Chapter 80 - 1#
World 4: You Are the Snow on the Branch#
Qin Qing and his group set off in a mighty contingent. On the way, seeing a shop selling sesame seed cakes, the hunters stopped the ox cart and went in to buy dry provisions.
Ye Li said to Qin Qing, “Little Marquis, are you hungry? A-Niu and I are a bit hungry.”
“I’m not hungry, you go in and buy,” Qin Qing shook his head, his voice somewhat weak.
The setting sun’s afterglow, carrying magnificent red clouds, shone on his face, yet it could not dye his pale face with a trace of warmth. His skin was a white close to transparency, like light floating on the surface of a lake, shattering at a touch.
Ye Li gave a low response and exited the carriage. When closing the curtain, for some reason, he took a hurried glance inside.
Losing the illumination, that pale figure had been swallowed by heavy darkness.
Ye Li frowned and walked towards the sesame seed cake shop. A-Niu was squatting at the shop entrance, holding a sesame seed cake and eating it in big bites; the other hunters were packing dry provisions and water/wine.
“Brother Ye, here’s one for you.” A-Niu handed over the oil paper package in his hand, which wrapped a sesame seed cake.
Ye Li took it and took a bite, then went in to find the shopkeeper to fill two water skins.
“Is the Little Marquis not hungry? Should we buy him something to eat?” A-Niu asked while eating.
“He said he’s not hungry,” Ye Li said with a frown.
“What if he gets hungry on the road? Let’s buy him a few meat pies.” A-Niu stood up, preparing to walk into the shop.
Ye Li pressed down on A-Niu’s shoulder, his tone somewhat irritable: “He is the dignified Little Marquis of the Qin family. He has lived in luxury and extravagance since childhood. How could he fancy your sesame seed cakes? Even if you buy it for him, he won’t eat it, and it’s more likely he’ll despise your things for being crude.”
A-Niu thought about it and agreed, his face darkening a few shades. In this half month, Qin Qing had never eaten a meal with them; he always ran outside by himself to steal the delicious food brought by the servants.
The Qin family’s extravagance and licentiousness were famous.
“Don’t bother with him,” Ye Li said in a cold and hard tone.
“At any rate, he is our employer now. We have to pretend on the surface,” A-Niu said with a sneer.
The two stood at the entrance of the sesame seed cake shop, watching the hunters carry dry provisions trip after trip.
“Brother Ye, why do you think Qin Qing wants to take us back to the Marquis residence? Could he have discovered our identities?” A-Niu asked alertly.
“Qi Sifeng must have discovered it, otherwise he wouldn’t have made things convenient for us everywhere. Qin Qing, that fool—”
Ye Li paused, then corrected himself, “Whether he has discovered it or not, we will see slowly in the future. Soldiers block the water, earth covers the flood; we’ll just adapt to the situation.”
Ye Li quickly finished eating the sesame seed cake and stared fixedly at the carriage compartment that was tightly blocked by the bamboo curtain.
“I think he probably hasn’t discovered it. Brother Ye, I’ll say something unpleasant, don’t scold me. I think he wants to be a cut-sleeve with you, that’s why he’s taking you back. The look in his eyes when he looks at you is so lingering and sentimental…”
Ye Li turned his head abruptly, looking at A-Niu with an extremely gloomy expression.
A-Niu opened his mouth, then suddenly went silent.
Back then, the series of tragic events caused by the Supreme Emperor and the Qin family ancestor being cut-sleeves had killed an unknown number of people. The Qin family had also relied on the Supreme Emperor’s favor to tyrannize for many years. If this Little Marquis wanted to imitate his ancestor…
The Fourth Highness would skin the Little Marquis alive!
A-Niu slapped himself hard twice and pleaded for mercy in a low voice: “Brother Ye, I won’t talk nonsense anymore. Don’t hold it against me.”
Ye Li’s gloomy expression then softened a bit, and he said in a deep voice: “Don’t speak nonsense in the future. Let’s go!”
The two walked towards the carriage.
At the same time, Qin Qing, leaning diagonally in the carriage, was also smoothing 996’s fur stroke by stroke, saying in a weak voice: “If Ye Li really is the Fourth Prince, he probably hates the Qin family to the bone.”
996 had read the script, so it nodded repeatedly.
Back then, the Supreme Emperor favored the Qin family’s Great Ancestor alone. When the two were like glue and lacquer, the Qin family’s Great Ancestor suggested that the current Emperor, the Crown Prince at the time, marry a daughter of the Qin family as his principal wife. But the Crown Prince already had a principal wife, how could he agree? Moreover, the principal wife had given birth to two sons and a daughter for him; Li Suyue was one of them.
The Crown Prince did not agree, and the Supreme Emperor, that old muddlehead, actually threatened to depose the Crown Prince. Under pressure, the Crown Prince had no choice but to banish the Crown Princess to the Cold Palace, and the Qin family daughter came from behind to become the principal wife.
