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[Chapter 33 - Scheme] Why don’t this teacher go and put on a disguise
The room was very quiet.
Originally Eunuch Si Xi was still thinking whether to send in the meal. Sneaking a glance in between the gaps of the door afterwards, he then hurriedly turned his back towards it, pretending that he didn"t see anything.
If it was as usual, if Duan Bai Yue got even just a little closer, he probably would have been slapped — but this time was an exception. Even though the two arms embracing him were getting tighter and tighter, to the point that he had the feeling that his bones would be crushed to pieces, Chu Yuan still stood still, and let Duan Bai Yue bury himself in his neck.
Only after a long while did Duan Bai Yue relax his arms a little, but he still said nothing.
Chu Yuan asked quietly: "Are you leaving?"
Duan Bai Yue shook his head: "I"m not leaving."
Chu Yuan raised his head and looked at him.
"I was thinking about some matters just now." Duan Bai Yue rubbed his thumb against his cheek. "It has all pa.s.sed."
"If you want to leave, then just leave." Chu Yuan struggled free from him, his voice very weak, "I won"t stop you."
"Si Xi said you still haven"t had dinner." Duan Bai Yue held his hand. "It"s stuffy in the palace; why don"t I bring you out to eat?"
Chu Yuan said: "Gao Li King is still coming over later."
"Gao Li King is more important than the Xi Nan King?" Duan Bai Yue wanted to make him laugh.
Chu Yuan avoided his eyes, and returned to his inner rooms.
Duan Bai Yue leaned against the wall, feeling a bit of a headache arriving.
Frankly speaking, he too hadn’t thought clearly about what he wanted. He stayed in the small alley all day till the sky darkened, his teacher"s words repeating in his head at least a hundred times; he became more and more confused, and yet also wanted more and more to see him. If possible, he was willing to protect him in secret, just like the initial fight for the throne, then followed by the subduing of the southwest, helping him to clear all obstacles. If reciprocation were to be discussed, it would really be enough if he got one more smile, one more look.
It was just that he had never thought about what he would do if it was not just himself who had such deep affections.
Duan Bai Yue opened the door, letting Si Xi serve dinner, and followed him into the inner chambers.
Chu Yuan was standing by the window, looking at the plum tree in the courtyard.
Duan Bai Yue hugged him from behind: "Still angry?"
Chu Yuan didn"t reply.
"If you"re really angry, then just hit me, or otherwise send me into the cold palace." Duan Bai Yue said by his ear, "Just don"t bully that tree anymore. I took care of it for a long time when I was ten, and even got up in the middle of the night to look at it, fearing that it wouldn’t survive."
Chu Yuan continued looking in the distance, his eyes indifferent.
Duan Bai Yue sighed and could only say: "I....during this afternoon, my teacher mentioned the Formation of Faraway Lands and the matter of the Heavenly Cinnabar."
A peculiar look finally pa.s.sed through Chu Yuan"s eyes.
"Little fool, I don"t need you to do anything for me." Duan Bai Yue hugged him even tighter.
Chu Yuan shook his head: "I don"t know what you"re talking about."
"If you don"t know, then just take it that I"m babbling nonsense." Duan Bai Yue smiled. "Whether you believe it or not, if there really comes such a day, I would rather end my life."
Chu Yuan frowned deeply.
"So go and be an emperor befitting of yourself." Duan Bai Yue said, "Be a famous monarch known through the ages, so you don"t let down this country and its land." It was a phrase frequently said by Tao Ren De-- no harm in using it occasionally too.
Inside, Chu Yuan was a little distracted. Not letting down the land, not letting down the state, but what about him, and what about himself?
"Alright, don"t think anymore." Duan Bai Yue turned him around and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Let"s talk about something happy."
"Such as?" Chu Yuan looked at him.
"Such as today when I was walking in the streets, although I had on a disguise, I was still stopped by that Gao Li Princess." Duan Bai Yue said.
As expected, Chu Yuan was unhappy: "Why?"
