After Losing My Memory, I Became My Rival's Palm-Sized Chirper - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Wearing No Clothes

The dispute among the little bird spirits was eventually settled by Qi Jia.

His method of ending the “war” was simple and crude: he asked for Shuoling Immortal’s help. As a high-spirit avian being from a prestigious noble family and a high-ranking official herself, Shuoling was practically a princess to the bird tribes. Positioned above millions, her word was law; with just a single sentence, the war ceased.

However, because Qi Jia had successfully connected himself with the “Princess,” he—the outsider bird with an unknown husband—once again became the prime subject of the birds’ collective gossip.

But that is a story for later.

Regardless, after stepping in to settle the conflict, Qi Jia found himself exhausted by the jealousy, vanity, and intrigue among the birds. For the next two days, he stopped squatting in their territory to chatter with them.

After obtaining his courtesy name, “Jiao Feng” (Genteel Phoenix), Qi Jia asked everyone around him for their courtesy names as well.

It turned out that “Shuoling” was the courtesy name of the Shuoling Immortal; her original name was Si Ruifei, implying a lush abundance of floral fragrance and spiritual energy.

General Han’s courtesy name was much more formidable: “Shen Zhen.” Zhen came from the Zhen Hexagram (The Arousing/Thunder). Han Mo introduced himself by saying the name was given by his father to remind him to stay vigilant in times of peace, to maintain a sense of healthy fear, and to never be negligent.

Han Mo remarked, “Looking back, my father was truly visionary. Serving His Majesty is exactly the kind of job where one cannot afford to be negligent!”

As he spoke, General Han instinctively glanced at the Sovereign before quickly lowering his head.

“Speaking of your Emperor,” Qi Jia remembered, “I still don’t know what his courtesy name is?”

“…His Majesty has no courtesy name,” Han Mo said.

“? How is that possible?”

“I am not entirely sure either.” Han Mo explained that he was nearly a thousand years younger than the Emperor. In the Mortal Realm, one usually receives a courtesy name during the coming-of-age ceremony at five hundred years old. By the time the Emperor should have received his, Han Mo hadn’t even been born.

“One theory is that His Majesty stayed in his dragon egg for a full twenty thousand years before hatching. By a strict timeline, he was already twenty thousand years old when he was born, long past the age of the ceremony, so…”

“But shouldn’t age be calculated from the moment of hatching?” Qi Jia said, propping his chin with a wing. Although he also lacked memories of his time inside the egg, he felt it should be that way.

“Indeed, there is no consciousness inside the egg. The Four Realms all use the day of shell-breaking as the birth date, so everyone accepts that His Majesty is currently just over ten thousand years old,” Han Mo said. “In that case, I don’t know why His Majesty didn’t hold a ceremony when he was five hundred…”

“Is there some special reason?”

As if discovering a secret of the Heavens, Qi Jia’s wide eyes were full of curiosity. “I remember you saying the Late Emperor adored Yu Baixi. As the Crown Prince of Heaven, surely they wouldn’t skip the ceremony and the bestowing of a name?”

Han Mo had never seriously considered this before. “Though I was raised in the palace of the Emperor’s mother as a child, His Majesty was never close to the Grand Empress Dowager. Furthermore, as the Crown Prince, his lessons were different from ours. I rarely saw him when I was young.”

Thinking back to his own carefree youth before he reached a thousand, Han Mo scratched his head. “His Majesty’s ceremony might have just been delayed by circumstances… I can ask my sister when I have time; she might know.”

“No need for that,” Qi Jia said. He was just gossiping out of curiosity; he didn’t need to pry into Yu Baixi’s private affairs to that extent.

But thinking that the mighty Heavenly Emperor didn’t even have a courtesy name… it made his own amnesia and forgotten name seem like a less tragic situation.

Most of the time, Qi Jia stayed in the study to foster feelings with the Emperor and strive for an early Dual Cultivation… no, that’s not right—he was there to learn about state affairs and prepare to assume the duties of the Empress.

