Legend of Fu Yao

Meng Fuyao cupped her fists and smiled brightly as she sounded the gong. “Thank you for your support, thank you for your support…”

Countless people surged forward, wanted to see the “foul-mouthed, literate” Lord Magical Rabbit, but Meng Fuyao picked up the proud fellow and stuffed it in her robes, smiling slightly as she said, “It’s shy, please do not disturb its creative process. If there’s anything you need, you can talk to the manager—I am the contact person…”

Lord Yuan Bao struggled frantically in her robes, ‘Let me out! You damned child, I finally found such a rare moment of happiness…’

Aunty Li barged forward and eyed Meng Fuyao and her sleeve calculatively as she said, “Little brother since you’re not familiar here and your elder brother is hurt, if you don’t mind, my house is…”

“Move it.”

A deep voice suddenly cut their conversation, its tone carrying a hint of unruliness. Not one, but two men had stepped forward, and the other had already shoved Aunty Li away.

Aunty Li raised her head and was about to start scolding when her eyes fell upon the other party’s Kirin token. Instantly, her face turned white, and she fell back silently.

This rascal had actually caught the attention of the Regent King’s men… Whether it was fortune or misfortune, it was unknown…

“What can I do for you?” Meng Fuyao smiled and asked, “Are you rewarding me?”

“Naturally you will be rewarded, perhaps even more than you imagine.” The man said frankly and pointed at Meng Fuyao’s sleeve, “That ‘Magical Rabbit’ of yours, sell it to us.” His tone was resolute, and he took out a heavy-looking money pouch from his robes. “300 taels of silver,” he said as he thrust it towards Meng Fuyao.

The surrounding onlookers gasped in disbelief; 300 taels of silver! It was more than ten years of income of the average family! The Regent King actually had so much money!

There were also people who looked on enviously at Meng Fuyao—rumor had it that the little master had left her manor several days ago and fell ill upon her return. His Highness had always doted on this daughter of his and often sent his men out to look for interesting toys to entertain her. The Regent King’s men had probably taken a liking to this literate rabbit. This lad was indeed lucky, 300 taels of silver was a fortune.

The guard threw the money pouch and expected Meng Fuyao to offer up the rabbit. However, Meng Fuyao caught the money pouch in her hand and smiled brightly as she said, “How heavy…” Thereafter, she threw the money pouch back.

This time, the Regent King’s men were surprised. The guard frowned as he said, “You dare to ask for more?”

“No, no.” Meng Fuyao wagged a finger and replied, “Have you heard? A moment of fullness, yet losing one’s rice bucket. We brothers depend on this magical rabbit for our livelihood. If you take away our treasured magical rabbit, how would we earn our livelihood in the future?”

“Isn’t 300 taels of silver enough to spend?”

“300 taels of silver, huh.” Meng Fuyao laughed and turned to him, saying, “Supposedly it’s enough, but if one has the fortune of receiving it but not the fortune of spending it, what’s the point?”

“What do you mean?” The guard was taken aback for a moment; then he continued angrily, “Are you suggesting that we won’t pay you?”

Meng Fuyao shook her head and looked at him sympathetically. How was this poor child’s intelligence lower than “Your Mother” Lord Yuan Bao?

“If I take the 300 taels of silver now, once I leave this bustling city, all the thieves and bandits of Kunjing will target us.” Meng Fuyao shook her head and glanced at Aunty Li, who was still shrunk back, then shifted her gaze to several men with gleaming belts who had mixed in with the crowd. “I’m weak and cowardly, I can’t handle it,” she said.

The guard had also come to understand her explanation and raised his eyebrows in amusement. “You’re quite perceptive, so what do you want to do?” he asked.

“Give me a place to stay and food to eat.” Meng Fuyao lay her hands in front of her and continued, “My brother has traveled far and actually, we don’t wish to continue traveling any further. Take the 300 taels of silver as payment for buying my brother as a slave. It’s a fair transaction.”

This request was not unreasonable, but the guard hesitated slightly. The Regent King’s manor was different from the other manors; the Regent King held supreme power over all and was connected to the imperial palace, and entering the Regent King’s manor was equivalent to entering the imperial palace. Hence, the Regent King had always been strict in who was let in. Nobody was allowed in unless the person was from a law-abiding family in Kunjing and guaranteed his status, and even so, this standard of a slave could only clean up to the third gate. The inner manor had always been attended by eunuchs and court ladies. If this lad wanted to enter the manor, the guard really didn’t have the power to do so.

Meng Fuyao watched the guard intently and did not pursue the matter further as she smiled and said, “I will be here for several days to perform and after that, I will move to a different location. If you enjoy my performance, please remember to come and support me.” With that, she left.

The guard quickly said, “Eh, you—” but quickly fell silent. The other guard beside him remarked, “This rabbit is indeed entertaining, the little master will surely like it. Why don’t we report this to her and let her decide if she wants it.”

Several people nodded and left. Meng Fuyao had heard what they had said, and her lips curled up into a smile.

