Ch6 - Something more stimulating?

Orchid Pool Palace had two places for bathing: the silver tub in a side hall and the big bathing pool in Cloud Radiance Hall (云光殿). The latter was specially built for bathing and had heating and ventilation pipes installed underground. Each bath took two to four hours of preparation. Once the water was ready, Xie Huaian refused all help and walked alone through the hazy mists to the bath.

This spacious pool was a gift from the Heavenly Master for the emperor’s consort. It was extravagantly decorated, the walls embedded with ice hibiscus jade and the bottom covered in yuelin and shenguang spices. Because the shijun's body was weak, there were places to sit set up at different depths in the water and golden bells around the pool used to summon servants. 

Xie Huaian held onto a jade railing as he experimentally dipped his toes into the pool. He was a little short of breath, but soon adapted to the moderate temperatures. He stirred up the water, touched the gemstones on the wall of the pool, and suddenly sank beneath the surface to push off against the edge like a silver fish. 

The movement almost exhausted his strength. He broke through the water surface for a huge gasp of air, finding breathing difficult. His memory stirred slightly—this sensation wasn’t new. 

Thin oxygen, gasping for breath, losing control over his entire body except for two fingers that could still move…he seemed to have spent a long time like that with his body covered in tubes that made people want to throw up. So much that after his rebirth, things like headaches were nothing for him. 

Xie Huaian laughed, his fingers dancing across the water like playing a piano to raise tiny ripples in their wake.

“It’s great to be alive,” he said inaudibly. After fooling around for a while, he floated to sit by a wall and picked up the small towel on a gold plate by the pool to dry off the portion of his body exposed above the water.

“I still want to live. Tem Tem, it’s wonderful that you dragged me here.”

Nobody answered. Xie Huaian stared at the fluctuating shadows of jade stones at the bottom of the pool before sighing heavily.

Tem Tem, are you there? he called out in his head. Tem Tem? Soothsayer System? After waiting for a while, Xie Huaian lazily changed his tone. Hey hey? Urgent after-sales service, I have a few questions to clarify. Otherwise I don’t want to work…

“Dear, I’m here! The Soothsayer System is at your service. Do you want to make a name for yourself in history? Do you want to be noticed by the world? As long as you use this System, nothing’s just a dream…”

Okay, stop, enough, Xie Huaian’s cluttered thoughts relaxed after the impassioned sales pitch. Where did you come from? Have you sold anything in the past?

“Dearie dear, System detected that you wished to ask a question. This System has a keyword search function built in for questions, you can try asking them there. But the effects aren’t guaranteed.” 

Tell me earlier, ah. This is at least something useful. Xie Huaian grinned. I want to understand more about the Heavenly Master’s powers.

“Retrieving…keyword: power. Power can be interpreted in various ways. It can mean the force exerted by the human body through striking, or also a measure of potency or energy without physical form. It is usually defined in the Cihai Dictionary as…”

Xie Huaian took a deep breath. Replace the keywords with ‘Heavenly Master’s mana.’ Why did Hong Yao say the Heavenly Master had boundless mana? Besides true qi, does mana exist in this world too? Why can he create living corpses?

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.

“Retrieving…keyword: mana. Mana (法力) is a word without a set designation. In the earliest records of literature, mana referred to powers gained by high-ranking daoists to slay monsters and subdue demons…” 

Another explanation where the donkey’s lips didn’t match the horse’s mouth. Xie Huaian was rather breathless with indignation. Go offline, just pretend I didn’t ask a thing.

“Yxjs vfjglf vfjg! Qlrtlcu sbe ubbv iemx klat sbeg kbgx!” Coafg j mtffgoei wfibvs, atf Vsrafw rbecvfv jujlc. “Jeggfca vfafmalbc rtbkr atja kbgiv vfnljalbc njiefr tjnf vfmgfjrfv ys 1745.23 qblcar. Ycis 254.77 qblcar gfwjlc ecali atf oeii nfgrlbc bo atf cfkylf oecmalbcr jgf ecibmxfv. Kb fcmbegjuf sbeg tjgv kbgx, Vsrafw klii bnfgvgjoa fcfgus obg sbe ab ecibmx atf oecmalbc lc jvnjcmf jcv jiibk atf cfza rajuf bo equgjvf qgfqjgjalbc.”

