Ye Jisheng lowered his gaze to the person before him.
Jian Zhen waited a little while and asked in confusion, “Why aren’t you hugging me?”
Ye Jisheng placed the items in his hands into Jian Zhen’s arms. “Here.”
Jian Zhen blinked blankly. “Why are you giving me these?”
“Aren’t you unhappy because of these?” Ye Jisheng lifted his hand slightly. “They’re all yours.”
Jian Zhen: “……”
He wasn’t unhappy because he didn’t get gifts!
The little grass puffed up angrily.
But seeing the exquisite little gifts in his arms, his mood improved again. If you don’t take them, you’d be a fool, why get angry with a big idiot?
It had rained yesterday in the town, and today could be described as filled with joy. However, the villagers had not slackened because of the rain. On the contrary, they felt excitement and motivation. Many villagers took advantage of the moist, softened ground after the rain to begin reclaiming fields and hoeing the land. Water storage channels were also being built. Everyone was tense and busy.
On the way back, Jian Zhen saw a household where a woman was bidding farewell to a man preparing to go out to work.
The farmer said, “Wife, the roads are slippery in the rain. Go back inside quickly. You’re with child, be careful not to catch cold in the wind.”
The woman smiled and said, “Am I really that delicate?”
When the old man and the others passed by and saw this scene, they even stopped to praise, “Old Wang really dotes on his wife!”
The honest farmer seemed a little embarrassed and smiled.
After the group dispersed noisily, Jian Zhen and Ye Jisheng also returned to the residence. After walking such a large circle, it had been time- and energy-consuming. When Jian Zhen came back, he felt his feet were somewhat sore and swollen, so he sat on the couch to rest.
The steward came over and said, “Breakfast is ready. Shall it be brought to Master and Lord?”
Jian Zhen had not yet answered.
Ye Jisheng spoke first, “He can’t eat cold food. Warm it before bringing it.”
The steward immediately agreed.
The steward chimed in from the side, “Master truly dotes on Madam. It makes people envious. I’ve seen many husbands who love their wives, but one like Master is rare.”
Ye Jisheng had no particular reaction. The Demon God had never liked people around him. He lifted his hand lightly and said, “All of you, leave.”
The others naturally did not dare complain and hurriedly withdrew.
Jian Zhen, sitting on the couch, watched them leave. He suddenly thought of the scene he had seen that morning. Then his dark eyes turned to Ye Jisheng, full of inquiry.
Ye Jisheng turned his head and met his probing gaze, raising a brow. “What?”
Jian Zhen said, “Are you good to me because I’m carrying your child? Is that why you’re good to me?”
Ye Jisheng seemed to have heard a joke. He said, “Is your brain broken?”
Jian Zhen puffed up angrily. His voice was soft and lacked momentum as he retorted, “Yours is broken! My brain isn’t broken!”
“When you weren’t carrying a child, did this Venerable ever treat you harshly?” Ye Jisheng said lightly. “What connection do these two things have?”
Jian Zhen’s mind slowly turned, and he felt Ye Jisheng seemed right. Back when he was a little blade of grass, all kinds of heavenly treasures and expensive flowerpots had been given to him.
Sure enough, there was nothing to doubt.
Jian Zhen suddenly looked at Ye Jisheng and said, “Th-then, do you like the baby?”
Ye Jisheng said, “Do you want to hear the truth?”
At noon, sunlight poured into the courtyard and fell upon the two of them, yet there was no warmth, even a trace of coolness. The Demon God sat lazily in his chair, noble and elegant.
Jian Zhen nodded honestly. “Yes.”
Ye Jisheng said, “In the past, this Venerable never intended to have offspring.”
Jian Zhen froze. He thought of how the Immortal Lord and the people of the Three Realms feared the birth of the little Demon God so much, guarding against it at every turn, even going so far as to act against his child. Yet in the end, the Demon God himself had never intended to have descendants from the beginning.
For a moment, Jian Zhen’s mood was complicated. He asked in confusion, “Why?”
Ye Jisheng said, “It is enough for all this to end with this Lord. There is no need for it to continue.”
Jian Zhen did not quite understand. But when he looked at Ye Jisheng, he could only see his cool side profile. The blazing sunlight fell upon him yet only cast a chill. Though he often smiled, inexplicably, Jian Zhen felt he was not happy. Just as Ye Jisheng was most skilled in using fire, yet what surrounded him all year round was coldness.
Ye Jisheng glanced sideways and said, “However, now that there is one, this Lord feels that having one seems not bad either.”
