Your Majesty, Please Be Obedient - Chapter 11

Jiang Qiyan felt Master’s fingers moving gently toward the lower right, sliding from his brow bone to the corner of his eye.

Pu Tingsong’s tone, for some reason, sounded somewhat nonchalant. “Can you not bear to be away from your teacher for even a moment?”

Actually, that was not the case. It was just that whenever he felt uncomfortable, Master was always the first person who came to mind. Master’s fingers brushed lightly against the corner of his eye, carefully wiping away a tear before it could even fall.

“Why so aggrieved? Your eyes are so red,” the voice was very light, like a drifting leaf on a river. “Be good, do not cry. Shall Master vent your frustrations for you?”

It was just like those porcelain shards swept away by a sleeve yesterday. Why did such a meticulous Master offer to back him up without even asking about the beginning or end of the matter? From Pu Tingsong’s casual tone, Jiang Qiyan felt his Master’s complete indifference. He did not care who was right or wrong, nor did he question the rights and wrongs of the past.

Master said he would vent his frustrations simply because his eyes were red. It was that simple. Master’s stance seemed to always be on his side, and his doting appeared to have no bottom line. But was he truly worth it?

His small face was gently pinched. Pu Tingsong looked down and asked him, “Are you coming to the study with Master, or?”

Jiang Qiyan did not realize this was a test. He shook his head. “I am playing hide and seek with Brother Fang. He has not found me yet. If I leave now, he will be unhappy.”

So Pu Tingsong straightened his back and calmly withdrew his hand. “The day is still early. Continue playing then. Are you truly not following me?”

Jiang Qiyan belatedly felt a sense of danger. Why was Master staring at the vein in his neck? After being watched for a while, he actually felt a dull ache in that spot, as if gripped by an invisible hand. It was a bit hard to breathe.

Jiang Qiyan swallowed and took a small step back. That single small step caused the gaze to shift from his neck to his eyes. The moment their eyes met, that deep, dark look made him stop dead in his tracks.

“Go play then,” the gaze finally withdrew after a long silence. “Steady yourself. Just do not set your teacher’s estate on fire.”

He did not play with fire, so how could he set such a large Imperial Preceptor’s estate ablaze? Jiang Qiyan nodded hesitantly. “Rest assured, Master. I will only play for a little while and come back soon.”

Pu Tingsong nodded and watched him leave. Jiang Qiyan followed his memory toward the woodshed. Fang Wuming had not come to find him yet, and he worried that Fang Wuming was lost. If Fang Wuming would not come to him, he would go to Fang Wuming. Losing the game did not matter; he did not want anything to happen to his new friend.

Jiang Qiyan walked through the entire main courtyard but could not find Fang Wuming. They had agreed not to enter the rooms. Had Fang Wuming gone to the other courtyards? Jiang Qiyan looked at the locked courtyard gate and hesitated for a very long time.

“Fang Wuming? Fang Wuming!” He raised his voice a little. “Fang Wuming, are you in there? You cannot go where there are locks! I am not hidden in there. Come out quickly!”

There was no answer.

Separated by several locked courtyards, Fang Wuming was currently in the East Courtyard searching for clues. This was the courtyard where Pu Tingsong had lived while the elder Pu was still alive. After the elder Pu passed away, Pu Tingsong had moved to the main courtyard.

Fang Wuming knew it was likely nothing was left here, but he could observe the traces of Pu Tingsong’s past life to judge the man’s weaknesses. There were no unexpected gains. The place was spotlessly clean with nothing inside, frighteningly desolate. Fang Wuming walked into the bedroom only to find it equally empty. Aside from dust and spiderwebs that made him cough incessantly, there were no flaws to be found.

Suddenly, Fang Wuming barked, “Who is there?”

There seemed to be slight footsteps on the roof beams. Something flashed past his eyes, blurring his vision. When it cleared, Fang Wuming saw a person sitting on the window sill, waving a flamboyant folding fan. Who fans themselves in the middle of winter? Was this person insane?

“May I ask who you are?” Fang Wuming cupped his hands in a respectful gesture. “Apologies. I am playing with the Young Master. If this place is off limits, Wuming will leave immediately.”

“Fang. Wu. Ming,” the man continued to wave his fan, savoring each word. “Tsk tsk tsk. Why is it that when I checked the Ministry of Revenue, there was no such person on record?”

“This,” Fang Wuming tightened his grip on his sleeve, “perhaps the Ministry of Personnel failed to record it.”

“Oh ho,” the man snapped the fan shut and grinned widely. “That makes sense. Tomorrow I shall have the young Head of the House submit a memorial against that old fellow. The old Minister is getting up there in age and likes to be dim sighted, does he not? This person,” Qin Shizhi raised an eyebrow, “this young man. What do you think?”

Fang Wuming clenched his fingers even tighter. Young man! This person said young man! Did he know? How was it possible? His current stature and appearance were those of a child!

“If my brain is not muddled, I remember that the Minister of Personnel and the former Chancellor Fang were old acquaintances,” Qin Shizhi specifically emphasized the word former.

Fang Wuming gritted his teeth. “How would a commoner know?”

