TL: Hua
As they chatted, Princess Qingzhu sent a maid to invite Princess Jing’an away. Xu Yanqing was bored alone in the pavilion, so he got up to find the latrine.
At someone else’s residence, Xu Yanqing naturally couldn’t have a group of young maids following him, so he only kept one, Mu Yu, by his side.
The Su mansion was very large, and today was Princess Qingzhu’s eldest daughter’s third-day wash ceremony, so the servants in the mansion were naturally busy off their feet. Mu Yu couldn’t find anyone to ask directions, so he could only slowly wander around the Su mansion with his young master.
After leaving the latrine, Xu Yanqing walked back along the path he had come but suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong, Young Master? Are you feeling unwell?” Mu Yu couldn’t help but feel a little nervous when he saw his young master’s unusual expression.
Xu Yanqing shook his head, slowly backing away a few steps. He seemed to have just seen a very familiar figure, though he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination.
Prince Huai was an impatient person. At first, he was the one making a fuss to play Go with Yin Yanjun, but after just two games, he couldn’t resist pretending to need to relieve himself and slipped away.
On the chessboard, the white pieces overwhelmingly outnumbered the black. Yin Yanjun returned the white piece he had held between his fingers to the Go container, then slowly raised his hand and picked up a black piece from the opposite container.
Xu Yanqing stood at the small courtyard gate, his gaze falling upon the Taoist priest in the dark green robe inside the courtyard. He unconsciously rubbed his fingers. Indeed, it was the Taoist priest, but he wondered why the other party would be in the Su mansion.
However, Xu Yanqing then thought, in Qingling Mountain, the Taoist priest resided in the young marquis’s courtyard, and the young marquis was related to Princess Qingzhu. Perhaps the Taoist priest came with Yin Yuancheng!
“Young Master?” Mu Yu craned his neck, looking into the courtyard along Xu Yanqing’s gaze, feeling a bit confused about what his young master was looking at.
Xu Yanqing gently shook his head, about to leave, when he heard the Taoist priest’s clear, cold voice from the courtyard: “Since Young Master is here, why not come in and sit for a while?”
Yin Yanjun looked up at the young master outside the courtyard. He sat extremely upright, his beautiful eyes revealing a faint glow, appearing to possess both the ethereal grace of a religious follower and the elegant gentleness of an elder.
Xu Yanqing recalled the night before leaving Yunshui Courtyard, when he had climbed over the wall and behaved so frivolously towards the Taoist priest. An indescribable awkwardness spontaneously arose in his heart.
However, since the Taoist priest had spoken, he couldn’t pretend not to hear and turn to leave. So, after a moment of hesitation, he stepped into the courtyard and slowly sat down opposite Yin Yanjun.
“Yanqing was just passing by, not intending to disturb the Taoist priest’s tranquility.” This was the first time Xu Yanqing had sat so formally since transmigrating to this world, mainly because, faced with the Taoist priest’s graceful and upright posture, he couldn’t bring himself to slouch.
Yin Yanjun did not reply. He placed the black piece from his fingertips, and instantly the entire situation on the chessboard underwent a drastic change.
Xu Yanqing understood a little about Go, but at the moment, he wasn’t paying any attention to the game. He was now carrying the Taoist priest’s child in his belly, yet their relationship was akin to strangers who had never met. This situation made Xu Yanqing’s “embarrassment-induced cancer” flare up.
So, to distract himself, Xu Yanqing’s gaze fell on the Taoist priest’s fingers. The Taoist priest’s hands were truly beautiful—distinctly jointed, plump, and fair. His fingernails, catching the gentle sunlight on the chessboard, appeared soft and exceptionally lustrous, revealing a hint of cool paleness amidst the pink.
Xu Yanqing inexplicably thought of how these hands had clasped his wrist, the veins slightly protruding, appearing exceptionally strong. These were hands that, though extremely beautiful, could not be underestimated.
“Does young master have any thoughts on this Go game?” Xu Yanqing’s gaze was too fervent; this raw heat made Yin Yanjun feel somewhat unnatural embarrassment. He slightly lowered his eyelids, withdrawing his hands to rest them on his knees.
Those enchanting hands disappeared from view. The hand-con salted fish couldn’t help but look up at the Taoist priest sitting opposite him with a smile on his lips: “To ask a dissolute person with no ink in his belly about a Go game, is Taoist Priest not intentionally mocking Yanqing?”
Yin Yanjun looked up at the young master opposite him, who had a smile on his lips, and a ripple appeared in his gaze. His clear and distant eyes showed a trace of bewilderment, then instantly looked away: “That was not my intention.”
No one had ever been so audacious as to gaze at him with such intense fervor, so Yin Yanjun was simply momentarily at a loss, being stared at by the young master.
He blinked his eyes. The listless salted fish was truly tired of sitting so formally, so he couldn’t help but secretly relax his posture a bit. Seeing the Taoist priest’s slightly embarrassed and bashful look, he couldn’t resist wanting to play a trick.
“Then what does Taoist priest mean? Yanqing is dull and can’t comprehend it.” The young master’s previously formal sitting posture relaxed. A moment later, he raised a hand to prop up his chin, and the light blue sleeve slid down from his wrist, revealing a section of fair and tender skin.
Being stared at by the young master was somewhat unsettling. Yin Yanjun raised his hand to pick up the teacup on the table and took a light sip. For the young master’s deliberately teasing question, he chose silence as he couldn’t answer.
Xu Yanqing felt like he was a demon intentionally ruining someone’s cultivation right now. Yet, facing the Taoist priest’s immortal-like, jade-pure demeanor, the mischievous urge he had harbored for so long surged forth.
