Three Steps: From Assassin to Empress - Chapter 14: Living Together

Chapter 14: Living Together

After the dark makeup was wiped away, and that thin layer of disguise was gone, the young man’s true face was delicate and lively, with a handsome bone structure. His dark, elegant eyelashes fluttered like tiny hooks, lightly brushing against Emperor Zhaosu’s cold fingertips. The emperor curiously touched his fine eyelashes, touching his eyeballs through the thin and elegant eyelids. The two round spheres trembled under his hand, seemingly ready to pop at any moment.

The feverish assassin was hot all over. He closed his eyes, curled up in the emperor’s arms in a wet ball, his slender and soft waist subconsciously arching slightly as he mumbled something in a low voice. Emperor Zhaosu leaned down to listen, getting closer to the moving lips, which were red and bright, like rain-soaked petals. Finally, he heard a few blurry syllables. He was calling “Xie Zhou, Xie Zhou, Xie Zhou is so handsome.”

Ying Xiu really liked this face of his. Emperor Zhaosu had known it since their first meeting. He gently stroked those lips with his fingertips, two beautiful, soft, and vibrant petals. The assassin had a very delicate appearance. His pale, wet face was hot, and his hair was clinging to him. He was dazed, with his mouth open, revealing small white teeth, as if he wanted to bite him. Emperor Zhaosu let him bite, leaving a shallow tooth mark.

…Ying Xiu woke up from his dream and subconsciously reached out to touch his mouth. He remembered biting something last night, something that made his jaw feel sore and weak.

…It must have been a dream, right?

Just as he was about to put his hand down, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. He fumbled his face a few times and felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was frozen in bed. His disguise was gone, completely gone. He was now using his real face.

“Sigh—”

A slender, fair hand with a few scars on it suddenly pulled aside the gauze curtain. A head with messy dark hair emerged, revealing a pair of bright eyes that looked around the room. It was a three-room quiet chamber. To the left of the bed was a heated couch by the window. To the right was a long table. In the middle, a curtain separated the rooms. The floor was covered with a mat and a chess table. The third room had a shelf with a wall full of documents. The room was serene and vast, spacious and bright.

Ying Xiu jumped out of bed with bare feet and saw his sword on the low table by the heated couch. The Heart-Questioning Sword he had used to split the boat last night was lying there quietly. He had come in a hurry last night, and besides this sword, he had brought nothing else. Ying Xiu drew his sword and used its polished surface to look at his face. Compared to the disguise he had used before, this face, which truly belonged to him, felt too unfamiliar. It seemed a little too delicate, and there was a hint of youthfulness between his eyebrows. There was no sharpness, only a soft, innocent look.

He put down the sword, and a question suddenly came to his mind: Did Xie Zhou see this face?

“Tap—”

In the tall bamboo building, someone picked up a chess piece and placed it down. Emperor Zhaosu was playing chess, but there was no one opposite him. The white and black pieces were both in the emperor’s hands. The Xuanjing Division’s hidden guard knelt not too far from the emperor’s feet and reported everything in detail. “Wang Shouzhen is guarding the door with his retainers and refuses to leave. He says he wants to take Young Master Ying back.”

The emperor gave him a slight glance, and the meaning was self-evident. The hidden guard was startled, thinking to himself that he had been foolish. A mere young master of the Wang clan had dared to disturb His Majesty. He quietly retreated from the bamboo building and coldly instructed his waiting subordinates, “Tell Wang Daokui to control his son and not offend His Majesty.”

Wang Daokui was the current Grand Secretary and the master of the Wang clan of Langya, one of the four great aristocratic families in Jiankang. Before he could finish speaking, he heard a faint sound of footsteps. Someone was coming. The lodge at the foot of the mountain had layers of security and was heavily guarded. Besides the emperor, only one person could walk around freely here. “Young Master Ying is here. The young master is in the bamboo building,” the hidden guard said to the person who had arrived.

Ying Xiu had just woken up and was wearing a golden-embroidered robe sent by a servant. It was light and elegant, with the golden threads shimmering as he moved. He looked like a young master from a noble family, especially with that overly beautiful face… It was youthful and lovely. The hidden guard only took one look before quickly lowering his eyes, cupped his hands in a salute to Ying Xiu, and left as if fleeing.

Ying Xiu: “…?”

Could it be that the hidden guard saw that my face was different from before, got scared, and hurried away? Will Xie Zhou think the same way…? He probably won’t. Ying Xiu plucked up his courage and climbed the bamboo stairs. The bamboo building stood by the water, and below the platform, the clear water was calm and the lotus leaves stretched to the horizon. These lotus leaves looked strangely familiar. A few of them looked like the ones he had picked from the Xiao Qinhuai before. He walked all the way up the bamboo ladder to the highest point. The scenery was clear on all sides. In the distance, the trees were lush, and the sky was a mix of green and black, with the mountains and the sky reflecting each other. When he reached this place, he realized how vast and lonely the world was.

On the bamboo building, a graceful figure in a white robe sat on a mat with a chess table in front of him, seemingly playing a game. On closer inspection, there was no opponent. It was only Xie Zhou. Ying Xiu stood in place, watching quietly for a while. The person was clearly the Xie Zhou he knew, and yet he was also a little different. The black and white pieces turned in his hand, moving horizontally and vertically, stirring up the wind and clouds with a sharp, murderous intent. Staring at the chess pieces, Ying Xiu was mesmerized. He unconsciously recalled various sword moves. With each piece placed on the board, a magnificent killing move was formed.

