LI YU KNEW he had screwed up big time.
There was no question about it: Prince Jing must be furious. Not only
had Li Yu splashed water on him and caused a huge ruckus in Qianqing
Palace when Prince Jing wasn't there, now Li Yu had gone and felt him up
too. Li Yu's ancestors must be protecting him—it was the only way he
could explain why the prince hadn't killed him then and there.
He couldn't remember how he went from Prince Jing's hand back to
his fish tank, nor could he recall swimming back to his bed of white rocks.
Normally, fish fell asleep in the blink of an eye, but Li Yu had spent half the
night tossing and turning and hadn't slept a wink.
But the moonlight outside the window shone into the porcelain fish
tank, making the bottom of the water sparkle and shine. Li Yu felt his mood
lift a little at the sight.
Thinking about what he had gone through, he felt even more
humiliated. No matter how shameless he was, that was it for him. There was
no way he was going to attempt to complete "Clear, Bright Pearl" again. He
should just give up on the side quest and focus on the main quest. He was
sure there would be other opportunities for him to transform back into a
human in the future.
Having finally convinced himself, he decided to put all his energy
into figuring out how to "get along" with Prince Jing. But this whole mess
had scared him pretty badly. Whenever he saw Prince Jing, he felt
uncomfortable all over, as though he could still feel the softness in his
mouth. His fish tail felt like it was being roasted over an open fire, the heat
spreading quickly through his entire body.
How could he be so foolish as to confuse a pearl with…that?
Li Yu buried his head under his leaf blanket in a huff. If he was this
miserable, Prince Jing probably wasn't much better. Li Yu knew that if he was in Prince Jing's royal shoes and he had been bitten there by a fish, he'd
never hear the end of it as long as he lived.
And he just had to do this to himself right after he insisted on staying
in Prince Jing's room! They couldn't get away from each other anymore.
There was nowhere for him to find an antidote for his regret.
Without really meaning to, Li Yu started avoiding Prince Jing. When
the prince passed by, Li Yu either had his tail turned to him, or he was
hiding motionlessly under his blanket, pretending to be asleep. He only
acted cute for food when Wang Xi came to see him.
Wang Xi would feed him a plethora of red-colored food, but for some
reason, his gaze would always be tinged with pity. He would whisper,
"Little thing, you've suffered a lot. Eat more and grow fat."
But it was dangerous for a fish to fatten up. The little carp started to
grow wary. Did Prince Jing want to turn him into fish soup?
Thank goodness Wang Xi still used a ruyi8
to nudge him into
swimming a few laps after each meal. At first, Li Yu didn't understand why
he did it. But he soon learned, from Wang-gonggong's chatter, that fish
weren't supposed to eat too much, and he was pushing Li Yu to swim
around so he could digest better.
Perhaps it was because he had followed the taciturn Prince Jing for
many years, but Wang Xi never seemed to run out of things to say. When he
stood before his master, Wang Xi had to carefully consider his words before
he spoke, but he had no such qualms when it came to the little carp.
The image of a hand came to mind, making Li Yu pause. The fingers
were pinched together, gently pushing him to swim around. He'd gorged
himself back then too… So Prince Jing had been helping him digest that
time. But because he couldn't speak, and because of his personality, Prince
Jing didn't reveal it to anyone.
As grateful as Li Yu felt, his guilt just continued to grow. He knew
Prince Jing was good to him, and yet he had…taken advantage of him…
It had been a misunderstanding, an accident, but he knew he was still
at fault.
A bit wrung out, the little carp wondered if he and Prince Jing would
be able to go back to how they were before. Was he going to have to
continue avoiding the prince, never complete his quests, and eventually turn
into fish bones and fish ash?
Li Yu couldn't accept his life ending for such an outrageous reason.
He needed to pull himself together. He wanted to complete his tasks happily
with Prince Jing and not have to hide whenever he heard the prince's
footsteps.
He…should try to apologize. Misunderstanding or not, he was still
the one in the wrong. As long as he apologized, even if an apology from a
fish meant nothing to the prince, he could at least turn over a new page and
face Prince Jing like normal.
But the problem was, how was he going to do it?
He had already spun in circles and danced the seaweed dance plenty
of times, so those wouldn't be worth anything. He couldn't write, leaving
him no way for him to communicate in a human language. He couldn't even
prepare a proper gift. The porcelain fish tank he lived in, the bed, and the
blanket—none of those belonged to him.
How could he show he was truly sorry?
Li Yu swam a lap in the tank, troubled. Then his gaze fell upon a lone
piece of fish food.
It was a chunk of fish food Wang Xi had thrown to him not too long
ago, but Li Yu hadn't touched it because he didn't have much of an appetite.
But since it was given to him, it now belonged to him. He could give this to
Prince Jing to demonstrate his sincerity.
Li Yu picked up the food and hid it. Worried it might not be enough,
he hid a couple more, until he had six pieces—an auspicious number.
Prince Jing was rarely in his room during the day. He usually only
came by at night. Once night fell and the lamps had been lit, Li Yu figured it
was about time. He picked out the pieces of fish food and laid them out
carefully. Happiness expanding his chest, he waited for Prince Jing to
return.
