Translator: kiribold
editor: yoantlers
After seven or eight days spent comfortably at home, Chi Xiaochi accepted the transmission.
When he first woke up, his surroundings were extraordinarily peaceful.
His birth point was in a quaint waterside ancient pavilion. His body also had lavish noble damask silk, showing the family of the owner’s extraordinary identity. Chi Xiaochi’s conscience made him wonder if he had gained the belly of the Lord God with his villainous heart.
He initially thought that Lou-ge taking advantage of the Lord God’s actions in the last world would usher in a wave of retaliation.
Chi Xiaochi called in his mind, “Liu-laoshi?”
There was no response.
Chi Xiaochi sensed something. “Lou-ge, are you there?”
Still no answer.
…Okay, bye, bitch.
Lou Ying was unable to speak. It wasn’t like such a situation had never happened before. Chi Xiaochi was not in a hurry to get up, pillow under his arm, squinting his eyes to look around.
This place was the same as the last world, according to observation. It was ancient times.
Before the original owner woke up, he should have been in this pavilion for a nap. A balsam wood Go board was placed in front of him. A black stone was placed on his right-hand side.
On the Go board, the black stones were like a wild dragon fighting with the cautious white dragon, opening and closing and dancing wildly. Just by looking at the game, one could tell the Go master’s temperament.
There was still the coolness of the stones remaining on the fingertips.
Chi Xiaochi straightened up, rubbed his fingertips, picked up the Go pieces, and put them into the Go cup one by one. At the same time, he observed his body, performed basic elimination methods, and drew up a simple biography for the original owner.
His knuckles were wide, and there were small wounds between the fingers, which should have been caused by martial arts.
Based on the experience he had accumulated in the previous world, the original owner’s clothes were of the highest quality, with a pouch hanging around his waist that had a unique texture. The character “Shi (时)” was written on it, perhaps the original owner’s surname.
Chi Xiaochi laid down a few pieces in his hand. The first move was a habitual Luozi Tianyuan, which showed the wild and unrestrained nature of the young man.
The original owner knew how to play Go, had a fairly complete Go repertoire in his mind, and seemed to have received a good education.
The original owner should have been asleep for some time, and no one came to call him, so the original owner probably wasn’t a guest in someone else’s house. Otherwise, there would be no reason to let a guest rest alone in a drafty place.
As Chi Xiaochi was thinking, a young servant hurried over from the other side of the corridor, greeted him, and said anxiously, “This little one has found you! The Thirteenth Prince came to visit, he’s in the front hall, and said he wanted to see you.”
Chi Xiaochi ruminated for a moment.
He didn’t hear wrong. It was the prince.
He put down his Go pieces and looked around at the elegant decor. His mind was filled with the script of the son of a rich family reduced to prostitution, enduring the shame of receiving customers and selling smiles.
The servant urged him: “Aiyo,eldest-gongzi, you should hurry up.”
When he heard the three-character honorific title of “eldest-gongzi,” Chi Xiaochi felt relieved. He pretended not to be fully awake and was led by the boy to the house to freshen up.
He said to Lou Ying in his mind, “Lou-ge, give me the world line.”
After all, he wasn’t the original. If he doesn’t find out who the Thirteenth Prince is, he’s afraid it may not end well.
However, his mind was as blank as before.
Chi Xiaochi faintly realized something was wrong and wanted to go to the office of Lou-ge’s boss and smash his pig brain.
The situation at this point was similar to the fifth spiritual world he had been to.
At that time, although Lou Ying was suppressed by the local system and couldn’t make a sound, he still existed in his body in essence. He could at least get Song Chunyang’s world line and know what the main task was.
But this time, Lou Ying couldn’t speak, and the world line’s release was being delayed.
Without the worldline information, he didn’t know the mission’s target, no idea of the original owner’s character, identity, or even name.
This world was just an ordinary ancient world, and the original owner was just an ordinary person. He couldn’t communicate with him or inform him of some important information like Ji Zuoshan or Duan Shujue.
This also meant that he was going to play blind chess.
And at the beginning of the game, he was immediately arranged to see a prince who was familiar with him. As for whether the prince was an enemy or a friend, his personality, and what he was doing here, he had no way of knowing.
Chi Xiaochi thought, how tomato exciting.
