Dianxia Qingcheng - Chapter 2

 The footsteps at the door were getting closer and closer, and the guards nearby all gathered outside the Living Quarters. Bright torches illuminated the dilapidated courtyard.

 Qi Changyi was suddenly picked up by someone who put him directly on the desk.

 The door of the Living Quarters has been pushed open, and the leader of the guards walked in with a torch.

 Pei Zheng slowly let go of the fragrance in his arms. He put his fingers on his bright, alluring red lips in the dark and secret “Be obedient, don’t make a sound.”

 The person sitting on the desk had a hazy face, his eyes were blurred with water vapor. The gold- threaded neckline was slightly tilted, revealing a white and delicate collarbone. Which in the dark night was exceptionally touching, charming and alluring. 

 Pei Zheng pulled down the curtain hanging next to him, and covered Qi Changyi’s head, covering it completely without leaving any gaps.

 The leader of the guards saw a vague and blurry figure standing in front of him, and couldn’t help shouting sharply, “Who is here, who dares to break into the Forbidden Palace! Come, take him down!”

 The guards at the back stepped forward one after another and were about to start. After seeing the face reflected by the fire, they were stunned and froze in place.

 The guards saluted one by one, trembling with fear and trepidation.

 “Lord Pei.” (1)

 Pei Zheng answered indifferently.

 The leader of the guards raised his eyes and looked at powerful Lord Pei, whose influence in the Imperial Court is dashing to the skies. Now his ice-cold eyes were looking at the people present with a displeased expression. 

 He (guard) involuntarily broke out in a cold sweat under that imposing majesty. The figure wrapped in a curtain on the table beside appeared to be a human. 

 Who is that person?

 Did they disturbed Lord Pei’s ‘good deeds’ ? (2)

 But this is the Imperial’s Family Forbidden Palace. No one has dared to intrude without Emperor’s orders, not even the Prime Minister. 

 The leader of the guards asked boldly, “Lord Pei is not at the banquet, why did you come to this cold place?”

 Pei Zheng raised his eyelids, “Where I (3) am going and what I want to do, do I have to report to you, guards?”

 The leader of the guards quickly lowered his head, “That’s not what Little I (4)meant, it’s just that there is no order from the emperor, I’m afraid…” 

 Pei Zheng didn’t want to say any more, and directly showed the token on his waist. The exquisite white jade pass token was given by the emperor allowing him to go in and out of any place without restrictions. 

 This is the emperor’s reward bestowed to Minister Pei, who has made outstanding achievements in assisting the government. In the entire Imperial Palace there isn’t a person who wouldn’t know it.

 All the guards hurriedly knelt to the ground when they saw the token. After seeing the holy face holding the token,no one dared to speak again for a while.

 Pei Zheng looked at the guards kneeling all over the ground, and his ice-cold voice finally sounded again.

 “Okay, all of you withdraw.”

 The guards bowed their heads, stood up and walked out in a line. 

 When the leader walked to the door, he fixed his eyes on the direction covered by the curtain. Although the surroundings were very dark, he seemed to see a corner of his robes exposed in the moonlight. The edge of the corner of the clothes was outlined with gold thread patterns.

 This is a material that only the royal family can wear, so the person under the curtain is…

 Pei Zheng raised his eyes, turned sideways to block the desk without a trace, and commanded in the direction of the door, “Order someone to prepare a sedan chair. I will go to the banquet place.”

 The leader of the guards responded and turned to go out.

 The Living Quarters suddenly returned to darkness and silence.

 The person in the curtain were still obedient and motionless. He didn’t even dare to let out the breath.

 Pei Zheng curled the corners of his lips, and slowly opened the curtains one by one.

 As soon as Qi Changyi’s blushing face that was covered was revealed, he opened his mouth and took in a big mouthful of air .It seemed that he had been holding his breath back for a long time, and it took him a while to calm down (recuperate) .

 Pei Zheng stretched out his hand to tidy up the somewhat messy collar for him. When his hand feeled the soft and smooth skin underneath, he couldn’t help reaching forward and exploring inside again.

 Qi Changyi shivered when touched by the ice-cold hand, and shrank back unconsciously.

 Pei Zheng’s eyes suddenly turned cold, his five fingers gently pinched his slender neck, and he whispered in his ear.

 “You dare to hide from me?”

____________________________

Notes:

(1) 大人 daren

*Title of respect towards superiors 

*I translated it as “Lord” 

(2)好事

*good action, deed, thing or work 

*(also sarcastic, “a fine thing indeed”)

(3) 本相 benxiang

° ‘I’ 

*He’s using this phrase 

*It is similar to benzuo (This Venerable One) – the ‘ben’ is the same 

*’xiang’ is the second character from ‘prime minister’- ‘chengxiang’ 

*So it can be translated as “This Minister” 

*For the better flow of translation I am using I, but where it is needed I will use “This Minister” 

(4) 小的 xiaode

– ‘I’ (when talking to a superior /to the person of higher rank/ or to the person one is afraid of)

– ‘me’ (humble) 

– polite way of speaking