However, Yu Baixi was very busy. Even though the two were often together, they didn’t talk much.

…If verbal communication was scarce, other forms of communication were even rarer.

When Qi Jia felt truly lazy or bored, he would tinker with small things in the study. Recently, he had taken a liking to rummaging through the Emperor’s bookshelves.

Yu Baixi’s shelves contained more than just books; there were many small drawers and hidden compartments filled with treasures. There were medicinal pills of unknown use, gold, silver, jade, and various spiritual treasures. They looked expensive and beautiful.

Since Yu Baixi didn’t mind him looking and even told him he could take anything he liked, this “treasure hunt” became a major joy for the bird in between his studies.

To a bird, the massive bookshelf—taller than a man and occupying an entire wall—was a treasure mountain full of uncharted territory.

Qi Jia could pull out any drawer at random and find something good.

For instance, he found a pill that, according to Shuoling, was a “God-tier Treasure Pill” that could directly increase one’s cultivation by a thousand years. It was a birthday gift from Taishang Laojun (The Supreme Old Lord) for the Emperor’s ten-thousandth birthday.

Qi Jia: “…A thousand years!”

Though he didn’t remember his own age, he knew Yu Baixi was only thirteen thousand. Eating that pill would give the Emperor fourteen thousand years of cultivation—adding an extra fraction of power for free. He was already so powerful; what would another thousand years do?!

Because of this, Qi Jia specifically ran back to ask Yu Baixi why he hadn’t eaten such a good thing and why he was keeping it.

The Emperor’s explanation was that although he belonged to the spirit race, dragons were different from ordinary spirits. Cultivation-boosting pills had little effect on the dragon race; eating them was a waste. Moreover, even without supplements, a dragon’s ability to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was hundreds of times stronger than that of ordinary spirits.

…

To put it bluntly: for the Emperor, the speed at which he absorbed the essence of the sun and moon was faster than the boost from a top-grade pill. To him, that pill was at most a holy medicine for healing injuries.

Qi Jia: “…”

Understood.

The chubby bird squinted and pulled his head back, trying hard to hide his feeling of being “flexed on” by the Emperor’s natural talent, while silently returning the pill to its hidden compartment.

Useful or not, it was a gift from Laojun to His Majesty; it wasn’t right for him to take it.

Qi Jia had been getting along well with the various immortal officials in Yujing lately. He figured he could take some spiritual materials later and ask Laojun to refine a powerful pill like that for him.

Hee hee.

The materials could come from the Empress’s monthly allowance or the Emperor’s rewards. If that didn’t work… there were plenty of precious medicinal herbs in the bookshelf drawers.

Haha!

The key was that while such treasures were precious, they were just a drop in the bucket in the Emperor’s study. Qi Jia felt he shouldn’t get excited too early before finishing his search. That would make him look like he had never seen the world.

Speaking of which, Qi Jia remembered that Yu Baixi could refine medicine himself. The “Spirit-Nurturing Pill” he had taken initially was crafted by the Emperor. No wonder there were so many treasures here.

Because there were so many materials at hand, Qi Jia suddenly had the idea of learning how to refine medicine.

The Emperor showed surprising patience in this regard. Since Qi Jia wanted to learn, he found many books for him and said, “Read these first. If there is anything you don’t understand, come and ask me.”

Qi Jia: “…”

Looking at the thick books and scrolls—each taller than the bird—he instinctively felt sleepy. But since he was the one who suggested it, he had to bury his head in the books.

Then, Qi Jia discovered he actually had a great talent for pharmacology. He could naturally distinguish what was edible and what wasn’t, and he could sense if food was toxic. It seemed like an innate skill.

Now, it was just a matter of identifying more herbs, learning their names, and understanding the common knowledge of their synergies and taboos. He learned remarkably fast.

Plus, he was very diligent… for the past two nights, he had been memorizing materials in his dreams! He was touched by his own hard work!

