When Tang Muxin and the group entered the imperial court, the emperor immediately stood up from his throne with a loving smile.
For a moment, all the officials were flustered. Did the empress barge in again? However the empress likes to wear light gentle colors? Could this be a new woman???
The officials sweated as all sorts of dogblooded plots filled their minds before they finally caught sight of the large golden dragon on the guards and they finally recalled today was the day of the dragon saintess' visit.
Officials: Oh thank god, we don't have to face the empress' wrath later on.
Emperor: '…' The emperor suddenly felt like he wanted to fire everyone in the room inexplicably.
However their relief was short lived and replaced with a sense of solemnity and awe.
Dragon!
They were seeing a real life dragon!
Forget a miracle of this lifetime, this was a miracle of several lifetimes!
Jia Hyson, feeling their fervent gazes sat up and preened under the attention. At this moment a few notifications rang out.
[Ding, ding! A skill is now unlocked and available! Dance of the Dragons: A flick of the tail, a twist of the claw, come, let us dance (Active)]
[Ding, ding! A skill is now unlocked and available! Weather Control: Thunder and lightening it's very exciting! (Active)]
[Ding, ding! A skill is now unlocked and available! Lil blessing: It's just a small one~ (Active)]
[Ding, ding! A skill is now unlocked and available! Spiritual energy feedback loop: When there's give, there's take.]
[Ding, ding! A skill is now unlocked and available! Greed: One of the seven sins.]
Under the worshipful gazes of the the court and the emperor, coupled with the more bountiful and dense spiritual energy in the palace air, nearly all of Jia Hyson's special dragon skills that had previously been locked due to energy restrictions were now available. There were so many skills even Jia Hyson didn't recognize them after such a long period of ignoring them, only seeing a few familiar names.
Seeing the long extensive list of previously greyed out skills light up made Jia Hyson very emotional.
It seems his little life as an OP dragon will finally start now.
Haha, just kidding. This wasn't that sort of story. Even though Jia Hyson was incredibly tempted to play with all his new skills, he knew that if he did so the balance of the story would give a sudden shift. After all, this was about Tang Muxin and her simple but OP transmigration adventure. It was okay to have a few cheat skills as her mascot but he can't be too active and snatch the halo.
The passive skills were okay, he couldn't turn those off anyway and they helped strengthen his body better. However Jia Hyson will have to agonize on which special skills he will use in this world after this. [Karmic Insight] and [Cutie Beam] were his main skills right now, it's better to take something with some fighting power now.
The [Weather Control] is a must given they need to solve agricultural problems in the future. That must be introduced soon in order to not make it seem too convenient when the big drought and it's effects hit. However Jia Hyson also wants something cool and powerful like the [Hyper Beam: Dragonite, go!].
…unfortunately the hyper beam was really too violent. Directly cause a hole into the person's body. Too gory for the genre he's aiming for.
Tsk, it's a pity. Jia Hyson would be interested to see it ah. He tried something similar when he was an evil ghost but it was impossible to cut a circle cleanly through the torso with the powers he had, the most he could do was to slowly gouge out the flesh with his hair. Really not the same.
What was more tempting was not making the hole in the chest but being able to experiment with such a skill. Think about it, if he could master it well couldn't he stop himself from producing a proper hole through the body and just take a perfect circle of flesh off so he could see the inside of the person? Like a hole in the tree. If the hole in the tree was stuffed with bleeding organs and viscera anyway.
Aiyah it would be so cool!
Bebe: '…' You're right it's pretty cool. So cool it was downright chilling.
Bebe felt like maybe it was it's turn to have therapy after this world. The amount of creatively violent fantasies it had been unexpectedly subjected to were way too high given the plot and atmosphere. They were like jump scares. Not good for the heart at all.
It didn't think it would ever say this, but Bebe truly hoped it's host will get laid. The sooner the better really.
