Ch7 - To worship

Xie Huaian thought Hong Yao was scaring him on purpose. 

When Hong Yao finished speaking, he whistled before a round-faced youth dressed as an eunuch appeared soundlessly outside the bed tent. He stared at the floor without squinting, gave a deep bow, and turned his back to the bed before calling out with his hands folded in front of his mouth. 

“Your Majesty, don’t…no, so itchy…”

“Endure it, it’ll be fine soon.”

The round-faced eunuch was a perfect imitator, replicating Xie Huaian’s low, soft, somewhat weak and hoarse voice in one moment, then Hong Yao’s chuckles, praising, and coaxing the next. Sometimes he’d chop the floor with his feet or clap his hands, creating the impression of an increasingly heated battle.

“…….” said Xie Huaian. What a prodigy. He blinked desperately at Hong Yao, signaling that there was no need to gag his mouth because he wouldn’t scream. 

Hong Yao’s mouth twitched before he loosened his grip to tie the black satin tightly over Xie Huaian’s eyes.

“You can move, but don’t make a sound,” Hong Yao murmured next to his ear.

Xie Huaian fumbled to sit up as a small click sounded behind him. Suddenly, an arm slipped under his knees and lifted his body into the air. Xie Zhiwei gritted his teeth to swallow a scream as he felt himself spinning. There was a brief weightlessness before he landed painfully on his butt on solid ground. He heard gears turning and the eunuch’s voice getting much fainter before his surroundings fell silent.

“Have a seat,” Hong Yao said as he undid the blindfold.

Xie Huaian only saw darkness. The next moment there was the sound of flint striking before Hong Yao held up a lit candle. He was sitting on his knees nearby, the flame illuminating his face and the turquoise irises surging with eerie black clouds. Xie Huaian pinched his thighs as cold sweat rose on his neck. He took a deep breath.

Scared me to death!

“You can speak now, but be quiet,” Hong Yao said as he lit another candle.

Xie Huaian nodded like a hen pecking rice as he observed their surroundings. This should be a secret room hidden behind the bed. There was thick carpet on the floor and the walls on both sides were the same carved rosewood panels from the bed itself. Flower petals of various sizes protruded from them like some sort of mechanism.  

The round-faced eunuch’s voice could be heard from beyond the wall, though muffled. There was an opening somewhere that let in a fresh breeze. 

…what a prodigy.

Xie Huaian sighed and docily sat in place, afraid to touch something off-limits. Ever since he put on a fainting act with the emperor, his attitude had clearly changed. First it was channeling true qi to him at Orchid Pool Palace, then moving him to Thousand Autumn Palace in a show of force, then revealing his remarkably talented shadow guard and this secret switch room. 

Logically speaking, the next step should be deterrence and lobbying.  

Hong Yao twisted some mechanism and stuffed the candle into a metal base that popped out of the wall. 

“Eternal Peace Palace is filled with the Heavenly Master’s imperial guards. Only the inner courts of Thousand Autumn Palace are an exception. Zhen didn’t want to alarm Your Excellency, but there is a matter that needs advising tonight, so this is the only way. May Your Excellency forgive me,” Hong Yao said slowly.

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.

“Tbeg Zjpfras, qifjrf rqfjx,” Wlf Lejljc gfrafv tlr tjcvr bc tlr xcffr jcv ibbxfv vbkc ab rajgf ja atf qjaafgc bc atf mjgqfa.

Lbcu Tjb mjgglfv bea j ijguf ijmdefg ybz jcv qijmfv la yfakffc tlw jcv Wlf Lejljc, ktb lwwfvljafis gfmjiifv atf ybz klat atf tewjc tfjv jcv kjr oliifv klat jii rbgar bo tbggbg lwjufr. Llr rabwjmt gfoifzlnfis mtegcfv klat cjerfj ktlif mbiv rkfja vgfcmtfv tlr afwqifr. Lf ofia atja lo Lbcu Tjb rtbkfv tlw jcbatfg yibbvs rmfcf, tf’v jrmfcv ab Lfjnfc bc atf rqba. 

Hong Yao opened the box.

Under the candle light, Xie Huaian squinted and saw the gradually exposed…banana leaves. The interior of the box was neatly stuffed with several rolls of leaves and even the gaps were filled with green foxtails. There was a small drawer holding a string of finely polished wooden sticks as well as a pair of dragon-headed scissors.

“Zhen has always had a wish,” Hong Yao said serenely. “Having spent long years deep in the palace, Zhen has few playmates. It’s dull to smooth out wood all the time, so Zhen wants to learn how to weave grasshoppers from someone else.”

“……” said Xie Huaian. If I believe you then there’s water in my brain. But he pinched up a roll of banana leaves anyways. 