Li Suyue and his brother and sister grew up in the hands of the Qin family daughter, suffering unknown numbers of poisonings and secret harms. Li Suyue’s brother, because of the Qin family daughter’s poisoning, had his health completely ruined, taking medicinal soups all day long, his lifespan greatly reduced.
Under such persecution, Li Suyue’s hatred for the Qin family was probably deeper than the ocean.
Fortunately, later the Supreme Emperor passed away, and Li Suyue’s father successfully ascended the throne. Only then was the Qin family daughter reckoned with, and Li Suyue’s mother returned to the position of Empress. But the Supreme Emperor had left the Qin family a gold medallion for immunity from death, which left the Emperor unsure of how to proceed.
“So it is absolutely impossible for Li Suyue to like you. Taking him by your side is taking a ticking time bomb; it could blow you up at any time!” 996 said worriedly.
Qin Qing didn’t understand what a ticking time bomb was, but he could understand the meaning.
Li Suyue was a knife, hanging over his head at all times. Once this knife fell, it would destroy not only Qin Qing but the entire Qin family.
Qin Qing suddenly felt his scalp go cold. He looked up, but only saw a bamboo-woven carriage roof. However, this danger of destruction that could happen at any time was real.
Qin Qing rubbed his extremely sleepy eyes and said weakly: “I know he is very dangerous, that’s why I want to keep him in front of my eyes. I can control the situation, don’t worry.”
996 thought of Qin Qing’s ability to write scripts and felt slightly relieved. At least Qin Qing always knew what he was doing.
It’s just that he has reincarnated now! He doesn’t remember anything; can he still control the situation?
996 began to get nervous again.
Qin Qing suddenly asked: “You said I am the reincarnation of a little fairy child? Is it true?”
996: “…Actually, not a fairy child, but a guardian. I am the Bodhisattva’s Left Guardian, and you are the Bodhisattva’s Right Guardian. In a great battle to slay demons, you unfortunately fell, while I was stronger than you and defeated the evil demons. The Bodhisattva ordered me to come down to find you, to guide your soul back to the Pure Land after you die. My mission is to protect you and help you pass your tribulation.”
Qin Qing: “…I feel like you are lying to me.”
“How am I lying to you!”
“Are you stronger than me? I think that’s unlikely.”
“Am I not stronger than you? Look at my sturdy body, then look at your small frame!”
“…Alright, I admit you are stronger than me.”
One person and one cat were chatting when Ye Li entered.
A wisp of orange-red sunset took the opportunity to slip in through the lifted bamboo curtain, shining softly on Qin Qing’s face.
Qin Qing lowered his head, stroking the cat in his arms while smiling quietly with the corners of his lips curled up. His thick eyelashes hung down like fans, and when they trembled slightly, there would be fine, broken glimmers flashing like stars.
That was Qin Qing’s clear eyes being illuminated by the sunset.
Ye Li was stunned for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and silently sat opposite. He turned his head to look out the window, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter.
He tried hard to recall the suffering his mother had endured in the Cold Palace, the countless poisonings and assassinations he and his royal brother and sister had experienced, and the rampant, twisted face of the Qin family daughter…
The floating mood was finally completely covered by the deliberately stirred-up hatred. Only then did Ye Li dare to turn his head back and look indifferently at Qin Qing.
Qin Qing put down 996, and with his slender fingers, slowly untied his belt and took off his outer shirt. The pure white inner garment was cut from the finest silk, thin as a cicada’s wing. The snowy skin hidden beneath it was like a piece of warm jade hidden in a stream.
Taking off the outer shirt, Qin Qing also took off his two shoes. His bare feet stepped on the smooth goose-yellow bamboo mat.
His soles were very thin, the arches slightly raised, every curve round and beautiful, just right, like a piece of carefully polished jade ware. The only function of this jade ware was to be held in someone’s hands and fondled day and night.
Ye Li stared at the snowy skin under the thin clothes, then stared at the pair of jade feet, his tightly furrowed brows almost tied into a dead knot.
Sweat beads covered his forehead, steaming in the sultry and cramped carriage. Ye Li let out a heavy breath and asked sternly: “Little Marquis, what are you doing?”
Suddenly undressing in a moving carriage, could this person be even more shameless and licentious than the Qin family’s Great Ancestor?
Ye Li clenched his fists tightly, suppressing his violently churning emotions. If Qin Qing really threw himself into his arms, how should he…
However, Qin Qing didn’t pay him any attention at all. He hugged 996, turned over, and lay down quietly facing the carriage wall.
On the back of his neck, wrists, and other places, there were several bright red abrasion marks, caused by the rubbing of the rough linen outer shirt. The heels of both bare feet were also rubbed raw, oozing many beads of blood.
Only then did Ye Li realize he had misunderstood. If he didn’t take off the outer shirt and cloth shoes, this Little Marquis would probably be rubbed until he was covered in cuts and bruises.
