BHB chapter 12

 

“You don’t like it?”

Rong Jiu asked gently.

No matter how gently he spoke, however, he couldn’t hide his chill. Jingzhe was used to it by now. He held the expensive black jade with some concern.

“This item is too valuable.”

Jingzhe used to survive on a small monthly salary and had only saved a little over time.

Compared to this black jade, though, those savings were just a drop in the ocean.

First, he received the green ring, and now, a piece of black jade.

Was he just lucky when it came to wealth lately?

If he were truly lucky, wouldn’t he have completed the task sooner?

“It’s fine,” Rong Jiu said. “If you don’t like it, I can give you something else.”

Jingzhe was touched, but he couldn’t accept.

“You don’t need to give me anything else. What happened before is over. This black jade is too precious. You should keep it for yourself.”

“What happened before?” Rong Jiu’s cold face showed a brief moment of blankness. Then, he realized what Jingzhe meant. “Aren’t we friends?”

When Rong Jiu spoke to him with that beautiful face, Jingzhe found it hard not to nod.

They were… friends, right?

“Since we’re friends, it’s only natural to give each other gifts.” Rong Jiu asked calmly. “Do you like eyeballs?”

He kept recommending eyeballs.

Jingzhe was also momentarily blank. Didn’t he already have a pair of eyeballs? Was Rong Jiu referring to the black jade as eyeballs?

He quickly shook his head. One big piece was already giving him a headache, and a few small ones would be even more troublesome.

However, if he didn’t want the “eyeballs,” he had to accept the black jade.

Rong Jiu was truly a forceful seller.

Jingzhe couldn’t just hold the black jade and talk outside. He looked at the empty corridor outside the small door and said to Rong Jiu, “There aren’t many people in the Bei Fang right now. Why don’t you come in and sit for a while?”

As for Rong Jiu’s duties…

Jingzhe believed that Rong Jiu’s identity was probably not simple.

Although he was a guard, he could casually leave a eunuch in the guardhouse to rest. He was rather careless on the job. He seemed to follow the principle of not loving his job or being dedicated to it.

One could guess that he came from a good background. Only someone from a good family could live so freely.

Rong Jiu nodded indifferently and followed Jingzhe into the Bei Fang. It was his first time visiting this place, which wasn’t officially a cold palace but might as well have been. There were no more “cold palaces” in the imperial palace.

But the Bei Fang was truly a cold palace.

Those who lived there were consorts of the previous emperor who were now elderly. Yao Cairen, the most spirited one, had recently passed away. The others were all very quiet and stayed indoors.

Jingzhe couldn’t bring Rong Jiu to his quarters. After all, his rooms were not very presentable and were in plain view.

However, there was a stone table and benches outside one of the outermost buildings. Jingzhe invited Rong Jiu to sit there and poured him some hot water.

Rong Jiu sat on the stone bench and watched Jingzhe come and go, not looking at the cup of water.

Jingzhe worked for a bit, locked up the black jade, and took out another item.

It was the green ring.

When he was a child, his family had enough to eat, but they weren’t wealthy.

He didn’t understand things like jade and jewelry.

Jingzhe took out the green ring, hoping that Rong Jiu would recognize it.

He placed the clear green ring on Rong Jiu’s cold, white finger. After a few glances, Rong Jiu said lightly, “It’s fake.”

Jingzhe blinked. “How can you tell?”

He asked humbly.

Rong Jiu replied, “Jade is a natural object. No matter how pure or transparent it is, it will have various natural textures. This thing is too clear, which is not right.”

Of course, that’s not to say it doesn’t exist.

If it did exist, it would either be a tribute to the royal court or owned by the wealthy and powerful. Ordinary people couldn’t afford it.

Then, he flipped it over and showed Jingzhe the inside. “Thumb rings are often used for archery and horseback riding, so they’re shaped differently from regular rings. There’s also a notch at the bottom. But this ring doesn’t have a notch; it has a small bump on the inner circle.”

He rubbed it and raised his eyebrows.

“This might be a key.”

Rong Jiu handed the ring back to Jingzhe and pointed to the inside.

Jingzhe had noticed the bump before and tried wearing the ring. Since the bump was small, it didn’t interfere with his thumb, and he’d almost thought it was just a flaw.

If the notch was part of a key, that would make sense.

But if the key was here, then what about the lock?

“Jingzhe, you’ve been to the Bei Fang. Don’t you want to go somewhere else?” Rong Jiu asked casually. He knew Qiu Yi from Chenghuan Palace had invited Jingzhe before, but he had fled in panic after hearing about it.

