Chapter 52: Entering the Wrong Room
Chen Bai stayed in the Cloudtop Academy with the students, researching how to improve ju, and it truly gave him the feeling of being in a paradise beyond the world.
There were no unreadable schemes, no open and covert struggles. Chen Bai’s mood improved quite a bit, though he also knew this was only self-deception. Just because he did not go out of his way to understand certain things did not mean they truly did not exist.
Especially now, inside this magic tower, almost everything was a modern product. As long as he did not look outside through the windows, it really felt like staying at home in the modern era.
The students could sit on the sofa, smiling as they swung their little legs, cats in their arms, looking utterly like little homebodies.
Such a towering spire rising from the ground, often glowing at night, naturally attracted many onlookers.
“So this is Mountain Lord’s academy? I heard the tower in Lu that was this tall is being used as an observatory now. It’s already become wildly famous in Lu.”
“I think it’s called the Cloudtop Academy. Tsk, tsk. The tuition is truly expensive. Ten taels of gold a year.”
There were also people who ran up to the entrance and curiously examined it.
Chen Bai was not worried that they could open the door. The door was a reinforced stainless-steel door. To be honest, with the weapons of this era, it would probably take quite some time to break it open.
The problem was that these people kept wandering around the entrance, causing the access-control system to continuously scan faces. It was rather annoying. The door had an intelligent alarm system. If the same person loitered suspiciously at the entrance too many times, the monitoring room would sound an alarm. It was like a stranger circling outside your home every day—of course they would be suspected of being up to no good.
Chen Bai called Chen Xiaobu over and said a few words. Chen Xiaobu raised his little head and ran toward the elevator.
At the entrance of the tower, there were still bold people reaching out to push the door, trying to open it.
At that moment, the door opened automatically.
Chen Xiaobu stuck out his little mouth. “What are you doing? What are you doing?”
“You can’t open our door. Master told me to come down and tell you not to keep wandering around the entrance. If you wander too long, the alarm upstairs keeps calling out. It chirps nonstop.”
Since merely saying it seemed to have no effect, Chen Xiaobu simply called over several guards and had them stand at the entrance to stop people from approaching. Only then did he swing his legs and run back.
It was not that Chen Bai refused to let people come to the academy. Around the tower, while he had time, he had the students transplant the flowers Qi Zheng had planted in the flower fields, forming one flowerbed after another. Together with the original five osmanthus trees, the surroundings looked like a mass of blooming flowers, extraordinarily beautiful. Was appreciating those not enough? Why did they have to mess with his door?
If they broke his door, where was he supposed to find someone in this era to repair it? He would have to replace it entirely, and that would be a huge expense.
Through the monitoring system in the control room, Chen Bai watched Chen Xiaobu arrange guards to stand at the door. After thinking about it, he decided it was fine. Otherwise, with the alarm constantly ringing, they would not have even a moment of peace.
Chen Bai disabled the alarm in the control room, and the entire floor finally quieted down.
At that moment, Qi Zheng sent a voice message to his phone.
Chen Bai froze. These days, he was somewhat afraid of seeing Qi Zheng. Qi Zheng’s recent expression always looked suspicious and doubtful, and Chen Bai felt guilty.
He tapped open the voice message.
“The Great King will come to the academy this afternoon.”
What?
Chen Bai was stunned.
Ever since he had handed the Qishan Pill over to the Great King, he had not spoken privately with the Great King at all. Not to mention that his current identity was Mountain Lord, so there was even less possibility of having any interaction with the Great King.
The Great King was personally coming to the academy?
Chen Bai asked, “Do you know why the Great King is coming?”
Qi Zheng replied, “The Great King is making a private visit and has avoided everyone. At present, I am the only one who knows.”
Qi Zheng was the academy’s teaching assistant. Since the Great King was not coming openly, he naturally needed someone familiar with the academy to lead the way.
“As for why he is coming to the academy, I have not received specific information.”
Chen Bai frowned and frowned again. It seemed that a meeting between Mountain Lord and the Great King was unavoidable.
