Chapter 27
For Li Yu, it was both a blessing and a curse that King Jing wanted to put the little carp into a crystal bottle and carry it around with him.
Li Yu was touched that the tyrant owner was worried about the fish’s safety. However, it was impossible for the tyrant owner to turn into a human in such a situation since he was carrying it around and kept in a bottle with a lid.
When Li Yu realized this, he had already been taken away by King Jing for more than half a day.
The outside world was too tempting. Li Yu really didn’t expect that Yu Sheng would be able to wander around. He just kept his eyes open and swam around in the bottle, looking around.
When the servants of the imperial residence saw him, they all bowed to him. Little Carp’s small vanity was now satisfied. Alright, he was actually bowing to King Jing, who was carrying him. It felt pretty good to occasionally use his connections to intimidate others.
King Jing also liked to carry fish around because it was convenient. The fish tank was too heavy and needed to be carried by someone. The teacups and bowls were too shallow, and the fish could easily fall out. However, with a crystal bottle, there was no need to worry. He could even bring it into the palace.
After King Jing tasted the benefits, he wanted to keep the fish in the crystal bottle.
At first, Li Yu was quite happy. However, when he realized that King Jing had no intention of putting him back into the fish tank and that he was actually trapped in the bottle, he became a little unhappy.
Although the bottle could allow him to stay with the owner at all times, he couldn’t do any tasks and couldn’t transform back into a human being. He could only watch as many good opportunities passed by him. It was very uncomfortable.
Being trapped in the bottle, Yu Sheng was as lonely as snow.
He had to let King Jing understand that although the bottle was convenient, it was best not to let the fish stay in the bottle for too long for its physical and mental health.
Initially, he had wanted to give King Jing a hard slap and show his displeasure by showing his belly. However, when he saw that King Jing had ordered Wang Xi to tie a chain to the handle of the bottle and then wrapped the chain around his hand a few times to prevent him from losing his grip and shattering the crystal bottle, he did not want to scare King Jing anymore.
King Jing’s hand was red because of the chain. Little Carp’s heart swelled with jealousy. He felt terrible being trapped in a bottle, but he felt even worse because of King Jing.
King Jing had never kept a pet before, so he didn’t know what a fish wanted. Putting him in a bottle was a kind gesture. All he needed to do was to let King Jing know that he didn’t like being in the bottle. It would be better if he didn’t deliberately turn his stomach to scare King Jing. It wasn’t as if he had a grudge against King Jing.
Li Yu forcefully suppressed his curiosity and curiosity towards the outside world and quietly crouched at the bottom of the bottle.
The little carp was lively and active to begin with. Once it calmed down, it was very obvious.
King Jing looked at the fish and was very puzzled. Just now, the fish was still full of energy. Why did it suddenly wilt?
King Jing was worried that the gas hole at the top of the bottle would be blocked, so he checked it twice. There was nothing wrong with the crystal bottle.
The fish was still listless and did not seem to recover after a long time. King Jing then ordered a servant who knew how to raise fish to come over. He was afraid that the fish would fall sick again.
Every time the eunuchs came to check on the fish, it was actually a false alarm. This time, they held the crystal bottle and studied it over and over again, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with the fish.
King Jing’s fish were fine.
However, the eunuchs had a lot of pets. They knew that most pets didn’t like to be confined, so they gathered their courage and tactfully told King Jing that the fish might not be used to being sealed in a bottle all the time. After all, the original crystal tank that the fish was kept in was very big. If it was changed to a narrow space, the fish would have less space to swim. Over time, the fish would not like to move.
After the eunuchs finished speaking, they regretted it. It was King Jing’s idea to put the fish in the crystal bottle, but King Jing insisted that they tell the truth. The eunuchs were in a difficult position.
So that’s why. King Jing nodded. He understood the eunuchs’ meaning.
Although the crystal bottle was convenient for bringing in fish, he couldn’t let the fish stay in the bottle all the time. The fish would be depressed. He had to take the fish’s condition into consideration.
However, he couldn’t leave the fish alone in the bedroom. It would be targeted by thieves…
King Jing soon came up with a compromise. He put a fish tank and a bigger teacup in the few places he frequented in King Jing’s mansion. The fish would still follow him. When he went to these places, he would immediately take the fish out of the crystal bottle and put it in the nearby fish tank or teacup. This way, nothing would be wrong.
