Chapter 245 - The Weakest Moment!
Chapter 245: The Weakest Moment!
Translator: Noodletown Translated Editor: Noodletown Translated
“Got it.” Hao Ren had met the grandmaster, but he refrained from talking about it for fear that it would disturb Su Han’s recovery.
“That’s all,” Su Han looked at him and said coolly.
“Ok…” Hao Ren stood up in embarrassment, feeling her chilly attitude.
He walked out of the room and saw Elder Xingyue was boiling the herbs in the yard. He said goodbye to her and walked out of the small palace.
“How is Sister Su?” Seeing Hao Ren walked out, Zhao Yanzi asked anxiously.
“It’s not very serious, but she has to stay in the Dragon Palace to recover,” Hao Ren answered, feeling like a doctor coming out of the surgery room.
“Ok.” Zhao Guang nodded. He turned to Premier Xia and instructed, “Take good care of Su Han. Provide Elder Xingyue any herbs and elixir pills she needs.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Premier Xia took the order.
Hearing Su Han’s wound was not serious, Zhao Yanzi was relieved. Then she asked Hao Ren curiously, “What did she say to you?”
“I’m not telling you.” Hao Ren glanced at her and kept his mouth sealed.
Zhao Yanzi was mad at Hao Ren’s attitude towards her, the princess of the Dragon Palace.
“Mom! Look, he is such a bully!” She complained to Zhao Hongyu.
Zhao Hongyu smiled in resignation. “It’s a private conversation between Su Han and Hao Ren. Why do you want to know?”
“I… I…” Zhao Yanzi couldn’t find a good reason.
“It’s nothing important. Su Han just instructed me to temporarily take over her responsibility as the Inspector of East Ocean City,” Hao Ren told Zhao Hongyu. He could ignore Zhao Yanzi’s demand, but he had to respect her parents.
Ignoring the bickering between them, Zhao Guang turned to Lu Qing. “Fortunately, our East Ocean received little damage this time. You should investigate the casualties of the other dragon clans, especially West Ocean.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Lu Qing cupped his hands.
Zhao Guang thought for a moment. “After today’s event, the land is probably in chaos. To be safe, today everyone stays the night at the Dragon Palace. Elder Lu, you help Premier Xia take stock of the properties in the Dragon Palace. We spent a lot of resources on Elder Zhao’s Heaven Tribulation, and we need to reallocate the remaining resources.”
Zhao Guang looked regretful when he mentioned Zhao Kuo’s Heavenly Tribulation. To help Zhao Kuo pass the Heavenly Tribulation, the East Ocean Dragon Clan had consumed one-third of its resources, but Zhao Kuo still failed.
“Dad, when will Third Uncle come back?” Zhao Yanzi asked Zhao Guang.
“He’s traveling while cultivating. He will come back when he’s ready,” Zhao Guang answered.
“Oh…” Zhao Yanzi pouted, not satisfied with this answer.
Zhao Guang was strict with her while Zhao Hongyu was a loving but stern mother. Only Zhao Kuo spoiled her, satisfying each of her demands. That was why Zhao Yanzi missed him and worried about his safety.
“Premier Xia, take Ren and Zi to the rear of the palace to rest. Then summon the core elders to the Grand Hall for a meeting,” Zhao Guang said.
With a little bow, Premier Xia ushered Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren to the back of the Dragon Palace.
The rear of the palace was, in fact, the places where all of Zhao Guang’s harems should live. However, since Zhao Guang was busy on land and had only one wife, Zhao Hongyu, most of the rooms were empty.
Crossing the cold and quiet palace, Premier Xia led Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi to a beautifully decorated small palace.
Surrounded by the gardens, the palace was exquisite.
On the way, Zhao Yanzi was in a sulky silence, and Hao Ren didn’t offer to talk to her. Premier Xia felt something was wrong between them, but he didn’t want to be involved in the family business of the Princess and the Fuma.
Leading them into a side room, Premier Xia asked carefully, “Princess, Fuma, do you need one bed or…”
“Of course one bed!” Zhao Yanzi had been sulky all the way here. But at Premier Xia’s question, she blushed.
Premier Xia stammered, “And do you want one room or…”
As the manager of the Dragon Palace, he must mind all the trivia stuff.
