“If you treat me badly, then I will commit regicide.”
The next day, Ji Yue went directly to Zhongling Palace after the morning court session. Wei Lian woke up but stayed on the bed, leaning lazily against the headboard.
Seeing Ji Yue coming in, Wei Lian sank back into the quilt, covering his head as well.
Ji Yue chuckled, “Hiding from us again?”
Wei Lian kept silent and wrapped himself in the quilt, pretending Ji Yue was not present.
Ji Yue deliberately threatened, “Then do not blame us for tying you up for another night.”
Wei Lian angrily sat up and glared at him, complaints filled his eyes but he kept his silence.
Ji Yue continued, minding his own business, “Yesterday’s assassins have confessed. They are in an organisation for hired men in the Jianghu and received a bounty on sneaking into the palace as a performance team. We have dealt with them according to the law.”
Wei Lian lowered his head and acknowledged, “Oh.”
“Now the assassin matter is done.” Ji Yue smiled. “It is time to talk about you.”
Wei Lian folded his knees, put his chin on the quilt and whispered, “Being tossed by you the entire night wasn’t enough?”
His whole body was still sore. Because his wrists were tied for too long, the red marks had not disappeared. He could tell how badly he was bullied last night just from the sight of them.
“That’s a different matter. We have not got to the bottom of the first thing yet.” It was unlikely for Ji Yue to forget the important matter after one night. “Leniency if you confess, severity if you resist. Be truthful and explain.”
Wei Lian looked up and asked, “Explain what?”
“For example, who is your Shifu?”
Ji Yue was quite curious about this Shifu of Wei Lian’s. He must be an extraordinary person to teach such a disciple like Wei Lian. But there was no mention of such a powerful character from the information he collected on Lian Gongzi at the beginning.
Wei Lian said, “He is a divine expert.”
Ji Yue asked, “If he is a divine expert, why did he appear in the Chu palace?”
“Fate.”
“What?”
Wei Lian said, “Shifu’s name is Jun Zhu, a very mysterious and powerful figure. I met him in the palace when I was nine years old. He said we were destined to be teacher and apprentice, so he came to the palace to find me.”
Ji Yue: “...”
It was really fate.
“What did he teach you?”
“Nothing at the beginning.”
“?”
Wei Lian explained, “When we first met, after he told me he was destined to be my Shifu, he left a pile of books for me to read. When he came back next time, he did it to inspect the results then left again once he was done. The second time we met, it was half a year later.”
Ji Yue: “...”
A very unreliable Shifu from the sound of it.
Think about it. A son of nobility suddenly met a man from an unknown origin who said inexplicably ‘We are fated to be master and disciple, accept me as your teacher’. Then before he taught anything, he left without a trace, leaving a pile of books. Anyone would think this man was mentally ill. Why would anyone take his words to heart?
As for those books, either store it in the deepest part of storage, or worse, burn them as it was hard to grasp if that stranger had an ulterior motive or not.
“Shifu left all sorts of books, medical, military, martial arts and mental skills, as well as children’s picture story books.” Wei Lian said, “Most of them were entry level.”
Although they were entry level, it was still very difficult to understand the content just by reading and without guidance. Wei Lian was only nine years old at that time. Any child who got this pile of books would only be interested in picture books.
“Half a year later, Shifu came back and asked me how much I read. I said most of them. Shifu dismissed it with a laugh and asked me how much I took in?”
Ji Yue thought that with how smart Wei Lian was, the young man probably understood all of them.
Sure enough, when Wei Lian shared this, he appeared very proud, “I told him all of them.”
Even now, recalling how Shifu stared at him with wide eyes and mouth piqued his interest.
* * *
At that time, Wei Lian suddenly got such an opportunity. Any ordinary child may not grasp the opportunity, but Wei Lian was no ordinary child. At the age of six, he understood people’s hearts, and at the age of nine, he was not inferior to adults. He had experienced the pain of being weak and small, so he was extremely persistent about becoming strong. He would rather believe than assume the truth.
After half a year, except for the small portion of children's books in the pile as well as the shaman spell and curse…he studied in great depth through the rest of the divination, art of healing, and the basics of martial arts.
Six months later, Jun Zhu returned again and asked, “How much did you read?”
He thought it was impossible for a nine year old child to read less than twenty percent of the books, it was even possible to read none as well.
Wei Lian replied, “More than eighty percent of them.”
Jun Zhu showed a faint smile and made no comment. The books he gave the child were mostly for adults. Even adults without basics would have a hard time processing them. This child probably glanced through them briefly, not understanding the meaning at all.
So he asked the second question, “How much do you understand?”
Wei Lian replied, “All of them.”
Jun Zhu only viewed it as this inexperienced child was acting brave, and over exaggerated his answers. He said in a joking manner, “All right, I will test you to see how much you understand.”
…The result of the test made Jun Zhu dumbstruck as his brain shut down on the spot.
No matter what he asked, Wei Lian could answer it flawlessly. He even deduced many things from one case, he was an other-worldly genius.
“You are indeed a genius.” Jun Zhu said gleefully, as if he had gained the most precious treasure. He clicked his tongue in wonder, “Boy, you have passed the test. From today on, I will officially accept you as my apprentice.”
Wei Lian kept his expression and calmly asked, “Did you have second thoughts even after saying we were destined?”
“Little boy, you are very sharp for your age.” Jun Zhu said proudly, “I am a genius, so naturally my apprentice cannot be a fool. If you have gained nothing from the past six months, I would not have accepted you regardless of that nuisance fate.”
