Lost Red Pearl; Inadvertent Eyes Red with Desire
Just then, Feng Xin who was kneeling behind Xie Lian spoke up grimly, "His Highness did indeed mention it a couple days ago."
All eyes went to him. Feng Xin continued, "Recently His Highness has been putting a lot of thought into the Heavenly Procession, and yesterday he suddenly came up with the extraordinary idea of jumping off the tower to simulate celestial descent without changing anything else in the programming. At the time, His Highness was in the middle of rehearsals and couldn't get away, so he sent Mu Qing to pass on word to Guoshi to request for the go ahead."
He raised his head, anger obvious in his eyes, "Mu Qing returned and told His Highness that Guoshi had been informed, so His Highness performed today under the impression that he got permission. Who knew Guoshi had not known, and almost ruined the event!"
The cultivators all looked at each other. Guoshi asked, "Who knew of this?"
The other three Deputy Guoshis shook their heads, all denying knowing anything. Guoshi turned to Mu Qing, his cloudy expression turning into one of anger, "Mu Qing, you intentionally withheld communication?"
His words and expression showed he already firmly believed Mu Qing to be sabotaging the affair purposely. Xie Lian glanced at the silent, expressionless youth kneeling on the side and pondered before speaking up, "Guoshi, I think there must be some kind of misunderstanding here."
Hearing this, Mu Qing shifted his eyes to stare at him, his eyes going dark. Xie Lian said, "If he had purposely held back word, once the event's over and we compared notes, his deceit would be revealed, and there'd be no way he could escape taking responsibility. Mu Qing is not a short-sighted imbecile, and wouldn't have come up with such a low tactic. Besides, with the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior missing, what advantages does the ghost opponent have? Please hear him out, Guoshi, and then draw a conclusion."
Finishing his speech, Xie Lian inclined his head, "Tell us, Mu Qing. What happened?"
Mu Qing lowered his eyes and said softly, "I did pass word what His Highness bade me to say yesterday."
Guoshi frowned, "Won't we know ourselves what you did or did not say? When did you tell us?"
"Yesterday, an hour after the evening lesson, when the four Masters were resting at the SiXiang Pavilion, this disciple spoke from outside the window." Mu Qing said.
Guoshi turned his head to his three fellows, looking puzzled, "Yesterday after the evening lessons? What were we doing then?"
The moment the question left his lips he remembered, and his face turned slightly blue from awkwardness. The other three Deputy Guoshis also coughed nervously, their response ambiguous, "Not really anything. Just… resting is resting!"
Seeing how Guoshis stammered, everyone understood immediately.
The Royal Holy Pavilion was a place of quiet meditation and training, and there was very little entertainment, only some small games that could be counted as amusement. One of them, the most popular one, was playing cards.
Cards could only be played secretly, to be seen by no one. The Guoshis had long been bored out of their minds residing at the Royal Holy Pavilion, and so they're heavily addicted. When they start playing, they would forget everything and everyone, falling into a state akin to obsession or drunkenness, uncontrollably emotional, and definitely would not be able to hear anything from the outside. If Mu Qing had said anything at that same time, what could they possibly hear?
One of the Deputy Guoshis said, "Oh, um… maybe there were too many people, your voice was too low, and we didn't hear. Or, um, we didn't hear clearly."
Guoshi demanded suspiciously, "Did you actually go to the SiXiang Pavilion yesterday?"
"I absolutely did." Mu Qing said, and as proof, he relayed the dress, look, and accent of the guard standing at the gate, and without fault. Guoshi had to believe him, but still he frowned, "If you had gone to the SiXiang Pavilion, you could've just passed on the message to the trainee outside the door, or enter the chamber and communicate in detail, why speak outside by the window? You didn't even confirm whether if we heard?"
Mu Qing responded softly, "It's not like I didn't try. This disciple had begged the shixiong* guarding the door, but for some reason that shixiong had to make things difficult, and wouldn't let me into the chamber or pass on word for me. His words were taunting and he booted me out."
After a pause he continued, "This disciple had no other choice, so I went around to the other side of the SiXiang Pavilion, and tried to pass on the message through the window. After I spoke, I heard one of the Guoshis say "I understand, now leave." so this disciple had taken that as consent to His Highness' plans, and returned."
The Guoshis pursed their lips and didn't speak.
