Roi céleste

Chapitre 5

Looking at their beauty, which was clearly not on the same level as mine, I felt utterly humiliated.

"...I didn't say anything." Not daring to look up at them again, I walked away on my own.

When I heard Hua Mei burst out laughing, my ears turned red.

After being sent back to the room where I had stayed overnight, Huamei whispered to me, "My little sister is so interesting. I never even had the chance to serve you in bed."

Seeing my flushed face, he laughed for a while and said, "But the Palace Master must like you very much. I heard his laughter outside the room just now. Although the Palace Master often laughs, he rarely goes too far."

"...I hate seeing him laugh."

"...Why? Everyone says that the Palace Master's gentle and smiling appearance is as warm as a spring breeze, and she has captivated countless young ladies." Hua Mei was clearly surprised.

I waved my hand dismissively and said, "Whether he's smiling or not, his eyes are always cold. He'll only be considered truly skilled when he solves even that problem."

Hua Mei paused for a moment, then smiled again. "Well, just keep it to yourself. How can you hurt the hearts of those girls who are full of dreams?" She then changed her tone and said, "I hope that day you mentioned never comes, otherwise I'll start to be afraid of him."

...So she knew all along.

She helped me sit on the bed and said with her eyebrows raised, "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. We'll stay in this courtyard for the next three days so you can focus on healing. We didn't bring any maids or servants with us this time, so try to take care of yourself as much as possible. There are four of us, and all of us except me are men. With you, we'll finally have some company. I'll come and visit you when I have time to keep you company."

After giving me a few more instructions, he patted my shoulder and left.

They were much easier to get along with than I had imagined, but I don't know if that's true or not.

I hadn't slept well all night, and then I was injured, lost blood, and got upset. I was too lazy to even take off my clothes and just fell asleep, not bothering to take any more precautions.

...

When I woke up again, it was almost dusk, just in time for dinner.

Only after asking did I learn that the food was brought back from town by Baiya, and it was quite a feast.

Angelica and ginseng stewed black-boned chicken, spinach and pork liver soup, longan and steamed egg, papaya stewed pork ribs, gastrodia stewed old pigeon, tofu, chicken blood and lean meat soup... all of these are surprisingly good for replenishing blood.

When Baiya saw me, he yelled again, "So you were wearing a mask before? Who would want such a plain face? And you were covering it up? Did you think we were plotting something?"

"My daughter is very suspicious, unlike you, sir, who is still innocent and true to yourself," I said calmly, continuing to fill my rumbling stomach.

"you--"

Hua Mei chuckled and said, "Oh my, little Ya Ya, still so childlike! You're all grown up and you still like to bicker. Let's eat."

Bai Ya glared at me fiercely.

Qianlou completely ignored us, and a certain treacherous villain revealed a smile that resembled kindness... which made me feel worse too.

Before a cup of tea could be brewed, Bai Ya started finding fault again: "Palace Master, this girl's origins are unknown, and she's quite cunning. If she's not properly managed, she might be difficult to use."

Qing Jiu elegantly wiped the corner of her lips with a handkerchief and said, "You mean..."

Bai Ya smiled sinisterly: "Use Gu, huh? If you behave well, we'll remove it from her in two months."

The room gradually quieted down, and Qingjiu looked at me with that fake smile.

I smiled without showing my teeth to hide my gritted teeth, and said with deep emotion, "I will be loyal and devoted, working myself to the bone, even unto death, to complete this mission. I will do anything to help you, even if it means going through fire and water. I will overcome all difficulties to finish this task. My loyalty is as clear as day and night. Why would I need such a small poison to control me? That would be a complete insult to my sincere heart towards the Palace Master!"

My endless stream of words stunned Qianya, who gave me a second look. Baiya was also dumbfounded by my shamelessness. At this moment, Huamei had already covered her mouth, turned around, and started twitching on her own.

I looked at Qingjiu with great trepidation.

Qing Jiu remained smiling and slowly said, "...I hope you will keep your word."

It means that we should postpone the matter of using witchcraft and investigate it first.

I breathed a sigh of relief and replied with absolute certainty, "Of course, Palace Master, don't worry."

"However, I have a question."

My heart sank. What was he going to ask me? Who was my master? What was my purpose in coming to Buxian Town? Or why, despite my martial arts skills being quite good, my internal energy seemed so weak when I checked my pulse?

As I unconsciously swallowed and clenched my fist, I heard a sound like flowing water splashing jade.

"Have you ever told stories before, or written many eulogies and petitions for princes and nobles?"

I:"……"

...

Note: Lilac is also a type of purple.

Six Cups of Southern Candle Wine [Image]

Nanzhu Wine - Having savored the aroma of Nanzhu wine, it's time to stir the brew. Open the bottle and pour into the cup, the jade-like liquid and golden syrup are delightful. Holding and admiring it is already a pleasure, and the joy of appreciation is boundless.

...

