After Being Mistakenly Taken for a Fellow Traveler by Emperor Long Aotian - Chapter 88

Chapter 88: A Gift of Property

 

“You… hey! Don’t joke around, hahaha. Even rabbits don’t eat the grass near their burrow, how could I make a move on you? Hahaha, how single do you think I am in your eyes?”

 

The emperor froze for a moment, then patted Zhou Xun’s shoulder even harder, laughing heartily. “You! Just focus on your studies, work hard to pass the exams, and stop overthinking!”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The emperor: “Nothing can shake the friendship between us!”

 

The emperor very straightforwardly extended his fist for a fist bump with Zhou Xun. When Zhou Xun didn’t reciprocate, he grabbed Zhou Xun’s hand to bump fists with him. Then, the emperor said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go… head to court first. You should rest well! You didn’t sleep well last night, did you?”

 

Before Zhou Xun could reply, the emperor added, “In three days, I’ll take you out to show off!”

 

Zhou Xun smiled at him with squinting eyes. “Okay.”

 

“Oh, by the way, this is for you.” The emperor suddenly pulled something out of his pocket. “At the banquet two days ago, someone gifted this treasure. As soon as I saw it, I felt it was perfect for you.”

 

Zhou Xun quietly cradled the hairpin in his palm. The emperor explained, “This hairpin can not only be used to tie up your hair…”

 

The emperor: “But it can also be used for self-defense. Keep it with you, and if anyone dares to bully you when I’m not around, you can pull it out and stab them in the eye.”

 

Zhou Xun: “Very practical.”

 

The emperor: “Hehehe.”

 

…With a smile, the emperor quickly left, looking entirely proper, upright, and without any ulterior motives. After he left, Zhou Xun’s smile gradually faded.

 

He thought, he was truly happy that the emperor said his kindness wasn’t because of someone else.

 

He thought, he no longer had to worry. How could someone like the emperor do something so mundane? Misrecognition, stand-ins, alienation… none of that existed.

 

He thought he felt at ease. From now on, he only needed to focus on his studies and his own affairs… and being a good friend to the emperor. That would suffice.

 

Until Xiao Li softly asked, “Master Zhou, should we find a place to store this hairpin?”

 

Zhou Xun looked up.

 

It was only then that he realized he had been absentmindedly trying to tuck the hairpin into his clothes, as though searching for a place to keep it.

 

But his robe didn’t originally have a spot for such an item.

 

Zhou Xun smiled. “No need.”

 

He dismissed the attendants, placed the hairpin in a cabinet… then took it back out. Finally, he slipped it under his pillow.

 

Zhou Xun thought, the emperor was kind to him, but only as a friend.

 

Zhou Xun thought, the emperor didn’t like him in the same way he liked the emperor.

 

But greed knows no bounds. He already had so much; why should he crave even more?

 

Yet Zhou Xun didn’t know that extreme normalcy sometimes hints at abnormality. Excessive propriety can sometimes serve as a disguise.

 

For example, when the emperor walked out of the side hall, his back had never been straighter than it was at that moment.

 

Three days later, Zhou Xun was taken to a sacrificial ceremony. He watched the emperor stand on the altar, his black robes billowing, his expression cold and solemn as he spoke passionately. Civil and military officials stood solemnly at the sides, bowing to him.

 

Zhou Xun saw everyone’s serious expressions. Then he looked at the emperor and thought, the emperor, when not in his presence, actually appeared…

 

Dignified?

 

…Then he saw the emperor, during a moment when the officials were bowing and not paying attention, turn his head toward Zhou Xun’s direction and smile at him.

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

It was a bright, confident smile.

 

“Your Majesty, how could you be so unserious during today’s sacrificial ceremony?” Zhou Xun said to the emperor on the way back in the carriage. “The gods above might think you are not sincere.”

 

“The gods don’t exist in the first place, and I wasn’t trying to show sincerity to them,” the emperor said casually. “As long as you can see it, that’s enough!”

 

Zhou Xun’s grip on the carriage handle stiffened slightly.

 

He thought, how could the emperor speak so casually?

 

…The way he put it, it sounded as if the emperor only cared about him seeing his sincerity.

 

The emperor seemed entirely unaware of Zhou Xun’s thoughts. Zhou Xun lifted the curtain. “Let me look at the scenery.”

 

After a moment, he said in confusion, “This doesn’t seem like the road back to the palace?”

 

When he looked back at the emperor, the emperor was smiling at him mysteriously. “I’m taking you to a special place.”

 

Zhou Xun: ?

 

What special place?

 

The carriage zigzagged through the streets and arrived at a quiet lane. Zhou Xun recognized this street as being very close to the palace—just half an incense stick’s time away.

 

The emperor got off the carriage, walked to a grand house, and said proudly, “Come take a look!”

 

Zhou Xun: ?

 

He followed the emperor off the carriage. The emperor said, “Recently, I’ve been thinking about what gift to give you. Consider it a token of thanks for teaching me to read all this time. I asked Xiao Li for ideas, and all he suggested were things like gold, silver, or hairpins. I figured you wouldn’t like treasures or hairpins—you didn’t seem particularly fond of the one I gave you earlier.”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The emperor: “So I had someone look around the common folk. Oh, right, that Chu Yunku. He brought back a pile of…”

 

Xiao Li interjected, “Night pearls, gemstones.”

