Staring at the simple floor, looking at the ground untouched by even a speck of dust, something blurry seemed to fill his eyes, as if begging to fall.
Jiang Jingyue thought everything would get better; he believed that if he could just keep a low profile here, all would become clear in time.
But it was only at this moment that he realized how naive he had been.
As long as he didn’t leave this side hall, as long as he didn’t ascend to that seat symbolizing ultimate power, he would remain Jiang Jingyue, surviving merely by pretending to be insane and foolish.
He could protect nothing.
Not his father, not his mother, not the prince’s mansion, and now, not even his last master.
His master Su Qingli, the unattainable Su Qingli in the eyes of countless people, the brilliantly talented Su Qingli widely spoken of. Yet now, at this birthday banquet, he had become a jester in the eyes of the public.
Hatred, boiling hatred, filled Jiang Jingyue’s entire world at this moment.
The young man on the floor clenched his fists, veins popping on the back of his hands. Dark drops of liquid oozed between his closed fingers, dripping onto the floorboard beside him.
How dare you, how dare you all…!!!
The people in the grand hall didn’t wait long. With the announcement of the eunuch, a man in a white robe as majestic as a bright moon appeared. Amid the astonishment of many, under Jiang Huaijin’s eager and hopeful gaze, and with Jiang Huaiyu holding a porcelain cup of white wine, squinting ambiguously, he gracefully carried in his zither.
“Convicted subject Su Qingli, pays his respects to Your Majesty,” his voice was as cool as the moon, calmly dropping.
The man’s skin was as clear as jade, his dark long hair hanging over his shoulders. His slender, fair neck glowed delicately under the soft light.
He was clearly kneeling down, eyes and brows drooped, but for some reason, Jiang Huaiyu felt as if the man was standing… standing high above, his indifferent gaze overlooking everyone present, including himself who was seated.
Putting down the wine cup he had intended to drink, Jiang Huaiyu stared at the man in the center of the hall, a slight smile curving his lips as if looking at something interesting.
“It’s said that Prince Su Qingli once played the tune ‘Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix,’ causing myriad birds to sing in unison. I wonder if today, I and the envoys from various countries will have the fortune to witness the true face of the rumor and discern the genuine from the false,” said the Emperor. His aging voice came from behind the bamboo curtain, seemingly indifferent yet tinged with a chilling solemnity.
In Jiang Huaiyu’s line of sight, the man’s long lashes slightly narrowed. Then a voice, neither humble nor arrogant, flowed from his pale lips.
“This convicted subject is willing to try.”
The entire grand hall fell silent; everyone’s gaze converged on the man in white robes seated at the center.
His eyes slightly drooped, and a faint light made his captivating face appear even more otherworldly. His fair fingers lightly touched the strings of the zither. A melodious sound, akin to a flowing water stream, streamed from his fingertips.
The clear, crisp notes sounded like transparent streams hitting mountain stones, creating a misty haze. As the melody began to rise gradually, it was as if tendrils of gentle warmth seeped into the spring through the rolling hills. Tiny droplets of water, like falling jade, shimmered like pearls in the sunlight.
As time seemed to pause, the lingering notes of the zither permeated the air, soothing everyone’s soul.
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.
“Ktfgf’r cb kjs…”
Chirp-chirp—
Dfobgf ktlrqfgr lc atf tjii mbeiv mbcmievf, fnfgsbcf tfjgv atf rtjgq mjii bo j ylgv ogbw bearlvf atf tjii.
At the sound of the bird call, everyone in the hall simultaneously stiffened, their eyes widening in disbelief. Could it be…real birds had come?
Rb rbbcfg tjv atlr atbeuta mgbrrfv atflg wlcvr atjc j sfiibk ylgv oijqqlcu lar klcur oifk vlgfmais lcab atf tjii. Pc atf wlvra bo fnfgsbcf’r jrabclrtfv ujhf, atf ylgv mjwf ab gfra jybea atgff offa jkjs ogbw atf wjc qijslcu atf hlatfg.
And then, the next second.
Chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp—
Tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet—
Cuckoo-cuckoo—
…
Suddenly, the air was filled with the calls of birds, their sounds weaving into a crisp and melodious natural tune. Countless multicolored birds flew like a tightly woven net in the sky, heading towards the depths of the palace.
Beneath the imperial city, countless commoners witnessing this spectacle of birds flying in masses into the palace became emotional. Shouting “Heaven blesses the Da Ao,” they fell to their knees towards the direction of the deep palace, eyes filled with tears.
One after another, like dominos falling, in just a brief moment, the previously bustling marketplace was left with nothing but a dense sea of people and the unified voices shouting ‘Heaven blesses the Da Ao.’
The roaring cheers surged like tidal waves, reaching every corner of the Da Ao Imperial Palace and resonating in the hearts of everyone in the grand hall.
Upon hearing the unified shouts filling the air, the Emperor’s face lit up with great joy. He laughed heartily and exclaimed “Excellent!” three times in a row. Seeing this, the envoys in the hall rose to their feet, congratulating the Emperor.
In the entire grand hall, only that man remained seated, surrounded but not approached by countless birds.
The sound of the zither under his fingers never ceased, nor did the birds that fluttered around him within a radius of three feet.
Everyone respectfully watched the elated Emperor at the head of the hall, but Jiang Huaijin, had his eyes fixed on the man kneeling in the ground inside the hall.