Fortunately, Qi Zheng had informed him, so he could prepare in advance and would not be thrown into panic.
To be honest, waiting for someone made time feel especially difficult to endure—especially when that person’s identity was unusual, and he did not know the other party’s purpose.
In the afternoon, people cleared the area ahead of time. Chen Bai saw it clearly through the surveillance system. Even the guards Chen Xiaobu had arranged at the entrance were cleared away.
Several richly decorated carriages drove toward the tower. Around them were many secret guards dressed like ordinary commoners, but with strong, sturdy builds. As expected, this was a private visit.
Logically speaking, since the Great King was coming, Chen Bai should have greeted him at the entrance. But Qi Zheng had told him secretly through the phone. In his current situation, he was supposed to know nothing about the Great King’s arrival.
Still, it was not as if he had made no arrangements at all.
Prince Ning had just gone out carrying a basket. He was going to the greenhouse to pick some fresh vegetables for his classmates.
As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the people getting down from the carriages.
He froze, somewhat incredulous. The Great King, Prince Zheng, and Prince Zhuo—why had they come?
He immediately ran over and was about to speak when the Great King stopped him. Since the Great King had come privately, he naturally did not want his identity exposed on the spot. He only said, “Take me to see your master.”
Prince Ning said “oh,” scratched his head, and thought it seemed he would have to wait before picking vegetables.
Standing on tiptoe, he scanned his face.
Even though it was Qi Zheng’s first time coming, he was stunned by what he saw.
Prince Ning’s eyes curved with laughter. “I have to let our door see my face, otherwise it won’t open. When I grow a little taller next year, I won’t have to stand on tiptoe anymore.”
“…”
At that moment, the proud-looking young man beside the Great King snorted. “Playing tricks and acting mysterious.”
Prince Ning froze. What did Prince Zhuo mean?
Their door really did have to recognize faces before letting people in. But Master had said their academy used high technology, and even if they explained it, other people would not understand.
He tossed his little head. He would not stoop to arguing with him. Just watch him jump to scan his face.
Chen Bai saw everything clearly from the control room. Was that young man not Prince Zhuo, the famous wastrel of Shangjing?
Even though Chen Bai had been spending a lot of time at the academy lately, he had still heard that the Great King had recently grown very close to Prince Zhuo. He had not expected the Great King to bring him along even on a private visit to the academy. With such favor, it was no wonder Prince Zhuo looked so arrogant.
Chen Bai pressed a button himself and opened the door. Otherwise, with the way Prince Ning was hopping up and down, he would still have had to hop for a while before the access-control system activated child recognition mode.
As for the expressions on the Great King and the others’ faces after entering the tower, Chen Bai did not know. In any case, when he saw the Great King, the group had taken quite some time to recover.
Chen Bai waited quietly. Once the Great King came back to himself, his expression was somewhat strange and hard to describe. This Mountain Lord truly liked making strange and unusual things. They looked miraculous, yet if one thought about them, one could vaguely understand some of the principles. That little room that could move up and down—who knew how many people were secretly exerting themselves in the dark to pull it?
The Great King found it somewhat amusing. He immediately labeled Mountain Lord as someone who liked to show off.
At that moment, Prince Zhuo muttered from the side, “Flashy and gaudy. Where does this look like an academy at all? Anyone who didn’t know better would think they had entered a pleasure house.”
Chen Bai frowned. If a pleasure house could be made like this, he would write his name backward.
This Prince Zhuo truly was just as the rumors said. Chen Bai sighed. The Great King’s choices had always been so bizarre, had they not? In a way, this was not entirely unexpected.
At that moment, the Great King spoke. “Mountain Lord is a remarkable person of Great Qian, and now also a famed scholar known throughout the world. I have long wished to meet you alone. Unfortunately, your whereabouts are uncertain, and there has never been an opportunity. Today, I have come personally…”
Meet alone?
Chen Bai understood. He said, “This place is not convenient for conversation. Your Majesty, please follow me.”
Then he specially went to the students and told them to entertain Prince Zhuo and Qi Zheng properly.
