A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 41

Chapter 41: A Seductive Gentleman – Part 3

The empress was a bit startled before following that up with a smile, "Ok, the more people in my palace, the more excitement."

Zhao XiaoLan spiritedly greeted her. Ming ChangYan had been mixed in with the harem for a while so he knew when a concubine met with the empress, you must be polite to each jiejie and meimei. He cupped his hands together, "Hello Empress-jiejie, hello!"

Ming ChangYan's eyes were currently fixated on the dishes that were on the empress's table, his stomach suddenly feeling a sharp pain from the hunger.

The Aunt coughed, Zhao XiaoLan rubbed his nose and whispered, reminding him, "Yan-jiejie, when you're paying respects to Auntie, you have to kneel down."

Ming ChangYan's eyes were still focused on the food and wasn't really aware of what was going on.

Zhao XiaoLan tugged at the corner of Ming ChangYan's robes, repeating, "Yan-jiejie, you can't be rude."

Ming ChangYan's heart was concerned for that meal, not daring to act rash. After thinking it through, he came to a conclusion: The empress is like the mother of this land! I'll just regard her as my half mother, it's not like kneeling for her is some serious business.

He was just about to kneel down when as he bent his waist, the picture book rolled out from his chest.

With a plop, it landed on the ground and the wind blew a few of the pages open. The book was wide open, with the page opened for everyone to see precisely the one where Huai Yu was semi-clothed and looking indecent.

This book, landed directly beside Huai Yu's feet.

Ming ChangYan thought: I'm dead!

He was flustered as he went to pick up the picture book, but he exerted himself too much and the steamed bun that was in his chest rolled on to the floor. Ming ChangYan thought 'a sin, a sin', picking up the picture book along with the steamed bun without panicking.

Stuffing it back into his chest, Ming ChangYan pressed his chest a bit until it looked relatively normal, raising his head he noted, "Eh? Why's everyone looking at me?"

Zhao XiaoLan was the first to speak, "Yan-jiejie, why do you keep a steamed bun on you?"

Ming ChangYan smiled, "Ah, I'm a bit hungry, it's not important, it's not important." He quickly bowed again, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Empress-jiejie, please be generous and not lower yourself to argue with someone like me."

The empress had never met such a marveling 'girl,' she was a bit distracted until she gently said, "No matter. Is your life in the palace not going well or is the kitchen not giving you your meals? You can tell this empress if you're being wronged and this empress will take responsibility."

She paused for a bit before continuing, "From what XiaoLan said, you're the Listening Lotus Building's Yan-shaoshi?"

Ming ChangYan grinned, "Yes, that's me."

Aunt LingZhi said, "Yan-shaoshi the beautiful woman that's 'damaging the country and causing suffering to people?'"

Ming ChangYan modestly waved his hand, "I dare not, I dare not!"

Aunt LingZhi laughed, "The news of the Young Prime Minister going to DaMing Palace Hall and taking away your tablet is already well-known by everyone. How could shaoshi say she doesn't dare?"

Ming ChangYan pondered for a bit before thinking: Why does it seem like this old hag's words have a layer of sarcasm over it?

When the empress heard this, she said, "That's quite interesting, I'll have to take a closer look at you. But let's not delay any longer, you're already hungry so there's no need to continue the polite talk. LingZhi, bring her a chair."

Ming ChangYan already sat down when he realized that Huai Yu was sitting right beside him.

He promptly said, "Long time no see!"

It had already been several days since the events of GuangLing.

Huai Yu indifferently glanced at him, but Ming ChangYan was least afraid of the other not talking to him. When the food was served, he moved first, picking up a chopstick of food and placing it into Huai Yu's bowl.

The empress froze.

Ming ChangYan wasn't conscious of his actions at all, asking, "Why aren't you eating?"

Huai Yu glanced at him again but Ming ChangYan was flexible at thinking, looking around, several of the palace maids who were spreading out the dishes looked at each other in dismay.

He laughed out loud, "My apologies, I forgot that the palace is a bit particular about eating."

Saying this, Ming ChangYan once again picked up his chopsticks and extended them into Huai Yu's bowl, wanting to take back the piece of meat that he gave him just now to eat by himself.

This action once again shocked everyone to hold their breath as they watched with rapt attention.

Huai Yu moved his chopsticks, holding him down, "What are you doing?"

Ming ChangYan was surprised, "If you don't want to eat it, it's only natural that you don't waste food, I'll eat it for you."

Huai Yu didn't say anything else, pushing away Ming ChangYan's chopsticks, he brought the piece of meat in his bowl into his mouth.

Ming ChangYan smiled, "If you wanted to eat it, then say so. What's the point of giving me attitude, is it fun?"