“Of course… two rooms!” Zhao Yanzi hesitated for a couple of seconds before she gave her answer.
“Ok. Then Princess, please stay in this room to rest. Fuma, please follow me,” Premier Xia said.
Hao Ren followed Premier Xia out of the room. He looked back at Zhao Yanzi before stepping out.
Zhao Yanzi glared at him, but her face flushed.
The moment Hao Ren stepped out of the room, Zhao Yanzi blurted out, “Come back!”
With a blush, she looked at Premier Xia. “Place him in my room but put a good distance between the two beds.”
Premier Xia took the princess’s order immediately.
Hao Ren couldn’t contain his smirk when he looked at Zhao Yanzi. He had known that she would be scared of staying in such a big room by herself. Besides, she rarely lived in the Dragon Palace, and the rooms were very distant from each other.
The bedroom in this small palace was luxurious, and there were two beds. The smaller bed was for a maid.
In the Dragon Palace, Hao Ren’s “rank” was lower than Zhao Yanzi’s, and he offered to sleep on the lower and smaller bed.
The rooms in the palace were well-tended even though they were seldom lived in. Premier Xia found the silence between them quite awkward and backed out of the palace quietly.
Hao Ren walked to the smaller bed and found it was made with incense wood. It was a piece of real antique furniture, much more valuable than those pieces of furniture from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
However, Zhao Yanzi was used to sleep on a spring mattress and found it quite uncomfortable to sleep in such an ancient style bed. It would be a miracle if she could fall asleep in here.
“Fuma, Princess, dinner is ready!” Two girls’ voices sounded outside of the room.
Hao Ren walked over and opened the door. Two pretty maids stood there with platters in their hands. On the platters were beautiful sandalwood dinner boxes.
“Ok.” Hao Ren took the platters. When he saw they were still standing there, he waved at them. “You may go back.”
He walked back into the room and handed one platter to Zhao Yanzi.
Zhao Yanzi had been summoned from school by Zhao Guang before lunch and then she had been following Zhao Guang around the Dragon Palace. She was starving.
With a snort, she took the platter.
The dishes and desserts were traditional cuisines. Used to KFC and McDonald’s, Zhao Yanzi found the dishes, not to her taste. She picked some snakes to fill up her belly.
However, Hao Ren found the dishes unique. He savored the delicacies he sure couldn’t find on land. While he finished all the dishes, unsatisfied Zhao Yanzi gave him a dirty look.
“Give me your meal,” seeing Zhao Yanzi had stopped eating, Hao Ren said to her.
“Are you a pig?” Zhao Yanzi accused him immediately.
“I’m not a pig, but there’s a pig in the room,” Hao Ren said.
Zhao Yanzi pouted, “You insulted me!”
“I’m not bold enough to insult the princess.” With a smile, he took out Little White from his hidden space.
The moment Little White landed on the ground, it looked around cautiously. Seeing no danger, it began to roll around like in a circus performer.
“Damn! I’ll send you to a circus if you continue with these antics!” Hao Ren nudged its rump with his toes before placing Zhao Yanzi’s dinner box on the floor.
Smelling the aroma of the meat and vegetables, Little White pounced on the box and began devouring.
By now, Zhao Yanzi had known the “pig” Hao Ren mentioned was not her but Little White. Embarrassed, she gave Hao Ren a dirty look.
Like a pig, Little White devoured the meal in a few seconds!
Zhao Yanzi’s discarded food was not wasted; Little White helped her eat it.
With some food in its belly, Little White was again lively. With a happy grin, Zhao Yanzi clapped her hands at it. “Little White, come here!”
After all, she was a girl and couldn’t be sulky for long. Besides, the cute look of Little White was irresistible for girls.
Jumping up high, Little White leaped into her arms.
Zhao Yanzi laughed. Holding its paws, she began to play with it, ignoring Hao Ren.
“Hey! When will you resume tutoring?” Zhao Yanzi asked Hao Ren abruptly.
“Do you want me to continue tutoring you?” Hao Ren asked.
Zhao Yanzi pursed her lips. “I have lots of stuff that I don’t quite understand.”
“We’ll resume the tutoring session tomorrow. Ok?” Hao Ren said to her.
