Chapter 22: A Fallen Gentleman – Part 11
Translted by: Ritpoppy
Not yet edited!
Ming ChangYan"s face flared up, retreating back sevens steps, tongue-tied, "You, you you you you you"re taking off my shirt?!"
Huai Yu deadpanned, "Wrong."
Ming ChangYan"s adam"s apple bobbed. Huai Yu added, "It"s a skirt."
Ming ChangYan"s brain throbbed, thinking: Oh no, he"s gone insane.
Huai Yu grabbed the side of his skirt, but Ming ChangYan"s crippled body held on strong; instead of sitting around and waiting for death, he summoned up the courage and began to crawl back to the bed. Huai Yu"s hand that was originally on his dress, fell onto his calf, before he finally took a hold on Ming ShaoXia"s ankle and dragged this number one cultivator in the world down from the bed and onto the headboard.
Ming ShaoXia"s two hands firmly grabbed onto the bed sheets, he clenched his teeth and refused to submit. As soon as the skirt was about to be pulled away, he finally yelled, "Huai Yu! I know I was wrong!"
Huai Yu asked, "What did you do wrong?"
Ming ChangYan hatefully clenched his teeth, "It doesn"t matter if I"m right or wrong, right now I admit to my mistakes. If you have words to say, say them properly. Gentlemen use their mouths, not their fists."
Huai Yu smiled, "You"re the gentleman, I"m not."
Ming ChangYan cried without shedding tears, "Then don"t pull on my dress, I only have this one."
With a "rip", Ming ShaoXia"s skirt was torn in half. He looked towards it in horror then took a glance at Huai Yu.
Huai Yu patted his hands, "Are you still going to run?"
Ming ChangYan muttered irresolutely to himself for a moment, unable to escape this calamity, he could only accept this compromise and bleakly lamented, "….I"ll take it off myself."
As he slowly unb.u.t.toned himself, Huai Yu removed the screen within the room. Immediately, a rich medical fragrance spread across the room. Right in the middle of the room was a huge wooden tub. In it was black steaming waters that looked like it was boiling. This was the source of the medical fragrance.
The hand that Ming ChangYan was using to unb.u.t.ton his dress paused as he asked, "What is this?"
Huai Yu used his hand to test the water temperature, "Medicine."
Ming ChangYan suddenly saw the light, "You stripped me, because you wanted me to take a medicine bath?"
Huai Yu shot him a glance, "What nonsense," The hand he used to stir the medicine suddenly slowed down, and he leisurely asked, "Otherwise, what were you expecting?"
Ming ChangYan, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He decisively said, "I wasn"t expecting anything!"
Ming ShaoXia quickly fanned himself with his hands, but could only feel that he was getting hotter and hotter. It seemed that the temperature of the water was really high, affecting the entire room, especially Ming ChangYan. He felt that his face was going to change shape from the heat it was emitting off.
Huai Yu pulled the screen back up and quickly finished taking off the remainder of Ming ChangYan"s clothes, situating him into the wooden tub. When his body came in contact with the water, he felt that almost half of his aches eased up. Ming ShaoXia had his arms dangling from the edge of the tub, bored from just bathing. Overlooking the previous awkward moment, this person who had too much time to spare began to tease Huai Yu again.
"Back when you stayed at TianQing, I simply thought that you were wealthy, some rich family"s young master that came out to have some fun. I would"ve never thought that you were from the palace."
Huai Yu took a book and ignited a lantern. He sat on the side of the table while he supported his temple and began reading.
The water rippled as Ming ChangYan moved forwards, simply resting his upper body along the wooden tub, yelling, "Hey! Huai Yu! Did you hear me talking? Did you fall asleep?"
Huai Yu"s eyes drooped, his gaze landing on the book, "You"re calling the wrong person, I"ve helped you already."
Ming ChangYan was stunned, then laughed, "Okay, okay, okay, Huai Yu ge-ge, Huai Yu dge!"
Huai Yu nodded his head, satisfied with Ming ShaoXia"s willingness to change his behavior.
The peacefulness didn"t last long before the sound of water splashing got louder, this time echoing even louder than before. The sound of movement increased more and more, and from hearing it, it seemed like a lot of the water was being splashed outside. Huai Yu set down his book, wanting to see exactly what he was doing behind the screen; suddenly, little by little the screen was pried open.
