WK Chapter 82

At noon after class.

 

Qu Dubian invited the Fifth Prince to a pavilion in a garden near the academy.

 

“Fifth Brother, you’ve lost so much weight.”

 

The Fifth Prince was silent for a few seconds, then smiled: “It’s fine. Father Emperor sent palace servants to take care of me. The food these days is actually much better than at Changxin Palace.”

 

“Fourth Brother is in Panshi Courtyard, not far from my courtyard, and he often comes to see me.”

 

This was somewhat beside the point.

 

Da Hei squatted at their feet, and the Fifth Prince rubbed its head, “I’m really grateful to Da Hei for blocking the wind that day. By the way, Xiao Qi, have you recovered? It’s my fault for causing your illness.”

 

Qu Dubian shook his head.

 

“Fifth Brother, you and Sixth Brother…”

 

The Fifth Prince looked up in confusion: “Hmm?” After a moment, he made a sound of realization, “Noble Consort Lan said she would support me in the future too. Xiao Qi, don’t worry.”

 

He stood up, slightly lowered his head, and flicked Qu Dubian’s forehead with his right index finger.

 

“And don’t frown.”

 

Qu Dubian: “Then why didn’t you let me see you when you were sick?”

 

Fifth Prince: “Your little body is too fragile. Fifth Brother was afraid of passing the illness to you.”

 

Qu Dubian: “Are you alright now?”

 

Fifth Prince: “I’m already better.”

 

“You’ve been away from the academy for so long, I really missed you,” Qu Dubian gave him a hug.

 

The Fifth Prince was stunned when embraced, and his nose caught a slight medicinal scent coming from Xiao Qi. According to Zhiyi, he had been frequently forced by Concubine Xuan to take medicinal baths these days.

 

The bitter medicinal scent, warmed by body temperature, became a subtle comfort.

 

“Do I miss class more often than you?” The Fifth Prince couldn’t help but smile, patting his back: “Don’t worry, I won’t be absent anymore in the future.”

 

After chatting for a while, the Fifth Prince left the pavilion.

 

After princes turned ten, they had the option to return to their mother’s palace for lunch, but he no longer had this option.

 

Qu Dubian stood in the pavilion.

 

Ye Xiaoyuan: “Your Highness, the Fifth Prince seems a bit strange.”

 

Qu Dubian: “Yes, I noticed.”

 

He felt a vague worry rising in his heart about the relationship between Fifth Brother and Sixth Brother.

 

“Let’s not think about it anymore. Thinking won’t solve anything. We’ll take it one step at a time.”

 

“Isn’t that right, Da Hei?” Qu Dubian stroked Da Hei’s head.

 

–

 

On the day of the Fifth Prince’s official tenth birthday.

 

He had already been living in the princes’ residence for some time.

 

Qu Dubian brought the Fourth Prince and Zhiyi to celebrate with him.

 

Due to Noble Lady Rong’s death, they didn’t make a big fuss, just prepared small gifts individually.

 

The Sixth Prince didn’t come, as Noble Consort Lan kept him in the palace to study, but he did send a gift, reportedly chosen by both Noble Consort Lan and the Sixth Prince together.

 

It was a square piece of jade, of good quality, but plain and without any carving.

 

The Fifth Prince put the jade away: “I’ll send it to be carved into a shape later.”

 

Qu Dubian gave him several seeds, “Fifth Brother, plant them separately. There are flower seeds and fruit tree seeds. When you plant them well, you can take them with you when you leave the palace to establish your own household.”

 

Fifth Prince: “Alright.”

 

The Fourth Prince gave him a box of exquisite letter paper: “My mother and I made these together.”

 

Qu Dubian laughed: “Concubine Yi and Fourth Brother often give this kind of gift. When I moved to Shunning Palace years ago, I also received letter paper.”

 

The Fifth Prince also said cheerfully: “Consort Wen would probably like it a lot, for use when studying.”

 

The Fourth Prince said helplessly: “I didn’t want to go to too much trouble. How simple it is to trace pre-printed patterns on letter paper.”

 

“I’ve received the thoughtful gifts from Fourth Brother, Seventh Brother, and Sixth Brother. Thank you all,” the Fifth Prince said with a bow.

 

Fourth Prince: “We’re all brothers, no need for formalities.”

 

After seeing off Qu Dubian and the Fourth Prince, the Fifth Prince carefully put away their gifts and silently caressed the piece of jade sent by Noble Consort Lan.

