Imperial Weight Chapter 21 (Part 2)
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 21.2
He was somewhat angry about Little Phoenix transforming into a human without any warning—and not wearing clothes to boot. An ancient war god, everything under his control, yet encountering this little fat bird led to repeated mishaps.
Expressionless, he found a thick outer robe to cover him, thought about it, then pushed Little Phoenix further into the bed to keep him from rolling off.
Then he looked at the bed a few times and walked out the door. As soon as he emerged, he startled the immortal attendant on duty in the courtyard. "Emperor, do you have any instructions?"
Xingyi thought about it. "In our Fuli Palace, are there any side halls or guest rooms?"
The immortal attendant chuckled. "Emperor, there aren't any. When we were assigned here, didn't we suggest this matter? But you said you had no friends and wouldn't have anyone staying overnight in the palace. Ten thousand years ago, you converted all the side halls into weapons rooms and libraries. Apart from your chambers, there are only our servants' quarters, but those are currently at capacity—we can't make room."
Xingyi rubbed his temples.
The immortal attendant poked his head forward. "What's the matter, Emperor? Do you have guests coming? Or do you find this place uncomfortable for sleeping and want to change to somewhere else? I'll go change the bedding for you right away—you can make do for now." As he spoke, he was about to rush inside.
Xingyi took a step back and calmly blocked the doorway. "No need."
The immortal attendant asked doubtfully, "No need? Then should we prepare another bedchamber for you tomorrow as you mentioned?"
Xingyi said, "No need. You may go rest."
The attendant acknowledged and agreed. But in a moment, Xingyi changed his mind—he rubbed his temples again and called back the attendant who was about to leave, saying in a low voice something others wouldn't understand. "No, still prepare a place. It's bound to cause trouble sooner or later. Arrange it like this for now—someone will need to stay there eventually."
The immortal attendant said respectfully, "Yes," and then withdrew.
Xingyi breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked around in all directions, confirmed no one else would come in, then reached out to close the door and returned to the room.
The immortal attendant who hadn't gone far heard the sound of him closing the door and looked back—their Emperor had, for the first time ever, closed his door. Previously, for ventilation, Xingyi had always just placed a screen in the room as a partition and never had the habit of closing the door.
The little immortal attendant muttered, "If it weren't impossible, this clearly looks like someone's hidden in the room. Sigh, the Emperor has been getting stranger and stranger lately."
After walking around the room several times, Xingyi was also afraid the sound of footsteps would wake this little fat bird—given Little Phoenix's audacity in making a nest on his head, if this little fat bird woke up and discovered he'd finally successfully transformed into human form, there would surely be another earth-shaking commotion.
Xingyi had never felt such a headache. He stopped in his tracks, and finding no other place to settle in the room, could only go back to the bedside and sit down on the bed.
Little Phoenix turned over to face him, breathing evenly, sleeping sweetly.
All around was silent. Moonlight shone through the window paper, allowing Xingyi to carefully examine this little fat bird's human form.
He wasn't fat at all—nothing like the round appearance of his bird form. On the contrary, he was quite good-looking. Xingyi wasn't sure if all phoenixes looked this good, but at least Little Phoenix's appearance was impeccable. Perhaps because it was a bird he'd raised himself, looking at Little Phoenix, Xingyi found him very pleasing to the eye. His eyelashes were very long and very dark in color, like that head of jet-black hair—so black it seemed it could draw a person in, making his complexion appear even more fair. His brows and eyes were a bit sharp, showing an imperious manner even in sleep, yet his eyes were large, and the outer corners, unlike those imperious people's upturned ones, tilted downward just the right amount—not so much as to seem foolish, but just right. He looked appropriate for his age, carrying some of a young person's childishness, but also some magnanimity. When these eyes opened, they would surely be clear and bright.
"Apart from being fat and never growing up, you're actually quite a standard phoenix," Xingyi said in a low voice.
The Phoenix clan was famous for mass-producing beauties, and each one was a person of magnificent beauty—their looks were absolutely not the petty beauty of meanness and small-mindedness. Compared to them, mountain sparrows lacked some brilliance, peacocks lacked some intelligence and magnanimity. Phoenixes could be said to have every advantage—natural kings of all birds.
