Young Master Lian is truly unrivaled.
Halfway into applying the ointment, a palace maid entered with a tray in her hands.
Wei Lian looked over and caused the palace maid to pause her steps, then a faint blush surfaced on her cheeks.
She bent her knee, lowered her head and said, “Young Master, His Majesty ordered this servant to deliver you these clothes and asked for you to put them on as early as possible.”
While keeping her head bowed, she internally praised how good-looking Young Master Lian was while blushing.
On the daybed lay a youth whose silk hair was loose, and his white robe was rumpled and untied, revealing his delicate and sharp collarbones. The circle of faint red marks below his Adam’s apple appeared somewhat alluring.
With his graceful appearance, otherworldly temperament, and soft, glistening eyes that were gazing over, no one could avoid blushing and heart racing.
His Majesty is also good-looking, but no one dared to look directly at a ruler’s face. While anyone could tell from a glance that Young Master Lian of the Chu was a gentleman to the bone.
The sharp glint in Wei Lian’s eyes faded instantly as he said gently, “Thank you for your trouble.”
The palace maid hurriedly said, “It’s this servant’s job, Young Master doesn’t need to be courteous.”
Wei Lian nodded and took the clothes from the tray.
The palace maid inquired, “Does the young master require this servant to serve in dressing?”
The palace maid stood by quietly as Wei Lian shook his head.
The King of Qin was quite generous with the clothes provided. The first layer was a plain robe, and the outer coat was an arctic fox fur coat. It was thick and warm, but not too bulky. The new clothes perfectly complemented Wei Lian’s slender figure.
After changing, he sat in front of the bronze mirror and combed his hair with a double-edged fine-toothed comb. Because he hadn’t reached his coming of age at twenty, he used a simple jade hairpin to tie his hair into a bun, while letting the rest of the thick, waist-length hair loose. The youth was already stunning, with titillating snow skin. Now that he was dressed up, even if a little bit, his appearance straight out stunned the palace maid in place.
Young Master sure was striking… Zhu Cui couldn’t resist sighing again.
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.
Qfl Oljc’r yfjeas kjr fnlvfca ja olgra uijcmf, yea atf ibcufg bcf ibbxfv, atf wbgf mtjgwlcu la yfmjwf.
Wei Lian smiled warmly and said, “I’m merely the King of Qin’s shijun, it would be best to not address me as a son of nobility. For your interest, it’s best not to let His Majesty catch wind of it.”
Ktlr rajgaifv Ite Jel. Ycis atfc vlv rtf gfjilhf atja rtf tjv eclcafcalbcjiis ktlrqfgfv bea tfg lccfg atbeutar.
Lfg yftjnlbg kjr mbcrlvfgfv gevf. Tfa, lcrafjv bo yijwlcu tfg, Tbecu Zjrafg Oljc fnfc gfwlcvfv tfg ab mtjcuf tlr jvvgfrr ab jnblv yflcu qeclrtfv ys Llr Zjpfras.
Young Master Lian was such a kind person.
Zhu Cui’s impression of Wei Lian had greatly increased, which increased her sympathy towards his current predicament. How pitiful it was for such a noble and benevolent gentleman…to be reduced to His Majesty’s male pet!
Wei Lian eased his expression when he saw the forbearance in Zhu Cui’s eyes.
Getting her sympathy was good. This palace maid was most likely a regular attendant in the Hall of Mental Cultivation, and someone who possessed some knowledge on the King of Qin. He, who knew nothing about the King of Qin, must pry some information from the staff’s mouths in order to form his next step.
Wei Lian was an outsider in the Qin palace. If he was to make rush inquiries, he would most likely get very few words. He was also without money as everything he brought from the country of Chu belonged to the country of Qin. Because he was embarrassingly short of money, he had no resources to bribe people.
The only way was to be a little manipulative to win people over.
Now, being an expert in swaying a woman’s heart in a few words, it would be easy for him to inquire about information he wanted to know.
“What’s your name?” Wei Lian asked in a light tone.
Zhu Cui’s ears burned slightly. “This servant’s name is Zhu Cui.”
Admittedly, she didn’t have any personal motives for Young Master Lian, but was it wrong of her to admire beauties? And who could refuse a beauty’s question?
“You are a palace maid in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Do you know anything about His Majesty?” Wei Lian asked more questions.
“This…” When the King of Qin was brought into the conversation, Zhu Cui hesitated, because it was not something convenient for her to disclose.