 

After a while, he summoned a eunuch, “Have it carved into the shape of a scorpion, a golden-eyed scorpion would be good.”

 

The golden-eyed scorpion is highly venomous. When they bear offspring, they split open their spine, allowing their offspring to crawl out from their corpse to gain new life.

 

–

 

Fengwu Palace.

 

The little princess, who had been born not long ago, was crying earth-shatteringly.

 

The Empress was overwhelmed.

 

Heavens, how did those consorts with children endure this? It was absolutely exhausting. How could there be such troublesome creatures as children in the world?

 

She held the little princess, sighing involuntarily: “Ding Chang’an never even saw her child. It’s truly pitiful.”

 

The senior palace maid said: “Your Highness, would you like to raise the little princess? Our Fengwu Palace is indeed too quiet.”

 

The Empress was silent for a moment: “You know, in this rear palace, children mean trouble and entanglements, even if they’re princesses.”

 

Because once feelings developed, it would be difficult to remain a bystander to the storms of palace life.

 

She looked down at the toothless mouth of the little princess and couldn’t resist reaching out to pinch her cheek.

 

“Ah…”

 

–

 

As spring gave way to autumn, another autumn season arrived.

 

The year Qu Dubian was over nine years old.

 

An imperial edict flew into the rear palace.

 

The Second Princess was named Sihe and entrusted to the Empress for raising. Lady-in-Waiting[mfn]ive been using her title wrong for the whole time, APOLOGIES !!![/mfn] Guo was promoted to Noble Lady Guo for her meritorious service in raising the First Princess Zhiyi.

 

Shunning Palace.

 

Qu Dubian’s bedchamber.

 

He wore a light crimson narrow-sleeved robe, lying with his limbs spread out. His face was somewhat pale, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. True qi flowed through his meridians, rapidly gathering.

 

Finally, it all concentrated at the dantian point, rushing forth without any reservation.

 

Bang-!

 

His meridians vibrated, showing faint cracks.

 

It was as if a small-scale tsunami had occurred within his body.

 

After the tsunami, the dantian point remained tightly closed.

 

Qu Dubian suddenly opened his eyes, skillfully and quickly took out a handkerchief from under his pillow, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

 

Then he rushed to the edge of the table, poured water from the teapot into his mouth to rinse, and only returned to the bed after the bloody taste was gone.

 

Then he activated the simulator for [True Qi Impact · Minor Meridian Damage] symptoms, set it for three days, with the real value reset to zero.

 

The faint pain in his meridians finally disappeared.

 

Qu Dubian burned the handkerchief and fell back in frustration: “Failed again…”

 

He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and waved it a few times.

 

It feels like I’m just a little bit short, it’s so frustrating.

 

The more proficient he became with the first part of the Mian Shou Formula, the more he felt this internal cultivation method lacked aggressiveness. Every time he attempted to break through the dantian point, a gentle force would repair the part he had forcibly opened.

 

The simulator rarely spoke on its own: [Host has excellent talent for martial arts. According to statistics, in this world, talented martial artists typically open their dantian at twelve years of age.]

 

Qu Dubian: “That guy Xia Fuyang opened his dantian very successfully, and now he’s preparing for the martial arts examination, showing off in front of me and Xi Zixing every day. I really want to be able to fly around myself…”

 

Three months ago, he had felt that when practicing his cultivation method, the true qi in his meridians had reached near saturation, so he attempted to break through the dantian point.

 

After his first failure, which damaged his meridians, the simulator extracted this type of symptom and named it [True Qi Impact · Minor Meridian Damage].

 

Because it was different from normal illnesses, and mainly to make it convenient for him to cheat, the simulation time changed from a minimum of one day to a minimum of three days.

 

Qu Dubian didn’t mind this. After the real value was reset to zero, he felt nothing at all. Only spitting blood was a bit nauseating, so before each attempt to break through the dantian, he would empty his stomach.

 

After three months, he had become somewhat desensitized to the bloody taste, but not completely.

 

After lying down for about half an hour, there was a knock on the door outside: “Your Highness? The snacks you requested are ready.”

 

Qu Dubian: “Coming!”

 

He opened the door, “Banban, have Concubine Xuan and Zhiyi not returned yet?”

 

Ye Xiaoyuan: “Not yet. They’ll probably chat for a while at Fengwu Palace.”

 

The edict for the Empress to raise the Second Princess had been issued, and all palaces went to offer congratulations. Since it was the second little princess in the palace, Zhiyi wanted to see her, so Concubine Xuan and Noble Lady Guo accompanied her, treating it as an outing.

