The Emperor’s Runaway Lover

Fu Yucheng officially took up his new post the next day.

He was extremely skilled and also frank and straightforward. Within two days, he had trained those big men to be obedient.

Although Fu Yucheng had lost his psionic power, with the exception of Mo Ziwei and some of the senior instructors like Song Lan, the best manipulator of Fort Hurricane was only a D-level, and therefore not strong enough to pose a real threat to him. Moreover, the camp’s standard training was focused on physical fitness and skills.

That evening, Fu Yucheng and Song Lan had finished with the day’s training, and were walking towards the elevator together with Bai Mo and Mo Ziran.

At that moment, a steward walked down the corridor, followed by a group of servants, each one holding a tall paper object in their hands.

Inside Fort Hurricane, instructors had a very high status. When this group saw Fu Yucheng and Song Lan, they quickly stopped and bowed respectfully.

Fu Yucheng nodded at them, and asked Song Lan, a little uncertain, “What are they holding?”

“Did you forget? The Sky Lantern Festival takes place in a few days.” Song Lan shrugged. “They’re carrying paper lanterns for the festival.”

“Oh, that’s right, the Sky Lantern Festival.” Fu Yucheng nodded, suddenly realizing. “I heard that there will be a commemorative event at Fort Hurricane during the festival.”

Next to them, Mo Ziran said excitedly, “Yes, that’s right, I’ve been looking forward to it for ages! It’s really beautiful when everyone lights up the lanterns.”

Song Lan raised her hand and smacked him on the forehead. “The Sky Lantern Festival is a memorial festival, those lanterns are released to commemorate our dead compatriots. You kid, how can you just be thinking about playing around?”

Mo Ziran rubbed his forehead, and said, aggrieved, “Song Lan-jie, why are you hitting me again? The Sky Lantern Festival is to commemorate the compatriots from Earth who died during the Lock-in Day. Of course I know that! But it’s been over two centuries since then! Those compatriors should have reincarnated by now, as well. Maybe they’re the ones releasing the lanterns now to commemorate themselves. Yucheng-ge, say, don’t you agree?”

Fu Yucheng smiled and shook his head. “You little kid, your head is full of weird ideas.”

Mo Ziran’s round eyes opened wide. “Are my ideas really that weird? Song Lan-jie says that all the time too, and she calls me eccentric. Yucheng-ge, do you think I am very illogical?”

Before Fu Yucheng had time to answer, Bai Mo sneered. ” You’re so damn childish. Just how old are you?”

“You-” Mo Ziran couldn’t help but feel taken aback.

He was Mo Ziwei’s only brother. In all of Fort Hurricane, besides Song Lan, who acted casually towards him, everyone else treated him with respect.

No one had ever spoken to him like Bai Mo just now.

But Mo Ziran had a light-heared temperament. He froze up, but he didn’t get offended by it. Instead, Fu Yucheng smacked Bai Mo on the shoulder. “Little Mo, be polite.”

Bai Mo turned his head to the side with a cold expression and didn’t reply.

The four of them continued talking and soon they arrived at the elevator. As they lived on different floors, they parted ways after saying goodbye.

Back home, Fu Yucheng threw his jacket onto the sofa and stretched his arms. “Little Mo, I’m going to take a shower first. Don’t make anything too complicated for dinner, just cook some tomato and egg noodles. By the way, put two eggs and extra green onions into my bowl.”

Bai Mo replied with an ‘Ok’ and went to the kitchen.

As the head instructor of the second training area, the ensuite bathroom at Fu Yucheng’s current residence had a very luxurious shower. However, space was still limited, so the shower head was installed over the bathtub, and it was necessary to stand in it to shower.

After he took off his clothes, Fu Yucheng stepped into the bathtub and reached out to turn the shower on.

A large stream of warm water poured down, and he couldn’t resist sighing. “Ah, this is the fucking life.”

He squirted a dollop of shampoo into his hand and rubbed his head absent-mindedly while thinking about the group of servants they had met earlier on their way back.