Jian Zhen said, “Why? Have you changed your mind?”
Ye Jisheng said, “I never changed it.”
The little grass felt somewhat confused.
Yet layers of amusement colored Ye Jisheng’s eyes as he said leisurely, “After all, those old fellows in the Demon Realm have always hoped that this Lord would leave them a more powerful, more cruel innate divine body Demon Lord. But now that this child’s birth father is you, it is destined not to be as they wish. Thinking of those old fellows’ plans coming to nothing makes this Venerable quite pleased.”
As expected of you, big boss.
Jian Zhen puffed up angrily. “So that’s the only reason.”
Ye Jisheng raised a brow. “Because this child is your child, this Venerable is willing to accept it. Other than that reason, what else could there be?”
Jian Zhen paused and fell silent.
In truth, the reason the little grass was silent was not because of anything else, but because he felt a trace of happiness.
He did not know why he was happy, but he simply was. It had no clear cause. He was happy because Ye Jisheng liked him and their child; happy because Ye Jisheng held him.
Seeing him silent, Ye Jisheng said, “What, is there a problem?”
“No.” Jian Zhen lifted his eyes. “I have no problem now.”
Ye Jisheng: “……”
It was rare for the Demon God to fall silent.
Fortunately, the steward’s arrival broke the silence. After the steward brought the meal, Jian Zhen ate a little. Lately he had been extremely drowsy; after eating, he dozed on the couch.
In the days after the rain, before long, another shower fell upon the town.
The villagers were overjoyed.
On the open ground south of the city, a temple for Ye Jisheng was truly built. And during these days, Jian Zhen could gradually feel that Ye Jisheng’s complexion was no longer so pale. He was no longer always languid; there was somewhat more vitality in him.
These days Jian Zhen simply wandered about the residence and the town.
The old man’s son, Xu Changyou, became good friends with him. When they had nothing to do, the two would gather together to chat and pass the time.
Xu Changyou said, “In a couple of days it will be our town’s Qiao Festival. Will you and your husband go have some fun together?”
Jian Zhen was lying on the table playing with a tassel knot. Hearing this, he sat up and said, “What’s that?”
“As for the Qiao Festival, it’s actually a matchmaking festival.” Xu Changyou trimmed the withered branches in the courtyard as he spoke. “At first it was the favorite festival of unmarried young ladies and gentlemen. If both sides fancied each other and, after getting along, still liked each other, they would exchange tokens to express their feelings. Later on, even those already married would take part. During Qiao Festival, husband and wife prepare gifts for each other to express their affection.”
Jian Zhen propped his chin up with one hand and said, “What counts as liking someone?”
In the past, when he was in the modern world, his health had been poor. He had been bedridden all year round and rarely had contact with the outside world, so he didn’t really understand matters of love and romance.
Xu Changyou was stunned. He said, “You and your husband are so loving, and you still don’t know what liking is?”
Jian Zhen: “……”
Little Grass is innocently dead!!!
He hasn’t even been in a relationship before, where would a husband come from?!
Wasn’t that all just a fabricated identity to fool people?!
Jian Zhen felt a little guilty, but still said, “I, I and my husband were married by our parents’ arrangement…”
Xu Changyou instantly understood. His gaze even carried a bit of envy. “Brother Jian, your fate is really too good, isn’t it? Your husband is good-looking and considerate. Not only is he wealthy, he’s also capable. That’s probably a blessing you cultivated over two lifetimes!”
Jian Zhen thought about it and said to himself that he really had lived two lifetimes.
He just didn’t know whether that counted as being right.
Jian Zhen propped his chin up and said, “But you still haven’t said, what kind of thing counts as liking?”
Xu Changyou put down the dead branch in his hand and said, “This question, if you ask me, it’s actually very simple. When you’re with him, you feel very happy. When he treats you well, you also want to treat him well. If you can’t see him, you’ll miss him. If he gets close to other people, you’ll be unhappy. And of course, there’s the most important point.”
Jian Zhen asked, “What?”
Xu Changyou said with a smile, “You’ll worry about whether he likes you or not.”
Little Grass was starting to break out in a cold sweat.
It somehow felt like every single thing Xu Changyou said hit a little too close to home. After seriously thinking it over, Jian Zhen finally vaguely and indistinctly felt that he might have touched upon something.
Seeing him troubled, Xu Changyou took the initiative and said, “If you’re not sure, why don’t you test him a little?”
Jian Zhen’s eyes lit up. He asked, “Test what?”