In short, the chubby bird soon began his practical application with full confidence.

One day, Yu Baixi left Yujing early in the morning for business and didn’t return until evening. As soon as he stepped back into the Hongmeng Palace, the round little bird flew in through the window and landed before him.

The Emperor was travel-worn, his body soaked in frost and fatigue, but his expression softened and his weariness vanished the moment the yellow bird arrived.

He looked at the round bird gazing up at him from the table. Although his voice was hoarse, he asked almost brightly, “Why are you back so early today?”

These past two days, Qi Jia had been either identifying materials with the Medicine King or refining medicine with Laojun. The time the Emperor and Empress spent together during the day had decreased significantly, aside from meals. Occasionally, this bird would return quite late.

“I heard you were back, so I came back,” Qi Jia flapped his wings and said without hesitation. “You’ve been gone all day; I missed you.”

His eyelashes dropped heavily, and the Emperor’s voice became a bit unnatural. “…So, what have you been busy with today?”

“Reading and learning herbs,” the yellow bird replied honestly, then suddenly added, “Oh, right, I have something to give you.”

He signaled for Yu Baixi to hold out his hand. He then placed a round bean into the open palm.

“What is this?” Yu Baixi asked, looking at the red bean in his palm.

“It’s a red bean,” Qi Jia said in a tone that implied ‘How could you not know this?’ then quickly smiled and said, “In medical books, it is called the ‘Yearning Seed’ (Xiangsizi).”

“..The Emperor’s palm felt as if it had been scorched again. His wrist went stiff, but his fingers instinctively tightened. “…Why are you giving me this?”

Qi Jia said, “I just feel you’ve been quite good to me. Especially that token of love you gave me—that jade pendant helped me a lot. It really gave me a huge amount of face in front of the other birds. So I wanted to give you something too…”

Qi Jia’s voice trailed off. “But I don’t know what you lack. You are the Heavenly Emperor; you lack nothing. And I don’t have much to give… mainly because you won’t let me attend to your bed (sleep with you)…”

Yu Baixi: “…”

After his mumble, Qi Jia said seriously, “After thinking for so many days, this simple object is the only thing that can carry my feelings. Please do not despise it, Your Majesty.”

“You’ve been thinking about this all these days?”

Yu Baixi looked at the small red bean resting in his palm, his expression becoming unnatural. “…This Seat does not need you to give me anything.”

“I know.”

Qi Jia looked at the bean—the largest and roundest he had carefully selected from many—and smiled with satisfaction. “But I can’t always receive your benefits with a clear conscience without thinking of giving back.”

“…Fine.” Yu Baixi fully closed his fingers, gripping the red bean in his palm. “I accept your gift.”

“Then you must keep it safe.” The bird continued to smile, squinting his eyes. “This is my token of love for you.”

“…Nonsense.”

Having said that, the Emperor opened his palm and placed the red bean on the table.

Qi Jia: ?

Qi Jia immediately flapped his wings in protest. “No throwing it away! You just said you accepted it!”

The Emperor closed his eyes. He pressed his forehead with his fingers, considering how to explain the difference between a simple gift and a “token of love” to this bird, and how they weren’t in a relationship where they should be exchanging such tokens…

At that moment, Qi Jia’s voice came again, tinged with hesitation. “Your hair… it’s white again.”

Almost every time Yu Baixi returned from an outing, his temples would be stained with frost. According to the Medicine King and the immortal doctors, this was a lingering symptom of the Great War ten thousand years ago. It happened whenever the Emperor overexerted his mind, experienced extreme emotional fluctuations, or used too much spiritual power.

Fortunately, he was a dragon with incredible self-healing abilities. A little rest would restore him to normal. The officials of the Heavenly Realm were used to it and no longer cared. Even the Emperor himself didn’t pay it much mind.

But this time…

Hearing this, Yu Baixi looked down at his long hair scattered on his shoulders. Indeed, several strands were white. He paused, remaining in a downward gaze, and gave a low response: “Mm.”

