LI YU FOLLOWED PRINCE JING and his servants back to Jingtai Hall.
He made countless attempts to endear himself to the prince on the
way there, but Prince Jing, who had been tapping him on the head back in
Qianqing Palace, didn't react at all. He even tucked away the luminous
pearl. Li Yu was a little frustrated.
Didn't he at least deserve some credit for inconveniencing Noble
Consort Qiu? Was it that hard to let him hold the pearl for a bit? It wasn't
like he was going to monopolize it; he only needed it to complete his quest.
After the quest was finished, he'd be done with it!
But there was no need to get himself too worked up. Perhaps it was
just a coincidence that Prince Jing had taken the pearl. Communication
between a fish and a mute prince was too difficult.
Li Yu switched tactics and started swimming in circles around the
bowl. Perhaps by mimicking the shape of a pearl, he could give Prince Jing
a hint… But the prince kept on acting like he couldn't see him.
"Little thing, what are you trying to do?" Wang Xi chuckled.
Wang-gonggong had resolved to take good care of this fish from now
on. Although it was just an ordinary, edible carp, this little creature had
brought Prince Jing a substantial amount of good luck. It had splashed the
prince with water, but that had allowed them to
discover the bruise from Piaoxue, which in turn was what helped
them get one over on the noble consort. Wang Xi had looked down on
Xiaolinzi for calling Piaoxue "Master Cat," but now he was all too eager to
eat his words and call the fish "master" too.
Li Yu stiffened at Wang Xi's question. How could he make these
people understand that all he wanted was the pearl? He didn't want
anything else!
Should he swim in the shape of the word "pearl"?!
No, probably not. If he really did manage to write something, he
might scare Wang Xi witless. Worse yet, what if Wang Xi mistook him for a
fish spirit? Cultivation had been banned ever since the founding of the PRC.
May the heavens have mercy—he was just an innocent transmigrated fish!
He'd better come up with something else.
Wang Xi carried the large bowl to the room that the little carp had
been in before. Li Yu watched as the prince moved farther and farther away.
Hey!! Wasn't he supposed to live with the tyrant? But after thinking about it
some more, Li Yu realized he hadn't actually seen a bed or anything to sleep
on… The prince had only entered that room to change. It obviously wasn't
his bedroom.
In ancient times, a concubine's favor with the emperor could
apparently be determined by how far away she lived from him. It was
probably the same for pets…
But a pet that didn't live with its owner practically wasn't a pet at all!
Li Yu could see it now, he was going to fail all his quests, and there was
only one way that led—fish bones and fish ash!
He couldn't be separated from Prince Jing!
Li Yu had been looking kind of wilted, but now he was full of energy
again. Living was way more important than some bright, shiny pearl. He
still had to "get along" with Prince Jing.
Since Wang Xi had asked him what he wanted, Li Yu was going to
show him. He bravely poked his head out of the water to look in Prince
Jing's direction, his gaze bright and gleaming—
Wang Xi was so happy he couldn't close his mouth. "Oh, this little
thing can't bear to part from His Highness, it wants to stay with him."
Li Yu was incredibly flustered at being called "little thing" again, but
desperate times called for desperate measures. He blew a bubble.
"That's somewhat difficult, little thing." Wang Xi must have been in
a surprisingly good mood, because he actually gave the fish an explanation.
"His Highness doesn't like others in his room."
Li Yu was baffled. This was the first time Li Yu had heard of his
tyrant owner having a pet peeve like that. This bit of characterization probably wasn't in the book…
The prince in the book was just made up of rows of cold and lifeless
text, but the Prince Jing before him was an actual, living, breathing person.
And Li Yu knew that people were multifaceted and much more complicated
than words on a page could describe.
Li Yu could accept this new information. Prince Jing didn't like
others entering his room, fair enough. But he wasn't just anyone—he was
his pet fish. Li Yu continued wagging his tail at Wang Xi. He really wanted
to go.
Wang Xi couldn't help smiling. Sometimes he felt like this little carp
was very intelligent and a bit clingy. Who didn't like a clingy pet?
He wanted to help the little carp. He liked fish. Fish were quiet. They
didn't get in the way, no matter where you put them; they were more or less
a decorative piece. But it turned out he didn't need to convince Prince Jing,
for the prince had already taken the bowl from him, a dark expression on
his face.
Wang-gonggong was getting the sense that the prince wasn't in the
greatest of moods. Not for the first time, he found himself thinking that he
really couldn't understand Prince Jing.
Prince Jing carried the little carp to the forbidden bedroom where no
outsiders were permitted to enter. He had given the fish the cold shoulder
all the way back from Qianqing Palace, but now it dared to wag its tail at
Wang Xi?