Little Phoenix was sleeping very deeply. This little fat bird always slept deeply, every time in deep sleep.
Xingyi sat there dryly for a while, feeling a bit tired.
He looked at the person on the bed and negotiated kindly, "Hurry up and change back, okay?"
Little Phoenix didn't know what he was dreaming about and moved again, seeming to find sleeping uncomfortable. He wriggled toward Xingyi's side and even let out soft snores.
Xingyi said, "If you don't change back, I'll—" He thought about it and it seemed there was no necessity to force Little Phoenix to change back. This little bird's cultivation wasn't low. Having his own star, he'd transformed so quickly—presumably what he'd lacked before was just a star position. After obtaining the star position, when the star positions of the various gods resonated and connected in their operation, their power greatly increased, which was why this little fat bird had transformed into human form so quickly. If he forcibly made him change back, it would probably damage Little Phoenix's primordial spirit.
What had happened when he was still an egg that caused him to even lose his star position?
Xingyi sighed softly and continued, "I'll roast you over charcoal, you bad little bird."
Little Phoenix in his dream had no idea what was happening. Later, Xingyi really needed to rest—he pushed Little Phoenix further in to make room for himself, then carefully lay down on his side.
Little Phoenix had just turned over and was also lying on his side, facing outward from the bed. Xingyi looked at his face so close, thought quietly for a while, found no answer, then gave up and closed his eyes.
He'd just closed his eyes for a short while when he felt the bed beside him sink. Warm breath suddenly drew near, and his neck and lower back also sank—Little Phoenix had rolled into his arms, moved restlessly, then reached out to hug him, burying his face in his chest.
Xingyi's sleeping robe was very loose. That soft, delicate sensation transmitted over with almost no barrier. For a moment, Xingyi even held his breath.
If his breathing motion was too large, this little bad bird would wake up, wouldn't he?
Little Phoenix found a comfortable position, stopped moving, and fell back into deep sleep. Xingyi was stiff for a long time, his hands with nowhere to rest. Only after a long while did he gently lower them to embrace Little Phoenix's shoulders.
He remained motionless like this all night, not closing his eyes for a moment. The young person's body temperature was pervasive, along with that fresh bamboo leaf scent on his body, all seeping over together.
Xingyi was on high alert, his whole body tense. Until before dawn, when he wasn't paying attention, the person in his arms suddenly shrank with a swoosh, returning to a round ball.
He let out a long breath.
Xingyi casually grabbed this little round ball and gently tossed it aside, then lay down, completely at ease, closed his eyes, and began to sleep.
—Then not long after, he was slapped awake by Little Phoenix's claw.
This little bird chirped and chirped in his ear for ages, insisting on dragging him up for breakfast. With one claw, it went smack right onto Xingyi's face to get him out of bed, even wanting to share with him last night's dream about "transforming into a human." Xingyi listened expressionlessly, then covered himself with the blanket. "Let me sleep. Court is suspended today."
Little Phoenix used his beak tip to grip the blanket corner, fighting desperately with him over the blanket, trying to drag him down. "That won't do, Weijian. You've already suspended court seven times this month! I'm a bird you're raising, so I also have an obligation to supervise you to work properly."
Xingyi ignored him, clutching the blanket and refusing to let go.
Little Phoenix wouldn't yield an inch and started chirping loudly again. "Get up, get up and play with me! Don't you want to play with me?"
Smack—Little Phoenix's claw, pulled by the blanket, let go and went whoosh, launching into flight. Xingyi accurately reached out from under the blanket, caught the airborne little round ball, then sat up expressionlessly.
Little Phoenix looked at him ingratiatingly with beady little eyes. "Chirp chirp chirp chirp, good morning."
Xingyi's voice was a bit hoarse. "Morning."
He tried hard to wake himself up, then fixed his gaze on the little round ball in his hand—without another word, he directly started kneading it. After kneading it once through, he started squeezing it, squeezing Little Phoenix until he squawked and cried out. The chirping sounds merged into one piece—Little Phoenix single-handedly created the sound effect of a flock of birds chirping chaotically.