Feeling excited, Jia Hyson decided to use one of the few skills that have been activated long ago to show off to these people as a special reward for being lucky enough to be around during his great mood. Raising his body up the highest he can go while balancing on Duan Mengyao's head and shoulders without breaking his neck, and he enthusiastically dances.
A flick of the tail, a twist of the claw, moving his body, he entrances and makes all who see want more. This was the [Dance of the Dragons] skill which would enamor others, relaxing and revitalizing them. Because his bloodline was of the golden fortune dragon, the bonus effect of this was to give the audience a small blessing of luck. This blessing was proportionate to the good deeds each person has done, however even a bad person would still see some proof of improved luck in the next few days.
Twisting and turning, the dragon body was as flexible as a snake's and with four limbs and opposable claws, the variation of movement Jia Hyson could achieve was very shocking. Plus in the first world he dabbled a bit in entertainment and learnt a few basic dance moves, and in Samotrelis as Prince Farrell, there was a lot of traditional dancing in his country, so he was fairly skilled at moving his hips. For dancing anyway.
He was always skilled with his hips in other things hehe.
Bebe: '…Bebe thinks it's your shameless mouth that's the most skilled.'
Jia Hyson: 'Thank you, it's my second best feature. I've never gotten a poor review about my mouth before. I'm so glad you noticed darling~'
Bebe: '…' Bebe walked into that one huh.
Well… talking about his host's cocksucking mouth is at least a level better than talking about human tree holes.
While Jia Hyson was wow-ing everyone with his impromptu dancing, the others in the group were…
Ye Cheng: Aiyah! So cute! I wish there was something to record this ahhh!
Duan Mengyao: …I don't understand but the little dragon is pretty skilled ah.
Pan Shuchun: I wonder if we could make money by charging dance classes through this? All we need to do is tell those idiots its a dragon dance and we'll be rich ahhhhh!
Tang Muxin: Wtf. Bro why are you suddenly dancing out of nowhere? This is the imperial court??? This is so embarrassing ahhhhhhhh!
Random guard from Eunuch Shi: I feel out of place. But I'm very blessed to see the dragon dance ah. UwU
Da Gong: ….Laozi is furious. ⋋(╬⓪⊝⓪)⋌ My worm is dancing so wantonly in front of so many people ahhhhhhhh!!!!!
The more Da Gong looked the more he felt this was simply too inappropriate! Even though his worm looked very, very- it was simply too seductive! It was practically obscene! Flexing his claws! Swaying his tail! Even exposing his soft underbelly for so long!
Jia Hyson's sudden dance wasn't very long, a minute or two at most really, but by the end of it Da Gong had fluffed up so hard in his barely suppressed vinegar drinking rage he was practically double his size.
After finishing the dance, Jia Hyson strikes a handsome pose before laying lazily back down on Duan Mengyao's shoulders, panting lightly and looking at everyone expectantly with large bright eyes.
The emperor was the first to break down.
"AMAZING! SO CUTE AND TALENTED JIN BAO!! ZHEN IS HONORED YOU BLESSED US ALL WITH A DANCE!" He practically screeched as he enthusiastically applauded while standing up from his throne like a helicopter parent at their child's first dance recital. His face was flushed and filled with excitement. Even though his body was declining a lot, and his moment of weakness were getting more and more frequent he suddenly felt like he was injected with chicken blood and could run a mile.
Of course this was most likely just because his own blessing was stimulated by the skill, but the emperor didn't know that. He just felt enlightened.
It turns out cuteness can be so healing!
Ah, he wonders if he could get his empress to do this dance tonight for him…
Hehehe.
With the emperor as example, the officials and ministers also began to happily applaud and cheer. They also deeply felt they have been healed by the dance. At the very least, after watching for a minute or two their bodies felt more refreshed and energetic.
This sort of visible effect cemented the validity of the dragon further into their minds. There were many men with daughters that now felt very regretful they dismissed their daughter's claims about seeing a dragon while shopping.
Aiyah, what were they thinking?!
