Chapter 49

49 A LUMP OF RED OBJECT

It was a rather hot day today, and Bai Chen took out a folding fan from his sleeve before starting to fan his face with his left hand. Instead of using a fan that was made of bird feathers or maybe silk, he used a fan made of hard paper with a bamboo frame.

There was nothing special about the fan, but it helped him to earn a few points when he was in the Red Pavilion for the first time, so it meant something to him that he decided to carry it around with him.

One thing he didn’t like about the fan was the boring white hard paper that the fan was made of. It was beautifully painted with some peonies, but Bai Chen still hated the fact that the fan was still white despite the flower painting on it. Fortunately, the bamboo frame was black, and there were even some gold lines.

He knew that his last name was ‘Bai,’ and it was like that too when he was in his previous life. However, his parents in his previous life never asked him to only wear white. Now he still had the surname ‘Bai,’ but this world was much stricter as it was mandatory for him to only wear white hanfu every day.

Holding the key in his right hand while his left hand holding the fan, Bai Chen immediately headed for the Wenxue Pavilion upon arriving at his palace. Ma Qiao still trailed behind him like a shadow, but he paid no heed as he continued walking towards the pavilion.

As expected, the palace was quiet as usual, unlike the Rongyao Imperial Palace which was full of people going about their activities. Ah, he didn’t want to remember about the imperial palace anymore because his mind would immediately wander to how the Crown Prince humiliated him if he thought about that place again.

What he saw in his palace was expected, and what he did not expect was when he saw a lump of a red object right in front of the steps of the Wenxue Pavilion. It was red, and Bai Chen felt like he knew what it was, but he still brought his feet to swing towards the pavilion.

After arriving directly behind the object, he then kicked the red object, causing ‘it’ to scream before standing up straight and turning ‘its’ body. It was not an object, but it was Zhu Ge who was wearing a red hanfu with his right hand holding a wooden stick.

Bai Chen just realized that even Zhu Ge’s red clothes managed to color his dull life full of white.

.....

“What are you doing here?” Bai Chen asked as he glanced at the wooden stick in Zhu Ge’s hand.

Zhu Ge immediately threw away the stick before clapping his hands to remove the dirt on his palm. “I was bored, so I helped some ants to make their homes,” he replied proudly as if he had just done some commendable merit.

“...” And Bai Chen fell silent when he heard that.

Even if Zhu Ge was just a prostitute, that man didn’t look like a fool at all. On the other hand, Zhu Ge’s appearance was quite witty and promising, so Bai Chen did not expect that the man’s brain was even smaller than his.

“I thought you had returned to the Red Pavilion?” Ignoring the trivial matter of how Zhu Ge kindly helped the ants build their houses, Bai Chen continued to question the man while craning his neck to see the man’s face.

‘Why do I have to crane my neck so much today? The Crown Prince is also taller than me, and this stupid man is even taller than him. I really hate being around tall people,’ Bai Chen cursed his luck, but he didn’t voice it because he was still waiting for Zhu Ge to answer his question.

“I woke up late today, and now it’s really hot if I start walking back to the Red Pavilion. You’re feeling hot too, right? I see you can’t even stop fanning your face. Can I stay one more night, Your Highness?”

Bai Chen’s left hand suddenly stopped moving the fan as he immediately stuffed the fan into his sleeve again. Zhu Ge was too cunning, and he even found an excuse to stay in his palace longer just by looking at the fan in his hand.

“What kind of nonsense is that? You just want to live freely in this palace, right? Not only that, but you also expect free food here right? Free accommodation and free delicious food. You want to take advantage of His Highness’s kindness, right?”

It was not Bai Chen who argued with Zhu Ge, but it was Ma Qiao who became angry after hearing Zhu Ge’s question. Meanwhile, Bai Chen’s expression remained flat as he heard the two men arguing.

When he and Zhu Ge walked from the Red Pavilion to his palace two days ago, it was even hotter than today. However, the man surnamed Zhu did not complain and continued to walk with him under the scorching sun. The man even looked very excited, and unlike him who was so thirsty that he wanted to drink water from the river, Zhu Ge didn’t even drink with him at that time.

Now the red-robed man was suddenly complaining about the hot air today, and Bai Chen knew that the man was just trying to find an excuse so he could stay in his palace longer.

‘What’s the point of staying here longer? This person is indeed suspicious,’ Bai Chen refused to let his guard down, and he made a firm decision in his heart as he said, “No. You can’t stay in my palace any longer, and you must leave my palace today. I don’t care about-”

{DING!

A NEW MISSION WAS UNLOCKED:

HIRE ‘ZHU GE’ AS A NEW PERSONAL SERVANT IN THE PALACE

ACCEPT | REJECT}

Bai Chen couldn’t even continue his speech as it was mercilessly cut off by the system in his head. He suddenly widened his eyes, and both Zhu Ge and Ma Qiao looked confused by his expression because they couldn’t hear what the system had just said to him.

“Are you okay, Your Highness? You don’t need to listen to this person, and you can kick this person-” Ma Qiao couldn’t finish his speech either because Bai Chen suddenly raised his left hand to nonverbally order the servant to stop talking.

“Let me consider it for a moment,” Bai Chen spoke to Zhu Ge and Ma Qiao before closing his eyes.

Actually, he didn’t want to consider Zhu Ge’s wishes, but he was just using this time to question the system.

‘Why should I hire Zhu Ge as my personal servant in my palace?’ He questioned the system, and the system answered him immediately.

{THAT’S BECAUSE YOU WILL GET 50 POINTS REWARD IF YOU ACCEPT THIS MISSION, HOST}

Bai Chen really wanted to break the system, but unfortunately, he didn’t know how to do it.

‘I don’t care about reward points, and I just want to know the reason behind this ridiculous mission! Why should I hire Zhu Ge when I don’t even know his background?’

{OH, YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT REWARD POINTS, HOST? THEN, IT WON’T BE A BIG DEAL IF I DEDUCT YOUR POINTS BY 50, RIGHT?}

“...” Bai Chen just realized that it was difficult to have a conversation with the system, and he looked away before finally replying, ‘It’s so absurd! My first mission was to bring Zhu Ge to my palace, and now you’re giving me another mission to hire him as my personal servant. Can you tell me your goal?’

Although it was difficult to have a normal conversation with the system, Bai Chen tried to stay sane because he knew that the system could sometimes go crazy. Just like a seesaw that needed balance so that both sides wouldn’t get hurt, Bai Chen tried to maintain a balance between him and the system because he knew that the system wouldn’t be able to act sanely.

He actually wanted to blame Bai Lang because the little wolf was the creator of the system, but since Bai Lang wasn’t around, he could only blame the system.

{YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT IF YOU ACCEPT THE MISSION, HOST}

Instead of directly answering his question, the system kept bribing him to get him to agree to accept the mission, but Bai Chen was just as stubborn as the system.

And thus, he once again showed his obstinacy to the system, ‘Just tell me what I will get from Zhu Ge if I agree to hire him as my personal servant apart from the reward points. I’ll decide after that.’

Maybe it was just an illusion, but he felt like he heard the system sigh before answering his question.

{‘ZHU GE’ WILL HELP YOU, HOST. YOUR NEXT MISSIONS WILL BE RELATED TO HIM, SO IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THIS MISSION, THEN IT WILL AFFECT YOUR NEXT MISSIONS}