Imperial Weight Chapter 4
Translated by Sylver (ko-fi)
Chapter 4
Since he hadn't been driven away again, perhaps that meant he could stay.
The little phoenix nestled by Xingyi Emperor's shoulder and slept half the night. In his dreams, he still happily climbed onto his husband's head. The next day, after Xingyi dismissed court, he slept until he naturally woke up, only to see this round little ball standing on top of his head. Seeing him open his eyes, the phoenix affectionately stretched out his soft wingtip and patted his head.
Xingyi opened the window, letting the mountain wind blow in, and reclined against the edge of the bed to fully wake up. The little phoenix was blown into a shiver and slid down from the top of his head, rolling into his collar.
The little phoenix stepped on the collarbone of the ancient war god—the master of the Star Disc who dared to even release the Buddha's pigeon at will, the most fearsome being in heaven and earth—and felt that the sensation transmitted through his claws was quite pleasant.
The little phoenix felt a bit restless with desire.
Xingyi's body was very warm, carrying that hot warmth one has upon just waking, along with the firm, hard muscle texture of this body's owner. The bloody storms of the ancient battlefield were long in the past. Xingyi was born with a face that others couldn't find fault with. Now that he had leisure time, no longer wearing battle armor or wielding a long sword, many people said he was effeminate—perhaps it was connected with his usually strange and eccentric style of conduct, or perhaps he was usually too difficult to approach.
The little phoenix quietly shifted his claws, sliding down a bit so that only his round little head was exposed. But Xingyi sensed something and pressed down on his collar to stop him from moving, then reached in to catch him. Unfortunately, the little phoenix was an agile little fat bird. In the short distance of a bit of clothing, not only did Xingyi fail to catch him, but the little phoenix burrowed further inside.
As if discovering a new world, the little phoenix would step around on Xingyi's beautifully lined, tightly toned belly for a while, then burrow through Xingyi's sleeves, sliding down his arms like a slide. After eating enough tofu, the little phoenix was finally satisfied and burrowed back out through Xingyi's collar, then rolled and landed safely on the bed.
Then he raised a pair of innocent and well-behaved eyes, blinking at Xingyi.
Xingyi: "......"
Xingyi rubbed his temples, feeling that he probably shouldn't quibble with a bird, so he got up and out of bed. The little phoenix promptly flew to his shoulder. Wherever Xingyi went, he followed. When Xingyi was reading, the little phoenix would squat on the brush holder on his desk, looking left and right.
When Xingyi went out for a walk, the little phoenix would follow behind him, waddling along. By the end of the day, everyone in Fuli Palace knew that the rumors from Qisha were true—Xingyi Emperor had, for the first time ever, taken in a new pet, a little fat ball of a sparrow.
In the evening, when the little phoenix wanted to follow Xingyi again, he was refused. Xingyi gently held him and asked a maidservant for a cage, put the little phoenix inside, then handed him over to a servant to look after, instructing, "Take good care of him. Don't feed him random things. Go to my garden and get bamboo seeds for him. Use Fuli spring water for drinking. Also, go find the descendants of Lu Ban and have them make a bird's nest from the branches of a wutong tree."
The celestial maid acknowledged each instruction.
The little phoenix looked up at Xingyi disappearing behind that unremarkable door, feeling somewhat indignant. He avoided the palace maid's hand and bit the cage lock with one peck, bending it, preparing to rush over.
Fortunately, he was quite round. Although he bent the cage, it would still take some effort to squeeze out. The celestial maid quickly caught him and warned. "You can't enter this room. Remember, this is where the Emperor controls the Star Disc and forges weapons. When the Star Disc moves, chaotic stars burst forth and scatter. Even someone with Nascent Soul cultivation would immediately burn to ashes. You don't want to become a roasted sparrow, do you?"
The little phoenix twisted and glared at the celestial maid.
The celestial maid teased him. "Oh my, be good now. How can you be so small yet have such a big temper? The Emperor will come back out after the moon rises. Be good, okay? Little birdie."
The little phoenix kicked his legs and lay down. The celestial maid circled around the cage, wanting to pet him, but whichever direction she walked, the little phoenix turned his head in the opposite direction.
The celestial maid asked him, "Are you hungry? Hmm? Little birdie? Roundy? Fatty? Little White?" After a long while, she finally reacted, "Wait, what the Emperor just said... roosting only in wutong trees, eating only bamboo seeds, drinking only sweet springs—isn't that a phoenix? This little fat bird round as a cabbage is actually a phoenix?"
She immediately didn't dare tease the little phoenix anymore. The phoenix clan was famously domineering and arrogant, with fierce temperaments. Although this one was white, he didn't seem particularly well-behaved either. The Heavenly Realm had no shortage of rare birds. Though phoenixes were especially precious, they weren't impossible to find. Why would the Emperor want to raise such an unruly bird?