Fools! They turned into fools!
World's consciousness: :)
Jia Hyson licked his snout, feeling cheerful at the warm reception to his dance. While most of the men were considered quite old in ancient times it was considered the end-tail of middle age in modern times, around late fifties to late sixties. After all, being part of the court can be quite stressful, there's a lot of ministers who would retire at about seventy or even eighty if they're especially dedicated, maybe even earlier if their children managed to become officials as well.
Among the court were also relatively new young officials that were around their late teens, early twenties.
It didn't matter whether they were handsome, plain or a bit unflattering to the eyes, to Slag Hyson he could definitely be interested in any of them really.
Therefore, with so many men within Jia Hyson's strike zone were applauding him with awe and worship, it was safe to say his ego was more than sufficiently stroked today.
Personally he felt that it would've been perfect if there was some desire and lust in the mix but he supposes he can make do with pure idolization.
Jia Hyson: 'Ah, everything, the suffering, starving, the humiliation, all the hard work… it was really all worth it.'
Bebe: '...' Other than the beginning where you almost starved to death and get bullied by some kids, weren't you pretty much piggybacking on someone this whole time? Like literally piggybacking.
The number of times Jia Hyson actually ran around instead of being carried was shockingly low in retrospect really. Either he was being carried by Tang Muxin, Ye Cheng, or another human, or Da Gong was. The only times he was put down was for food, sleep and when he wanted to go play.
…even then, sometimes Da Gong would insist on feeding him beak to mouth while the dragon lay on top of him, or let him nap on his back.
What an incredibly fat salted fish has been cultivated and yet the fish still dare say it has worked hard with a straight face. Peh. This sort of person should drown in the spit of the overworked corporate slaves everywhere.
"Fantastic!" The emperor finally somewhat calmed himself down, his smile was wide and eyes full of happiness as he spoke, "To think the dragon and his saintess have given Zhen so much face to even arrange a dance for this emperor! Zhen is moved deeply by this affection."
The emperor felt really smug. After all he was probably the first and only emperor to get this sort of good treatment from a dragon. It was really something that deserves to be bragged about.
"Yes, this is truly an auspicious occasion!" The Minister of Finance wastes no time in praising. Maybe because he is connected to the kingdom's wealth or maybe because he was superstitious, he felt a deep sense of reverence looking at the dragon.
The emperor immediately looks at the minister of finance approvingly. Before he wasn't really a fan of the man who was very naggy and was the cause of a lot of arguments about budgeting, but now he felt the man was no longer so boring. "You have good eyes Minister Wang." The emperor thought about their last meeting, "Zhen believes we can re-discuss the matter of the national budget expenses for reconstruction that you brought up two days ago, at a later date."
The minister of finance was thrilled, "Thank you for your kindness emperor!"
Seeing the first person to eat crabs* successfully, the others who were more ambitious and quick on the uptake immediately started to compete in blowing various rainbow farts** in hopes their own problems that the emperor previous waved away will have a chance at making a comeback.
*The first person to eat crabs means the first person to take the risk and get the reward. Because crabs are a delicacy but let's be honest, it's a giant armored spider, so one would have to have a very interesting vision, very brave or very hungry lol. This originates from the quote, "The first person to eat crab is very much to be admired." - Lu Xun (famous author). Generally it's also used to explain how the first person to eat crabs would also get the biggest slice of the previously undiscovered pie ah.
**praises.
Of course, only the first to eat the crabs will get the biggest share, and the emperor quickly grew bored and impatient after a short time. After a few increasingly insincere promises he waved at them to desist so he can continue talking with the cutest thing in existence.
"Please, Dragon Saintess Tang," The emperor gestured for the group to come sit by him as servants quickly brought extravagant seating for them, "Come here, zhen wishes to see you all better."
This sort of thing of course was very abnormal and disrespectful, one shouldn't even look at the emperor unless asked much less sit by his side. Only the empress could do so, and even then the empress was not allowed to intervene with politics so she wasn't allowed to enter the imperial court either.