After Huai Yu ate the piece of meat, he set down his chopsticks and stopped moving.

The empress asked, "Is the food not to the Young Prime Minister's liking?"

Huai Yu didn't reply nor did he move his chopsticks. Ming ChangYan kept eating, thinking: Whoa, the face of this little brat truly is boundless, it's fine if he gives me some attitude sometimes, but to not give the empress any face!

The empress continued, "If it's not to your liking, then this empress will have the kitchen make them again. LingZhi, withdraw all the dishes for me."

Ming ChangYan was still chewing the food in his mouth. A few of the dishes were indeed to his tastes, but he hadn't even taken a few bites yet when the empress decided to withdraw them. His heart tensed, his eyes firmly gazed at the dishes in front of him when he thought: I've been enlightened. Huai Yu this fussy person is already so rude and unreasonable that he's taken up a laissez-faire attitude to the empress! It's seriously too scary.

Zhao XiaoLan quickly said, "I think that it's quite delicious!"

When Ming ChangYan saw that someone was about to talk, he picked up his bowl and quickly gathered some more dishes into it. Originally, he was about to dissuade the empress too but thought that he'd might as well just grab some more dishes into his bowl. Every bite counts. He was in a frenzy, his hand was almost unable to support his bowl when Huai Yu said, "No need to change, it's to my liking."

The empress stated, "Then you should eat more if it's to your liking. The Young Prime Minister didn't worry any less about the affairs of the previous dynasty's harem, this empress ought to thank you on behalf of the common people."

The maids spread out the dishes. Huai Yu stared at his bowl and used his chopstick to stir the food a bit, but didn't look as if he planned on eating it.

Ming ChangYan knew that he was extremely picky around food and had become squeamish around it. He chuckled before saying, "Ai, Huai Yu, you don't want to eat this, you don't want to eat that, be careful, you might not be able to grow tall."

Huai Yu replied, "In any case, I'm still taller than you."

Ming ChangYan went on, "If you don't want to eat it then don't waste it. Give it to me to eat."

Huai Yu, "Don't you have some in your own bowl?"

Ming ChangYan grinned, "What? I think that the dishes in your bowl look a bit tastier so I wanted to take a bite, anything wrong?"

Huai Yu said, "No, this is mine."

Ming ChangYan said, "You don't want me to eat it? Then I'm going to eat it!"

In between his words, he picked up the chopsticks with his right hand and adopted the attitude of going in to taste the food in Huai Yu's bowl. Huai Yu held his chopsticks in his left hand and moved faster than him, engulfing all the food in his bowl in just two to three bites. His right cheek slightly bulged as he began to chew very slowly, letting out a cold humph.

The maid was horrified. Looking at Huai Yu's empty bowl, she didn't know whether she should add more dishes or not. Ming ChangYan suddenly smiled at her and mouthed the words 'add dishes' towards her. The maid didn't hesitate, spreading more dishes into Huai Yu's bowl.

It was like Ming ChangYan was addicted to grabbing the other's dishes. Every time the maid placed a dish, Ming ChangYan would pretend to want a taste of it, causing Huai Yu to get vexed. The only solution was to finish eating it first. After going back and forth several times, Huai Yu's stomach was full and immediately realized that he was played by Ming ChangYan.

Ming ChangYan wore a smile as he held his bowl, saying, "Wouldn't it have been better if you just ate it in the beginning? To have to coax you into it, what kind of little missy attitude is this?"

Huai Yu pursed his lips and stared at him.

Ming ChangYan was frightened, "What are you doing, looking like you're about to hit me? You're not allowed to take advantage of someone's current position! Wait till I get my cultivation back, then we'll fight, I'm not able to defeat you at this moment. Oh right, you're also not allowed to flip the table over, I'm not done eating!"

Huai Yu gazed at him for a while longer but he didn't flip the table over, merely standing up and taking his leave.

Ming ChangYan muttered: Here it comes, here it comes, here we go again. Ai, this shaoxia has a headache.

With Huai Yu gone, Ming ChangYan could finally eat without a distraction. Without saying anything, he refilled his bowl three to four more times. Putting his diligent and thrifty habit to practice, he swept the dishes clean, afraid of wasting even a crumb of food. He finally drank a bowl of soup and laid down his bowl. Everyone in the room had already stopped moving their chopsticks, all gazing at him with a dumbstruck expression.

Zhao XiaoLan's words were straightforward and unrestrained, ruefully saying, "Yan-jiejie, you, you eat a lot!"

Ming ChangYan relied, "Don't waste food, plus, to be able to eat is a blessing. You should eat a bit more too, the more you eat the taller you'll grow."

Aunt LingZhi withdrew the food, the empress sized up Ming ChangYan like he was novelty.