 

His appearance when attempting to break through the dantian point was somewhat frightening, so he had sent Ye banban away to prepare snacks, and he had also given Liu Liu a storybook, letting him finish work early.

 

“Good, Da Hei can eat these snacks too.”

 

Qu Dubian smiled as he carried the plate to his bedchamber-Da Hei’s bed had been moved to his chamber, in the corner near the small study.

 

Da Hei was seven years old when it came to him, already a mature, steady dog, and had accompanied him for about six years.

 

The black dog was a medium-sized breed, and medium-sized dogs generally live between 12-15 years, with only a few living longer.

 

Qu Dubian squatted in front of Da Hei’s small bed, “Here you go, Da Hei.”

 

He patted Da Hei’s neck.

 

Da Hei opened its eyes and began wagging its tail while resting on its front paws.

 

Qu Dubian divided the snacks: “One piece for you, one for me, one for Banban.”

 

He put the plate aside, sat cross-legged on the ground, and reached out to feed Da Hei.

 

Two years ago, Da Hei could still jog alongside him, but over the past two years, its energy had decreased every few months. Now its spirit seemed fine, but it was a bit hard of hearing.

 

The once mighty cart-pulling Da Hei had now become an elderly grandmother Da Hei.

 

“Let me take a look,” Qu Dubian pulled it into his arms, pried open Da Hei’s mouth, and checked its teeth, “Hmm… not bad. The missing teeth don’t affect eating, but no more gnawing on bones.”

 

A few days ago, he had discovered Da Hei secretly gnawing on a bone, getting its tooth stuck in it, then covering the bone with its paw, like a child who had done something wrong and didn’t want him to see.

 

Old dog, old dog, the older it gets, the more dog-like it becomes.

 

Da Hei couldn’t clearly hear what the two-legged cub was saying and obediently allowed him to examine its mouth.

 

After the inspection, Qu Dubian fed it two more pieces.

 

Ye Xiaoyuan’s nose twitched, “Your Highness, did you burn something in your room?”

 

Qu Dubian didn’t blink: “I ruined a few sheets of paper, assignments from Master Fang.”

 

Ye Xiaoyuan nodded. He knew what agreement the prince had reached with Master Fang-Master Fang would privately give the prince problems to solve, and then he would submit them.

 

Currently, only he and Master Liu Liu knew about this.

 

He couldn’t help but look at Qu Dubian’s profile again, “Your Highness, why do you look a bit pale?”

 

Qu Dubian gave a random reply: “Probably because all my melanin went to Da Hei.”

 

Ye Xiaoyuan: “?”

 

Qu Dubian laughed: “It’s from being cooped up in the room! Some sunbathing will fix it.”

 

He secretly glanced at Ye Xiaoyuan.

 

Banban Ye was sometimes incredibly perceptive, and if this continued, he might be exposed. It would be better to stay at his grandmother’s house for a while.

 

He dragged Da Hei outside to sunbathe.

 

“I’m sunbathing now, guaranteed I won’t be pale by tonight.”

 

Ye Xiaoyuan followed helplessly, saying: “You shouldn’t aim to get sunburned though…”

 

–

 

Qu Dubian lay in a rocking chair until Concubine Xuan and the others returned.

 

Zhiyi’s eyes sparkled: “Xiao Qi, the little sister is so cute! She’s growing so fast, about the same size as you were when we first met. Hmm… she might be taller than you were then.”

 

Qu Dubian clutched his heart, “Sister, that’s too harsh.”

 

Concubine Xuan smiled: “The Empress has indeed developed feelings for her. I originally thought, given her personality, she wouldn’t agree.”

 

Qu Dubian stroked Da Hei.

 

“People aren’t made of wood.”

 

If one becomes stingy with giving emotions and afraid to accept emotions, there’s essentially no difference between living and dying.

 

Concubine Xuan walked over, “Indeed. Xiao Qi, have you prepared your gift for the First Prince’s wedding?”

 

Qu Dubian: “Ye banban prepared it long ago, all the ceremonial gifts.”

 

After the death of the Shu family’s eldest son, according to custom, no marriages could take place within a year. But the Shu family’s daughter said her brother had cared for her just like parents would, and she insisted on wearing mourning clothes for three years.

 

After three years, before the Mid-Autumn Festival, an auspicious date was chosen, and the First Prince was finally going to marry the Shu family’s daughter.

 

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