Heaven Official's Blessing Chapter 61-70
Ch.61: Lost Red Pearl; Inadvertent Eyes Red with Desire 2
Xie Lian pulled at his earlobes, “One of the earrings is gone.”
The people of Xianle believed that the pinnacle of cultivation was the harmony of ‘yin
and yang’, the unity of male and female. The form of the gods were ever-changing, and
naturally unbound by gender restrictions, shifting to men or women as they will. Thus,
this belief was woven into the design of the God-Pleasing costume. Throughout history,
every God-Pleasing Martial Warrior had donned adornments and accessories that
possessed the form and details of both sexes, such as earrings, bracelets, etc. When
Xie Lian was preparing for the role, he pierced his ears and put on a pair of earrings.
It was a pair of brilliantly deep red coral pearls, lustrous and smooth, radiant and
opulent, rare and sublime. However, when Xie Lian was minding his hair just then, only
one of the pair of red coral pearls was left.
The moment he said it was lost, Mu Qing’s relaxed expression froze again, but the other
two did not notice at all. Feng Xin looked all over the chamber first, inside and out, but
returned empty handed. “You’re so scatterbrained, even something worn on your ears
can be lost. I didn’t find it in the Pavilion of Xianle, so I’ll go out and look on the roads.
Pray to the heavens you didn’t lose it during the parade.”
Xie Lian was puzzled too, but didn’t care for it much, “Maybe. If that’s the case then
there’d be no way you’d find it. If it’s lost, it’s lost.”
Mu Qing on the other hand, brought out the broom he usually used to sweep and said
quietly, “That pearl is too precious; we should at least try and look. Maybe it rolled under
the bed or a shelf.” He then started sweeping, and Xie Lian responded, “Then why don’t
we call for a few more hands to help?”
“Crowds get handsy. We don’t want people sneaking it in their pockets before we found
anything.” Feng Xin said offhandedly.
Mu Qing was quietly checking under the bed, but when he heard Feng Xin’s words, he
halted, rose to his feet in a fit, and CRACK, the broom in his hands broke into two. Xie
Lian was startled.
Ever since they left the Great Martial Hall, Feng Xin was filled with complaints about Mu
Qing, but the words never left his lips. Now that he saw Mu Qing blew up first, he got
angry too, “What are you doing, breaking things so suddenly? Who pissed you off
now?”
Mu Qing replied coldly, “Why don’t you tell me straight what it is you want to say, instead
of casting shadows where there are none? I have nothing to do with the lost pearl.”
Feng Xin had always been a straightforward individual, and this was the first time
hearing someone accuse him of ‘casting shadows where there are none’, and puffed a
laugh from anger, “Why don’t you tell that to yourself! What did I say? I didn’t say you
stole it, but you got all flustered. What, feeling guilty?”
Xie Lian broke out of his shock and sat up on the bed, feeling dread, “Feng Xin, that’s
enough!”
A few veins popped instantly on Mu Qing’s forehead. Feng Xin really didn’t think much
of it, and asked in confusion, “What?”
It really wasn’t the right time for Xie Lian to explain, so he could only try and pacify Mu
Qing, “Don’t misunderstand, Feng Xin’s comments were offhanded, he wasn’t directing
them at you.”
Mu Qing’s clenched his fists tight then loosened, but at last did not continue to blow up.
However his eyes were growing red, and he turned to Xie Lian, enunciating each word
as he stared at him, “You... don’t keep your promises.”
“No! You’re wrong!” Xie Lian cried.
Mu Qing closed his mouth and inhaled a few times, threw a furious stink eye at Feng
Xin, then without another word, ran out the door. Xie Lian jumped off the bed and was
about to give chase, but was stopped in midstep.
“Your Highness, you haven’t even put on shoes! It’d be a disgrace going out with your
hair down and in a mess!”
“Help me stop him!” Xie Lian ordered.
“At least put on your shoes first and tie up your hair.” Feng Xin said, “And leave him be.
He’s always weird like this, who knows what nerve we touched now, going mental out of
the blue.”