"Who knows." Duan Bai Yue pulled him out of the inner chambers, and saw that dinner had already been placed on the table, and thus made him sit down on the chair. "Maybe she finds me really pleasing to look at."
Chu Yuan put down his chopsticks with a “Pa!”
"Fine fine fine, let"s not talk about her." Duan Bai Yue was very tactful.
"Your Majesty." Eunuch Si Xi said from outside, "Gao Li King is asking for an audience."
"Let him wait!" Chu Yuan said furiously.
Duan Bai Yue held in his laughter.
Eunuch Si Xi got a shock. Was the emperor bullied by Xi Nan King again or is it something else —
why is he so angry?
Half of the dishes were light, and the other half heavy; it was obviously to accommodate the tastes of both of them.
Duan Bai Yue picked up a piece of red braised pork to him: "Just one."
Chu Yuan deliberated before eating it.
A moment later, another chopstick full of fatty beef: "Last one."
Chu Yuan: "....."
A while later.
"It"s truly the imperial kitchen, the duck is roasted perfectly." Another.
......
"Alright." After seeing him finish his meal, Duan Bai Yue brought over the vegetables that had been abandoned to one side. "Then eat some vegetables; they"re lush and green, you like these. After finishing these, drink some soup."
Chu Yuan felt that if he followed this way of eating, he wouldn"t even need three months to develop the physique of Lord w.a.n.g.
Jin Tai had finished drinking three pots of tea in the hall before movement was heard from the courtyard.
Chu Yuan pushed the door and went into the hall: "Gao Li King has waited long."
"No, no, it"s just been a moment." Gao Li King stood up and made his salutations, smiling wholeheartedly. "To be disturbed at night, hopefully Emperor Chu isn"t offended."
"What matters does Gao Li King have?" Chu Yuan sat on the throne.
Jin Tai stammered: "It"s still about that guard."
On the roof beams, Duan Bai Yue really wanted to go down, cover up his head, and beat him up.
Chu Yuan rejected instantly again: "We won"t send you off!”
"Emperor Chu is mistaken." Jin Tai said quickly, "When I returned, I had told Ah Shu that that guard cannot leave Emperor Chu"s side. Although Ah Shu was a bit difficult in the beginning, she figured it out after a night."
Chu Yuan was unhappy. Then why did you come again!
Jin Tai continued: "It"s just that even if he can"t be brought back to Gao Li, it"s still good to have him teach a few moves himself. Ah Shu can simply come to the palace every day. I wonder what does Emperor Chu thinks about this?"
Duan Bai Yue: "......."
Chu Yuan"s head was throbbing: "Not possible!"
Jin Tai was at the brink of tears. How is it that this isn"t possible either?
Chu Yuan said expressionlessly: "What that guard learnt are the secret moves of the Sun-Moon Hamlet. It has never been pa.s.sed to outsiders, so don"t even consider about it spreading to Gao Li."
To think there were so many considerations. Jin Tai still hasn"t given up: "It"s not possible to even secretly learn a few moves?"
Chu Yuan"s eyes turned cold: "If Gao Li King mentions this matter again, then it will be somewhat of a coercion."
"Emperor Chu, please do not get angry." Jin Tai was also shocked. He didn"t want to come either, but he couldn"t bear Jin Shu who kept making a scene, so he could only force himself to come. Naturally he also knew that these kinds of actions wouldn’t be looked upon favorably, but he also didn"t think that it would truly anger the power of the heavens.
"Does Gao Li King have any other matters?" Chu Yuan asked coldly.
Jin Tai quickly shook his head.
"Si Xi!" Chu Yuan stood up. "Send Gao Li King back to his residence."
When everything has calmed down, then did Duan Bai Yue jumped down from the roof beams.
Chu Yuan looked at him in his eyes.
Duan Bai Yue said carefully: "Thinking about this closely, this matter doesn"t have anything to do with me, right?" He was extremely blameless in this.
"Pfft." Chu Yuan laughed.
A smile also appeared in Duan Bai Yue"s eyes: "Let"s return to the sleeping quarters?"