After being led into the house, the servant brought another set of clothes and quickly changed them for him.
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.
Lf cbalmfv atja atfrf kfgf atf ereji mibatfr obg ublcu bea.
…Ktf ilaaif rfgnjca kjr jkjgf bo ktfgf atfs kfgf ublcu.
Coafg gfjmtlcu atlr mbcmierlbc, tf vfilyfgjafis ribkfv vbkc atf rqffv bo vgfrrlcu.
Vegf fcbeut, atf kbgglfv ilaaif rfgnjca rajgafv ab cju ktlif tf tecu j yfia bgcjwfca obg tlw. “Cc jqqblcawfca klat atf Ktlgaffcat Uglcmf. Sivfra-ubcuhl rtbeiv tjnf lcobgwfv atlr ilaaif bcf fjgilfg. Snfc lo sbe obguba, Ct Vte mjc ralii gfwfwyfg obg sbe.”
The little servant complained casually in front of him. It seemed that the relationship between master and servant wasn’t bad.
He smiled. “Yes, Lord Ah Shu, this little one will know next time, so he won’t dare to do it again.”
Ah Shu was also amused and knelt to tidy his clothes for him. “Eldest-gongzi is just entertaining this little one in private. The general has previously instructed you to hook shoulders with all the princes and call them brothers. It’s really not appropriate. Especially the Thirteenth Prince…”
Ah Shu lowered his voice. “Although you have been his study companion for ten years, there is still a difference between rulers and subjects…”
Chi Xiaochi understood and gained a lot of information.
The original owner should be a general’s son; his identity was not bad, and he was the prince’s study companion.
Being able to serve the eldest-gongzi, this little servant named “Ah Shu” had obviously read some books. Chi Xiaochi may not be rich in knowledge, but since he was worthy of the phrase “there is a difference between rulers and subjects,” and was also pulled out by his father to emphasize that, it seemed that even if the Thirteenth Prince wasn’t the crown prince, he was still quite honored.
With a smile, Chi Xiaochi said, “Lord Ah Shu, this little one understands.”
Ah Shu grinned happily. “The Flower Festival is already crowded, so it would be inconvenient to go out later. It’s a good thing I met Ah Ling on the way to look for you, I asked him to get the polo clubs ready first. Otherwise, it would have been too late.”
After a pause, he added, “It’s only the Thirteenth Prince who is patient and always willing to wait for you.”
Chi Xiaochi thought, oho, reliant on favor to be arrogant.
He turned to the mirror.
The person in the mirror looked like a teenager of sixteen or seventeen at the most unrestrained age. His green robes were elegant, his eyes full of stars, and the sterling silver brow pendant matched a high ponytail. It was the jade-like look of a noble son.
In the face of the impending chaos, he remained calm.
Listening to the little servant’s tone, the Thirteenth Prince was obviously very familiar with the original owner. He couldn’t touch this moldy head, pretending to be sick was the best way to get out of it.
He had many different kinds of cards in his warehouse. It wasn’t a problem to pretend to be sick and get by, and there was no need to inform the servant in advance. At worst, he could swallow the card before battle and pretend to have a sudden emergency.
Chi Xiaochi really wanted to go and see the Thirteenth Prince.
If Lou-ge also appeared in this world, then who would he be?
He had just tidied up and stepped out of the door when another servant rushed over and urged, “Eldest-gongzi, eldest-gongzi. The Sixth Prince, along with the Yan third-gongzi of the Shangshu mansion, are all drinking tea in the Flower Hall. The Sixth Prince asks you to please hurry up.”
Chi Xiaochi: “…”
Who the fuck are they.
Was this a radish meeting?But he went anyway.
It was good to recognize the radish pit.
When he reached the side window of the Flower Hall, he could just hear a few people in the hall. He stopped, shushed, and stood sideways against the window as if he intended to eavesdrop.
Ah Shu sighed soundlessly.
…The master’s naughty nature again.
But Chi Xiaochi thought very purely.
Without the guidance of the world line, his eyes were blindfolded. He was basically doomed if he went in and called the Thirteenth Prince the Sixth Prince.
This was like going into the examination room to answer questions. If you looked around and didn’t know any of the questions, wait and observe for a while. It had better accuracy than marking all Cs or stepping on the answer sheet on the ground.
