GWID Chapter 51

Xingyi took a moment to calm himself down, then let out a cold laugh, grabbed the little bird and pinched him. “Did you get permission from the original author before copying their self-criticism letter?”

Little Phoenix froze for a moment, then quickly caught on. “Weijian, how do you know this is someone else’s self-criticism letter?”

Xingyi also froze for a moment, then hastily made up an excuse. “You told me yesterday that you’d be receiving a self-criticism letter from your little younger brother today. Given how slowly you write, do you expect me to believe you finished five hundred characters that quickly? Look at this — you’ve haphazardly cobbled together someone else’s work, and what were originally perfectly good sentences have become incoherent. Can you really face the person who put all that effort into writing it?”

Little Phoenix drooped his small head in dejection again. “Weijian, you’re really smart. I shouldn’t have called you stupid before — you still managed to catch this.”

Xingyi thought to himself that if he hadn’t personally written this self-criticism letter with his own hand, he might not have been able to tell.

Xingyi said, “You’ve gone too far this time, Little Yuan Yuan. Let me tell you — on a small scale, this is cutting corners and cheating, something only a bad little bird would do. On a larger scale, this is plagiarism, stealing someone else’s creative work. Do you understand? Think about it — if you had invested in Yue Lao and Great Phoenix’s creative business, everyone running their small operation on a modest budget selling at affordable prices, and then someone copied everything wholesale — changing your idol’s name from Phoenix Mingzun to Phoenix Qingzun, changing Yue Lao to Moon Exam, changing your name from Yuan Yuan to Quan Quan — and then used this patchwork counterfeit to swindle people at high prices, making everyone think the protagonist’s name was Quan Quan, that the one who married me was a little bird named Quan Quan — could you stand that?”

Little Phoenix was completely drawn in and listened with great indignation, slapping Xingyi’s chest with his claw. “Of course not!”

“Exactly.” Xingyi replied with satisfaction. “Sleep first tonight, and tomorrow come to court with me. You reflect on this yourself, and in the end write me a new self-criticism.”

Little Phoenix agreed dejectedly.

Xingyi held the little chubby bird and slept through the night. The next day he woke up early and poked the little chubby bird awake. “Get up, come with me to court.”

Little Phoenix kicked his little legs and reluctantly nuzzled against his neck. “Weijian, why do you wake up so early now? You’re not the Weijian I know anymore. My little bird wake-up service is useless now — I’m going to be out of a job.”

Xingyi picked him up and dropped him into the warm basin of water the celestial maidens had prepared. “Even if you wake me up, I’m not giving you extra food. Why are you working a job? Can’t you just be my Empress properly?”

Little Phoenix became alert and began bathing earnestly. He poked out his fluffy little head and earnestly told Xingyi about his entrepreneurial plans. “No I can’t. At the rate we’re paying people’s salaries, we can only keep it up for three thousand years at most. Sooner or later we need to save some money. Last time I spotted a prime piece of feng shui land…”

Xingyi listened to him chatter away while washing up, getting dressed, and changing into his court robes.

This was his first time attending court since returning from the Wangchuan. The reason was simply that around the time he and Little Phoenix had gone to Wangchuan, he had realized his cultivation could no longer suppress the Star Disc, and had since begun releasing his blood to suppress it. He had avoided court partly out of concern that his poor complexion would be noticed by Wenchang, Wuqu, and the Four Heavenly Pivots — star officials with profound cultivation.

But it was no long-term solution to keep avoiding it.

The azure bird notifying everyone of the court session had already flown off in all directions, and the bells of Fuli Palace had begun to ring. Xingyi urged Little Phoenix along, and Little Phoenix jumped out of the basin, shook his feathers dry, then flew to Xingyi’s fingertip and perched steadily.

Xingyi looked at him with a smile. “Not transforming into human form?”

Little Phoenix glanced at him and said somewhat awkwardly, “You’re going to court — it wouldn’t look right for me to be in human form.”

Xingyi pointed to the bandaged silk cloth on his wrist. “Then you’re not going to change your husband’s dressing?”

Little Phoenix extended the tip of his wing and carefully touched the wound, then jumped down with a thud and transformed into human form, then went pattering off to fetch the medicine. A moment later, Little Phoenix came back carrying a basin of warm water along with clean silk cloth and ointment, pulled Xingyi down to sit, leaned in close with head lowered, and carefully changed his dressing.

While doing so, he muttered, “Weijian, why does it feel like your wound has gotten deeper? Why isn’t it healing?”

Xingyi watched him. Little Phoenix kept his head lowered, showing only a dark swirl of hair at the crown and a few unruly strands sticking up.

He extended his other hand, dipped his fingertip in water, and smoothed down those few strands of hair on the top of his head. “It will heal soon. Little Phoenix, from now on I won’t use methods that harm myself to suppress the Star Disc.”