So what if I bit my owner there? I'm just a fish, you can forgive me,
right?
Tonight, however, unbeknownst to Li Yu, Prince Jing had something
to take care of and had returned to his manor outside of the palace. Li Yu
waited until he couldn't stay up any longer. But Prince Jing never came
back that night.
Prince Jing hurried back to Jingtai Hall bright and early the next day,
the morning dew clinging to the bottom of his boots. Wang Xi led a group
of servants to help him change. At the first opportunity, Prince Jing shot a
glance at the porcelain fish tank.
Ever since the little carp bit him, Prince Jing felt like the fish had
been a little listless. Moreover, this listlessness was directed at him,
personally, and no one else. The fish would swish its tail when Wang Xi
was over there, but as soon as Prince Jing walked over, the only thing he'd
see was a clump of water plants.
Prince Jing was a little irritated. Wasn't he the one who had been
bitten? How dare this fish ignore him when he hadn't even done anything
yet?
Prince Jing wasn't a very laid-back person. He couldn't stop thinking
about it—he needed to set things straight between him and the fish and
establish some rules. While he wouldn't be so cruel as to deprive his own
fish of food and water, Prince Jing still wanted the fish to suffer a little
hardship, so it'd think twice about getting too rowdy and making more
trouble for him.
He had already written the rules down one by one, and all that was
left to do was have Wang Xi implement them. One of them was that he was
going to seal the pearl from Qianqing Palace in a clear jar, then put the jar
in the fish tank. Prince Jing knew how badly the little carp wanted the pearl,
but he wasn't going to just hand it over. Making it look at what it couldn't
touch would build character. That way, it would come to understand that
one couldn't have everything one wanted in life.
"Your Highness, do…do you think the little thing will understand
what you mean by this?"
Wang Xi really wanted to tell the prince that this little thing was just
a fish; a fish definitely wouldn't be able to understand such profound
principles. Unfortunately, he didn't have any power to talk Prince Jing out
of it.
Prince Jing was adamant. He nodded solemnly: it must be done.
Wang Xi sighed. He couldn't go against his master's wishes. He went
to prepare.
After changing, Prince Jing strolled to the fish tank. The little carp
wasn't hiding anymore, nor was it on its white stone bed. Instead, it had
fallen asleep in front of a neat line of fish food.
For a moment, he thought someone was abusing the fish to the point
that it was starting to store food.
The little carp woke up soon after. He peered around and noticed the
fish food had remained untouched. He looked up, and when he met Prince
Jing's eyes, he started to spin happily in circles.
No, no. Li Yu shook his head. He almost forgot himself and started to
dance the seaweed dance!
Li Yu tried his best to lower his head in the water. His fins were too
short for him to clasp his hands in front of him to bow, so he gave up on the
gesture and instead brought each piece of fish food before Prince Jing,
lowering his head again each time.
Prince Jing wasn't quite sure how to react.
Wang Xi was shocked. "Your Highness, what is this little thing
doing?"
Prince Jing looked from the row of food to the little carp's constantly
bobbing head. He watched it for a while, thinking. Was the little carp asking
for forgiveness, trying to kiss up to him, or something else? Regardless of
the reason, the fish seemed to…want him to eat.
But humans couldn't eat fish food, obviously. The corner of Prince
Jing's lips twitched at the fish's absurd ideas.
Seeing that the prince was deep in thought, Wang Xi didn't dare
make a sound. But the servant Wang Xi had sent off before to carry out the
prince's orders had returned, so Wang Xi timidly interrupted, "Y-Your Highness… The luminous pearl has been put into the bottle at your
request."
Wang Xi had to call out to Prince Jing several times before the prince
pulled himself out of his reverie.
In Wang Xi's hand was the little bottle with the luminous pearl.
Originally, Prince Jing had signaled to Wang Xi that he would punish the
little carp by placing the pearl, trapped inside the bottle, into the fish tank
himself. The bottle was very secure, and the opening had been sealed with
wax. There was no way a fish would be able to open it.
But at the sight of the fish blowing bubbles at him, Prince Jing
hesitated. He stopped Wang Xi. Wang Xi didn't understand what was
happening, but Prince Jing had already grabbed the little bottle from him.
The bottle, clutched in his hand, hovered just above the fish tank.
The luminous pearl's glow was dazzling, even from inside the bottle.
Its glimmer filled up the whole fish tank, and Li Yu's attention was drawn
to it instantly. There was no doubt that was the clear, bright pearl he had
been yearning for. Was he dreaming? What was going on? He'd completely
given up on this side quest, but now the prince was bringing out the pearl?
Li Yu was haunted by the memory of what had happened the last time
he was too impulsive, and he didn't dare make any sudden movements. He
sat obediently in his tank, his tail quivering in anticipation. What was the
prince doing? It couldn't be what he was thinking of, right?
The youth standing before the fish tank silently opened the bottle and
dumped the pearl straight into the tank.
One couldn't have everything they wanted in life…but as long as
someone held him sincerely in their heart, he would take care of them, even
if it was just a fish.
Li Yu watched the luminous pearl fall in slow motion, like a dazzling
meteor shooting by.
He let out a cheer, his tail flinging him high into the air, and caught
the pearl.