The people in the hall were of the same age, and all dressed in ordinary clothes. But their identities were evident according to the seating arrangement.
Yan-gongzi served at the side of the Sixth Prince with low eyebrows and was obedient to the eye. He seemed to have a docile personality, but compared to the gentleness exuding from the bones of his family’s Lou-ge, he was still immature.
The Sixth Prince wore purple robes and a golden crown. His languid phoenix eyes ticked upwards, and his half-smile was slightly frivolous. His eyes quickly became contemptuous if he didn’t pay attention to restraining them a little. The Thirteenth Prince was much more dignified and elegant, sitting upright in the same place drinking tea. His white clothes had gold patterns and a vertical pattern of flowers between his eyebrows, similar to a woman’s but gave the elegant demeanor of the Jin Dynasty’s black-clothed nobility.
After observation, the Thirteenth Prince was somewhat similar to Lou-ge.
“Thirteenth brother.” The Sixth Prince tapped his fan on the palm of his hand, “Really seldom seen.”
The Thirteenth Prince bowed slightly. Regardless of his true feelings, courtesy was well given. “It is Yuanheng’s poor manners. There are many busy matters. It is true that there is no time for distractions, and I will visit Sixth Brother’s house another day.”
The Sixth Prince smiled and raised his fan. “It’s just this brother’s casual remark, don’t take it to heart. Besides, brother is usually busy on weekdays and seldom hangs around the house. Occasionally there is free time, and it’s only to invite Tingyun to have a drink or two, play a game or two of Cuju, and relax. Today, this brother has a pot of good Hua Diao, so he wanted to invite Tingyun to the Inxtoicated Moon Restaurant for a drink. Does Heng-di have interest in going?”
As soon as the voice fell, the Sixth Prince suddenly said: “Ah, it’s because brother forgot that the thirteenth brother is not good at drinking.”
The Thirteenth Prince’s face was calm. “On New Year’s Day, I made an appointment to meet him on the morning of the Flower Festival, to play polo during the day, and to attend a tea ceremony of throwing pots and elegant poetry at the Shangshu Mansion during the evening.
The sixth prince slightly turned the fan in his palm. “Thirteenth brother is very refined. Why don’t you take this brother with you?”
The Thirteenth Prince said politely and distantly, “Naturally, it is fine.”
This pair of brothers had a strong sense of plasticity, and listening made Chi Xiaochi’s brain hurt.
The Sixth Prince took a sip of tea and frowned. He didn’t seem to be interested in tea. He turned to ask the servant, “Where is your Shi family’s eldest-gongzi? Why haven’t we seen him yet? The two of us brothers are waiting here. Does he think it’s not ostentatious enough?”
The servant specializing in hospitality was an elite among people. He knew that the Sixth Prince’s words were mostly teasing, and he had no intention of blaming him. He skillfully replaced his wine cup, filled it with sake, and respectfully said, “Sixth Prince, please wait a moment. This little one will send someone to hurry him.”
The Thirteenth Prince also said indifferently, “Sixth Royal Brother shouldn’t blame him. I didn’t make an appointment time with him to meet. At this hour, if he’s not playing Go with someone, then he’s taking a nap. It would be discourteous if he were to meet guests without dressing neatly.”
The Sixth Prince opened his fan with a snap, fanning himself: “Thirteenth brother’s patience is really first-class. But because of this brother’s impatient temper, it’s not easy to wait for others.”
He turned his head and said to the servant, “I will give Shi eldest-gongzi one more incense stick’s time for him to face the mirror and apply decals. Once the incense stick ends, I will have to catch him even if he is naked. Convey the original words, don’t miss a single word.”
The servant bowed his head and properly concealed a slight smile. “Yes.”
The Sixth Prince drank wine, the Thirteenth Prince drank tea, and Yan-gongzi stood in a dignified and calm manner behind the Sixth Prince. The young servant boy poured tea and wine for all, and Chi Xiaochi stood by the window with a headache.
Which one was Lou-ge? And which one is the target of this mission?
Are they inside? Or…
When he thought of this, a cold drop suddenly fell and happened to hit the wooden window lattice and made a tiny splash of water.
Chi Xiaochi was startled, raised his hand, and stroked the bottom of his eyes.
