A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 29

Chapter 29: The Fake Gentleman* – Part 2

(TN: "伪君子"; which also means a hypocrite)

Translated and Edited by: Ritpoppy

Ming ChangYan opened his eyes.

Huai Yu said, "You slept for a long time."

He blinked but didn't say anything.

Huai Yu carried over a bowl of medicine, "You went under qi deviation, your core is diminished, and your old wounds still haven't healed yet. If you continue like this even an immortal wouldn't be able to save you. If you truly want to avenge your sister, drink the medicine."

Ming ChangYan sat up and said, "I killed Wan QianQiu."

Huai Yu repeated, "Drink the medicine."

Ming ChangYan looked at him then reached out to grab the medicine. But both his hands were lacking in strength and his heart along with his lungs were surging with pain. Huai Yu pressed on his hand, "Don't move."

He used the spoon to stir it a few times before scooping up a spoonful and feeding it to Ming ChangYan.

Ming ChangYan finished the bowl in two to three bites, then let out a sigh.

Liu Kuang pushed opened the door, saw the situation and said, "Am I disturbing you two?"

Ming ChangYan, "I'm not in the mood right now to joke around."

Liu Kuang, "I'm aware that you've just now remembered these things and it's difficult for your heart to bear. But, this matter is already two years old, no matter how much you regret it, how much you don't want to resign yourself, you should just let it go. The dead are already dead, you should continue to move forward for those that are alive."

He put down his book, "Plus you've already killed Wan QianQiu, what else do you want? To dig up his corpse and whip it?"

Ming ChangYan coldly said, "Even digging up his corpse and dismembering it a thousand times wouldn't dispel my hatred. I never exterminated his entire sect, never poisoned them. Yi Yue was innocent, was dragged into this by me, and lost her life in the Central Plains. She was my only sister, I grew up together with her. Till the moment I became sensible, I was the one who had always looked after her."

As he was rapidly saying these, hot rage suddenly erupted in his heart causing him to ferociously pant for air.

Liu Kuang said, "Stop talking. With your current state, being able to finish living this life in your manner of expression is already pretty good. Why are you still thinking about the things that don't exist anymore."

Ming ChangYan gazed towards Huai Yu, the latter set down the porcelain cup, "What were you going to say."

Ming ChangYan said, "When I woke up, there has been a continuous disturbance occurring within the palace; I don't believe this to be a coincidence. On the day of GuiFeng sect's death, it was also a case of people turning old. Similar to Imperial Concubine Yuan's state of death but with a different method, likely from the hands of the same person. The only difference being that one aged faster and the other aged slower."

Huai Yu said, "You believe that the person who currently wants to harm you is the same person who killed off GuiFeng sect two years ago?"

Liu Kuang said, "You've just recovered your memories, aren't you afraid that there will be forks in your road?"

Ming ChangYan, "It won't happen. After Yi Yue was kidnapped, I became anxious. Now that I look back on it, there were many minor details that I'm unable to think over. And that female Daoist, after she murdered Wan QianQiu, she disappeared. During that afternoon when I was trying to reverse a desperate situation, I passed through the YanBo river while the six major sects tried to purge me. They came so fast, it was evident that they had been well-prepared for this. I was poisoned, incapable of responding, so I jumped in the river to protect myself."

Liu Kuang said, "You killed Wan QianQiu in the morning, then besieged in the afternoon? This truly was too fast, even the most well-trained troops would be unable to band together in such large groups within half a day."

Ming ChangYan nodded his head, "There were already plenty of people in the Central Plains that didn't like me, even framing someone who's already in danger was a possibility. The only difference this time is that they planned ahead of time; if there hadn't been someone who secretly added fuel to their fire…" He contemplated for a while, then said, "Why was Yi Yue in the Central Plains? Why was she able to be taken away by Wan QianQiu? She's clever and quick-witted, even if she wasn't familiar with the Central Plains, she wouldn't just blindly trust a stranger."

Huai Yu said, "Stop thinking about it, sleep."

Liu Kuang added, "Yun Qing's right. You're already recovering from a serious illness and with your body dragging with so many ailments, it's not suitable for you to be thinking too much. It's better to wait until your body is fully healed to begin thinking of a plan."

