Chapter 66: From the Flower Reflects a Picture – Part 22

Under the quilt, Ming ChangYan only felt that Huai Yu didn’t use as much force as before, promptly beginning to beg for mercy, “I was wrong! Young Prime Minister! Really wrong!”

Huai Yu let go. Ming ChangYan broke free from the quilt, peeling it off his face, only to see Huai Yu’s eyelashes faintly trembling. 

The wind blew in, bringing with the silk curtains, drizzle, and mist. Ming ChangYan licked his lips, feeling a bit thirsty.

Huai Yu released him, before sitting to the side.

Ming ChangYan laid down on the bed, both hands behind his head and his feet up.

“Since you won’t sleep, then I won’t either!”

Huai Yu got off the bed. Ming ChangYan immediately sat up, “Hey! Where are you going?”

“The bath.”

Ming ChangYan gave a dry laugh, “I thought you were going to sleep somewhere else.”

Huai Yu wasn’t in the mood to talk to him, so he just let Ming ChangYan talk to himself.

The attendants boiled a second bucket of hot water, there were a lot of medicinal herbs floating on top of the water, along with a few dried medicinal flowers. Ming ChangYan’s eyes brightened, and spared no effort to tease, “Little Huai Yu, you truly are delicate, to need flowers when taking a bath! Which house reared family’s pampered young lady are you? Don’t tell me you’re also gonna soak your hands in sheep’s milk and use facial cleansing?!”

Huai Yu pulled over the screen, blocking out the other’s words.

Ming ChangYan sat on the bed as his body convulsed with laughter.

It took Huai Yu half an hour to bathe and change clothes, he was dawdling for so long that Ming ChangYan nearly fell asleep.

When the screen moved, Ming shaoxia opened one eye and peeked at Huai Yu. His hair had been half-dried by spiritual energy, it fell gently off his back. He came out together with a cloud of mist, making him look like an immortal descending to the world.

However, what attracted Ming ChangYan’s attention the most, was the tattoo on his collarbone.

He heard Chang Xu previously mention the tattoo on Huai Yu’s body. But what kind of pattern and where he didn’t know. But now taking a glance, he noticed a lotus flower on his collarbone outlined in white, nearly the same color of his skin, making it hard to distinguish. The white lotus on his collarbone moved along with him, making it appear as if the petals were blossoming. It shifted multiple times, fascinating and appealing.

Ming ChangYan was just about to take a closer look, but Huai Yu pulled up his clothes, covering his shoulders.

Ming ChangYan subconsciously moved his throat.

Huai Yu coldly gazed at him, “Still not asleep?”

Ming ChangYan came back to his senses, realizing he had been caught staring too long, he simply said calmly, “Huai Yu, what’s that tattoo on your shoulder?”

Even though he knew the answer to the question, Huai Yu was unwilling to answer, putting on his clothes and took out a twine from the cupboard. Ming ChangYan raised his eyebrow, “Why are there all kinds of strange things in your cupboards? What are you doing with that twine? Don’t tell me you’re hanging yourself.”

Huai Yu walked up to the bed and placed the string at the center of the bed, dividing the bed into two distinct sides.

He said, “You are not allowed to cross this boundary tonight.”

Ming ChangYan, “?”

Huai Yu laid down on his half of the bed as if he didn’t want to deal with Ming ChangYan.

Ming ChangYan looked at the string for a while at a loss, thinking: Fine, it’s not like this is the first time his temper’s been like this, why should I bother with him!

After that, he felt somewhat angry. He turned his back to Huai Yu and indignantly fell asleep. Before going to bed, he thought: Little brat, and you even kissed this shaoxia a while back, forget it, I’ll just pretend I was bitten by a dog!

Ming shaoxia inwardly cursed that the other was still a little brat, while he was a senior, he ought to be lenient with immature children, and at the same time felt admirable at himself for his patience and magnanimity as a senior, unable to stop himself from sighing.

Huai Yu reminded him, “Don’t move around when you sleep.”

What words are these? It’s like you’re saying I, as a senior, might fool around? Am I that kind of person?

Ming ChangYan said, “I know my place when sleeping, I never move around, Young Prime Minister, you can rest assured, I can guarantee, I won’t cross even the tiniest bit over this string!”

The last few words were said through gritted teeth.

He didn’t care how Huai Yu was going to answer, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

True to his words, Ming ChangYan was very still in his sleeping posture, as long as he’s asleep, he was practically motionless. His breathing was slow and steady, and after half an hour, he fell asleep unconscious.

This bad habit cultivated from spending too much time with Huai Yu. Ming ChangYan never used to sleep too soundly before, he often had to worry whether someone might come and seek their revenge on him in his sleep, and thus even the slightest movement could wake him up.

Since he’d become accustomed to being “covered” by Huai Yu, his body began submitting back to instincts. As long as he was together with him, he would always feel especially at ease. When he went to sleep, even a knife slashing down at him wouldn’t be able to wake him up.