At the height of a round of card games, who would pay attention to whatever was said outside? If they should hear anything of course they'd respond offhandedly with "I understand", but in reality, they probably didn't even know where the voice came from!
Xie Lian knitted his brows, "That such a thing would happen! Which trainee is this impudent? To be so disrespectful to one of my messengers, he's got guts."
Although Xie Lian was usually kind and gentle when interacting with others at the Royal Holy Pavilion, and never really put on airs, he was still nonetheless the esteemed son of the king, the prominent Crown Prince, and even as he knelt before the statue of god, he had not shown any meekness or timidity. In that moment of sterness, he was strong and authoritative without fury. Everyone stayed quiet, and the Guoshis wore unreadable expressions on their faces.
"Why didn't you report this to me when you returned yesterday?" Xie Lian asked.
Mu Qing turned around while still kneeling, and prostrated, his voice quiet, "Your Highness, there's no need to look further into this matter with that shixiong. I didn't say anything after returning yesterday simply because I don't want to make this into a big deal. And seriously, it's nothing major. If Your Highness was to defend me openly, then it'll hurt the friendliness between everyone."
Xie Lian disagreed, sounding upset, "What is this friendliness with everyone? The kind of friendliness you use to abuse others?"
Hearing this, the Guoshis sitting on the side looked even more agitated.
At the end of the day, something like this happened because the Guoshis disliked Mu Qing.
Since they were displeased, then the trainee attendants naturally followed their lead, and truly, Mu Qing himself wasn't that likeable, so it was often that not only did fellow trainees inconvenienced him, they'd also make things difficult for him at every turn. Of course, this high and mighty disciple wasn't trying to be sarcastic, but he certainly did make a jab.
Through his words, it was obvious Mu Qing was backing off, but Feng Xin couldn't listen to another word, and suddenly interjected, "It really was nothing major, but you had to go and make it complicated. If you had told the trainee at the door that you went to deliver a message by his royal highness' command, would he still be brave enough to block your way? Also, right before we departed today Guoshi asked you where His Highness went, why did you answer so vaguely? Couldn't you have said clearly that His Highness was on top of the tower waiting for the procession to start?"
Mu Qing immediately argued back, calmly and steadily, "I thought Guoshi had already known and didn't expect to be asked that question so I was confused. But right after, I told Guoshi His Highness had already said not to worry, and that the procession could start without delay as planned, that His Highness would be back promptly. High highness might not have been there at the time, but there were many on site who heard me, so how can you say I did this intentionally? That I was being vague?"
Feng Xin stared at him angrily. But if he thought about it in detail, Mu Qing did indeed say what he did, only Guoshi was too anxious and didn't want to make hasty decisions, so if he must pick at faults, there really wasn't much to prove anything. Just then, Xie Lian spoke up again, "Alright, alright. It's all just an untimely misunderstanding. It's all just bad luck, so stop fighting."
Feng Xin looked extremely displeased, but mindful of his position, he dared not be noisy
in the Great Martial Hall, so he stopped talking. Guoshi didn't want to pursue this topic anymore either, because after all, if they must get to the bottom of things, wasn't he at fault too for being too engrossed in card games? Thus, he simply waved and sighed, "Let's talk more later. We will discuss more on what's transpired and think of a way to save the situation. The three of you are dismissed; go remove your costumes and do whatever else you must."
Xie Lian curtseyed and rose to his feet. Feng Xin and Mu Qing both properly kowtowed once before rising, following behind Xie Lian about to leave. Xie Lian had one foot over the threshold when he heard Guoshi speak up, "Your Highness."
Xie Lian turned his head. "Both his majesty the king and her ladyship the queen had asked after you today. If you have time the next few days, go and see them." Guoshi said.
Xie Lian smiled, "I understand."
After leaving the Great Martial Hall, the three of them traversed through a large part of the summit, and returned to the Xianle Palace Training Hall, built especially for the Crown Prince. Xie Lian could finally remove his ceremonial garb.
As aforementioned, for the ShangYuan Heavenly Ceremonial Procession, the ceremonial attire of the God-Pleasing Martial Warrior was exceedingly strict in every detail, as every accessory and folds had meaning, and cannot ever be disarranged or mixed up. For example, the outer robe was to be white, symbolizing 'divine purity'; the inner garb was to be red, symbolizing 'canonical tradition'; the golden crown that fastened hair symbolized 'royal power' and 'wealth'; white plumes hidden by the heart
meant 'flight to ascension'; loose cordon ribbons along the sleeves meant 'to carry all
lives'; etc., etc.