‘I’ll bait you with my “ingot” and wait for you to come yourself…’

Meng Fuyao performed for three days, and each day, there were different tricks.

The first day: matching couplets, “Your Mother” couplets that shocked everyone.

The second day, ballet on ice: Meng Fuyao personally used the energy of Moon Soul and summoned ice, creating a rainbow-colored ice rink for “Lord Magical Rabbit”. Fundamentally, the performance was a great success; apart from “Lord Magical Rabbit’s” slightly round appearance, everything else was perfect.

The third day, acrobatics. Three little mice were forced to do 180-degree somersaults until they were green in the face and returned to their burrows with their paws wrapped around their heads.

After three days, news that a “talented and literate Magical Rabbit that could match couplets, dance and fight had appeared at the Nation Protecting Temple” spread throughout Kunjing and every day, the temple would be packed to the brim with people who had come to watch Lord Yuan Bao. Such was his fame that it had attracted one of the most legendary political figures in the Five Regions Continent; a certain prince.

The three met again in the evening to count the mountain of copper coins. As they were counting, two of them had begun to tear; Meng Fuyao was touched that she had discovered a potential superstar, and Lord Yuan Bao had discovered that actually, its rodent life still had so much meaning and value. In all its years following its master, it had always been overshadowed by his brilliance, it had thought that it was simply a “family pet that only knew how to eat and sleep”. Despite Meng Fuyao’s black-heartedness and cunningness… it had to give some credit to her as well.

When Lord Yuan Bao single-handedly “brought up” two humans with its own rodent power, it felt majestic and powerful, and Zhangsun Wuji and Meng Fuyao were but grains under its belly…

That evening, for dinner, Lord Yuan Bao had brought Meng Fuyao to the most luxurious restaurant in the city, the “Heavenly Restaurant”, and snatched the menu, and ordered a feast for the two of them. Meng Fuyao smiled, grateful for its generosity, but when the bill came, she quietly slipped the waiter a string of silver—the copper coins that Lord Yuan Bao had earned were not enough to cover even half of the meal…

On the fourth day, when Meng Fuyao was about to sound the gong once again, she suddenly froze in shock.

Among the crowd was a familiar silhouette dressed in fitting black clothes, his figure lean and tall. The man was standing quietly in the bustling crowd like a black rock unperturbed by the flowing river around him.

He watched Meng Fuyao from a distance, the gaze from his slightly slanted eyes severe. His eyes were like the most exquisite piece of glass, reflecting light in all angles and his lips were plump and luscious, a startling red.

‘Gay porn.’

Meng Fuyao suddenly thought of this phrase, especially the last word, ‘porn’, he was the hottest man among all of the porn that she had seen, with his beautifully sculpted figure, perfect features, perfectly placed widow’s peak, jade-like skin, glassy eyes, and fiery lips. His entire being was as bright as a multi-colored flag displayed in front of a hunter.

Meng Fuyao stared at him, gazing at the man with an elegance that was different from Zhangsun Wuji, fierier than Zhan Beiye, with an air of purity and coldness more than Zong Yue. Suddenly, the man smiled at her and turned around.

It was just that in the blink of an eye when the crowd parted again, Meng Fuyao couldn’t see his silhouette anymore, as though the man was but an illusion in her eyes, that he never appeared to begin with.

She retracted her gaze and laughed distractedly as she thought, ‘We’ll definitely meet again.’

She raised her gong and was about to sound it again when the crowd suddenly parted to reveal the Regent King’s guards approaching arrogantly.

They sauntered along and approached Meng Fuyao with a generous smile.

Meng Fuyao put down the gong, smiling, as she lightly patted Lord Yuan Bao’s fur.

Honestly speaking, she had been rather reluctant to let Zhangsun Wuji’s beloved pet to perform in the streets. As of now, the performance had finally ended. If they were to continue, she was afraid that one day Zhangsun Wuji would find out and she wouldn’t know which body part she would lose.

Her eyes were twinkling as she gazed far away into the blue sky.

His Highness the Regent King, Xuanyuan Cheng.

‘I, Lord Meng, have arrived!’

The Regent King’s manor was indeed huge… The new pet had already lived in the place for about half a month, yet it still had not finished exploring the entire manor. Every day, it could only look down from the highest point of the manor, the Sky-Welcoming Tower.

However, this was also related to its identity as the little master’s pet Xiao Si. Meng Fuyao had been assigned a room in the servant’s quarters of the inner court, and her movement was limited to the first three courtyards. As for the last courtyard in the inner court, there was a wide red gate; that was their forbidden area—it was said that the red door connected directly to the imperial palace.

There was only one room for the two “brothers” to share. Meng Fuyao was fine with it, but Tie Cheng, on the other hand, looked uncomfortable. He insisted on guarding the room door every night but was pushed back into the room by Meng Fuyao—there were dangers lurking everywhere in the Regent King’s manor, why would he guard the room outside? He was simply looking for trouble.