A Seductive Gentleman Chapter 42

Chapter 42: There's a Beauty – Part 1

He found an excuse and walked towards the Ninety-Ninth Temple. Halfway there, the snow began falling again.

Ming ChangYan was wearing a dress that was extremely thick, along with having a huge cloak over his body. Even with the water from the snow soaking through his shoes, his entire body was almost submerged in the snow.

The Ninety-Ninth Temple's usually pretty cold, at the doorway, people came and left. The guards were wearing layer upon layer, Ming ChangYan didn't even arrive when he was he was stopped.

He was unsuccessful in his first try, but he wasn't in the mood to try a second time. In the past, it was always Huai Yu who'd come find him, and he didn't find it that difficult. Now that it was his turn to find Huai Yu, he realized that wanting to see the Young Prime Minister was actually extremely difficult.

Ming ChangYan was in high spirits when he came, but left disappointed, he didn't even feel like going to DaMing Hall and snatching a Jiuzhan lamp. Returning to the Listening Lotus Building, he disregarded how Fu Ling and Peony called on him, he was so gloomy that he didn't feel like paying attention.

He was roused awake in the middle of the night; Ming ChangYan opened his eyes, skillfully grabbed the knife by his headboard, and sliced the tips of his ten fingers. After he finished his routine of letting out his blood, he hissed as he wrapped them in gauze and went back to bed.

The poison in Ming ChangYan still hadn't been cleared yet. After letting out his blood, his head felt dizzy and he laid in bed for a few more days. Ever since Ming ChangYan was dubbed 'the demon girl who caused calamity upon the country', the Listening Lotus Building has practically become a Cold Palace. Every month, the House of Internal Affairs would dock the charcoal for fires, so when it finally snowed, the inside of the house was colder than the outside. Fu Ling saw that his feet and hands were so frozen that they'd become red, wrapped in a blanket all day long and refused to leave the bed. It seemed that it truly was too boring around here, so she looked for a few novels for him and read them to Ming ChangYan: Every night, the boyfriend's tears would ripple as the slave's soul would break into the lady's chamber.

While he was sighing endlessly, he suddenly had a spark of inspiration. Nowadays, Ming shaoxia was impoverished, so in order to make a living, he didn't have a choice but to pick up his old pen name 'Gorgeous Little Playboy'. He got paper, a pen, some ink-stones and began to bend in front of his desk, pensively laboring away as he continuously groaned in pain.

He recalled the suggestion that Jun gave him and decided to create some works relating to the Young Prime Minister. After all, these kinds of boudoir reading materials were really popular. Ming shaoxia thought: He and I are friends, right now I'm residing in the harem with no currency to depend on and with the inner palace deducting my food. It's true that I'm not living very well, so I'll just use his name to earn a bit of profit, he probably wouldn't even bother me about it.

When Liu Kuang heard of this, his face turned both red and white at the same time. It was difficult for him to explain in words and only after a while did he say, "As long as you're happy."

As a result, Ming shaoxia referenced some novels that had sold well before. Through gathering up information and piecing them together, an extremely plot contrived novel with broken characters that if 'you changed the names of you still wouldn't be able to recognize who they were', came out. He wrote books at an extremely fast pace and didn't pay attention to the writing style, merely writing about the love between men and women. He fabricated a title for the book and delivered it to Liu Kuang. After three days, he received a message from Liu Kuang saying that his book sold very well and that he should write a few more.

The moment Ming shaoxia received his first payment, he promptly installed two stoves at the Listening Lotus Building. As he roasted his hand by the fire, he let out a sigh.

When Fu Ling was warm enough, she emotionally said, "Shaoshi, we all want to thank you!"

Ming ChangYan modestly said, "You guys don't have to thank me, you guys should thank Huai Yu, ah, the Young Prime Minister."

Fu Ling and Peony gazed at him, Ming shaoxia came to a verdict, "My bread and butter."

Now that they had money, Ming shaoxia became more energetic when he wrote, using all the sweet and sour words of love that he'd heard from operas he's seen over the years. He deliriously wrote for a few days until the doors of the Listening Lotus Building was finally pushed open by someone.