Prince Jing hadn't been standing too far away when the fish was
playing with Wang Xi. His gaze as he watched them could have frozen the
entire room. It was a very peculiar feeling—like when he was young and
Mu Tianzhao had stolen something that belonged to him. It had made him
very unhappy, and only seizing it back made him feel a little better.
He had already said so in front of the emperor: the fish was now his.
He should be the one to decide where it lived. He didn't need anyone else to
intervene. Accordingly, he took the fish away to his room and told nobody
to bother him.
Wang Xi would never be able to imagine the inner workings of
Prince Jing's mind. In order to please his master, Wang-gonggong hastily ordered some servants to bring over the porcelain fish tank from the first
room. He was worried about Prince Jing's lack of pet fish knowledge too,
so he also summoned a few servants who had experience taking care of
fish, cats, and dogs. Just in case.
After everything was settled and he had been moved back into his
porcelain fish tank, Li Yu did a lap around the tank. Someone had already
changed the water, and the leaf blanket and bed of white rocks were still
waiting for him, untouched. This was truly the best place; it was much nicer
to swim in here than in the bowl.
…Somehow, he realized, he had gotten used to thinking about things
from a fish's perspective. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry; was it a
good or bad thing that he had adapted to all this so quickly?
After dawdling for a while and making sure nobody was paying
attention to him, he ducked under the leaf blanket, pretending to rest, and
entered the system.
The last time Li Yu had done this, he had been bursting with joy,
excited to receive his prize. It was a very different story this time around; he
was deflated and gloomy. He had made little to no progress in either the
main or side quests. The fish-scamming system greeted him as usual but
didn't provide him with any extra hints.
Half of the allotted time for the "getting along" step in the "Priceless
Pet Fish" quest had already slipped by. Seeing the emperor hadn't helped
him make any progress either. It was obvious he had to work a little harder.
It was a shame he couldn't complete "Clear, Bright Pearl." Maybe he
should give it another try? It was just within reach…
Either way, Li Yu thought, he was already in Prince Jing's room. He
was supposed to be his pet—he needed to have a little less shame about it.
It wouldn't be all that weird for him to wiggle his way into his owner's
clothes and just so happen to accidentally pull out a pearl or something,
right?
Time was of the essence. Resolving to leave his shame behind, Li Yu
exited the system.
While he was inside the system, he couldn't tell what was happening
in the outside world. Now that he was out again, he shook himself and came to the abrupt realization that he was lying…lying in the tyrant's hand!
Li Yu nearly jumped out of his skin.
Prince Jing cupped his hands, holding the fish so that it was still
surrounded by water. He had never observed the fish up close before. As
soon as the little carp settled down, he couldn't resist taking a look.
It was a strange fish, he thought, but it was also intriguing.
When he'd first picked the fish up, he noticed it was completely stiff.
Unmoving. His brow twitched, and he immediately called over a servant
who had raised fish before. After examining the fish for a few minutes, they
concluded it was likely asleep. Prince Jing then called over another servant
for a second opinion, and this one said the exact same thing.
After roughly ten minutes, Prince Jing dismissed all of them and
continued staring at the fish alone. If it was asleep, then it would eventually
wake up. He wanted to see what other tricks this fish had up its sleeve.
The little carp didn't "sleep" for long. Prince Jing was so close that
he saw the fish tail twitch a little. Then, without warning, the fish jolted
forward, nearly falling over in the water…
…Not for the first time, Prince Jing thought that the fish had the same
dazed kind of look as a person who'd just woken up. But as soon as the fish
saw him, it seemed sluggish. Prince Jing was slightly annoyed and tapped
on the little carp's head. Why had it been so lively in front of Wang Xi, but
seemed wooden and slow with him?
The tap made Li Yu shake his head, remembering the task at hand. He
started to wiggle his tail in his attempt to wheedle his way into the prince's
favor. Ever since he had become a pet fish, swishing his tail and begging for
pity was the only other survival skill he had outside of swimming.
Except his owner didn't appreciate it. Prince Jing scoffed, his
expression cold. Trying to kiss up to him now? Too late.
His palm was only so big, and it was impossible for the fish to keep
wiggling like this without touching his hand. The feeling of the fish tail
against his palm was a little odd, but Prince Jing refused to let it show.
Li Yu took no notice. He was still trying to act cute, but his eyes kept
trailing over to Prince Jing's clothing. The prince had put the luminous pearl in his sleeve, he remembered. If he could sneak into the prince's
sleeve…
Wait, he was in Prince Jing's hand right now! He could pretend that
fish were very slippery!
Li Yu swam to the edge of the prince's palm, deliberately slowly. He
just needed to turn his body and flip over. But…while he managed to do
exactly that, as soon as his body left the confines of his palm, Prince Jing
caught him with his other hand and put him back.
Li Yu was stunned.
I'll flip again! Again!
