Futile Devices Scans

The sky was nearly bright, yet not quite bright. The courtyard was cold and clear, and the roof tiles were covered in a layer of white frost left from the night before. Yet the plum blossoms in the courtyard, some deep in color and some pale, were in full bloom. Sparse branches slanted across the mist-wreathed surface of the water, half concealing the spring pool, so that at a glance, it looked like an immortal realm on a jade terrace.

By the bank, rugged stones had been piled up for scenery. From behind them stretched a long, thin branch with a soft feather tied to its end. Soundlessly, it reached toward the pool and lightly swept across the straight collarbone floating on the water’s surface, pale white with a faint flush of pink.

“……”

The handsome man leaning against the wall of the pool with his eyes closed, resting his mind, was too lazy to open them. He raised an arm from the hot spring and casually flicked away the annoying feather.

Amid the sound of flowing water, there seemed to come an extremely faint “pfft,” suppressed with great difficulty.

Peace did not last long before that little feather came teasing him again. Tentatively, it swept across his high, straight nose bridge, lingered all the way along the clean, tight line of his jaw, and, as though knocking at a door, lightly tapped again and again against the beautifully shaped peak of his lips.

“What are you doing?”

The disturbed man finally opened his eyes lazily, like a jade statue suddenly coming to life. In the rising heat, his gaze was colder than frost and snow. “Wei Xiao Guan… Pah—”

The moment he spoke, the mischievous feather nearly poked him in the mouth. Yu Gong Zhao Ye laughed in anger. “If you still don’t roll over here, I’ll stick this thing into your hair later, and you can go out like that today.”

Hearing this, the stick suddenly trembled, then flew away with a whoosh.

The next moment, Wei Fu sprang out from behind a cluster of shrubs like a startled waterbird, and also like a fox with all its fur standing on end. Before Yu Gong Zhao Ye could speak, he accused, “You’re not ticklish at all!”

What a fine case of the villain lodging the complaint first. Yu Gong Zhao Ye did not even know when he had stepped on the fox’s tail again. “…Ah?”

Wei Fu said, aggrieved, “Yesterday, when I kissed you, you said it tickled too much and kept pushing me away. You even threatened to put up a mosquito net and lock me outside…”

In truth, it was because this little bastard was too tormenting. Yu Gong Zhao Ye was often teased by his overly meticulous way of eating until he was neither here nor there, and he did not want to appear unable to keep his composure, so he would occasionally find fault on purpose in the hopes of speeding things along.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye thought, He even holds grudges over this kind of tiny matter. I’ve really spoiled him until he’s growing more and more lawless. Leaning back against the stone edge, he calmly patched things up. “I’m not made of stone. Of course I’m ticklish. Didn’t I wake up immediately just now?”

Although he was looking up at him, his expression still carried the reserved air of someone used to looking down from above. Wei Fu felt his heart itch a little just from seeing him. He circled over and crouched by the edge of the pool, reaching out to pick away a plum blossom petal stuck in the hollow of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s collarbone. “All right, then next time I’ll… bite a little harder?”

The warm skin was startled by his icy fingertips and trembled lightly. Wei Fu sensed that something felt wrong. Lowering his head to look, only then did he realize that it was not a flower petal, but the mark he had left the night before.

That bit of red was like a spark. It burned from the blood at his fingertip all the way to his heart, melting through the chain that separated day from night. The restless thoughts he had so painstakingly gathered back into their cage began to run wild again.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye had long since grown used to being touched all over by him and did not dodge. He only flicked a small water droplet onto the back of Wei Fu’s restless hand and said lazily, “If you want to train your teeth, go to the kitchen and find a bone to gnaw on. Don’t use me to sharpen them.”

Those words sounded familiar. In the past few years, he had probably said them many times, and they were more or less a threat whose effectiveness was equal to nonsense.

When it came to Wei Fu’s unreasonable demands, he always scolded with his mouth and indulged with his actions. Once he was hugged, he would not run. It had been like this when he brought Wei Fu back then, and it was still like this now.

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, Yu Gong Zhao Ye walking from the obscure Moon God Temple to the court was an enormous transformation. But Wei Fu felt that he had not really changed. Wei Fu had always watched this person, as though watching a tree that did not wither through winter, remembering the place of every branch and fork, and so he himself had become part of that tree’s growth rings.

After being scolded once, Wei Fu felt comfortable. He returned to his obedient and virtuous manner and tucked a strand of long hair that clung windingly to the side of Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s face behind his ear. “Come out. Don’t soak too long. When I came over, the cook was making longevity noodles. They should be ready soon.”

“Oh? Did you roll them out yourself?”

“It’s not easy to have a peaceful birthday for once, so eat ready-made food first. Please don’t let any more accidents happen to me.” Wei Fu reached out to him. “Next time, I’ll cook them for you.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye heard the complaint in his words and could not help laughing. “This ‘not easy’ truly wasn’t easy.”