Ming ChangYan thought that Fu Ling had come in to switch the tea because he loved to drink milk tea while he wrote, as a result, there was a rich aroma of milk in his room.

"Put it on the table, I'm almost finished writing!"

"Finished writing what."

It was Huai Yu who spoke.

The hand that was writing at a tremendous speed suddenly trembled out of reflex, immediately, he piled up all the pieces of paper that was on his desk and quickly covered them up.

Huai Yu coldly said, "Let go."

Ming ChangYan tightly grabbed onto the desk, "With pleasure, with pleasure, when did you have the time to come here?"

Huai Yu didn't feel like exposing his botched acting skills, directly dragging out the desk. Ming ChangYan was weaker than him, stumbling, the papers on his desk all fell on the ground. Huai Yu picked one up and saw that the first line was: The Young Prime Minister embraced this concubine's shoulders, and with an intoxicated and hazy gaze, his face slowly inched closer….

The further down you went, the more unsightly it became. It was a bunch of hugging and grabbing along with the lover's soft words, things that were so shameful that it made him fume in anger and disgust. Ming ChangYan noticed that things weren't going well so he laughed out loud and said, "Oh, I saw Fu Ling looking at this novel a few days ago, and as a matter of fact, she asked me to hold onto it for her! I still don't know what's written in it!"

The ink on the paper still hadn't dried yet, Huai Yu coldly gazed at him.

Ming ChangYan, "Ha, Haha, Hahaha!"

He said, "What are you staring at me for, it's impossible to have been written by me!"

Huai Yu humphed, Ming ChangYan smiled while he tidied up the desk.

"Aren't you busy, why'd you come here?"

Huai Yu said, "Do still medicine left?"

Ming ChangYan used his fingers and calculated that there really wasn't much medicine left. Huai Yu had come here so that he could deliver medicine.

He poured a cup of tea, "It's almost out."

Ming ChangYan handed the milk tea over to him. Huai Yu took a sip, pursed his lips, and went in for a second sip. Ming ChangYan asked, "Is it too creamy? I have some plum candy, do you want some?"

Huai Yu took out an elaborate porcelain bottle, "Two pills a day."

Ming ChangYan accepted it, quickly cupping his hands and bowing, "Thank you, Young Prime Minister!"

"And this packet is used for a medical bath."

After he delivered the medicine, he didn't sit for long when he pushed opened the door again and left.

When Fu Ling saw that Huai Yu had left, she quickly entered and asked, "You almost scared me to death!"

Ming ChangYan was befuddled, "How did I almost scare you to death?"

Fu Ling replied, "And you said, sigh, forget it, you don't understand. But, the Young Prime Minister is really good to you, even though he's extremely busy he still finds the time to come see you."

When Ming ChangYan heard this, he felt even more miraculous, thinking: Isn't this normal, I'm his patient and his friend, it's natural that he takes care of me a little.

Fu Ling's eyes brightened and pointed at the table, "Jiuzhan lamp! Shaoshi, look."

Ming ChangYan turned around and was a bit surprised. Picking up the lamp, he laughed, "This child!"

After a few days, one by one, the people in the palace went to DaHan Temple.

DaHan Temple was far away from the imperial palace, a day before the blessing, Fu Ling packed a few close-fitting clothes and urged, "Be careful when you and Peony leave, don't get involved with the other imperial concubines. I know that you won't suffer, but shaoshi's status is sensitive so it's not suitable to be in contact with them."

Ming ChangYan assured, "Ok, ok, ok, I understand."

Fu Ling bid Ming ChangYan and Peony farewell. At the gate, there were already a lot of concubines stationed there.

Ming ChangYan was considered a small, incompetent imperial concubine so he didn't have many people serving him. But for those concubines with high statuses, they had groups of people around them, moving around in clusters.

When he entered the sedan, he asked, "Where's Jun and XiaoLan?"

Peony softly said, "Shaoshi, when you're in a crowded place like this, you mustn't call the princess and Young Master XiaoLan by their names or someone might hear you and report on it." After she said this, she added, "The princess and Young Master XiaoLan went with the empress, how could they hang out with people like us?"

When Ming ChangYan heard this, he suddenly realized.