After Ming ChangYan finished eating, he didn't have anything else to say the empress, thinking that he might've teased Huai Yu a bit too much. The other party was fuming as they ran away, thinking of a way to coax the person back, he didn't stay any longer, immediately taking his leave.

Standing up, the empress said, "Shaoshi stay."

Ming ChangYan stopped as the empress smiled, "You look a lot like one of my old friends."

Ming ChangYan said, "Oh, I'm honored! I'm honored!"

The empress asked, "When did you meet the Young Prime Minister?"

Ming ChangYan said, "Naturally I met him at the palace! The Young Prime Minister this person, even though he has a terrible temper, he's still a good person. He just has the personality of a child, you shouldn't lower yourself to argue with him, haha." He paused for a bit then rubbed his nose, saying, "Empress-jiejie, I've still got some stuff to do, so I won't bother you any longer."

Zhao XiaoLan wiped his mouth and caught up to him at once, "Yan-jiejie, I'll come with you!"

The empress laughed softly, "LingZhi, go bring out the bracelets in my third drawer."

LingZhi glanced at the empress before turning around and heading inside the room. After a short period of time, she came out holding two bracelets. The workmanship was exquisite, the design complicated, clearly something very precious.

The empress said, "Reward these two braclets to Yan-shaoshi."

Within the harem, the empress loved to reward concubines things. But even if Ming ChangYan took these two bracelets, he had no use for them. He stored them in his bosom, bid goodbye to the empress, and walked in the direction of the Ninety-Ninth Temple.

Zhao XiaoLan pulled at his sleeves, "Yan-jiejie, you're going the wrong direction!"

Ming ChangYan said, "Not wrong, not wrong, I'm going to look for Huai Yu."

Zhao XiaoLan said, "Look for Huai Yu-gege? He isn't free these days, the blessing ceremony is about to begin, everyone inside and outside the capital are preparing. If it wasn't Auntie who called him over, who else would've been able to ask Huai Yu-gege to leave his duties?"

Ming ChangYan let out an 'Aiya', his expression melancholic, thinking: If I'm unable to see him, then who's going to come to restore my cultivation? Seriously, the more meddlesome, the more anxiety I feel.

Zhao XiaoLan said, "Yan-jiejie, do you have some sort of urgent matter to find Huai Yu-gege for?"

Ming ChangYan said, "Urgent, extremely urgent!"

Zhao XiaoLan, "No matter what kind or urgent matter, you're going to have to wait till after the New Year."

Ming ChangYan stopped his footsteps, "New year…New Year, that's fine. That's fine too, I haven't celebrated the New Year in a long time."

Zhao XiaoLan instantly made an appointment, "Every year, a few days before the Lantern Festival, the capital has heavy amounts of snowfall, so let's all go cut some paper decorations*! I know someone who's really good at paper cutting, let's go go go!"

(TN: "窗花"; During festivities, people will commonly use red paper and cut it up into various designs to use as decoration. http://img95.699pic.com/photo/50113/0628.jpg_wh300.jpg )

Ming ChangYan was pushed forward by him while walking he asked, "What paper decorations?"

Zhao XiaoLan said, "Something that Jun and the others play with, I don't know how to cut them, but every year I still play with them!"

As expected, leading up to the eve of the festival, Ming ChangYan didn't see Huai Yu once.

He was plagued by Zhao XiaoLan's speeches about 'The Noble Gentleman Ming ChangYan's' impressive events in the past, to the point where he almost couldn't bear it any longer. On this day, just as he said, heavy snowfall fell on the capital. Ming ChangYan was physically weak and wished he would've just died on the bed, but at the crack of dawn, Jun joined Zhao XiaoLan and dug him out from his quilt.

Ming ChangYan was extremely unwilling, but he couldn't resist the children's aegyo. So with their pestering, his bad temper died out and he willingly went to have a snowball fight with them unafraid of what others might think.

He originally wanted to head straight out the door but was dragged back inside by Fu Ling who told him that his manners were improper. Ming ChangYan was pushed in front of the dressing table, uninterested as the two fiddled with him. As Fu Ling put on earrings for him, she asked, "Shaoshi, I've wanted to ask you this for a long time, how come you have two peircings on your ears?"

Ming ChangYan casually replied, "Oh, it's a tradition in my hometown."

In Tokhara, it didn't matter if you were male or female, everyone wore earrings. When Ming ChangYan was younger, he had a few earrings that were identical to Yi Yue's. The monarch created them using peacock feathers, precious gems, and colored glass. It was made with extremely delicate artistry, under the moonlight they would be overflowing with vibrant colors.

When Fu Ling was about to apply lipstick on him, Ming ChangYan pushed her hand away, "That won't be necessary."