Ming ChangYan said, "I can wait but I'm afraid that there's already someone who can't wait any longer. There's such a ruckus going around the palace right now. They already know that I haven't died yet. This ShaoXia just came back from the gates of hell yet this person didn't even wait before I'm already forced to go back on the bridge….hey, Huai Yu–"

Huai Yu pressed on his shoulder regardless of how much Ming ChangYan bared his fangs at him and tried to struggle, pushing him into the quilt, "Do you really think that you're that far away from that bridge? If you say just a bit more nonsense, even without other people sending you off, I can already see you jumping off there myself."

He sat on the edge of the bed with his eyes boring into Ming ChangYan's, not allowing him to get up.

Ming ChangYan couldn't make the other change their mind so he laid back down and said, "I've already slept for quite a while, I can't fall asleep."

Huai Yu humphed, "If you can't fall asleep then just shut your eyes and rest."

Upon seeing this situation, Liu Kuang smiled then got up to leave.

Ming ChangYan impishly said, "My eyelids won't close either."

Huai Yu sat closer creased his eyebrows and said, "You can close them now."

Ming ChangYan laughed out loud till it felt like he was going to tear his lungs, coughing, "Don't rely on the fact that you're in better shape than I am right now to bully me. Suppose in the future I regain my cultivation, I'm going to take my revenge."

Huai Yu was silent.

Ming ChangYan closed his eyes until the other was ready to speak to him again.

"I don't know how to mimic the call of a nightingale."

Ming ChangYan smiled, "Although I don't feel well, it's not to the point where you have to coax me like a child. It's because I'm Yi Yue's older brother that I learned how to mimic a nightingale to make her happy."

He was halfway done with his statement when Huai Yu let out a soft hum.

Ming ChangYan suddenly withdrew his previous remarks, "I forgot, it's Huai Yu-gege now," He grinned, "Alright alright, good gege. Mimicking bird calls is a no, but there are other ways. Do you know any stories? Back in my hometown, if someone couldn't fall asleep family members would tell them stories."

Hearing this, Huai Yu thought deeply for a moment before saying, "I don't have any stories."

Ming ChangYan laid down for a while and when he thought that his injuries were almost healed, he crossed his legs with his foot sticking out and said, "Ai, fine, since you don't have a story, I'll tell you one."

He started with a very vulgar beginning, "A long time ago there was an extremely tall building. It was extraordinarily tall, it's highest part was able to reach the Nine Heavens. Within the building lived a very ill-tempered little fairy who only liked to say, 'Humph, humph! Annoying to death!' Over time nobody wanted anything to do with him. His hair was very long and his skin awfully fair. He also raised a little brute of an animal with the same temperament as him. Apart from its ability to use its hoof to kick people, it didn't have any strong points."

"The little fairy was always bored living in his tower. So, he let down his hair. Whoever was able to see his hair could use it as a ladder and climb up to play with him."

Pausing, Ming ChangYan reached out and stroked Huai Yu's hair. He pinched it in his hand, having too much fun fiddling around with it before Huai Yu snatched it back.

"What happened next," Huai Yu faintly asked.

Ming ChangYan laughed and said, "Then he took back his hair!"

He joked around for a bit longer until the medicine slowly began to take effect causing Ming ChangYan to become drowsy. After a short while, the person who was lying on the bed's eyebrows unknitted, their breath turned steady.

Liu Kuang pushed open the door, his footsteps suddenly softened and mouthed: Asleep?

Huai Yu nodded his head. Liu Kuang looked over and saw that the tips of his hair were held tightly within Ming ChangYan's grasps.

Ming ChangYan stayed in Egret Academy recovering for several days. Huai Yu was there every day to supervise his intake of medicine. He had no idea what he was being fed. It reeked so bad it was hard to speak and had a tart aftertaste, making it almost unbearable for Ming ChangYan.

After drinking the medicine as usual Ming ChangYan laid down. Not even a moment passed when the sound of something making noise outside his window woke him up. He straightened himself up and heard the voice of a young maiden. It was rather familiar, precisely that of Jun's.

"Zhao XiaoLan, what are you writing?"

Ming ChangYan looked out from his window. It turns out that there was a small courtyard outside that must've been built to provide students a place to rest. Just now the bell was stroked three times, indicating that class must've ended and students came here to have fun.

