The Young Marquis is Ruining the Court! - Chapter 16

In the beginning, it was hard to say that Chi Zhou’s suspicion about the original owner’s impotence wasn’t born out of pure malice, but now he was certain: that useless original owner was definitely impotent!

According to the original book and the rumors, there were only two possibilities for this outcome.

First, the scumbag original owner had played around too hard and faced divine retribution, rendering his equipment useless. Second, he was born with a physiological defect and had started the rumors himself to save face, making it seem like he was some kind of brave and fierce warrior in the bedroom.

Chi Zhou thought with pure spite that it was definitely the second one.

At the very least, hypnotizing himself this way kept him from flipping over the walls of the Marquis’s estate right now and charging through the dark night to Jifu Lane just to drag Xie Jiu out of bed and give him a beating.

It was truly infuriating.

What was the difference between this and finding out your own clean, beautiful daughter had been hexed into running away with some delinquent?

Chi Zhou tried to steady his breathing, but found he couldn’t calm down. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he simply kicked off the covers and sat up.

The pain in his sprained ankle felt deeper than it had before he went to sleep. Using his good leg as much as possible, he hobbled over to the small couch by the window and lit a candle.

It had been dark when he went to sleep, and it was still dark now. Chi Zhou estimated he had only slept for about two or three hours. As long as Xie Jiu wasn’t by his side, he never managed to sleep through until dawn.

However, perhaps because he had slept well the night before, or perhaps because his emotions were currently surging and his blood was up, he didn’t feel particularly tired.

A few books were scattered by the couch, all of which he had brought over from the original owner’s study.

That study was massive. The bookshelves covered entire walls, requiring a ladder to reach the scrolls at the very top. From children’s primers to astronomy and geography, from vulgar novels to military politics, it had everything.

When Chi Zhou first saw it, he was actually quite surprised, thinking that perhaps this Little Marquis Chi wasn’t as ignorant and incompetent as the rumors suggested. But once he randomly pulled out a few books to flip through, he didn’t even have the energy to complain.

The arrangement of the books was very “deliberate.”

At the very bottom were heavy, profound historical and literary works, requiring one to squat down and lower their head just to read the titles. Above those few layers were storybooks, novels, and various erotic illustrations, all categorized and arranged neatly. Whether one reached back from the desk or stood before the shelves to pick something at random, the most accessible items were always these low-brow distractions.

As for military strategy, geography, or even the compiled essays of past imperial examinees, they had all been unceremoniously shoved onto the top shelves.

When Chi Zhou moved the ladder and pulled one out at random, he nearly choked on a noseful of dust.

He looked back at the chessboards, ancient zithers, inkstones, brushes, and sand tables in the study, feeling that it was a total waste of fine things. With such excellent resources, this person had used the room only to read smut.

But there wasn’t much he could say, considering he found it difficult to recognize the characters himself.

Fortunately, the original owner had a dictionary. By cross-referencing, Chi Zhou was able to gain a rough understanding of the classical prose in the books.

The novels were just for killing time. What he truly wanted to read were the history and geography books the original owner had buried at the bottom.

Initially, Chi Zhou looked for introductory books with simple language to gain enough common sense for his eventual escape. But now, things were different. He had more time, so he opened the thicker history books.

It wasn’t that he no longer wanted to run away, but rather that before he left, he ought to finish furnishing that house for Xie Jiu.

Right now, aside from a bed and a few chairs, there was nothing in there.

The kid had no money on him. Chi Zhou was terrified that if he just left, Xie Jiu would run out of silver one day and be easily lured away by some stingy dandy offering a few cheap gifts and sweet words.

Just thinking about it made his chest tighten.

“Sigh.”

Chi Zhou let out a sigh, wrung out a wet towel to apply to his ankle, and lowered his head to read.

Moonlight spilled behind him, casting a lustrous glow upon the snowy gauze windows. Spring insects chirped in the courtyard, and a few cherry blossoms, having bloomed to their limit, began to fall in whole clusters, carpeting the yard in a pale pink blanket.

The moment the first ray of sunlight hit his face through the window, Chi Zhou’s eyelashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes.

Last night, he had grown sleepy while reading, falling in and out of sleep. In the end, he had just spent the entire night huddled on the small couch.

The window hadn’t been open, but cold drafts still snuck through the cracks. Chi Zhou rubbed his nose, feeling it was stuffed and uncomfortable.

He glanced at the sky outside. Realizing it was still early, he put down his book and crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over his head to catch up on sleep, figuring he would feel better in a bit.

Nightmares were rarer during the day. In the days before he met Xie Jiu, he had grown accustomed to sleeping during this time.

Before falling asleep, Chi Zhou thought that since dawn had just broken, he would likely wake up around eight or nine in the morning. He would have breakfast, take a carriage to Jifu Lane to pick up Xie Jiu, head to the carpenter’s shop to choose furniture, find a restaurant for lunch, and then seek out some masons in the afternoon to set a schedule for repairing the broken tiles and walls of the house.

His plan was perfect, but when the time came, Chi Zhou failed to wake up.

Seeing that breakfast time had passed and the Young Master hadn’t come out, Ming Xi gathered his courage and called out a few times from outside the door. Getting no response, he pushed the door open and entered.