Little Phoenix said pitifully, "Don't squeeze me anymore—you're molesting me. Since you won't marry me, why molest me? You're very bad like this—you're a big pig trotter."
Xingyi flicked his little head. "Serves you right."
Little Phoenix covered his little noggin with his little wings and protested. "Why?"
Xingyi got up and off the bed, beginning to change into his court robes. "Figure it out yourself."
Little Phoenix didn't think about it. He happily flew to Xingyi's shoulder, wanting to go to court with him. Xingyi tried hard to refuse, but Little Phoenix was full of energy and began fake crying again, complaining, "You must still be looking down on me. Hmph, I turned into a black phoenix yesterday. You say you don't mind, but deep down you still do—otherwise why won't you even let me accompany you to court?"
Before Xingyi could respond, this little fat bird continued, "Plus I've accompanied you to court so many times—if I suddenly don't appear one day, people will definitely gossip, saying you're abusing me. I'm thinking of your reputation, Weijian."
Little Phoenix appealed to emotion and reason, but Xingyi adamantly refused to let him follow to court. Little Phoenix could only dejectedly squat in the snow, waddling after him for a few steps before stopping outside the great hall.
When Xingyi went to court, from far away he could see this phoenix squatting outside the great hall, pitifully looking up at him. He was listening to a star lord's report when he couldn't bear it any longer and reached out to beckon toward the outside.
That star lord's words came to an abrupt halt, stopping in surprise.
Little Phoenix caught Xingyi's meaning and excitedly flew in, landing on Xingyi's fingertip.
Xingyi caught Little Phoenix in his hand, then with his eyes signaled for the star lord below to continue.
The report was long and tedious. Those below couldn't stand it and were all hoping for the court session to end. Before long, someone began transmitting messages through secret techniques. "I heard from the attendants in Fuli Palace that the Emperor went out in the middle of the night yesterday, and for the first time ever closed his door and dismissed everyone else. I find this matter strange—what do you all think?"
The others immediately began intense discussion. "It can't be, right? Is this really true? Why does it sound so ambiguous—could he have hidden someone in his room?"
Hearing this, Tanlang didn't even think and said directly, "Impossible. The Emperor isn't that kind of person. For tens of thousands of years, neither male beauties nor female beauties have gotten close to him. Such absurd things are absolutely impossible."
An immortal friend joked. "It's precisely because of this that it's more likely to be true! Think about it—ten thousand years of loneliness, and at this time a dewy, lovely beauty appears..."
In their imagination, everyone rapidly painted a delicate and dewy image, their imaginations running wild. They first intoxicated themselves and became increasingly excited.
Tanlang said seriously to Qisha beside him, "You also think it's impossible, right?"
Qisha covered his lips with his sleeve and coughed. "You're right."
The golden-winged bird emerged from Tanlang's sleeve, poked out his head, and said mournfully, "I don't approve of this match. If there really is such a person, what about my boss?"
Tanlang patted his head encouragingly. "It's fine—your boss still has a chance!"
****
Xingyi had no time to worry about the gossip below. Half his attention was on Little Phoenix, guarding against him suddenly transforming into a human—and the naked kind at that.
Fortunately, the court session had ended and everything was perfect. Just as Xingyi was about to take this little fat bird back for a good critical education session, he saw Tanlang suddenly return, reporting that there was still an important matter to report that he hadn't had time to mention in court.
Xingyi said, "Write a memorial for me. Didn't I just give you time off?"
Tanlang said, "I have nothing to do on leave anyway—might as well come to work. Emperor, this matter is a long story. I'm afraid I can't write it clearly—it would be better to tell you face to face."
Xingyi looked down. Little Phoenix was nestled obediently in his palm, not moving at all.
Tanlang cleared his throat. "It's like this—that incident with the Jade Rabbit three years ago was devastating. The Jade Rabbit himself nearly had his soul scattered. Fortunately, in the end we gathered his soul. However, his five senses and six consciousnesses were completely scattered, and his past memories were also lost. The person raising the rabbit originally didn't care about this, but the Jade Rabbit himself became interested in his past, so the rabbit keeper asked me if there was a way to restore the Jade Rabbit's memories."