Well…. She was at one point but her temper was too big and after exploding one too many times the ministers and officials all begged for her to stop coming or they would boycott.
Feeling a bit awkward to come up to the stage in such a public manner, Tang Muxin still respectfully bows. "It would be our honour." She states, her soft but cold voice clear and strong with very little fluctuation. It made people feel she was aloof and pure, very befitting of someone with a saintess title.
Even though her attire was completely outrageous and alien, nobody dared say anything with the imposing and frosty aura emanating from her body. In fact it was because of her natural coldness honed by her previous life that made it easier for them to accept this baby faced saintess with strange clothes.
As for the servants of the saintess… well, their outfits were far more traditionally acceptable and easier to visually digest for the conservative men. And even if they had any objections- well they were not stupid enough to say anything. They were servants who help personally take care of a fucking dragon okay? No matter how they look at it, even though they were just mere servants, they, the officials, were the ones who can't offend them.
Not to mention they all objectively looked pretty good.
As they all settled themselves down, save the two guards and Da Gong who stood behind the chairs protectively, the emperor coughed and looked up at Jia Hyson who was curled around Duan Mengyao's neck, with bright eyes. "Zhen is also welling to lend zhen's lap to the esteemed and great Jin Bao if you* are willing?"
*respectful you.
Jia Hyson looked at the slightly above average face of the emperor who was flushing and fidgeting rather adorably, completely different from his usual oppressive imperial dignity and silently thought: 'I wouldn't mind lending my lap to the esteemed and great emperor to sit on either ah hehehehe.'
Bebe: …
Tang Muxin: …I didn't hear that. I am deaf. I am dead.
Because dragons don't have the same facial muscles as humans, there was no way anyone who wasn't telepathically connected to him to notice his lecherous thoughts toward the emperor. Externally, Jia Hyson cocked his head to the side as if in thought before nodding, his large golden eyes blinking cutely. He looked the epitome of cute and innocent.
Inwardly though….
Tang Muxin: (,,o_0,,) 'Wow.' As a super assassin-spy of course she had seen her fair share of depraved stuff but this was a little bit… She wonders if Duan Mengyao would be willing to try a little bit of that in the future?
Bebe: 'You know if you were human you would be killed for blasphemous intentions toward the emperor. Bebe doesn't know what they would do for, for- whatever that shit is, but even death is probably too light a punishment really.'
Unaware of how he was being violated mentally, the emperor happily opens his arms and let's Jia Hyson crawl off of Duan Mengyao's shoulders and slither into his embrace.
Da Gong, who has been ignored the whole time since they entered the palace: '…' #Considering rebellion to win back his work. #RebelliousThoughts
However even though Da Gong was upset, he calmly kept his beak up, standing proudly with his back up straight like a good guard. After all he understood how important this was. It would be stupid and selfish to make a fuss here out of jealousy.
Jia Hyson may have been thinking slag thoughts, and was enjoying wrapping himself around the literal emperor of this world's China, but he was very sensitive to Da Gong's lowering mood.
Maybe it was just because they spent so long together, the codependency was probably even unhealthier than when he was with Sefu in the previous world. Not to mention, in retrospect the relationship with Da Gong was a little more balanced in terms of respect for each other.
Sefu who was the clear pathetic loser in the very unbalanced codependent relationship where he gets less respect in retrospect: '…'
Sefu who saw the above description of himself: '.....' I hate this story. The author is such a bitch.
Settling onto the emperor's lap, Jia Hyson glances at the fluffed up Da Gong. Because Da Gong was equally, if not more so, attentive to his little worm's needs, they quickly established eye contact. Jia Hyson's golden eyes curved up cheekily and the tip of his tail coquettishly points at the bird before making a curling gesture in a 'come hither' motion.
Da Gong: ⋋( ಠ ⊝ ಠ )⋌ • • •
Da Gong: ⋋(,,ಠ ⊝ ಠ,,)⋌ ! ! !