Jun is the empress's daughter, of course, she's going to leave with her mother. As for Zhao XiaoLan, he's always been regarded by the empress as her own so it isn't an exaggeration when people say that he's like her son, no one would even comment if he left with the empress. When Ming ChangYan played with them, he never sensed the differences between their positions. Now that he thinks about it, a concubine like him that's entered the Cold Palace, ordering around the princess and Zhao XiaoLan to run his errands is a crime that could be punished with decapitation.

Only after being bumped around for half a day with Ming ChangYan's stomach overturned, did Peony finally say that they arrived.

He immediately left the sedan, his complexion a deathly white like he was about to throw up.

Peony promptly went to help support him, her entire body sticking close to him to hold him up. Ming ChangYan was suddenly startled, the tips of his ears turning red as he repeatedly waved his hand, "No need! No need, no need! I can come down by myself!"

He patted his stomach and looked up to see that they were at the entrance to DaHan Temple.

The temple had tight security, it's construction complex. DaHan Temple's entrance directly faced a broad road that curves into DaHan Temple's main hall. Behind the temple were towering mountains that seemed to extend forever, there was mist lingering around like they had just entered the world of immortals.

Peony said, "Stop looking, let's quickly go in."

The platform for the blessing ceremony was behind the mountain. When Ming ChangYan was unwilling to return to the inn to rest, he took Peony and made their way towards the platform.

When they arrived in front of the platform, Peony cried out in surprise, "It's majestic."

The platform for the blessings ceremony was an enormous circle. Altogether it was divided into three layers with a large staircase, the inner altar, middle altar, and the outer altar. Every layer had an expansive staircase for people to walk into. On the sides, there were either bamboo or wooden poles that were used as fencing at the perimeter. On the very top of the platform, there were two paper dolls, used to represent the current emperor's ancestors.

Peony helped him gather up his cloak and stated, "The weather's cold outside, if shaoshi wants to watch it, you should simply wait till tomorrow to get a good look. Right now this place is completely vacant, what's there to look at?"

Ming ChangYan inquired, "Where's the Young Prime Minister right now?"

Peony replied, "Don't even think about seeing the Young Prime Minister today, he's very busy, not only can you not see him, even the emperor wouldn't be able to see him."

Ming ChangYan nodded his head, saying, "I know, I've had one of these ceremonies before back in my hometown."

Peony asked, "Where's shaoshi's hometown?"

Ming ChangYan, "Somewhere far, far away."

Peony, "Is it also a worship to heaven and earth?"

Ming ChangYan shook his head, "It was a worship to the moon."

Tokhara worshiped the moon. Every fifteenth of August when the moon was full, large crowds would gather for a monthly ceremony. Yi Yue would act out Tokhara's goddess and would pray to the moon every year for blessings. She would dance to the moon to convey everyone's wishes, pray for favorable weather next year, and for the prosperity of the people.

Thinking up to this, Ming ChangYan suddenly paused and excitedly asked, "Does the blessing ceremony here at the Central Plains involve dancing?"

Peony repeated, "Dancing? I don't know, but my guess is that they probably don't need it. I've never heard of the Young Prime Minister dancing."

Ming ChangYan thought 'what a pity' and sighed in sorrow for a bit. The winds outside grew stronger by the minute, Peony didn't want to stay any longer and brought them back to the inn.

On the second day at dawn, Ming ChangYan was woken by Peony dragging him out of his quilt. In a daze state, he was brought to wash his face, rinse his mouth, and put on his clothes. Peony brought the lamp to him, exclaiming, "Shaoshi, quickly quickly! We won't make it if we're late!"

Ming ChangYan yawned and asked, "What do you mean we're going to be late? It's only half-past five, what are you so anxious for?"

Peony stressed, "You don't know, aiya, you come with me!"

She pushed Ming ChangYan as the two moved forward. Just as they arrived at the entrance of DaHan Temple, they saw that there was a vast crowd. Vehicles were going back and forth, lights were abating, both the common people along with nobility from the palace were present. Ming ChangYan was startled, exclaiming, "Whoa, it's not even bright outside, why's everyone here!"

Peony replied, "Of course they're here to make wishes! You're not aware, but the female Immortal Chi at DaHan Temple is about to light the first stick of incense, so it's going to bring more good luck and be more effective!"

