When Jing-wang went out, Li Yu took the opportunity to turn into his youthful human form.
This was the first time he used the transformation ability outside of the System. The excited surge in his heart was inevitable, however, he was also very aware that he had an extremely important task to do and needed to suppress his feelings of excitement over everything.
After turning back into human form, he still didn’t have any clothes to wear. However, no matter. Li Yu pulled out a new set of clothes from the wardrobe with familiarity and ease and put on inner pants. The transformation time limit was not much so it didn’t really allow him to do anything else. It’s fine to dress casually as he finished writing Ye QingHuan’s letter.
After putting on clothes, Li Yu still rolled up the somewhat long sleeves of the inner robe, exposing his small, fair white arms. He carefully examined the arrangement on the table. Jing-wang’s pre-prepared brush and ink was all here, but Li Yu couldn’t actually use them recklessly. If he left any trace for Jing-wang to discover, all his hard work would go down the drain.
Li Yu recalled in his bored downtime, he once saw how a cleaning servant had tidied up the room. Following his memories, he walked in front of an eight layer cabinet and pulled open one of the drawers in the middle. There were spare brushes and ink placed inside. Li Yu pulled out a brush from the innermost area, a layer of paper, and a half used, old ink stick.
To write in the ancient times, first the ink needed to be prepared. The ink came from grinding ink sticks. Li Yu has seen Jing-wang do this before and he could copy the process easily. However, he couldn’t find any other inkstone. He couldn’t use the high quality one on the table. That was Jing-wang’s item, not to mention, it was clean…… if he used it to grind ink, it would be too obvious.
Making a face, Li Yu randomly picked out a teacup that was on the floor and used it as an inkstone. Now, he had everything. Li Yu placed all of his essentials at a corner of the table. He poured some water into the teacup and started to grind the ink.
He has never done this task before, so he didn’t know how much he needed to mix until the ink was appropriate. As soon as the water turned black, he stopped and dipped the brush into the prepared ink.
Propping his cheek up with one hand, Li Yu held the brush and thought about how to compose the letter. He had temporarily remembered plenty of words from Jing-wang’s book, but there were still some that he didn’t know how to write. Jing-wang’s book wasn’t a dictionary after all. For a fish to sneakily find words was pretty hard.
…… oh who cares. Even if he couldn’t write a word or spell it wrong, as long as Ye-shizi could grasp the meaning, it’s fine.
Thinking this, Li Yu picked up the brush and started to write. He wrote several drafts first, editing and then re-editing again. When he felt like it was about right, he finally started to copy and rewrite everything. After the ink dried on the paper, he folded it well. Then he used another paper to make a simple envelope to hold the letter.
Done writing, he only needed to think of a way to give it to Ye QingHuan.
Li Yu placed the completed letter into his interdimensional space first. Wiping clean the brush, he placed the brush, inkstick, and paper back to where they belong. He even wiped down the table that he used.
He couldn’t randomly leave the drafts lying around and needed to get rid of them. Li Yu deliberated for a moment between burning them or eating them. Paper really tasted terrible. He was also afraid Jing-wang would touch the fish’s belly and find something strange again. Therefore, he opened the cover of the only incense burner in the room.
After taking care of everything appropriately, the shitty system started to countdown. Li Yu quickly took off the clothes he was wearing and mixed them in with a pile of clothes that Jing-wang had worn before. In a bit, there’d be an inner servant coming over to take them away for washing. That meant nothing would be left.
…… Li Yu really thought he was a genius. So capable, he could practically become a spy.
When Jing-wang returned to the room, the little carp was sleeping soundly on the white stone bed. As soon as Jing-wang stepped through the doorstep, he felt something wasn’t right. Although everything looked exactly the same in the room as before he left, he subconsciously felt strange.
He first looked at his fish. Xiao Yu was quietly laying on the white stone. Jing-wang immediately wanted to go inspect it, but the fish suddenly blew a bubble. Jing-wang: “…….”
The fish was very well. Jing-wang slowly strolled around everywhere in the room. Then he finally discovered what didn’t seem right.
The incense burner in his room seemed to have been used, but what was burned didn’t give off an incense smell.
Jing-wang opened the incense burner but couldn’t find anything strange. However, on the floor next to the incense burner there was unexpectedly a bit of ashes.
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.