“But facts proved that you are not without talent, little boy.”
“I am willing to accept you as an apprentice. Will you accept me as your teacher?”
Wei Lian accepted the strange man as master without hesitation.
Wei Lian knew who could teach him more useful things, the gentlemen in the palace who would go easy on the princes or the mysterious young man before him.
In the master and apprentice ceremony, Jun Zhu drank the tea and gained a new gifted apprentice. He chirped, “This teacher’s name is Jun Zhu. Remember well, my young disciple. I will come more often in the future to teach you more profound things.”
* * *
“He actually did not visit me more often.” Wei Lian recounted, “Shortest being three to five months, and one to two years at the longest. Every time he appeared, it was when I was stuck on something. He would give me a few instructions for my bottleneck and leave harder books, before disappearing again.”
It could be said that this was a very hands off teaching method.
Wei Lian was really self-taught.
Jun Zhu had come and gone without a trace. For so many years, he could enter the Chu palace without alerting anyone. No one knew of his existence except Wei Lian.
Even after so many years, Wei Lian still did not know Shifu's origin.
Ji Yue listened with great interest. “He is indeed a divine being.” Wei Lian must be lucky to have such a fortuitous meeting.
To be fair, Ji Yue was very thankful for this Shifu whom he never met. If it wasn’t for him, Wie Lian would have had a harder childhood.
In this world filled with suffering, only the strong have a say.
The weak do not even have the ability to protect themselves.
“That’s right.” Wei Lian thought deeply. “I have only met him a handful of times after many years. Not many outsiders know of my martial arts skill, let alone Shifu. The earliest is when Chang Sheng accidentally discovered me practising swordsmanship in secret. I simply taught him in return and let him be my hands.”
“Now,” Wei Lian looked at him, “you are added to that number.”
Ji Yue was not the only one. The whole Qin Empire should know the hostage prince sent by the Chu Empire was not as simple as he appeared.
He really showed all his cards at once.
Ji Yue thought of Wei Lian’s ability, then their first meeting, how he tormented the younger man and was suddenly in a cold sweat.
He hesitated and asked, “Wei Lian, tell us the truth, did you…have the thought to kill us in the beginning?”
Wei Lian’s first arrival was not a fun time, which was also the most painful and regretful time for Ji Yue now. He thought Wei Lian was weak and insufficient, without the power to resist. The young man must have lived very roughly which birthed some dangerous thoughts. But facts had proved that…Wei Lian was fully capable of retaliation.
Ji Yue suddenly felt that he was really lucky to be still alive.
It turned out that it was not he who let Wei Lian off, but Wei Lian who let him off…
Opponents with equal strength are more likely to be victorious if they are hidden in the dark.
Speaking of this, Wei Lian recalled something.
Due to Ji Yue’s earlier A’Meng-like behaviour阿萌行為 Dog like., he was…
He—wanted—to—commit—regicide—every—day!
Combined with Ji Yue’s excessive behaviour of binding him to do whatever he wanted last night, Wei Lian felt vexed the more he thought.
How Ji Yue indiscriminately played him last night did not mean he did not hold a grudge afterwards.
Wei Lian sneered, quickly pulled out the dagger hidden under the sheet and placed it against Ji Yue’s neck. “What do you think?”
Ji Yue: “...”
Fine, he understood. Wei Xiao Lian really wanted to kill him at the beginning.
No, that was not the point. Why was there a dagger hiding under the sheet?!
In fact, it was not difficult to guess since it was common for people with high vigilance and low sense of security to hide weapons by the bed. Ji Yue was the same.
But Ji Yue was still afraid of the thought. Not because of the thought of having a sharp weapon hiding under the sheet, but what if Wei Lian was hurt by the sharp weapon during their session last night…
Although this probability was very slim, everything related to harming Wei Lain must be zero percent.
During his chaotic thoughts, he remembered another detail.
Recalling the event from last night, Wei Lian’s fingers had grabbed where the dagger happened to be hidden between his sobs.
He bullied Wei Lian so much that the younger man even had the thought to kill him…
And what did he do in return?
When he heard Wei Lian’s cry, he put more force behind…
Wei Lian’s fingers stopped in that area, tightened for a long time but weakly loosened it at the end, letting him continue.
It turned out that there was a dagger under there.
The more Ji Yue thought, the more guilty he felt.
He was thankful for Wei Lian’s mercy!
Although he had terrified himself at the thought, he still insisted on not losing face, even if he had lost countless face in front of Wei Lian.
But Ji Yue refused to admit it.
He said coldly, “Wei Lian, do you want to rebel?”
Wei Lian smiled and intimately rubbed his finger against the speaker’s lips. “If you treat me well, I’ll be your Shijun. If you treat me badly, then I will commit regicide.”
He was so close that most of his bedding slipped down, revealing his snow-white skin with captivating marks.
Ji Yue: “...”
We are dead.
There is no one that can stand this.
Ji Yue internally recited the cleaning heart mantra and told himself to calm down.
But Wei Lian leaned against his neck and whispered, “...I will be the husband’s Shijun.”
Ji Yue: “...”
Fuck being calm!
The dagger fell to the ground with a clink. The young man on the bed had been pressed down by Ji Yue. His black hair was scattered, his pale neck was slightly tilted, and his eyes were clearly moist.
Ji Yue lowered his head and kissed him.
“Let this husband take good care of you for a lifetime.”
“And you can be this husband’s Shijun for a lifetime as well.”
Thanks for the chapter…Thanks for Wei Lian’s mercy because Ji Yue was playing with fire. Jeje jeje