[This is the Essence the Host has absorbed.]
Rendong marveled.
Recalling the requirements of the Cultivation Rules, he began clumsily refining that wisp of Essence, working it fully into his own flesh. Soon it wasn’t just his belly that felt warm; the rest of him warmed too.
Rendong discovered his senses had grown sharper.
Cats were keen creatures to begin with, their ears superb, always catching sounds no human could hear.
But no cat, however gifted, could hear the faint breathing of people beyond a wall.
Astonished, Rendong flicked his Bugles-shaped ears and counted them one by one.
“So many people!”
The cat was amazing!
He could hear all those breaths.
But as the Essence melted into his body, that uncanny clarity faded. Unless Rendong deliberately channeled Demonic Power into his ears, he would no longer hear so many voices.
At last, a tiny thread of Demonic Power lived inside Rendong’s body.
The System reported a number to the cat.
It was the combined count of the Imperial Dragon Guards and Shadow Guards posted outside.
A force that could wipe out an elite squad of several hundred in an instant, now ringed around one hall, all to watch a single person inside.
Rendong entirely missed the System’s implication, that Tantai Tian’s conduct was simply another kind of caging, and said cheerfully instead, “The human has excellent taste!”
The cat was precious!
With the Demonic Power interruption, Rendong had finally stopped being a startled cat. He relaxed at leisure and became human again, though the ears atop his head and the tail behind him didn’t change back. Hugging his big fluffy tail, he rolled about on the dragon bed, tangling the already-crumpled skirt further.
His swollen, tender lips caught Rendong’s attention. He sat up abruptly, padded barefoot off the bed, and lightly found what the cat wanted somewhere in the hall.
Rendong stared at the mirror in wonder.
Whoa. The cat’s lips were so red.
The cat’s face was burning hot!
“Human, why did you kiss Rendong?” Rendong tilted his head, and the reflection tilted with it. “So fierce.”
The cat was a little scared, honestly.
[The Host tried to seduce Tantai Tian. Isn’t that exactly what seducing is for?]
Even the System felt obliged to say a word in Tantai Tian’s defense.
What was seduction for, if not this?
The cat’s eyes went round.
“Is… is that so?”
The cat stammered.
Meow heavens!
Rendong’s hands flew back to cover his bottom.
Then if he kept seducing the human, was the human going to keep smacking him?!
System: .
Never had it imagined the Host’s first reaction would be this.
How to put it.
A hardworking cat, true to his mission to the very end.
The hardworking cat hid under the quilt, only a pair of eyes peeking out at the human.
Tantai Tian had returned, carrying a damp chill on his skin.
The cold of wetness.
He had bathed just now, but in cold water.
His skin was cold as winter snow.
It was summer, yet for a human, long soaks in cold water were no good either.
The trip to the bath had banked some of the manic violence in Tantai Tian, no longer so wild it might swallow a person whole. He looked at the boy peeking shyly out from among the covers, was silent a moment, then said evenly, “Isn’t it uncomfortable?”
The embroidered skirt was a System product, and its quality was fine.
But fine or not, its fabric was not silk-smooth, and the rubbing had left faint red marks on Rendong’s tender skin, marks even the Tantai Tian of that blazing moment could not overlook.
The human’s tone was calm. His manner, gentle.
So different from that half-mad look earlier. Probably… safe, then?
The cat crept out warily, climbing all the while with his eyes fixed on Tantai Tian’s every movement, ready to bolt straight back in at the first wrong move.
Tantai Tian stood with his hands behind his back. It took considerable time before the boy finally emerged entirely.
Rendong settled at a distance not too near, not too far.
Kneeling, beautiful eyes watching the human.
Tantai Tian pointed at the clothes by the bed.
He had brought them in.
The cat shot him a wary look. Tantai Tian was silent a beat, then stepped back several paces.
Rendong’s hand shot out, snagged the new clothes, whisked them behind the curtains, then snapped the bed curtains shut, leaving only the faintest silhouette of a figure.
That hint of rustling fabric invited a great deal of imagination.
So when Rendong finished the struggle of changing, and flipped the curtains open with a snap, the cat discovered a big problem.
Why was the human’s aura all cold and dreary again!
Rendong eyed Tantai Tian guardedly. The human only walked over at an unhurried pace, slow enough that the cat could stay cautious without needing to spring away at once.
Then he sat down beside Rendong.
The cat scooted his bottom aside, but not all the way out.
Just a small tantrum, to register his displeasure.
Tantai Tian spoke calmly. “Suisui. What you did just now. Who taught you?”
Rendong tensed so hard he nearly hissed. “Nobody taught me!”
Was the human an idiot?
The cat had said he taught himself!
The human looked faintly helpless, cool eyes resting on the cat with a depth the cat couldn’t read. “No one taught you. So Suisui truly taught himself?”
Rendong nodded quickly.
“Then why did Suisui learn that?” Tantai Tian asked with great patience. For him, such forbearance was truly rare; little in this world cost him this much effort.
“To charm you.” Rendong was frank and straightforward. “That’s why I learned it.”
His eyes were clean, direct, without a shred of falsehood.
That candor was so pure it seemed to carry warmth, brushing light as a feather over Tantai Tian’s skin, stirring the fire that should have cooled.
“…Learned it where?”
“The Library Pavilion!”
At those words, Rendong’s black eyes lit up.
He swung his calves excitedly, flashes of pale skin appearing and disappearing.
The cat leaned in as if sharing a secret, whispering right at Tantai Tian’s ear, “In that corridor where I found the Cultivation Manual!” The warm breath spilled into Tantai Tian’s ear, and his whole body went taut.
Rendong was startled to find the human’s muscles had gone hard as stone.