Jun arrived wearing a cloak from who knows where but it was detailed and cute. When she wore it, she looked like a fairy that descended from the world of immortals. The moment Ming ChangYan stepped outside, Jun proceeded to shout, "Faster! It's going to snow soon!"

He said, "You know it's about to snow and yet you still call me outside, abominable!"

Jun replied, "If you continue to dilly-dally, I'm going to make Duan Duan hit you unconscious and drag you there!"

Ming ChangYan said, "Coming."

He internally muttered: This woman's mannerism could almost battle against Huai Yu that brat!

After Jun finished playing with the snow, her hands froze to blush a deep red. Ming ChangYan forbade her from rolling in the snow any longer, suggesting that they go look at the plum blossoms. When Zhao XiaoLan heard this, his eyes glimmered, saying 'That's what I've been waiting for' multiple times.

Ming ChangYan wasn't even a bit interested in viewing the plum blossoms. But Zhao XiaoLan loved flowers and were fond of them, the moment they arrived at the plum blossoms, he gave an expression of happiness. Plum blossom leaves scattering to the ground in midwinter had a distinctive feeling to it. Jun played around for a bit longer until she couldn't stand the bitter cold and shrunk back into Duan Min's embrace. She used him like he was a large heater, hanging on him and refusing to come down.

Zhao XiaoLan wore a cape and curled himself into a pile of furry clothes. Because he wore too much, even bending down seemed to be a challenging task. One was bending down to pick up the flower petals as the other hand was hugging his stomach. In his bosom, there were multiple flowers that had fallen off the plum tree. He didn't pick them for a long time when they met the 13 Guardians on patrol.

Zhao XiaoLan called out, "Baili!"

Baili Deng stopped his footsteps and cupped his hands in greeting, "Young Master XiaoLan, Princess, Shaoshi."

Zhao XiaoLan said, "You guys have to patrol today? Isn't Uncle emperor on vacation?"

Baili said, "He's going on vacation in a few days, the blessings ceremony is near at hand. It's bound to be a little busy."

Ming ChangYan asked, "That something blessing, where do you go to pray for blessings?"

Baili answered, "At DaHan Temple, I reckon the emperor will be going on his journey soon, but the snowfall delayed it for a period of time. Oh right, I just came back from DaMing Palace Hall and they're handing out some Jiuzhan lanterns*. If you guys want to go make a wish, you guys should quickly go get yourselves one or else the maids might snatch them all away."

(TN: Things like this → https://cw1.tw/CW/images/article/C1378871157814.jpg )

When Jun heard this, she quickly jumped up, "I want one! Duan Duan, quickly, let's go!"

When Duan Min received the order he picked up Jun and flew away with extreme dexterity.

Ming ChangYan asked, "What's that?"

Zhao XiaoLan dug himself a snow pit and buried the plum blossoms he picked up earlier in it. Patting his hands, he said, "It's a lantern that's used for making wishes when praying to heaven and earth. Has Yan-jiejie heard of the Colored Lantern Festival?"

Ming ChangYan nodded his head, Zhao XiaoLan continued, "The meaning behind this and the colored lanterns is about the same, it's used to make a wish during the New Years. In front of DaHan Temple is a sparkling brook that leads to the sea every year after people finish praying, the common people go there to release their Jiuzhan lanterns. The lanterns will float into the sea, the Dragon God will hear everyone's wishes and grant them in the coming year."

Ming ChangYan said, "From your statement, it seems like this lantern can be found anywhere, why are they fighting over the ones in the palace?"

Zhao XiaoLan let out a mischievous laughter, "It's only natural that the ones in the palace are different, these lanterns all came from the Ninety-Nineth Temple! The ones that come from Huai Yu-gege will naturally be more effective!"

Ming ChangYan's heart fluttered, saying, "Then what's the point of fighting over them at DaMing Palace Hall, just go directly to Huai Yu and ask him to fold one!"

Zhao XiaoLan hadn't even opened his mouth when Ming ChangYan excitedly ran towards the direction of the Ninety-Nineth Temple.

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work I'll bury you in my snow pit.

Another chapter! Yeeyeyeyeye!! This one came out a bit later cause I got caught up in reading “Nurturing the Hero to Avoid Death.” I LOVE IT SO MUCH, 13/10 WOULD RECOMMEND YOU TO READ.

I read ahead while translating this to see what I've got ahead of me but I got caught up and reread some chapters all the way to chapter 70…oops. But now I know exactly when the first kiss happens soooo, yeah. The only spoiler is that it's between chapter 41-70, wow that's not vague at all.

If you see any translation/grammatical errors please notify me! I make a lot of mistakes with past and present tense sometimes, I'll admit to that.

Have a marvelous day~~

Chapter end