Alcu-kjcu: “……”
Fcifrr mbwqifafis cfmfrrjgs, Alcu-kjcu vlvc’a jiibk batfgr ab fcafg tlr gbbw mjrejiis. Ktf rfgnjcar bo atf Alcu frajaf kbeivc’a vb atlr.
Obbxr ilxf rbwfbcf gfjiis vlv mbwf ys jcv yegcfv rbwfatlcu lc atf lcmfcrf yegcfg. Zbra ilxfis, atfs vlv rbwfatlcu firf jr kfii.
Alcu-kjcu obecv Qjcu Wl jcv bgvfgfv Qjcu Wl ab lcnfralujaf atbgbeutis.
Wang Xi quickly checked and audited everything in the room. For some unknown reason, one of the brushes that was placed in the drawer had become blunted, missing a few hairs. A stack of paper went missing and an ink stick was also missing half a segment.
Jing-wang’s face turned heavy. The thief that escaped last time hasn’t been caught yet. Did they come back to steal again?
The servant in charge of laundry came over and collected the clothes that Jing-wang took off for washing. To be cautious, Wang Xi stopped this person and also flipped through these clothes. Suddenly, his eyes light up.
“Your highness, look……”
Wang Xi quickly pulled out an inner robe from the pile. The sleeves of this robe were rolled up and had quite the ink stains on it.
Jing-wang thought for a moment but couldn’t remember getting ink stains on any of his clothes recently. Not to mention, this inner robe was very fitting for his size so he didn’t need to roll up the sleeves at all.
…… inner robes again. Did the thief have some kind of obsession with his garments?
Probably not.
“Your highness, this old servant is thinking about the one that escaped by water last time.” Wang Xi reminded Jing-wang in a quiet voice.
Jing-wang nodded. He also felt it couldn’t be so coincidental; it must be the same person. The thief that escaped last time hasn’t been caught yet and now they circled back.
What exactly did this thief want?
A smiling face flashed across Jing-wang’s head.
Actually internally, Jing-wang was still having a hard time believing that such a clean, innocent looking youth could be the same thief who stole his clothes several times.
Also, why steal his fish?
Being chased out by the main wife and venting his anger, was a rather far-fetched reason.
Jing-wang felt that there seemed to be a huge secret revolving around this youth. It’s just that he hasn’t figured it out yet.
Nevertheless, he definitely wouldn’t allow the other to take away his fish as they pleased.
Jing-wang secretly ordered Wang Xi to double the number of imperial guards outside the room and also increased the manpower searching for the thief.
After waking up, the little carp was still somewhat befuddled. He didn’t know at all what kind of disturbance he caused in the Jing Estate once again because of his one little action.
At first, he was sleeping on his side towards the inner side of the fish tank. Unconsciously, he flipped over and faced Jing-wang.
Jing-wang and Wang Xi immediately saw a long black mark on the fish’s body which had not been washed away by the water.
Wang Xi was shocked. After consulting Jing-wang, he quickly pulled Xiao Yu out of the water. Wiping the fish with a finger, Jing-wang discovered the ink stain on the fish’s body: “…….”
“Your highness, look!” A servant carried over with a teacup for instructions.
For some reason, the teacup wasn’t holding fresh water, but instead, had ink water inside.
Why ink again?
Jing-wang looked at the ink stained inner robe that Wang Xi found, the teacup holding the ink water, the used and blunted brush, the slightly used up inkstick, the missing stack of papers, and the used incense burner.
…… In his room, that person should have used his teacup to prepare ink, used brush and paper to write something, and then burned something inside the incense burner.
As for the ink on the fish’s body……
Jing-wang was completely confused as to how the ink got on the fish’s body.
When Li Yu was cupped out by Wang Xi, he was still befuddled. When the servant found the ink filled teacup and Jing-wang saw the ink stain on his body, Li Yu immediately jolted awake.
Oh fck. He was really too negligent. He didn’t notice the ink that had gotten on his hand, which he carelessly wiped onto himself. Plus after he used the teacup, he just left it where it was, completely forgetting to pour out the ink water first. This was really ‘A smart fish prepares for a thousand things, but will inevitably forget one thing.’