It was as if he had seen a flood or a beast.

It was an inexplicable affection. The idea of a transfer, too.

Jingzhe said, “Don’t you think Bei Fang is very comfortable?”

He recalled the Cen family’s revenge. He also remembered his parents’ instructions.

Thanks to his parents’ efforts, he had been able to live safely up to now. There was only one life, and if you acted recklessly, not only would you die early, but you would also get smacked on the head by your father.

Jingzhe liked his father but didn’t like being hit.

Rong Jiu looked at Jingzhe, who looked back.

Jingzhe was very clear.

He had kept himself clean in Bei Fang this whole time.

That was also his intention.

The palace was a huge vortex. Once you were in it, no matter what, you’d be dragged into the center. The only way to avoid being pulled into hell by this decadent city was to stay at the edges and not look at the unclear matters.

With a hint of amusement, Rong Jiu said, “But if you don’t cause trouble, won’t trouble come to you?”

Jingzhe thought of Qian Qin, Nanny Ming, the system, and then Yao Cairen. Under Rong Jiu’s gaze, Jingzhe softened like a puddle of water, remaining still.

This puddle of Jingzhe even muttered, “This is so hard, damn it…”

He kept muttering and grumbling.

He rarely acted like this in front of others, except with Mingyu.

Mingyu was a good friend to talk to.

As for Rong Jiu…

Jingzhe looked at Rong Jiu’s beautiful face and felt hopeful again. After glancing at Rong Jiu’s beauty a few more times, he started to feel hopeful again.

He composed himself and began chatting with Rong Jiu again, smiling.

Actually, chatting with Rong Jiu wasn’t easy. As Mingyu had warned, Rong Jiu had a short temper and a powerful aura. Often, if you said ten sentences, he wouldn’t reply to even one. It was really boring.

But Jingzhe didn’t mind.

He would say ten sentences and, if Rong Jiu replied to one, he’d say ten more. Jingzhe wasn’t a talkative person, but Rong Jiu spoke even less, and yet they were friends. If they wanted to get along, someone had to take the initiative.

Rong Jiu always took the initiative in giving gifts, so why couldn’t Jingzhe take the initiative in talking?

This was called give and take.

However, Rong Jiu’s gifts were becoming excessive. Jingzhe didn’t want to be poor again, so he seriously considered what he could give Rong Jiu in return.

But Rong Jiu seemed like a nobleman who had everything.

Jingzhe thought it over and asked Rong Jiu before he left.

“You want a gift in return, but you don’t know what to give me, so you came to ask me directly?” Rong Jiu stood at the door and raised his eyebrows. “Aren’t gifts supposed to be surprises?”

…What kind of surprise?

Like when he showed up with a giant black jade today?

That would be a surprise, wouldn’t it?

Jingzhe: “Pleasing the heart is more important than surprise.”

He smiled.

“It’s better to ask directly than to guess.”

Rong Jiu nodded slightly, indicating his approval of Jingzhe’s logic.

“The weather’s been cold lately, and I’ve lost a pair of gloves.”

Jingzhe suspected that Rong Jiu came from a wealthy family. How could someone like that be lacking a pair of gloves? But since Rong Jiu had asked, Jingzhe would do it.

Actually, he did know a little about sewing.

There was no other way. People in Bei Fang had to be self-sufficient. Otherwise, if your clothes tore, no one would sew them for you.

“What color do you like?”

“Any is fine.” Rong Jiu raised his lips slightly, forming a sinister curve. “But I don’t really like red.”

Blood spilled from the woman’s mouth and dripped across the bed like a coiled snake spitting soul-chilling poison. She collapsed onto the bed softly, her beautiful eyes filled with hatred. She struggled to open her mouth.

—“Why don’t you just die?”

“Rong Jiu, Rong Jiu?”

Jingzhe called Rong Jiu’s name a few times. When he didn’t respond, Jingzhe instinctively reached for his hand.

His hand was icy cold to the touch.

The man’s skin was pale and cold, as chilly as jade, and it made Jingzhe shiver.

Worried, Jingzhe tiptoed over and reached out to touch Rong Jiu’s eyes. But before he could, Rong Jiu snapped back to awareness.

Jingzhe looked at him; his eyes were bright like a fledgling bird peeking out of its nest—clear and clean.

Rong Jiu thought of that night:

That soft body trembling in his arms.

His posture was full of indulgence, but his eyes were misted with wet fog.

He was foolish and pitiful.

Fragile and clean things were easy to love.

But they also easily provoked disasters and wicked desires to destroy.

Innocence…

Sometimes, innocence was the greatest sin.