Little Phoenix looked up, a little surprised. “Really?” But then, as though he had thought of something, he frowned with worry. “But didn’t you say that suppressing the Star Disc requires releasing blood? What will happen to the Star Disc then… let’s see, could we use my blood? I’m a phoenix — phoenix blood is very precious. And since I’m a white-feathered phoenix, white-feathered phoenix blood is even more precious.”

He puffed out his chest, looking very proud.

Xingyi laughed. “Yes yes yes, you’re white-feathered — everyone else’s blood is red, but the white-feathered one’s is seven-colored, an especially rare thing.”

Little Phoenix glared at him. “Hmph, awful Weijian, I’m being serious.”

“I know.” Xingyi looked at him tenderly. “Little Yuan Yuan, your husband wants to ask you something.”

That gaze was different from usual. It was the look that only emerged after a decision had been made — stubborn, confident, and powerfully gentle and expansive. This was the first time Little Phoenix had ever seen Xingyi show such an expression as the Fuli Emperor. In this lifetime as he knew it, Xingyi had always been cold and casual, had never stirred himself for anything, excessively languid and careless.

That gaze made his heart start pounding.

Xingyi asked softly, “Little Yuan Yuan, if I were to tell you that one day I will no longer be able to suppress the Star Disc, that my power will gradually wane, and in the end I may become no different from a mortal — would you feel sad? Apart from my waning power, everything else would be unaffected. It would just mean I could no longer be as formidable as before.”

Little Phoenix thought about it. “I wouldn’t be sad. Why would I be sad? It’s not as if… it’s not as if I want to marry you because you’re wealthy, or a powerful fighter, or famous. I’m… I’m a poor phoenix either way.”

He snuck a glance at Xingyi. “Actually, I’m very much in favor of you retiring. What immortal stays in one position for tens of thousands of years and still isn’t allowed to retire? Even the underworld judges have rotated through four rounds. Once you retire, you can go into business with me, and we’ll have much more time together.”

Xingyi was taken aback. He hadn’t expected that this matter of his waning power would be so directly equated by this little chubby bird with the word “retirement.”

But… thinking about it, wasn’t that essentially right? Except for the problem that no one could take over after he retired.

Little Phoenix finished applying the medicine and neatly wrapped up the wound. “In the future I’ll be the boss and you’ll be the boss’s wife. Or you can be the boss and I’ll be the boss’s wife — either works. We’ll pay ourselves our own retirement pension. I know you officials always carry some air of authority — you feel uncomfortable if you go a day without ordering people around. In that case we can hire lots of people to work for us, pay salaries to poor little birds like me — that way we’d have the best of both worlds. Weijian, isn’t that a great idea? Maybe in the future we could even adopt Little Coal Ball and bring him home as our baby, if he’s willing… ah, I’m afraid he won’t be willing. Coal Ball finds it very hard to get close to people.”

He began chattering away again about the future plans he’d mapped out. As Xingyi listened, all that long-suppressed stubbornness weighing on his heart suddenly vanished like smoke. It was as if a lock in his heart clicked open, releasing something, bringing into the sunlight all the things he had once locked away — vividly alive and leaping about.

He had held it high, and now, just like this little chubby bird, he gently set it down.

He looked at Little Phoenix’s profile tilted downward, looked at his earnest gaze, breathed in the warm fragrance of bamboo leaves in his breath — and in that very instant, something seemed to sound from deep within his flesh and bones —

Thump.

Thump thump.

He shuddered violently, as though something inside him had awakened and was growing, then faded away again in a moment. But in just that brief instant, he was left somewhat at a loss by the strange sensation.

Little Phoenix finished tending to his wound and pulled him to his feet. “Alright, Weijian, I’ll turn back into a little bird — you hurry to court.”

The snow-white little bird settled on his shoulder once more. Xingyi slowly came back to his senses and let out a long breath. “Let’s go.”

****

Today’s court session was different from usual. The biggest change was that Po Jun Star had arrived.

But just as Xingyi had brought a little bird and Tanlang had also brought his Golden-Winged Bird along, Po Jun Star had a rabbit tucked into his sleeve. The scene had practically turned into a small animals’ tea party, but no one dared say a word.

Xingyi listened to several star officials report in turn and began handling court affairs according to procedure. Little Phoenix initially stood on his shoulder, but then rolled around and jumped onto Xingyi’s knee, boredly tumbling about.

Xingyi would idly stroke his belly with a fingertip every now and then. After a while, Little Phoenix had been stroked enough and rolled off his knee, beginning to wander around and peek at things curiously. Because he was so small, he attracted little attention. The star officials had seen him many times by now and knew he was just a lively little bird, so even when he did his weight-loss exercises in the great hall, no one bothered him.