Zhao XiaoLan leaned on a stone table, one hand grinding ink while the other was writing characters. He seemed extremely busy.

"I'm writing a letter!"

Jun sat on the other side of the stone table while Duan Duan was being pressed down by her, sitting obediently. It was like she was playing the cat's cradle game as she weaved Duan Duan's hair into a low braid.

"Writing a letter to whom? Your Maiden Li Li?"

Hearing this, Zhao XiaoLan's face blushed red, stammering, "I-I-I-I-I-I'm writing letters to a lot of people! There's my second sister! And my Zhu-xiong!!"

Jun joyfully laughed at him, "How come you have so many letters that you have to write every day? One for this young lady, and another for your sister, so romantic!"

Zhao XiaoLan muttered and said, "I'm, I'm a gentleman!"

Jun snorted, "What kind of gentleman are you? Every day, you visit the deepest parts of all kinds of flowers. Don't think I don't know what kind of places those are, in those famous brothels, which one of them isn't your good sister?"

Zhao XiaoLan said, "Don't look down at prostitutes. I just think they're really interesting. I want to play with them."

Lu HangJiu passed by and without concealing his disdain, severely rolled his eyes at them.

He was caught by Jun, she yelled, "Hey! Lu HangJiu, what's wrong!"

Lu HangJiu replied, "The wind was just blowing into my eyes."

Jun smirked, "The winds today sure are strong if it was able to blow your eyes to the back of your head! Duan Duan, stop him!"

When Lu HangJiu heard this, his entire body went rigid. Duan Min was considered to be Princess YuNing's personal bodyguard. Even though he isn't properly educated, his strength was exceptionally vigorous and only listened to the words of Princess YuNing. Even though Lu HangJiu frequently mocked Duan Min to be living like a dog, however, in reality, he was just afraid that the princess would instruct Duan Min to teach him a lesson.

Although Duan Min has the princess's support, the princess didn't consider him as a man. Coincidentally, he had a very delicate appearance, like the man was carved out of porcelain which Jun cherished very much. Thus, whenever this woman had some spare time she would fiddle with him; if it wasn't braiding hair, then it changing clothes and accessories, merely viewing him as a beloved object.

To have a twenty-old man playing with a young girl this way is really too funny. Lu HangJiu found him displeasing several times which resulted in him receiving several beatings from Jun. There were quite a lot of beatings, and this time, the two met up once again.

Lu HangJiu hastily retreated back two steps and almost tore his throat as he yelled, "What are you doing! What are you trying to do! This is Egret Academy! You, you you you you you, don't tell me that that you want to start a fight in the academy!"

Liu Kuang suddenly appeared, smiling, "Who's starting a fight?"

Jun was startled, "Duan Duan, Duan Duan come back."

Lu HangJiu pointed at Jun, "Teacher Liu! Chu JinHua is ignoring school rules and is trying to beat someone up again!"

Liu Kuang glanced towards her, Jun was pursing her lips while she hugged her chest and turned her head.

Zhao XiaoLan pasted the last flower onto the letter, he raised his head and asked, "Teacher Liu, has Yan-jiejie gotten better?"

Lu HangJiu promptly replied, "Better! How could she not be better after eating then sleeping, sleeping then eating in the academy!"

Liu Kuang said with a smile, "Much better, you can all go visit her."

Lu HangJiu interjected, "Who would dare go see her! The moment you arrive at her door you'll be glared at by the Young Prime Minister until you leave! I don't even know if the person resting there is the emperor's wife or his wife!"

Jun said, "Lu HangJiu, do you have an ailment? Every time you open your mouth, blah blah blah, out comes nonsense. You're the best at fighting if you stopped talking everyone would've guessed you've died!"

Liu Kuang stopped Lu HangJiu from replying, "Alright, nobody in this academy can stop you from speaking. If you go out and shoot off your mouth like that, be careful not to make a mistake. The affairs of the royal lineage aren't something you and I can freely talk about."

Lu HangJiu unwillingly cupped his hands, "Yes, this student will obey your caution."

Liu Kuang said, "The maple leaves on the mountain are turning red, you all are to write a poem on it. I will inspect them later when night classes begin."