Almost immediately Da Gong practically flew toward Jia Hyson's side. The giant cock happily rested at the feet of the emperor, ignoring the appalled expressions of the ministers down below as he focused on chasing the coy, teasing tail of his little worm.
Even Ye Cheng was more than a little embarrassed.
After all he was a proper native to the world and it's instilled into him that the emperor is the closest thing to god. Even if he loved Da Gong dearly, he really wanted to go pull the bird away and give him a scolding.
This was the emperor! Even if their status was special, no matter how special you still need to give the emperor face!
A simple word could cause a whole noble family to hang. Da Gong was impressive but if he really offended the emperor it was nearly impossible to save him if Jin Bao wasn't here.
The emperor also felt uncomfortable with the large chicken by his feet, fortunately he was quite mild in temperament compared to his predecessors and did not show any thoughts about this.
After all this rooster was the dragon's friend, plus it was so big and from the stories he heard from the group it was also intelligent. Therefore it should be actually a blessing to have such a magical cock so close at hand. No wasn't there a lot superstition about how auspicious roosters where and how their crows can drive away evil? He didn't believe them before but he didn't believe much in dragons either ah. And a large rooster that could accompany a dragon must also have their own abilities beyond his mortal comprehension so having both a dragon and a rooster come greet him while he ruled this country really….
After a few rounds of brainwashing the emperor could even smile lovingly at Da Gong.
This was the scene the princes- who had been delayed in their own respective mental breakdowns- came upon when they entered the court.
A large, through relatively very small in retrospect, golden dragon languidly laid on their emperor father's lap, staring up at the man who rules the world with lazy amusement and a strange hunger. The emperor who is absentmindedly stroking the serpentine body is actually not even looking at the dragon in order to affectionately gaze at a big black cock. The cock however was ignoring the emperor as it was too busy starting heatedly at the dragon.
Crown prince: …Is this the legendary love triangle???
Scholarly second prince: Ah… it is beautiful at how even the highest creatures can be on equal ground with a mortal. And the highest mortal can be on equal ground with… a rooster….. and the rooster can…. Um…. Uh.
Deep schemer Third Prince: Seriously wtf.
Background Fourth Prince: Wait, who the fuck just called me the background prince just now?
Playboy fifth Prince: It turns out emperor father prefers a fat, big black cock to a large yellow dragon? How unpatriotic* ah.
*saying the emperor prefers hung black dudes to hung asians…. I'm sorry :3
Crybaby Sixth Prince: Wuwuwu I want to leave.
Sweet mouthed Ninth Prince: …Jealous. Maybe emperor father will let me pet the dragon if I act cute.
In fact all the princes were really speechless save for the eighth prince Yan Huizhong and the dragon-loving seventh prince who was not present for some reason yet. It could be said their mental states today had all taken multiple beatings.
Even though the brothers had varying degrees of friendliness and hostility to one another they all couldn't help but exchange glances with each other that were filled with the meaning of 'you seeing this shit?'.
The ninth prince was the first to recover. Maybe because he was younger and more flighty and naive than the others his adaptive ability was the greatest in the situation. It was because of this none of his brothers hated him but they definitely didn't like him either.
After all he was young but almost at a viable age to fight for the throne, his acting ability was good and so was his ability to sell meng and sell pity. His crying skills can be said to rival even the most dramatic concubine in the emperor's harem.
Essentially the ninth prince was very green tea*.
*fake
Not to mention the ninth prince was still quite young, with baby fat still on his checks and had a sweet, soft good boy appearance. Compared to his older brothers who had become big, angular and handsome men, he was a little lamb that people wished to pamper.
Even the crown prince, who was also quite green tea, has been pitted by this white lotus bitch of a brother before.