Huai Yu immediately sat back down, promptly grabbing the book and began reading. On the other side, Ming ChangYan contently moved the screen away. Letting out a breath, he was relaxed as he sat in the wooden tub and asked, "Huai Yu, do you know what actually happened two years ago? Do you think that I killed Wan QianQiu?"
His grip on the sides of the tub gradually tensed, he then quickly said to himself, "Nevermind, nevermind, it"s not like you would know of these past affairs. When that happened, you had already long left Lin"an. I asked you the wrong question."
Huai Yu put the book down, "Don"t splash the water onto the ground."
Ming ChangYan said, "Alright, I"ll just clean it up for you afterward."
Huai Yu waited for him to continue. Ming ChangYan said, "I have something very important that I need to do, extremely important. That"s why I must quickly gain back my cultivation, the faster the better. As you can see, my cultivation is almost completely abolished. During these two years, one year was from lethargy, and the other year was used to recuperate from my injuries. I am completely unaware of how they"re doing right now, but there isn"t anything I can do to go back."
After Ming ChangYan finished talking, his heart relaxed a little. During these two years, he hasn"t been sleeping properly. Whenever he closed his eyes he would see Yi Yue and his fellow apprentices at TianQing sect. Back then, TianQing was the target of public criticism, everyone in the martial circles watched them attentively, wanting to find troubles for him. But it was because of the n.o.ble Gentleman t.i.tle that no one dared to provoke them. Nowadays, he was pretty much a handicapped person, it could already be a.s.sumed that TianQing definitely isn"t having an easy time right now.
Huai Yu said, "You haven"t gone back to XiYue Mountain?"
Ming ChangYan, "What"s the use of going there? If they found out that I didn"t die, they would probably send armed forces after me again."
Huai Yu, "You"re afraid of burdening them."
Ming ChangYan, "Of course. TianQing is my home, the longer the situation from two years ago remains unresolved, the longer I can"t go back."
The atmosphere inside the room became heavier.
Ming ChangYan said, "Forget it, let"s stop talking about this."
Huai Yu asked, "What happened to your body, why is it in the form of a teenager."
Ming ChangYan, "Well that"s a long story. I ate a kind of medicine and this was the effect of it. Although there was a lot of side effects, they"re only temporary. I could only think of this method."
Huai Yu, "You came to the imperial palace for the Immortal Gra.s.s."
Ming ChangYan"s eyes brightened as he got up, tied his hair, and draped an outer garment over him. His body was still wet so Huai Yu immediately threw a towel at him. Ming ChangYan was barefooted as he walked towards the other"s direction, asking, "Let me ask you, that herb that I borrowed last time in the Ninety-Ninth Temple, was that the Immortal Gra.s.s?"
Huai Yu, "No. When did you borrow it? How come I didn"t know?"
Ming ChangYan smiled, "I borrowed it in secret. Well, now you know now, right? What"s the use in caring about which came first. You"re not lying to me, are you? Everyone says that you possess each and every treasure in the imperial palace, is the Immortal Gra.s.s really not among them?"
Huai Yu spoke up, "If I said it isn"t, then it isn"t. I don"t have anything to lie to you about. Dry your hair and go lay in bed; I don"t want to waste my medicine on someone who"s looking to get sick."
Ming ChangYan thought: That"s weird, if he said that he didn"t have it, does it mean that the herb that I took really isn"t the Immortal Gra.s.s?
Huai Yu spread out the sheets. Ming ChangYan seized the opportunity to lie down, then asked, "Then do you know about the Immortal Gra.s.s"s whereabouts?"
Huai Yu, "So what if I know? The Immortal Gra.s.s isn"t some ordinary product, if you can"t find it, don"t tell me that I could find it?"
Ming ChangYan grabbed his arm, "Your words are wrong, my little friend Huai Yu. I"m a handicapped person now, and you"re the Young Prime Minister that"s above tens of thousands of people. You mustn"t downgrade yourself, if you try looking for it, you"d definitely be able to find the Immortal Gra.s.s!"
Huai Yu, "Why should I look for it?"
Ming ChangYan changed his position, not in the slightest bit concerned that he was only half dressed, as he directly stated, "You help me find the Immortal Gra.s.s, from henceforth I"ll follow your every command, my every thought will follow you! Good Huai Yu, Ge-ge is really begging you!"
Huai Yu turned his head, saying, "Who"s your ge-ge?"
Ming ChangYan corrected, "You"re ge-ge, you are, you are."
"Sleep first, we"ll talk after you wake up."