The Sky Lantern Festival would take place in three days.

On that day, he would sneak into Mo Ziwei’s study to look for ‘that’.

After some time in the fortress, he had roughly figured out the route he would need to take to get there.

The Mo fortress was a huge circular building several hectares wide. The entire top floor belonged to Mo Ziwei and it was out of bounds. The guards there were extremely rigorous, and everyone had to identify themselves when going in and out the elevator.

Mo Ziwei’s study was located in the northeast corner of the top floor, which was also the most heavily guarded area.

However, Fu Yucheng had already figured out a way to sneak in.

As he carelessly lathered up the shampoo into his hair, he went through the whole plan in his mind carefully.

Everything was completely flawless, and there would be no problems.

Fu Yucheng nodded slightly, confident, and then slipped.

The bathtub was already very slippery on its own, and Fu Yucheng had been too lazy to put on the anti-slip mats. On top of that, he was moving around as he washed his hair. It was to be expected that he’d slip.

Bai Mo, who was boiling water in the kitchen, suddenly heard a loud noise.

He dropped the tomato he had in his hand, rushed over to the bathroom and kicked the bathroom door open with a ‘bang’, asking frantically, “What happened?!”

Fu Yucheng was fully sprawled out in the bathtub, dizzy, with formless spots appearing before his eyes.

He reached up to grasp the edge of the bathtub, propped himself up a little, and waved his hand weakly at Bai Mo. “I accidentally fell, I’m okay.”

Bai Mo froze, not knowing where to look.

In truth, the bathroom was full of white steam, and he wasn’t able to see what was in front of him. He only knew that the other was lying naked in the bathtub, and that he still hadn’t gotten up.

After freezing up for a moment, Bai Mo suggested reluctantly, “Let me help you up.”

Fu Yucheng was in quite a bit of pain after his fall, and he didn’t think much of it. “Sure.”

Bai Mo walked over, almost unable to coordinate his arms and legs. Dazed, he stretched out his hand to help Fu Yucheng up, but, in his nervousness, he blindly touched some unknown spot, feeling foamy bare skin, warm and smooth.

He jerked his hand back abruptly as if scalded.

“I- the water is still on the stove.” The boy stammered back a few steps before he rushed out of the bathroom as if he were running away. He almost tripped at the doorway.

Fu Yucheng looked at his back, bewildered. “Hey, weren’t you going to help me?”

Bai Mo returned to the kitchen in a panic. He grabbed a kitchen knife, and began chopping the green onions. In his mind he still hadn’t gotten over it, but he subconsciously felt that he needed to do something to distract himself.

In the misty bathroom, the man was still lying naked on the edge of the bathtub, his wet eyes looking at Bai Mo helplessly. Bai Mo’s brain was boiling.

The boy felt a slight pain in his hand, and, letting out a hiss, he came back to his senses, realizing that he’d cut his left index finger. The green onions on the chopping board had almost been turned into a puree at that point.

He stared at the bright red cut blankly, his heart muddled.

“Is the meal ready?” Fu Yucheng walked into the kitchen, tying up his bathrobe’s belt.

Seeing Bai Mo staring down at his finger, Fu Yucheng leaned forward. “How did you cut your hand? Ah, were you chopping green onions?”

Bai Mo was already extremely agitated to begin with, and now the culprit, still warm from the shower, suddenly came over.

Bai Mo felt as if he could hardly breathe, his whole person was irritable and flustered, and he couldn’t help whimpering, “You- can’t you just stay away from me-”

Fu Yucheng blinked. “Did you eat something weird today?”

This… this is all your fault.

Almost indescribably aggrieved, Bai Mo gave him a fierce glare, looking up. It would have been fine if he hadn’t done so. Before his eyes, the man’s cheeks were hot and rosy, his lips had a bright color, and his hair was still dripping wet.

Bai Mo, at a loss, turned around and ran out of the kitchen.

With a loud bang, the boy slammed his bedroom’s door shut.

Fu Yucheng stared blankly at the closed door, and then glanced at the pot on the stove. “Hey, Little Mo, the water is boiling.”