"Daddy you are so amazing!" The ninth prince immediately blew rainbow farts as he ran over to his emperor father with a large smile. "I've never heard from the grand tutor about any other emperor meeting a dragon before! It must be because you are so amazing that the heavens bestowed such great fortune on you! And you are so kind and humble, no wonder even a dragon can feel comfortable sitting on your lap!"
The ninth prince then paused before looking at his older brothers, "See elder brothers! I knew my emperor father was not becoming blind in his old age and ailing health, mistaking a fish eye for a pearl- or in this case, a dragon for a sham! Tsk tsk. Don't try fool me." The young prince then gave them a smug look that practically screamed, 'tut, tut why am I such a genius?'
Older princes who said no such thing: ….heh this fucking guy.
Jia Hyson watched this with great interest and bemusement. After all he will have to pick an emperor eventually, it was good to understand the characters now.
Surprisingly this imperial family seemed… pretty casual.
Then again, the author god for this story stopped pretty early on in the imperial arc and nothing was really fleshed out.
.You could argue nothing in this braindead story was really fleshed out in the first place as well but that's nether here nor there really.
Still, if this should follow reality it would make sense for the brothers to be less cordial considering everyone was at the perfect age to be considered for the throne. At the very least they should be more formal with one another. Generally princes were considered each other's most threatening rivals so it was natural for them not to really spend time with each other to the point they can be so relaxed. It was even less likely for their concubine mother's to encourage playdates unless they wanted to suck up to more powerful princes.
'The main crux is the author god stresses in the story about the emperor being kind and openminded.' Bebe, reading his musings, interjects, 'The author god describes the emperor to not be very pretentious and was willing to acknowledge skill even in the most poverty-stricken of people. This allows the emperor to fully respect the female main character Tang Muxin and give her a big gold thigh that should've helped paved the way occasionally when she searched for the culprit to his poisoning. Of course the author never talked about how the emperor raised his kids and also mainly focused on the crown prince, the third prince and the eighth prince.'
Jia Hyson understood and felt some pity for the world's consciousness and heavenly path. It was like giving them an apple seed and a mandarin peel to a child who had only seen the plants in their simple garden, telling them these are fruits and then with those clues to go make an avocado tree.
There was so many princes and yet the world's consciousness didn't know what to do with over half of them, plus they had to use the premise of a 'kind, openminded emperor who doesn't discriminate against women' in a fucking ancient china setting. You had to know, it was already hard enough to find a genuine kind, openminded men with high status that doesn't discriminate against women in Jia Hyson's original world of modern times where the three world views had improved significantly since the ancient period.
It wasn't strange the personalities of these half arsed characters have developed a little unconventionally. In fact the courtiers and ministers in this court should be a little brainless as well thinking about it.
Ah well, it suits the plot. Whatever.
This sort of thing, even if he analyzes it, it's not something he can control. Still the researcher in him can't help but find this sort of butterfly effect fascinating.
Bebe: 'Bebe almost forgot you went to a national university for science.'
Jia Hyson: 'I wanted a legitimate reason to dissect things.'
Bebe: '…'
Jia Hyson: '…It was a joke.'
Bebe: '…' Coming from you it doesn't feel like it.
Now that the princes have come, the emperor introduced the group, tactfully ignoring the ninth princes' cheeky attempt at sowing discord. When each prince was called up they introduced themselves* and offered Jia Hyson and Tang Muxin a gift to show their sincerity.
*This author isn't going to name names. It's not important. For the sake of everyone's brain we will continue to refer them as Crown/first prince, second prince, third prince etc. If anyone complains, boo them.
The crown prince was the first one. Bowing enough to show respect, he quickly stood up and gestured for his servants waiting at the sidelines to come forward, "This prince had heard the saintess and her comrades were starting a shop." He explains, his voice was smooth and confident, "Therefore I have brought these three men to help you."
Three older gentlemen immediately bowed.
"This servant is Luo Peng, I am a craftsman, capable of carving and designing interiors."