Xingyi frowned. "The person raising the rabbit?"
Tanlang nodded. "Yes, Emperor. Among the three stars of Sha, Po, and Lang, Qisha and I have always been with you, while Po Jun Star, besides his own star position, also took on the role of the Rabbit God in the Underworld, so he's never come to Fuli Palace to report. Back then, several mortals' destiny stars fell into our Sha, Po, and Lang situation—in the end, one became the Evil Dragon God, one became the Calamity God, and only he cultivated properly and returned to the Po Jun star position. This Po Jun star... cough cough, is the Jade Rabbit's beloved."
There were some things he didn't say aloud—precisely because of this, that Po Jun star had a big grudge against Xingyi for manipulating the star disc and nearly causing the Jade Rabbit's death. This was also why he'd never come to report.
Xingyi said, "I understand. I'll resolve this matter another day. The Jade Rabbit's memories need to be found in the star disc—when the time comes, you and Qisha will go along."
Tanlang said, "Yes. Besides this matter, there's also..."
Xingyi listened to him chattering on, when suddenly he felt the little bird on his knee move.
Little Phoenix lifted his beady little eyes to look at him, his gaze somewhat confused, as if his body felt uncomfortable—
In that instant, an ominous premonition surged into Xingyi's mind. He quickly loosened his hold on Little Phoenix a bit, moving him from the table to below the table, then watched helplessly as this little round ball—bang—transformed into a bare-naked human figure.
Little Phoenix still hadn't figured out what was happening when his head tilted back and hit something with a thud.
At the same time, Tanlang, who was speaking in the courtyard steps below, suddenly fell silent. After a moment, he asked hesitantly, "...Emperor? Was there just some noise?"
Xingyi calmly covered Little Phoenix, pressing down Little Phoenix's excitedly flailing hands—this little fat bird had already realized what happened.
He could transform!
If his mouth wasn't covered by Xingyi, he'd surely be able to sing a song right now.
"No, there was no noise at all. You heard wrong. Continue." Xingyi's expression was blank.
Little Phoenix struggled to climb onto him. Because the space under the table was cramped, squatting was very uncomfortable—he just wanted to poke his head out. But Xingyi misunderstood, thinking he wanted to dart out, and could only send a threatening look downward. Little Phoenix was unconvinced and silently fought back against him. Xingyi was almost ready to fight him—
Tanlang stopped again, looking up doubtfully, "Emperor, are you unwell? Why do I hear—"
In the next instant, with a tremendous crash, the table in front of Xingyi was directly flipped over, smashing straight down toward the bottom!
This crash sounded like the earth was shaking and mountains were trembling. Tanlang jumped aside in fright. The golden-winged bird also burst out of his sleeve in fear, then was caught by him.
The imperial seat was now completely exposed. In that split second, Xingyi pulled off his outer robe and quickly threw it over Little Phoenix, then drew the entire person onto his lap, firmly blocking him.
However, the outer robe was thin and light. The young person's beautiful shoulder blades showed through the outer robe. The uncovered slender, fair ankle was also exposed, toes touching the ground. His long hair cascaded down like spilled ink. His entire back figure was perfectly proportioned—even a fool seeing this scene would know that under that outer robe was someone not wearing clothes.
Truly... fragrant and alluring beyond measure.
The golden-winged bird burst into tears with a wah. "Boss! Boss, where are you! Boss, you have no chance anymore, wuwuwuwu! I don't approve of this match!"
Having said this, the golden-winged bird flew out crying.
Tanlang rushed to catch him back. His gaze made a round trip between Xingyi and the young man, then with a grave expression, he said, "Pardon the intrusion."
Then hurriedly withdrew.
Xingyi buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath.
He opened his eyes and discovered the culprit of this scene was blinking his eyes at him, a pair of large dark eyes staring at him and rolling around.
Especially innocently calling out, "Husband."
