Shu Qing’s tastes change at the drop of a hat.
The maidservants weren’t surprised by this; Shu Qing was known for being a handful, and this was just a minor thing. They quickly took away the roasted chicken and brought in a bowl of bird’s nest porridge instead.
It was bird’s nest porridge cooked with rock sugar and milk, sweet and rich with a creamy aroma. Shu Qing had recently taken a liking to it and drank two bowls in a row.
After finishing the porridge, he ate a few pieces of Ruyi cake and then prepared to go out.
Actually, he wasn’t feeling well at the moment. Shu Qing felt an inexplicable heaviness in his head, and his vision was a bit dizzy. But he could endure it, and besides, it was getting late.
Since there was an opportunity today, he wanted to get things done today to avoid any unnecessary complications.
Shu Qing hadn’t been out for quite a few days, and everyone knew it was because he had angered the King of the Underworld and was throwing a tantrum with him.
Most people were waiting to see him make a fool of himself, thinking he would disappear from the scene.
But who would have thought that this malicious concubine would successfully regain favor?
Today, the King of the Underworld even specifically sent a few guards to accompany him. These guards had previously believed they would never see Shu Qing again, guessing that his fate would either be banishment from the Underworld or being ground to dust by the King of the Underworld.
Yet here was Shu Qing, dressed in splendid attire, radiant and dazzling, like a proud little peacock, deliberately showing off but still breathtakingly beautiful, leaving people momentarily stunned and unable to react.
Previously, their prejudice against Shu Qing overshadowed everything, automatically downplaying his beauty.
But after not seeing him for a while, the visual impact was real and direct.
No wonder even the King of the Underworld was tempted by his beauty.
This little butterfly indeed seemed like a celestial fairy descending into the Underworld.
“What are you looking at? Keep staring, and I’ll gouge your eyes out.”
“…”
The guards quickly lowered their heads.
Then they remembered, right, this little butterfly was indeed a celestial fairy, exiled to the Underworld for being malicious and harming other fairies.
To downplay his outing’s purpose and avoid suspicion, Shu Qing first went to find the Head Butler.
Since Shu Qing was the only one in the King of the Underworld’s chambers, whether good or bad, with or without status, all eyes were on him, and news spread quickly.
Everyone knew he had regained favor.
Last night, he cried out all night, seemingly eager to announce to the world that the King of the Underworld had favored him again.
The Head Butler, no matter how much he gritted his teeth, dared not openly oppose Shu Qing.
Two of his subordinates had died for no reason, and he couldn’t bring Shu Qing down. The King of the Underworld had only ignored him for a few days, and now it was as if nothing had happened.
The Head Butler could only open the storeroom and lead Shu Qing to choose fabrics, remaining quiet and humble throughout, without a trace of his usual arrogance.
The guards became porters, carrying whichever fabric Shu Qing pointed at without complaint.
“Chun Li, Xiao Cao, you two pick something you like too, and I’ll have new clothes made for you.”
Xiao Cao immediately looked terrified.
Chun Li, on the other hand, looked delighted.
Only the Head Butler was incredulous and finally couldn’t hold back: “…This is against the rules!”
Of course, the master’s and servants’ fabrics weren’t stored together. Usually, if Shu Qing wanted to reward someone, it was his business, but opening the storeroom for free selection made it seem like the Head Butler wasn’t managing things properly.
Moreover, the Head Butler couldn’t accept Shu Qing’s whims, as if he didn’t even exist.
But Shu Qing was still Shu Qing.
If he didn’t come out, fine, but since he did, he had to take revenge.
Shu Qing didn’t ask what was against the rules; he just looked at the Head Butler and calmly asked, “Are you teaching me the rules?”
“…”
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
The Head Butler cursed Shu Qing thousands of times in his heart but had to endure it: “…I wouldn’t dare, it’s just that the servants’ fabrics are stored elsewhere.”
“I think the fabrics here are nice, so I want them to choose from here. Is that not okay?”
“…”
Whether it was okay or not, it wasn’t up to the Head Butler to decide.
Shu Qing asked again, “Is it not okay?”
The Head Butler didn’t dare say it wasn’t okay.
If Shu Qing complained to the King of the Underworld, saying he couldn’t even make Shu Qing happy by choosing fabrics, he might be dismissed.
The Head Butler could only answer, “…If it’s the little immortal’s request, then of course it’s okay.”
Still, it fell into Shu Qing’s trap.
“Since I said it’s okay, why were you talking about rules earlier? Are you targeting me, trying to ruin my good mood?”
“…I wouldn’t dare.”
“You wouldn’t dare? I think you dare a lot. It wasn’t okay just now, but now it is. Is it okay or not?”
“If you can’t even handle such a small matter, what kind of Head Butler are you?”
The maidservants were used to it; Shu Qing had this kind of temper, hitting anyone he didn’t like, even the Mountain God and the King of the Underworld.
But Xiao Cao was seeing Shu Qing reprimand someone for the first time.
To him, the Head Butler was an untouchable existence, yet in front of Shu Qing, the Head Butler could only bow and scrape, not daring to offend.
“…It was a slip of the tongue, I upset the little immortal, please forgive me and don’t let it ruin your mood.”