“Of course you do not know,” Qin Shizhi lightly tapped Fang Wuming’s forehead with his fan. “You do not know, but I do, because,” Qin Shizhi withdrew the fan and laughed even more sincerely, “I know everything.”

Who praises themselves like that? This was far too thick skinned.

“You are truly impressive, sir. Wuming is but a commoner and naturally cannot compare to you.” Fang Wuming said humbly, “I must still play with the Young Master. Please excuse my departure.”

Just as Fang Wuming turned around, he was called back. “Wait. Young Master Fang’s technique for returning to youth has opened my eyes. Why not discuss it with me?”

Just then, a faint call floated in from afar.

“No, perhaps another day,” Fang Wuming smiled and cupped his hands. “You see, the Young Master cannot find me and is getting anxious, calling my name outside.”

“Oh?” Qin Shizhi waved his fan and smiled. “Then it seems I am indeed a spoilsport?”

“Your favor is truly Wuming’s fortune, but there is urgent business. I must take my leave.”

Qin Shizhi watched the back of Fang Wuming as he dropped his pretenses and fled in a panic, then rubbed his chin and laughed. “The young Head of the House refuses to give me a holiday, so I can only find a way to make something out of you, Young Master Fang. Once I have enjoyed a few days of leisure, it will not be too late to catch you.”

Jiang Qiyan watched Fang Wuming actually scale the wall and come out, his brow furrowing. “You are not being honest,” Jiang Qiyan thought with his little head, but he could not think of any reason for Fang Wuming to go into a locked courtyard to find him. He could not scale walls, and this was the Imperial Preceptor’s estate, so there were no holes for him to crawl through.

Fang Wuming was definitely not an ordinary person. Fang Wuming was only a little older than him, so how could he fly over eaves and walk on walls? Could an ordinary family raise such a martial arts genius? It would be one thing if he were in his teens, but Fang Wuming was so small.

“Who exactly are you?” Once Jiang Qiyan’s guard was up, it could not be easily lowered. “Stay right there! Do not come near me!”

Fang Wuming knew this and stopped in his tracks, smiling. “Yanyan, can you trust your brother? Brother is.”

“You did not tell me your real name or your identity. I cannot trust you. I will not be friends with a liar.”

“Alas,” Fang Wuming let out a long sigh and spread his hands. “Do you know the Xunhua Pavilion? I am actually the illegitimate son of Pavilion Master Qin who was left behind. My mother’s surname is Fang. Fang Wuming is actually my real name. It is only because my mother hated that the one surnamed Qin was unfaithful and abandoned her for a new lover without even leaving a name that she called me Wuming to remind herself that the one surnamed Qin is a bastard who toys with emotions.”

Was that truly so? Then Brother Fang was so pitiful. Brother Fang’s name was like his own, both having such unfortunate origins.

“Pavilion Master Qin sent people everywhere to catch me,” Fang Wuming tried taking a small step closer. Seeing that Jiang Qiyan did not retreat, he took a large step and grabbed Jiang Qiyan’s hands. “To tell you the truth, Pavilion Master Qin is a pervert! He loves to catch children and stew them into soup! He especially likes to eat his own children! Over the years, the number of illegitimate children he has eaten is at least eighty, if not a hundred!”

Fang Wuming spoke with tears and snot. “I barely managed to escape while he was busy adding wood to the fire. Yanyan, can you bear to drive me away and let me be caught and end up in Pavilion Master Qin’s stomach?”

Jiang Qiyan’s eyes went wide with shock. Did that Pavilion Master truly like to eat people? Was it that terrifying?

“I will not drive you away. You are truly so pitiful. Brother Fang, you are much more impressive than I am. If I were caught, I would probably be scared stiff. You actually managed to escape. You truly are,” Jiang Qiyan mimicked Master’s way of standing on his tiptoes and patted Fang Wuming’s head. “You truly are very strong!”

The smile that had been on Fang Wuming’s face froze for a moment, appearing extremely unnatural. He had actually been patted on the head by a mere child? How could this silly child believe such ridiculous words? He was too easy to fool. Was it true that if anyone said anything to him, he would believe it? If someone came along with a candied hawthorn, would he obediently follow that person and even help count the money after being sold?

No, this was too cute. Fang Wuming commented in his heart that he was cutely stupid. No wonder he was being fooled by that old fox Pu Tingsong. Pu Tingsong could kidnap a child, so why could he not?

“Yanyan,” Fang Wuming’s smile became even more kind, “forgive your brother, alright? Brother was truly afraid of being eaten, so he did not dare tell Yanyan about his background. Pavilion Master Qin and the Imperial Preceptor are said to be lifelong friends, and Brother was just too scared.”

“It is alright. Brother Fang has difficulties, and Yanyan understands.” Jiang Qiyan gave a beautiful smile, as if trying to comfort Fang Wuming.

From Fang Wuming’s perspective, he could see two sharper teeth on both the upper and lower rows of the boy’s small teeth. Four little tiger teeth? Such small teeth only grew on kittens. Looking at it this way, this little Crown Prince was truly soft and squishy. No wonder that old fox was always thinking about him.

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