"It wasn"t brought up before, but how did that Gao Li Princess end up liking you?" Chu Yuan asked.
"I really don"t know anything about this." Duan Bai Yue said, "But I heard Jin Shu has always liked running about everywhere, so it"s not impossible to have b.u.mped into her unintentionally."
"And afterwards you entered her eyes and couldn"t leave." Chu Yuan jabbed his shoulder. "Attracting the bees and the b.u.t.terflies." (1)
"So what." Duan Bai Yue was unperturbed. "Others can"t take me away anyway, at most they will just be taking a look."
"There"s probably still half a month before Jin Tai can leave." Chu Yuan returned to the sleeping quarters with him. "But he also isn"t a tactless person; after tonight, he shouldn"t bring up this matter again."
"Will he still have to be entertained tomorrow?" Duan Bai Yue asked.
Chu Yuan shook his head: "There"s other matters tomorrow, and this isn"t Jin Tai"s first time in the capital. He has some places that he likes, the court just has to provide troops for protection."
Duan Bai Yue laughed: "Being such a king in the borders, it"s certainly quite comfortable and relaxing."
"Envy him?" Chu Yuan glanced at him in askance.
"A wizened figure and small facial features, what am I envying him for." Duan Bai Yue shook his head, "If I looked like that, you wouldn"t have hid behind me when I was ten."
Chu Yuan thought about it, asking: "What if I looked like Jin Tai then?"
Duan Bai Yue smiled calmly: "Naturally I must still take care of you for your whole life."
"Nonsense." Chu Yuan kicked him.
"They are words from the bottom of my heart." Duan Bai Yue was very serious.
The two of them walked slowly along the paths in the garden. The calls of frogs and the chirps of cicadas were everywhere; it’s a fine summer night.
And yet there were still unaccommodating people.
Duan Bai Yue"s fingers had just lightly touched with his for a few times, and before he could hold his hand, sounds of conversation travelled from in front of them.
Mu Chi Lao Ren was directing eunuchs, who were pulling a cart of copper figures, and were chatting while they walked, saying that it had to be transported to the courtyard of the carpenter"s workshop.
Duan Bai Yue and Chu Yuan hid in the trees above, waiting till the group of people had gone far away, before jumping down again and patting away the water on each other"s bodies.
"Still going to research Ba Huang Zhen?" Duan Bai Yue asked.
Chu Yuan hesitated, and nodded.
Duan Bai Yue frowned.
"It"s not just for that one reason either." Chu Yuan walked forward by himself, "Ba Zhuang Zhen is very elaborate; after it has been restored, we wish to see just how formidable it is."
"Let"s agree then, it"s only to research the formation." Duan Bai Yue quickened his steps and walked by his side.
Chu Yuan asked: "Just what is the matter with that Sai Pan An? Have you investigated him clearly?"
Duan Bai Yue shook his head.
"It"s not good to constantly have no hints." Chu Yuan thought about it. "Why not attract the snake out of its hole?"
"Meaning?" Duan Bai Yue asked.
"Currently it’s still uncertain; we could only speculate that Sai Pan An is the person who made an agreement with the demonic sect." Chu Yuan said, "Why not let Mu Chi Lao Ren appear in front of him, and see what"s his next move. At least it can be made clear like this if Mu Chi Lao Ren is really one of his aims."
"That"s possible." Duan Bai Yue said, "But Mu Chi Lao Ren"s martial arts skills are average. If Sai Pan An"s motives are dubious, there will inevitably be danger. There"s no need for him to leave the palace. Just find someone to disguise as him."
Chu Yuan asked: "You?"
Duan Bai Yue shook his head: "My teacher."
Chu Yuan: "......"
Duan Bai Yue said: "Let me handle these things."
Chu Yuan paused then nodded. After a moment, he asked again: "Speaking of it, I have yet to see Elder Nan"s actual appearance, and have only long heard of his name."
Duan Bai Yue coughed twice: "Yes."
"And he keeps covering his face for some reason." Chu Yuan said suspiciously.
Duan Bai Yue said: "Maybe he feels like he has a sinister appearance."
