After Losing My Memory, I Became My Rival's Palm-Sized Chirper - Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Can or Cannot

The Heavenly Emperor’s breath was scorching and chaotic; throughout the encounter, he never once looked at Qi Jia.

Qi Jia had also realized something was wrong.

“That medicine…”

He had indeed added a bit too much of every ingredient.

“But the Medicine King said your true form is a dragon, and your volume is much larger than ordinary beings, so the dosage should be increased…”

Yu Baixi: “…”

The Heavenly Emperor’s voice dropped heavily.

“Sleep first.”

With that, he moved to stand up.

Qi Jia, however, caught a corner of the Emperor’s sleeve. “Don’t go.”

A faint, abnormal flush bloomed on his jade-like white cheeks. Qi Jia also let out a heavy breath. “I… I feel uncomfortable. I want to…”

Hearing this, Yu Baixi finally turned his head. Seeing the youth’s distressed expression, he couldn’t help but ask: “That medicine… did you drink it too?”

“Ah? …I just tasted a little bit… do two gulps count?”

“…”

The handsome, black-haired youth looked quite innocent; for a moment, the Heavenly Emperor didn’t know how to react.

But Qi Jia was not restless. Without waiting for a reaction, he followed his instincts, threw off his quilt, and made a move to crawl toward the Emperor.

Yu Baixi: “…”

He held his breath deeply.

In the extremely quiet bedchamber, the sudden sound of rustling fabric rang out.

Following that was Qi Jia’s dissatisfied whimpering: “Ugh, let go of me.”

“Yu Baixi, you! Let go of me!”

“Don’t move.”

—On the Empress’s cloud bed, the Empress was wrapped tightly in the quilt, unable to break free no matter how he struggled.

Yu Baixi said “don’t move” in an extremely hoarse voice that sounded dangerously low in the dark night.

“Endure it for a bit.”

As soon as the Emperor spoke, Qi Jia felt a stream of refreshing spiritual power pouring into the crown of his head. It was vast and powerful, quickly filling his limbs and spiritual residence, wrapping around and suppressing the surging heat within his body until it vanished.

It seemed that after enduring for a few breaths, it truly wasn’t that uncomfortable anymore.

Sprawled inside the quilt, Qi Jia blinked in total confusion. A moment later, he suddenly felt he could move again—the quilt that had tightly bound him was no longer a restraint.

However, the person who had been standing before him just a moment ago was gone.

“…Yu Baixi?” Qi Jia called out toward the edge of the bed.

He was met only by the vastness and darkness of the bedchamber, and the whistling sound of something rushing past outside.

…

Half a cup of tea later, Qi Jia flapped his wings, grumbling all the way as he chased after him to Hongmeng Palace.

Once the uncomfortable feeling passed, he figured out tonight’s situation—basically, the dosage he added to the Emperor’s bowl of medicine was a bit too fierce. It was so potent that both of them had a reaction in the middle of the night and were almost unable to restrain themselves.

This was Qi Jia’s first time having such a reaction. He had been overwhelmed when he woke up from the dream, so failing to react in time was one thing.

But Yu Baixi clearly understood.

The proof was how quickly he realized something was wrong with the medicine.

So the problem now was: although the tonic was an accident, they were clearly like dry wood and a raging fire—a lone man and a lone youth in the same room. How did it end up with… nothing happening and Yu Baixi running away alone?

The man had even comforted him before leaving!!

This, this, this!

The little bird flying above the Jade Capital made a face, his expression strange… who was he supposed to argue his case to!

If he told anyone, they probably wouldn’t believe it!

Following the guidance of the heavenly generals, Qi Jia determined that the Emperor had returned to Hongmeng Palace and flapped his wings vigorously to give chase.

Tonight, he was going to ask Yu Baixi exactly what was going on!

When Qi Jia arrived at Hongmeng Palace, looking down from above the entire palace, he locked onto the Emperor’s trail in the medicinal pool in the backyard.

The pale-yellow bird dove straight down.

Yu Baixi opened his eyes just as he was about to approach.

“Go back.”

The Emperor didn’t seem surprised that he had followed, and his voice sounded neither sad nor happy.

But Qi Jia heard an energy different from usual… the other person’s voice was infused with spiritual power, making it sound even more majestic and stern, carrying heavy pressure.

It made the little chubby bird unable to get close for a moment, so Qi Jia landed on the magnolia tree by the pool.

Perching on the branch, he looked down at the Emperor in the pool and asked after a long while: “You… you aren’t actually ‘unable’ (impotent), are you?”

The Emperor, whose entire body was submerged with only his neck and above visible, showed no change in expression.