Li Yu only pretended to be listless for two hours. He found that he had achieved his goal and could go back to the fish tank from time to time.
King Jing personally opened the bottle cap and sank it into the fish tank. The little carp finally stopped being listless and jumped out of the crystal bottle like an arrow released from a bow.
… Fish were indeed more suitable to stay in the fish tank.
Li Yu sighed as he swam comfortably in the fish tank.
He looked back at the bottle that was still submerged in the water. It wasn’t that he didn’t like being able to stay with King Jing all the time. After all, it was his master’s intention.
In order to express his gratitude to his master, the little carp especially danced a seaweed dance around the crystal bottle. He tried his best to convey his thoughts to King Jing.
The bottle was very good. He was also happy to follow King Jing around, as long as he wasn’t locked in the bottle all the time.
King Jing indeed felt that the fish liked it. He smiled and pinched the slippery fish spine. The man and the fish reached an agreement.
After being happy for a while, Li Yu realized that he was still in the fish tank with King Jing.
What should he do? He still couldn’t transform. Could it be that transforming into a human could only be done once a day?
Li Yu had a headache. Should he let King Jing know that the thief that King Jing was afraid of harming the fish was actually the fish itself?
However, compared to the distress of not being able to transform, the rescue plan was obviously more important.
Li Yu’s plan to rescue Heir Ye had already been carried out. In the past few days, when he was in the crystal bottle, he heard Wang Xi report to King Jing that the people of Duke Chengen’s Mansion had begun to monitor the movements of the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince.
This was the same as what Ye Qinghuan had promised.
Li Yu sent the letter to alert Duke Chengen’s Mansion. In fact, even he himself wasn’t sure if Heir Ye would still be engaged to Princess Jinjue after the relationship between King Jing and Consort Jiao was gone. He tried his best to write in the letter what happened in the original novel. Even if it didn’t happen in the end and this letter was treated as a fake, it didn’t matter. At least Duke Chengen’s Mansion wouldn’t be easily schemed against by the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince like in the original novel.
Although he had almost been intercepted by King Jing again and his disguise was on the verge of collapse from time to time, this rescue mission could be considered to be successful overall.
However, the side mission related to rescuing Heir Ye, “The Iron Bastion”, still hadn’t been completed.
No notification meant that the mission hadn’t been completed because Li Yu’s main goal this time was to rescue Heir Ye. Whether or not the side mission could be completed and whether or not he could obtain the reward was secondary. However, thinking about it from the other side, did this mean that it wasn’t enough to rely on the letter to alert Duke Chengen’s Mansion? Heir Ye might still experience the tragic fate described in the original novel.
Since he had decided to rescue Heir Ye, he shouldn’t give up halfway. However, if writing a letter wasn’t enough, what else could he do?
Li Yu remembered that in the original novel, Ye Qinghuan had been framed in the Imperial Palace a few days after the Duan Yang Festival. Although Li Yu had mentioned it in the letter, he didn’t know how Ye Qinghuan would respond. Li Yu felt that the most direct method was to prevent Heir Ye from entering the Imperial Palace during this period of time. The further away he was from being framed, the better.
However, preventing Heir Ye from entering the Imperial Palace was more difficult than having him write or deliver a letter to Heir Ye.
If he wanted to stop King Jing, he might be able to do it. However, Ye Qinghuan was a member of Duke Chengen’s Mansion. His fins were too short to reach.
Li Yu was so worried that his fish’s head hurt. He didn’t know if the fish’s overuse of its brain would cause its scales to fall off. In a daze, he felt that the scales on his body were almost bald.
Fortunately, King Jing had the same idea as him. Wang Xi only knew that Duke Chengen’s Mansion had made preparations. King Jing didn’t know what Ye Qinghuan was planning to do. He ordered someone to bring Heir Ye over. Wang Xi, on behalf of King Jing, gave Heir Ye a good beating.
Ye Qinghuan, who thought that King Jing was finally showing concern for him, was speechless.
King Jing also meant that Ye Qinghuan should avoid him for the next few days. Li Yu was listening in the fish tank. He couldn’t help but think excitedly that Ye Futian was indeed his master. Ye Futian would listen to Prince Jing’s advice, right?
However, Ye Qinghuan shook his head and refused.
*Tianchi, I can’t not enter the Imperial Palace just because of what the letter said.”