As servants of the palace, how dare they presume to discuss their masters, especially on a tyrannical ruler like His Majesty…
Picking up the change in the atmosphere, Wei Lian lowered his gaze as a hint of sorrow surfaced in his eyes. “As a man, I also have high ambition, and a heart for the people. Now in the Qin palace, I don’t want…”
Then he forced a smile and continued, “I have accepted my fate and no longer have any ulterior motives. Now, I only want to serve the ruler well and live a peaceful life. Wei Lian is a newcomer and didn’t know His Majesty’s temperament, so I’m in constant fear of angering the King. If I die from a trivial matter, and rope His Majesty’s anger onto everyone, even in the nine springs will I not be able to rest in peace.”
This brought a pang in Zhu Cui’s heart, realizing that the person in front of her was truly like a jade, like every metaphor for jade, Young Master Lian was truly unrivaled.
This kind of person should never have been reduced to such a situation. How could she bear to see him struggling?
Zhu Cui finally laid everything she knew on the table, “Young Master…Wei-shijun, this servant has been serving at the Hall of Mental Cultivation for three years and has some knowledge on His Majesty’s habits. His Majesty is a very picky eater; his favorite dish is crystal shrimp dumpling, and he dislikes scallions, ginger, garlic, numbing pepper… His Majesty despised the color purple, because the former Queen Dowager loves wearing that color…”
Wei Lian listened and remembered what the King of Qin abstained from and preferred one by one.
By the end of it, he bowed with hands held in front and said, “Many thanks to Lady Zhu Cui, Wei Lian can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s nothing, this servant doesn’t deserve Wei-shijun’s thanks.” Zhu Cui quickly stepped aside to avoid this etiquette, then she bowed with her hands placed on her side. “By now, His Majesty should be on the way back from the court. This servant will excuse herself.”
Then she thought for a moment and added, “If Wei-shijun needs anything in the future, please give this servant a call.”
Wei Lian nodded his head to express thanks.
_
After Zhu Cui withdrew, Wei Lian calmly sat back down on the bed and applied the remaining ointment.
When the marks on his neck had faded completely, the King of Qin appeared at the entrance of the palace hall.
Wei Lian put down the ointment, stood up and saluted. “Your Majesty.”
Ji Yue gave Wei Lian’s neck a glance, and once he saw no visible marks, he said, “stand.”
Wei Lian got up and stared at Ji Yue’s expressionless face. “Your Majesty seems to be in a bad mood.”
Ji Yue declined to confirm, “What’s this? Are you also learning how to speculate our thoughts?”
The last people who attempted to act on his behalf failed miserably, and not long ago as well. Li Fuquan was such an example, who still couldn’t get out of his daybed.
Li Fuquan, who accompanied the King of Qin since he was a child, received thirty lashes no less. While Wei Lian had only known the King of Qin for a day, what made him act like he was an exception?
Wei Lian lowered his gaze. “This subject won’t dare.”
He then added in a whisper, “It’s just Your Majesty’s displeasure is written all over your face. Even if this subject didn’t guess your thoughts, I can see it.”
Ji Yue removed his heavy court outfit, and his alluring charm decreased slightly once the black imperial robe with gold embroidered was off. It was just that this gorgeous appearance was dimmed by his inherent dignity and coldness.
Putting the prejudice and murder intentions aside, Wei Lian had to admit that the King of Qin was also a rare beauty.
Ji Yue turned to look at Wei Lian and said while smirking, “What is written all over our face?”
The King of Qin’s thoughts are unpredictable. If he smiles, it doesn’t mean he is happy; in fact, he might actually be angry. His tone and mood might not necessarily be related to his good mood, because it might be from his urge to kill.
The veteran palace people knew this, so none of them dared to guess what he was thinking.
As Wei Lian was about to speak, Ji Yue said offhandedly, “If you are wrong, your tongue will be given to our mastiff.”
Wei Lian: “…”
What kind of obsession does the King of Qin have with his tongue?
The translator has something to add:
Teo: So, this translator got the impulse and googled why jade is used so much in Chinese novels. It appears because of its high value, the philosopher Confucius reportedly expressed this fascination by making jade a metaphor for virtue, kindness, wisdom, justice, civility, music, sincerity, truth, Heaven and Earth.
Thank You for the chapter ｡✰✧(♡´❍`♡)✧✰｡ The first thing I associate with China is jade as it is one of the luxury goods mined there, so this topic often appeared during lessons at school 😂