The man placed the last piece, then turned his head to look at him. “You’re here. Did you sleep well last night?” The person in front of him had returned to the Xie Zhou he knew, gentle, polite, dignified, and elegant. As for the murderous aura he had just felt, Ying Xiu just thought it was his own illusion. Besides, in the Southern Dynasty, it was a good thing for a retainer to be decisive.

“I slept very well,” Ying Xiu said. Because he had been soaked in the Yuan River last night, he felt a faint fever and a slight chill in his body. He might have caught a cold, but the young assassin, who had been exposed to the elements for years, didn’t take it to heart. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, then hesitated and asked Xie Zhou, “Did anyone come looking for me?”

Xie Zhou said, “…No.”

No one had come to look for him. His fifteen friends hadn’t come, and Wang Shouzhen hadn’t either. Even the matter of the Bottle Mouth collapsing seemed to be quiet, with no one coming to question him. Thinking of Wang Shouzhen, Ying Xiu felt a faint pain on his face again. That slap was not only loud, but it was also very forceful. Since Wang Shouzhen didn’t come to apologize, he wouldn’t go to Wang Shouzhen either. However, the matter of the river dike was a big deal, and he still had to go back today.

Xie Zhou could see what was on the young man’s mind. He calmly comforted him, “You can stay here with me.” If you have nowhere to go, you can always stay by my side.

“I can’t live in your room for free…” Ying Xiu subconsciously touched his sleeve, but his hand came up empty. He couldn’t help but feel a little awkward, and it belatedly occurred to him that the clothes he was wearing were also provided by Xie Zhou. The young man was a little flustered, and his face turned red. “I don’t have any money on me right now, but in a few days, I’ll definitely pay you back.” His nine-foot-tall father had taught him since he was a child not to eat food given out of pity and not to take advantage of others. How could he live in Xie Zhou’s room for free?

“There’s no need,” Xie Zhou was already used to Ying Xiu’s single-minded personality. “If you really want to do something for me, why don’t you be my retainer?” Without waiting for Ying Xiu to refuse, Xie Zhou raised his hand to brew a pot of tea for him. In the quiet sound of the water, he continued, “I remember you’re a scholar in the classics. You haven’t been recommended as a Xiaolian yet. Would you be willing to be my retainer? It will be easier for you to enter officialdom in the future.”

The implication was that if he joined the Xie clan of Jianzhang, he would be recommended by the Xie clan and would have a smooth path to success in the future. That’s right. In Xie Zhou’s eyes, he had always been a scholar with no way to enter officialdom, who just happened to befriend the young master of the Wang clan of Langya. Ying Xiu knew in his heart that although it sounded like he was working for Xie Zhou to pay for his lodging, it was actually a huge opportunity. Xie Zhou intended to promote him and help him enter officialdom.

How could an assassin who had lived in the darkness for years become an official?

“You don’t have to rush to answer me,” Xie Zhou seemed to see Ying Xiu’s dilemma and said gently, “You can tell me after you’ve thought it through.” Whether Ying Xiu agreed or not, since he had stepped into the lodge at the foot of the mountain last night, it was no longer possible for him to be with the Wang clan of Langya. As long as there was a crack, he would have countless ways to make them go their separate ways and drift further apart.

Ying Xiu let out a sigh of relief, feeling a little grateful that Xie Zhou was so understanding and didn’t force him to give an answer immediately. He picked up the cup, was about to take a sip of tea, and unexpectedly saw his reflection in the cold, bright porcelain surface. The light and shadows of the bamboo building were sparse, bright, and transparent. The young man’s face seemed especially unfamiliar, beautiful, lovely, youthful, and delicate under the vast light. It was a completely different face from before. Xie Zhou had clearly seen it, but he hadn’t mentioned a single word.

—Could it be that there’s something wrong with his eyes?

Ying Xiu was startled by this guess. He lifted his eyelashes and carefully sized up the other person. Xie Zhou’s eyes were very beautiful, with a long, sharp outer corner, an unexplainable charm, as black as jade and as white as snow, completely pure, clear, and cold. He didn’t look like there was anything wrong with his eyes.

Ying Xiu couldn’t hide things in his heart and couldn’t help but ask him, “Why don’t you ask about my face…”

Xie Zhou just said, “That’s your secret.” He casually rested his hand on the chess board and slowly twisted a chess piece, and a faint, meandering line of ink began to appear under his hand. “If you’re willing to tell me, I’ll be very happy.” If you don’t say anything, I won’t ask.

Ying Xiu understood the unspoken meaning and felt relieved again, but also a little guilty. If Xie Zhou knew that he was an assassin, the kind who could kill one person in three steps and two people in six, he would probably be scared and angry… It was better for him not to know.

Ying Xiu felt guilty and didn’t know where to look, so he simply lowered his head and stared at the chessboard. He didn’t know how to play chess. Such an elegant hobby mostly belonged to famous and refined people, not assassins. He also didn’t understand the way of playing this kind of chess, but as he watched, he found that the black and white pieces were mixed together, merging. Each piece could be an enemy or a partner. The truth was intertwined with falsehoods.

Xie Zhou saw that he was watching intently and asked him, “If you want to balance the two colors of chess pieces, what should you do?” An ordinary person might say to get rid of the extra pieces and add the missing ones to achieve balance.

Ying Xiu, however, said, “Change the colors. Change them all to the same color. Then there will be no black and white factions, and there will be no need for checks and balances.”