Ge Nianlan watched in silence as Baili Liuye and Ye Mingxi exchanged their farewells with Ge Jinsheng and the rest of the Saints.
After staying only a few days, the lord immortals who graced Black Mane Palace with their presence were already heading back home. Ge Jinsheng extended his remorse at not being able to continue his hosting, while Ye Mingxi laughed along and said that there will be other times. The Saints rattled off with their own small talk and the entire scene appeared rather harmonious.
It wasn’t difficult if Ge Nianlan wanted to intrude, but he watched from afar, with his knees tucked under his chin. Sigu rested comfortably on the top of his head, taking a nap without a care in the world, and leaving Ge Nianlan to his own, idle thoughts.
First, the boy wondered if he had made the right decision in staying behind. Then, he felt a little indignant that Baili Liuye didn’t try harder to stop him from staying. He pouted into his arm and watched as the wind tickled the grass and as a shadow fell over the sun.
Ge Nianlan stiffened. He looked up into the dark eyes that seemed to contain the galaxy and shifted back slightly.
“Before I leave, I have one more thing to give you,” Baili Liuye said as he crouched down in front of Ge Nianlan.
He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a book. He held the book out to Ge Nianlan and waited until the boy took a hold of it.
“It’s a book on how to raise your bird,” Baili Liuye explained. “There are also ways to utilize the bird.”
Ge Nianlan glanced at the book and then back at Baili Liuye. “I can’t read very well.”
“That’s okay,” Baili Liuye said. “Take your time to learn. Just feed him spiritual herbs and spiritual stones for now. He’ll grow much faster if you do so.”
Ge Nianlan nodded. He pinched the edges of the book. “Lord Hanjing, I hope you are safe in your travels.”
Baili Liuye gently rubbed Ge Nianlan’s head. “I hope that you achieve your goal.”
Ge Nianlan watched as Baili Liuye stood. He felt his chest pinch slightly and he followed Baili Liuye for two steps.
“Do you have nothing else to say to me?” Ge Nianlan blurted out.
Baili Liuye glanced over his shoulder, down at the small boy, who looked up at him with expectant eyes.
The silence between the two of them would make others wonder what their relationship was.
Baili Liuye finally lowered his head, almost differentially. “I hope you achieve your goal and that when we meet again, you are still healthy, as you are now.”
Ge Nianlan pouted, but knew he shouldn’t do anything more.
He was the one who insisted on staying. He shouldn’t be asking the other to beg him to leave.
Baili Liuye turned on his heel and rejoined Ye Mingxi. Together, along with Ge Jinsheng and the six Saints, the two men were escorted out of Black Mane Palace.
“Young Lord, the pen is dripping ink.”
Ge Nianlan snapped out of his thoughts and stared at the blot of ink on the paper. He glanced sheepishly up at Jia Chiying and grinned.
“Sorry.”
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.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Jia Chiying said. He set down the book in his hand and sat down across from Ge Nianlan. “What’s on your mind?”
Xf Rljcijc ibbxfv ja atf mtjgjmafgr tf tjv yffc ifjgclcu. Ciatbeut atfs kfgfc’a tlvfber, atfs jirb vlvc’a ibbx abb ugfja. Ccv tf ofia jr lo tf kfgf ifjgclcu abb ribkis. Lf kjcafv ab ifjgc ojrafg, rb atja tf mbeiv gfjv atf ybbx atja Djlil Olesf tjv ifoa obg tlw, yea tlr jylilas ab ifjgc tbk ab gfjv jcv kglaf kjr cba jcsatlcu kbgiv rtjaafglcu. Coafg jii, sbe mbeiv bcis vb rb wemt lc pera j ofk kffxr.
“Do you miss Lord Hanjing and Weidan?” Jia Chiying guessed.
Ge Nianlan glanced at him. “No. I only spoke to them a handful of times.”
Jia Chiying chuckled. “You spent two whole afternoons playing with them. It’s okay to admit that you miss them.”
Ge Nianlan fiddled with the corner of the parchment. “I miss them a little…”
He glanced at Jia Chiying with a pout. “Lord Hanjing said that once I learn how to read and write, then I can write him and Lord Weidan letters, but at the progress I’m going at, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write to them.”
Jia Chiying’s eyes widened in surprise. Did that cold man actually say that to this child? Lord Hanjing wasn’t as intimidating as Jia Chiying thought!
“Well, when learning anything, you need patience,” Jia Chiying said. He glanced at Ge Nianlan’s writing. “Besides, for someone who has never learned how to read or write before, you’re making great progress!”
Wasn’t that just thanks to the meager memories he had of the future?
Ge Nianlan pouted. With this knowledge, shouldn’t he have been able to learn faster? It was upsetting that he couldn’t accelerate his journey.