Ming ChangYan closed his eyelids, but was afraid that Huai Yu might go back against is words next morning, so he stressed it further, "You promised okay, you can"t lie to me."
Huai Yu covered his ears, "GO TO SLEEP!"
Late the next morning, Ming ChangYan came out of the Ninety-Ninth Temple, his clothes tattered, his hair carelessly tied up, and swaggered back towards the Small Lotus Terrace. On his journey, unfathomable gazes were cast towards Ming ChangYan, but he didn"t pay any attention to them.
Halfway, he caught the sight of a bunch of 16 to 17-year-olds huddled in a circle, among them was Zhao XiaoLan. They were all gathered together, muttering and gossiping among themselves.
This was translated by , any repost of this stolen, and if you steal my work I"m going unleash the h.e.l.lhounds
"Alright! I can only let you guys see this much today, I show you the second half tomorrow."
"XiaoLan-ge, do you really know martial arts?"
"Of course, I learned it by myself. Wait till tomorrow and I"ll show you the TianQing six sword techniques!"
"Is the ghost in the palace really Ming ShaoXia? But you said that he was a good person, why would a good person kill people?"
Zhao XiaoLan said, "Definitely not! Ming ShaoXia isn"t dead, he"s definitely cultivating somewhere. Do you believe he"s dead, I don"t."
"How am I supposed to know whether he"s dead or not, but the things that"ve been committed in the palace these days are too dreadful! All these years I"ve been alive, I have never seen people killed in such a terrifying fashion!"
Zhao XiaoLan"s face was smug, he shook his fingers left to right, "It"s not that I"m scolding you. Jianghu is so big, there are plenty of bizarre deaths out there. You truly are useless, getting so frightened over such a thing."
"Then what about you! You said you"d come look at the dead body with us last time, yet who was it backed out midway!"
Zhao XiaoLan"s face blushed red, "That, that was because I wasn"t feeling very well."
"You"re always not feeling well when the exam rolls around, you truly have great timings!"
Zhao XiaoLan waved his hands, and took out《The n.o.ble Gentleman Way》from his bosom, hurriedly turning the pages and replied, "Gentlemen don"t talk rubbish with idiots!"
"Who"re you calling an idiot!"
Zhao XiaoLan pointed at the book, "I didn"t say it, Ming ShaoXia said it!"
Ming ChangYan immediately jumped over, "It smells so nice! What are you guys eating, let me have some!"
When Zhao XiaoLan saw him, his eyes lit up, "Yan jie-jie, we"re eating osmanthus cake. Do you want to have some? There"s also some Du Kang wine that just arrived fresh from Luo City."
Ming ChangYan sat down, easily grabbing a piece, "Don"t mind if I do. I heard that you guys were talking about Ming ChangYan, what were you talking about? I want to listen."
Zhao XiaoLan poured a bowl of wine for him, Ming ChangYan declined, "I don"t drink alcohol. Pour me a bowl of tea."
The children all looked at this uninvited guest in succession. But all they could see was that he was disheveled, extremely laid-back, and the only presentable thing about him was his face.
One person asked, "Which palace"s maid are you?"
Zhao XiaoLan answered them while pouring tea, "Yan jie-jie is the Listening Lotus Building"s ShaoShi."
"ShaoShi? Ah-are you that Yan ShaoShi!"
Ming ChangYan took a few bites of the osmanthus cake, grinning, "What, am I very famous? Hearing your tone of speech, do you know me?"
The young man cupped his hands together, "Holy mother, who doesn"t know you!"
Ming ChangYan was a bit curious, "It seems like you guys are obliged to know me, this is our first time meeting each other, right?"
The youngster laughed, "It"s an honor to finally meet you, Yan jie-jie is a huge celebrity within the imperial palace!"
Ming ChangYan boasted, "Modest, modest."
Ming ChangYan carefully thought about it, but couldn"t think of any reason that he would be so well-known, however he nevertheless generously accepted the young man"s praise. He sat down and asked, "XiaoLan, what are you doing in the palace today?"
Zhao XiaoLan said, "Jie sent me some osmanthus cake from Lin"an, so I wanted to give some to my Aunt. Didn"t you want to go visit Egret Academy? Teacher is coming back, when he arrives, we"ll go together with Jun."
Ming ChangYan patted his back, "Good job XiaoLan! It was a good choice to make friends with you!"
Zhao XiaoLan giggled, and inquired, "Yan jie-jie, do you know anything else about Ming ShaoXia"s affairs? Could you tell me some of them?"
