Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2(91)
Feng Xin disagreed wholeheartedly. “Why are you blaming yourself for his moodiness? You’re the crown prince! How did you end up owing anyone anything for showing them favor? Your Highness, I really don’t understand why you think so highly of him.”
Xie Lian grinned. “Feng Xin, did you know—there are so many people in this world that are nothing but rocks in my eyes.”
Feng Xin didn’t understand. Xie Lian walked with his hands clasped behind his back.
“There are rocks everywhere, but precious jades are hard to come by. When it comes to martial arts, I’ve only ever seen two people who could be called jades. One is you. The other is him.” He suddenly stopped and turned his head, eyes bright. “I genuinely think that Mu Qing is extremely gifted. How could I let such a precious jade be left to collect dust, denied from showing its beauty simply because of its background and temper?” Xie Lian looked determined. “No! I think that’s wrong. You ask why I think so highly of him? It’s the same reason I think so highly of you. Those who are destined to shine, I must let them shine. Besides, I don’t believe that goodwill brings bad returns.”
Feng Xin stopped too. After listening to Xie Lian’s speech, he scratched his head.
“As long as you know what you want, how you go about it is your business.”
“Right. So. Where did Mu Qing run off to?” Xie Lian asked.
Just then, another couple of young trainees approached them, baskets in their hands, horsing around. When they saw Xie Lian, they called out to him in chorus, their voices happy.
“Your Highness!”
Xie Lian responded with a smile too. The trainees came up to them and thrust their baskets before the pair, saying happily, “Will Your Highness have some cherries? They’ve already been washed in the springs, very clean and very sweet!”
The baskets were full of small, round cherries, vivid red and looking quite adorable. Xie Lian and Feng Xin picked out a few to eat, and they were indeed juicy and sweet.
One of the young trainees asked, “When we walked over, we faintly heard Your Highness asking about Mu Qing. Are you looking for him? I think we saw him when we were passing through the cherry wood.”
“Is that right? Thanks for letting me know,” Xie Lian said.
Thus, the two hurried to the cherry wood. Atop Mount Taicang, other than the abundant wild maples, there were also numerous fruit trees: peaches, pears, oranges, and many others, including cherries. The fruit trees were nourished by springs, bathed in the mountain’s mist and sunny dew, and bore fruits filled with spiritual energy. After offering a portion as tribute to the palace, the rest were reserved for the disciples in the temple, who could munch on them after a hard day’s work. But outside the Royal Holy Temple, it would be hard to buy even a single one with a hundred gold pieces.
The cherry trees stood in many neat rows, and within the fresh, new leaves drooped dozens of cherries like red coral beads, looking delightfully enticing. Xie Lian and Feng Xin walked for a while searching for Mu Qing in the woods, but soon after, they heard quarreling voices coming from just ahead of where they were, and they automatically slowed to a stop.
Ahead of them stood four or five white-robed trainees, each with a basket in hand, appearing to have come to pick fruit. However, they weren’t circling any fruit trees but rather a person. Even from afar, their hearing was keen enough that they could clearly hear the particulars of the quarrel.
One of the young men said, “No wonder there’s seemed to be less fruit in the woods lately. So someone’s been squatting here and stealing.”
A soft voice replied, “The fruit growing on Mount Taicang can be picked by any disciple at the temple, so how is it stealing? Besides, there are hundreds, thousands of fruit trees here. There’s no way there’s less fruit by my power alone.”
The voice belonged to Mu Qing. From the sleeve corner that could be seen through the crowd, it seemed he had already taken off the black demon costume and changed back into his usual plain training outfit.
The trainee humphed. “Of course, if you were only picking fruit for yourself there wouldn’t be noticeably less, but you don’t just pick for yourself, do you? You sneak them down the mountain for other people. Exploiting your benefits—how shameless.”
Xie Lian understood now. The trainees who couldn’t stand Mu Qing were picking on him again.
Mu Qing came from a very poor family. His mother, who lived in the city at the foot of the mountain, led a meager life. In the past, she made a little money from occasional seamstress work, but after her eyes deteriorated, she could no longer even do that. She had to wait for Mu Qing to bring home the money he earned running errands on the mountain. Sometimes, he would pick some fresh fruit from Mount Taicang for her to try. It wasn’t anything major since there weren’t any rules against it, but when said out loud, it still sounded dishonorable. To publicly mock him over it like this was even more embarrassing.
Mu Qing’s voice was chilly. “Zhu-shixiong, we rarely speak, but you pick on me again and again. Yesterday, you wouldn’t let me through to Sixiang Palace to pass on my message. How have I offended you?”
That young man named Zhu was indeed the trainee who had guarded the door to the Sixiang Palace, and when he heard the incident from the day before mentioned, his anger flared.
“You’re the one who carelessly messed up your job and almost botched that event, so why are you blaming me? You should blame yourself for acting all secretive and making people think you’re up to no good. If you had just said outright what you were doing, nothing would’ve happened. Thanks to you, His Highness almost messed up his important duties, and I got yelled at by the State Preceptor!”