After the Pitiful Little One Seduced the Feudal Big Daddy - Chapter 3

The next day, as usual, Xie Yunqing rose before dawn. After visiting the bookstore to mail out his essays and some silver, he returned to the dormitory. He paused before entering.

By this time, the sun was fully up. His roommates had just awakened and were tidying up while chatting idly.

“Hey, did you guys see the look on Xie Yunqing’s face yesterday? He looked like he was about to burst into tears.” One of them suddenly brought up Xie Yunqing for some reason. “Tsk, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen him like that.”

Another whispered in agreement, “Yeah, it really was a rare sight.”

A third roommate sneered, “What’s the point of him acting like that in front of us? He’s just playing ‘pure and lofty’ before Young Master Yu. If he wasn’t so stubborn, Young Master Yu wouldn’t have ordered me to give him a lesson.”

“The ‘lesson’ was just a basin of water?” the supporter pressed.

“Yeah. But it is strange,” the sneering one mused. “With the Yu family’s status and wealth, since he’s taken a liking to Xie Yunqing, he surely has plenty of ways to make the boy submit. Yet half a year has passed and there’s no progress. Is it really just because he’s afraid of violating the Academy’s rules?”

“Ha, that’s where you’re uninformed,” the first speaker replied. “The Yu clan of Yingchuan certainly wouldn’t care about school regulations. But they can’t help the fact that the man standing behind the Imperial Academy is Chancellor Pei. No matter how illustrious the Yu clan’s power is, they wouldn’t dare to cross Chancellor Pei directly.”

The supporter realized, “So Young Master Yu is wary of Chancellor Pei and doesn’t dare to openly break the rules? That’s why he hasn’t truly done anything to Xie Yunqing?”

“Pretty much. Though I also know another reason, which is that Young Master Yu…”

The conversation stopped abruptly, Xie Yunqing had pushed the door open and walked in.

The roommates glanced at each other. They weren’t quite bold enough to say such things to his face, so they finished packing and left one by one.

Soon, Xie Yunqing was the only one left in the dormitory.

Perhaps because his presence was so weak, this wasn’t the first time he had overheard people gossiping about him. It also wasn’t the first time he had heard people remark that if not for Chancellor Pei, Yu Chen would have surely done something terrible to him. In his heart, Xie Yunqing had long felt a deep sense of respect and gratitude toward this “Chancellor Pei.”

Moreover, he knew that without Chancellor Pei, he wouldn’t even be studying at the Academy.

In the past, the Imperial Academy was less a national institution of higher learning and more a private school for the capital’s powerful clans. Only the children of the nobility were eligible to enroll. A son of a lowly family like Xie Yunqing would never have had the opportunity or the means to enter.

All that changed after Chancellor Pei’s radical reforms. The Academy no longer restricted its intake to the elite; instead, it opened its doors to scholars from all over the world. Regardless of background, anyone who passed the entrance exam could become a student, and by passing internal selection exams, they could earn the right to serve as officials in the imperial court.

…Xie Yunqing suddenly stumbled. Looking down, he realized he had walked to the edge of his bed. Simultaneously, his mind went blank for a moment as he saw the moon-white outer robe tucked under his pillow.

When his senses returned, the robe was already in his hands. It felt incredibly soft, like holding a cloud. Even in the dim lamplight of the previous night, its exquisite hidden patterns had shimmered brilliantly. Even though he had never closely examined the luxurious robes of his classmates, he knew this one was far more valuable than theirs.

Xie Yunqing couldn’t define the feelings in his heart; he only felt the robe suddenly become hot to the touch this was something he should not have been allowed to touch. Yesterday, the noble’s permission for him to stay was enough to make him feel a deep sense of panic alongside his gratitude. Consequently, seeing this robe that the noble had kindly left for him only filled him with flustered anxiety.

I must return it. He also wanted to sincerely thank the noble in person for his care. If the noble needed anything, he would do his utmost to repay this kindness.

Xie Yunqing cautiously placed the robe into his cleanest cloth bundle and pulled it to his chest. Just as he turned to leave, a streak of piercing sunlight shot into his eyes. He stopped. It was still too early; going now would surely disturb the noble.

Wait a little longer.

Xie Yunqing gently placed the bundle back on the bed and sat dazed for a long time, having no idea how to spend the waiting hours. Suddenly, a thought struck him. He crouched down and pulled a black wooden box from the deepest part beneath the bed. Opening it, he pulled out a thick stack of papers from the very bottom and walked to his desk.

He spread the papers out. Looking at the landscape topography and the various data marked upon them, his panic and anxiety lessened significantly. He took out fresh paper and began to transcribe them.