However, the eyes looking toward the shore were different from the usual indifferent gray-blue; looking closely, his pupils had turned red.

Upon hearing the question, those red pupils suddenly contracted.

The change wasn’t obvious, but it made Qi Jia think of a snake.

…

And of the dream he just had.

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

…Cough.

The little chubby bird standing on the branch subconsciously squeezed his legs together.

…He had just barely realized that, if he wasn’t mistaken… perhaps that wasn’t a dream.

The one being entwined was not his small parrot form.

And what was tightly coiled around him was definitely not a snake.

But rather…

Cough, cough!

Qi Jia felt that his “Beautiful Phoenix” form might currently have the traits of a cockatiel—his two cheeks were incredibly red—if anyone could see his face through his fluffy exterior.

However, compared to his current awkwardness, Yu Baixi, who was quietly watching him from the medicinal pool, said nothing.

Qi Jia suddenly felt a bit annoyed. He thought, Since we already touched/rubbed against each other, why didn’t we just go ahead and dual cultivate!

The little bird on the tree narrowed its eyes and spoke sarcastically in a light voice: “But if Your Majesty were truly ‘unable’… you shouldn’t have had a reaction. Why run away then?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Jia suddenly leaped downward!

He transformed back into human form mid-air, raising his hand as a red Heavenly Protection Barrier rose before him.

The elegant, slender youth thus withstood the pressure released by the Emperor and rapidly approached the medicinal pool!

At this, the expression of the person in the pool finally changed.

Yu Baixi watched the handsome youth leaping through the air, and his pupils contracted again.

The blood that had finally calmed down surged once more. A cyan-colored dragon tail glinting with silver light suddenly broke through the water, reaching straight for the youth in the air.

At the same time, on the Emperor’s finely carved features, two dragon horns faintly emerged at his temples.

Qi Jia saw this change with his own eyes, but his downward descent remained firm without hesitation.

What truly made him hesitate was that the dragon tail, which had already broken the surface, was timely pressed down by its owner after only extending a section, hiding once more in the dark, churning medicinal pool.

The long dragon tail slammed heavily into the pitch-black water, causing the medicinal soup to tumble and splash, creating a massive commotion.

Qi Jia noticed it and glanced down, thinking that section of the dragon tail was smooth, bright, massive, and most importantly—long.

At that same instant, the Emperor, whose dragon horns had fully grown out, raised his hand to catch Qi Jia in mid-air just before he fell into the pool.

Qi Jia stood before Yu Baixi, looking into his eyes, and blinked at him.

Yu Baixi, with his dragon horns, looked even more incomparably handsome and extraordinary. His indifferent expression now held a bit of divinity, making one instinctively remember that ten thousand years ago, he was a genius who was about to step into the Divine Realm.

…But wait. So what was the situation just now…

Qi Jia looked at the person before him. Just now, he felt like he was almost coiled by that tail and dragged into the water…

Dragons were beings that might only be born once every few hundred thousand years across the four realms.

Aside from Yu Baixi, no other dragons could be found in the world today.

And according to what Qi Shaoxu once said, even if the current Heavenly Emperor is a dragon, most beings would never have the chance to see a dragon’s true form in their entire lives.

This wasn’t exactly Qi Jia’s first time seeing it. But it was the first time he saw that dragon tail come out of the water.

Especially since Yu Baixi seemed to have just fought a battle with his own dragon tail… Qi Jia, who had almost been dragged into the water, could hardly hide his astonishment.

“Dragons are naturally lustful.”

An indifferent voice rang out. Yu Baixi didn’t touch him, but used magic to keep him floating in the air, saying slowly: “If I did something to you tonight… you wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

Qi Jia: “…”

“Sorry.”

Qi Jia hadn’t expected a bowl of tonic to have such a huge impact on the Emperor. After all, it was just a tonic, not an aphrodisiac.

And in the past, Yu Baixi had always been excessively calm and self-restrained in front of him… he thought the Emperor was just finding an excuse to run away this time.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Qi Jia said. “What can I do to help you…”

Qi Jia thought of how Yu Baixi had just transferred spiritual power to him.

To his surprise, as soon as he spoke, the Emperor’s long eyelashes dropped heavily again. Qi Jia could even clearly feel the other person intentionally holding his breath.

“Ah, ah… then should I leave first?” Qi Jia realized.

At a time like this, saying “do” and “help” might be…! for the other person!

“Mhm.”

Yu Baixi gave a heavy response.

As if he could no longer endure it, when he looked up again, he waved his hand outward, and Qi Jia was once again lifted into the air.

Transforming back into a parrot, Qi Jia flapped his wings above Hongmeng Palace.