Not to mention at this moment, thunder erupted outside the palace.

Huai Yu opened his eyes, waiting up until midnight, he didn’t see Ming ChangYan move once.

He sat up and rested his arm on a propped up knee, leaning over to look at Ming ChangYan.

“You usually never listen when I tell you to, but only now you pretend to be sensible.”

Unfortunately, Ming ChangYan currently couldn’t hear anything.

Huai Yu snorted. Ming ChangYan seemed to have felt something while sleeping, his eyebrows lightly furrowing, he smelled that bizarre muddled fragrance again, luring him back into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Ming shaoxia opened his eyes up to pitch-black darkness.

For the very first time, he didn’t suspect that he’d been blinded because his entire body couldn’t move, immediately rejecting that possibility. Ming ChangYan’s waist was being tightly embraced, he subconsciously reached out to push away, this time waking Huai Yu up in the process.

Ming ChangYan suddenly sat up from the bed.

The quilt slid off his shoulder, and when he got up, the heat of Huai Yu’s palm continued to linger on his waist, faultlessly verifying to him that the two of them rolled together last night. 

Ming ChangYan was still in shock when Huai Yu gained the initiative by striking first, “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t move?”

Going along with him, Ming shaoxia lived up to expectations and broke out into a cold sweat, both startled and surprised, “Did I move around?”

Huai Yu nodded, “You rolled over yourself.”

 Ming ChangYan repeated, “I rolled over myself……”

He suddenly asked, “Then why were you hugging me!”

Huai Yu said, “How would I know, why don’t you ask yourself.”

He got out of bed and got dressed.

Ming shaoxia was still in a daze, “Ask myself? How? Don’t tell me I rolled over and put his hand around my waist? What’s this, this is, this is—–”

This is too shameful!

Huai Yu finished washing up and changed the water for Ming ChangYan. The current Ming shaoxia was still annoyed at losing face in front of someone younger than him from his poor sleeping posture. 

“How long do you plan on stalling?”

Ming ChangYan promptly lifted the quilt, testing the water temperature while saying, “The Young Prime Minister is usually so extravagant, you’d think that he would have someone serving him with washing up and getting dressed, what, there isn’t a single personal maid in this Ninety-Nineth Palace?”

Huai Yu turned around and said in disbelief, “You also want a personal maid?” Aware of Huai Yu’s gaze, Ming ChangYan didn’t know why but felt that he should speak cautiously, quickly laughing it off.

After washing up, Ming shaoxia threw what happened when waking up to the back of his mind. He’s always been like this, he simply didn’t think about the little things he was unable to understand, saving himself from getting tangled in them.

After breakfast, the heavy rain from last night still hadn’t stopped. Ming ChangYan took some pen, ink-stone, and paper, spread them out on the table, lit a candle, and began practicing calligraphy.

The few words that Ming ChangYan wanted to write were nothing but his own name. He wanted to sign it and give it to Zhao XiaoLan, and to maintain his own lofty and uninhibited image, Ming shaoxia used all his effort in signing his name.

Altogether, he wrote for three sticks of incense before he picked the one he was most satisfied with. Carefully putting it aside, Ming ChangYan stretched his body, but when he looked back the piece of paper was gone.

Ming ChangYan rummaged through the whole table then asked Huai Yu who was off to the side reading, “What happened to the paper I just placed here?”

Huai Yu, “How would I know.”

Ming ChangYan muttered, “Weird, I was certain I just put it there.”

Huai Yu hummed, “How come you can’t even look after a single piece of paper.”

Ming ChangYan rubbed his chin, too lazy to look for it, he simply wrote another one.

He dried the ink under the sun, went and grabbed a nice-looking box from the bookshelf, and placed the signature in it.

Meanwhile, at the distant Egret Academy located west of the capital, Zhao XiaoLan had his hands rested on his chin and was letting out a plaintive sigh.

Nobody paid attention to him.

Zhao XiaoLan was not in the slightest bit discouraged, continuing to let out another heavy sigh.

Liu Kuang glanced at him, still ignoring.

Zhao XiaoLan, “Ai!”

Liu Kuang asked, “What are you doing?”

Seeing that Liu Kuang finally paid attention to him, Zhao XiaoLan quickly said, “Teacher Liu, can I leave the academy? I have a bit of an urgent matter.”

Liu Kuang said, “What urgent matter could you have? Your Yun Qing-gege told me that during this period, you’re to stay at Egret Academy to make up for missed lessons. You’re not allowed to go anywhere, just take a look for yourself how many courses you’ve already fallen behind on.”

Zhao XiaoLan said guiltily, “It’s because I…..”

Liu Kuang, “This time no matter what, I’m not letting you run away. You have to first make up for all your previous lessons, moreover, it’s raining right now, where do you plan on going?”

Hearing this, Zhao XiaoLan felt dejected.

