THE SYSTEM GAVE Li Yu a tip: ‹You don't need to enter the system
first if you want to use the inventory. To use the shortcut, you can tap the
jade scale three times. You can put anything within your field of vision
inside, so long as it fits, using just your thoughts…›
The system continued talking. Li Yu smiled. As limited as the
inventory space was, its method of usage was pretty cool. Not too shabby.
He went to check on the main quest in the system. Just as he thought,
the second task, "Priceless Pet Fish," was now completed. The third task,
which had previously been hidden away, was now revealed.
The third task: "Get Along with the Tyrant." Time limit: three days.
Li Yu was speechless. Getting along with the tyrant, interacting with
the tyrant—didn't this system know anything else? Not to mention, the bar
for "interacting" had already been so high—he hadn't been able to do it
alone, and he needed Prince Jing to participate as well. So what on earth did
"getting along with" entail? And there was a fucking time limit too??
What was going to happen if he didn't complete it before time ran
out?
‹Exceeding the time limit counts as a failure, and the user will
become fish bones and fish…›
‹All right, enough! I got it! I just have to complete the task within
three days, right? Can I at least rest today and start tomorrow?›
‹Sorry, the timer started from the moment you completed the second
task.›
What???
Li Yu took a closer look and realized it was right. Right next to the
task was a small countdown, seconds ticking slowly down. This fucking
system! Why didn't it let him know the timer had already started?! What if
he had slept for three days?!
So time still passed while he was in the system. Li Yu couldn't waste
any more of it; he quickly exited and came back to the real world, arriving
just in time to hear Wang Xi's voice. It turned out that while he was
accepting his reward, Prince Jing and Wang Xi had already returned, and
Wang Xi had spoken for a while.
Luckily, the prince hadn't come over to visit Li Yu. He hurriedly
swam around a little, shaking himself out of his dazed stupor to prove he
was still very much alive. Pressing up against one side of the tank to listen,
he could faintly hear Wang Xi's muffled voice.
"Why did the emperor call Your Highness to Qianqing Palace so
suddenly?" the eunuch asked. "This old servant heard the emperor had
visited Zhongcui Palace, so I thought the noble consort must have said
something to him. After all, that white cat…is the noble consort's beloved
pet."
Something seemed to occur to Prince Jing; a mocking smile curled
his lips.
"This servant didn't mean anything else by that," said Wang Xi
hastily. "Of course, Your Highness wouldn't care for such things, but you
do, at the very least, have to show some respect to the emperor. I'll
accompany you and explain things clearly to him. I refuse to believe the
noble consort can conceal the truth!"
When Prince Jing showed no reaction, Wang Xi continued, "Then I'll
follow Your Highness…"
Mu Tianchi thought about it for a while before reaching over and
blocking Wang Xi's way. He shook his head.
Wang Xi froze. "Your Highness…doesn't want this servant to come
this time?"
As Prince Jing's personal servant, Wang Xi had taken care of the
prince since he was a child. He could tell what the prince wanted just from
a single glance. If the prince wanted to speak, Wang Xi was almost always
able to say exactly what the prince wanted. The sudden summons of Prince
Jing to Qianqing Palace led Wang Xi to guess the noble consort had
probably hinted something to the emperor. Without Wang Xi there by his
side, wasn't the prince doomed to take the fall?
Prince Jing's dark eyes flicked to the top of his head expressionlessly.
Wang Xi understood at once. "The emperor ordered Your Highness to
go alone? You're not allowed to bring anyone with you?"
Prince Jing nodded.
Wang Xi was speechless. The emperor summoned Prince Jing and yet
wouldn't allow him to "speak." What was the meaning of this?
The worst-case scenario would be if, after years of Zhongcui Palace
exerting its influence, the emperor turned his affections away from His
Highness and onto the second prince. Wang Xi's eyes immediately burned
red. "No… This old servant will follow Your Highness even if it means my
death!"
Prince Jing looked at his sorrowful face and hesitated a moment
before tapping his shoulder lightly. Deliberately going against the emperor's
wishes would only give the other side an advantage. Besides, Prince Jing
didn't think a mere noble consort could do anything to him.
"Then…what does Your Highness plan to do?" Wang Xi sniffled.
Prince Jing's distant gaze landed on the porcelain fish tank that stood
behind Wang Xi.
"Y-Your Highness wants to…" Wang Xi was shocked. He couldn't
mean…?
The way Prince Jing held himself was calm and relaxed, an easy
grace about him. The very picture of confidence.
Wang Xi gritted his teeth. "Since Your Highness has already made his
decision, this servant will obey and go prepare."
Li Yu heard everything. The noble consort wanted to make things
difficult for Prince Jing, and Wang Xi was discussing a plan of action with
the prince. But Li Yu wasn't worried about Prince Jing at all.
In the book, even though the noble consort seemed to have the
emperor's favor, she didn't end up living very long. Li Yu figured this
wasn't a big deal since there wasn't a detailed passage about this particular
situation in the book. Nothing major was going to happen; otherwise, how
would Prince Jing ascend to the throne?
Prince Jing was the kind of person who held grudges—an eye for an
eye. If the noble consort really dared to try something, she wouldn't be
reaping the rewards; she would be suffering the consequences!