Then, the Emperor raised his hand and casually swept his hair behind him, repeating, “It is nothing.”

Qi Jia said, “It’s okay, no need to fix it. You look quite handsome like this too.”

Heavenly Emperor: “…”

The little bird let out a chirp. “It’s a different kind of charm!”

“…Mm.”

The Emperor’s lips curled up very slightly as he reached out to stroke the bird’s round back. “Thank you for comforting me.”

Qi Jia chirped again because the stroking felt very comfortable. But he didn’t actually think he was comforting the other. Primarily, the white hair truly didn’t affect Yu Baixi’s looks at all.

In fact, because the Emperor usually seemed too mature despite his youthful appearance, there was often a sense of disconnect. This touch of white hair suited his unfathomable character better; he looked more like the legendary “Wicked Heavenly Emperor,” more imposing.

At least in the eyes of the little bird.

However, despite Yu Baixi’s casual movement to hide the white hair, Qi Jia keenly sensed that the Emperor might actually care about his image, even if he didn’t show it easily.

An idea struck Qi Jia. He suddenly flapped his wings and took flight. He said to Yu Baixi, “I have something else for you. Wait for me!”

The soft, warm touch on his fingertips vanished. The Emperor’s expression froze. He looked up at the bird in the air, his eyes bright and his voice calm: “What else do you intend to give me?”

Qi Jia didn’t answer. He just said mysteriously before leaving, “Wait for me.”

Yu Baixi: “…”

“You must keep that Yearning Seed safe!” The bird pointed a wing-tip at the small red bean on the table and said bossily, “No losing it! I will check on it periodically!”

“”Wait for me!” the bird said one last time, then wiggled his little tail and flew away.

The “wait” lasted for four hours.

By the time the yellow bird reappeared in the study, Yu Baixi had finished processing almost all the memorials. The white hair on his head had already turned back into jet-black long hair.

Sitting at the desk, the Emperor looked magnificent, with a face as smooth as jade.

In front of this version of the Emperor, Qi Jia produced a bowl of… dark, thick liquid and placed it directly before him.

“What is… this?”

Looking at the steaming bowl that emitted a strong smell of medicine, Yu Baixi asked uncertainly.

Qi Jia’s reaction was calm, but his voice was full of smiles. “This is a tonic I personally brewed for you.”

“A tonic?” The Emperor narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Yes!” Qi Jia’s voice was filled with a sense of accomplishment. “This is a prescription I’ve been studying for days. It replenishes Qi, nourishes the blood, and strengthens the Yang and the kidneys. It is perfect for you.”

Yu Baixi: “…?”

“You treated me to Silver Moon Peach Blossom Dew, but I couldn’t figure out what to give you in return until I learned pharmacology recently.”

The bird smiled, his expression even a bit bashful. “Don’t worry, I’ve already shown the prescription to the Medicine King and Laojun. They said it’s fine and might be particularly suitable for you!”

“…Thank you.” The Emperor looked stiffly at the bowl of dark liquid.

“You’re welcome,” Qi Jia continued to smile. “The Medicine King said you never pay attention to your injuries. Other than soaking in the medicinal pool, you almost never take medicine, and you never let them examine you…”

“Examination is useless,” Yu Baixi said. Then, as if not wanting the bird to worry, he added, “It heals slowly on its own.”

“I know,” Qi Jia said, sounding a bit like a nagging elder… He couldn’t help it; he didn’t want to become a “Grand Empress Dowager” too early.

The yellow bird hopped forward and continued in a patient tone: “But I think even if you have a good foundation, active treatment is better than doing nothing, don’t you think?”

The Emperor didn’t speak. He just stared unblinkingly at the round bird on the table.

Qi Jia didn’t really expect a response and continued, “You also know medicine; you should be able to tell these are just simple tonics. Even if they don’t help, they won’t harm you. Besides, I brewed this myself. It’s unique in the whole world, only for you.”

