Chapter 13

There was still a quarter of an hour left before the hour of Mao, Xuanyi yawned while walking toward the Bell Tower.

She had never woken up this early and was quite unaccustomed to it. Moreover, unlike Zifu Palace, the wind howled as soon as night fell here, causing her to sleep poorly all night.

By the way, the food here was not delicious either… Ah, Qi Nan, oh Qi Nan, do you know how hard your princess has it.

Xuanyi swallowed another painful yawn.

The day had not fully brightened yet, and thin mist filled Sanbai Courtyard. Fortunately, the hydrangeas along the road bloomed quite conspicuously, preventing her from getting lost.

Seeing that she was almost at the Bell Tower, she suddenly heard low talking voices coming from the thin mist ahead. Xuanyi stopped in her tracks and tilted her ear to listen. It vaguely sounded like a low, gentle female voice.

“I stayed with Yanxia the whole day yesterday and didn’t say a single word to me. Are you still angry with me?”

Soon, a soft and lazy voice sounded, “When have I ever been angry with you? You just love to overthink.”

Was this Shaoyi’s voice? Xuanyi rubbed her eyes. Her vision penetrated the thin mist and fell precisely on the two figures beneath the Bell Tower. One had a tall and slender figure, and the other wore gorgeous and flamboyant attire; they were precisely Fuluo and Divine Lord Shaoyi.

A trace of resentment lingered inFuluo’s eyes as she stared fixedly at Shaoyi.

She said again in a low voice, “You always love saying these words to coax me into peace of mind. In truth, I know that you blame me in your heart, otherwise you wouldn’t have ignored me yesterday. But what do you want me to do in the end? Gu Ting and I have an engagement set by our parents. He has always treated me very well, and I cannot make him sad.”

Shaoyi let out a laugh.

He raised his hand to brush aside the loose strands of hair by her ear and said softly, “Silly child, I always say your petty heart thinks about too many things. Did you stay awake all night? Your eyes are red.”

Fuluo lowered her neck with a blushed face, her voice turning very small, “But, you were talking and laughing with Yanxia all yesterday, and didn’t say a word to me.”

“Little vinegar jar.”

Shaoyi pinched her chin and shook it teasingly twice, “Why don’t you make a cage and tie me inside? That way, the only one I see when I open my eyes is you, and the only one I want to talk to is you.”

Fuluo bit her lower lip and said coyly, “You said it yourself. In the future, I will really make a cage for you!”

His low chuckle sounded ticklish to one’s heart, “Go ahead and make it. Lock me up, and I will belong only to you.”

Xuanyi rubbed her dry eyes.

She was so sleepy; she still wanted to go back to take a morning nap.

She heavy-footed her steps, crossed through the thin mist, and walked straight toward the Bell Tower.

As if hearing the footsteps,Fuluo suddenly turned into a puff of green smoke and ran away extremely fast.

Only Shaoyi was left standing beneath the Bell Tower with his hands behind his back, smiling at Xuanyi with utter composure.

“Little Loach, how long have you been peeking?” His voice remained gentle and lazy as ever.

Xuanyi said indifferently, “In broad daylight, how can it be called peeking?”

Shaoyi touched his chin with some surprise, “Eh? You are right, it indeed doesn’t count as peeking. Mm… You aren’t sleeping properly, what are you doing running to the Bell Tower before dawn?”

Xuanyi sighed, “Master told me yesterday that among the disciples now, I have the lowest seniority, so the task of rolling call and ringing the bell belongs to me in the future.”

Shaoyi could not help but laugh, “Master really doesn’t know how to tenderly cherish a maiden. How could he ask Little Junior Sister to do roll call and ring the bell? Go back to sleep. Ringing the bell will still be done by Senior Brother in the future.”

Really? Xuanyi’s eyes lit up.

He thereupon smiled again, slowly leaned close, gently straightened her crooked sash, and lightly stroked her arm with his fingertips.

“Besides this, don’t you have anything else you want to say?”

He was full of curiosity.

Xuanyi thought for a moment, “Senior Brother Shaoyi.”

“Mm?”

“If you want to take a morning nap today, don’t go to the Bingxue Hall.”

He lost his smile instantly and made a gesture as if to flick her forehead, “Hurry back, Little Loach.”

—

Inside a crystal jar contained bright red and fragrant rouge paste.

Xuanyi carefully retrieved a soaked piece of thin cotton from inside and gently applied it to her fingernails.

Her long, translucent nails were quickly dyed a vivid red.

Checking the time of the sky, the hour of Chen(7-9am) should be arriving soon. She lowered her head and gently blew a few breaths onto her nails, hoping the rouge paste would dry faster.

Regardless, this was her first class after taking the master.

She must not be late.

Before long, she suddenly heard an immortal child calling outside the window, “Princess? Princess Xuanyi? Are you up yet?”

Xuanyi let out a breath.

The snow-white ice window opened with a clash. She tilted her head and looked outside, seeing that angry little immortal child from yesterday standing beneath the window.