“If you want to learn faster, then you’ll also have to study more,” Jia Chiying slowly said. When he saw that Ge Nianlan looked interested, he smiled. “How about you get a study partner outside of class? That way, they can help answer your questions and it’ll motivate you to learn.”
Ge Nianlan thought about it and slowly nodded. Right now, he has lessons with Jia Chiying, Zhao Cuihong, and Nie Chenhui. One taught reading and writing, the other taught art, and the last one taught history. His schedule was actually quite flexible and the lessons took little of his time. However, no matter how much he wanted to extend his lessons, he was unable to, because these three Saints had their real jobs to attend to after all. If Ge Nianlan was able to have a study partner outside of class time, then he wouldn’t be afraid of learning misinformation.
“I’ll do it!” Ge Nianlan said with a nod. He smiled. “Jia-laoshi, I actually have two candidates in mind!”
“Two?” Jia Chiying asked in surprise. He hummed. “Alright. Then, bring them by tomorrow and I’ll tell them what they need to do.”
Ge Nianlan nodded enthusiastically. He dropped the brush onto the table and slipped off the chair. “I will go talk to them now!”
“Ah! Young Lord, don’t run!”
“See you later, Biaoge!”
The heavy doors slammed shut and Ge Nianlan sprinted off, without waiting to see if any of his maids were waiting for him at the door.
He left the Palace Master’s family compound and rushed down to where the disciples studied.
It was reaching the evening now and the disciples’ general courses were dismissed for the day. The young disciples watched as the Young Lord sprinted through the courtyard, for the training grounds. It was a rare sight that attracted a lot of attention, but when the Young Lord arrived at the training grounds, the first thing he did was not to pick up any weapon, it was to hop over to Luo Qianwu and stand in front of him.
The teenager was still breathing heavily, after having finished his session. He looked up at the tiny boy in front of him and smiled.
“Young Lord, did you come to see me?”
“Be my study partner!”
Luo Qianwu wiped his sweat away with the towel by his side and nodded. “Okay.”
Ge Nianlan beamed. He took Luo Qianwu’s hand. “Good! You already agreed, so you can’t back out.”
Luo Qianwu allowed Ge Nianlan to pull him up as he laughed. “Of course, I won’t back out. It’s convenient anyway. I’m your guard, so we’re already by each other twenty-four-seven.”
“Right? It’s already convenient, right?” Ge Nianlan nodded along.
“Are we going to see one of your tutors now?” Luo Qianwu nodded.
Ge Nianlan shook his head. “Because all you do is fight, I need a second person to help me fill in my gaps of knowledge!”
Luo Qianwu flushed slightly in embarrassment. “I could answer your questions, Young Lord.”
“You can, but what if I asked something about politics?”
Luo Qianwu awkwardly cleared his throat. As the heir to the Wolf Saint position, he was ashamed to say that politics was not his strong suit.
“Precisely,” Ge Nianlan chirped. “Then, let’s go find that second person.”
“How about one of my friends?” Luo Qianwu asked. “I know one who is very good at politics.”
“It isn’t just politics,” Ge Nianlan said. “I have a large array of questions to ask. I need someone who is very knowledgeable.”
Luo Qianwu fell into contemplation, as he allowed Ge Nianlan to pull him around. “Well, maybe we can observe a few classes or ask the elders what they think. I’m sure we can find a second person very easil—”
“Zheng-jiejie!”
Luo Qianwu’s eyes widened as Ge Nianlan’s exclamation. His feet suddenly became tangled underneath him and his knees nearly gave way. If it weren’t for his fast reflexes, he would have definitely stumbled and fallen onto the Young Lord. Yet, the little master didn’t seem to have noticed nor cared! He continued to drag Luo Qianwu over to Zheng Yuying and her group of friends.
Luo Qianwu watched as his childhood friend and fiancée grew closer and closer. He tried to tug his hand away from Ge Nianlan, but after a warning squeeze, the big wolf cub settled back down. Their steps slowed and he awkwardly avoided Zheng Yuying interrogative eyes.
“Zheng-jiejie!”
“A—A-Lan…what’s wrong?” Zheng Yuying hesitantly asked.
Ge Nianlan beamed.
This would be the beginning of the master plan he had been thinking of for the past few days! First, he would butter up Zheng Yuying, so that she would no longer find him suspicious. Then, he would force these two fated lovebirds to help him study, so that they could no longer avoid each other. After that, he’ll force them to spend time together, with the pretense that he enjoys being around the both of them!
This was Ge Nianlan’s scheme to get these two to reconcile! After all, if Ge Nianlan was the one who repaired their relationship, then would there be any speculation that he was in love with one of them!?