One person said, "Her? She"s just a woman, what could she possibly know?"
Zhao XiaoLan said, "She"s a distant relative of Ming ShaoXia so she knows a lot. You guys just don"t understand."
"Aren"t you afraid that she"s tricking you?!"
Zhao XiaoLan hesitated. Upon seeing this, Ming ChangYan immediately refuted, "Is this how you talk to your elders! What do you mean by me scamming him, don"t falsely accuse good people!"
The person said, "Since you"re a relative to Ming ChangYan, then could you tell me whether or not Ming ChangYan is dead or alive!"
Ming ChangYan came to the conclusion, "Half-dead and half-alive."
Among them, one of the younger ones said, "Then then that means, you were familiar with him before you entered the palace? Is Jianghu really as interesting as it seems?"
Ming ChangYan glanced at him, the youngster was only about 11-12 years old.
"Who are you?"
Zhao XiaoLan said, "He"s the son of my grandfather"s sister, called Zhao SuTong. He used to live in the Heavenly province, but after the incident with Imperial Concubine Yuan, he was invited into the palace to mourn. He just arrived yesterday."
Ming ChangYan said, "Is that so. Zhao SuTong, you don"t look very old, what is a young master like you asking about stuff like bloodshed and murder in Jianghu?"
Zhao SuTong said, "I"m just asking, all the murders in Jianghu are really scary!"
After these words left his mouth, all the remaining kids crowded around them.
"I heard a bunch of rumors in the palace today, that Ming ChangYan"s ghost is really fierce!"
"I"ve heard it too, ai, I"m too afraid to even go take a look!"
"Everyone"s been in a fuss about it these days. Yesterday, just yesterday morning, another person was murdered!"
You say a sentence, I say a sentence, these youngsters began to chat in a frenzy, describing the state of the corpse in vivid detail, like they were at the crime scene themselves. Even after the conversation was dying out, they wished to continue talking. One of them said, "Is there anything else besides that?"
Zhao XiaoLan suddenly slapped the palm of his hand, "I have another one!"
Ming ChangYan asked, "What do you have?"
Zhao XiaoLan lowered his voice, "Have you guys heard of the Joyful King of h.e.l.l?"
Ming ChangYan paused. The young boys asked, "I haven"t heard of them. What"s the "Joyful King of h.e.l.l"? What a weird name!"
Zhao XiaoLan pinched his book, nervously saying, "They"re the King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress. A cold-blooded monster that murdered without blinking an eye in Jianghu!"
Everyone swallowed some saliva, "Is there more?"
Zhao XiaoLan said, "Rumor has it that they only appear on a rainy day. Troops that happen to run into him were all murdered, not a single survivor. Furthermore, the way they kill people is very strange, I heard that they use paper dolls to commit murder!"
One of the youngsters let out a breath of cold air, "Don"t tell me that they"re actually a ghost? There are so many alchemists in the mortal realm, is no one able to catch him?"
"Nope, even Ming ChangYan couldn"t do anything about it, who would be able to catch him?"
When Ming ChangYan heard this, he was a bit dissatisfied, "What do you mean Ming ChangYan couldn"t do anything about it? It"s just that they haven"t run into Ming ChangYan yet, if they do, they would"ve definitely died!"
Zhao XiaoLan nodded his head, "Of course, of course." He thought for a moment before resolutely adding, "They would definitely die if they ran into Zhu-xiong as well."
Zi Gui rolled his eyes, "Zhao XiaoLan, could you please stop bragging about your Zhu-xiong. It"s super annoying, my ears are almost getting calluses from hearing them. If he was truly as powerful as the n.o.ble Gentleman, why have I never heard of him? You should talk more about this King of h.e.l.l Adorned in Wedding Dress."
Zhao XiaoLan pondered for a bit, then said, "There"s nothing left to talk about."
All the boys said, "Was that it?"
Zhao XiaoLan scratched his head, "I"ve only heard about it, knowing this much is already pretty good. The King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress is very mysterious."
The youngsters were eagerly listening, but after Zhao XiaoLan statement, their heart was itching for more, extremely dissatisfied.
"Besides the King of h.e.l.l Adorned in a Wedding Dress, what other powerful sects are there?"
"I know! Those sects called XiaoHan Temple and DaHan Temple are very difficult to deal with anyone who runs into them have to respectfully walk around them."