There was no hint of movement coming from the bedroom.

“Ah, his rebellious period has finally arrived.” Fu Yucheng sighed helplessly, now forced to cook by himself.

When he lived alone, he basically relied on potatoes boiled in salted water for sustenance. Later, he had picked up his little housekeeper, Bai Mo, and never had to cook again.

Today, the boy had quit, and Fu Yucheng had no choice but to roll up his sleeves.

He barely managed to make the two bowls of tomato and egg noodles, and, placing them on the table, he said, “Little Mo, I’m going to eat.”

After a while, Bai Mo opened his bedroom door and stepped out slowly.

The boy walked up to him with his head lowered. His long eyelashes shook slightly. “I’m sorry about just now.”

Fu Yucheng was not angry at all. From his point of view, it was just a small matter, and he’d forget about it in a flash.

He simply thought that the brat’s rebellious phase had begun, and that was why he had recently been behaving in an oddly sensitive way. Fu Yucheng ruffled the boy’s hair casually. “It’s alright. Quick, come here and eat the noodles.”

After he said that, Fu Yucheng scratched his head, slightly embarrassed. “Ahem, for some reason the tomato and egg noodles didn’t come out the same way as when you make them. I’m not sure why.”

When he looked down, Bai Mo’s expression became very complicated.

He hesitated for a long time, seemingly thinking hard about how to phrase things so he wouldn’t wound the other’s pride.

“Yu-ge, to make tomato and egg noodles, you have to fry the eggs with the tomatoes in oil, then boil the noodles in water, and finally sprinkle chopped green onions and salt on top. You poured the noodles, the chopped tomatoes and the eggs directly into the water, this-”

Fu Yucheng’s expression slightly stiffened, and then he felt compelled to defend himself. “You were obviously boiling the water on the stove earlier. That’s why I put all the ingredients in directly.”

Bai Mo facepalmed, feeling slightly weak. “Yu-ge, I was boiling water to blanch the tomatoes so that they would be easier to peel. By the way, you didn’t peel the tomatoes either.”

Fu Yucheng was silent for a moment, and then said, “Actually, it’s not good to eat too much oil. It might be healthier to boil everything in water, and it could still be tasty.”

As if to prove his words, he smiled, picked up the bowl, and took a bite.

Then, his smile gradually disappeared.

The scene became very awkward.

Fu Yucheng resisted the urge to vomit. He put down the bow, his expression unchanging, and he coughed lightly. “You can also pour them out, little Mo.”

You’ll die if you eat this.

“It’s okay, I’ll try it,” Bai Mo suddenly said, staring at the bowl of noodles before him.

“Forget it, don’t eat it.” Fu Yucheng’s attempt to persuade him was useless. He could only watch as the boy picked up his chopsticks and earnestly dug into the large bowl of slimy ‘tomato and egg noodles’, eating all of it. At the end, he didn’t leave behind even a drop of the blackened soup sitting at the bottom of the bowl, and drank it purposefully.

Fu Yucheng’s gaze, at first horrified, gradually became astounded before finally settling into extreme admiration.

“Little Mo, you will definitely be a man who will achieve big things in the future.” He couldn’t resist muttering, “Don’t forget me when you’re a mogul.”1

“Unexpectedly, this White Emperor, who was known for his cold-blooded ruthlessness, happened to be a very good cook. However, his dietary preferences were not the greatest- for example, a bizarre version of tomato and egg noodles.” ——The Wild History of the Dyson Empire: Regarding the White Emperor

 

 

So this is Bai Mo.

The extra chapter ko-fi goal has been reached again, so this weekend’s instead of one chapter I’ll be updating two! I’ve set up a fresh goal, so check it out!

And if you like the story, review it on NU and add it to your reading list here!

Footnotes

苟富贵无相忘 (无 is a typo) in the raws, basically meaning ‘when you’re rich, don’t forget about your friends’, but it has been changed to mogul in order to make the line make sense with the conversation that continues at the beginning of the next chapter.