Afraid to use the scissors in front of Hong Yao or roughly tear the leaf, he worked at as exquisitely as one would embroidery. Since it was the height of summer, the chamber was still as hot as a steamer despite the vent. After tearing a few leaves in succession, Xie Huaian’s clothes were drenched in sweat like he’d been soaked in water.

“Please look, Your Majesty. Circle around over here, then use these two leaves to wind around and press it in place. Make a knot, then repeat the process over here…” Xie Huaian explained while keeping his head down.

“Your Excellency need not worry, just use the scissors,” Hong Yao picked them up and copied Xie Huaian’s movements deftly to make his own. 

Accompanied by the blockbuster-worthy sounds of intense bed action in the background, they quietly wove grasshoppers. When Xie Huaian peeked up and saw that Hong Yao was actually focused on his work, he relaxed. The moans and ahhs continued nonstop from next door, making Xie Huaian’s face steam. He twisted somewhat uncomfortably before touching the wooden sticks and foxtail grasses in the box.  

Why are these in here?

“Your Majesty, can I use these?”

“Be my guest.”

Xie Huaian picked up the foxtails and sticks before making several simple strings of rabbits. A phrase suddenly appeared in his head with no beginning or end. Finding it interesting, he grabbed two furry stems of grass and amused himself by chanting in a faint, airy voice, “Bunny ears, shake and sway; today is sunny, tomorrow’s rain.” 

Hong Yao’s ear tips twitched keenly, but he rubbed his leaves as if nothing had happened. “If Your Excellency is tired, you can lean against the wall behind you. Don’t touch the walls on both sides.”

“Does Your Majesty want to learn anything else?” Xie Huaian still felt that things couldn’t be this simple.

“The days ahead are long.” Hong Yao’s mood seemed to improve instantly. He took off his gloves, moved away from the box, and pressed closer to Xie Huaian, gesturing for the other to offer his hand. 

Once again, callused fingertips covered Xie Huaian’s wrist. Warm true qi entered his body to relieve the exhaustion that came after shock. Hong Yao’s head hung slightly while his eyes were glued to Xie Huaian’s glimmering white fingertips. His expression was unusually calm, with neither the seeping gloom or fake affection he wore usually. He seemed like a melancholy teen caught in the throes of some memory. 

Kacha, kacha, kacha.

The petal mechanism on the wall turned three times before falling silent,

“Your Majesty?” Xie Huaian shook.

“The same as before. Don’t move or make a sound,” Hong Yao said as he picked up the black satin again. 

Xie Huaian’s eyelids twitched and closed on their own as he was plunged into darkness once more. After a subtle sound of some mechanism activating, Hong Yao used his strength to scoop Xie Huaian into the air once more. When the blindfold came off, Xie Huaian found himself back on the dragon bed.

The round-faced eunuch had already disappeared and there were curtains hung up. Both the doors and windows were tightly shut. Hong Yao casually slipped on his outer robes before sitting by the edge of the bed to put on his shoes. Outside came the faint cry of an eunuch in charge of imperial household affairs. 

“The third watch is here, the third watch is here.”

The eunuch waited awhile before repeating in a shrill voice. “The third watch is here, the third watch is here. The Heavenly Master is going to preach in the south tomorrow and there is a ceremony for his trip. May Your Majesty restrain yourself tonight.” 

The eunuchs of the Evaluation Office of the Inner Palace (敬事房) worked for the Heavenly Master, managed the number of times holy sons and daughters served the Heavenly Master in Holy Nectar Temple, and recorded the process of the emperor’s lovemaking ventures. 

Hong Yao’s face was gloomy as he walked to the door. “Naturally, Zhen has Ah-Fu’s cares at heart, so there’s no need for this eunuch to worry. Get lost. If you disturb the shijun's pleasure, Zhen will make sure you don’t live past the night.”

“Yes, yes,” the eunuch quaked and retreated.

Hong Yao listened for awhile before turning to Xie Huaian. “The eavesdropping worm is gone. Stay a bit longer, Zhen will send you to the side palace afterwards.” As he spoke, he leaned against the wall and dropped his gaze towards the floor. The pile of grasshoppers collected from Orchid Pool Palace was still piled up on a pewter table nearby. It was both an eerie and humorous sight, funny yet a little pitiful. 

Xie Huaian sat kneeling on the dragon bed and gradually drifted off into his thoughts. 

Heavenly Master, Heavenly Master. It’s the Heavenly Master again.

Inside the big bath, he spent all that effort to finally ask the System for the source of the Heavenly Master’s power. Like any other dynasty, the Great Jing had lost all its spiritual energy. A century ago, fragments from outer space accidentally fell into this word. The mother fragment smashed into Zhaoge City while the two son fragments were split between the northern desert and the royal palace. 