Chu Yuan: "......"
"The glazed goblet from the other time, Yao-er really liked it." Duan Bai Yue changed the topic.
"It"s good that he liked it." Chu Yuan smiled, "In the future, whatever Xiao Jin wants, I will simply prepare two of them. Whatever Yao-er wants, do not hesitate to write and send a letter over."
Jealousy surged in Duan Bai Yue"s heart: Why must he be so good to that little brat?
Chu Yuan asked again: "What does Yao-er like to eat?"
Duan Bai Yue, with no hesitation: "Insects!"
Chu Yuan: "........"
Really.
"The stars are not bad." Duan Bai Yue raised his head.
Chu Yuan kicked him: "Nonsense, you are the one who likes to eat insects."
Duan Bai Yue: "......"
In the inn, Duan Yao sat on the bed, sneezing madly, his tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hot tears.
He didn’t know who was just so mean to gossip behind his back without end.
Eunuch Si Xi prepared two sets of bathing items as usual, and two pillows; he hesitated about the blankets, but still left two of them.
Before getting on the bed, Chu Yuan wanted to drink the sleeping medicine, but Duan Bai Yue was one step ahead of him, taking it in his hand and drinking it down in one go.
.....
"Hey!" Emperor Chu widened his eyes. Could he be having a fever?
Xi Nan King said: "You have said before, it doesn"t harm the body."
Chu Yuan: "....."
So?
"Now you know what kind of feeling it is, for me to see you rely on this to have a peaceful sleep?" Duan Bai Yue tapped his nose. "You know it"s not good to have medicine, use less of these things next time."
Chu Yuan sat by the bad, his feelings in turmoil. This person.
"And it"s just the right time for me to also try it, and see if I can arrive at morning just by closing my eyes." Duan Bai Yue laid down on the bed.
Chu Yuan doesn"t know whether to laugh or cry: "Don"t make such a scene next time!"
"Come over here." Duan Bai Yue patted the s.p.a.ce beside him.
Before Chu Yuan went over, his ears had already turned hot. He glared at him, and stuck to the corner of the wall, then laid down.
The candlelight in the room was dim. After approximately an hour, Duan Bai Yue said: "Looks like the divine physician is only just this good."
Chu Yuan covered his head with the blanket.
"I know that you haven"t fell asleep." Duan Bai Yue leaned closer to him, "Tell you a story?"
"No need." Chu Yuan refused from inside the blanket.
Duan Bai Yue forcefully pulled him out a little: "It"s the hottest part of summer, not afraid of getting smothered?"
Chu Yuan opened his eyes, no sleepiness in his eyes: "Pay me back for my sleeping medicine."
Duan Bai Yue didn"t know whether to laugh or cry, and sat up a little, then said: "Give your hand to me."
Chu Yuan said: "What for?"
Duan Bai Yue held onto his wrist, slowly ma.s.saging up his arm.
The acupuncture points ached, but after the ache was gone, there was a faint feeling of numbness. It was quite comfortable.
"Don"t think about anything." Duan Bai Yue said, "You will fall asleep after a while."
Chu Yuan followed his words and closed his eyes, feeling the hand wander around his arm, then his shoulder, then wanting to go down, but pausing slightly.
Duan Bai Yue hesitated for a moment, his palm sneaking into the lapel of the shirt, and pressing on that thin chest.
Chu Yuan pushed him away, and withdrew to the corner.
Duan Bai Yue: "......"
Chu Yuan wrapped his entire person in the blanket: "Si Xi!"
Duan Bai Yue: "......"
Duan Bai Yue: "......"
Duan Bai Yue: "......"
A moment later, Xi Nan King was respectfully "invited" out of the sleeping quarters, to appreciate the moon outside.
.......
"It cannot be rushed." Eunuch Si Xi used his arm to poke him.
Duan Bai Yue said: "Yes."
Eunuch Si Xi brought a chair over, indicating for him to sit by his side, consoling him: "It"s good outside too, the scenery is good, and it"s cool."
Duan Bai Yue: ".........Yes."