Ming ChangYan, "Superstitious, way too superstitious!"

Peony said, "Alright, alright, you should quickly get your Jiuzhan lamp ready, we definitely won't be able to fight over for the first incense, but we can put our lamps beside it after the blessing ceremony!"

Ming ChangYan said, "We have to fight over where to put our lamps as well?"

Peony let out a peal of wicked laughter, "Being the first is always the best, right?"

Ming ChangYan bought a lantern and stood in front of DaHan Temple's main gate. It wasn't that he was unwilling to go in, rather it was because there were too many people, there was just no way to squeeze his way in.

Peony stood there idle, bored, she began to introduce the people in the crowd to him. Who had this role in the government, who was a famous scholar, while still explaining, Peony suddenly cried out in surprise.

Ming ChangYan said, "My ears are almost deaf, jiejie, what are you doing?!"

Peony covered her mouth, "Look, it's Maiden Li Li, she came to place incense too?"

The two looked over and saw a stunning woman walk out from her chariot, delicate and graceful, everyone turned around to look.

Ming ChangYan laughed, "The title of the world's most beautiful woman truly wasn't given in vain."

Peony said, "I didn't know who she was at first. The women at brothels have hearts higher than the sky, but lives thinner than paper*, but Young Master XiaoLan has always been captivated by her. A few years ago, Fu Ling and I spotted her in the distance while outside the palace. We were startled and thought she'd been a celestial being. Honestly speaking, I've lived for so long and I've never seen such a gifted woman that could live up to her title."

(TN: "心比天高，命比纸薄"; even though they might have great ambitions, they live their lives in scorn.)

Ming ChangYan was alarmed, "XiaoLan's captivated with her? Haha, no matter how much you look at it the two of them look like a pair of older sister and brother, this child's a prodigy too!"

Peony somewhat agreed with him, regarding Ming ChangYan as her close friend, "I think that they look like a pair older sister and brother too."

Peony continued, "Young Master XiaoLan has the broad aspiration of becoming the world's number one shaoxia, so he said that it's only natural that he marries the world's most beautiful woman."

At this moment, the crowd began to slightly move forward. Ming ChangYan walked while he talked, "That little moron, he's just brain dead, it's only thanks to him not getting any illnesses or meeting any disasters that he's able to live this long."

Peony pursed her lips to stop laughing, "Let's quickly go in, it's only going to get more crowded."

Just as expected, passing through the main hall of DaHan Temple, the altar had already been packed with people. There were imperial guards patrolling so the common people and rich merchants could only stand in front of the female Immortal Chi. Ming ChangYan ran out alone and because of his weak presence in the harem, when checking the number of people, no one noticed that he was gone.

Peony didn't go in with him, so she just stood at the sides of the main street and found a good spot to watch from the sidelines. After an hour, the emperor and the empress arrived with hundreds of government officials. Ming ChangYan looked over and sure enough, saw Zhao XiaoLan in formal dress with Jun standing next to the empress.

Right now, the sky still wasn't very bright.

Peony suddenly reminded him, "It's starting."

Ming ChangYan suddenly came back to his senses and saw that below the platform there were two rows of people dressed in pure white with their heads bowed down. They clasped bright lamps in their hands, with their heads bowed and eyes drooping they silently walked forwards. After they stopped and stood still, not an echo of sound could be heard among the tens of thousands of people present. A bell rang three times as heavenly music began playing. Peony held her breath as she watched ahead with rapt attention.

Ming ChangYan had never seen the blessings ceremony in the Central Plains before and looked on with interest. He saw two children appear holding talismans, slowly walking forward burning incense while scattering flowers.

Every time they scattered the flowers, they sang, "The heavens scatter fragrant flowers as the wind spirit rises."

This was an important segment in the blessing ceremony, equivalent to the portion of the ceremony where the immortal descends. Ming ChangYan reached out and caught a falling flower when he suddenly noticed a muddled fragrance. He knew this fragrance extremely well, looking up he saw that on the main streets, in the faint lights, Huai Yu arrived.

Ming ChangYan was faintly distracted.