"This servant is Lan Yu, I am a representative of the Southern merchant group, Vermillion Bird. We are willing to help supply any items we are capable of acquiring."
"This servant is Wu Shi, I am a famous calligrapher and painter. I specialize in nature and animals. Please use me as you wish."
It had to be said, there's a reason the crown prince is still the crown prince really. On such short notice the man accurately grasped with the information he had and chose a present both practical and flattering.
After all with the exception of the eighth prince Yan Huizhong- who often offended people left and right- the group wasn't well connected in the capital, especially in regards to the art and trade circles. At most Pan Shuchun knew a few locals after establishing herself, but again, she was a single woman with no background and couldn't afford to be adventurous.
The scholarly second prince's present in comparison was a bit lacking in usefulness but it was still a shocking gift. His resources weren't a lot and he liked to adopt the typical pretentious view of disdaining materialism in order to pursue spiritual beauty and honor like many of his scholar friends. Therefore with such short notice he could only respectfully and tearfully give up his most treasured painting Dawn Rises in the Dragon's Mouth.
It was a large and stunning ink painting that depicted the buildings and mountains of China during the time when the sun was rising, it was very realistic and the complicated lighting and colors that come from the breaking of dawn were depicted perfectly across the scroll parchment. However what was the most incredible was the large golden dragon that carried the sun in it's mouth. The creature's body seemed to cover the majority of the sky area with some of it's body covered in the clouds and stars.
It was undeniable the majesty it exudes in this painting yet somehow the artist had managed to also make this powerfully fierce and holy beast seem a little tender and tentative, carefully cradling the sun in it's mouth like a fragile quail egg as it pulls it up into the sky to give the Chinese citizens a new day to look forward to. Overall Jia Hyson, Tang Muxin, Ye Cheng and Pan Shuchun were enthralled by it.
Even Duan Mengyao who didn't really care for art and Da Gong who really, really didn't care for art were visibly impressed by it.
The other princes who saw this painting had their mouths open so wide you could stuff an extra large chicken eggs in them. The second prince saw their expressions and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
This was his most treasured painting. He was a fan of this painting master for the longest time however the master was eccentric and very cruel to himself. Despite being so talented the man had a sick hobby of showing off his paintings for all to admire but on the fourth hour of the fourth day of the fourth month of the fourth year* he displayed it, the painting would be publicly burned.
*four (shi) in Chinese culture means death. It's treated more or less the same as western culture treats the number thirteen.
The second prince who first saw this was only nine. He vividly remembered the painting was called Peonies Among the Roses and that it was very beautiful. Because he was spoilt he rushed up and demanded to buy the painting from the master. However the master was fearless and looked straight into his eyes and said, "Materialism and greed will ruin even the finest art." And then burnt the painting right in front of everyone.
The second prince cried for three days. After recovering he decided to be a scholarly prince who will be above materialism and greed.
Concubine Hua, his mother has probably been deeply resentful of that master ever since then. Unfortunately the master's background is deep and he had the emperor's favor.
Every time the master burned his paintings the second prince would beg to save it, before crying afterwards when he failed. Eventually the master was moved by this sincere love for his work and his final painting before he died was passed to the second prince.
This painting was the second prince's reverse scale that nobody dared to touch. All the princes have seen firsthand how much the second prince treasures this thing. He had specially built a room for viewing it and wouldn't allow anyone to get five meters near it by barricading it with a short iron fence so people didn't go too close. Even the emperor and his concubine mother was no exception.
Now that he was actually giving it away…. Every royal member present at the movement silently wondered how many days this guy was going to cry now. The crybaby sixth prince who was on very good terms with the second prince since they both have a reputation for crying was already tearing up on behalf of his favorite elder brother.
Playboy Fifth prince, taking a step away from the crybaby sixth prince: …Really don't want to admit this guy is my full-blooded brother ah.
To be honest the painting while amazing and rare, was a little useless. The shop they wanted to open was going to have modern elements in it to stand out, and frankly, the painting's visual appearance was too high. If they put it in the shop the clothing may be outshined.