With a light breeze pa.s.sing by occasionally, it was really quite pleasantly cool.
On the morning of the second day, when Duan Bai Yue returned to the inn, Duan Yao was still sleeping noisily, but Nan Mo Ye was up quite early instead, dressed up neatly, looking like he was going out.
Duan Bai Yue became suspicious: "Where are you going again?" He was even willing to make his disheveled white hair into an appropriate hairstyle; one must know that previously at Xi Nan manor, Auntie Jin and the servant girls chased after him with a comb everyday, and even then they might not have necessarily managed to grab hold of him.
Nan Mo Ye said: "Finding a middleman, I"m intending to buy a house in the capital."
Duan Bai Yue: "......."
Nan Mo Ye continued: "Looking at you are right now, from now on you will be running to and fro here frequently; the earlier it"s bought, the earlier one is relieved."
"That"s also good." Duan Bai Yue rubbed his chin. "But it"s not so urgent that it must be done today, just bring some banknotes with you some other day."
Nan Mo Ye said: "Then what are we doing today?"
Duan Bai Yue answered: "Continue meeting that Sai Pan An."
Nan Mo Ye deflated upon hearing this: "I’m not going, not going. After observing him for so many days, there"s not even a hint of progress, my eyes are almost going to come together." If he didn’t find some other pleasures, he was afraid that mushrooms would begin to grow on his head.
Duan Bai Yue: "You have to go even if you don"t want to."
Nan Mo Ye became enraged: "Disobedient disciple, should you be speaking to your teacher like this?"
Duan Bai Yue forced him onto a chair: "Teacher should be very willing to disguise as Mu Chi Lao Ren and reel in that Sai Pan An."
Nan Mo Ye said sincerely: "I"m not at all willing."
"It"s not important whether teacher is willing or not, as long as I"m willing." Duan Bai Yue said, "This matter has no room for discussion, if teacher does not cooperate, then I"ll simply go tell Yao-er just who stole his five striped jade eyes insect that time."
Nan Mo Ye：“……”
"Quickly." Duan Bai Yue stuffed the items for disguising into his arms.
Nan Mo Ye sighed in despair, feeling that his later years were very dismal.
Don’t know when he can die again.
On Tai Ci street, Sai Pan An punctually set up the stage and sat down, a pot of tea in front of him. The commoners had gathered around him for nearly a month and saw him steadily won again and again. They all reckoned that this person was a conman, and that chess layout simply had no solution. So the enthusiasm had also subsided quite a lot; the surroundings were empty. Occasionally, when a big horse carriage pa.s.sed by, they would even complain that the stage occupied too much s.p.a.ce.
A trembling white haired and bearded old man, walked forward, carrying a torn bag, looking like he would faint in the next moment. A young kind-hearted man saw him and, scared that he would be hit by a carriage, helped him over to some steps on the side, then bought a bun and asked for some water, letting him eat slowly.
The old man thanked him continuously, devouring his food in a few mouthfuls; it seemed like he had really starved for a long time.
"This elder, could it be that your house was met with disaster?" Someone came up and asked.
"Yes, yes." The old man mumbled vaguely.
The capital was prosperous and had many kind-hearted people, thus it was not long before a group of people gathered, discussing how to send the old man to the charity hall for a temporary stay. The nearby Sai Pan An also noticed the commotion here, and after raising his head slightly to take a look, his eyes lit up.
Duan Bai Yue, sitting in the teahouse opposite, had naturally also saw his expression.
After the old man sat for a while, he gratefully rejected everyone"s kind intentions, saying that he is searching for relatives and friends, and continued to walk forward, leaning on a cane. When he pa.s.sed by a small alley, however, he was suddenly blocked by someone.
"Help!" Nan Mo Ye covered his face and screamed, turning around and running away.
Duan Bai Yue held onto his forehead. Can your acting be even more exaggerated?
"This elder! Slow down!" Sai Pan An rushed in front of him. "Does this elder still recognize this lowly one?"
"I don"t, I don"t." Nan Mo Ye hugged onto his bag with alarm, lowered his head and ran towards another direction.