Chen Bai led the Great King toward the top of the tower. That place was more suitable for conversation, and of course, also because there were tables and chairs there, without so many incomprehensible things.
Once Chen Bai and the Great King left, the students ran over.
“Prince Zheng, Prince Zheng…”
Each of them rubbed their little hands together as they looked at Qi Zheng. “Prince Zheng, do you want wontons? We’ve learned how to cook wontons now.”
They should have restrained themselves since Prince Zhuo was present, but Prince Zhuo looked aloof and disdainful, as if he could not be bothered to talk to a group of little children.
Hmph. If he did not care about them, they did not want to entertain him either.
They dragged Qi Zheng away.
Qi Zheng could not help feeling emotional. No wonder, when he had run into these students in Shangjing, they had told him to come to the academy earlier. Look at this—everything had changed so much that he could barely recognize it.
When he was dragged into the kitchen and watched the students cook wontons using electric appliances, he looked completely baffled. What was this now?
“Prince Zheng, we’ll eat a tiny bit with you too. Just a tiny bit.”
Qi Zheng: “…”
He probably understood why these students were so enthusiastic.
They mixed soup base into the bowls, adding seaweed and dried shrimp.
The students who claimed they would only eat a tiny bit really only had a tiny bit less in their bowls than Qi Zheng did.
“These wontons are especially delicious, and they’re very easy to make. Master has only taught us this so far.”
“One spoonful is full of shrimp.”
They ate while commenting.
As for Prince Zhuo, because Chen Bai had told the students to accompany him, Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin followed him around eagerly. Only, their eyes kept drifting toward the kitchen.
This Prince Zhuo was truly the type to indulge in pleasure and act familiar wherever he went. As he walked, he somehow ended up in the planting room.
Looking at the strange flowers and plants, he reached out and touched them.
Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin exchanged a glance. According to the academy’s rules, the flowers and plants planted by others belonged to those people personally. Unless permission was given, no one was allowed to touch other people’s things.
Besides, did Prince Zhuo have something wrong with him? Considering he was a prince, touching them was one thing. They could not exactly say much.
But his face was full of disdain, and he even broke off some of the more tender leaves from their plants.
Chen Xiaobu really could not hold back and said, “Prince Zhuo, these were planted by our classmates with great effort. Please be careful when you touch them.”
He was too embarrassed to say “don’t touch them randomly.” After all, the other party was a prince with a noble status.
In response, Prince Zhuo snorted coldly. “Just some lowly weeds. So what if I touch them?”
He even went further, plucking the leaves directly into his hand.
He was used to acting recklessly, and lately he had received the Great King’s favor. How could he possibly listen?
Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin’s expressions turned ugly. But when they saw the leaves in Prince Zhuo’s hand, they froze. The broken parts of the leaves were still oozing juice.
“Th-this… Prince Zhuo, you really can’t touch this. This is what that little ghost Gu Bao’er planted to repel pests.”
Whether it had any effect on pests was still unknown. But they knew that the sap of this tree caused allergic reactions. Gu Bao’er had accidentally gotten some on his hand before, and his entire hand had turned red, as if it had been scalded with boiling water. Their master had rubbed ointment on it, and it had taken several days to heal.
With that lesson learned, all the students knew this plant must not be touched.
But seeing Prince Zhuo tear the leaves into pieces and throw them on the ground with a disdainful face, Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin opened their mouths. “…”
Master said ignorance was the most frightening thing. They felt that arrogance and refusal to listen were also quite frightening.
The leaf sap was smeared all over Prince Zhuo’s hand. Thinking of Gu Bao’er’s former pig-trotter hand, the two of them could not help shuddering. They wanted to cry. Why had they been left to attend to Prince Zhuo while everyone else ran off to eat and drink well?
In the past, they had felt that Prince Zheng’s face was cold like a block of ice every day and that he was extremely hard to get along with. But after interacting with him for a long time, they discovered that Prince Zheng merely had a stiff face and looked a little frightening. Compared with Prince Zhuo, he was so much better.
Sob, sob.
The result was that not long after, Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin really did start crying, because Prince Zhuo’s hand began to swell. This was only the beginning. In a while, it would probably swell worse than Gu Bao’er’s had, becoming a true pig’s trotter.