“…Thank you,” the Emperor thanked him again.

“No need for thanks,” Qi Jia smiled. “Now, Your Majesty, drink the medicine.”

Looking at the thick black liquid, the Emperor’s movement and tone were hesitant. “…This medicine does smell like simple tonics, but…”

Something still felt off.

However, catching sight of the red bean placed safely on the table, the Emperor suddenly took a deep breath and chose to drink the entire bowl in one go.

He didn’t usually take medicine because no matter how many spiritual treasures he consumed, it was just a drop in the bucket for his injuries. Correspondingly, there was almost no medicine in the world that could harm him. So, what was the harm in drinking it?

Yu Baixi’s action of downing the medicine without a word left the bird stunned. Mainly because… Qi Jia had tasted it himself when it was fresh out of the pot. It was extremely bitter…

“A true warrior,” Qi Jia praised sincerely, giving the Emperor a “thumbs up” with the tip of his wing.

In this regard, even though Yu Baixi was in poor health, he was still tougher than Qi Jia. Speaking for himself, he wouldn’t have been able to drink that medicine, yet the Emperor could swallow it and remain perfectly calm!

Anyway, now that Yu Baixi had taken the medicine, Qi Jia felt much more at ease. Again, he felt that active treatment was better than nothing. He didn’t know how much this medicine would help Yu Baixi’s injuries, but every little bit counted.

Because he didn’t know the exact effect, Qi Jia simply assumed the medicine would be a great help. Even if the effects weren’t visible immediately, the Emperor would soon recover if he persisted.

Thinking this, Qi Jia felt even happier and said, “I’ll brew more for you tomorrow.”

Yu Baixi: “…”

It was already late. According to their usual habit, the Emperor and Empress were to return to the Weiyang Palace to sleep.

Tonight was no exception. The cloud bed in Weiyang Palace could easily accommodate two people. Since Qi Jia slept in his bird form, he could roll around at midnight without ever touching a corner of the Emperor’s robes. In short, they had been sleeping in the same bed without interfering with each other, and their sleep quality was quite good.

Except tonight, Qi Jia had a dream.

In the dream, he was wrapped by a giant python.

As a tiny bird in the form of an ordinary parrot, he was inexplicably squeezed tight by that thick python, making him feel as if breathing was difficult.

Crucially, the python’s body wasn’t cold; it was actually somewhat hot. The burning body of the python wrapped tightly around him, as if every inch of his skin and every feather was caught. Even the space between his two bird claws below was…

“Ugh…”

Qi Jia let out a pained moan in the dream. Then, he clearly felt the python’s wrapping motion pause.

Immediately after, the thick body receded like a wave. He no longer felt so hot and could breathe normally again. Seizing this gap, Qi Jia suddenly opened his eyes.

The dream receded like the tide. Before Qi Jia could figure out what was happening, he felt a slight tremor on the cloud bed—the Emperor had sat up beside him.

Without thinking much, Qi Jia sat up as well. Then he suddenly realized that he had, at some point, transformed back into a human…

In the four months of memory the amnesiac bird possessed, this was the first time this had happened!

Because he had transformed during his sleep, Qi Jia was wearing no clothes.

His black hair fell like a waterfall over his smooth shoulders. He clutched the quilt, his expression dazed. His first instinct was to ask Yu Baixi what was going on.

He saw that the Emperor’s own robes were unusually disheveled, as if they had just been thrown on.

Qi Jia: ?

Qi Jia couldn’t help but lean closer to investigate. Yu Baixi’s expression, for the first time, showed an unspeakable panic.

His Adam’s apple bobbed. The Emperor closed his eyes tightly and turned his head away, not looking at him.

“That medicine you gave me… every single herb.”

His voice was forced to pause for some reason. Yu Baixi’s voice was hoarse, accompanied by very obvious panting: “…Exactly how much of each did you put in?”