Ever so slowly, the weather began to grow warmer, and before anyone knew, three months had already passed.
Huai Zhen’s first month at Black Mane Palace was mainly spent in bed, due to the realigning of most of his skeleton. Luckily, Ge Nianlan was the most hospitable host anyone could ask for. In fact, Huai Zhen was burdened by how hospitable he was until Ge Jinsheng stepped in and suggested that one of Ge Nianlan’s maids could take care of Huai Zhen.
It took almost a week of convincing before Ge Nianlan reluctantly handed over his duties of bathing, changing, and feeding Huai Zhen to Fu Qing. Even then, he insisted on being nearby while all of this was happening.
And because of his amazing bedside manners, Huai Zhen felt like the pain spikes he experienced weren’t so bad.
The second month, Huai Zhen started his sparring training alongside Ge Nianlan.
Surprisingly, Ge Nianlan was quite lazy.
During the month Huai Zhen was bedridden, he found that Ge Nianlan was extremely diligent with his studies. However, when it came to the martial arts, Ge Nianlan would drag his feet at every turn. He clearly disliked martial arts, yet he still insisted on coming for morning training every day.
At some point, Huai Zhen almost wanted to tell Ge Nianlan to quit. He knew that the boy was still continuing for his sake, but whenever Ge Nianlan saw Huai Zhen succeed in something they were both learning, the sparkle in Ge Nianlan’s eyes made Huai Zhen clamp up again.
By the third month, the two boys had settled into a routine. Every morning, for six days of the week, they would wake up around dawn to train with Wen Yuqing. Afterwards, depending on the day, they would go to Nie Chenhui, where Huai Zhen would be overloaded with information he had never known before. At the beginning, he had thought about backing out, but under Ge Nianlan’s insistence (yet again) he stayed and learned about the politics and history of Black Mane Palace.
Then, they spent the rest of their day in the library, where Luo Qianwu and Zheng Yuying would sometimes visit. They were both very intelligent and knowledgeable in their separate ways and Huai Zhen quickly came to appreciate their help in his studies.
However, by the second week of the third month, Ge Nianlan’s expression had blackened. He would glare at the large doors whenever Luo Qianwu or Zheng Yuying were there and, on one day, Ge Nianlan stood up and left.
Huai Zhen and Luo Qianwu watched in shock as Ge Nianlan left without a word.
An awkward laugh escaped Luo Qianwu. “I guess he’s…tired from morning training.”
Huai Zhen glanced at Luo Qianwu skeptically. He could tell that the youth was quite flustered.
“In that case, we’ll end the tutoring session early. Do you have any more questions, Young Master Huai?”
“No,” Huai Zhen shook his head. “Thank you, Young Master Luo.”
“Not at all,” Luo Qianwu said with a small smile.
“Young Master Luo, you aren’t going to…?” Huai Zhen glanced up the stairs that Ge Nianlan had walked up.
Luo Qianwu shook his head. “The one he’s angered with is me. If Young Master Huai, you don’t mind…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll look after him,” Huai Zhen said.
Luo Qianwu gave him a grateful look, cast one last glance upstairs to where he could see Ge Nianlan’s back, and left the library.
Once the doors creaked close, Huai Zhen remained where he was. He finished the passage that Luo Qianwu had been teaching and then stood to find Ge Nianlan.
The boy was sitting, wedged between two shelves, with a displeased expression on his face.
In the three months Huai Zhen knew Ge Nianlan, he could tell that the boy was annoyed. Not because someone had slighted or even because he had heard some bad news. Nope! Not at all. This was the fury he had when things didn’t go as planned.
The first time Huai Zhen saw this expression was when Ge Nianlan learned that Zhao Cuihong and Jia Chiying would not be returning for another few months. At first, Huai Zhen watched his face light up. But when it was revealed that the two had split up in search of more clues, Ge Nianlan shut himself in his room for the entire day.
It was only later that Ge Nianlan quietly revealed to Huai Zhen that he wanted his cousin and the Nine-Tailed Fox Saint to get together because they were “a match made in heaven”. With a lowered head, the boy had somberly sighed and said something along the lines of “right person; wrong time”.
This time, Huai Zhen wondered what kind of plan Ge Nianlan had that would involve his closest friend and aide.
The boy sat down to the right of the shelf and waited for Ge Nianlan to speak. When he said nothing, Huai Zhen stuck his head into his line of vision.
“Hey, are you moping?”