Xu Changyou leaned closer and said, “During the Qiao Festival, everyone exchanges gifts to express their feelings. What are you good at: calligraphy, painting, or poetry?”
Jian Zhen shook his head and honestly said, “Not good at any of them.”
Xu Changyou: “……”
Sometimes he also felt quite helpless.
After thinking carefully for a while, Xu Changyou decided to retreat in order to advance and said, “There are still quite a few days left anyway. Why don’t you pick something simple and learn it?”
Jian Zhen was full of interest. His fair little face was filled with seriousness. “Okay!”
Night.
The lamp in the bedroom was lit.
When the Demon Lord, who had been cultivating and healing his injuries, returned from outside and pushed open the door, he saw Little Grass painting seriously under the candlelight. Jian Zhen, sitting at the table draped in a light green outer robe, held an ink brush. His pale hand was as beautiful as brocade. When he saw Ye Jisheng come over, he was startled, and the brush tip spread a layer of ink across the paper, rich blossoms blooming.
Seeing Little Grass act so guiltily, Ye Jisheng raised an eyebrow and said calmly, “What are you doing?”
Jian Zhen said, “Painting.”
Ye Jisheng found it strange. He said, “Not sleeping?”
Jian Zhen puffed up angrily. Little Grass tried hard to regain some dignity for himself. “Am I the kind of person who only knows how to eat besides sleeping?!”
Ye Jisheng looked at him silently.
Jian Zhen felt guilty again. It seemed… it seemed he really had no way to refute that. Usually, he didn’t have any other hobbies. When Ye Jisheng was in seclusion healing, he was indeed sleeping.
But!
From now on, he was going to let Ye Jisheng know that he was not such a simple Little Grass!
Jian Zhen took out the painting he had made and handed it over like presenting a treasure. “Look at the painting I made.”
Ye Jisheng took it.
Jian Zhen felt a little nervous. Xu Changyou had told him to test him so did he see the meaning he wanted to express? He had studied this painting for a whole day. He should be able to understand it, right…
Sure enough.
Ye Jisheng raised an eyebrow and looked at the two figures smeared into a lump on the paper. He said, “What you painted, are these two chickens?”
Jian Zhen: “…No.”
Ye Jisheng seemed intrigued. “Northern Nether Demon Birds.”
Jian Zhen: “……”
Those were mandarin ducks!!! Mandarin ducks!!
Seeing him not speaking, Ye Jisheng put down the painting and said, “Actually, I do think you indeed have talent for painting.”
Jian Zhen finally perked up a little. His eyes brightened. “Really? Where?”
“These sharp strokes here, and here, the perfectly placed ink marks, are all the posture of Northern Nether Demon Birds in their frenzy.” Ye Jisheng commented leisurely, “Lifelike. Not bad.”
Jian Zhen snatched back the painting, turned around, and went back to bed.
Little Grass is sulking!
Ye Jisheng said, “Not painting anymore?”
Jian Zhen pulled the blanket over his head and said, “I’m sleepy.”
The room fell quiet.
Originally, Jian Zhen was only making a fuss casually. Hearing no movement outside, he gently lifted the blanket and peeked out, just in time to see Ye Jisheng painting under the candlelight. With ink-black hair and dark robes, the flickering candlelight set off his handsome features. He looked like a graceful young nobleman, elegant and distinguished.
Jian Zhen asked curiously, “What are you painting?”
Ye Jisheng put brush to ink and said, “Painting.”
Jian Zhen grew interested. He took small steps off the bed, walked to the table, and by the candlelight saw clearly the painting above. Based on his two little ink-colored mandarin ducks, Ye Jisheng had lightly sketched a few strokes of mountains and water, following the traces of ink to redraw the entire painting into something lively. The two little mandarin ducks also became bright-eyed and spirited, full of vigor.
Jian Zhen couldn’t help saying, “It looks so good!”
Ye Jisheng said, “It’s for you.”
Jian Zhen happily said, “Okay!”
The smile at the corner of his mouth hadn’t even finished forming when he suddenly froze.
Wait!
Wasn’t he supposed to be giving him a gift for the Qiao Festival? How did it completely reverse like this and turn into him giving him a gift instead?!
Seeing that Jian Zhen didn’t respond, Ye Jisheng said, “Don’t like it?”
Afraid he would take the painting away, Jian Zhen quickly put it away and said, “It’s not that I don’t like it. When I take it back, I’ll have it mounted and hang it up. But why did you suddenly think of helping me revise the painting?”