He tried twisting from the other side, but Prince Jing was faster. With
his hands carefully cupped, he was able to hold him completely.
Li Yu was pissed.
Prince Jing peered down at him. He almost looked like he was
smiling—he was doing it on purpose! Did he hide the pearl just to toy with
him?
Li Yu's mind spun. He thought smugly, Then how about this?!
He didn't fight against the prince. Instead, following the line down
Prince Jing's palm and arm, Li Yu slid down.
Prince Jing froze. At first, he thought the fish had been making a
break for it, but he absolutely did not expect it to try to wriggle into his
sleeve. Aided by the water in Prince Jing's hand, the little fish slid down his
arm, managing to slip right into his sleeve in the blink of an eye.
Prince Jing, normally as sturdy as an ice-capped mountain, felt
goosebumps erupting all over his skin. He furrowed his brows tightly.
Meanwhile, Li Yu, who had successfully managed to infiltrate enemy
territory, found himself stuck to a large patch of mu…mu…muscle.
Wh-what was this feeling? Did Prince Jing not wear an inner robe?
Li Yu lay against this unknown muscle, his face blazing. In his
original world, he was but an innocent boy who had been single his entire
life. Now that he had transmigrated into a book, he was suddenly touching
skin to skin…with another man!
He was so embarrassed!
Li Yu was so flustered he wanted to cover his face with his fins, but
they were too short. With no other way to unleash his emotions, he resorted
to fiercely flapping his tail instead. Prince Jing, who had been bearing with
all of these bizarre sensations, felt something scratching at him nonstop.
How could anyone put up with that? Prince Jing was about to break
out in a cold sweat. He quickly untied his clothes, wanting to pull the
troublesome fish out.
Inside his sleeve, Li Yu was getting more and more annoyed. The
sleeve was narrow and dark; if he moved around, he would slide further
down, unable to stop. If he opened his eyes, the fabric would stab into them.
Filled with regret over his impulsive decision, Li Yu was desperate to leave.
In a fit of distress, he thrashed around even more wildly. But his struggling
only increased Prince Jing's discomfort.
As he flailed about, though, Li Yu spotted a faint glow. Dizzily, he
wondered why there would be light in Prince Jing's clothes. Could it be—
The clear, bright pearl?
How sneaky! Prince Jing may have stuffed the pearl deep into his
sleeve, but he couldn't fool Li Yu! Victory was just one step away; he could
do it!
Li Yu fought hard to move toward the light. He'd come this far
already. Nothing could stop him now! No matter what, he had to touch it
first!
As he shuffled closer to the light, he thought he could see a hazy,
round thing. Oh, pearls were round!
Li Yu opened his mouth wide and went for it. The moment his fish
jaws closed around the round thing, Li Yu was overcome with emotion.
Terrified the pearl might roll away from him, he clamped down hard.
Li Yu felt Prince Jing flinch violently. The next moment, his dark
surroundings brightened. All the clothing that had been in the way was now
gone, and he could see Prince Jing, his upper half completely bare, with a
rare hint of pink on his cheeks. He scowled down at Li Yu, irate.
With the luminous pearl in his mouth, the little carp couldn't blow
bubbles, so he opted to wave his tail happily at his owner instead. Which
was when he realized he was lying entirely on the prince's chest.
Hold on.
How did he get from the sleeve to here? Keeping his death grip on
the pearl, Li Yu scoured his surroundings. All he could see was a landscape
of pale skin. Especially here, where the pearl was, he could feel the prince's
pulse within his chest.
Wait. Li Yu finally noticed something was wrong. Did Prince Jing
hang the pearl around his neck? It was the noble consort's pearl—did he
have to go so far? The make and model of the pearl was not quite right
either. The texture felt…a little soft.
Li Yu arrived at a horrifying conclusion. Trembling, he opened his
mouth and reluctantly looked at the "luminous pearl" he had just held
within his mouth.
That wasn't a pearl. Not at all. That was…the thing used to
differentiate between the front and back of a man!
The fish suffered a devastating blow. The little carp collapsed,
dropping down from Prince Jing's chest, but Prince Jing, with his lightning-
fast reflexes, managed to catch him.
Just then, Wang Xi pushed open the door. He had wanted to ask
Prince Jing a question, but he had waited some time, and the prince never
came out of his room. Left without another choice, Wang Xi came in to take
a look…only to be faced with Prince Jing in a state of undress, face flushed
pink, and fish in hand.
Wang Xi was shocked!
Who knew what Wang-gonggong, experienced and knowledgeable in
all his worldly wisdom, was thinking about when he came upon this scene.
He was so aghast, his voice even changed. "Your Highness, you can't! The
fish is too small! It won't be able to take it!"
This entire day had just been a never-ending stream of
embarrassments. God, please just let this fish die!