“Taoist Priest.” Xu Yanqing extended his not-so-pretty paw and tapped on the table in front of Yin Yanjun. “Taoist Priest now knows Yanqing’s given name, but Yanqing still doesn’t know Taoist Priest’s Taoist name.”
The young master was quite thin, yet his cheeks and hands were chubby, looking very pleasing. Yin Yanjun looked up at Xu Yanqing, and after a moment, softly said, “My Taoist name is Xuanchen.”
Xu Yanqing gently murmured, “Taoist Priest Xuanchen, a very pleasant name.” His words were as if he was savoring the other party’s Taoist name on his lips. The young master’s eyes curved into crescent moons, nimble and charming.
Yin Yanjun’s eyelashes fluttered. Unable to answer, he continued to remain silent.
“Did Taoist priest come at Princess Qingzhu’s invitation to bestow blessings upon the newborn girl for the third-day wash ceremony?” Xu Yanqing’s fingers fiddled with the Go pieces on the board, making the game chaotic.
Yin Yanjun hesitated for a moment before nodding. He never lied. Prince Huai inviting him over indeed had the intention of bestowing blessings, though this blessing was not the blessing the young master spoke of.
Just as they were speaking, Yin Yanjun heard a faint rumble from the young master’s stomach. He looked up, recalling the conversation between the young master and Yin Yuanshuang next door, and indeed, the young master did seem a bit thinner now: “Are you hungry?”
For his stomach to rumble in front of others, if Xu Yanqing had been a bit more thin-skinned, he would have long since blushed. But precisely because the source of his recent eating and throwing up was the person in front of him, he simply pushed aside the chessboard and then slumped onto the table: “This young master is practically starving to death. Can Taoist Priest Xuanchen spare some food?”
Seeing the young master’s playful demeanor, Yin Yanjun gave a soft laugh. He leaned down and quietly said to the young master sprawled on the table, “I’ll have the servants prepare some food for you.”
Xu Yanqing was somewhat startled. This was the first time he had seen Taoist Priest Xuanchen smile. The other party usually had a clear and upright demeanor, but when he smiled, the cold aloofness that kept people at bay faded significantly, leaving only a gentle and elegant warmth that invited closeness.
Yin Yanjun didn’t move, but soon, servants brought in some vegetarian dishes. Yin Yanjun pushed the pastries toward the young master: “I don’t eat meat, so the servants only prepared vegetarian dishes.”
Xu Yanqing only thought that Taoist Priest Xuanchen was joking, but he really did have the servants bring food. Smelling the fragrant vegetarian dishes, his stomach rumbled a few more times. Under the other’s gentle gaze, Xu Yanqing shamelessly picked up his chopsticks, not intending to let himself suffer at all.
Watching the young master eat, Yin Yanjun’s handsome and refined face maintained a faint smile. His posture remained as upright as ever, like the most unyielding bamboo depicted in a scholar’s writings.
These vegetarian dishes tasted quite good, but Xu Yanqing would feel nauseous and want to throw up if he ate even a little too much. Forcing himself to eat a bit more until his stomach no longer rumbled, he listlessly put down his chopsticks.
Yin Yanjun slightly furrowed his brows: “Do you dislike vegetarian dishes?” The young master ate too little.
The listless salted fish waved his hand, unable to elaborate on the specific reason for his lack of appetite to Taoist Priest Xuanchen. However, he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, so he cupped his hands and said, “Thank you, Taoist Priest Xuanchen, for your hospitality. My mother hasn’t seen me for a long time; she’s probably sending people to look for me.”
With that, the young master rose and turned to leave without reluctance. Mu Yu, waiting outside, quickly went to meet his young master when he saw him emerge.
“Young Master, do you know that Taoist priest? Why did you stay so long?” Mu Yu was a little confused. He served his young master closely but had never seen that Taoist priest before.
Xu Yanqing waved his hand. “Just a few chance encounters.” He wasn’t foolish. For Taoist Priest Xuanchen to be invited to the Su mansion by Princess Qingzhu and to be so highly regarded by the Su mansion that he was specially placed in this quiet little courtyard, and for Taoist Priest Xuanchen to be able to freely command the Su mansion’s servants, his identity could not be that of a simple Taoist priest.
However, every time he encountered Taoist Priest Xuanchen, he was inexplicably drawn closer. Xu Yanqing clicked his tongue, attributing this special situation to the fact that everything about the other person suited his taste. So, in reality, it was still his own stirrings and lust at play.
Xu Yanqing’s body truly couldn’t endure the noisy banquet, so he sent someone to inform Lady Su, then took Mu Yu and left the Su mansion.
In the small courtyard, Yin Yanjun still sat in his original spot while the servants cleared away the largely untouched meal.
Prince Huai, who had been gone for a long time under the pretense of needing to relieve himself, suddenly sauntered back from somewhere: “The young master who was just speaking with Your Majesty seems to be the youngest son of that old rogue, Marquis Wu’an?”
Yin Yanjun looked up at Prince Huai, then lowered his head to pull the chessboard, which Xu Yanqing had pushed aside, back toward him. Then, he slowly began to collect the Go pieces one by one.
Prince Huai, accustomed to speaking his mind freely in front of Yin Yanjun, plopped down: “Young Master Xu takes after the marchioness of Wu’an more than his elder brother. He’s delicately beautiful and doesn’t resemble that old rogue, the Marquis of Wu’an, in the slightest.”
Yin Yanjun remained silent. His eyelashes slightly lowered, his gaze fixed on the Go piece in his hand. The piece dropped into the porcelain Go container, emitting a crisp, pleasing sound.
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