“Oh, that.” Ye Jisheng slowly withdrew his hand and sat down in the chair. The Demon Lord raised his eyes to look at him and said, “I guessed you were going to take all these paintings back anyway, so naturally they had to be revised a bit so that when the child is born, he won’t think his royal father and father are both people who like painting Northern Nether Demon Birds.”
Jian Zhen: “……”
He wanted to smash the painting in his face.
The next day
Today was the Qiao Festival.
Ever since his painting attempt had failed, Jian Zhen had been somewhat listless. Little Grass, whose attempt at testing had failed, had sunk into self-abandonment and was ready to say goodbye to this festival.
Unexpectedly…
In the afternoon, Ye Jisheng returned from outside. He said to Jian Zhen, “Tidy up. Later tonight there will be a night market in town. I’ll take you out for a stroll.”
Jian Zhen was surprised. “Don’t you dislike lively occasions like that?”
Ye Jisheng smiled. “If you don’t go out again, you’re going to grow mushrooms in the residence.”
Jian Zhen blinked innocently. Could it be that his recent self-abandonment had been that obvious? He had only been a bit pickier with food than usual and liked kicking people more at night, that’s all!
But being able to go out shopping was certainly good.
These past days, Ye Jisheng had been in seclusion cultivating to repair his divine soul. The two of them had rarely gone out together.
Outside was very lively.
After Muyu Town regained rainfall, over the past two months more and more livelihoods had gradually returned. In addition, the imperial court had allocated quite a bit of funding. This was also the first large-scale festival celebration since the town’s revival, so it was naturally livelier than usual. There were many more stalls coming and going on the streets, and some goods woven with colorful cords that weren’t usually seen.
Jian Zhen weaved through the crowd and sighed, “It’s so lively.”
He wandered around and almost bumped into someone.
An arm was pulled, and Ye Jisheng drew him back to his side, saying calmly, “Don’t run around.”
Still shaken, Jian Zhen subconsciously touched his stomach. He was already seven months along now. Although he was rather thin and his belly didn’t look that big, he still had to be more careful.
Vendors on both sides were calling out:
“Candy, roasted pulled sugar!”
“Selling red-cord dolls!”
“Newly woven red-cord locks!”
Jian Zhen looked over and saw the locks and little dolls woven from red cord on the stalls. He remembered that Xu Changyou had once told him that during the Qiao Festival, people who had feelings for each other would give these to one another. The woven dolls were vivid and especially cute.
Originally, he had been very interested in buying one.
But when he thought about how his mandarin ducks had been mistaken for demon birds, he felt very angry!
Forget it, forget it.
A good blade of grass does not fight a demon. As a great blade of grass, he would be magnanimous and not stoop to his level.
After consoling himself, Jian Zhen turned his attention to a stall not far away selling tiger-head shoes and clothes for young children, and was immediately interested. He said, “Look, those little clothes are so nice.”
Ye Jisheng glanced at them. “Mm.”
Jian Zhen tugged at his robe. “Let’s go pick some for the baby?”
If they bought red cords, they weren’t really a married couple. But buying things for the baby was always reasonable, right!
Just as he was thinking this and about to walk toward the stall, his arm was grabbed.
Jian Zhen looked up in surprise and met Ye Jisheng’s calm gaze. He said, “I brought you out to stroll so you could buy things you like. Why are you in such a hurry to buy things for that child who hasn’t even been born yet?”
People flowed back and forth along the street, and the afterglow of dusk spilled down.
Ye Jisheng pointed to the red-cord stall not far away and said, “Weren’t you just looking at that?”
Before Jian Zhen could react, the Demon Lord took a few long strides to the red-cord stall. He pointed at several of the red locks and dolls Jian Zhen had just looked at for quite a while and said to the vendor, “I’ll take all of these.”
Jian Zhen stood blankly at his side.
Ye Jisheng placed the dolls and red-cord locks into his hands. His tall figure was especially upright. The light of dusk fell across his shoulders. In a light tone, using a voice only the two of them could hear, the man said, “If you like these, why worry about anything else? If there’s anything else you want, buy it. Buy yours first before thinking about others. I’m not so incapable that I can’t afford to raise the two of you.”
Jian Zhen: “…Oh.”
On the bustling street, the crowd flowed like water.
He looked up at the man before him.
In that moment, Jian Zhen held the little red-cord doll in his hand and felt his somewhat unsteady heartbeat. Oh no, he thought. He might, perhaps, indeed like him a little.
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