The Seven Lands’ Most Magnificent and Talented Man.
As the King of Qin, Ji Yue had heard countless praises. Long lived the King or forever be remembered throughout history. He had never cared about those insincere feelings or empty compliments.
But he had never imagined that one day, he would have his heartstrings tugged by such simple words.
—Human hearts harbor evil, yours have none. What is there for me to be afraid of?
The King of Qin never wanted praise.
Just not to be feared.
That was what he always wanted, which was beyond his reach.
Ji Yue gazed at Wei Lian with an unfathomable expression. The youth dressed in white was at ease and allowed himself to be studied.
After a long time, Ji Yue said in a slow tone, “We’ve slaughtered people’s lives and plucked their tongues, both fiendish acts. The Queen Dowager lifted us to the throne and in return, we ungratefully annihilated her whole family. We hungered for territory and have spared no effort to expand the region using corpses as foundation. We don’t hesitate to use any means to achieve our goal, continuing the vicious cycle.”
He laughed softly, “We harbored all the evils in the world, as Wei Lang had listed. Everyone in the world fears us, how dare you say that we have none of that?”
Wei Lian replied without hesitation, “Palace workers overstep their authority, death justified. The Queen Dowager controlled the court without regard to its laws, punishment justified. The six counties are wolves restlessly waiting for their chances, war justified. A ruler needed to conduct to yield results, action justified.
“Everything Your Majesty has done was in the name of the country of Qin. The people held royalty title to the standard of saint, little do they know that to prize and maintain harmony in this chaotic world is a presumptuous demand that will eventually lead to being devoured and clawed into pieces by packs of wolves. The world will also never understand that you have no other choices.”
He answered the question with such fluency, all without the time to think. Ji Yue was surprised for a moment and said softly, “But you understand.”
There were suddenly bright lights in his eyes as he said with a faint smile, “Wei Lian, we regret not having met you earlier.”
“Your Majesty overpraised.”
“It’s time for these ministers to witness true beauty. We have to convince them how those mediocre rouge wearers could ever hope to compare with you. We will summon the court painter… No, how could an ordinary painter be skilled enough to capture your image?” Ji Yue never hid his favor for the people who deserved it. He quickly walked to the bookcase and laid out paper and brush. “We will personally draw you.”
“Your Majesty wants to paint a portrait of this subject?”
“Naturally.”
“But this subject heard that Your Majesty has never drawn a portrait.” The lights in Wei Lian’s eyes flickered slightly.
Just because the King of Qin was known to be a tyrant, it didn’t mean he had no knowledge of elegance. The four arts were lessons that every royalty’s sons had to learn.
The King of Qin had been an outstanding artist since he was a child. His painting mastery was so profound that he became famous at the age of eight with his ‘Birthday Painting’ for the late King. It was also because of this painting that the former King had paid attention to the unknown child.
The King of Qin’s painting skills were superb, landscapes were captured by fine details, flowers, birds, insects and fish were all brought to the point of perfection.
But it was also well-known that the King of Qin never painted people.
It was rumored that he only played to his own strengths, but it was only a rumor after all.
“That is because no one was worthy of it.” Ji Yue moved his brush smoothly like a floating cloud and flowing water. “It’s easy to draw the skin, but never the beauty that is engraved in the bone. We are not interested in drawing empty shells, only interested in beauty with both skin and bone like Wei-lang.”
This was already a praise to the highest degree.
Wei Lian stood in front of the window until Ji Yue stopped his movement. He asked, “Done drawing?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Gbcf.” Al Tef qea vbkc tlr ygert. “Jbwf jcv ajxf j ibbx.”
Wei Lian walked over for a glance and praised internally. Amazing skill.
Lf kjr jirb atf wjrafg bo atf obeg jgar jcv cjaegjiis, j wjrafg lc atf jga bo qjlcalcu. Ktfgfobgf, tf mbeiv afii ja j uijcmf atja atf gewbg bo atf Blcu bo Hlc yflcu lcmbwqfafca lc qjlcalcu qbgagjlar kjr ojirf. Pc jmaejilas, la kjr tlr ragbcu qblca.
Wei Lian was standing in front of a window, but the King of Qin had painted him standing in front of the palace with snow covering the black tiles. He stood amidst the snow and beneath a red plum tree. With a white fox fur coat hugging his frame, his eyes raised in a soft contentment. It was realistic at any angle.
“It’s remarkably true to life.” Wei Lian admired the painting for a long time with curved eyebrows.
“Why don’t Wei-lang write words of commemoration?” Ji Yue suggested.
After a moment of thought, Wei Lian picked up the writing blush and inscribed ‘Land’ on the paper.