Zhao XiaoLan said, "Teacher Liu, I would like to request an absence!"

Liu Kuang replied, "Why are you requesting an absence again? You just requested one last month."

Zhao XiaoLan rapidly slapped his hands together, clearly skilled in the art of sweet-talking, "Teacher Liu, Teacher Liu, this is the last time! I promise!"

"You promised the same thing last time."

"This will really be the last time!" Zhao XiaoLan said as he furiously bowed his head. He was born lovable and cute and these actions always had everyone laughing.

Liu Kuang's heart softened and could only say, "Then I will comply with your words, this is the last time."

Jun questioned him, "What are you taking an absence for?"

Zhao XiaoLan quickly gathered up the letters scattered around the table, "I'm meeting up with Zhu-xiong this afternoon to go to SiLe House to listen to songs. He probably already arrived at Kyoto, I have to go."

He burst into the school, grabbed his school bag, flipped it around his shoulders and proceeded to descend the mountain. Along the way he was stopped by Ming ChangYan, "What is it that's so urgent?"

Zhao XiaoLan's collar was being lifted by Ming ChangYan making him shrink his neck back like a little kitten. He was pleasantly surprised and said, "Yan-jiejie, you're alive!"

Ming ChangYan hooked his arm around the other's shoulders, "What do you mean 'you're alive', it's not like I died. Where are you going?"

A student replied, "To see his Zhu-xiong!"

Ming ChangYan said, "You can go see him later. I have you ask you a question before you're allowed to go."

Zhao XiaoLan was brought back to the stone table by him. Ming ChangYan poured himself a cup of water and asked, "Has anyone else died in the palace recently?"

Zhao XiaoLan shook his head, "A few days after you fainted it was the start of a new term in Egret Academy. I rarely visit the imperial palace so I don't know."

Ming ChangYan pondered for a moment then continued, "Is the Eldest Prince's corpse still there?"

Zhao XiaoLan supported his chin and answered, "It's definitely buried already, you've been staying here for half a month."

Ming ChangYan was astonished, "So long? Did the emperor not come to find me?"

He thought: I still have the position of the emperor's wife within the palace. After disappearing for so long, not to mention how to explain all this to Fu Ling and Peony, if the emperor begins to look for me wouldn't this be asking for trouble?

Zhao XiaoLan replied, "Nope. Uncle has been in terrible shape lately from overworking, even Eldest brother's funeral was hastily arranged. When would he have the time to track down where Yan-jiejie's been."

Ming ChangYan said, "Wow, this emperor is rather heartless to be so unconcerned for his own son's death."

Lu HangJiu was standing to the side as he heard those words, he cut in, "Imperial Concubine Yuan's son died, what's there to grieve about! It's not like it was the empresses son."

Ming ChangYan, "You seem to be implying something."

A primary student standing beside Zhao XiaoLan began, "It's because Imperial Concubine Yuan looks so similar to the empress that she received favor from the emperor. The emperor only spoils her, he doesn't love her. If her son died, of course he'd be indifferent about it."

Lu HangJiu said, "It's a pity that the empress is quite arrogant, besides her husband she looks down on everyone."

Ming ChangYan asked, "Isn't the emperor her husband?"

Lu HangJiu sneered. He looked around and after seeing how Jun was sticking to Liu Kuang like a little tail, he might as well continue, "The empress was the imperial concubine for the previous dynasty's Crown Prince. Her husband was never the emperor, it was the previous Crown Prince. The emperor ascended the throne, noticed her good looks, and forced her to become empress in spite of government officials protest. Otherwise, why would the empress spend her years at DaHan temple and rarely visit the palace!"

Zhao XiaoLan almost never got angry, "Lu HangJiu!"

Lu HangJiu noticed his slip of tongue and shut up at once.

Immediately everything was silent.

Though Ming ChangYan's heart wasn't well, he instantly wanted to say something to lighten the mood. Right this moment, a very light tinkle carried over, the jingling echoing. It was interrupted and trembled endlessly.

Zhao XiaoLan who was sitting opposite to him seemed to have seen something, quickly standing up. As expected, just outside the courtyard stood a young man. He was dressed in black draped in a twilight-colored outer robe. His temperament was grave with a tiny birthmark on the corner of his eye. As a result, it gave him a sort of cold demeanor yet also softening up his expression.