"This elder." Sai Pa An said behind him, "I ask of this elder to create a Qian Hui Huan (2) one more time."
"I won’t, I won’t do it." Nan Mo Ye shook his head till he looked like he could fly.
Sai Pan An said: "But it"s very likely that that Lan Yi Zhan will come back from the dead, and now that Yu Guan Mountain is full of traps, if only this lowly one has Qian Hui Huan, then I can go and find out just what happened."
Nan Mo Ye sucked in his nose with all his might: "What are you talking about, I don"t understand."
Sai Pan An"s eyes turned colder: "If Lan Yi Zhan were to return to the martial arts world, this Jianghu will undoubtedly have a bloodbath again, does this elder truly want keep playing dumb?"
Nan Mo Ye hesitated.
Actually, it wasn’t that he wanted to be hesitant, but it was because he hadn"t thought of what to say next.
Duan Bai Yue, his head throbbing, swept his eyes around casually, but got a shock.
On the other end of the street, the real Mu Chi Lao Ren was walking around with a few plain-clothes guards following him. He must have come out of the palace to collect and buy some things.
"This mister." The youth from just now had also noticed this matter, and urgently went up and asked, "Are you searching for your brother?"
Mu Chi Lao Ren was baffled: "Ah?"
The young man continued: "There"s an old man who looked exactly like you, he went that way."
Mu Chi Lao Ren"s eyes became all the more suspicious. Exactly like me? Then that person is truly unlucky. He reckoned that the other old man must have been mistaken as himself and kidnapped up the mountains from time to time.
"Wait here, I will call him here for you." The young man was very enthusiastic, and had already ran away.
Duan Bai Yue signaled with his eyes, and Duan Nian opened his arms and blocked the young man right on the street: "Are you Liu Da Bao?"
"Who is Liu Da Bao?" The young man shook his head. "This brother, you recognised the wrong person, I"m Xie San."
"How could it be, it"s clearly brother Liu, how could I have recognized you wrongly." Duan Nian was very friendly, pulling him and walking to the teahouse right away. "Come come come, the money that I borrowed from brother Liu that time, it"s just the right time to see how much it is now."
The young man was stupefied. Before this, he had his fortune told on the streets, which said that soon he would have riches descend from the sky. But he didn"t expect it to be true, with someone wanting to return him money just as he was walking by for no reason.
Mu Chi Lao Ren had seen Duan Nian before at the inn, and naturally had guessed that something may have happened this time, and thus quickly turned and left.
Duan Bai Yue sighed in relief, then turned back to look towards the alley, but saw that it had long been empty.
........
"I"m really not some Mu Chi Lao Ren." Nan Mo Ye cried. What did you kidnap me for!
Sai Pan An put him on a chair in the inn, his eyes red: "If this elder continues to play dumb, then don"t blame this lowly one for being impolite!"
Nan Mo Ye immediately stopped his crying, and turned it into quiet sobs.
Sai Pan An also said in a lighter tone: "How many days do you need to create a Qian Hui Huan?"
Nan Mo Ye spoke whatever came to his head: "Seven days."
Sai Pan An frowned: "When setting down the formation previously, only a total of half a day"s time was needed."
Nan Mo Ye said: "That was before. Now that I"m old, my eyes are bad."
"Whatever, seven days is seven days." Sai Pan An asked again, "Jiu Xuan Ji (3) was destroyed, and Fen Xing was stolen. Does this elder know of these matters?"
Nan Mo Ye shook his head.
"The people of Jianghu are all guessing." Sai Pan An frowned. "The culprit should be a highly skilled expert."
Inside, Nan Mo Ye thought, Of course he"s an expert.
He was personally taught by me.
(1) "Attracting the bees and the b.u.t.terflies.”: 招蜂引蝶 - to attract the opposite s.e.x/flirt
(2) Qian Hui Huan: 千回环 - lit. thousand returning ring/loop.
(3) Jiu Xuan Ji: 九玄机 - lit. nine profound theories. The tower that Duan Yao broke into.