After eating wontons, Qi Zheng came out surrounded by students and saw Prince Zhuo throwing a tantrum, while Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin’s tears fell patter-patter.
He frowned. “What happened?”
Chen Xiaobu and Gan Xin, the two aggrieved little ghosts, seemed to have found someone to pour out their grievance to. They hurriedly wiped their tears and said, “We already told Prince Zhuo not to touch the plants we planted, but he refused to listen. He refused to listen! He even broke our plants and tore them into pieces before throwing them on the ground. Then his hand got stained with sap that causes allergic reactions, and now he’s blaming us instead…”
“What allergy?” Prince Zhuo’s face was flushed red with anger. He did not understand at all. “If you hadn’t deliberately placed that lowly plant there, would my hand have become like this?”
“…”
At that moment, when Gu Bao’er saw Prince Zhuo’s hand growing more and more like a pig’s trotter, his face went pale. He hurriedly ran to the planting room. When he came back, he was holding a flowerpot in his hands. Inside it was a sapling broken into two pieces, and he was crying loudly.
He had finally raised this little seedling, and now it had been snapped like this.
“I always kept it in that corner. It never provoked anyone.”
Again and again, it was only this sentence.
Since the academy opened, it had always just been their group of people. They had lived happily every day.
Today, outsiders came, and as a result…
None of the students knew how to comfort Gu Bao’er, because the child truly treasured that plant. Every day, he recorded the time carefully in a notebook, carried it out to bask in the sun, and never missed a single day.
Perhaps in Prince Zhuo’s eyes, it was something utterly insignificant, but to someone else, it was a treasure beyond price.
Instead, Prince Zhuo grew even more agitated. He had finally found the culprit. So it was this little runt who had planted it to harm him. So small, yet so bold.
He raised his hand to slap him, lawless to the extreme. He was a prince. It had always been others who stood beneath him.
But that raised palm could not come down no matter what. A pair of eyes was staring at him, cold as ice, making him shudder despite himself.
Prince Zhuo: “…”
Qi Zheng, that ill-fated star. No wonder the king disliked him. Just that gaze alone was enough to frighten people.
The key point was that Qi Zheng even dared to go against the crown prince. Although Prince Zhuo had recently gained the king’s favor, he was still not the crown prince.
His face darkened. “Framing a prince is an unforgivable crime. Prince Zheng, you think you can protect them? Let’s see how you explain this before the king.”
The king had always disliked Qi Zheng. If this matter reached the king, Prince Zhuo knew very well whom the king would side with.
After saying that, he clutched his increasingly itchy hand and left.
Only then did Gu Bao’er and the others begin to feel afraid. Royal authority could not be offended, and besides, it was indeed their plant that had injured Prince Zhuo. To offend the imperial family was a grave crime.
Qi Zheng glanced over, but said nothing and did not stop him.
Since the king had come so secretly to meet Mountain Lord alone, there must be something important at hand. If Prince Zhuo barged in so rashly and interrupted them, he might not get any good result.
Chen Bai was indeed discussing something unspeakable with the king at that moment.
Chen Bai had not expected the king to lay everything bare from the very beginning. The words he spoke were enough to make one’s heart tremble.
“Mountain Lord is the top retainer in Prince Zheng’s residence. Has Prince Zheng told you that my body is nearly finished?”
Chen Bai’s heart shook violently. Such a secret, and the king had spoken of it so casually?
The king knew full well that he was the foremost retainer of Prince Zheng’s residence, yet he spoke without the slightest attempt to conceal it. Either he already knew that Prince Zheng was aware of his condition, or he was not afraid at all that Chen Bai would tell Qi Zheng.
Chen Bai was still thinking about how to respond. This was probably the fastest and most life-or-death thinking his brain had ever done.
But before he could speak, the king continued, “Do you know what Crown Prince Jiao did when he learned of this? He secretly raised a private army. Prince Zheng, on the other hand, did nothing. Tell me, isn’t that laughable?”
Chen Bai’s heart tightened.