Zhao XiaoLan's eyes shone with excitement and lept up like a rabbit, rabidly waving his arm, "Zhu-xiong!"

He ran so fast that the maple leaves on the ground flew up in disarray.

"I waited for a long time below the mountain but you never arrived, so I came to take a look."

Zhao XiaoLan laughed out loud, "I was originally going to descend down the mountain to find you but now that you're up here, it saves me the trouble. Come, I want to introduce you to someone."

"Who?"

At this moment Zhao XiaoLan brought his good friend in front of Ming ChangYan, "She's a good friend that I met in the imperial palace. Even though she's an imperial concubine, she also really likes Ming ShaoXia!" He paused and turned towards Ming ChangYan, "Yan-jiejie, this is Zhu Rong."

As Zhu Rong approached, Ming ChangYan had the sudden misperception that his entire body temperature dropped down.

Ming ChangYan smiled, "It's an honor to meet you at last."

Zhu Rong smiled back, "Those words should be said by me, It's a pleasure to meet you."

Ming ChangYan sized up Zhu Rong. The number of experts he met in the past were too many to count, every time Zhao XiaoLan groveled over his Zhu-xiong he had always thought the other was over exaggerating, a joke from the youngster. Now it seems like truly wasn't flattering without a good cause. Even though he currently lost all his cultivation, his eyesight was still good. With just a single glance, he could tell this person was enigmatic and difficult to predict.

After this Zhu-xiong walked a "vigorous path" to arrive at Egret Academy, his breath was still steady, complexion normal, not a single part of him in disorder; clearly showing that his inner core was strong. In his hand he held a pitch-black fan, on it hanged two small and delicate copper bells. A simple movement would cause a soft echo, the sound gentle giving the listener a tranquil feeling.

Ming ChangYan said, "Zhu-xiong your little bell looks quite cute! Where did you get it?"

Zhu-xiong smiled, "It's something I received from the head of a temple. It's just an ordinary item."

It was a pity that his smiles were soft and gentle, but never reached his eyes. It made Ming ChangYan have the impression of looking face to face with a viper.

Zhao XiaoLan wasn't aware in the slightest, interjecting, "Let's stop with the polite greetings, Yan-jiejie, I'm leaving. Zhu-xiong, last time I mentioned the new singing prostitute, wow, that jiejie from Jin Ling's ballad is so nice to listen to! Right, it's been so long since I've visited Maiden Li Li, let's go together this time. Otherwise it might seem like I'm deliberately trying to see her…"
After he finished speaking, Zhu-xiong and him left Egret Academy

Ming ChangYan pensively stood there for a bit when Lu HangJiu said, "Why are you still here? The Young Prime Minister is going to arrive soon. If he catches you out here strutting your legs and catching a breeze, you're dead."

Ming ChangYan was insufferably arrogant, "If he's arriving then he's arriving, what, you think I'm afraid of him!"

Just as he said those words, Huai Yu's figure appeared at the Academy's entrance.

Lu HangJiu proudly turned his head, "Then you can stay here…where did she go?"

Beside the table, there was no one in sight.

Ming ChangYan had already sprinted away like a rabbit, climbing and flipping over the wall in succession before finally rolling into his bedsheets.

Huai Yu just happened to reach the doorway.

Lu HangJiu lowered his head and hurriedly left after giving his salutations.

He pushed open the door to Ming ChangYan wrapped in his quilt playing dead.

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen. You steal my work, I steal your cultivation.

You know, I sometimes forget that Zhao XiaoLan is literally 18-19 years old and not a little kid. Same goes with Jun and the majority of the juniors in here.

If anyone is curious about who my favorite characters are in this novel, it's the Empress and LiMin-Jun. Why? You'll find out in my favorite chapter which I'm really excited to translate (it's in a couple of chapters)

If you see any translation/grammatical errors, please notify me! Also, comment. I love your comments and they really make my day!

I'm also adding a character guild to the table of contents in case anyone gets confused on names, cause I sure do.

Personal question here, do ya'll have any fantasy bl novels you could recommend me? I'm bored and in need of reading material.

Have a wondrous day ⌒(•ㅅ•)⌒

Chapter end