Mm, he still looked angry today.

“What is the matter?” She continued blowing her nails and checked the sky again. The hour of Chen had not arrived yet?

The immortal child said, “The Emperor just instructed that he needs several props for his lesson today, but he forgot to fetch them. So he ordered the Princess to go together with Divine Lord Fucang, and ensure to bring them back before the hour of Si.”

Xuanyi’s action of blowing her nails paused, “Why ask me and Fucang to go together?”

“Because the two of you are new disciples. Usually, these miscellaneous tasks are handed over to new disciples.”

The immortal child respectfully handed over a small mugwort-green note and said again, “The Emperor has written all the required items on it. Please, Princess and Divine Lord, go and return quickly.”

…Before even teaching a lesson, he had already started ordering disciples around.

Xuanyi opened the small mugwort-green note and saw written upon it: “Three rays of solar brilliance; three pieces of lunar essence; three strands of hair from Divine Lord Feilian.”

The front two items were considered reasonable, but what did hair from Divine Lord Feilian mean? Did he expect her to run up to Divine Lord Feilian and ask him to pluck out three strands of hair? She had long heard that Emperor Baize liked to collect strange and quirky treasures; turns out he was just making disciples run errands for him.

She tossed the small note and said, “I don’t want to go.”

The immortal child was startled, “Not go? This… Emperor is the master. How can the Princess disobey his instructions?”

“Because it looks like a huge hassle.”

Xuanyi complained while blowing her nails, “Whatever Master wants, can’t he go get it himself?”

The immortal child stared at her, dumbfounded. He had been an immortal child in Emperor Baize’s Mingxing Hall for over ten thousand years.

Disciples came and went, but none had ever been as bold and reckless as her.

Yesterday she covered the Tongjing Hall with ice and snow, and today she disregarded the task assigned by the master. Was she here to take a master or to cause trouble?

“…Divine Lord Fucang and Divine Lord Gu Ting have already departed. Princess, Princess, please hurry too.”

He pretended not to hear what she had just said and continued to urge her.

Xuanyi asked curiously, “Why is Senior Brother Gu Ting going too?”

“Princess and Divine Lord Fucang are new disciples. Emperor was afraid you two wouldn’t be able to handle it, so he instructed Divine Lord Gu Ting to assist from the side.”

Xuanyi thought about it again and suddenly nodded in agreement, “Alright, I’ll go.”

She draped her sash on.

By the time she slowly arrived outside Mingxing Hall, Fucang and Gu Ting were already there.

The two divine lords were pondering the items written on the small mugwort-green note with solemn expressions, looking quite grave.

“Divine Lord Feilian has a gloomy and violent temper, and loves to resort to violence at the slightest disagreement. He is truly a hedgehog-like divine lord. Many of Master’s disciples have suffered at his hands, yet none have ever been able to bring back his hair. Who would have thought that Master still covets his hair to this day.”

Gu Ting spoke while frowning.

The corner of his eye suddenly caught sight of Xuanyi, so he turned back and said coldly, “Princess Xuanyi, Master instructed to bring these things back before the hour of Si(9-11am). To be fast, why don’t we split up? You go get the solar brilliance, while Fucang and I head to Wangshu Palace to get the lunar essence and Divine Lord Feilian’s hair. How about it?”

He still addressed her only as “Princess Xuanyi”, appearing extremely distant.

Xuanyi looked at him with a beam, “Senior Brother Gu Ting’s proposal is naturally good. However, I have never left Mount Zhong since I was little and do not recognize the roads at all. I’m afraid I might delay matters instead. Why don’t I follow the senior brothers so that I can broaden my horizons too?”

This reason was extremely fair and reasonable. Gu Ting temporarily did not know how to refute it. He could only silently rise into the clouds. Fucang followed behind him with a cold expression, and Xuanyi also floated on the wind with a smile, following neither too far nor too close behind.

“Senior Brother Gu Ting.” After flying for less than a moment, Xuanyi suddenly called out to him, “I heard that Senior Brother has an engagement with Senior Sister Fuluo, is that true?”

Gu Ting’s voice was cold, “That’s right. Where did you hear that from?”

“I heard Senior Sister Fuluo say it herself.” She blinked her eyes, “Setting an engagement at such a young age, will you regret it in the future?”

Gu Ting’s brows furrowed tightly, “What you say is not entirely true. When did Fuluo ever speak to you? What is wrong with setting an engagement early when meeting a like-minded lover?”

“A like-minded lover.”

She repeated after him and chuckled softly.

Gu Ting had an extremely bad impression of her and immediately said coldly, “What are you laughing at?”

Xuanyi pouted her lips to blow away the long hair sticking to her eyelashes, “Senior Brother and Senior Sister are a match made in heaven. I am so envious.”

Her slow and soft voice seemed to always carry a trace of icy mockery.

Gu Ting could not help but fly into a rage.

He wanted to truly argue with her, but it would look too unseemly, so he could only swallow his anger.