He was dragged here by the ear a few days ago by his sister, and in a sentence of death, Huai Yu locked him here at Egret Academy. In past years, he skipped class with Zhu Rong’s assistance, and the two committed crimes in pairs. And now for him to leave Egret Academy under Liu Kuang’s watch with his own abilities was harder than reaching the sky. 

He had clearly promised to meet Maiden Li Li the next day, but now he himself had been locked inside the academy, unable to escape. Just what has become of his image over there at Li Li’s! How could the future number one hero go back on his words?

Thinking of this, he let out another sigh.

Zhao XiaoLan was extremely worried, staring at the academy’s front door. Outside the front door was Egret Academy’s “difficult road.*” The academy these days was on holiday, he was the only one brought back to make up missed lessons. And because he was ranked last at the end of the term, Liu Kuang was especially strict with him, forcing him to copy several textbooks a day.

(TN: Referencing a series of three poems written by Li Bai deemed “行路难三首” Couldn’t exactly find a translation on them, but it’s mainly about encountering difficulties and an unwillingness to be alone)

He was bored out of his mind, while he was on his difficult road there suddenly appeared an umbrella.

Zhao XiaoLan thought: Who would come to the academy during such heavy rain?

That person moved up, gradually revealing half of his body, but his face was still being obstructed by the umbrella.

Zhao XiaoLan suddenly thought: Could it be that Zhu-xiong came to play with him?

He sprang abruptly to his feet and excitedly ran directly into the rain without bringing an umbrella. Liu Kuang hadn’t been watching him properly, allowing Zhao XiaoLan to slip away like a rabbit.

Unexpectedly, upon stepping through the door, the one who had walked through the rain and fog had been Baili.

Zhao XiaoLan’s footsteps paused, extremely disappointed, dispirited as he walked back to the classroom.

Liu Kuang said, “Imperial guard Baili.”

Baili Deng began, “Greeting to Teacher Liu.”

Liu Kuang poured a cup of hot tea for him, “Why did you come to the academy today?”

Baili waved his hand, “No need for tea, I’m here to retrieve a book for the third prince. He grabbed the first volume the last time he visited the academy, now that he’s finished it, he asked me to get the second volume for him.”

Liu Kuang said, “I see, imperial guard Baili please follow me.”

He turned around and advised, “Su He, you stay here, don’t go anywhere, do you understand? If I come back and you’re not here, I’m immediately going to the Ninety-Ninth Palace to get your Huai Yu-gege to come teach you a lesson.”

Zhao XiaoLan had a sickly expression when agreeing, picking up his writing brush, and sluggishly writing in the book.

Liu Kuang brought Baili Deng to Egret Academy’s library. Baili put away his umbrella and left it in the classroom.

There was a small “clink,” as if something had fallen on the ground.

Zhao XiaoLan’s attention was entirely off the books at this moment, and thus his ears were extremely sensitive towards every little movement around him.

Upon hearing the sound, he put down his brush at once and walked in the direction of where the sound originated from.

A lone jade pendant had fallen on the floor.

Zhao XiaoLan picked it up to take a look; at the center of the high-quality white jade was a single pink flower petal.

He raised the jade pendant to the window and shut one eye, carefully studying it before saying, “It’s pretty unique!”

Zhao XiaoLan shifted the jade pendant away, his gaze moved towards the window, and to his surprise, in his field of vision appeared another human figure.

“Dingling,” amidst the heavy rainfall, the clear sound of the bell was like an ethereal solo. 

The author has something to say: 

ChangYan likes smelling the fragrance from Huai Yu’s body, naturally, Huai Yu also likes smelling ChangYan’s fragrance (o^^o)

Take a guess at who’s here!

Thank you everyone for your landmines, I also really want the little fish to take advances!! But Zhao Zhao still hasn’t reached full enlightenment yet! Wait a bit more!!! 

Little fish’s tattoo is probably one of those really thin white tattoos, his skin is also very pale so you’d have to look really carefully. I’ve also seen a lot of Dada* who’ve written fan-works and drew pictures, uwuwuwuwuw super pretty!! Thank you guys!!! 

(TN: “大大”; Dada is a neutral term when referring to someone online. Another variation is 太太)

Of course, every Dada is welcome to send me a private message, it’s a great honor to be liked by you all! Love you guys!!!

This was translated by https://poppyscanlations.video.blog/, any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work I’m whipping you with my wet umbrella.

GUYS I’M SO SORRY FOR BEING GONE FOR SO LONG!!

School started back up and I’ve just been extremely exhausted lately, I have two projects due Monday and I’m for real stressing out.

I’ll try to update when I can but no promises

If you see any grammar/translation errors please notify me! They updated wordpress with these block thingys and I hate it, I liked the old version before. If it’s not broken, why fix it?

Okay, have great weekend~~~

Chapter 65 : Table of Contents : Chapter 67