The son fragment that crashed into the palace hit a pedestrian who was killed on the spot and came back to life with the knowledge of resurrection, thus becoming the future Heavenly Master. These extraterrestrial pieces stirred up a portion of the world’s original spiritual power. One hundred years later, Great Jing developed imperfect martial arts true qi and secret mechanism technology, but was still useless against the Heavenly Master’s powerful living corpse army.  

The Jing Dynasty gradually fell into darkness. Rich, extravagant families all crawled their way up to the Heavenly Master and ate their fill, while the poor believed in the Heavenly Saint Church to beg for blessings after death, or eternal life. The System had descended to this world to correct such deviations. As long as the solar eclipse occurred while Xie Huaian, the Heavenly Master, and the mother fragment were all within Zhaoge City, the System could crush the Heavenly Master’s power. It sounded simple, like he could be a hero just by taking a step forward. Xie Huaian mused over this while his fingertips scratched blindly against the satin quilts.

The System only explained its functions, but didn’t mandate anything. He was free to act or not as he pleased. With the current status quo, he had enough to convince Hong Yao he was simply a wandering soul who accidentally reincarnated into this body and live the rest of his days as a prop man deep in the palace. If he took that step forward, though…

System said that the meteors from outer space dyed the skies of Great Jing red after their arrival. Perhaps it would change back to the blue he remembered after the Heavenly Master disappeared. He didn’t know how to rule a country or act as some virtuous minister, so he could simply use the System to apply for a fake death with Hong Yao and leave the palace afterwards. Then he’d bring along a lively servant who could cook and loved to talk, raise a sleepy cat, a big yellow dog, and a lazy bird, and spend a simple life of cohabitation for the rest of his days.

Xie Huaian’s lips curved up at the thought as his imagination made his heart soar. 

“Your Excellency?” Hong Yao broke the silence. 

Xie Huaian decided it was better to go with the flow for now and closed his eyes in a high and profound manner.

“Your Excellency said before that…the Heavenly Master has reached the level of heavenly will and possesses boundless mana. Is that true?”

Xie Huaian’s lips kept their grin as his voice rang ethereal and clear in the hall. “I wouldn’t set out tomorrow if I were him. Clouds are gathering and there will be a continuous drizzle disrupting the way south. There will also be a thunderstorm this evening.” 

Hong Yao’s head whipped up as he strode over with black robes roiling about him like clouds. He clutched Xie Huaian’s shoulders with both hands, using so much force that the latter felt pain. 

“Your Excellency can calculate celestial phenomena?” 

Xie Huaian creased his brows slightly and moved in discomfort. Hong Yao quickly let go and even retracted his savage look, as if afraid of scaring Xie Huaian even with his eyes closed.

“Not just that. I have to be honest with Your Majesty…I really do know a few things. I am a wandering soul, yet I can perceive Heaven’s will in the darkness. Celestial phenomena can be measured while the sun, moon, and stars follow their own trajectory. I can see cloudy skies and sunny ones, cold days and hot, and know that the advent of an eclipse is nigh.” 

“I have no intentions to deceive Your Majesty and the proof is simple: Your Majesty can simply look at the sky tonight.”

“Right, and my surname is Xie, name Huaian. This is the only thing I’m sure of, because I’ve forgotten the past.”

“Huaian.” Hong Yao chewed the name between his lips. This was a soft and airy name that was effortless to pronounce, like a puff of cloud. He paused for a long time before continuing in a whisper-like voice, “Tonight the dragonflies are flying low with heavy humidity. Even without thunder, there will be rain. This cannot count as proof for Xie shijun.”

Xie Huaian laughed lightly. “Then Your Majesty can ask me tonight, tomorrow, and the night after that for Zhaoge’s weather forecast. If I make a single mistake, I’ll be at Your Majesty’s disposal.” 

“Believe it, Zhen believes it,” Hong Yao’s turquoise eyes flooded with wild joy. “If Xie shijun has the ability to read the skies, then you are simply a treasure from the Heavens. Zhen will lock up…will worship you.”

You said lock up, didn’t you! Xie Huaian’s expression nearly collapsed.

“Does Xie shijun know the significance of being able to read celestial phenomena?” Hong Yao asked.

“It means I’ve chosen Your Majesty,” Xie Huaian opened his eyes, maintaining the same lofty aura as he spoke. “I surrender my trust to Your Majesty. May Your Majesty not let me down.” 

—

Translator’s Note: I always feel like I have to read PSP chapters twice because there’s always subtle things going on with the characters. Well…did you notice anything interesting this time? Don’t worry if you didn’t, some things…are clearer in hindsight. : )

Locked releases start next chapter, so familiarize yourself with the CG Password process if you’re new to the site. We get asked this every week on Discord, lol. Look I made a visual guide myself~