It was damp.
It wasn’t his will.
So the original owner was crying?
What was he crying about?
Suddenly, a sharp pain exploded in Chi Xiaochi’s brain as if it was split open by Pangu’s heavenly axe. He let out a muffled grunt and knelt while leaning on the window.
Ah Shu, who was eavesdropping with him, noticed something was different. When he turned his face, he saw that his gongzi’s face was as white as snow and immediately panicked. “Gongzi!”
The people in the hall also heard the movement outside the window.
The Sixth Prince, who was about to drink with his cup raised, stalled. “What’s wrong?”
And as soon as the young man dressed as a servant heard the muffled sound, he rushed out the door, knelt with Chi Xiaochi, and hurriedly stroked his forehead. “Stop…eldest-gongzi, what’s wrong? Is it a headache?”
Chi Xiaochi opened his eyes to see the boy’s face, but as soon as he raised his eyelids, a sharp pain in his forehead caused him to bend down and gasp for breath.
There was a lot of noise in his ears, and he vaguely heard someone drop a teacup.
Immediately afterward, a person reached out to support his arm. “Suchang, how is it?”
That was the voice of the Sixth Prince, and he sounded genuinely anxious. Chi Xiaochi remembered when he was hospitalized with a high fever, Lucas took him to the hospital in a speeding car. It was the same tone.
When Chi Xiaochi looked up, he was met with a bloody face.
The Sixth Prince’s well-born eyes were gouged out, leaving only two pitch-black holes. It was unclear if he died wtihout his eyes closed. He was covered in injuries, his fine clothes torn and stripped, having been beaten to death.
It seemed that a part of the world line had entered his mind, and it seemed to be one of the original owner’s darkest and most painful memories.
Before being split open by the pain, he passed out.
And before falling into a coma, Chi Xiaochi’s last thought was that he saved a card.
Once Chi Xiaochi fell, whether it was the the Hua Zhao or the Hua Diao agreement, both were void.
In the coma, he felt like someone was caressing his forehead gently.
Strangely, Chi Xiaochi didn’t feel uncomfortable or resistant. The person’s movements were so light and soft that he couldn’t help but want to rub against it again.
When he woke up, only a young servant was standing beside him. The same young man who skillfully chatted with the Sixth Prince in the Flower Hall.
He stroked Chi Xiaochi’s forehead, and his movements were as gentle as the person in his dream. “Does gongzi still have a headache?”
Chi Xiaochi twitched imperceptibly.
He was pretty sensitive to gestures that contained the implication of “intimacy,” but he didn’t dodge it. He just answered with a “hmm.”
The good news was that his head stopped hurting. The bad news was that he still didn’t have all the information related to the world line in his head.
Chi Xiaochi asked, “The Sixth Prince and the Thirteenth Prince are gone?”
“Yes. You have been passed out for a day and a night. The general was at Zhennan Pass. The Thirteenth Prince entered the palace to ask for a decree, and invited Imperial Physician Li to take a look. He said that gongzi had a sudden headache, perhaps it was because of poor rest or suffering from the cold wind. He prescribed medicine, said to recuperate for a few days, and if there is a recurrence, he can come back for a diagnosis.”
Chi Xiaochi felt that the possibility of his condition recurring was high given the current situation.
…Didn’t want to talk, sad, feeling very unwell.
The handsome and elegant-looking servant sat on the bedside and said softly, “It’s Ah Ling who didn’t take good care of gongzi. I should have known not to let gongzi take a nap in the pavilion, I should have brought you back…”
However, before he could finish blaming himself, Ah Shu knocked on the door and entered.
He heard the gongzi’s voice from a distance and knew that he had woken up, so he knocked on the door and entered, saying, “Gongzi, are you feeling better? Gongzi-shi said that he wanted to see you, please go to Flower Dew Pavilion.”
Chi Xiaochi: “…”
All of them were so familiar with the original owner, so it was difficult for him to even ask who this gongzi-shi was, ah.
There was only one phrase in his mind right now.
Wretched development, don’t waver.So he planned to find an excuse to stall.
Just as he was about to speak, Ah Shu said, “Gongzi-shi also came to visit you while you were sick. Probably because general sent a confidential letter to him to transfer to gongzi.”
…Came during his illness.
…Gongzi-shi.