Anyway, as far as Li Yu was concerned, Prince Jing seeing the
emperor was none of his business. He was a fish. All he had to do was wait
quietly in his tank for the prince to come back before continuing with his
task. While the three-day time limit wasn't very long, it wasn't too bad
either. He had completed his first two tasks entirely by chance, so perhaps it
would be the same for this one…
To his surprise, though, he watched Wang Xi rummage through the
prince's chests and shelves, where he procured a little jade bowl.
He approached the fish tank with an ominous look on his face. Li Yu
tensed.
Wait. Stop! What are you doing!!
Li Yu screamed. Wang Xi, sleeves rolled up, quickly snatched up Li
Yu and deposited him in the jade bowl.
The jade bowl was much too cramped, and the water it held was very
shallow. There was barely space for Li Yu, who was forced to curl up into a
circle to fit inside. He couldn't even swim normally, let alone roll around. If
he exerted even just a tiny bit of force, he would surface from the water.
It wasn't very safe. Li Yu curled around himself pitifully.
Wang Xi murmured to him, "Little thing, you'll have to bear with this
for a while, since His Highness has decided to take you with him. Be good
and don't embarrass him."
Holy fucking shit, what was Wang Xi saying? Was Prince Jing
okay?? A man who couldn't speak bringing a fish that also couldn't speak?
Li Yu didn't want to see any emperors or noble consorts!
Knowing that Prince Jing was a noble prince and that he had the rest
of the plotline ahead of him, Li Yu didn't think the emperor would do
anything to his son. But Li Yu, on the other hand, was an entirely different
matter. He was just a fish. If the emperor didn't like him, he could easily
throw him away or roast him…
Wake up! It wasn't up to Li Yu to decide where he went. With this
trip, the fate of his fish life was up in the air. He had to come up with a
contingency plan, and fast.
There was still one spot in his inventory!
Li Yu took a deep breath. While Wang Xi was distracted, he
frantically tapped on his scale, thinking, Let me save some clean water, I
want water…
He could survive as long as he had enough water—unless the
emperor decided to cut off his fish head. Although there was water inside
the jade bowl he was in right now, it was much too shallow to feel safe. If
the person holding the bowl had shaky hands, he was fucked. He wasn't
going to leave his life in some stranger's hands; he was going to save
himself by saving some water!
Li Yu hadn't put anything in his inventory yet. He definitely didn't
expect it to come into use so quickly. He had only heard the system explain
its application once, so he was purely relying on luck.
Good thing he had a pretty good memory and remembered most of
what the system had said. Instantly, the water in the porcelain tank became
shallower, while Li Yu's inventory filled with water.
I have water! Satisfied, Li Yu put away his inventory.
Wang Xi called a group of servants into the room. They were all busy
with their own tasks, so no one noticed the volume of the water changing
inside the porcelain fish tank. Since Prince Jing had decided to take the
little carp to see the emperor, Wang Xi had to make sure everything was
taken care of. He prepared several small jade bowls of around the same size
and various changes of clothing—all of which had to be taken along with
the prince, as a precaution. Wang Xi may not have been able to go with the
prince to see the emperor, but the least he could do was take care of Prince
Jing on the way there.
Prince Jing gestured, indicating that he would hold the little carp who
was about to meet the emperor. Wang Xi handed the bowl over respectfully,
and Prince Jing glanced inside.
The bowl was quite small, so the fish couldn't even fully stretch out
inside. Wang Xi said there was nothing they could do about that—it wasn't like they could take a large bowl to see the emperor; that would stick out
like a sore thumb. The little carp might have been more comfortable, but
what would the emperor think?
Prince Jing didn't care what the emperor would think; the bowl was
too cramped. He shot Wang Xi a judgmental glare.
Wang Xi thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and rubbed his
eyes hard. "Your Highness, y-you're going to see the emperor. It's best if
you take this jade bowl…"
Prince Jing sidestepped around him and pointed at a different bowl
that had been taken out during Wang Xi's search for the jade bowl. This
bowl was huge, with delicate ripples of water painted on the side. It was
fully large enough to hold a pot of soup.
Wang Xi's jaw dropped.
Prince Jing was a stubborn man: whatever he wanted he was going to
get. The large bowl was quickly brought over. Glancing briefly at Wang Xi,
Prince Jing poured the little carp, along with the water, into the large bowl
himself. Then he filled it up with more water.
Li Yu was suddenly freed from the confines of the jade bowl. What
happened? Why did it change again? But this new bowl was so much
cooler! He liked it!
Li Yu demonstrated his fishiness to the extreme, swimming and
jumping around in his new domain. Since Prince Jing had moved him into a
larger bowl, he had to amend his impression of the prince. Perhaps tyrants
were, on occasion, good at taking care of their pets!
Seeing how delighted the fish was, Prince Jing's lips twitched a little.
After a second's thought, he brought out the box of red fish feed. He
carefully shook out a few pieces into the bowl, in case this fish became
hungry in its overexcitement as they made their way to the palace.
Li Yu couldn't be more grateful, completely unaware that from afar,
between the large bowl and the floating red pellets, he looked like a large
bowl of goji fish soup.
With one hand supporting the bowl on the bottom, Prince Jing
covered the top with the other, in case the fish got too lively and jumped out. Even though he wasn't touching him directly, Li Yu could still feel the
heat from his palm.
It was warm and unexpectedly cozy.
Li Yu had originally had doubts about whether this person was
reliable, but if the prince protected him like this, it should…be safe, right?
The little carp's anxious heart gradually calmed until it settled down
to the rhythm of Prince Jing's footsteps.