“Good that you know you misspoke. From now on, keep your mouth shut. I don’t want to hear another word from you.”
“…”
After reprimanding the Head Butler, Shu Qing turned to Chun Li and Xiao Cao: “Feel free to choose.”
Xiao Cao nodded timidly, but Shu Qing’s demeanor scared him, so he didn’t dare make any big moves.
Only Chun Li, used to such scenes and having been with Shu Qing for a long time, was bold enough.
“Thank you, little immortal!”
After sincerely thanking him, she happily went to choose fabrics.
When they left, the guards truly looked like laborers, each carrying a lot of fabric.
Shu Qing was very satisfied and first told the guards, “Leave two of you here, and the rest take the fabric to my place.”
“Be careful on the way. If anything gets dirty or damaged, I won’t forgive you.”
Then he told Chun Li, “Chun Li, keep an eye on them, don’t let them put things randomly, and go invite the tailor over.”
No one would suspect anything, and Chun Li quickly agreed, “Yes.”
With only two guards and Xiao Cao left, Shu Qing found it much more convenient to scout around.
Otherwise, having a large group of people following him would draw too much attention.
The Underworld was vast, and there was more than one entrance and exit.
There were two within the King of the Underworld’s palace, and several others scattered outside.
At first glance, the ones inside the palace seemed closest to Shu Qing.
But that wasn’t the case.
One of the palace’s exits was relatively close to him, barely reachable within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
But the other required crossing the entire King of the Underworld’s palace, and even the time it takes to burn a stick of incense might not be enough.
The closest exit to Shu Qing was actually outside the palace.
Not far from the side hall where he lived was a small door that led out of the palace. After walking a few dozen meters, it was the exit from the Underworld.
The whole journey took only half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
But this small door wasn’t open every day, and Chun Li usually used the palace’s internal exits more.
Shu Qing couldn’t pin all his hopes on one path.
The one outside the palace was indeed the best choice, but he couldn’t give up on the palace’s exits either.
Shu Qing decided to seriously study the routes, hoping to find some shortcut.
If he could reach the palace’s exits within half the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, that would be ideal.
Shu Qing walked back and forth several times, and later, when he was truly tired and his head inexplicably started to spin, he thought it was about time. Walking any more would seem suspicious.
Moreover, a lot of time had passed, and if he didn’t return soon, Chun Li would probably come looking for him.
Shu Qing pressed his temples, enduring the dizziness, and looked at the guards: “When we get back, draw me a map of the routes we took today.”
Of course, he didn’t really want the map; he wanted to know if they remembered clearly.
If they did, he definitely couldn’t let them follow him next time.
The guards didn’t understand Shu Qing’s intention, but hearing his request, they naturally had to agree: “…Yes.”
On the way back, Shu Qing unexpectedly ran into the King of the Underworld.
Seeing that only two of the guards he assigned to Shu Qing were left, and Chun Li was replaced by the timid newcomer, the King of the Underworld frowned.
“Where did the others go?”
Shu Qing didn’t expect to be so unlucky, running into the King of the Underworld at this time.
Fortunately, he remained calm and greeted him first: “Your Highness.”
Then he said, “I picked a lot of fabrics and had them take them back first.”
As the little butterfly approached, the King of the Underworld caught a whiff of the rich and exotic fragrance on him.
It always felt familiar at first, but he could never recall what it was.
And while the King of the Underworld was still processing, Shu Qing seized the opportunity to change the subject: “Your Highness, I really don’t like the Head Butler. Can we replace him?”
The attendants behind were all shocked.
No one expected Shu Qing to be so straightforward in his complaints.
The King of the Underworld chuckled, “Nonsense.”
But the topic was successfully changed.
Shu Qing continued, “He’s deliberately targeting me, making me unhappy… Just for picking a few more fabrics, he was nagging about rules and regulations.”
The attendants behind were even more shocked.
It wasn’t that Shu Qing was lying, but he was definitely bending the truth a bit.
The scary part was, after hearing this, the King of the Underworld said, “We’ll talk about it inside.”
“…Oh.”
Shu Qing knew it was impossible to replace the Head Butler, but he just wanted to divert the King of the Underworld’s attention.
But for some reason, standing next to the King of the Underworld made his dizziness worse, his vision spinning, and even his stomach twisted in pain.
His steps became unsteady, and as he took a step, his body uncontrollably started to fall to the ground.
Fortunately, the King of the Underworld reacted quickly, immediately reaching out to support him.
He thought Shu Qing was doing it on purpose, putting on a little act to gain favor in public.
But the King of the Underworld didn’t mind.
He smirked, pretending to be serious, “Can’t even walk properly?”
But as he finished speaking, he noticed Shu Qing’s pale face and unfocused eyes, and the King of the Underworld’s breath quickened, “What’s wrong? Where do you feel unwell?”
“Your Highness, I, I…”
Shu Qing wanted to say he was dizzy, wanted to say he was having trouble breathing, but he couldn’t hear his own voice, couldn’t say anything.
A metallic taste rose in his throat, and he coughed up a mouthful of black blood.
[Author’s Note]
This kid just loves to make a scene.