The brush strokes were reserved, implying a hidden unstoppable nature, like a free flying dragon.
The handwriting was beautiful, just like the writer, and underneath the gentle jade was a wild and arrogant man.
First, Ji Yue released a sigh of admiration inside, but soon lost interest. It was expected that Wei Lian would pick some common auspicious words like ‘The Land of Qin Prospers and the People at Peace’.
Unexpectedly, the reality differed.
Wei Lian inscribed eight words.
The Seven lands’ Most Magnificent and Talented Man.
The corners of Ji Yue’s eyes twitched.
He pondered over it and decided that these eight characters were fine and matched Wei Lian very well. But when it came to knowing the eight characters were written by the youth himself…
Ji Yue had the urge to laugh.
Young Master Lian appeared to be a bit narcissistic.
Yet, Ji Yue liked the way the youth had acted. He was tired of seeing so many feign civility people, so tired of seeing these detestable beings. So, on the contrary, Wei Lian’s unscrupulous behavior was kind of cute.
For the most part, it varies from person to person. But in his eyes, he was very fond of it, so his tolerance of the youth was also high. But if it was switched to any stranger who came forward and shamelessly said ‘I’m the most talented man’ in front of the King of Qin, Ji Yue would have smiled gently and had the person be dragged out to the chopping board.
“The seven lands’ most magnificent and talented man.” Ji Yue recited it out loud. His voice contained an unconcealed laugh. “Wei-lang, you are one arrogant man.”
“Since this subject is worthy of being painted by Your Majesty’s own hand, the evaluation naturally fits.” Wei Lian said without changing his expression.
“Good!” Ji Yue clapped his hands. “We like your arrogance.”
Wei Lian smiled but said nothing.
He finally understood. The King of Qin didn’t like people to be ostentatious in front of him, for they would be killed for their arrogance. Nor did he like people to be too reserved, as aloof people were disliked for their stiff and uninteresting manner. He didn’t like people to be respectful to him without warmth, nor did he like people to be disrespectful to him without a sense of propriety.
With Wei Lian’s fine control to such a degree, the precise degree of respectfulness and moderation allowed him to occasionally act impudent. Knowing the balance and playing his temperament could give the King of Qin the feeling of novelty, thus, sparing his life.
Wei Lian’s attitude towards the King of Qin had always seemed careless and unrestrained, but in fact, it was the result of careful observation. Every word, every action, and every movement were perfect. For a high difficulty like this, anyone else who attempted it would have died eight hundred times over.
But he was Wei Lian.
Who was not immeasurably self-satisfied, not believing that he had grasped the heart of an unpredictable ruler, despite his peerless talent.
The human heart was the most difficult thing in the world to grasp, not to mention the heart of a ruler.
The King of Qin was not a man to be so easily coaxed, and whose current interest in him was only momentary.
He still had a long way to go.
_
The days living in the Hall of Mental Cultivation were very pleasant. Now everyone in the palace knew that Wei Lian was favored, and he was staying in the King’s residence. No one dared to despise him. There could only be the best clothes, the most exquisite food, and a complete bedding for the winter, for he could not be cold or hungry.
This was actually not needed, because he lived and ate with the King of Qin the majority of the time, and the King would naturally get the best of the best. It was just Wei Lian should have his own share, and the imperial internal management dared not to shortchange in any manner. It was very different from the first half of the month when he was bullied.
A life of luxury with piles of irresistible items, even if a pig was living this lifestyle, it had long fattened up and was healthy enough to be slaughtered.
Wei Lian felt that he had gained some weight recently, because he wasn’t as slim as before. A certain morning when he got up to change, he found that his sash was no longer loose. Feeling a tremendous shock, he began to lose weight at once.
He still had a high regard for his appearance. Although the King of Qin didn’t show mercy to beauty, he was even less merciful for an ugly person!
More importantly, he must stay vigilant even in peacetime. The King of Qin had been too good to him for a while, and he would start to become insensitive after a long period of comfort. It wouldn’t be good if he happened to anger the King of Qin during a lax moment.
He wanted nothing more than to live a good life of eating and sleeping, but he also didn’t like the idea of having his life in someone else’s hands. Not to mention the poison he had taken. With the King of Qin’s temper, who would be laughing and joking with him and sentencing him to death for some unknown reason the next. It was too dangerous to interact with such a person, and he wanted out as soon as possible.
There was nothing more foolish than putting one’s life in another’s hands due to their kindness.
He planned to fake his death to make his escape, this had been long in planning—after his coming of age, to be more precise. Not any time before, because how high the chance of his fake death becoming a real one would be. Shifu’s foretelling of his death was quite frightening.