Huai Yu's hair was bound up in a black crown with drifting clouds with a traditional blue Brahman mark between his brows. Gone with his casual attire, looking dignified with the beauty that surpassed an immortal. The immortal's gown for the blessing ceremony was purple-red and mired in tiny details with the famous immortal coat decorated with red and golden clouds. His sleeves were wide, embed in golden silk with a golden base. It was like there was a hazy cloud draped over his shoulders along with the divine aura of the sun and moon. When he moved, it was like an immortal's mist curled around his body. The craftsmanship was superb, peerless and exquisite. In addition, his originally stunning face was enriched with cinnabar. He was in a daze and thought it really was an immortal who'd descended down to earth for a second.

As he walked with the bright gold and the mist curling around him, above his head the flowers fluttered down like flying red clouds riding through the empty sky.

Ming ChangYan thought: Because of my seniority I've always considered him a child, I overlook the fact that he's an exceptional man who's just a few years younger than me. No wonder so many women in the capital admire him, it seems that I can't help but accept it.

As he made his way above the main street, two children stood before the altar. Huai Yu slowly walked up the steps and stood in the middle of the platform. The emperor lent an arm to support the empress, standing on the platform after they heard the bell ring again, the person ringing the bell serenely said, "Kneel!"

In an instant, the tens of thousands of people there kneeled.

Peony tugged on Ming ChangYan, "Shaoshi, we're about to hear to the scriptures, quick, before you offend the gods!"

The bell ringer said, "Kneel again."

After kneeling three times, Huai Yu picked up a golden dragon jade strip. His voice sounded like the flow of water, his voice clear and deep as he read, "The virtue of heaven, where all living things begin, thus gathering up the sky…the emperor dispels the yin and yang, opening up Mother Nature, God birthed the seven governments, the essence of light, shine upon heaven and earth…"

(TN: A very old form of writing, words are carved into a bamboo stick but here they're carved into jade .JPG
Uuummm, ps. I have no clue what the hell he's saying here so I just tried my best)

The blessings ceremony didn't end until the sun was high in the sky.

After standing there all morning, Ming ChangYan was so tired that he felt dizzy and his eye dim. After so much talking, he just wanted to find someplace to drink some water.

Peony still thought of fighting over the first spot for the lamp next to Immortal Chi, but Ming ChangYan had already slipped away in the stream of people.

The crowd was so fast that he couldn't help but have to scuttle from left to right, after two to three more times of this, DaHan Temple had already been left behind by him. But today was the Lantern Festival, there were people everywhere. Only after he wandered around for a while did he find a quiet and peaceful bamboo forest.

He wasn't alone for long when suddenly, he heard someone call out his name.

Ming ChangYan slightly paused, not because of anything else but because the name that they yelled was something that he hadn't heard in a long time and the name that he'd only used before in Tokhara.

The author has something to say: All the culture within this branched off from the ceremonies and knowledge of Daoism. The words in the golden dragon jade strip are also referenced from resource material.

Pertaining to setting up little Ming's blood-letting, the influence of the poisonous insect is like this: Although it can replenish your life, continuing to replenish it isn't as comfortable as that. It depends on the physique and the degree of the poison, some people might have to let out blood once every two weeks and some people might do it once every one or two months. But not letting out blood won't cause death, but the side effects are quite uncomfortable. He's under this influence every day, as long as the intervals between aren't too short and the body's condition is poor, then when the time comes, he's going to routinely cut his finger to let out some of the poisonous blood.

Has Zhao Zhao finally realized that he's an adult male?! He's a man! Not a child~! If you keep teasing him, he's going to eat you!

This was translated by , any repost of this is stolen and if you steal my work I'll read 3 hours of Daoist scriptures to you.

My break is over, but I'll still try to get a chapter out each week!! I'll try not to let y'all down!

Zhao Zhao is Ming ChangYan's nickname in case anyone forgot! I'll be important in the future ಠ‿↼

IS THIS A BREAKTHROUGH FOR OUR MC?? Has he finally realized that he's not the kid he thought he was?! Every time MCY calls HY his friend I want to smack his head.

Alright, have a good night's sleep tonight! Don't stay up late like I do and suffer the consequences.

Chapter end