A crisp smack. Not light, not heavy.
The cat clapped a paw to his bottom in shock. A sneak attack?
He smacked the cat again!
Rendong looked up in bewilderment into Tantai Tian’s fathomless gaze, the man’s low, cold voice carrying an edge of chill. “Why are you still misbehaving?”
Slander!
The cat was not!
The cat hadn’t even hissed. So very good!
The summer night’s rain carried on into the next day, falling without pause.
The cool rain washed away the heat, sinking the whole Imperial Palace into a gloomy, cold palette, quieter than ever.
There were few Masters left in the palace to begin with.
After the New Emperor’s ascension, the Late Emperor’s consorts could hardly keep their retinues of attendants as before; they were packed together in the Palace of Peaceful Longevity. The palaces once lived in stood empty and ever colder.
Even the Palace of Compassionate Origin saw few visitors.
The Empress Dowager had devoted years to Buddha behind closed doors; she received no one, not even for routine morning greetings.
Over the years, they had grown used to the Empress Dowager existing like a transparent presence.
In the Palace of Myriad Peace, the Grand Empress Dowager brought the matter up.
Though the Empress Dowager received no outsiders, she still called on her elder from time to time, and the relations between the two women were decent enough.
“You’ve never cared for such matters, I know. But with the Imperial Draft Selection at hand, the Empress Dowager must take more interest.” The Grand Empress Dowager sighed. “Look at the Emperor. I doubt he’d spare a glance for any of these palace maiden candidates.”
Even as she said it, she knew in her heart that the blame could hardly fall on the Empress Dowager or the Emperor. The only one to blame was the departed Late Emperor.
The Late Emperor was the second child the Grand Empress Dowager had sent to the grave.
She had borne two children in her life. Both became Emperor in turn, and both died in turn. It was her old bones that lived on.
Even for a child born of her own body, she could not always read Emperor Changle’s mind. A man who wore the crown was bound to be deep… but how could he trifle with the court’s order so? He had named the legitimate son Crown Prince, then suppressed the boy at every turn.
Had Emperor Changle arranged a Crown Princess for the Eastern Palace early, or, disliking the Crown Prince, deposed him outright and settled the matter, the court would never have been thrown into such turmoil that only Emperor Taichu’s thunderbolt methods could finally quell the ambitions of those scheming devils. And all of it was trouble Emperor Changle had brewed himself.
Recalling the frantic days, not long past, spent smoothing over the ugliness of Emperor Changle’s death during intercourse, the Grand Empress Dowager felt an ache of grief and resentment both. But the dead were gone. If scolding had done any good while the man lived, she wouldn’t have had to swallow it until now.
The Empress Dowager was a quiet-natured woman. Hearing this, she answered gently, “Mother Empress, all things follow their own destiny. If His Majesty does not fancy these candidates, forcing the matter will avail nothing.”
The Grand Empress Dowager laughed. “And if there’s truly none among them the Emperor likes, are we simply not to name an Empress?” These young ladies had all been summoned in the first batch, which meant that whatever their standing, their looks and breeding were all first-rate.
When the imperial family chose, it chose the best.
If not from the first batch, was it to settle for second?
The Empress Dowager’s voice stayed soft. “What His Majesty likes is the best. What His Majesty does not like, how could it be called good?”
The Grand Empress Dowager moved to speak, then considered the meaning in those words, and slowly nodded.
There was truth in it.
If the imperial family fancied none of them, the fault was not the family’s. It only meant those selected were not yet good enough.
What the Grand Empress Dowager prized, had always prized, was the face of the royal house and the stability of the realm.
Before long, the Empress Dowager took her leave.
Senior Maid Jilan, seated on the footstool all the while, kneading the Grand Empress Dowager’s knees with gentle pressure, smiled and murmured, “Her Majesty the Empress Dowager may be distant with His Majesty, but at a time like this, she defended him warmly enough.”
The Empress Dowager had said little just now, yet every word, more or less, had sheltered Emperor Taichu.
The Grand Empress Dowager answered idly, “Flesh of her own flesh. How could she truly not care?”
Jilan smiled. “Just so. However deep a mother and son’s bond runs, sinew connects them even when the bone breaks. Nothing severs it.” She kneaded the old woman’s knees a while longer, then quietly switched to the Beauty Massage Hammer.
The Grand Empress Dowager’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she glanced at Jilan.
Some days ago, a Palace Maiden Candidate in the Palace of Side Apartments had offended the Emperor, a relative of the Empress Dowager’s own family by the reports, and had been confined to quarters. Today the Empress Dowager’s manner suggested the matter weighed nothing on her at all.
And outside the hall, the Empress Dowager’s party, having left the Palace of Myriad Peace, walked unhurried through the rain beneath their umbrellas.
The covered carriage followed empty behind.
The Empress Dowager loved the rain.
Whenever it rained, she would lose herself gazing at the falling water. Sometimes she would walk like this, umbrella overhead, wandering without destination.
Banliu held the umbrella, walking at her side.
After a long while, she suddenly heard the Empress Dowager speak. “His Majesty is very fond of that boy?”
“Yes,” Banliu said softly.
The whole Imperial Court knew it.
Emperor Taichu’s favor was never concealed. Whatever he cared for, whatever he indulged, he displayed openly, so the world might learn what was not to be touched.
Cold as he seemed, he had this fiery, violent streak.
Toward that Black Cat of unknown origin, and toward this boy of equally unknown origin.
The Empress Dowager said nothing more.
They walked a stretch in silence.
Only at the gates of the Palace of Compassionate Origin did she speak again. “Make arrangements.” Her voice was faint. “Tomorrow, we visit the Palace of Side Apartments.”
Banliu bowed. “Yes.”