 

The emperor: “Oh, right, a pile of carbonates and silicon dioxide. Apart from their color, they all look the same. Giving something like that feels so insincere and embarrassing! So I thought about it myself…”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

Xiao Li standing nearby: … Can I have the rejected gemstones?

 

“After much thought, I decided to give you something practical, the best gift. And someone had previously suggested—” The emperor gestured dramatically as the door was pushed open. “Ta-da!”

 

The emperor: “A house!”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The emperor: “Who in the world wouldn’t want a house?!”

 

“This house was personally selected by me from dozens of others.” The emperor led Zhou Xun inside, looking as proud as a real estate agent. “Look at this great hall—so spacious!”

 

He pointed to a large ginkgo tree in the courtyard. “Do you like this? I had it specially transplanted here. Oh, right, you know, the Zhou family also has a century-old ginkgo tree…”

 

Zhou Xun nodded. Of course, he knew.

 

The emperor: “Originally, I thought about uprooting theirs and giving it to you. But since it’s an old tree, it’s better to leave it be. Plus, why give you something secondhand?”

 

Zhou Xun: “…Indeed.”

 

“I even had someone check,” the emperor said, suddenly looking mysterious. “The Zhou family’s ginkgo tree is only a hundred years old.”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The Emperor: “This one is three hundred years old!”

 

The Emperor: “Three times the rarity!”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

The Emperor: “Hahaha!”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

Forget it. He slowly gave the emperor a thumbs up.

 

The emperor became even more smug and continued showing Zhou Xun around. “Every room in this house faces south, making it very well-ventilated and full of sunlight from morning to evening. This is the main hall where you’ll host guests. The chairs are made of redwood. Oh, I even designed them myself to be ergonomic, with velvet cushions underneath. Over there is the tea display shelf, and the paintings—they’re from the palace.”

 

“This is your master bedroom. It comes with a small sitting room outside. Here, there’s a large floor-to-ceiling window for plenty of sunlight. The small room next door is for servants.”

 

Zhou Xun looked at the bed and asked curiously, “This bed seems a bit large, and what’s that underneath…?”

 

“The bigger the bed, the more comfortable it is to sleep on!” The emperor patted Zhou Xun’s shoulder. “And as for what’s underneath, it’s my new invention—a mattress! Super comfortable. If you don’t believe me, try lying down!”

 

Zhou Xun smiled and said, “I won’t lie down in front of Your Majesty.”

 

“Between the two of us, what’s there to be formal about?”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

“Over here is the kitchen, study, guest rooms… There are a few more rooms in the back for others to stay in. This area is a gallery where you can display things you like.”

 

“And back here is the garden, complete with rock formations and an artificial lake. Oh, there’s also a study within this bamboo grove.”

 

The garden had a tranquil beauty, and Zhou Xun was especially fond of the study in the bamboo grove. The emperor, looking at the blank plaque above the study, suddenly got the urge to name it.

 

He acted immediately, calling for paper and ink to write on the spot. “What name would you like for the study?”

 

Zhou Xun thought for a moment and said, “Books hold all the flavors of life—sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. Since this is a place for reading…”

 

The emperor clapped his hands. “Then let’s call it… Subway!”

 

Zhou Xun: ?

 

“That name’s actually not bad…”

 

“Forget it, forget it. Change it, change it,” the emperor said sheepishly, as if he had just teased Zhou Xun. Zhou Xun gave him a strange look and said, “Reading is like tasting life—sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy. How about calling it Four Flavors Study?”

 

The emperor: …

 

“Sour, sweet, and spicy are fine, but there’s no need for bitterness.” Zhou Xun’s forehead was suddenly flicked by the emperor. “Think of another name.”

 

Zhou Xun silently revised the idea in his mind. Before he could speak, the emperor declared, “Not Three Flavors Study either!!”

 

Zhou Xun: …

 

How did the emperor guess what he was about to suggest?

 

“Then let’s call it Bamboo Whisper Hall,” Zhou Xun finally said.

 

“Bamboo Whisper Hall? Boiled Fish Soup? Sounds auspicious—may you have fish every year,” the emperor said with a flourish as he wrote, “Let’s go with Bamboo Whisper Hall!”

 

His movements were graceful, but the characters he wrote were crooked. Zhou Xun teased him, “Your handwriting is worse than what I could write with my left hand.”

 

The emperor didn’t believe him. “Then write something with your left hand and show me!”

 

Zhou Xun picked up the brush with his left hand and wrote a couple of lines. The emperor stared at him and suddenly said, “Uh… this…”

 

Zhou Xun: ?

 

“Could you… write me a ‘Happy Birthday’?”

 

“‘Happy Birthday’?”

 

“Well, it just so happens that today is my birthday in my world. I don’t really celebrate it, but…”

 

“But you just want me to write something for you,” Zhou Xun said casually, writing down the four characters.

 

The emperor chuckled and said, “These words are mine now. Oh, by the way, your property deed and land deed…”

 

Zhou Xun watched his jubilant expression and suddenly asked, “By the way, is my name common in your world?”

 

The emperor: ?

 

“Not very common. Why?”

 

“…Who exactly did you mistake me for at first?”

 

The emperor hesitated, then said, “Actually, I mistook you for…”

 

Zhou Xun perked up his ears, and then he heard the emperor say, “…a book.”

 

Zhou Xun: ?