Mu Qing was long gone by then and Xie Lian saw he wouldn’t be able to catch up, so
instead he grabbed for a hair tie to fasten his hair in a rush, “He wasn’t going mental,
you just accidentally said the wrong thing.”
Feng Xin brought out Xie Lian’s usual white training garb from the closet and threw it at
him, “What did I say wrong?”
Xie Lian replied as he slipped on his boots, “I can’t tell you. Anyway come with me to go
find him, and tell him it was all a misunderstanding, and that you weren’t accusing him
of anything,”
Feng Xin frowned, “What is there you can’t tell me?”
Xie Lian’s lips were sealed tight. Feng Xin was becoming more suspicious, and thought
back on Mu Qing’s furious expression, and spoke up suddenly, “He didn’t actually steal
from you before, did he?”
Xie Lian immediately waved vigorously, “No! No!”
Seeing him like this, Feng Xin was even more sure. “So that’s it! No wonder his temper
flared, it’s because he was guilty! So when did he steal?”
“Not so loud!” Xie Lian hushed anxiously.
Feng Xin lowered his voice, “Something like this happened and you didn’t tell me?! Tell
me now!”
Xie Lian saw that Feng Xin was already suspicious, if he continued to lie then it’d be
found out either way, so he had to relent woefully, “It doesn’t really count as stealing,
but... sigh, I’ll start from the beginning. You remember, right? Two years ago when I first
entered the Royal Holy Pavilion, there was once I lost a leaf of gold foil?”
Hearing this, Feng Xin’s eyes widened and he slapped his thigh, “THAT TIME?!”
Three years ago, Xie Lian begged and pleaded in all manners of ways until finally his
parents relented and permitted him to enter the Royal Holy Pavilion for training before
the age of twenty. A year later the Pavilion of Xianle completed construction. Xie Lian
could at last move in and he did so in great excitement.
When Xie Lian first moved in, he really didn’t bring a lot with him. Only two carriages full
of books, and two hundred treasured swords. But the queen loved her son dearly and
was afraid the training life would be too quiet and boring, so later she ordered for twenty
servants and four large carriages full of trinkets that the Crown Prince loved to be sent
to Mount Taicang, the mounting caravans impressive and dramatic. Included in this was
a set of the one hundred and eight leaves that make up the Golden Foil Palace.
Building a palace out of golden foils was a popular game enjoyed by the Xianle nobility.
At the time, to have so much luxury enter the mountain caused a small wave of
complaints. The Royal Holy Pavilion comprised of serious cultivators who weren’t quite
familiar with the prince’s character just yet, and although they couldn’t say much
publicly, behind his back there was much chatter: did His Highness the Crown Prince
come to train, or did he come play? What can this son of the royal family cultivate if he
only came for fun?
When Feng Xin heard those grievances, he had the mind to dispute them but Xie Lian
told him not to worry about it and smiled, “It’s only natural they should think that way.
They’ll know after a while that I’m not here to play games, and also, who’s the number
one in this generation of trainees.”
However, not long after, something happened.
Xie Lian was trying to send away as much of the four large carriages and servants the
queen gifted him as possible, but when he counted inventory, he found that in the one
hundred and eight leaves of gold foils one was missing.
That set of gold foils were packed in the carriages, and once at Mount Taicang it had
never left the Pavilion of Xianle. If it wasn’t lost on the road, then it was stolen. Nothing
was found on the road, so Xie LIan brought it up offhandedly to the Guoshi. However,
when the Guoshi thought it might have been stolen, he became enraged at the idea that
someone within the Royal Holy Pavilion would commit this crime under the allurement
of golden foils, so he was determined to recovered the golden leaf no matter what. If it
should be found on the person of anyone, the punishment would be utmostly severe.
Thus, all three thousand and more disciples of the entire Mount Taicang stopped what
they were doing, got dragged into forming teams to search room after room, chamber
after chamber of every single training hall.
It was a huge fanfare, tiring out everyone, yet unexpectedly, halfway through the search
Xie Lian suddenly corrected himself, apologized for causing everyone trouble, and said
he suddenly remembered that he seemed to have already lost a leaf from that set of