After Losing My Memory, I Became My Rival's Palm-Sized Chirper - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: A Better Cultivation Method

Shuoling walked in carrying a plate of fruit, only to see the Emperor and Empress tangled in a “tussle.”

“What’s happened? What’s going on?” Shuoling hurriedly quickened her pace.

Han Mo looked at her, feeling that the anxious expression on the fairy’s face looked more like she didn’t want to miss a single second of the excitement.

“Ahem,” Han Mo explained to her. “His Majesty ordered me to prepare hawthorn tea for His Consort.”

“What?” Shuoling, who had expected something fun, immediately looked horrified. “Hawthorn is cooling by nature; how can His Consort eat that!”

Han Mo: “…Exactly.”

Even as someone close to His Majesty, Han Mo trusted the Emperor’s judgment and character above all else. However, when His Majesty ordered him to get hawthorn tea just now, his first reaction was almost identical to Shuoling’s. He thought: How can His Majesty give hawthorn tea to the Consort? That stuff causes miscarriages!

He even thought: Luckily, there are only a few of us in this room, and no one will go out and talk. Otherwise, if the conversation just now got out, the Four Realms would probably be spreading rumors tomorrow that the ‘Evil Celestial Emperor has disowned his kin and is personally slaying his own child’!

…So, this round of the Emperor and Empress talking past each other was destined to end in His Majesty’s defeat.

After all, even as the one most loyal to His Majesty, Han Mo’s own bias had shifted… he couldn’t help but feel that His Majesty was being inconsiderate!

General Han once again deeply condemned himself in his heart.

That hawthorn tea personally requested by His Majesty was ultimately never served.

This particular “clash” between the imperial couple finally concluded with the Celestial Emperor holding the fat bird in his palm, carefully soothing him with surging spiritual energy.

The Emperor’s spiritual energy was of the water element, while Qi Jia’s was of fire. Logically, they should be incompatible.

Even though the Emperor’s immortal soul was consolidated and his spiritual energy was vast—capable of providing soothing and healing effects for most immortals—the effect on a fire-attribute soul like Qi Jia’s should have been negligible. In fact, if Yu Baixi poured out too much energy or intended to harm, it would actually make Qi Jia feel miserable.

It was the dragon breath inside Qi Jia’s belly that acted as a perfect mediator. It caused the adverse effects of clashing attributes to vanish completely, leaving Qi Jia feeling only comfortable and healed.

The plump little bird lay peacefully in the Emperor’s hand, eyes half-closed. Basking in the morning sunlight, his fluffy, soft feathers radiated a sense of leisure and warmth. The scene was quiet and cozy.

Shuoling and Han Mo stood to the side, eyes focused on their own noses as if in meditation, though they occasionally stole glances at each other. They both felt this scene was incredibly sweet!

Later, the Emperor indicated it was time for him to handle court affairs.

The little fat bird followed along naturally.

Yu Baixi said to him, “You can go play on your own; there is no need to follow.”

Qi Jia was single-mindedly focused on Dual Cultivation, so he was naturally unwilling to let the other party leave. He said, “Won’t the Empress have to handle state affairs in the future? This Consort needs to study hard!”

Hearing this, the Emperor looked sideways and raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to come?”

“I’m coming,” Qi Jia replied without hesitation.

And so, he followed Yu Baixi to the study.

Once in the study, the sun was high. Yu Baixi flicked his robes and sat at the desk, while Qi Jia sat pretentiously on the table, craning his neck to follow along as the Emperor read several scrolls of memorials.

If he wanted to look, Yu Baixi let him.

Some they read together; others Yu Baixi scanned quickly, seemingly knowing the content was useless, and simply handed them all to Qi Jia while he opened the next one.

Qi Jia: “…”

There were too many memorials. Qi Jia didn’t have the man’s skill for rapid screening, so he could only force himself to look.

At first, he treated them like storybooks and could manage to read a bit, but later he found he couldn’t understand them—and even if he could, he had no interest. Qi Jia couldn’t take it anymore.