Hearing this, Ming ChangYan doesn"t recall ever dealing with DaHan Temple, but this child must be talking about those bald donkeys from XiaoHan Temple who dress up as monks yet commit immoral behavior. Among the sects in Central Plains, the only ones who would use the common people"s beliefs as an excuse, and then change their att.i.tudes behind their backs, would be them. It could be considered as a fierce dog running into an even fiercer wolf. During those years, he suffered under XiaoHan Temple"s schemes more than once.
"What"s the fun in talking about a bunch of monks? In any case, the Great Homage Feast is going to start soon, when the time comes, there won"t just be expert masters from the Central Plains, expert masters from all over the world will be there," stated a youngster.
Another youngster said, "I propose that you guys call BaiLi over here!"
"BaiLi Deng, the one in the 13 Guardians? What are you calling him over here for?"
"Before he came to the imperial palace, I think he used to be a disciple in a sect, but he later pledged allegiance towards the imperial family. He must know a lot about these kinds of affairs."
"Who"s gonna call him over? I say whoever mentioned it should do it, Zi Gui, go!"
The young man that was mentioned promptly said, "I"m not going! The 13 Guardians are super vicious, I"m scared. Zhao XiaoLan, you"re a bit stronger than me, you go!"
Zhao XiaoLan was also somewhat terrified, saying, "It"s better if I don"t go…."
Zi Gui said, "Are you scared! Didn"t you say that you were a n.o.ble cultivator!"
Zhao XiaoLan, "I…I"m not afraid of BaiLi-xiong, it"s just that I"m not familiar with him and the 13 Guardians…."
After debating for a long time, Ming ChangYan said, "Alright, stop arguing, I"ll go!"
Zi Gui said, "You?"
Ming ChangYan grinned, "Yup, me!"
He waved his hand and suddenly called out, "Guard BaiLi! Over here!"
Everyone turned their heads, as it turns out, the 13 Guardians just happened to be patrolling the area. BaiLi just so happened to patrolled here and was discovered by Ming ChangYan.
BaiLi Deng cupped his hands, "Mistress, Young Master Zhao, Young Marquis….."
Zhao XiaoLan dragged him over, "You don"t need to greet everyone. You don"t need to go anywhere this afternoon, just stay here and play with us."
BaiLi"s gaze swept over the group, several of the young masters in the pavilion were either Marquises or Princes. He couldn"t afford to offend them, so he said, "Young Master Zhao, I wouldn"t dare disobey you."
As soon as he sat down, Zi Gui asked, "BaiLi Deng, hurry up and tell us, have you ever run across any terrible situations back then in Jianghu? It must be as exciting as this ten thousand needles through the throat!"
BaiLi Deng said, "I didn"t run into anything scary back when I was a disciple, I"ve only heard rumors."
Zi Gui urged, "If you only have rumors, then tell us the rumors. Don"t leave us hanging!"
BaiLi Deng thought for a while, then said, "Alright. Then I"ll tell you something that I heard from someone else."
"Although this is the first time the "Ten Thousand Needles Through the Throat" has occurred in the palace, in the martial circles within the Central Plains, it has already occurred multiple times before. It"s hardly strange. Once, there was a sect, that was completely exterminated without a cause. However this murderer, during their bloodshed, they deliberately left one of them alive."
Ming ChangYan was uninterested in the beginning, but after hearing that there was a survivor, he immediately found it suspicious, "One person? If they want to exterminate an entire sect, why would they want to leave one of them alive?"
BaiLi smiled, "Because this person, was a lunatic."
This was translated by , any repost of this stolen, and if you steal my work I"m going unleash the h.e.l.lhounds
So sorry I was gone last week! School is ending soon so chapter updates might not be as consistent as I want them to be. Plus finals are stressful as h.e.l.l and I can"t seem to catch a break.
Your thoughts about this chapter? Wanna take a wild guess on why Ming ChangYan is so famous in the imperial palace (͠≖ ͜ʖ͠≖)
If you see any grammatical/translation mistakes, please notify me or comment. I absolutely love your comments.
Chapter 23 will be posted tomorrow! It"s going to be kinda different, so heads up.
Side Note (not related to A Seductive Gentleman at all): I"m almost done reading Dumb Husky and his White Cat Shizun, AKA 二哈和他的白猫师尊. To my friend who said the confession scene was top notch and recommended this novel to me, I would like to thank you for making me suffer through his heaven of angst. Die.
Alright, enough that.
Go tell your mother you love them and give them a hug ♡