The deviation values lowered? I didn’t do anything, ah. Or did Hong Yao do something? Xie Huaian was halfway through climbing out of the pool when he paused. Deviation values were a result of comprehensive calculations; in other words, even if Xie Huaian did nothing, the values would still change if Hong Yao developed towards the route of a proper prosperous, wise ruler in history, or if some other capable people made a move that affected the times. 

System said, “To congratulate you on unlocking functions for the first time, System will provide you a small tip for your mission.” 

“The System has detected that there will be a solar eclipse in the Jing Dynasty this month. In this world there exists the mother and son fragments from the Anli Star (安厉星). The power of the son fragment within the Heavenly Master’s body will weaken during the solar eclipse, while the power of the mother fragment enshrined in Zhaoge City will simultaneously increase.”

“If dearie dear can come in close contact with both the mother and son fragments, System can destroy them to significantly advance the progress of the mission. It is a rare chance, may dearie dear use it well!”

“Wait, what fragments?” Xie Huaian asked.

“You are welcome to experience more details after upgrading,” the System went offline. 

“Hey! Good Tem Tem, come out, I want to ask two more questions…” 

—

In the end, Hong Yao never saw the person he was waiting for in Thousand Autumn Palace. As the night stretched on, the eunuchs of the Evaluation Office of the Inner Palace (敬事房) paid multiple visits to have Xie shijun serve the bed, but he was still unpacked.

“Summon Kong Qing and ask her what’s the matter with shijun,” Hong Yao said. 

The round-faced eunuch by his side quickly stepped out with an assent. Orchid Pool Palace wasn’t far from Thousand Autumn Palace, so Kong Qing had soon arrived before the emperor. 

“Your Majesty, shijun has been in Cloud Radiance Hall the entire time. This servant has given priority to Your Majesty’s instructions to obey shijun’s will in all matters and dared not disobey.” Kong Qing said calmly. “After Your Majesty’s query, this servant went in to take a look and saw that the shijun had fallen asleep.”

The round-faced eunuch saw that Hong Yao didn’t speak and reminded her, “Did you go closer to check his breathing? Was he truly asleep or just pretending? There’s no reason to sleep so soundly when he’s been summoned by His Majesty.”

“He was sleeping very deeply and didn’t even react to noise.” 

Clad in vivid violet robes, Hong Yao sat leaning against the backrest of his chair with a copy of Heavenly Master Sutra in his hands. With hooded eyes, he said, “Lou Er, withdraw.”

“Yes.” the round-faced eunuch bowed out backwards.

Kong Qing fell to her knees.

“Auntie,” Hong Yao got dressed and walked in front of her. “The pool at Cloud Radiance Hall is quite deep. Zhen told you to follow shijun’s instructions, not watch him seek death.” 

“This servant understands.” Kong Qing had been tense awaiting her sentence, but now a corner of her heart relaxed.

The water vapor was heavy and the floors slippery in Cloud Radiance Hall, making it obviously unfit for someone who had fainted once to bathe alone. After Xie Huaian entered, Kong Qing had simply waited outside to wait for his summons with a golden bell. 

“Rise. It was Zhen who didn’t speak clearly enough this time,” Hong Yao helped up the veiled female official. “and there is no need to record his words or actions anymore. Auntie should watch over him from the sidelines and help him cover up anything that seems unusual.”

“Yes. It’s inevitable that shijun’s personality should have changed after such a serious illness.” 

“What do you think of him?”

Kong Qing admitted, “It’s like he’s been replaced by someone else.”