After sliding down Xingyi’s armrest a few times, Little Phoenix set his sights on the empty chair beside Xingyi — positioned just a tiny bit lower than Xingyi’s seat, but equally magnificent and grand.

Little Phoenix knew that was the Empress’s seat.

He had taken a liking to that smooth surface, and also harbored a small private wish. Little Phoenix thought of the wish he had made to Little Coal Ball, and began to stir with eagerness.

He watched Xingyi’s expression while stealthily slipping over to it.

Xingyi glanced at Little Phoenix, then continued listening to the star official below the steps reporting on court affairs.

Those below watched the little chubby bird dart to the Empress’s seat, and a wave of sharp intakes of breath swept through them.

Outside of Fuli Palace, aside from the palace attendants within, there were actually not many people who genuinely believed the Fuli Emperor would take a little bird as his Empress. Romantic gossip was one thing, and the book written by Yue Lao and Phoenix Mingzun was a bestseller — but everyone was perfectly clear: tabloid news need not be taken seriously.

After all, they all knew what kind of ice-cold temperament the one up there had. Even if the little bird in human form was devastatingly beautiful, even if the Emperor had been captivated by beauty for a period — what of it?

For Xingyi to be moved was like an iron tree blooming.

This little bird was also far too ignorant of the heights of heaven — actually daring to climb onto the Empress’s seat! Even if it was just climbing up in original form, that was still an act of grave disrespect!

Those below dared not breathe a word. Xingyi also remained silent. Only Little Phoenix, after looking around, obliviously detected nothing unusual, and happily proceeded to jump into his weight-loss exercises.

After finishing, Little Phoenix was breathless with exhaustion, so he squatted down to rest, and as usual refused to leave that seat. Xingyi finished hearing one star official’s report, casually wrote something at his desk, then gestured for the next one to come forward.

But the next star official due to report suddenly couldn’t find his memorial. He patted himself down for a long while, insisting he had brought it into the hall, so everyone began looking left and right, searching for it.

The court session thus entered a brief intermission, and the murmur of voices grew louder.

Xingyi’s thoughts wandered idly. Others were distracted, and so was he. He glanced at Little Phoenix squatting there catching his breath, and laughed. “Smooth slippery chair — doesn’t it hurt your claws to grip it?”

His voice was neither too loud nor too soft. Because of his elevated position, it carried just enough to be heard by everyone in the great hall.

Little Phoenix froze, not daring to move a muscle, just crouching there staring at him, blinking his little bead-like eyes.

Xingyi reached over and with casual ease cast a transformation spell, directly changing him into human form. “Sit properly, listen carefully to what’s being said, and learn something. In the future you’ll be assisting me in governing — you can’t keep being this willful.”

Little Phoenix was caught completely off guard by the transformation, and leaned against the Empress’s seat — stunned.

Everyone else was stunned too. The star official who had been searching for his memorial found it had been left beside the fruit plate, but he didn’t dare move a muscle.

Xingyi cleared his throat and said calmly, “Since everyone happens to be free right now, I’ll take the opportunity to make an announcement. In one month it will be my birthday. Although I cannot recall how old I am, I sincerely invite all immortal colleagues to come attend the banquet. In gratitude for everyone’s care and support of Fuli Palace in recent years, my Empress and I will personally host this birthday celebration.”

After saying this, he casually ruffled Little Phoenix’s head.

Little Phoenix continued to be stunned, making no response.

After quite a long while, Little Phoenix finally came to his senses and transmitted to him through secret arts. “Wei… Weijian, why did you announce it right now? This… this isn’t good for you… I mean, people will all think you’ve lost your head over beauty, that you’re an absurd ruler.”

Xingyi replied, “Bringing a little bird to court might be absurd, but bringing my Empress to court is not. You are my Empress. What is there that can’t be told to others?”

Little Phoenix looked at him, opened his mouth several times as if to speak, and finally closed it each time. In the end he just broke into a silly smile.

“Then I… I will earnestly fulfill my role as your Empress, Weijian.” After a long moment, Little Phoenix said softly.

Xingyi heard his words, but then suddenly said, “No need to be earnest. You should know the difference between words said for show and words from the heart. Yuan Yuan, I take back what I just said.”

Words said for show?

Take back?

Little Phoenix let out an “ah,” disappointment immediately filling his eyes. His heart leapt to his throat, and before he’d even received an answer, tears were threatening to spill out against his will. “For… for show? So it wasn’t a public announcement? Then you… then take it back. I’m sorry, Weijian, I thought you were speaking the truth.”

All the joy vanished in an instant. He turned his gaze away in grievance, refusing to look at him.

Xingyi looked at him with a smile. “It’s true. What I’m taking back is what I said about you not being allowed to be willful anymore. My Empress is allowed to be willful. I hope you can always be exactly as you are now, Little Yuan Yuan.”