Ge Nianlan pouted and pressed his mouth to his knees. “I’m annoyed, A-Huai.”
“What’s wrong?” Huai Zhen asked.
“Luo Qianwu and Zheng Yuying,” Ge Nianlan whined.
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.
“Are they also a match made in heaven?”
“They’re a match made by their elders!” Ge Nianlan said. He shimmied out of the corner and looked at Huai Zhen, as if the universe had wronged him. “They’re already betrothed to each other, but because Zheng-jiejie doesn’t like being controlled, neither wants to get married!”
“Tbecu Zjrafg Oeb vbfrc’a kjca ab ufa wjgglfv flatfg?” Lejl Itfc jrxfv.
“Lf kjcar ab gfrqfma tfg klrtfr,” Xf Rljcijc rlutfv lc ogeragjalbc. Lf rkbbcfv vgjwjalmjiis lcab Lejl Itfc’r jgwr, obgmlcu atf ybs ab mjamt tlw jcv mgjvif tlw. “C-Lejl, atfs’gf mtlivtbbv oglfcvr, fcujufv rlcmf ylgat. Kfii wf sbe vbc’a atlcx la’r j rtjwf lo atfs vbc’a ufa wjgglfv.”
“Well, if they don’t have feelings for each—”
“But they do! It’s clearly just stubbornness at this point,” Ge Nianlan said. He slumped against Huai Zhen’s chest.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He created such perfect opportunities, but each and every one of them refused to accept Ge Nianlan’s good intentions! Zhao Cuihong and Jia Chiying didn’t even give him a chance. Now, Luo Qianwu and Zheng Yuying were being like this!
Did they want to die?! Did they want to have a horrible ending?!
Ge Nianlan was unwilling to accept this reality. He irritably rubbed his face against Huai Zhen’s chest to take out some of his anger until the boy pulled him back by the collar of his shirt.
“If I were a girl, I would have already screamed harassment,” Huai Zhen said.
Ge Nianlan stared at him in shock before his face crumbled again. “A-Huai! You’ve changed!”
Huai Zhen let out a soft sigh. “A-Nian, you’re the one that changed me.”
“Mm I don’t want this! I want my cute A-Huai back,” Ge Nianlan whined.
Huai Zhen shook his head and patted Ge Nianlan consolingly. But it was true.
After learning his talent in swordsmanship, Huai Zhen gained a bit of confidence in himself. Then, Ge Nianlan introduced him to many disciples in Black Mane Palace and, oddly enough, none of them otherized him for being an outsider. They accepted him kindly and even helped him get settled in Black Mane Palace. Slowly, bit by bit, Huai Zhen realized that interacting with people wasn’t as scary as he thought. Though, he did still prefer to stay around only Ge Nianlan and Wen Yuqing.
On top of that, he was used to Ge Nianlan now. The boy was a liar, but he was sincere to a fault at times. He was quite calculative, but he only did so because he cared about those around him. He was full of contradictions, yet he was very predictable. He was also cute, in the most annoying way.
Huai Zhen was sure that Ge Nianlan didn’t realize how closely he had been observing him. If he did, then perhaps he would have tried harder to shield the flawed parts of himself. But Huai Zhen didn’t mind. He thought even the scheming part of Ge Nianlan was sort of cute.
“What do I do?”
“Huh?”
Ge Nianlan propped himself up. “Tell me what to do. You read romance novels all the time!”
Huai Zhen’s face flushed. “How—how did you know?”
“I know you put a fake cover on the books,” Ge Nianlan said.
“How?!”
“One time, I went to your room while you were bathing and I dropped the book, so I saw it,” Ge Nianlan said. “What was it called? ‘The Mountaintop Flower Will Not Look at This Venerable One’. You really like the stories with a plot line of a devil cultivator and a righteous cultivator, don’t you?”
“Shut up!” Huai Zhen snapped. He pressed his hands to his face as his cheeks burned brightly.
Ge Nianlan observed Huai Zhen for a moment before he snaked his way back into Huai Zhen’s arms. “A-Huai, don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”
Huai Zhen glared at him.
Ge Nianlan grinned as he tucked a lock of hair behind Huai Zhen’s ear. “So, don’t think about that right now, hm? How about you help me figure out what to do with Luo-ge and Zheng-jie?”
“…Help you how?”
Ge Nianlan’s eyes lit up again. He fell into Huai Zhen’s arms, his own wrapping him into a hug as he placed his chin on the boy’s chest.