The celestial maid, harboring these inner complaints, went to find bamboo seeds for the little phoenix.
The little phoenix lay in the cage. After confirming no one was around, he immediately bit the cage a few more times, pried it open, and struggled to squeeze out. He first circled around the room and discovered that this place had no windows, and the door had a tight prohibition set up. So he began to peck at the door—tap tap tap—which actually sounded quite convincing, as if someone was knocking.
After a while, Xingyi came to open the door.
He looked up and didn't see a single person. Looking down, he saw a round little fat bird squatting on the ground, looking up at him, then hopping a few times.
The little phoenix flapped his wings trying to fly up. Xingyi reached out to block him. "Go out."
The little phoenix kept fluttering, about to fly into his face. Xingyi had to step back several paces and softened his voice, adding, "......Be good."
Because of this one word, the little phoenix who had been making a fuss all day also quieted down, squatting on his fingertip, his heart blooming with joy, even his feathers seeming to puff up.
At the same time, the footsteps that suddenly sounded from the other side also stopped. Xingyi turned his head to look and saw the palace maid from before carrying a large plate of bamboo seeds, apparently having heard that gentle word "good," with an expression as if she'd been struck by lightning.
The little fat bird on his fingertip pushed his luck, wanting to nuzzle against him. Xingyi, not caring what others thought of him, still softened his tone and negotiated with this little troublemaker. "It's boring inside. You go play outside, and I'll come out again tonight."
He handed the little phoenix back to the celestial maid.
The little phoenix was reluctant and just squatted in front of his door, unwilling to move at all. The celestial maid felt sorry for him and put the bamboo seeds down for him, then patted his head. "See, I told you. The Emperor is in a good mood right now and isn't fussing with you. If you keep bothering him, the Emperor might get angry."
The little phoenix picked up a bamboo seed and ate it silently. The young celestial maid smiled and brought him a bottle of spring water, placing it by the door.
After eating and drinking his fill, the people around had also dispersed. Squatting there bored, the little phoenix began tapping the door again with his beak tip—tap tap tap.
After tapping for a while, Xingyi's voice came from inside. "Stop tapping. I won't open it. Go catch bugs and play by yourself."
The little phoenix stopped tapping. After a while, he waddled over to the eaves and picked up a small stone, then waddled back and knocked on the door with the stone in his beak. He also slowed down the rhythm, so it sounded different from the previous knocking.
From inside, Xingyi asked, "Who is it?"
The little phoenix stopped knocking, put down the stone, and continued squatting.
A moment later, the door still opened. When Xingyi came out and looked, he saw the exact same scene as before, except that beside the little fat bird looking up at him eagerly, there was now a stone.
Xingyi sighed, crouched down, extended his hand to let the little phoenix jump onto his palm, and reached out to pat his head.
"You want to watch me, is that it?" Xingyi asked.
The little phoenix quickly nodded.
Xingyi smiled.
"Then watch. Since you're so understanding of human nature, you must have spiritual consciousness. You just stand on this threshold and can't cross over even one step. Understand?"
The little phoenix nodded again.
Xingyi patted his head again, pushed open the door to let the daylight in, and apparently didn't plan to close the door again.
The little phoenix obediently squatted on the threshold, watching him turn back to the desk. In the room stood something the size of a chess board, with points of starlight twinkling. Even from this distance, the little phoenix still felt the scorching, oppressive aura emanating from the Star Disc, yet Xingyi was completely unaffected.
One person and one bird stayed like this for an afternoon. Xingyi would occasionally get up to add tea. When his gaze swept toward the doorway, he would see the little phoenix not moving at all, just squatting there. At first, he kept his round little bean eyes open watching him, but later began to doze off, swaying back and forth, until finally—plop—he fell down.
The little phoenix was jolted awake by the fall. After spinning around in place a few times, he finally felt a bit embarrassed. Moreover, he had finished eating the bamboo seeds as snacks, and his stomach was hungry again. The little phoenix chirped a few times to inform Xingyi that he was going out for a stroll, and assuming that Xingyi had understood, he waddled out.
By the time Xingyi came to his senses, the little round ball at the doorway had already whooshed away and disappeared.
Xingyi didn't pay attention at first. After a moment, when he finished what he was doing and the tea in the room was empty, he got up and went out, stopping the celestial maid from before and simply saying, "Tea."
The celestial maid brought him tea as instructed. Xingyi took the fragrant, slightly hot tea and sipped it a few times, then his gaze fell on the threshold area. "Where's that bird?"
When the celestial maid heard him ask this, her head grew big. "Earlier it played in the snow in the courtyard for a while, then ran out. It seems not to like staying in the cage and bit through the golden-silk cage. Later, after you opened the door, I saw the little bird squatting there quite obediently, so I didn't interfere. Now I don't know where it's gone."
