Bai Yi’s stiff hand gripped the calligraphy brush, feeling the force of the brush’s belly pressing the ink onto the paper. The tip of the brush lifted smoothly, carving out a sharp, sweeping hook, with a strength behind the strokes that seemed ready to penetrate the paper.
“Do you remember it now? Write this character ten times. In a moment, copy the regular script that I wrote. If you don’t finish copying one hundred pages, you are not allowed to eat.” Xiao Shiyun guided Bai Yi through the strokes two more times.
“No way, actually I don’t really want to learn that much,” Bai Yi said, looking thoroughly miserable.
Xiao Shiyun picked up a ferule and struck the back of Bai Yi’s hand. Bai Yi practically leapt into the air, clutching his hand and yelling randomly, “Ouch! It hurts!”
“If you don’t learn the characters, go scrub the latrine buckets.”
“Don’t, please don’t, I’ll learn.”
Resigned to his fate, Bai Yi picked up the brush and began to copy Xiao Shiyun’s characters with absolute concentration. After writing for a while, he said, “Aren’t you hot with me sitting on your lap?”
He shifted his body slightly, only to have Xiao Shiyun lift a hand and deliver a swat to his backside. “Stop moving around blindly, let me hold you for a while.”
“No way, this isn’t good, it damages our image. If someone walks in on us in a moment, it will be impossible to explain.”
The doors of the hall were suddenly pushed open, and a palace maid walked in, keeping her head low as she supported the Empress Dowager.
“Holy crap, speak of the devil.” Panicking, Bai Yi wanted to stand up, but Xiao Shiyun held him down firmly.
“Utterly preposterous! Utterly preposterous! Emperor, you just keep pampering him. A male favorite without any title or standing is truly unfit to appear in a refined setting.” The Empress Dowager frowned, pointing a finger at Bai Yi.
Seeing this old woman who constantly had the phrase “utterly preposterous” hanging on her lips, Bai Yi suddenly stopped panicking. Even if he had to destroy his lifelong reputation right here, he was determined to annoy her to death.
He reached out, picked up a cluster of grapes arranged on the desk, leaned right back into Xiao Shiyun’s embrace, and fed one to his lips.
“Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager doesn’t seem to like me very much, what should be done?” Bai Yi said, appearing completely pitiful.
Xiao Shiyun lowered his head, biting the grape as he kissed Bai Yi. The sweet and sour juice spread through their mouths. “No matter, it is enough that I like you. Has the Empress Dowager come to find me for a specific matter?”
“I have come to find you naturally because there is a matter. I have set the date for the draft to take place one month from now. They are all legitimate daughters of noble clans. Zhu Cui, present the roster to the Emperor for his perusal.”
The head palace maid named Zhu Cui immediately presented the roster to the Emperor. “Please look it over, Your Majesty.”
Even while lying in Xiao Shiyun’s embrace, Bai Yi couldn’t remain restful, excitedly sneaking glances at the roster and the portraits. They were all top-tier beauties. Placed in the modern era, they would absolutely be million-follower influencer-level celebrities.
Xiao Shiyun turned Bai Yi’s face toward him, his tone turning dark as he asked, “What, do you like them very much?”
“Of course not! Take a look at these faces, they are enough to make a fish sink or a goose drop from the sky. Even a swallow would plunge into the water upon seeing them, which proves what? It proves they are ugly! However, are you really not going to consider them? We could set up a mahjong table and play mahjong together.”
Xiao Shiyun handed the roster to Bai Yi. “Which ones do you like?”
Was he allowed to say? Then he really would say. Bai Yi’s eyes lit up upon seeing the portraits of the beauties, selecting sixteen beauties of completely different styles out of the twenty-five.
“Cross out these sixteen, and prepare the remaining ones for the draft.” Xiao Shiyun snatched the booklet out of Bai Yi’s hands and tossed it onto the tray held by the palace maid.
Was this right? Xiao Shiyun actually intended to go through with the draft. He was bent so far he was practically snapping, and Bai Yi felt a bit sorry for the remaining nine young ladies. If they truly landed in Xiao Shiyun’s hands, he might just assign them to scrub the latrine buckets.
Gritting his teeth, Bai Yi said, “Can you please stop bringing ruin to other people? Isn’t it better if everyone minds their own business?”
“Are you jealous?” Xiao Shiyun asked, his mood quite good.
It was truly impossible to understand Xiao Shiyun’s train of thought. From this day forward, he refused to communicate with Xiao Shiyun.
“Jealous of your grandfather. Letting them enter the palace is just delaying their futures. You should understand your own sexual orientation far better than I do.”