“Ok.” To his surprise, Zhao Yanzi nodded without hesitation.
“This girl… Really fell in love with studying?” Hao Ren looked at her in surprise.
“Let’s take Little White out for a walk!” Zhao Yanzi put Little White down and suggested suddenly.
She was bored of staying in the room the whole time.
She had been angry with Hao Ren because he ignored her question. Another reason was that he had not contacted her for a while. On second thought, she felt like she would be annoyed if he contacted her too frequently.
Little White skipped happily in front of them without any dignity of being a lion.
It was not long after the celebrations for Zhao Kuo’s success in passing the Heavenly Tribulation, and the Dragon Palace still had many decorations around the place. After the adjustments in the last couple of weeks, Zhao Yanzi was no longer that sad. Looking at the celebratory stuff, she became happy again.
Little White ran in front of them; it looked around curiously and would try to pat the things it never saw before with its paw.
When the Dragon Palace celebrated its holidays, and people would establish a temporary market on the east side of the palace. The maids, families of elders, and some off-duty soldiers would play the role of vendors.
The other people would be the customers of this temporary market. It was a kind of entertainment. Although the East Ocean Dragon Palace had plenty of resources, the market was set up to stave off boredom since many of the people in the palace couldn’t go up to land without permission.
Zhao Yanzi took Little White to the market. Since she rarely came to the Dragon Palace, many people didn’t know her, thinking that she was a family member of an elder.
Strings of lanterns hung on the street walls of the market, and the little shops and booths looked quite real. It was like a cosplay show.
Zhao Yanzi was quite at home in the market. She went to a middle-aged man wearing a torn cotton jacket and asked, “How much is one stick of the Tanghulu?”
(TL NOTE: Tanghulu is sugar-coated haws on a stick.)
“Three cents for one stick!” The man answered her with firmness.
Although he was wearing a torn cotton jacket, his hard muscles and crisp answer showed that he was, in fact, a guard of the Dragon Palace. This low-ranking guard had never met Zhao Yanzi, and it was natural that the guard didn’t recognize her as the princess.
“But I have no money…” Zhao Yanzi looked at him morosely.
“Well, in that case, it’s free.” The guard softened at her cute complaint. He plucked a stick of Tanghulu and handed it to Zhao Yanzi.
The purpose of their “business” was for entertainment instead of profits. People could take the things for free if they liked them.
“Thank you!” Zhao Yanzi said joyously.
“Hehe, no problem.” The man grinned before yelling, “Tanghulu!”
His yelling was so loud and crisp as if he was shouting orders. Oblivious to the fact that he had done a favor to the princess, he turned his gaze to the next customer, a kid of about eight years old.
The red lanterns lined both sides of the streets and the shops and the booths were full of boisterous crowds. Against the dark night, the bright lanterns and lively crowds gave Hao Ren the illusion that he was in an ancient market at the Lantern Festival!
He thought of the holiday activities on land and found that they had nothing traditional in them.
Biting into the Tanghulu, Zhao Yanzi walked happily. Little White looked up at her with greedy eyes, circling around her ankles.
“Haha! I’ll give you one!” In an excellent mood, Zhao Yanzi plucked a haw from the stick and tossed it to Little White.
Little White leaped up and caught it in its mouth. It landed on the ground, wagging its tail and looking more pleased than eating an Essence Replenishment Pill.
Besides food, the booths sold handcrafts which were personally made by the families of the elders. Every piece was pretty, and the materials were pearls and jades that were rarely seen on land.
Zhao Yanzi selected carefully and begged for two sets from the vendors. In fact, if she showed her identity, she could take whatever she wanted. But it would no longer be fun.
Hao Ren followed her around. Occasionally, they tried some snacks; in between they wandered into the clothes shop, diner, tea house, and pawnshop…
Although it was only a temporary traditional market, it felt more authentic than those so-called Cultural Streets on land.
Zhao Yanzi pulled Hao Ren with her when she happily visited each shop. Looking at her happy face, Hao Ren knew her sulkiness was long gone.
Boom!
When everyone was immersed in the lively atmosphere, the whole Dragon Palace suddenly shook violently.
“Enemies!” The guard selling Tanghulu yelled.