The days spent recuperating in the house were incredibly boring. I couldn't practice martial arts regardless of whether my injuries had healed or not. On the first day, I took a nap under a peach tree, and then I took another nap on the peach tree. I couldn't find a tree hole to sleep in, so I jumped onto the roof to take a nap. But then... it started raining.

The next day, I squatted under the flowering tree and drew a chessboard on the ground with a twig. I used the darker petals as black pieces and the lighter petals as white pieces, and played by myself. I had been forced to learn chess for a while by Zhou Bapi, which was enough to entertain myself.

When Bai Ya returned after finishing his business, he came over and exclaimed, "You can actually play chess!" He insisted on playing a game with me, and even offered a wager that whoever lost would have to grant the other a favor. Being the vengeful type, I naturally agreed, determined to teach this foul-mouthed brat a lesson.

This kid's chess skills are terrible. Just when I was about to laugh wildly and utterly crush him, Qingjiu returned and stood idly by watching us play. I was utterly defeated.

My first thought was that if I easily defeated Babyface, I would definitely offend the Palace Master of Tian Shu Palace. If I admitted defeat, the wicked Bai Ya might force me to swallow the Gu poison. So I decided to prolong the battle and achieve a hard-fought victory.

So I ignored some of Baiya's fatal flaws and pondered how to make a move that could conceal a shocking foreshadowing, while deliberately creating some minor flaws and losing some insignificant pieces. Soon, I was immersed in the fresh thrill of how to reject one advantage after another and find a new one. By the time I finally won and came back, the game had been going on for an hour and a half, and the board was almost full.

Bai Ya, who thought he was just a hair's breadth away from victory, shouted, "Again! Again!" Qing Jiu smiled calmly and said, "She's letting you win."

Bai Ya and I were both shocked. He was thrilled and exclaimed, "How is that possible?" while I was chilled and cried out, "How did he see through me again?"

Hearing the voice, Hua Mei came over and said, "Since the Palace Master has said so, then it must be right. But didn't Bai Ya secretly run out of the palace a while ago to play chess disguised as a scholar and learn chess in the chess club for a long time? Logically speaking, his level should be quite good."

Qingjiu gave me a meaningful look and said calmly, "Not everyone can stretch a game of chess that should be finished in half an hour to an hour and a half and win. Miss Tongqian is skilled in martial arts, has a clever mind, and is also a master of chess."

My face turned black and white in turns, as if I had fallen into the same pit again.

Baiya and Huamei looked at me with disbelief. To be honest, I didn't quite believe it either. I had never won a game of chess against Zhou Bapi and Old Man Yu on Luowu Mountain. I was always being criticized by those old men and women. Now I was being praised for my superb chess skills... It must be that those old monsters on the mountain are really that good.

Qingjiu spread out his long robe and sat down opposite me, raising his hand to me, "Let's play a game, the stakes are the same as before."

As expected... the younger brother lost, and the boss took over.

I raised my eyebrows triumphantly at Baiya and said, "You'd better save up what you owe me. Don't try to renege on your promise when I come looking for you, you childlike little Baiya."

Bai Ya gritted his teeth, "Palace Master, feed this woman the Gu poison after she loses!"

Qingjiu smiled but remained silent, only slightly raising her eyebrows.

Even Qianlou, who seemed to disdain everything, came over when he saw the palace master playing chess, and suddenly all three of the Heavenly Pivot Palace's protectors were gathered together.

In less than fifteen minutes, I slowly began to feel like I was back on Mount Luowu, playing chess with the old men. Usually, when this feeling came, I knew I was going to lose. I gritted my teeth, thinking, "I can't beat them in martial arts, I can't beat them in wits, so surely I can't even beat them in chess? No, the strong-willed Qing Guyi will never give up easily. At least, I have to put up a last-ditch effort..."

I racked my brains, and we didn't even have lunch. After struggling for three hours, we were defeated. Only when I realized I had lost did I realize that the opponent had been setting up a trap from the very first piece. I thought I had broken many of his traps and forced him to change his strategies, but they were all bait that he had deliberately laid out.

The most effective way to understand the depth of a person's mind is to play a game of chess with them at all costs. Qing Jiu is truly a terrifying person.

Even if I wanted to run away, I couldn't. Although I'm careful about everything, who knows if I've already been bewitched or poisoned? I can only gamble on whether he'll let me go in two months. Maybe his chess game with me was a warning to me. This person is absolutely not someone I can be an enemy of.

I suddenly felt a little discouraged. I had been praised as a genius many times, but I was completely suppressed by the person opposite me in every aspect. If he wanted to play people with ease, I was afraid no one could escape his grasp.

I wearily rubbed my temples, then looked up at Qingjiu with a defeated expression. He stared at me, startled, and was about to speak when Huamei praised, "Little Copper Coin, you're really amazing! I've heard that apart from the two palace masters of Youlong Heavenly Palace and our palace master, who are evenly matched, I've never seen anyone last two hours against the palace master." Please, as three giants of the martial arts world, to be inferior even in a game of chess is unacceptable. The tragic one is probably Qinghong Manor, which was completely ignored.