These were the blueprints for building local water conservancy projects, recorded by his mother’s own hand. According to the letter she left him, his late maternal grandfather had been a minor official in charge of water conservancy. As a child, his mother had followed her father everywhere, surveying landscapes and terrains. Perhaps through osmosis, she too became interested in the mountains and rivers.

Her resolve was sealed after witnessing a tragedy: a water project had been incomplete when a rainstorm caused a flood overnight. The rice fields ready for harvest were submerged, leaving the village with nothing. Many villagers were forced to flee or sell their children just to survive. After that, she vowed to help her father survey the land and build proper waterworks.

However, before the first project she assisted with could be finished, her father died of illness. She was forced to marry Xie Yunqing’s father and live a life of raising children and serving her husband. Perhaps because her ambition had never been realized, she began teaching Xie Yunqing to draw simple topographical maps as soon as he could hold a brush, even taking him to the real locations to identify the features on the drawings.

But regret always followed like a shadow. When he was nearly five, his mother fell gravely ill and passed away shortly after, leaving him only a box of letters and drawings.

Initially, these items weren’t given to him. It wasn’t until he was twelve that he accidentally found them in the corner of a wood shed. Fortunately, the shed was dry, and the items remained intact. After reading all her letters, Xie Yunqing like his mother vowed that one day he would lead the construction of waterworks. This was the reason he studied so hard to enter the Imperial Academy.

From then on, amidst doing chores, looking after his younger brother, and studying, he carved out time to copy the maps his mother had left. This continued until he was fourteen, when his stepmother discovered him. At the time, she said nothing, only giving him a cold look before telling his father. A few days later, his father sat him down for a talk, saying such hobbies would interfere with his work and studies and would make his stepmother sad. He asked Xie Yunqing never to bring his mother’s things out again.

Xie Yunqing didn’t want to make things difficult for his father, so he agreed. However, before his stepmother could throw them away, he secretly hid the letters and drawings, eventually bringing them with him to the Academy. At the Academy, likely due to lingering fear, he still didn’t dare bring the maps out in the open. He only transcribed and organized them in secret when he was alone.

Unknowingly, the afternoon sun slanted through the window, falling on his drawings. I should be able to go see that noble now.

The brush in Xie Yunqing’s hand paused. He felt a sudden wave of helplessness again. But fearing he might miss the opportunity, he quickly tidied the maps, put them back in the box under the bed, washed his hands thoroughly, and picked up the bundle. He ran all the way toward the small courtyard.

Yesterday, both coming and going felt like a dream, so it wasn’t until now that he realized the courtyard was located at the foot of the Academy’s rear mountain, far from any other buildings. If he hadn’t stumbled upon it by accident, he never would have found it.

Intent on observing his surroundings, Xie Yunqing glanced left and right as he ran. Suddenly, he saw a familiar back.

It was Yu Chen!

Across a medium-sized lake, in a pavilion on the opposite shore, stood Yu Chen and another man whose face was obscured. The moment he recognized Yu Chen, Xie Yunqing wanted to leave as fast as possible. But just as he was about to look away, the man standing next to Yu Chen dropped straight to his knees.

Xie Yunqing stopped. He saw the man appear to bow his head to the ground, but Yu Chen grabbed his arm and squeezed his neck. Ignoring the consequences of being caught spying, Xie Yunqing immediately changed direction, wanting to get to the other side of the lake he couldn’t just watch Yu Chen bully someone.

After a few urgent steps, Xie Yunqing stopped abruptly.

The man on the ground struggled a few times, then seemed to hear something. In a gesture of surrender, he raised his hand and gripped Yu Chen’s wrist. Yu Chen then pulled the man halfway up, pinned him against the pavilion’s pillar, and lowered his head to kiss him.

The man didn’t react at first, but then he raised his arms and wrapped them around Yu Chen’s neck, appearing to respond to the kiss.

Xie Yunqing was dazed. He didn’t understand if what he was seeing counted as Yu Chen bullying someone. But he knew he shouldn’t get any closer. He immediately lowered his head, tried to put the scene out of his mind, and continued running toward the small courtyard.

Once again, he stood before the side room at the end of the corridor. His heart began to beat faster for no reason he couldn’t tell if it was from nerves or panic. He tried to adjust his breathing, and once he was steady, he knocked on the door.

A long time passed without a response. Thinking the person behind the screen couldn’t hear the knock, Xie Yunqing bowed slightly and said respectfully toward the interior, “Student Xie Yunqing is here to return Your Excellency’s robe.”

Still no response. Was the noble not here?

That sense of helpless panic rose once more. Then, as if he were out of control, Xie Yunqing watched his own hand reach out and push the door open.

The white jade screen was still there. However… the figure was gone.