He never wanted to be trapped in the royal palace for the rest of his life. Only a brambling born in a cage would be willing to be kept, but he was a swan who dreamed of flying in the vast sky.
It was better to die than be trapped.
_
The most important thing right now was his weight loss plan.
In the past, Wei Lian could practice his sword in the Chu Palace’s deserted courtyard. Now, however, with the King of Qin’s eyes everywhere in his own palace. As a feeble gentleman, Wei Lian had no other choice but to limit his intake.
As it was evident on the dining table when the King of Qin grabbed meat and vegetables and put them into Wei Lian’s bowl, but in return, Wei Lian didn’t touch any of them. He only picked the lighter ones.
The sharp Ji Yue asked in a soft voice, “Does Wei-lang not have the appetite?”
Wei Lian shook his head. “This subject prefers a lighter meal these days, thanking Your Majesty for his concern.”
Serving on the side, Li Fuquan immediately said, “Wei-shijun, as shijun, it should be you who serve His Majesty. How could you let His Majesty worry about you?”
Wei Lian looked at him and said nothing.
The palace workers showed sympathy in their eyes.
Li Fuquan: “???”
Why did he feel like something was wrong? He had been recuperating from his injuries for four days. Why did the whole world change once he was back?
Ji Yue put his chopsticks aside and said indifferently, “Watch your tongue.”
Li Fuquan’s heart trembled, not knowing which dragon whisker he had touched now.
He had been with His Majesty for twelve years now. There were countless eunuchs who served His Majesty since he was a child, but Li Fuquan was the only one who achieved the title of head eunuch. He always did what was best for Ji Yue. His sincerity couldn’t be fake.
He had never witnessed His Majesty showing favoritism in anything. His Majesty used to love this rabbit so much as a child that he would sleep with it at night, sharing his thoughts with it as if it was a human being and feeding it the best carrot and greens.
But during one visit from the Queen Dowager, it ran over and was picked up by her, being praised as cute. As soon as she left, His Majesty sent it to the kitchen to be made into a stew.
When the Queen Dowager visited again in the evening, His Majesty invited her to stay for dinner. She found a braised meat dish on the table quite tasty and had to ask, “Yue-er, what dish is this?”
The twelve-year-old boy smiled softly. “It’s the rabbit that Mother Queen held during the day. Mother, is it still cute after you tasted it?”
The Queen Dowager’s expression changed immediately before storming out.
The list of such things was endless. Li Fuquan understood that even if His Majesty had a fondness for many things, they were all fleeing interests and never long lasting.
So, when he heard that Wei-shijun was favored, he didn’t take it seriously.
However, he had forgotten that it didn’t matter if His Majesty disdained Wei Lian or not, he couldn’t offend Wei Lian now at least.
He had transgressed his authority and had indeed committed a crime towards His Majesty.
Li Fuquan, who had regained his senses, immediately knelt down and pleaded, “This servant overstepped his bounds.”
“Do not repeat your mistake.” There was nothing showing on Ji Yue’s face. “If there is a next time, don’t blame us for forsaking the long bond.”
Li Fuquan rose, shaking like a leaf. “…Understood.”
“Also.” Ji Yue felt that the ‘shijun’ title was a bit unpleasant to his ears, as if he had insulted the youth for nothing. “Pass this order down. The whole palace will treat Wei-lang as a son of royalty and with the courtesy of a madam. Do not treat him lightly.”
Li Fuquan bowed. “Understood.”
When he exited the Hall of Mental Cultivation, he immediately shivered from losing the indoor heat, as he found he was drenched in cold sweat.
He ordered the young eunuch to spread His Majesty’s decree, and leaned on the doorframe to wipe his sweat, thinking to himself.
Now it appeared he would need to take Young Master Lian for real, but he wondered how long the youth could maintain His Majesty’s interest.
“It will naturally be longer than you think.” A gentle voice came from behind. Li Fuquan was so frightened that he almost had a heart attack as his back hit against the wall.
Wei Lian smiled. “Head eunuch, watch your step.”
Li Fuquan instinctively shuddered again, feeling like he had this ridiculous illusion. He felt that although this gentleman had a soft smile, it was exactly the same as that of His Majesty; a smile concealing its sharp edge.
“Wei-shi…” As soon as Li Fuquan opened his mouth, he remembered His Majesty’s order and hastily changed his address. “Young Master Lian, why are you out here?”
“Getting some fresh air.” Wei Lian said kindly.
Li Fuquan gave a salute and took his chance to take his leave. “Then this servant would dismiss himself…” He didn’t really want to interact with Wei Lian, feeling this person was a bit dangerous.
…Dangerous as His Majesty.
“A word with the head eunuch.” Wei Lian added easily.
It stopped Li Fuquan in his tracks.
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