This was supposed to be his first meeting with the king, and yet the king was telling him all this?
Without showing anything on his face, Chen Bai replied, “Your Majesty jests.”
Then he quickly added, “May I ask why Your Majesty has come this time?”
If he let the king continue, he felt his head might soon drift farther and farther away from his neck. Some things were simply not meant for an outsider to know.
The king looked at Chen Bai with amusement. “All of Shangjing says Mountain Lord’s painting skill is unparalleled under heaven, yet they seem to have forgotten that Mountain Lord has another extraordinary skill.”
“Whether it was the colored pills used during the contest with the crown prince’s retainers, or the unprecedented medical technique called an IV drip used later to save Gan Thirteen of Duke Gan’s household, or the ghost-face disease that later caused such a stir throughout Shangjing, all of it was thanks to the medicine Mountain Lord provided. Your medical skill is truly astonishing.”
Chen Bai’s expression did not change. Although he was wearing a mask, by reflex he still tried to hide the displeasure on his face. Had the king already investigated him this thoroughly?
“I have come this time precisely to ask Mountain Lord to examine me, to see how much longer this body of mine can hold on, and whether there is still any method of treatment.”
Chen Bai: “…”
So that was it. Given the king’s “understanding” of Mountain Lord’s medical skill, if he was asking Mountain Lord to diagnose him, he must have assumed there was no way to hide the condition of his body. That was why he had chosen to speak frankly from the start.
In truth, having Chen Bai examine him was really not as good as letting those imperial physicians do it. Even when treating ordinary common illnesses, Chen Bai had to consult specialists, let alone complicated and difficult diseases.
Of course, he could not slap himself in the face and say he did not know how to diagnose illnesses at all. If he did, the king might think he was deliberately shirking the task, and that would be troublesome.
Thus, when Prince Zhuo barged in, Chen Bai was taking the king’s pulse.
The king had just said, with profound meaning, “With Mountain Lord’s talent, to remain merely as a retainer in Prince Zheng’s residence is truly a waste…”
Before he could finish, Prince Zhuo entered, holding up his increasingly swollen hand.
With the king’s recent favor toward him, if he wanted to punish a few blind fools, could Qi Zheng really stop him?
“Your Majesty…” Prince Zhuo held his hand out in front of him, his sleeve already rolled up. The badly swollen hand was clearly visible.
But before he could finish speaking, the king raised his head with a dark expression and said, “Get out.”
Prince Zhuo froze. This was completely unlike the king who had been indulging him recently. For a moment, he could not react.
Chen Bai was stunned too. Prince Zhuo’s hand… Had he smeared the sap from Gu Bao’er’s tree on it?
Who had pulled such a prank? No, that was not right. His students all knew how serious it was. Even if they wanted to prank someone, they would never smear that much on another person.
Chen Bai still did not know the cause. He was just about to speak. With an allergic reaction this severe, it would be better to apply some ointment first.
Yet after the king glanced up once, he did not look at Prince Zhuo again. Instead, he said to Chen Bai, “Let us continue.”
The guards had already dragged away Prince Zhuo, who still had not come back to his senses.
Chen Bai’s heart trembled violently. Had the king not seen Prince Zhuo’s grotesquely swollen hand?
Impossible. He definitely saw it. Yet there was not the slightest trace of concern on his face. Chen Bai was sitting close by and saw it clearly. It was not an act. The king was truly cold, without even a shred of feeling.
That was his son.
That was Prince Zhuo, the prince whom everyone had recently been saying the king doted on.
Chen Bai did not dare say anything, but his heart felt chillingly cold.
When Prince Zhuo returned to Qi Zheng’s side in a daze, Qi Zheng did not even lift his head. In his heart, he even sneered faintly. Some people truly did not understand their own position.
Several students were teaching Qi Zheng how to play chess. Chen Bai had bought a physical set of Chinese chess, and the students would occasionally take it out to play.
Prince Zhuo had no mood to bother with anyone now. He was completely dazed. Why had it turned out like this?
Meanwhile, at the top of the spire, Chen Bai was still taking the king’s pulse. He took it for a very long time because he was thinking about how to respond.
