Chapter 2

A gold crown, woven like a net and adorned with jade and pearls hung over and partially obscured half of Ning Shiting's face. He could only see his jawline, which was fair and delicate—so handsome that he didn't seem real.

On Immortal Jizhou, there are eight thousand and one realms; Ning Shiting was seventeen years old.

It had been a long time since there was such a buzz in Qing Wang Palace. With light rain and gentle breeze, the young immortal attendants lined up in two rows in front of the courtyard, each holding a paper umbrella to create a dry path for those entering the palace.

"Be careful, everyone. Gongzi doesn't like to be touched. From washing and grooming to moving in and out, all must use specialised tools. Wangye has also said that Gongzi is to handle affairs in the palace from now on. Do you understand?"

It was a young immortal attendant speaking.

He was a boy with fair and delicate skin and looked very handsome. He was wrapped in layers of dark green immortal robes, meticulously dressed, just like himself. Though he was young, there was a meticulousness tinged with childishness about him. At every turn, he would also stare at others with round eyes.

After instructing the household servants, Ting Shu(1) took out a square silver-thread handkerchief from his sleeve and folded it into a rectangle, placing it solemnly by his side.

"Gongzi, please alight from the carriage. It's cold outside, and it's still raining. Be careful of the slippery ground."

The curtain was lifted, and through a handkerchief, Ning Shiting reached out and grasped Ting Shu's fingertips.

Ting Shu was twelve years old and not particularly tall, needing to tiptoe to hold his hand. Ning Shiting leaned down slightly to accommodate him, and they descended from the carriage together.

The underside of the umbrella was painted with a sky-blue and white canopy. Ting Shu looked up.

The seventeen-year-old young man wore elaborate crimson robes, even with a cloak in the early autumn weather, appearing somewhat afraid of the cold.

The vivid colour set off his fair skin.

A gold crown, woven like a net and adorned with jade and pearls hung over and partially obscured half of Ning Shiting's face. He could only see his jawline, which was fair and delicate—so handsome that he didn't seem real.

In the light rain and misty haze, the sky was getting dark.

Trying hard to get a good, Ting Shu could only see the eyes beneath the veil of pearls and silk, light and gentle, casting a faint and shadowed gaze. Silver hair scattered from behind the high crown, with a very light shade of blue.

"Would Gongzi like to return to the room?" Ting Shu asked. "The Wangye said everything should be arranged according to the standards of a Wangfei’s marriage into the family. But the Wangye suddenly had to go to the battlefield, and the Shizi’s(2) legs are injured, so delivering and welcoming the spouse would be an inconvenience. But with Ting Shu here, Sir won't be wronged."

His eyes curved up, and Ning Shiting smiled.

"You're still the same as before."

Ting Shu said, "This one won't drag down Gongzi like before. If Gongzi hadn't saved me on the battlefield, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to meet Gongzi today, nor the chance to serve him."

The little doll-like attendant gravely held the umbrella high, trying his best to shield him.

Ning Shiting reached out and took the umbrella, still holding his hand with the other hand through the silver cloth.

He said, "Let's go—not back to the room yet. Let's take a walk around."

"Today is a day of great joy for Gongzi. Wouldn't you like to go to the wedding chamber first?" Ting Shu asked him, then thought for a moment and found a reason for him, "Well, since the Wangye is not here now, it's not so important to go to the wedding chamber. Gongzi should take more walks. You are not in good health. Let me first familiarise you with the palace. Everyone here must listen to Gongzi in the future."

The crowd retreated, leaving only the two of them.

One tall and one short, not like master and servant, but more like a pair of brothers.

Ting Shu walked beside him, ba-ba-ing cheerfully as he introduced him, "It's so big here. I've been here for two months and haven't touched it all yet, Gongzi. You're not well, so let's not go to the Hunting Mountain behind the Southern Garden. There are seven immortal mountains there, with all kinds of birds and beasts, and you don't know immortal arts..."

Ning Shiting listened quietly.

After a while, Ting Shu's mouth became dry from talking, he paused and went to the edge of the pond to scoop up some water to drink.

The person behind him said softly, "Ting Shu, find someone to move my things to the study on the eastern wing."

Ting Shu turned his head and saw Ning Shiting holding a white umbrella, looking up at the cyan sky through the rain.

The umbrella couldn't stop the fine, dense rain mist, and a thin layer of water droplets covered his hair. A light layer of white mist fell on his hair, making people want to reach out and brush it away.

"Gongzi enjoys reading and wishes to reside near the study; of course, that is permissible. However, Wangye has said that no one in the palace may neglect or disrespect you. At the very least, you must spend the first night in the wedding chamber. Otherwise, when the Wangye finds out, the household servants will have to shed their skins."

One benefit Ting Shu had was that he never questioned why others did what they did.

However, when he encountered Ning Shiting, this became an iron rule—he would do whatever he wanted, and Ting Shu would find his own explanations, unwaveringly believing in him.

Such a nature was easily exploited, and indeed, as a cherished phoenix-blooded child, he had been bought and sold countless times in the immortal realm before being picked up by Ning Shiting.

After drinking water, Ting Shu returned to his side.

The child reached out his hand, wanting to hold it as before. However, seeing the expression hidden behind pearls and gold silk, he seemed to think of something and withdrew his hand.

Ning Shiting handed him a silver handkerchief.

It was the same one as before, woven with silver threads.

In the immortal realm, everyone knew that Qing Wang, Gu Feiyin, had no love for magical artefacts or rare treasures; his heart was solely captivated by silverware. Throughout the Qing Palace, most furnishings were crafted from silver.

However, Ning Shiting was an exception. Despite being close to Qing Wang, he never touched silverware, not even the silver armour bestowed upon him as a reward.