With a gaze as intense as fire, he was focused on that solitary figure at the center of the hall. The fervor in his eyes seemed as if it could ignite the man in white at any moment.
Once the piece ended, the birds, chirping in unison, circled the grand hall twice before reluctantly departing.
As for Gu Weizhou, the man who had wrought this miracle, he naturally received immense praise from the Emperor of Da Ao. Faced with offerings of gold and silver, Gu Weizhou displayed the demeanor of a gentleman who regarded money as dirt, accepting them all with indifference.
God knows, if he had refused, the Emperor might have had him executed on the spot.
Having concluded everything, he left as silently as he had arrived, cradling his zither amidst countless glances filled with both covetousness and passionate, even obscene, admiration.
Gu Weizhou, Here I leave, shaking off my sleeves, without taking a single feather.
“Third Brother, him… I want him!” Jiang Huaijin, staring fixedly at the retreating figure, murmured with a flushed face.
If initially, Jiang Huaijin had been interested just because of his handsome face, then after months of yearning and today’s awe-inspiring scene, what he wanted now was the man himself.
This person, who seemed to have stepped out of a painting… with his aloofness, his haughtiness, and the shock he brought, along with the palpitations he induced…
I, Jiang Huaijin am set on having him for life.
Hearing Jiang Huaijin’s slightly shaky breath, Jiang Huaiyu picked up the wine that had been placed on the table and took a small sip. It tasted unexpectedly good.
Implying something, he said, “Has Huaijin taken a liking to some new plaything?”
Hearing this analogy, Jiang Huaijin became somewhat displeased, “Su Qingli is not some new plaything. He’s mine, and will be… my future wife.” The last words were said with both seriousness and certainty.
Jiang Huaiyu, who was directly contradicted earlier, simply smiled faintly. He glanced at the retreating figure and subtly suppressed an inexplicable glimmer at the bottom of his eyes.
Su Qingli, huh?
Meanwhile, Gu Weizhou, who walked past with an air of indifference amidst the admiring looks from numerous palace maids and eunuchs, thought—showing off in front of so many people was indeed much more satisfying than doing it in front of one. He mentally gave himself a hundred thumbs up for successfully showing off again today.
Number 001, Don’t show off, or you’ll be struck by lightning.
Just as he returned to his side hall room, Gu Weizhou was abruptly tackled by a shadow that burst forth. The ancient zither he was carrying fell to the ground with a dull ‘thud.’ He was completely pinned down.
Recognizing the person who had pounced on him like a hungry wolf, Gu Weizhou lifted his hand, intending to slap the individual away with a cold face. However, before he could make his move, he felt the trembling body of the young man lying on top of him and heard his shaky tone.
“Master… Master… I’m sorry… Jingyue is useless… Jingyue is useless…” These simple words were choked out with a tremor, evoking an involuntary sense of heartache in anyone who heard them.
Thinking of the earlier incident, Gu Weizhou changed his intention from slapping to gently patting the young man’s back, over and over.
“It’s alright, it’s all in the past, don’t worry…” It was just some showboating, why are you reacting like this?
Feeling the comforting pats on his back, sensing the steady heartbeat through the man’s chest, and hearing the light and warm tone, Jiang Jingyue felt a sourness rise in his eyes. He bit down on his lips, constantly telling himself he shouldn’t cry, he couldn’t cry.
Burying his head deep into the man’s embrace, Jiang Jingyue tightened his grip around the man’s waist, again and again.
However…
‘…Don’t come out; it’s dangerous outside.’
The final words when he left kept echoing in his ears, causing Jiang Jingyue’s entire heart to tremble. That burning heart felt as if it had been placed in a safe haven that the person had created all by himself at that moment.
Why is your heart always so gentle, Master? So gentle that Jingyue can’t help but want to cry, want to sob out loud.
‘If stopping him cost your life, would you still intervene?’
Once, that ridiculous lie in real life had slapped him resoundingly across the face.
He said he would, yet in the end, he still didn’t intervene.
But what about the choice he made?
Thinking about the decision he had just made, he felt an unbearable pain, as if every second stretched into years within this small world.
Looking around the room, all he could think of was the clear and beautiful visage of the man in white—memories of him reading, eating, sleeping, and giving lectures flooded his mind.
And whenever he thought of him, he couldn’t help but wonder, what would happen to this man in that magnificent hall?
Would he be insulted, trampled upon, subjected to countless sarcastic and mocking comments, stomped into the mud?
Every imagined scene made Jiang Jingyue’s heart tremble uncontrollably.
This man was probably the only person in the world who truly cared for him.
This man was likely the only one willing to stand by him like this.
Yet, he had personally sent him into an irrevocable hell.
He… he regretted it.
He truly regretted it. At that moment, he would have rather faced danger himself than let that man go to sacrifice all of his dignity just to give him a glimmer of life.
Master, Master, Master… Jingyue will never let you face danger again, will never let today’s events repeat, will never…
Within his heart, a seed seemed to quietly sprout at his pounding heart.
He didn’t know when that seed had been planted. Maybe it was the first time he saw him while peeking over a wall; perhaps it was the moment when a tune on the zither led him into dreams of his parents. It could have been on that stormy night when the man gracefully turned with an umbrella, or in that embrace that was tinged with a cool but fully enveloping fragrance.
This face that seemed to have the favor of the heavens, this man who was as cool as ice and water, was now deeply engraved upon that sprouting seed in the bottom of Jiang Jingyue’s heart, never to be erased, not even by a shred.
LISAAAAAAA