Xingyi said, "Never mind. If it wants to come back, it will come back on its own."
Given that little bird's nature of eagerly clinging to him, it probably wouldn't be long before it came running back to find him. Xingyi carried his tea back into the room, his expression indifferent.
The celestial maid called after him, "Then, when Little Fatty comes back, shall I report to you?"
"Little Fatty?" Xingyi frowned at this name. He pondered for a moment and said, "Put the matter of naming aside for now. Just call it little phoenix for the time being."
The celestial maid had an epiphany and deeply felt the Emperor's wisdom. "That's right! The phoenix clan has fierce temperaments and cares greatly about face. If given such a name, it would definitely make a fuss... You're still more thoughtful. I keep forgetting that this little fat ball is a phoenix. Not many people would believe it if you told them—it clearly looks more like a sparrow. If you weren't infallible, I would think you had made a mistake."
Xingyi stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.
The celestial maid quickly shut her mouth. She was always careless and spoke without thinking, had no particular thoughts about Xingyi, and thus could stay in Fuli Palace for so many years. She could roughly gauge Xingyi's temperament—when he was protective, he couldn't be provoked. If something was viewed by Xingyi as his possession, others shouldn't even think about touching it, let alone casually discussing it.
The celestial maid properly apologized. "I misspoke, Emperor. Since the little phoenix is a beloved pet you value so highly, surely you must carefully select a good name for it."
Xingyi denied: "No need to apologize. I don't value it that much. I just didn't hear what you said clearly."
After saying this, he strode quickly back and closed the door again.
As soon as Xingyi sat down, he glanced at the tightly closed door, then waved his hand to open it again with a spell. Dusk streamed in, the sunlight gradually sinking, cut off by the high threshold, leaving a patch of golden shadow on the ground. Book pages rustled, the Star Disc rotated eternally, faint starlight suspended and scattered in the corners of the room, illuminating the interior as bright as day. After that strip of golden dusk disappeared, deep blue gradually enveloped the earth, and outside began the sporadic calls of insects that don't overwinter.
Then the moon rose too, and Xingyi put down his book pages and got up to go out. He looked up at the moon—today it was an extremely thin, curved waxing crescent, that bit of clear radiance almost vanishing into nothing.
The immortal servant came to the room at the appointed time to bring things and attend to his washing, but saw that Xingyi remained motionless for a long time.
The immortal servant inquired, "Emperor?"
Xingyi said, "It's nothing." He washed up as usual.
When he got into bed and prepared to close his eyes, he turned his head and caught sight of the scene by the window. The sparse moonlight shone in through the window paper, softening considerably and spreading into a halo. The hole the little phoenix had made had been quickly repaired by the people in the palace. Xingyi hadn't mentioned it, but hadn't expected these people to move so quickly.
He got up and walked to the window, using his thumb and index finger to measure. When his palm opened, the warm sensation of the fluffy little round ball rolling across it seemed still there, the memory vivid.
With no one around, Xingyi calmly poked with his fingertip, traced a circle, then poked once, then again. After he had poked open a circle matching the size in his memory, he withdrew his hand.
Xingyi studied this hole, then remembered how the little phoenix had squeezed and squeezed for a long time before getting in that day, so he widened the hole a bit more. The mountain wind from the snowy peak made the edges of the hole rustle, cold wind pouring in, lifting Xingyi's thin robe, and the door behind him swayed along with it.
Only after doing all this did Xingyi lie back down on the bed.
He had almost no schedule during the day, but controlling the Star Disc itself required maintaining highly concentrated spirit and circulating cultivation. Others saw him as casual and capricious, unfathomable to gods and ghosts, but he himself knew best how great his daily consumption was. If it weren't for an ancient war god, if anyone else in the Heavenly Court were to bear the Star Disc, they would probably vanish into ashes within a few days. Whenever the moon was up and the starlight receded, only then could he get a bit of rest.
Today was different. He woke up several times, and each time when he opened his eyes, he had only slept for a few incense sticks' worth of time. Each time he woke, he would subconsciously look beside his pillow, search the corners of the bed and by the window, but there was nothing in these places. The hole in the window paper was empty, only letting through a bit of moonlight reflected by the snow.
That little fat bird—why hasn't it come back yet?
Xingyi reached up to rub his brow, as if feeling weary over this matter. This was the fourth time he had woken tonight. The night was not yet half over. He draped on his outer robe, got up, lit a lamp, and stepped into the snowy ground.
The immortal servant keeping watch by the door was startled and hurried forward to inquire, "Emperor, what's wrong?"
Xingyi didn't turn his head back, waving his hand, "I'm going out for a walk."
The immortal servant wanted to ask more, but heard him add, "Cancel court tomorrow."