Chi Xiaochi straightened up. “I’ll go.”
Ah Ling: “Gongzi, you are recovering from a serious illness…”
Chi Xiaochi: “Healed.”
Ah Ling gave a bitter smile, knelt on one knee, and said gently, “I will go with gongzi.”
That gongzi-shi lived in the deep backyard far away from people’s dwellings, quiet and serene, but it was a secret place.
Ah Ling had apparently been here many times. He led him to the door and knocked three times. There was a low cough from the inside, followed by an indistinct answer: “Come in.”
Chi Xiaochi pushed open the door. At the entrance was a military sand table.
The yellow mud was made into hills and mountains. The mercury transformed into rivers, lakes, and seas. The quicksand was like rice. There were various military flag archways inserted in it, marking the combat units within a hundred miles of Zhennan Pass.
There was a wooden wheelchair in front of the sand table and a person sitting on the wheelchair.
Just looking at the back alone, Chi Xiaochi’s heart was moved.
……It’s him.
He had overthought it earlier.
In fact, there was no need to compare the tone, demeanor, walking, sitting, and lying posture.
That person, as long as he recognized him once, he would never be wrong in this life.
The gongzi-shi seemed to be able to sense his pulsing heart, turning the wheelchair to face him.
This was a classic sick beauty. Even pulling his wheelchair could shake his energy channels, causing him to cough.
His face was pale due to a long illness, echoed by a small tattoo at the corner of his eye, which seemed to be a mark of exile.
Chi Xiaochi knelt before him on one knee and asked, “Are you Lou-ge?”
The person in front of him shook his head with a smile. “No.”
Chi Xiaochi smiled knowingly, leaned over, and saluted: “Then, student, Shi Tingyun, pays his respects to Xiansheng.”
Kiribold: Kicking off the new arc with two updates:
1) Check out this character and vocabulary glossary (so far, it only has this arc, but I’ll add to it). It’s also linked on the main novel page here.
2) There’s an official manga for this novel!!! You can find it here on Bilibili, it already has 18 chapters, and the art is *chef’s kiss*
I love this story so gd much….
Thank you for the chapter~♡
Wow, I missed this! Ancient times arc will always be one of my favorites when it comes to transmigration novels.
I have a hunch that this Ah Ling has something for Shi Tingyun hmmm ಠ_ಠ
Chi Xiaochi and Lou-ge was like, “we go connect, no matter what” lol
Asin eh 🤣🤣
Thank you so much for the update <3
I’m so happy to see an update! The start of a new arc and it already captured my emotions 😭 I love to see Xiaochi so clever, and the way he immediately knew Lou Ying 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much for the update!!!
And thank you for sharing the manhua! I didn’t know about, now I have to go read 🥰
Screaming
So beautiful!
Thanks for the chapter
Xiaochi didn’t reject Ah Ling’s touch.. Perhaps Lou Ying also has a double role in this world too..
Lou-ge’s help has to be fully externalized this time while Chi Xiaochi suffers from debilitating traumatic flashbacks, this limitation is really strict enough. I feel bad for the guy stuck with an executor-system pair mid boss fight, but I suppose Chi Xiaochi with handicaps is still a million times preferable to any other scum gong executor currently operating, rip. I love how even struck down with blinding pain he’s making inferences about the sincerity and relationships between those around him
Thank you so much for translating! <3
The “how tomato exciting” part is actually a homophone for “how fucking exciting” –> “真 to[他]ma[妈]to[的] 刺激”
I just realized I should have censored the f word. Sorry.
Gosh your Chinese is one level higher than mine 😂 I suspected the tomato could be a pun and thought of 多么的 but evidently I was thinking too nicely haha
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG I DIDN’T KNOW-
AM I SEEING THINGS??OMG NEW CHAPTER FROM DPUBFTB I’ll read it this night, I gotta wait 11 hours duhhh(༎ຶ ෴ ༎ຶ)
Thank you so much for the link to the manga version on Bilibili 🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️🙇🏻♀️ unrelated to translation question, will they release it for the English version of the app? I found that it’s only available in the Chinese version. Thank you so much for the hard work 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Thank you so much for your translations! Just wanted to say that how “tomato” exciting is probably how 他妈的 exciting.
The manga is so beautiful…