“I have my own calculations.” Xiao Shiyun indeed had his plans. The remaining women happened to be the eyes and ears of the Empress Dowager’s faction. It was far better to place the most dangerous factors out in the open to control them, using them to balance the various forces. Any information they would be able to obtain in the future would be exactly what he wanted them to know.
The Empress Dowager was reasonably satisfied with the Emperor’s performance. “Emperor, you must remember, this male favorite is merely a temporary novelty. The ones who can serve the Emperor for the rest of your life are these well-bred young ladies from prominent families.”
You feudal old woman, having a character like you in the Northern Border Dynasty is truly the dynasty’s blessing. No matter how Bai Yi looked at her, he found her an eyesore, and by extension, he found Xiao Shiyun an eyesore as well.
“Emperor, rest well. It just so happens that I am tired as well.” Clutching her handkerchief, the Empress Dowager swayed back and forth as she stepped out of Jingqian Palace.
The moment she left, Bai Yi tossed the brush aside, standing properly to one side. “Your Majesty personally teaching this servant to write characters, this servant is overwhelmed by your favor and cannot bear it.”
“If you cannot bear it, go scrub the latrine buckets.” Xiao Shiyun reviewed the memorials indifferently.
“Then forget it, this servant believes that writing characters is much more effective for self-cultivation.” Bai Yi pulled out a chair again and sat down right opposite Xiao Shiyun.
Practicing writing every single day, aside from writing, it was still writing. Bai Yi was bored to the point of turning moldy. Finally catching Xiao Shiyun at the time he dismissed the court session, he pleaded, “I have written the characters well enough, can you let me out now?”
“No, when I said I would make you work in the palace until you die, it wasn’t empty talk.”
Bai Yi showed him the stack of characters he had copied. He recognized most of the ancient traditional characters reasonably well, and the script already possessed a trace of the strength and style of Xiao Shiyun’s handwriting. “What else do you want?”
“This statement is something I should ask you, right? You were the one who first expressed your feelings to me in the night market, are you tired of it already now?”
He had expressed his feelings just so Xiao Shiyun would go back with him, not purely out of a desire to confess. “What exactly will it take for you to go back with me?” Bai Yi asked.
“Heh, going back means going back where?” Xiao Shiyun said without even lifting his head.
“Back to the modern era.”
“Why would I go back with you to whatever ghost place you are talking about? Who would manage the Northern Border Dynasty then? Just wash my hands of it entirely and let everything go to pieces?”
“Xiao Shiyun, can you please stop being so deeply immersed in the role! The two of us don’t belong here at all. What goddamn Northern Border Dynasty? Can’t you just casually hand it over to someone to manage? Once we return, everything here won’t have a single cent of a relationship with you ever again!” Bai Yi attempted to persuade Xiao Shiyun to go back with him.
There were still two years left, and two years was nothing more than the blink of an eye. If they couldn’t go back, they would have to remain here for the rest of their lives, growing old and dying in loneliness. Bai Yi didn’t even dare to think about it. When he grew old in the future, he wouldn’t have a spouse, wouldn’t have a nursing home, wouldn’t have a hospital with a complete medical system for physical checks, and even his personal freedom regarding where to go would be entirely under Xiao Shiyun’s control.
“Fine, I will go back with you.”
“Really?”
“As long as I fall in love with you, I will go back with you,” Xiao Shiyun said sarcastically. No matter what, he would never fall in love with this idiot Bai Yi. His empire and its survival were far more important than him.
What Bai Yi had been doing all this time was easily exposed. Xiao Shiyun had turned his cards face up, making this round even harder to play. Seduce him? Or use some tactics to climb into his bed? Xiao Shiyun was far too intelligent, and he didn’t believe there was anything about himself that was worthy of Xiao Shiyun’s affection.
“There is nothing about a person like me that is worthy of your affection. I know that I appear clumsy and stupid in front of you, unable to even write an imperial memorial, lacking a beautiful face, and unable to say sweet words. I…” The moment Xiao Shiyun actually laid out the terms of the game, Bai Yi shrank back.
Xiao Shiyun handed an imperial memorial to Bai Yi. “What is so embarrassing about being unable to write a memorial? To be honest, what I read every day is complete garbage. There is no difference between what the others write and what you write.”
Huh? Although the phrasing was a bit crude, it was far too crude. Bai Yi simply took it as Xiao Shiyun comforting him.
Bai Yi’s face was cradled, and Xiao Shiyun’s dark eyelashes lowered as he drew close to him, so close that they could feel each other’s breathing and heartbeats. Lifting his head, he ran straight into Xiao Shiyun’s fathomless eyes, his breathing halting instantly as he lost himself for a long moment.
Bai Yi heard him say, “The prerequisite for me falling in love with you is that you are not allowed to disparage yourself.”