Embarrassment was written all over Ye Li’s handsome face. He almost thought it was a deliberate seduction.
Watching the Little Marquis curl up into a ball with his back to him, appearing so lonely and pitiful, he lowered his head, scratched the tip of his nose, and then coughed pretending to be uncomfortable.
After coughing, he raised his head and continued to examine the Little Marquis’s back, his mind in turmoil again.
How could there be such a delicate person in the world? His skin couldn’t even withstand the light scraping of fabric. Streaks of red marks, dots of blood stains, like bright plum blossoms blooming in the snow, were both somewhat shocking and carried an indescribable erotic charm.
Ye Li threw his head back, looking at the carriage roof in extreme irritability.
The air became thin, forcing out a lot of hot sweat. He lifted the bamboo curtain to let the evening breeze blow in.
However, the wind outside was scorching hot as if it had been burned, blowing until he was dripping with sweat.
This summer, the sun seemed about to fall to the ground, roasting the earth like a furnace. The crops had all withered and died, the common people were displaced, their lives hanging by a thread.
The streets were everywhere filled with groups of refugees. Their faces were haggard, their bodies thin as firewood, their tattered clothes hanging on their bodies like willow catkins. Waves of foul stench emanated from their matted hair, making passersby retch one after another.
Ye Li did not feel disgusted, only pained. These people were all subjects of the Great Yan Dynasty. If the people do not exist, how can the country stand? The omens of national ruin were already right before his eyes.
Ye Li looked at the walking-corpse-like common people on the street, then looked at Qin Qing lying nearby, tender as a block of clotted cream, and the disgust in his heart deepened.
“Vermilion gates reek of wine and meat, while on the road lie frozen bones.” Ye Li was sighing secretly when he saw a crowd gathering ahead. Everyone wore a joyful smile and let out happy shouts.
“Miss Qi is distributing porridge! Everyone come quickly!”
“Miss Qi is a living Bodhisattva!”
“Thank you, Miss Qi! Miss Qi, may you have much fortune and longevity, and peace all your life!”
Many praises and blessings echoed in the air, boiling the long street. The woman surrounded by the crowd, ladling out porridge bowl by bowl, attracted Ye Li’s attention.
The woman was very beautiful, her delicate face revealing a gentle smile. Surrounded by suffering sentient beings, she radiated a light of compassion.
Ye Li looked at her, his pupils slightly condensing.
Suddenly, a wisp of faint fragrance drilled into his nostrils, bringing a pleasant intoxication. He turned his head to look, only to realize that the Little Marquis had been awakened by the noise and was leaning over, looking out from the window on his side.
Being closer, the faint fragrance emitting from the Little Marquis’s body became even richer, as if he soaked in spring water made of rouge and powder all day long, pickling this sweet scent directly into the depths of his soft flesh.
Probably only the Qin family, wealthy enough to rival the nation, could provide for such a pampered child with mountains of gold and silver.
Ye Li moved aside, distancing himself from Qin Qing. Qin Qing then occupied this window, looking carefully outside.
Many people gathered in front of the straw shed, all holding porcelain bowls high in their hands, begging Qi Siyu to bestow a bowl of porridge water. The refugees around also surged over, standing on tiptoe and looking on longingly.
“That is Qi Sifeng’s sister, Qi Siyu,” Qin Qing said in a low voice.
Ye Li did not respond, his face somewhat tight. He slowed his breathing to avoid smelling more of the fragrance.
This fragrance annoyed him very much.
The maid standing beside Qi Siyu said loudly: “Everyone line up, don’t push. Our Young Miss is using top-quality white rice transported from Jianghuai. The porridge is cooked thick. Whether you come first or last, you won’t drink thin soup. Everyone can rest assured!”
Hearing this sentence, a roar of laughter erupted from the crowd, and the jostling line indeed became much more orderly.
Those squeezed at the very front held full bowls of white rice porridge and left the straw shed happily.
A woman wearing a coarse blue shirt, dressed very neatly, hugged her little daughter and squeezed out of the pile of people. Both mother and daughter held a bowl of steaming white rice porridge, smiling with joy and satisfaction.
“Mother, Miss Qi’s porridge is so sweet!” The little girl took a sip of the white porridge and said crisply.
“Miss Qi uses good rice, of course it’s sweet. Drink quickly. After you finish, give the bowl to Mother, and Mother will get a bowl for your grandmother too. Miss Qi is truly a great philanthropist. In this year of famine, because of her, who knows how many lives have been saved! Shall we set up a longevity tablet for Miss Qi in two days?”
“Okay! Miss Qi is a living Bodhisattva. Nan-nan wants to kowtow to Miss Qi’s longevity tablet.” The little girl agreed loudly, eliciting approving smiles from passersby.
Qin Qing’s convoy was intercepted on the road by the crowd grabbing porridge and could only move forward slowly, inch by inch. These words of gratitude entered everyone’s ears one by one.