Jing-wang might immediately start suspecting him. Li Yu silently said to himself, he definitely can’t be mistaken for a demon. He immediately struggled out of Wang Xi’s hands and forcibly jumped into the teacup containing the ink water. Pretending to be extremely excited and extremely happy, he splashed around with all his might and turned himself blacker than a cuttlefish.
Jing-wang had been splashed countless times by the fish before. He had plenty of experience. As soon as the fish raised its tail, he sensed the turn of events and decisively raised his sleeve to block, avoiding being hit by a large portion of the ink spray.
Nevertheless, Jing-wang’s sleeve turned black visibly. To the side, Wang Xi couldn’t react as quickly and was splashed in the face by plenty of ink.
“…… Master Xiao Yu is really in a good spirit.” Wang Xi said jokingly, smoothing things over. Taking out a handkerchief, he wiped his face. Jing-wang was expressionless. Where the ink on the fish’s body came from couldn’t be more clear.
— Wasn’t it because this fish had too much fun and did it himself!
Li Yu endured Jing-wang’s murderous gaze and continued shamelessly acting cute with his cuttlefish appearance. He finally rescued his cover that was on the verge of collapsing.
Since the letter was written, he should consider sending it out. Li Yu thought about waiting until Chinese New Years when the two estates exchanged gifts to sneakily place it inside a present and send it over without anyone noticing. However, it was hard for regular people to get close to the presents and very hard to guarantee that Ye QingHuan would definitely see the letter. Therefore, it was still best to do it when Ye QingHuan came over to visit.
Luckily, Ye-shizi’s beloved darling dog was no match for a fish. Not long after, he brought his dog over once again.
This time, Ye-shizi also brought over a golden ball. He threw the golden ball very far. Gale immediately ran over, grabbed the ball, and returned it to him.
“No matter how smart a fish is, it still can’t compare to a dog.” Ye-shizi felt that Jing-wang definitely had nothing to say this time.
Jing-wang gave Ye QingHuan a pitying look and indicated Ye-shizi go in front of the fish tank to take a look himself.
Ye-shizi looked. At first, he didn’t see anything other than a bunch of gems. After a while, he saw Jing-wang’s Xiao Yu leisurely swim over and stack up the gems way high. Then, it raised a sapphire with its tail and threw it over, knocking over the pile of gems completely.
Jing-wang’s fish actually knew how to play like this?
Ye-shizi was so jealous his eyeballs were about to fall out: He lost again.
Seeing this, Gale was extremely excited, wagging its tail uncontrollably, almost like it was cheering on the fish inside the fish tank.
Li Yu swam over. With the crystal tank as a barrier, he wasn’t too afraid of Gale. He also bravely waved his tail at Gale, teasing it.
Gale became even more energized, trotting around in front of the crystal water tank as if it really wanted to jump inside and play with the fish together.
Ye QingHuan: “……”
Help. Ye QingHuan felt somewhat faint and needed to rest immediately. He allowed Wang Xi to support him outside.
Meanwhile, Gale still remained in the room, looking at the little carp in anticipation.
It extended its nose repeatedly, attempting to sniff Li Yu. However, everytime it only ended up touching the cold crystal surface.
Gale barked rapidly a few times.
Li Yu’s eyes lit up. If only he and Gale were present……. Perhaps he could use this opportunity.
Gale, for your master’s sake, become a messenger okay!
Faint and disoriented, Ye-shizi rested for a little while. When he turned his head, he discovered his beloved dog, Gale, half wet with water. With a white colored letter in its mouth, it pawed at his pants.
What’s this?
With a face of astonishment, Ye-shizi pulled out the letter from Gale’s mouth.
Thank you for the chapters !
Have to say this story gives me the giggles
Such a good story! Thank you for translating it!
The movements of this fish ‘s thoughts are amazing
Thank you very much for the translation
Thank You for the chapter (´,,•ω•,,)♡
Good dog! I was afraid he’d chew up the letter… Thanks for the update 🤣❤️🐟
Same I hope the words aren’t smeared by the doggo’s drool 😭
thanks for the chapter!
Thanks for the chapter!!!☺️
Hmm master fish please teach me your ways 😹😹
oop— the dog really is cute ah~
please let them figure this out!! that the ‘theif’ is try to help them ba!!
or hopefully they’ll think it’s a servant trying to help, with their lacking knowledge?
or if they think about the thief, and that smile… will they trust it?