The key was that the entire Hongmeng Palace was silent. There were few signs of activity, not even the sound of birds or insects.

In such an environment, even though it wasn’t yet noon, Qi Jia began to feel sleepy. The little fat bird could no longer sit still and had to hop here and there, trying not to fall asleep on his first day of “studying” government affairs.

In contrast to his restlessness, the Emperor sitting straight at the desk was so still he seemed to have frozen into a painting.

Wearing a jade crown and sitting in a dignified posture, Yu Baixi hadn’t moved since he sat down, and even his expression rarely changed.

Holding a brush for red-ink comments, the Emperor’s handwriting was powerful, upright, and honest. The things he wrote were concise and to the point—mostly the two words “Reviewed.” For the rare cases requiring long comments, he remained composed, writing with ease.

Under the pouring sunlight, the black-haired Emperor was as brilliant as a jade tree in the wind.

After “pata-pata-ing” from one end of the table to the other and back again for the nth time, Qi Jia suddenly noticed Yu Baixi’s handsomeness and focus. He stopped specifically to observe him.

He felt that compared to looking at memorials himself, watching how the Emperor looked at memorials was much more poetic.

“If it is truly boring, go out and play.”

After Qi Jia had stood still, tucking his wings and looking up at him for a good while, the Emperor—who had been silent all morning—suddenly spoke.

Qi Jia snapped back to reality. “…Who said this Consort finds it boring?”

Saying this, he saw Yu Baixi finally look up at him. Finding his own delicate reflection in those grey-blue eyes, Qi Jia’s eyes darted, and he hopped forward, landing directly on the Emperor’s wrist as he held the brush. “While it’s not boring, we really should take a break… How about we Dual Cultivate for a bit? It’s the perfect way to replenish our energy!”

Yu Baixi didn’t move, allowing the fat bird to land lightly on his wrist.

Having roughly guessed what the other would say, the Emperor listened in silence.

Only after the round bird finished did the expressionless man slowly speak: “Compared to the method of Dual Cultivation, this Seat currently has a technique much better suited for you.”

Qi Jia: “There’s something even more powerful than Dual Cultivation?”

The chubby little bird wiggled its tail and patted its way two steps to the side, moving from the wrist to Yu Baixi’s long, elegant fingertip. He craned his neck again: “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

“Don’t be anxious. I will give it to you now.”

As the Emperor finished speaking, he raised his hand with a beckoning gesture. A blank jade slip flew from the bookshelf into his hand.

Yu Baixi pressed the jade slip against his fingertip.

Qi Jia watched intently, looking up, even though he felt the Emperor’s movements were a bit slow—not the imprinting speed, but rather his every gesture was slow and deliberate. It truly befitted a mature and steady demeanor, but it didn’t match the bird’s frantic pace.

However, since the man was teaching him a technique, there was nothing he couldn’t wait for. Haste makes waste!

Especially considering Yu Baixi was the strongest person in the Four Realms, a technique he rated so highly must be incredibly powerful. Qi Jia squinted his eyes with satisfaction, feeling a bit smug—he had definitely made the right choice coming to the Heaven Realm!

So, he said very considerately, “Take your time imprinting it, I’m not in a hurry.”

After giving his instructions, the little fat bird simply tucked in his claws and lay down directly on the Emperor’s fingertip.

His fluffy feathers were all spread out.

The hand Yu Baixi used to hold the jade slip wavered for a moment.

A moment later, Yu Baixi said, “It is done.”

He then handed the jade slip imprinted with the technique to Qi Jia.

“So fast?” His prominent head feathers shook as the little fat bird immediately stood up.

Qi Jia knew how to use jade slips. He first used spiritual magic to make the slip fly in front of him, and then, with great anticipation—almost unable to wait—he dipped his divine sense into it and opened the jade slip.

A second later, the clear roar of the Consort rang out once again in the Emperor’s study: “The Heart-Cleansing Mantra?? This is what you’re teaching me… Are you sure this is a ‘Better Technique’???”

Half a cup of tea later, a pale yellow little bird flew out of the Emperor’s study, cursing under his breath.