I waved my hand, but just as I stood up, I felt a wave of dizziness and collapsed to the ground.

Hua Mei immediately supported me, and Qing Jiu suddenly stood up, leaned forward, and took my pulse.

I forced myself to stay alert and said softly, "It's nothing, just some blood loss, and I'm feeling weak because I used my brain too much and didn't eat lunch."

In a daze, he heard Qingjiu's voice: "Baiya, quickly go and get a big bowl of longan, donkey-hide gelatin, and red date porridge." Baiya replied "Yes" and left.

He was carried into the room in a daze and laid on the bed. There was that flowing, jade-like voice again: "It was my oversight. This game is over. You don't owe me anything."

"But... you can't erase what Baiya owes me."

A soft chuckle escaped her lips. "...Of course."

After drinking the porridge, I felt much better and, feeling very hungry, immediately went to eat dinner to enjoy those blood-nourishing delicacies.

I don't know if I'm overthinking it, but everyone's attitude towards me has improved a lot. Baiya even awkwardly picked food for me and occasionally looked at me with a kind of admiring gaze. Although Qianlou still didn't speak, his expression was no longer so cold. Huamei was still very kind, and as for Qingjiu, the young man still looked at us, who were also young, with a kind gaze...

It's just a game of chess, why make such a fuss...

Of course, someone was secretly a little pleased.

...

On the third day, which was also my last day staying in this house outside Buxian Town, I once again fell into boredom.

I originally wanted to play chess with Qingjiu, but the Palace Master was out busy. Only the frost-faced Protector Qianlou was left in the mansion, sitting on the railing watching over me. His cold demeanor made him very unapproachable.

"...Sigh." I sighed and decided to start practicing coin throwing with my left hand.

The copper coin dart is a concealed weapon made by grinding the rounded edges of common square-holed coins into sharp corners. It's easy to manufacture and carry, making it a practical choice for home, travel, and even murder. However, due to its weight, the power of the coin dart requires a high level of wrist strength from the user. This is why I chose the copper coin dart after abandoning swords for fear of revealing my lineage. Putting everything else aside, my wrist strength, after rigorous training, is astonishing, often described as monstrous by my fellow disciples out of envy and jealousy. Moreover, my accuracy in throwing concealed weapons is very high, with almost no mistakes. There are no free geniuses; they are all the result of hard work. The same goes for Yao Mo Qing Jiu. Just this morning, when I woke up at dawn, he was already practicing his sword under the peach blossom tree. Although I despise his repressive behavior of choosing to practice under a flowering tree, I did learn a lot from watching his shikigami sword techniques, but I couldn't practice them myself.

Thinking about the third move of the Swordplay of the King that I still haven't mastered, I felt a surge of frustration. I threw out five copper coins in quick succession, which landed on a pillar. If you looked closely, you could see that they formed the character "日" (sun)...

The civilized child, Qing Guyi, sighed again, feeling it was a sin to waste his youth like this. One copper coin after another was tossed out. I was too lazy to even lift my eyes, and took my anger out on the innocent flies, grasshoppers and other small insects in the yard. I wanted to even take out the mayflies that were almost invisible, but my left hand was several levels less accurate than my right.

After tormenting the creatures, I felt a pang of guilt, but more importantly, I couldn't bear to part with the copper coins I had thrown out, so I got up and picked them all back up...

He fiddled with the copper coin between his fingers for a while, but found it utterly boring. He picked up a blade of grass, lay down under the flowering tree, and began to sleep, but his eyes peeked out from a crack at Qianya.

Sure enough, after Qianya saw me lying down to sleep, he jumped out of the corridor, landed silently, and went to examine the places where copper coins had been thrown. He could find the insects' wings or legs intact, not a bit more or less.

I forced a smile and closed my eyes.

That way they'll think I mainly use hidden weapons and am not good at close combat, so they won't be too wary when I get close. They won't realize that I'm actually a swordsman, just like Qingjiu.

So I've really gotten used to playing tricks anytime, anywhere, completely confirming Zhou Bapi's constant snorting about my "cunning." But compared to the insidious villain Qing Jiu, it's nothing, a world of difference. How could I protect my own life without using some tricks?

The thought of my glorious record of repeated defeats only made me more and more agitated.

His second aunt's!

...

On the morning of the fourth day, we boarded a horse-drawn carriage and headed north from Buxian Town. Having grown accustomed to constant travel, I had long lost interest in the monotonous landscapes and the sounds of mountain flutes and fishermen's songs, so I simply stayed in the carriage.

After Yang Zheqingjiu suffered another crushing defeat in a game of chess, he suddenly said to me, "You clearly have profound internal strength, but when I take your pulse, it seems weak. You must have learned the technique of Chen Baishou, the man who fell from the building, which involves storing all his internal strength in his dantian."

Not only did they ask, they even answered for me.