In the first year Wei Fu came to Longsha, he said he wanted to celebrate Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s birthday for him. In the end, Kui Yue sent back a message that another Ten Aspects Sect medicine-making stronghold had been discovered in the mountains of Yanyuan. Yu Gong Zhao Ye rushed off to handle it and could only regretfully miss it. In the second year, Wei Fu’s birthday happened to coincide with the peace talks with Qiyun. After the talks ended, it happened to be when the Wuchi Khan was gravely ill, and the situation was urgent. The second princess, who had married far away to Wuchi, wrote to ask the king to send people to protect her and stabilize the situation. Yu Gong Zhao Ye was gone for several months, and by the time he returned, even the New Year had passed. Neither of their birthdays had been celebrated.

Elio’s Notes: Wuchi Khan as in the ruler/khan of Wuchi.

This year was Wei Fu’s last year in Longsha. He had already reached the pinnacle of official rank, accomplished a great achievement worthy of being recorded in Longsha’s history books, and gained the recognition of the entire court, including the king. But he still had not successfully celebrated Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s birthday for him.

Wei Fu absolutely would not allow his career as Assistant Chancellor to leave behind such a heaven-shaking regret. Two days earlier, he had slapped the title deed to this hot spring estate aggressively onto Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s desk, his posture as though he were about to undergo a heavenly tribulation—whoever dared stop him would be struck by the lightning he summoned. How could Yu Gong Zhao Ye dare stroke the fox spirit’s fur the wrong way? He immediately pushed aside the Purple Empyrean Court’s official business and, with his bundle in hand, followed him away.

They had fooled around for half the night yesterday. Yu Gong Zhao Ye estimated that Wei Fu’s obsession had already been more or less dissolved. Once he ate longevity noodles and the two of them idled the entire day away together, that would be the perfect birthday in Wei Fu’s mind.

With a splash, the water surged and rolled. The long hair floating on the surface of the water drew back behind him as he rose, soft and lustrous, like a fish swaying silver skirt-fins.

Then this jade-white fish turned around, and the plum blossoms on his front were more numerous than those on a spotted deer.

Wei Fu: “…”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye waded over without treating him as an outsider at all and stepped onto the stone steps to climb ashore. Wei Fu sucked in a cold breath, as though the one being stepped on were his own tail, and with quick eyes and swift hands, he pulled a large cloth towel from the stone platform. Faster than a tornado, he wrapped Yu Gong Zhao Ye from shoulders to feet without leaving a single gap, turning a perfectly good beauty fresh from the bath into a long spring roll.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye had been rolled up until he could not move his legs. Wondering, he asked, “Is it that you’ve never seen it before or what? Suddenly acting reserved?”

Wei Fu bent down and picked him up, walking around the low-hanging plum branches toward the bedroom. With lowered eyes and a guilty conscience, he said, “It’s cold. I’m afraid you’ll catch a chill.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye fixed his gaze on him for two moments, then suddenly smiled. It was a very wicked-hearted kind of mocking smile, and he said meaningfully, “Saying one thing while meaning another.”

Wei Fu reflected with shame. “In the future, I’ll never bite—cough. Next time, I’ll bite a little lighter…”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye marveled at him. “Who are you bargaining with? Next time, be a little crueler to yourself, Young Master.”

The window in the bedroom had been opened for ventilation, and fresh incense had been added to the incense cage. The traces left from last night had already dispersed completely. Wei Fu was afraid he would be blown by the cold wind, so he directly stuffed him back onto the bed, lowered the curtains, and turned to close the window.

By the time he finished bustling about, Yu Gong Zhao Ye had already changed into inner clothes. His collar was covered tightly, and he sat by the bed, holding the dripping ends of his hair with one corner of a dry towel as he glanced at Wei Fu and asked, “This time, I’m not disturbing Your Excellency’s eyes?”

Wei Fu took his long hair with the towel and sat behind him, drying it while muttering, “You can’t blame me for having weak willpower. It really is very beautiful. Think about it—you’re so pale, your hair is a light color, and there were plum blossoms and mist. Walking out of the water like that, you looked so much like a legendary water immortal…”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye knew a little about the flowery thoughts of scholars like them, so he sneered and picked up the thread. “Like a dragon maiden?”

Wei Fu said, “Like the Dragon King.”

“…”

“Hahaha…”

Wei Fu collapsed laughing onto his shoulder. Only after a long while did he catch his breath. He turned Yu Gong Zhao Ye around by the shoulders and told him a story. “When I was young, I read a strange-tales note. It said that once, an evil flood dragon suddenly flew to a certain place, occupied the local river, stirred up wind and rain, and brought disaster to the region. The common people could no longer survive, so they went to the Dragon King Temple and asked the divine official to slay the evil flood dragon. But the divine official said they had to offer seven golden swallows to the Dragon King before the Dragon King would send down divine power.”

“The evil flood dragon took a fancy to a young woman and wanted to carry her off as his bride. Her family was afraid of angering the evil flood dragon, so they all urged her to submit. The young woman remembered the divine official’s words, so she picked many osmanthus blossoms, mixed them into glutinous rice, steamed it, and shaped the rice into swallows. At night, she went to the well and prayed for the Dragon King to show his spirit.”