Hong Yao’s turquoise eyes remained calm in the candlelight. Faced with silence, Kong Qing went on, “Shijun pretends to be picky but is actually kind. In his spare time, he loves to look at the sky and can’t sit still. He’s always fiddling with something in his hands, just like a child.”

“Very good, you may go back,” Hong Yao said. 

“May Your Majesty forgive me, but this servant is still uncertain about one thing.” After following Xie Huaian for days, her doubts had grown one after the other. She couldn’t fathom what kind of person could show such a simple smile in the palace. When she saw him disdaining his medicine, coupled with his frail body, she didn’t expect him to survive for long after the shock of his crime being revealed—even if the emperor had spared his life.

In the Jing Dynasty, true resurrection was considered a miracle. Only one person in the world could constantly come back from the dead: the Heavenly Master. 

The Heavenly Master seized power during the reign of Hongde (洪德) and lived through the four emperors of Shengguang (神光), Zhangxi (章熙), Yanping (延平), and Yongshu (永寿). In fact, he had been ruling Great Jing for over a century. He was absolutely supreme but also absolutely bored, because he could regenerate broken limbs, recover from a shattered heart, and had no fear of assassination. Murder attempts only spiced up his life. He enjoyed the pain and hatred he saw in the eyes of the dying and turned his would-be killers into living corpses that served him. He toyed with the world as if it was his plaything, but what if…there was a second miracle?

Kong Qing’s breaths grew heavy as the knife scars beneath her veil seemed to tingle. At last she asked, “Will the blood-red skies finally change?“ 

Hong Yao didn’t answer her directly. “The festival sacrifices this time didn’t include your brothers. The day will come when they finally get their eternal rest.”

“Yes.” Kong Qing lowered her head.

At night, the lamps shone and the sacrificial music rang out around the Heavenly Gates. Officials from all directions prostrated themselves before the spectacle. Inside the palace, an eunuch in charge of the night watch saw the young emperor with a face full of restraint as he walked down a path holding Xie shijun wrapped up in red silk in his arms. 

— 

Xie Huaian had a nightmare and woke up to meet Hong Yao’s dark gaze. He was still warm from the bath and was now lying on black silk sheets in thin, pomegranate-red nightclothes. He had no idea he was the first person to ever sleep on the dragon bed.

“Why is Your Majesty here?” Xie Huaian’s voice was a bit hoarse, his eyes misty as he gave a blank smile and processed his surroundings. “I fell asleep without noticing, sorry…”

This was a bed with carved rosewood panels on three sides and above. Golden dragons wound around the bedposts and the bed itself was so spacious that Xie Huaian estimated he could roll over three times. Hong Yao was leaning against the only bed post that led off the bed, while the scenes beyond the bed curtains were blurred by candlelight and gauze. He could faintly make out more rosewood panels and another narrow compartment before the room proper beyond it.

“Shijun slept so sweetly that Zhen was forced to wait,” Hong Yao’s expression was dark, yet his tone was light and doting. “But as shijun’s sleeping face was lovely, Zhen is willing to look, however long it takes.” 

Xie Huaian was almost scared out of his soul. What’s he playing at now?

“Your Majesty certainly knows how to talk…” Xie Huaian finally squeezed out a sentence after his brain did flip-flops.

“Zhen has even put off Ah-Fu’s matters just to accompany shijun. It seems that shijun’s body is a bit better, so shall we try something more stimulating tonight?”

Xie Huaian opened and closed his mouth soundlessly. Forget about talking, he almost forgot how to breathe. He remembered how he was still pestering the System about deviation values and eclipses before falling asleep. Now he was caught off guard and stuck in a situation where he could fall apart at any time.  

Hong Yao put one foot on the ground, flipped, and landed with one knee half-crouched on the bed. He took out a length of black satin and leaned over to Xie Huaian’s ear.

“Your Excellency, there are people eavesdropping outside.”

—

Translator’s Note: Oh my, a bed scene this early in the story? Short novels are a different kettle of fish indeed. But jeez, the number of footnotes for an ancient Chinese palace setting…save me.