“Young Master?”

The young servant in green called out cautiously as he moved toward the bed.

His Young Master sometimes had a nasty temper upon waking. If he was woken up without enough sleep, a flying kick was a distinct possibility. Ming Xi shielded his chest, still feeling some lingering fear.

The Young Master had been very kind lately, but Ming Xi was still afraid that one day he would revert to his old self.

Ming Xi took a deep breath, steeled his nerves, and pulled back the bed curtains.

What he saw gave him a fright.

Chi Zhou was buried under the covers, shivering violently as if he were freezing, wrapped up tightly with only his head showing. Yet, beads of cold sweat were forming on his lips, forehead, and nose. His lips were pressed into a thin line, pale and bloodless.

“Young Master!” Ming Xi cried out in panic. Realizing that yelling wouldn’t help, he rushed out to find a doctor.

The Marquis’s estate kept doctors on hand, but they usually resided closer to the Old Madam’s courtyard. Ming Xi dashed across half the estate and finally managed to pull a doctor back to the Shuanghua Pavilion, where Chi Tong was already waiting by the door.

“What happened?” Chi Tong led the doctor to Chi Zhou and immediately questioned Ming Xi. The usual smile was gone from her face, her brows slightly furrowed.

Ming Xi hurriedly replied, “The Second Young Master hasn’t been sleeping well lately. Last night when I got up, I saw the candle was lit through the window. The Young Master was reading, he must have caught a chill.”

Hearing this, Chi Tong shifted her gaze and walked to the couch, picking up the scattered volumes on the floor.

Storybooks, history, political essays, it was a mess. She even saw a dictionary.

Heaven only knew what Chi Zhou was reading so intently that he stayed up half the night in the draft. The early spring chill was notorious for invading the body, was he a fool?

Chi Tong pursed her lips and tossed the books back onto the couch with enough force that the padding shook.

The old doctor was startled by the noise and looked back, his hand still on Chi Zhou’s pulse.

“It is nothing,” Chi Tong calmed her emotions and offered a slight smile. “Doctor, please focus on him.”

“A chill has entered the body, coupled with anxiety and a troubled mind. The Marquis’s old ailment has flared up. I will prescribe a few doses of medicine, he should recover after drinking them,” the doctor said.

“Thank you,” Chi Tong nodded. Remembering something, she added, “He sprained his ankle, it is likely swollen. Please prescribe some medicine for that as well.”

The doctor naturally agreed to everything.

Ming Xi went to see the doctor out and get the medicine. As he reached the threshold, he hesitated for a moment, looking back and wondering if it was appropriate to leave the Third Miss alone here.

Even though they were siblings, there was still the matter of propriety between men and women.

But in that moment of hesitation, Chi Tong turned her head and swept a gaze toward him. Once the smile left those phoenix eyes, they became incredibly sharp, like a hawk circling in the sky, instantly locking onto a prey’s throat.

Ming Xi felt a subconscious chill and quickly turned to leave.

Silence returned to the room. Chi Zhou lay on the bed. After the doctor applied a few silver needles, his condition eased slightly, and he stopped shivering, but his lips remained hauntingly white and his brow was still furrowed.

Chi Tong watched him quietly for a long time before whispering two words, “You idiot.”

Xie Mingjing left the palace early in the morning for Jifu Lane.

Chi Zhou had only said he would come to see him, but hadn’t specified when. Yet, Xie Mingjing was eagerly waiting.

Jin Ge hadn’t been taken to the palace. Instead, a space had been cleared for it in the house to run around, with hidden guards watching over it to ensure no problems arose.

Xie Mingjing sat at the desk handling correspondence, occasionally glancing out the window.

Birds flew back and forth, teasing the little black dog, which jumped around trying to catch them. Xie Mingjing tossed a few pieces of dried meat to it, and the puppy lay on the ground chewing laboriously, taking a long time to finish a single piece.

After eating, it went back to chasing birds. Naturally, it caught nothing and eventually lay dejectedly at Xie Mingjing’s feet. Its little ears would only twitch at the sound of a noise, at which point it would lift its body to look.

As the sky gradually darkened, Xie Mingjing replied to one letter after another. His expression grew heavier, the corners of his mouth pulled into a flat line.

When he saw the stupid dog stretching its neck to look out again, Xie Mingjing couldn’t help but nudge its belly with his foot. “What are you looking at? He doesn’t even want you.”

Liar.

Jin Ge thought he was playing and immediately rolled over to show its belly.

Xie Mingjing was both annoyed and amused. He rubbed the dog’s belly with his foot for a while and scolded, “No dignity at all.”

With a fluttering sound, a messenger pigeon landed on the window sill, cooing. Perhaps because the location had changed, the pigeon tilted its head and shifted its eyes, appearing unsure if it had found the right place. A tuft of green feathers on its head quivered.

Xie Mingjing’s movements stopped. He looked back, momentarily confused as to why this pigeon would appear here. The next second, he grabbed it and removed the letter tube tied to its leg.

He flattened the paper. On it were only eight words, concise and written in a sharp hand.

Chi Zhou is ill, come if you care.

Xie Mingjing’s expression turned grim, and he stood up immediately.

“Woof?” Jin Ge, who had been having fun, barked in confusion.