“The next day, the evil flood dragon transformed into human form and came to marry her. None of the common people dared stop him. At noon, dark clouds suddenly covered the sky, and at the mouth of the well in the young woman’s home, a silver-haired youth suddenly appeared, holding a great bow. With one arrow, he struck the evil flood dragon, then brought down thunder and lightning to split it back into the form of a water snake. Afterward, he transformed into a white dragon and rode the clouds away.”

Thinking over this story carefully, there was a subtle familiarity to it. Yu Gong Zhao Ye clearly did not quite believe it. “Is that a legend, or did you just make it up?”

Wei Fu dried his hair until it no longer dripped and brought over an outer robe to put on him. “It’s real. It’s an anecdote recorded in Liang Mei’s Records of the Cave of Darkness. Besides, if I were the one making it up, no matter what, I wouldn’t end it with the Dragon King flying away.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye allowed him to fuss over him and agreed, “True. I haven’t received any golden swallows, either. I do have one silly stork, though.”

Wei Fu laughed behind him for a long time. Once Yu Gong Zhao Ye was properly dressed, Wei Fu took a clean, lustrous white jade ring carved with hollow dragon patterns from a box by the head of the bed and fastened it neatly at Yu Gong Zhao Ye’s waist.

In a warm voice, neither hurried nor slow, he recited, “Silken threads tied in a thousand knots, linked rings unbroken; so long as this body remains, this feeling remains. It may be shattered, but never parted. With reverence, I congratulate Your Highness on your birthday. May it forever be well between us.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye was a little surprised as he lifted that jade ring. The white jade was cool to the touch and soon warmed in his palm. This bit of weight was no burden, but because of the “vow” attached to it, it seemed to carry a special heaviness.

Yu Gong Zhao Ye had never cared much about his own birthday, let alone held any attachment to it. He had originally come with the thought of accompanying Wei Fu to play, yet at this moment, he suddenly felt something slightly unfamiliar—something stirred within him.

“So it’s a token of affection… You put thought into it.” As though to cover that faint stirring of emotion, he deliberately interrupted with a change of subject. “I thought your birthday gift was that title deed.”

“That too.” Wei Fu smiled and kissed him, pressing close to his lips as he spoke sweetly. “And me as well. I’m yours too.”

“A’Ying, I’ll still spend many, many birthdays with you.”

Apart from symbolizing completeness and infinity, and symbolizing the moon, a jade ring also carried the meaning of “return.”

His story would absolutely not be like those legends of encountering immortals, where after a brief meeting, each party went to opposite ends of the world, leaving behind only a rumor with no beginning or end, half true and half dreamlike.

Someone who had once been shown mercy by the moon would no longer be able to hold ordinary mortals in his eyes. His lifelong fate had already been decided from the moment of their first meeting. Every step he had taken since then had been for the sake of returning to the moon’s side.

It is not repayment; may it forever be well between us.

“All right. I’ll remember.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye pressed the back of his head, making him lower it so he could kiss him more easily. “Keep your word, Xiao Guan.”

This day was as perfect as Wei Fu had imagined. The two of them ate longevity noodles, went together to browse the nearby market, bought a pile of useless little trinkets, as well as osmanthus wine brewed by the town itself. Yu Gong Zhao Ye agreed that Wei Fu could drink a little at night.

The leisurely, pleasant time lasted all the way until before dinner. Yu Gong Zhao Ye was transplanting the flower seedlings they had bought back into the courtyard when Wei Fu disappeared for a while. He then drifted in from the front courtyard, as though there were a raincloud floating above his head. His invisible ears and tail were both soaked, and with a sudden “Wuao!” he came down like Mount Tai pressing overhead, nearly knocking Yu Gong Zhao Ye straight into the flowerbed.

“What happened?”

Wei Fu hung his head in dejection and said listlessly, “I have to leave…”

Listening closely, there was a hint of gnashing teeth in those words, but because he was usually far too unserious, Yu Gong Zhao Ye did not hear anything wrong. He made as though to smear mud on Wei Fu’s face and casually threatened him with practiced ease. “That’s about enough. You’ve been using this as an excuse since a month ago. If you keep going on endlessly like this, I’ll start suspecting that you’re planning to make one big haul before running away and that you never intended to come back.”

Wei Fu: “…”

“Not back to Xiling.” He was in the middle of being angry and yet could not help wanting to laugh. He held it in until his face nearly turned ferocious, then said with difficulty, “Your Highness, the Egret Guards just sent word. The Dongyu envoy has entered the city to request an audience. We have to return to Bihan City.”

Yu Gong Zhao Ye: “…”

Author’s Notes:

“So long as this body remains, this feeling remains” — from “Deeply I Know, While This Body Remains, This Feeling Remains,” by Li Shangyin of the Tang dynasty, “A Late-Autumn Solitary Visit to Qujiang.” “It may be shattered, but never parted” — from “Linked rings may shatter, but never part,” by Wei Yingwu of the Tang dynasty, “Hard Is the Road.” “It is not repayment; may it forever be well between us” — from “Papaya” in “Airs of Wei,” The Book of Songs.

The story was not made up by Xiao Guan. I made it up.

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