The Lord of Mount Spirit by Huang Mei Mao
《灵山君》 作者: 黄眉猫
Ch 06.01
Editor & Translator: Sonrisa t.n.t
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“What’s your name?”
When Qing Shi Jiu was in the Peacock Mansion, he served in the Sword Pavilion and had an easy life. Every day he just had to clean the strange iron weapons in the Sword Pavilion.
One day, the young masters of Peacock Mansion came to the pavilion. When they were leaving, one of them called out to him.
Qing Shi Jiu recognized that face. It was Kong Shen, the second young master of the Peacock Mansion.
“My name is Qing Shi Jiu.”
After receiving his response, Kong Shen left.
After that, Qing Shi Jiu met the second young master in the Sword Pavilion from time to time. As he cleaned the iron weapon in his hand, Kong Shen would tell him where, when, and how he obtained it.
To be honest, Qing Shi Jiu was not very interested in this, but this placed the second young master in a very good mood, and as a servant, he could not give his master the cold shoulder.
Kong Shen came more frequently, and the other servants in the Sword Pavilion looked at Qing Shi Jiu in an increasingly different way.
Until one day, Qing Shi Jiu was intercepted by Qing Si on his way to the Sword Pavilion.
Qing Si was an old man in Peacock Mansion. Qing Shi Jiu had received a lot of care from him because they shared the same ancestry, so he treated him as a reliable elder.
Qing Si pulled Qing Shi Jiu into the corridor, lowered his voice, and asked, “What’s going on between you and the second young master? Shi Jiu, have you forgotten everything I told you?”
Qing Shi Jiu felt aggrieved: “I remembered. I know my place.”
Qing Si sighed: “The gossip has almost reached the eldest young master. Do you know how the gossip spread?”
“I may have an idea.”
It was basically about how he was shameless and ambitious, relying on his good looks to curry favors with people of power and then, turn around to become the master of the family.
He had heard these words many times. The servants usually did not have much pleasure to enjoy, so they just loved making things up about people. These words were repeated over and over again, and it finally attached itself to Qing Shi Jiu.
Qing Si said: “Here’s the decision, from today onwards, you don’t have to go to the Sword Pavilion. You can go to the side courtyard to sweep the yard and to avoid the limelight.”
Qing Shi Jiu knew that he was doing this for his own good, so although he was a little annoyed, he agreed.
Before Qing Si left, he warned again: “Shi Jiu, the second young master and the young miss of the Temminck’s Tragopan Family are engaged. You’re a smart boy, so don’t do anything stupid.”
* Temminck’s tragopan – a type of pheasant bird from central China; the male is stocky with reddish-orange feathers and white spots, black bill, pink legs, and blue face; the female is dark brown with pale spotted feathers
For the past few days, Qing Shi Jiu worked as a sweeper in the side courtyard, but then, he was transferred to the Library Pavilion by the ninth young master, Kong Ling.
The person who came to pick him up was someone close to Kong Ling, Feng Yi. Feng Yi held up the servant uniform of the Library Pavilion and ordered him to change into it.
Qing Shi Jiu’s eyelid was twitching, he did not understand how he, a nobody, could win the favor of these young masters.
He changed his clothes, followed Feng Yi through most of the Peacock Mansion, and entered the Library Pavilion for the first time.
The Library Pavilion was in a separate courtyard. It was built in a very grand style with a black tiled roof and white walls. The underside of the eaves curved up like frightening birds and it stood three stories high.
When Qing Shi Jiu raised his head to look up, he saw a figure flashing by behind the leaky window on the third floor.
Feng Yi led him straight to the third floor. Kong Ling was sitting relaxingly in an armchair with his feet crossed on the table, and then he glanced condescendingly down at Qing Shi Jiu who was kneeling on the ground: “So you’re my second brother’s sweetheart?”
“Raise your head.”
Trembling, Qing Shi Jiu raised his head, thinking that even if he jumped into the river, he could not even wash himself clean.
The corners of Kong Ling’s lips raised into a smirk and said brightly: “Mhm, you’re really eye-catching.”
He raised his head again and shouted: “He’s already here, what’re you hiding for?”
Then Kong Shen walked out from behind the bookshelf.
Except for the eldest young master, all the other young masters and young misses had to come here every day, so Qing Shi Jiu could not help but see Kong Shen every day.
What made Qing Shi Jiu relax a little was that Kong Shen did not do anything beyond the rules. He just appeared on time every day in front of Qing Shi Jiu, who was cleaning the bookshelf. He took a book from the shelf and started talking to himself about who wrote the book, what it was about, and his own opinions on the book.
Qing Shi Jiu secretly thought: [Fortunately, I am doing something. If I just listened, I would probably fall asleep.]
One day, while he was sweeping the fallen leaves in the courtyard, the doors opened and Kong Shen waved to him.
Qing Shi Jiu approached and heard him say: “Shi Jiu, help me copy a few words.”
Stunned, Qing Shi Jiu said: “I am illiterate.”
Kong Shen was somewhat surprised, but then he calmed down and said: “It doesn’t matter, it’s just copying words. Just look at them and follow along!”
Before Qing Shi Jiu could speak again, Kong Shen put the brush into his hand, pulled out a few blank papers, and finally opened a book on the table.
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Sonrisa t.n.t 