And when he succeeds, Huai Zhen won’t be able to use Ge Nianlan’s “feelings towards Luo Qianwu” to frame him for killing Zheng Yuying! Then, Luo Qianwu won’t go to Huai Zhen’s side and Huai Zhen will have lost one of his close subordinates!
With this, Ge Nianlan’s rate of survival will increase by several points!!
And it wasn’t that Ge Nianlan didn’t trust Ye Mingxi’s advice, but he couldn’t put all his eggs into one basket. He will try to subdue Huai Zhen with kindness but, as a backup plan, he will also try to cripple Huai Zhen’s control, one subordinate at a time, starting with his sword, Luo Qianwu!
Despite his excitement, Ge Nianlan kept his composure on the surface. He stopped in front of Zheng Yuying and grasped her hand without releasing Luo Qianwu’s hand.
“Zheng-jiejie, will you be my study partner?”
Zheng Yuying felt goosebumps rising up her arms and her neck. She attempted to pull away, but was surprised to find that the child’s grip was extremely strong!
She forced a smile. “Why do you need me to be your study partner, Young Lord?”
“Because Zheng-jiejie is the smartest person I know!” Ge Nianlan said.
Zheng Yuying’s friends giggled and fawned over the adorable child, yet again. Zheng Yuying wanted to scream “Don’t believe his lies!”, but in front of such a large crowd, how could she possibly do that? While she knew the child’s two-faced nature, she also knew that she would appear like a maniac if she were to do something so outlandish.
“There are many far smarter people in the sect, Young—A-Lan,” Zheng Yuying forced out. She glanced at Luo Qianwu behind him. “For example, Luo Qianwu! He’s very smart!”
“You also think Luo-gege is smart?”
“Of course!”
“I think he’s smart too! That’s why I already asked him to be my study partner,” Ge Nianlan grinned. He tugged them closer to each other. “Unfortunately, no matter how perfect Luo-gege is, he still has his blind spots. But now, with two smart people helping me study, I won’t have to be afraid of missing out on any information. Right, Luo-gege?”
Luo Qianwu avoided Zheng Yuying’s burning gaze. “T-that’s right.”
Zheng Yuying wanted to refute, but she heard the giggling of her friends drawing closer.
“Yuying, why don’t you just help the Young Lord out?”
“That’s right. You’re already so close with him, all calling him A-Lan! I’m sure he’ll be more comfortable studying with you than a random disciple he barely knows.”
Zheng Yuying’s eyes widened. “You—you all know he’s the Young Lord?”
“We already guessed it before. Fu Qing-jie doesn’t have an extended family,” one of Zheng Yuying’s friends said. “And the only child around her is the Young Lord!”
“Besides, we saw Luo-shixiong take him away before. Who else would he be if not the young lord?” another piped up.
Zheng Yuying glanced at Ge Nianlan, who was looking up at her with clear innocent eyes.
…Clear and innocent, my ass!—Zheng Yuying wanted to roar.
This child was a two-face, scheming little devil! He had to have planned all of this! This was definitely planned!
Ge Nianlan’s smile widened under Zheng Yuying’s distress. “Then, you’ll help me out, right, Zheng-jiejie?”
Zheng Yuying glanced at Luo Qianwu one last time for help but, as expected, the youth was adamantly staring away. Of course, he wouldn’t help her! This was his master, after all!
Zheng Yuying bit back bitter tears. She tried to school her expression and make sure that she wasn’t glaring at Ge Nianlan too horribly. She took a deep breath and finally nodded.
“Fine. I…will help you.”
A/N: Hello! There will be not updates for the entirety of March because I need to take a mental health break. We will be back with updates on April 5th (PT) though!!
Take your break translator, we can wait, mentally health comes first.
;-; thank you so much
What a great plan haha.
Thanks for the chapter
thanks for reading!
“Ge Nianlan’s smile widened under Zheng Yuying’s diress.” alzhakxjs i love these two’s interactions ٩( ᐛ )و
i love their annoying little brother and older sister vibes ;-; thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks very much for the last chapters
thanks for reading!!
Hope you will be fine, please take care of yourself
dw i’ll be fine! just felt like it was a time for a breather, away from the internet 😂
Umm.. I tried. I really really tried. Tried my very hardest to camp so I could save up and binge a bunch of chapters. I only made it to 12. I’m utterly disappointed in myself because…. ITS SO GOOD!!! And now I’m going to be compulsively checking for updates. Thank you so much for a) such a great novel and b) letting us know your timing. 🙂 you’ve worked hard! Definitely take care of yourself and have a good rest!
I’m so sorry you happened to catch up during my hiatus 😭 but i’m glad you’re enjoying the story so far! i’m having a good rest, but I’m also excited to come back to posting soon hehe thanks for reading!