At the same time that Ming ChangYan was crying out in pain, his mind was ferociously crying out in sorrow! Entering somebody"s house as a thief, only to get caught red-handed, how was he supposed to get out of this! He snuck a furtive glance at Huai Yu and saw a face as grave as a coffin, the surrounding temperature seeming to have dropped by a startling amount; he"d obviously been woken by the noise, and was very, very angry!
He thought back to Huai Yu"s rich-girl temper of a few years back, both easily annoyed and difficult to please. Ming ShaoXia lamented so hard he could die over the futility of it all, yelling about how his head hurt; aside from the outward hurt, his heart was practically killing him with worry as well.
Zhao XiaoLan said, "Yan jie-jie…"
Ming ChangYan rolled around on the spot, putting all his energy and effort into trying to garner some sympathy, "Oww! My head hurts, my foot hurts…what if my leg"s broken!"
Huai Yu sat quietly for a long time, then finally sucked in a breath, seemingly putting an enormous effort into controlling himself as he asked, "How much does it hurt."
Ming ChangYan paused a moment, peeked his eyes out from under his hands, and tried to sound well-behaved, "It"s fine, I"ll put some medicine on it when I get back to the palace, Young Prime Minister need not accompany me, I can walk on my own. XiaoLan!"
He stood up, resolutely hopping out on one foot with his disabled body. He hopped a few steps before realizing he"d left his shoe and sock behind him, turning back around to put them on. But as soon as he touched the swollen area, an unbearable pain spread out in all directions from his right foot.
Zhao XiaoLan didn"t dare look at Huai Yu"s face as he volunteered, "Yan jie-jie, I"ll carry you!"
Just then, Huai Yu, who"d been watching from the sidelines, spoke up, "A child and a cripple, are you two planning to crawl your way back?"
Ming ChangYan said in shock: Who the h.e.l.l"re you calling a cripple?
This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal our work I"m going to stab you with a thousand needles.
Did you enjoy it? _(:3｣∠)_
Chapter 18 might take longer cause I"m going to be going back to school on Monday (sad)
If you see any grammatical/translation mistakes, please comment or notify me! I love reading your comments so much. They just brighten up my day.
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a wonderful weekend~