Right now they're living in the Fairy Garden Inn, it also doesn't match the vibe of the domineering Dawn Rises in the Dragon's Mouth. And it's too stressful to keep such a treasure that they weren't going to sell.
Overall it's a wonderful gift but the group were made up of practical people who preferred money and a cushy life over pursuing art and beauty. Only Pan Shuchun and Jia Hyson, these two more artistically inclined people, were truly interested in it after the initial amazement and awe.
Jia Hyson glances at Tang Muxin and she immediately got the message. Stepping up she looks at the second prince with neither cold nor warm eyes. "The dragon is very pleased with your gift." She states, "However he believes that the painting should be kept with the owner it has chosen. The fate between you two is strong, and it will bring bad karma to break the painter's will behind the art."
She glances at Jia Hyson again and he nods, sending another message for her to speak.
"In return the dragon would like to be able to visit the painting to admire in the future. He says that the second prince clearly has good taste and would like to see his collection."
The second prince was both deeply grateful and honoured. Grateful because he could keep his painting. And honored because the dragon talked to him! Well, the saintess technically talked to him but it was the dragon's words! Not only that it was actually interested in his collections! Can visit! Ahhhh!
The crown prince's eye twitched. However he quickly calmed himself. It was okay. He can just thicken his face and visit them with the excuse of making sure his people are doing satisfactorily.
But the second prince unexpectedly reaped such a good reward, the sly third prince who the crown prince was very guarded against must have something better.
The third prince came forward and bowed, gesturing to let his servants come while carrying a large object covered in silk cloth. "This prince could only give you one of his most cherished items as well," He smiles smugly. Seeing how well the second prince did he felt quite confident his own artwork wouldn't lose.
Everyone leaned in with some interest.
With a flourish, the third prince unveiled the item underneath.
A large dragon carving was unveiled.
It was large. Gorgeous. Majestic.
And made entirely out of pure jade.
"Legend has told that great dragons blessed the land with jade and the vitality of the earth during those times were so strong there were generations who had never experienced famine." The third prince explains, his voice slick and full of emotion. "Unfortunately these large jade boulders, or dragon jade, had over time the dragon jade has disappeared due to natural causes or human greed. This statue is carved from one of the largest raw boulders of jade found in the last three dynasties."
The third prince, full of confidence smiles boldly. "What do you think?"
Jia Hyson: …It's shit.
Tang Muxin: …It's shit.
Pan Shuchun: …Such a big pile of shit.
Duan Mengyao: …Shit.
Da Gong: Peh. Not as cute as my little worm.
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A/N: It's been a while~ Like four weeks? I'm sowwy QwQ this author has been feeling the empty and hollow and unmotivated to do things which doesn't give me a good mindset to make jokes ah~ I've really just been sad and stuff but I'm slowly doing better :3
I've actually written a synopsis to another story idea which got me re-motivated (weird right) so I figured I might as well share it with you all now ah. It won't be written anytime soon (must... finish.. arc... first... orz)
Title (WIP): [BL] Unlimited Flow: the Zombie Emperor's Part time job
Synopsis (WIP):
Once upon a time, there was a man named Jia Hyson. He was a playboy. He was a writer. And he was a killer.
He was also dead.
Then he became the undead.
However, this story only ends at the end of the end.
When the apocalypse is over. When the humans are all gone. And the earth is dying.
Jia Hyson was no longer just a man. He was no longer just a zombie. He was the lifeless emperor with nothing to rule.
So he took a part time job in another world.
Well. More like he gave himself a part time job in another world.
Horror System: I did not ask for this.
Jia Hyson: *smile*
Players: *shudder in fear*
Bosses: *shudder in anticipation*
System: *shudder in disgust*
An alternate universe where Jia Hyson never got picked up by a quick transmigrating Beta system, experiences the apocalypse and still demands to be a transmigrator. Sounds fun right~?