Looking at the palace, which had been covered by the Emperor’s treasure so that no one could approach, the little round bird’s expression was still blank…

A moment later, he flapped his wings and flew toward the Medicine King’s residence.

The Medicine King and Lord Lao said that medicine was fine!

…

The next day, the Heavenly Emperor rarely skipped the morning court.

This was something that had never happened since Yu Baixi took the throne.

“Normally, His Majesty should have two to four days of rest every month,” Shuo Ling explained to Qi Jia.

“But since His Majesty took the throne, except for specific long holidays every year and times when His Majesty is away from the Jade Capital, he has never taken a break for his personal affairs.”

“Even calculating by two days a month, His Majesty has been on the throne for nearly ten thousand years; he has accumulated over two hundred thousand days of rest.”

Qi Jia: “…”

Exactly what kind of concept is over two hundred thousand days!

Qi Jia stretched out his little wings. He didn’t try to count, feeling that his entire body didn’t even have that many feathers and down!

“That’s why everyone is so surprised that His Majesty suddenly went into seclusion,” Shuo Ling said.

At this point, Shuo Ling hesitated several times before her Lordship: “So, Lordship, last night…”

It happened that Shuo Ling was on leave these past two days and wasn’t in the Jade Capital, so she didn’t know what had happened.

She only knew that when she returned today, she heard that late last night, His Majesty had suddenly left Weiyang Palace alone and returned to Hongmeng Palace.

Then the Empress chased him to Hongmeng Palace.

Not long after, the Empress was expelled from Hongmeng Palace by His Majesty.

His Majesty even raised the protective treasure “Jade Reflection,” covering the entire Hongmeng Palace and forbidding anyone from entering. He even canceled the morning court, and a whole day had passed like this.

Shuo Ling: “Now the whole Jade Capital is saying you provoked His Majesty. Some are even more outrageous, saying you tried to secretly assassinate him!”

Qi Jia: “…To say I was expelled from Hongmeng Palace—isn’t that kind of speculation a bit too much?”

He was clearly the one who offered to leave, and Yu Baixi just took the chance to give him a lift. How did it become being “expelled”!

Shuo Ling: “…”

So after I said all that, Lordship only cares about this?

Shuo Ling continued indignantly: “What’s even more ridiculous is that some people spreading this are high-ranking officials in the Jade Capital, like the Cabinet Immortals! Hmph, why don’t they use their brains? If you really tried to assassinate His Majesty, how could you still be staying comfortably in the Jade Capital? You would have been torn apart by His Majesty long ago like those people before! …Lordship, don’t worry, my father has already reprimanded them.”

To this, Qi Jia waved his wing, not really caring: “Maybe they all know the affection between your Emperor and me is earth-shattering. Considering Yu Baixi is already deeply in love with me, they think he can’t bear to kill me.”

Shuo Ling: “…”

“What time is it, how can Your Lordship still be joking!”

Shuo Ling was so anxious her eyes were turning red. “So what exactly happened? I only left for three days and such a big thing happened!”

“…Actually, nothing much happened…” At this point, Qi Jia blinked guiltily again, a bit embarrassed to speak.

But Shuo Ling showed the responsibility and commitment of a head female official. She advised her master: “Regardless, His Majesty won’t even see you now, so everyone outside is saying all sorts of things! Rumors are flying everywhere, plenty of people say you’ve lost favor, and even my father doesn’t know the situation… If anything happened, Your Lordship must tell me, so we can prepare for what’s next…”

“It’s not that your Emperor won’t see me.”

Shuo Ling was getting more anxious the more she spoke, while Qi Jia was getting more guilty: “He sealed off the entire Hongmeng Palace, probably specifically so he wouldn’t see me.”

Shuo Ling: ???

Shuo Ling’s heart jumped into her throat!

“Don’t worry, your Emperor and I are still as romantic and affectionate as ever.”

Seeing that she was truly anxious and knowing Shuo Ling feared their breakup the most, Qi Jia pulled out two small slips of paper, indicating these were what he used to communicate with the Emperor during his “seclusion.”

“It’s a Messaging Crane!”

The Messaging Crane wasn’t a real bird, but a treasure that could be folded into a paper crane.

Shuo Ling immediately smiled upon seeing this. His Majesty’s “Jade Reflection” still allowed such treasures to enter, and His Majesty was still exchanging messages with the Lord; this proved their relationship was still solid and there was no discord.

However, Shuo Ling still had some questions about the words written by the Emperor and Empress—

[Is it okay (Can you) now? —Not yet (Cannot).]

[Still not okay? I want to see you. —Impossible.]

“…What does this mean?”

“It means when it’s ‘okay,’ your Emperor will naturally see me.” Qi Jia took a sip of tea.