“I was thinking we need to create a more romantic atmosphere for them to sort out their feelings,” Ge Nianlan said.
Huai Zhen placed his hands behind him to steady himself. “Well, the most romantic setting would be some kind of banquet.”
“A banquet?” Ge Nianlan echoed.
Huai Zhen nodded. “The main characters usually get tired of the noise and then they’ll sneak off and usually run into each other by some body of water.”
Ge Nianlan thought about it. “My birthday is coming up.”
Huai Zhen’s eyes widened. “Really? When—”
“That’s perfect!” Ge Nianlan said. “Yes! We’ll use that time as an excuse to get them together.”
Huai Zhen’s mouth opened and closed as Ge Nianlan stood.
He grabbed Sigu, who was dozing on the shelves, and turned to Huai Zhen. “It’ll be in a few weeks, but we should start planning early. Meet me in my room tonight, after the lights are off.”
“Can’t we talk now?” Huai Zhen asked, a bit annoyed at the prospect of his sleep being disturbed.
“No, not now. I have other things to take care of first,” Ge Nianlan said.
Ge Nianlan sprinted down the stairs and left the library.
His birthday was coming up—which really meant Huai Zhen’s birthday was coming up!
He held onto Sigu and hurried back to his room. Once he was there, he pulled out brush, ink, and paper, and quickly composed a letter to Baili Liuye.
“This should be good,” Ge Nianlan said with a grin.
He slipped the letter into a tube and tied it to Sigu’s leg.
He walked to the window and opened it as he stroked the bird’s head.
“Gugu, this is your first mission,” Ge Nianlan said. “You don’t have to rush, but tell that old guy to hurry, okay?”
Sigu glanced at Ge Nianlan with a tired look. When he was placed on the window sill, he scuttled around unwillingly until Ge Nianlan grabbed him again.
“Hey, you have to fly. It can’t be that you don’t know how to fly yet,” Ge Nianlan said as he rested his chin on his hand. “I’ve read the book! It says that you can already fly and deliver letters in your adolescence.”
Still, Sigu did not show any signs of wanting to move.
Ge Nianlan sighed. He started to untie the letter. “Forget it. I’ll just use our messenger hawks to—ah! What!?”
Sigu pecked Ge Nianlan’s hand again until he released his foot. After a moment, the bird brazenly extended his legs again and looked between Ge Nianlan and the letter.
Ge Nianlan hesitantly retied the letter to Sigu’s leg. He watched as the chubby chicken hopped out of the windowsill and took to the skies.
Ge Nianlan watched, wide-mouthed, before he shook his head and closed the window. It must be because he was an enlightened spirit beast. What a temper he had!
He huffed slightly and fell onto the nearby divan. He reached behind him and grabbed a book about the records of Guan Yongqin. He rested his head against his hand and picked up where he left off.
The Eight Saints of Black Mane Palace had extensive records about their lives recorded about them. Their life biographies were only accessible in the inner library of the Eternal Palace—otherwise known as the Palace Master’s residence. If Ge Nianlan didn’t use his identity as the young lord here, then he would be wasting this borrowed title and would really be doing a disservice to Huai Zhen.
His eyes flickered up and down the page.
Even Ge Nianlan was impressed by his own reading speed. He knew that if outsiders saw him right now, they might think that Ge Nianlan was simply trying to act cool, but it was true that in just a few weeks, Ge Nianlan was able to read high-level writing. He wondered if this was due to his connection with the Dragon Tree in any way. After all, there were many records stating that the Dragon Tree Guardians were demigods and semi-human. And demigods, after all, have had a track record of growing up in ways that were abnormal to the human race.
The thought had plagued him for a few weeks, but he eventually let it go. Whether he was human, god, or demon, the one fact remained—whatever skills he could accumulate, then he would hone them. That way, his chances of dying would grow slimmer and slimmer. He pushed aside the many conspiracies and questions in his mind that haunted him, asking him who had deliberately taken him away from his birth father and who placed him here.
For now, those questions were nothing more than silly ponderings that he would not get the answer to. For now, his true enemy was time, Huai Zhen, and all of Black Mane Palace. Therefore, he had to spend every waking moment not just getting on his enemies’ good side, but also by understanding them from without and within.
That was why he started reading up on the Eight Saints.
He had already read through Jia Chiying’s records. Now, he was on Guan Yongqin.
