Chapter 30 - 1#
Inner Garments; Continuing to Build the Nest, Continuing the Madness#
—Yanzhi has fallen for someone else.
Outside the Taiji Hall, a fierce wind raged.
The sound of the wind whistled through the narrow palace corridors, creating a din like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of wolves.
The gale swept up heavy snow; clumps of snow the size of fists hammered against the windows like hailstones, sounding like malicious spirits pounding at the glass.
Inch by inch it pressed closer, making the ground tremble and the mountains shake.
Inside the Taiji Hall, no candles were lit, and no one else was present.
The curtains were half-drawn. In the pitch darkness, only the affection panel in front of Xiao Cuan emitted a faint red glow.
This panel belonged only to him; only he could summon it, and only he could see it. Thus, the red light only illuminated his face.
Xiao Cuan sat on the couch, gritting his teeth hard as he stared fixedly at that line of bright red text on the panel.
—Chu Yu.
—Current Affection: 80.
Eighty? Eighty!
How was it possible? How could Yanzhi’s affection for someone else be eighty?
Yanzhi’s affection for Old Man Wei and the workers on the ship, at its very peak, was only sixty—barely a passing grade.
This Chu Yu had clearly only appeared on the panel a few days ago. Where did eighty come from?
Where on earth did eighty come from?!
It was unclear if it was the red light stinging his eyes or if Xiao Cuan’s own eyes had turned red.
His eyes were bloodshot as he leaned further forward, staring at the panel so intensely he nearly looked through the line of text.
Impossible! He must be seeing things!
The affection level should be “8,” not “80.”
“Chu Yu” should be a fish, not a person. (Note: “Chu Yu” 楚鱼 sounds like “Cu Yu” 醋鱼, meaning Vinegar Fish.)
Yanzhi was always a glutton who loved eating and drinking. He probably passed through a southern county, ate a dish called Vinegar Fish, liked it, and because the southern workers had slurred speech, they pronounced “Cu Yu” as “Chu Yu.”
That’s why Yanzhi’s affection for “Chu Yu” reached eighty.
“Chu Yu” must be a fish, must be a dish—it absolutely cannot be a person!
It’s impossible for Yanzhi to fall for someone else!
With a sense of security born of denial, Xiao Cuan raised his hand and swiped the panel.
Since even a dish was on Yanzhi’s affection panel, then the cream puffs, cream cakes, milk candies, jellies, and biscuits he had given Yanzhi before must also be on there.
So that was it; he just hadn’t noticed before.
Although Yanzhi’s current affection for him was zero, Yanzhi’s affection for cream puffs must be at maximum capacity!
Yes, it must be so!
The system’s voice still echoed in his ears—
“This upgrade will highlight characters with affection greater than 80, making it easier for players to filter.”
“A new sorting method has been added to the panel. Players can sort by affection level or the first letter of the name.”
“New notes have been added to the panel. Affection 0 to 29 is the ‘Acquaintance’ stage; 30 to 59 is the ‘Familiar’ stage; 60 to 89 is the ‘Liking’ stage; 90 and above is the ‘Deep Love’ stage. For player reference.”
“This upgrade is a trial run. In the future, the upper and lower limits of affection may be expanded, with negative affection displays added, as well as stages like ‘Dislike’, ‘Hatred’, and ‘Abhorrence’. Those with complex emotions that are difficult to detect will no longer show affection. Please be advised.”
Xiao Cuan didn’t listen to what the electronic voice was saying at all. He just frowned, staring at the panel, trying to find the four red characters for “Cream Puff.”
With a “ding-dong,” the broadcast ended.
There must be…
Nothing.
Xiao Cuan sat back on the couch, the blood-red light in his eyes gradually dimming.
The cream puffs, which were also food, weren’t on there. So…
Chu Yu was not a dish.
Chu Yu was a person.
Yanzhi’s affection for a person had risen to eighty in just a few short days.
According to the storybooks Yanzhi loved to read, the two of them were a match made in heaven, a pair destined by fate…
No… No!
What “match made in heaven” bullshit?
Xiao Cuan clenched his fist and swung at the panel.
He wanted to close it, but he hit “Sort by Affection Level.”
Thus, Chu Yu’s affection of eighty sat steadily at the very top.
He swung his fist again, and the sorting changed to “Sort by Alphabetical Order.”
Aside from a few nicknames starting with “A,” Chu Yu remained near the top.
Both punches hit nothing but air. Xiao Cuan was furious; he grabbed the pillow on the couch to throw it, but stopped himself at the last moment.
This was Yanzhi’s pillow. It was filled with Yanzhi’s scent.
He couldn’t bear to part with it.
Xiao Cuan could only swipe down the panel until his own name appeared.
—Xiao Cuan. Current Affection: 0.
Below it was a small note: “Met by chance, like water passing without a trace. Only knows the name, otherwise no connection.”
Nonsense! Absolute nonsense!
How could he and Yanzhi be “met by chance” with “no connection”?
He and Yanzhi had lived and eaten together for ten whole years.
He had held Yanzhi tens of thousands of times, kissed Yanzhi tens of thousands of times.
He gave Yanzhi delicious food and drink every day. He held Yanzhi every night, pinching his cheeks as he fell asleep.
Right now, it was just…
It was just that Yanzhi didn’t know he was the Empress and had gotten himself into a dead end, leaving in a fit of pique.