Ye Qinghuan understood that King Jing was doing this for his own good. However, he also knew that he wouldn’t enter the Imperial Palace for no reason. Most of the time, he was following an imperial edict. It was fine for him to be vigilant. However, if he really disobeyed an imperial edict or deceived the Emperor because of a few words that couldn’t be verified, Duke Chengen’s Mansion and his parents wouldn’t forgive him.
Ye Qinghuan gave a carefree smile. “I will still do what I should do. Let’s see how those people are going to harm me.’
He was really … stupid.
Although King Jing disliked Ye Qinghuan’s recklessness, he still glanced at Wang Xi after pondering for a moment.
Wang Xi was so moved that tears almost fell from his eyes. “Heir Ye, don’t worry. His Highness has decided to enter the Imperial Palace with you! With His Highness watching over you, you will definitely be fine!”
“Tianchi, thank you very much!”
King Jing usually treated people indifferently. Ye Qinghuan was touched for a moment and wanted to step forward and pat his cousin’s shoulder. However, King Jing angrily swatted his hand away.
Li Yu always felt that Heir Ye’s sparkling eyes and his expression when he was rejected by King Jing were somewhat familiar.
Thinking about it carefully, wasn’t that Xiong Feng? Xiong Feng often wanted to poke him with the tip of his nose. Ye Qinghuan was so scared that he would scream and hide. However, Xiong Feng still wanted to poke him through the crystal wall.
Looking at Heir Ye again, he seemed to have a tail that was exactly the same as Xiong Feng’s. It was wagging happily.
Li Yu: Pfft, the dog really takes after its master.
In the original novel, King Jing didn’t enter the Imperial Palace with Ye Qinghuan. Now that King Jing was going, he could take care of Heir Ye. Li Yu felt more at ease.
Moreover, according to King Jing’s habit of bringing him everywhere, he would definitely enter the Imperial Palace with him. Then he could personally watch Heir Ye!
Ten days later, the Dragon Boat Festival was approaching. The monarch of Jinjue Country, Jinjue Wang, came to the Imperial City. The Emperor invited Jinjue Wang to a banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.
Because it was a state banquet, King Jing and Ye Qinghuan were both present. When they saw the beautiful girl beside Jinjue Wang come out to greet the Emperor, they looked at each other tacitly.
It turned out that this was Princess Jinjue .. According to the letter, the person who had nothing to do with them was now in front of them!
King Jing and Ye Qinghuan both tensed up at the same time.
The Emperor had recently received a letter from Jinjue Wang. Jinjue Wang wanted to marry the little princess to the Emperor. Considering the diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Emperor gladly agreed.
As for who the little princess should marry, the Emperor went through the list of men of suitable age in the Imperial City.
The ones with the highest status were naturally his princes. However, Princess Jinjue was an outsider after all. It was not suitable for her to marry a prince. Jinjue Wang also mentioned in the letter that the little princess didn’t want to be a concubine.
The Emperor thought of King Jing. King Jing was unmarried and couldn’t inherit the throne. If he married the Princess Jinjue, it would be fine.
However, the Emperor immediately rejected the idea. King Jing was mute. The Princess Jinjue might not like him. Besides, King Jing was the most noble prince before the Emperor appointed a crown prince. If King Jing married an outsider, how would the other princes’ wives be arranged?
The Emperor decided not to choose any of the princes. He would find some other nobles to match the Princess Jinjue.
Soon, the Crown Prince of Duke Chengen came into his sight …
In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the Emperor smiled and said, “Crown Prince Ye, the safety of Jinjue Wang and the princess in the Imperial City is in your hands.”
Ye Qinghuan felt that his blood was cold. He gritted his teeth and knelt down to accept the order.
At the banquet, King Jing took out the crystal bottle from his sleeve after he sat down. The etiquette of the state banquet was complicated. He wondered if the little fish was bored.
He didn’t want to bring the fish to the palace today. However, the little fish went into the crystal bottle and didn’t want to come out. Its black jade-like eyes were staring at him.
King Jing smiled. He had to put the crystal bottle and the fish into his sleeve.
When he took out the crystal bottle, the people around him were stunned.
King Jing had a fish with him?
Some of them had seen King Jing move with the crystal fish tank. They didn’t know what to say.
The Second Prince, who was sitting among the princes and chatting cheerfully with others, looked very much like the Crown Prince. When he saw the fish, his expression immediately turned ugly.
“Second Prince, we meet again!”