The king was also patient and waited quietly.
Chen Bai’s pulse-taking amounted to nothing at all. What did he understand about it?
When he finally released the king’s wrist, the king asked, “How is it?”
Chen Bai pondered for a moment. “Beyond the reach of medicine.”
If it could be cured, there would probably be no reason to leave all those imperial physicians unused and seek him out, the top retainer of Prince Zheng’s residence.
The king’s eyes narrowed.
Chen Bai hurriedly added, “I do have some pills that can help Your Majesty regulate the body and stabilize the illness. However, these pills are extremely difficult to obtain. Even I can only refine a few each month.”
He needed an excuse to keep the king hooked. Otherwise, he would probably be in trouble. If he could provide a few pills each month to stabilize the illness, the king should not make things difficult for him too quickly.
As for where the pills would come from? He could only buy some fancy-looking health supplements.
He was not worried that the pills he provided would be shown to the imperial physicians either. Many of the ingredients did not exist in this era’s records. There was no way those imperial physicians could reverse-engineer them.
The king said in a deep voice, “Then I shall trouble you, Mountain Lord.”
After seeing the king off, Chen Bai’s heart was still lodged in his throat, because he knew that after the king had said all those things to him, if he had not answered correctly, he would probably have been in deep trouble.
The king got into his carriage and lifted the curtain for one last look at the tower. “Who knows whether he truly cannot treat it, or simply refuses to treat it.”
At this moment, only Chen Bai and the others remained inside the tower, along with Qi Zheng.
Qi Zheng was being dragged by a group of students into playing chess.
When Chen Xiaobu came over, his little head was raised high, nostrils practically pointing at the sky.
What was with this child now?
Chen Xiaobu had already run over to boast. “Master, I beat Prince Zheng at chess just now. Everyone says Prince Zheng uses troops like a god, but he couldn’t beat me at chess.”
Chess was like war. A war on paper was still a war.
Qi Zheng raised his hand and beckoned. “Another round.”
Chen Xiaobu shook his little head like a pendulum. “I will never play against you again. I have to preserve my battle record.”
If he did not play, he would not lose. Hmph.
Qi Zheng: “…”
Chen Bai happened to have something to say to Qi Zheng, so he called him aside.
“The king asked me to examine his illness.”
Qi Zheng frowned. Was the king not afraid that he would find out about his condition?
Or had things already reached the point where it could no longer be hidden?
That made sense. If he had even sought out Qi Zheng’s top retainer for treatment, then he probably could not conceal it much longer.
Chen Bai continued, “I may need to leave for a while to refine pills for the king to regulate his body.”
If he remained in Shangjing, the king would certainly not seek him out only this once. As the illness worsened, the summons would only become more frequent.
So he had to avoid the trouble.
Qi Zheng asked, “Can you cure him?”
“No. I can only stabilize his condition a little.”
“When are you leaving?”
Chen Bai replied, “Now.”
Qi Zheng: “…”
He had originally still had some questions to ask this yao, but if the yao remained in Shangjing now, it would indeed bring endless trouble.
Chen Bai said, “Right now, you are the only adult in the academy. Help me watch over these students. Tomorrow, I will have Chen Zixiu come to the academy. This is the surveillance room. It can display the images from the public areas on each floor, as well as the front gate…”
Chen Bai gave him a rough explanation, then hurriedly left. He needed to lay low.
As he walked, he was still thinking that the king really was ruthless. In the end, he had not even thought once about Prince Zhuo’s swollen hand. Still, it probably would not kill him. It would just take a bit longer to recover.
The next day, when Chen Bai arrived at the tower, Qi Zheng surprisingly had not left.
Looking at Qi Zheng’s slightly wrinkled clothes, had he slept here?
Sure enough, the door to the room next to his was open, and the quilt inside had been pulled back.
Qi Zheng was also frowning at Chen Bai, because Chen Bai had entered Mountain Lord’s room.
There were only two rooms and one surveillance room on this entire floor.
And he had entered so naturally, as if it were his own room.