Once he found Yanzhi and fed him a couple of cream puffs, the affection would rise right back up. What was there to make a fuss about?
Besides, as for that Chu Yu, Yanzhi must have met a swindler!
This swindler saw that Yanzhi was delicate and had a bit of money, so he deliberately tricked him.
And Yanzhi was simple-minded; he’d fall for it instantly.
The more Xiao Cuan thought, the more furious and anxious he became. He wished he could go south right now and snatch Yanzhi back.
But—
Where exactly was Yanzhi? Where was he hiding?
He couldn’t be found at the ferries, nor in the various prefectures or counties.
The characters on the affection panel were all nicknames or aliases.
He had almost turned the entire Liang Kingdom upside down, yet he still couldn’t find him.
Xiao Cuan clenched his fist and punched the wall hard. Giving up on sleep, he rose from the couch.
He sat down on the small couch in the side hall and lit a candle.
In the dim candlelight, Xiao Cuan picked up the paper and brush Yanzhi used for calligraphy practice from the floor. He ground the ink and lifted the brush.
He closed his eyes, took two deep breaths, and suppressed the overwhelming fury and jealousy in his heart. Then he looked up, glanced at the affection panel, and wrote a character heavily on the paper—
Yang.
On Yanzhi’s affection panel, there was an “Auntie Yang.” Although the full name wasn’t known, he knew her surname was “Yang.”
Similarly, there were the so-called “Auntie Liu” and “Grandpa Liu.”
These people had all appeared after Yanzhi left Old Man Wei’s cargo ship.
Either they were people Yanzhi met on the road, or—
Yanzhi had already settled down, and these people were his neighbors, local people he knew.
Even if their full names weren’t known, their surnames were.
Starting with surnames, he could still narrow down the search.
Xiao Cuan’s hand didn’t stop writing, and his heart didn’t stop churning.
With every person he looked at, he felt a wave of indignation.
Why should a crummy old man get forty points of affection from Yanzhi?
Why should a common village woman get fifty points?
Why was Yanzhi’s affection for him zero? Why?!
Whenever his jealousy became uncontrollable, about to burst from his chest, he would clench his fist and thump his own chest hard, as if to push the fury back down.
If that didn’t work, he would pull the quilts from Yanzhi’s couch and hold them in his arms. Every time he wrote a character, he would lower his head and take a sniff of Yanzhi’s scent.
In this way, while suppressing his jealousy, he compiled all the surnames appearing on Yanzhi’s affection panel.
Yang and Liu were typical southern surnames and appeared the most.
This indicated that Yanzhi was still in the south and hadn’t gone elsewhere.
There were also various other surnames mixed together, all appearing with similar frequency.
This suggested that the place Yanzhi was currently staying wasn’t very permanent—perhaps an inn or a postal station.
But if no new names appeared in a few days, it would mean Yanzhi had settled down, and likely in a place that wasn’t very high-end.
The south was watery, with interwoven rivers; towns were scattered like stars.
Not to mention that he had pacified the south years ago, and now that the south was recovering, the population had grown immensely.
Xiao Cuan lowered his head, resting it on his hand, staring fixedly at the paper before him, trying to find more clues.
He needed the local officials in charge of household registration to send up the registers so he could investigate these surnames.
Yanzhi was timid; knowing he’d sent people to look, he probably wouldn’t go to any conspicuous large places.
If he went to a small place, Yanzhi couldn’t live in an inn forever; he would surely buy a house.
He also needed the officials to send up the contracts for recent house sales.
*
After an unknown amount of time, the candle on the desk burned out. The dim light flickered in the wind and finally died.
At the same time, with a soft “clack,” Xiao Cuan put down the brush.
He gathered the papers recording the surnames and, holding the quilts Yanzhi left behind, collapsed onto the floor.
So fragrant, so soft, so warm.
Xiao Cuan wanted to sleep for a bit like this, but his greed was too great; he still felt it wasn’t enough.
So he stood up again and opened the wardrobe in Yanzhi’s room.
Yanzhi had left in a hurry and only took two changes of clothes; many clothes were left behind.
Xiao Cuan reached in and pulled out all the clothes, placing them on the couch along with the quilts.
He remembered that when Yanzhi slept, he would always build a “nest” on the couch.
How did he build it?
Xiao Cuan’s hands were clumsy; he couldn’t make a rounded little nest like Yanzhi’s. He could only pile up Yanzhi’s clothes and quilts to form a circle.
He covered himself with Yanzhi’s quilt and lay inside this circle, feeling a moment of peace surrounded by Yanzhi’s scent.
But even so, he was still not satisfied.
He opened the wardrobe again and took out jelly cups, chocolate wrappers, and the boxes that held cream cakes, arranging them by the couch.
These were all snacks he had given Yanzhi to eat, and Yanzhi had washed them and kept them.
This was the witness of their relationship! The evidence of the time they spent together!
Xiao Cuan had once called them trash and told Yanzhi to throw them away.
What had Yanzhi said then?
Yanzhi didn’t cry or make a scene; he just looked at him calmly and gave a quiet response.
—“Alright then, I’ll just throw them away.”
Xiao Cuan had thought at the time that Yanzhi was just being petulant.
Until now, he finally understood.
Yanzhi really had thrown them away, and him along with them.
Xiao Cuan wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, like a lone alpha wolf, curling his body and burying his sensitive nose inside. Without needing to sniff intentionally, he could smell the familiar scent.