Guan Yongqin was close friends with Qiao Lanying, Ge Jinsheng’s late wife and Huai Zhen’s mother. According to these records Guan Yongqin had a smooth childhood, which allowed her to be the way she was today. She was confident, without being arrogant; she was intelligent, without being cocky; and she was Ge Jinsheng’s right-hand woman. This was not because of her friendship with Qiao Lanying, but solely because she had been the first to betray her father to give Ge Jinsheng information on the other two Great Clans. She even gave out detailed information on her uncle, who had been the Beiwang at that time.
She was a powerful, resourceful, and decisive woman. And she was really, very hard to bribe.
Ge Nianlan clicked his tongue as the lights outside began to dim. He flipped forward a few pages. “This doesn’t say anything about her likes and dislikes!”
In Jia Chiying’s book, there was a whole section about what he enjoyed and disliked. How come there wasn’t a part for Guan Yongqin!?
Was it because the authors were different? But still! They should have a sense of consistency—consistency was key!
Ge Nianlan pouted and flipped to the back, then flipped back to the front.
…Nothing!
Ge Nianlan tossed the book to the side and huffed. He thought about it before standing again. This couldn’t be. He had to ask Ling Tong or Wen Yu—
Tap, tap, tap.
Ge Nianlan stilled. He slowly turned to the window, where the sound was coming from, and gulped.
Was it…a ghost…?
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
Ge Nianlan sucked in a quick breath before shaking his head.
What ghost? This was Black Mane Palace! Ghosts can’t just wander around in here.
He laughed at his own paranoia before marching over to the window and opening it. But when he looked out…there really was nothing there…
Then, he felt a peck on his chin.
“Ack!” Ge Nianlan jumped back. He held his chin as the proud Ashen Phoenix stepped down from the windowsill and held out his leg.
The burnt chicken had the nerve to puff out his feathers and look at Ge Nianlan with a raised brow as he tauntingly shook his foot. It was all as if to say “See? I’m not the useless one. You are.”
Ge Nianlan pressed his lips together and slammed the windows shut with a huff. He sat down next to Sigu and untied the letter.
“Why did you rush back? Didn’t I tell you that it was fine to take time? Are you hungry?” Ge Nianlan reached behind him and dug into the expensive preservation box for expensive spirit stones and expensive herbs. He lazily dumped them in front of Sigu before he rushed to light a candle and read what Baili Liuye had written to him.
“Young Lord,
I see you have gotten to know the Ashen Phoenix quite well. He has your personality. I also see that you no longer write like that of a two-year-old who uses mud as ink. It truly is gratifying to see.
Thank you for your considerate update on how my disciple is doing. He has sent me letters weekly, so I am already well updated. Still, it is nice to see that he truly is happy and not only telling me so, as to not worry me. However, before I answer your question about what he enjoys, I would like to know why you are asking such a question. If there are any ulterior motives, please set them aside. Huai Zhen is timid and has a soft heart. He is not the type to forget and move on easily, so if the Young Lord is planning on courting him, I suggest you switch to another target.
Signed,
Hanjing.”
Ge Nianlan reread the letter about ten times. He thought that perhaps he had hit his head at some point without realizing it and was now unable to understand human language, but on the eleventh read, he finally grew angry.
He huffed, grabbed his brush and ink and wrote four words, large and bold.
I AM YOUR SON.
Underneath, he scribbled “How can a father slander his own son like this!?”
He tied it to the foot of Sigu and unceremoniously threw the bird out before slamming the windows shut.
He irritably glared at the letter again before tossing it into the incense burner.
He was discrete before because he was scared that someone of the Eight Saints’ caliber would be powerful enough to see through Sigu’s low-level cloaking ability, but he was too angry to care. If this was what exposed him, then so be it! He’ll march back to Yunkong Pavilion and duke it out with that rotten old man himself!
A/N: sorry for the lack of updates last week! Wasn’t feeling too great, but I’ll try to update three times this week!
Oh my! Who will tell him he’s very much flirting with HZ? And I’m sure he’s already HZ ‘target’.😏
hehe thanks for reading!
Thanks for the chapter ✨
thanks for reading!
Thanks for the chapter. Can’t wait for the next update. 🤭
thank you for readdinnnggg!
the physical affection here was so!!!!!!! (๑˃ᴗ˂) get those cuddles in
HANJING’S LETTER KILLING ME AKXBSNCBD
Baili Liuye’s letter might be my favorite part of this arc LMAO
Thanks very much for the chapter
thanks for readign!
Not his dad telling him to be serious or drop it lmaooo 😂😂