Others were puzzled by this. There were occasional rumours that this beautiful young person by Qing Wang's side was descended from a Jiaoren and a phoenix, exceptionally handsome and appreciative of beauty, and found silver too plain. Hence, Qing Wang allowed him to retain his preferences.

Ting Shu glanced down at the silver handkerchief, woven from pure silver threads resembling moonlight, now distinctly marked with handprints.

The deep black stains were chilling to behold.

Ning Shiting's hands were immaculately pale and slender, having held the handkerchief for a while without even a hint of sweat.

Yet where he had touched, it appeared as if plagued by poisonous insects, leaving a terrifying black mark.

"You should just discard the handkerchief. If you wish to hold onto me, holding my sleeve would be the same," Ting Shu remarked after examining the handprint on the handkerchief. He then folded the silver handkerchief neatly, turning its clean side outward, and happily held Ning Shiting's hand again.

"I won't discard it. Others paint handkerchiefs, and paint fans, which require effort in grinding ink and selecting satin. But this Gongzi only needs a silver handkerchief; with his hands as a brush, he can paint ink landscapes. I want to keep it hidden, and no one is allowed to see it."

.𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𓆝 𓆟.

Falling rain dripped down the eaves.

"It's cold, ah. This ghostly place is colder than Dongzhuo."

In a remote courtyard, a guard grumbled as he squatted down, tending to a brazier.

"Forget it, you're too fat to feel the cold. Bring the charcoal over here," another guard chimed in, a tall and thin figure rubbing his hands together. "I swear, I'm never serving in this haunted place again. But my luck is bad, I can't get assigned to serve a good master, even to follow that little fart Ting Shu."

He cast a disdainful glance towards the room. "Both are better than here, day in and day out, warding off bad luck."

This place wasn't meant for anyone to serve; if not for newcomers entering the palace, both inside and out would have to be on high alert, unlikely to be assigned to the Shizi’s mansion. 

Outside was cold; the rain brought a chill, making the inside even colder. 

The wheelchair was freezing, almost icy. The young man inside the room had already turned pale from the cold. 

Ignoring the guards' conversation, he seemed to hear nothing, his dark lashes lowered as he toyed with a hair tie — something children often played with. Only this one was a tendon taken from the Nine-colored Deer, never decaying, even unburnable by the Phoenix fire. 

His silence piqued the guards' interest. The tall and thin guard deliberately turned the brazier and kicked in his direction.

"Is the Shizi cold? Want to come warm up by the fire?"

Gu Tingshuang raised his eyes slightly, squinting, his dark eyes calm and undisturbed.

The tall guard continued teasing, "Does the Shizi know what's happening today? The Wangye welcomes new arrivals, they say a scorpion's tail is like a stepmother's heart — I reckon your days won't be easy. You can warm up now, but if that wolf cub comes in again tonight and pees on the furniture, you'll have to wash it with ice water yourself."

The fat guard interjected, "I heard that Ning-gongzi is extremely handsome, descended from a Jiaoren and a phoenix, more beautiful than even the fox clan. Such a young beauty, serving as a stepmother at this age, doesn't sound good at all. The Wangye said to treat him as a 'benefactor,' but in reality, everything is set up like a grand wedding. Even the new chambers are in the late Wangfei’s former residence."

In that moment, the silent youth suddenly contracted his pupils, his gaze turning colder.

The two guards continued discussing today's newcomer, smiling ambiguously, and somewhat spitefully mentioning Gu Feiyin's "good fortune in love affairs." They continued on with talk such as Jioren were born with soft and delicate bodies, and they wondered aloud about "what it would be like to suck on one”…

Midway through their conversation, they abruptly stopped. Just now, still in disarray, they awkwardly stood up and looked towards the courtyard gate.

White umbrella, red clothing, the umbrella slightly tilted inward, revealing the face beneath.

An eleven or twelve-year-old child stood quietly in the light rain, holding hands with a young man.

He was slender and straight-backed, with fingers holding the umbrella as delicate as scallion roots. Pearls and jade adorned with golden hooks covered his silver-white hair, obscuring his brows and eyes.

They were unable to see clearly, so there was instead a hazy beauty that made one's heart skip a beat. 

Jiaoren had excellent hearing; the two guards in the courtyard were startled, uncertain if their words had been overheard. In an instant, they knelt down, cold sweat breaking out on their foreheads.

But Ning Shiting did not look in their direction.

His brows and eyes were veiled by the shroud, and from such a distance, he logically shouldn't have been able to see who was looking at him.

Yet Ting Shu stood beside him and faintly sensed that he was staring into the darkness within the room, where Gu Tingshuang concealed himself.

At the age of ten, the Shizi and his mother fell into a poisonous miasma. The Wangfei was unable to survive, and Gu Tingshuang’s rare celestial spiritual roots were wasted and he became confined to a wheelchair.

Gu Feiyin, already a flirtatious man, ignored his wife and children at home. Before the Wangfei’s death, it seemed she had already foreseen everything the child would face in the future, breaking ancestral rules and giving him the name "Yinbing."(3)

For ten years, Gu Tingshuang had been drinking ice, surviving in snow and darkness.

In the room, Gu Tingshuang seemed to keenly perceive something, lifting his eyes to look over.

At fourteen, the child was in darkness, while Ning Shiting stood in the light.

From such a distance, only the youth's eyes were visible, bright and wolf-like.

Foot Notes

1. 听书 (Tīng Shū), his name means “Listening Book”.

2. 世子 (shìzǐ) is the crown prince or the successor heir.

3. 饮冰 (Yǐnbīng) is literally "ice drinker".