Chapter 30

30 PRETTIER THAN THE JADE

“You are even prettier than any jade in this world, Your Highness. No wonder both women and men are crazy about you.”

Bai Chen could hear Ma Qiao continuing to speak behind him, and he almost snorted when the old servant said that even women were crazy about him. ‘What’s so good about women going crazy over me when I’m gay in this world?’ He regretted his heart.

Bai Chen had often watched ancient dramas in his previous life, and the girls who wore beautiful hanfu looked very gorgeous and elegant in his eyes. He went on a trip to the human empire yesterday, and the girls wearing hanfu were indeed the prettiest. But still, he could only admire their beauty from afar without being able to touch them.

Ma Qiao kept rambling behind him without noticing his sulky expression. He was sitting on the chair with the mirror on the table, and he could see his reflection with Ma Qiao behind him busy combing his long hair.

No one had ever called him pretty when he was in his previous life. Even his mother never said that he was beautiful. His mother always said that he was handsome, and that was the doctrine that he instilled in his heart at all times.

But now when he looked at his reflection in the mirror, he could see how small his face was, and with the fine brown hair that grew so long down his back, he somehow admitted that he was beautiful.

It was morning, and after taking a warm bath, Ma Qiao was in charge of helping him dress as usual. Bai Chen couldn’t help but think that Ma Qiao was one of the most talented people he had ever met. The servant could help him get dressed, could even apply powder on his face to make his face shine brighter, and could even style his hair like a professional hairdresser.

‘No wonder the real Bai Chen of this world trusts this servant to help him with anything,’ he thought. It was a pity because he couldn’t enjoy the gentle touch of the young maids, but even Ma Qiao’s rough palm was of great use to him, and he couldn’t complain about it.

“You are indeed beautiful, and I wonder why you chose to be with ugly Zhu Ge last night, Your Highness.”

.....

Bai Chen had intended to ignore his servant’s ramblings, but the mention of ‘Zhu Ge’ was enough to grab his attention. “You think Zhu Ge is ugly?” There were many things in his head, and he cursed himself when that question was the one that left his lips.

‘Shit! Why should I care about my servant calling that prostitute ugly?’ He scolded himself inwardly. He should have responded with another sentence, but his brain was too careless as it failed to sift through the words.

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“You don’t think the prostitute is ugly, Your Highness?” Ma Qiao asked back instead of answering the Prince’s question. “I know you like tall and sexy men the most, but I think Zhu Ge will only look good if he doesn’t have an ugly head. Don’t you think so, Your Highness?”

Bai Chen almost choked on his saliva. Ignoring the new information about how the real Bai Chen in this world liked tall and sexy men the most, Bai Chen focused more on Ma Qiao’s other sentence. The image of the headless Zhu Ge flashed through his mind, and he thought that it was as scary as in horror movies.

“But, Your Highness...” the servant suddenly whispered behind him. “You called Zhu Ge to go to the bathroom with you yesterday, so you did it with him in the bathroom, didn’t you? I’m surprised that you two didn’t break the old tub in the bathroom.”

The servant wasn’t really wrong because Bai Chen and Zhu Ge were indeed doing something in the bathroom, so Bai Chen didn’t clarify anything. Instead, he thought that he had just gotten teasing material as he replied, “You know that the tub in the bathroom is old, so you better get a new one so that Zhu Ge and I won’t break it if we want to have more exercise in the bathroom.”

Bai Chen thought that he had finally managed to bully his servant, but the said servant only reacted with an “Ah” before replying, “So, you and Zhu Ge only worked out in the bathroom, Your Majesty? What exercise did you do in the bathroom? Did you do Tai Chi[1]?”

“...” Bai Chen knew that he shouldn’t have joked around with old people.

It was Bai Chen who felt that he was being bullied, so he chose to keep his lips thin as he had no desire to speak anymore.

Meanwhile, Ma Qiao didn’t seem to notice the awful mood of the Prince as he spoke again, “Before I forget, I must inform you that His Majesty invited you to the Imperial Court today, Your Highness. He said that he would announce something today, so you should come to the court.”

Bai Chen’s body stiffened. Even if Ma Qiao only mentioned the words ‘His Majesty,’ he knew that it was the Emperor that the servant was talking about. Just last night he had been thinking about the other royal families in the empire, but the servant suddenly informed him that he had to see the Emperor today.

In his previous life, Bai Chen had never even seen the president in person, but now he had to meet the Emperor of the empire with his identity as a Prince.

“What kind of announcement will His Majesty make today?” The Prince finally replied after he was silent for a while.

“I don’t know about that, Your Highness,” replied the servant after placing the comb on the table. “But he also invited all the officials as well as the Crown Prince, so I think it’s important.”

Bai Lang was very stingy, so Bai Chen didn’t know much about the royal family. He knew that this empire was ruled by an Emperor, but he knew no one but the Emperor. When he heard his servant mention the ‘Crown Prince,’ he could only think that the Crown Prince was his elder brother as it was usually the eldest son in the empire who could become the Crown Prince.

His tongue was itching because he wanted to dig up more information from Ma Qiao, but he was worried that the servant would be suspicious of him if he asked too much.

Hence, Bai Chen simply nodded his head before getting up from his seat. “Let’s go to the Imperial Palace,” he said to the servant, and the servant nodded at him in response.

Walking towards the door with the servant following behind him, Bai Chen then opened the door of the Jing Pavilion only to be shocked by the scene in front of him. There, right in front of the door that had just been opened, Zhu Ge stood like a statue before finally smiling at him.

Bai Chen had almost forgotten that Zhu Ge had spent the night in his palace last night, and now he was shocked when he saw the man in the morning.

“Good morning, Your Highness. Are you going somewhere?”

He could hear the black-haired man asking the question, but instead of answering right away, Bai Chen frowned before walking over to the man. Stopping right in front of the man, he then tiptoed slightly before extending his hand over the man’s head.

Zhu Ge was taken aback by the sudden movement, and he didn’t say anything until Bai Chen stopped tiptoeing and pulled his hand away from his head.

“It’s a cobweb, right?” Bai Chen asked with his eyes focused on the object in his hand. Bringing his eyes to scan the man’s body, he could see that the man’s white clothes were also dirty. “Where did you sleep last night? Why is your head full of cobwebs and your clothes full of dirt?”

Bai Chen was confused when he saw Zhu Ge’s previously neat and clean look. However, instead of directly answering the question, Zhu Ge suddenly glanced behind Bai Chen’s body. The movement confused Bai Chen, and he finally turned his head back only to find Ma Qiao showing a nervous expression on his wrinkled face.

Bai Chen could tell something was wrong, so he turned around before questioning the male servant, “I asked you to prepare a room for Zhu Ge to sleep in, so what kind of room did you prepare for him last night?”

The previously outspoken and brave servant suddenly looked anxious, and Bai Chen was more suspicious of the man. However, he didn’t urge the man to answer his question and just patiently waited for whatever answer the man would give him.

Bai Chen waited and waited until finally, the servant suddenly knelt and replied, “Please forgive me, Your Highness! I asked Zhu Ge to sleep in the storehouse last night!”

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[1] Tai Chi: an ancient Chinese martial art that was designed for self-defense and to promote inner peace.