It would be easy to imagine that from head to toe, whether to wear or to remove, was no simple task. However, as the esteemed Crown Prince, naturally he needn't do anything himself; he only needed to stand and open his arms wide in that refreshing, fragrant chamber, and chat with Feng Xin while waiting on the personal attendant Mu Qing to help remove layers after layers of this God-Pleasing costume.
That outer white robe of the God-Pleasing costume was of high quality, the threads delicate and exquisite, the fringes sewn with intricate light golden patterns, elegant but not frivolous. In comparison, the black martial gi of the ghost costume was a difference of heaven and earth. Mu Qing himself hadn't removed his black gear yet, his hands full with the God-Pleasing costume disrobed from Xie Lian, and his fingers twitched, inconspicuously feeling up the material of that white robe.
Next to him, Xie Lian removed the golden crown, letting his long hair loose, and sat down on the edge of his sandalwood bed, kicking off his snow-white boots, waiting for someone to bring him fresh clothes. He waited for a bit but noticed Mu Qing wasn't moving, so he inclined his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
Mu Qing instantly came around and replied, "The costume seemed to be dirty in some places."
Xie Lian "Ah"-ed and said, "Bring it over and let me see?"
Sure enough, on the snow-white attire were two distinct little black hand prints. Xie Lian took a look and remarked, "It's probably done by that little kid who fell from the sky. I remember he was grabbing on to me and wouldn't let go. That child's face was wrapped all over with bandages, maybe he had tumbled elsewhere or something. Feng Xin, did you check him out?"
Feng Xin was just wrapping up the sword and zanbato, and replied grimly, "No. I took him out of the palace, and was about to take a look at his face as you asked, but he kicked me in the shin! It actually fucking hurt."
Xie Lian fell over on the bed laughing, pointing at him, "It must be because you're so mean. Otherwise how come he didn't kick me, but kicked you?"
"I wasn't!" Feng Xin cried, "It was like that damned kid was possessed or something, and ran away right quick. Or else I would've picked him up upside down and shook until he cried from fright."
Mu Qing turned the white robe over in his hands, "That kid must be a beggar; he's too dirty. Just a simple grab and he could leave black prints like these. Your Highness, the God-Pleasing costume can't be dirty, isn't that also a bad omen?"
Xie Lian stayed in his lying position on the bed, and casually grabbed a book from the headboard, covering half of his face, "Three rounds around the capital, I've already got a good name going down history with the best record. If it's dirty, it's dirty, just wash it."
After a pause, Mu Qing replied quietly, "I will do my best to be careful when I wash it."
Xie Lian flipped through the book, and came to the page illustrating the art of the saber, and recalled the exhilarating sparring earlier that day on the stage. He smiled, "Mu Qing, you fought well today on stage."
Mu Qing's shoulders tensed.
Xie Lian continued, "Only today did I find out that you're much more skilled with the saber than you are with the sword."
Mu Qing's expression relaxed and turned around. There was even a little smile playing on his lips, "Really?"
"Yea!" Xie Lian answered, "But you might've been too hasty. Swinging a saber is not like swinging a sword, look here…"
The moment the topic on martial arts started, Xie Lian became highly enthusiastic, even more possessed than when the Guoshis played cards, and he jumped off the bed without even putting on shoes, demonstrating his point on the spot using his hand as the pretend saber. Mu Qing wore a complicated expression, but after Xie Lian demonstrated a few moves, he started to watch seriously. Feng Xin on the other hand, swung the now properly wrapped zanbato, and chased Xie Lian back onto the bed, shouting, "IF YOU'RE GOING TO SHOW OFF AT LEAST PUT ON YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU DO! You're the Crown Prince! Hair loose and feet bare, what a disgrace!"
Xie Lian was just at the height of his excitement but got chased onto the bed like ducks to the pen, and was rather bitter. "Alright! Jeez." He said, and ran through his long hair with both his hands, ready to tie it up before continuing his lecture to Mu Qing when suddenly, he frowned, "That's weird."
"What is it?" Feng Xin asked.
——
●Shixiong - Older cultivation brother, like senpai.