Chapter 5: 5

Chapter 5 – A Granddad

In the evening, Xie Chengfeng was itching to fly out the door.

He had to return to his home and see.

The reason why he chose to go out at night was because he almost got shot down by a few naughty children with slingshot when he went out during the day.

The Princess’ palace was located east of Shen family’s house, the distance was quite far. Xie Chengfeng’s vision was blurry at night, so he could only pick illuminated routes. Not long after he flew, he looked down and saw a brightly lit mansion. In the courtyard, there were people drinking and admiring the moon. Several girls were playing string instruments and flutes, the tune was melodious and smooth. Accompanied with the moonlight, the scenery looked like a picture scroll but with music.

Xie Chengfeng retracted his wings and stood on a branch. He fixed his eyes on Zhou Luo who was sitting in the main seat. He had heard from Shen Jiajia that this bird was rescued from him.

Zhou Luo and several other people were talking about him, Xie Chengfeng. Xie Chengfeng pricked up his ears to listen.

“I heard that Young Lord[1] Xie hasn’t woken up yet, and imperial physicians went through the Grand Princess’ palace like a running water.”

“It’s been a few days, I’m afraid that things are not looking good, sigh. Life is bitterly short and things are impermanent. Gentlemen, let’s cherish the present even more.”

“I feel that something is wrong. I heard that the Grand Princess’ palace has stepped up its vigilance after the accident, and now not even a bird can fly in.”

 “What do you mean, why are they on guard, was falling off the horse not an accident?”

“Ah? Someone wants to conspire against the Emperor’s relative?!”

……

Although he knew that his home must be heavily guarded at this time, Xie Chengfeng still wanted to try his luck.

He resumed his flight to the Grand Princess’ palace with great effort, and as soon as he landed on a branch, he suddenly heard a sound piercing the air, followed by something swiping across his face. Before he could react, he heard a “pop” sound and something fell to the ground.

He lowered his head silently but couldn’t see what was on the ground clearly. However, the people below helped to answer.

“It’s a pigeon.”

Xie Chengfeng imagined if he stood up now and said “I am Xie Chengfeng, the young master of the Grand Princess’ palace, and now I have temporarily become a bird and can’t go home. If someone helps me restore my identity, I will reward him with a hundred taels of gold and a noble title”, would the people below listen to him, or would they shoot him through with an arrow directly?

People with normal brains would most likely choose the latter.

Xie Chengfeng stood on the branch, not daring to move at all. He stayed still until there was a slight gap during the guards change in shift. He seized the little opportunity and escaped.

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Shen Jiajia didn’t know that Chengfeng had experienced a “frightening night in the Princess’ palace”. The next day, she took out some fabrics and needles and said to Chengfeng, “I want to make winter clothes, why don’t I make one for you as well?” As she spoke, she held a ruler and moved it towards his body.

Xie Chengfeng felt that Shen Jiajia was really annoying as she reminded him of the fact that he had turned into a bird all the time. With a wave of his wing, he overturned her needlework basket and said, “No need.”

As Shen Jiajia picked up the needles and threads, she asked, “Why are you suddenly so angry again? Who provoked you?”

Xie Chengfeng turned around and looked outside the window. Seeing the desolate autumn wind and the yellow leaves all over the ground, he thought it matched his current mood very well.

He let out a drawn-out sigh. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you.”

“What kind of problem do you have? You don’t know how much I envy you.”

What difficulty could she see? Xie Chengfeng’s heart sank as he looked at her calmly. “Why do you envy me?”

“You can fly ah!”

“…”

He totally never thought that the answer would be so simple.

Shen Jiajia sat by the window and asked with a look of fascination, “Tell me, what does it feel like to fly?”

Xie Chengfeng recalled it carefully—his body felt light, his vision wide, the world was under his feet, treading the thin air and riding the wind—that feeling… indeed was not really bad.

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Xie Chengfeng said, “It feels like that I guess.”

Shen Jiajia rested her face on both hands. “If only I could fly… I want to fly far, far away, and see what the edge of the world looks like.”

When she said this, her eyes were bright and glowing with vigor, causing Xie Chengfeng to not be able to say that she had an unrealistic grand dream.

He just gave an “un” and said, “Maybe you can change into a bird later.”

“How could that be possible, but, maybe, people can fly too?”

“It would be easier to transform into a bird.”

“Look, why can kites fly? It’s because of the wind’s help. If you tie a person to a big kite, as long as the kite is big enough, it could carry a person up and fly too, don’t you think?”

Xie Chengfeng was convinced by her wild fantasy. “It- it seems to make sense?”

“Yeah! But a kite needs a string to fly. If you want to fly farther, the string would not be enough.”

“How far do you want to fly…”

“So, I have a different way. Since the Kongming lantern can fly, if you put a person on a big Kongming lantern—”

Xie Chengfeng feathers stood on end. “You want to put yourself in a sky lantern?! It’s not necessary, right?”

“No, no, I mean, put the person under the Kongming lantern, such as hanging with a rope or in a frame, so that when the Kongming lantern flies, the people can fly.”

“If the Kongming lantern was extinguished, wouldn’t it fall down?”

“Ai, that’s right, so it’s best to find a way to control the Kongming lantern. Let it fly when you want it to fly, and let it land when you want it to land.” Shen Jiajia cupped her face, her brows slightly frowned and raised, and said to herself, “What can be done?”

When Xie Chengfeng saw that her eyes were blank and motionless, he couldn’t help but say, “Fool.”

Shen Jiajia didn’t get angry and regained her sight. She raised her fingers and stroked his head lightly, then smiled. “Chengfeng, thank you.”

“Thank me for what.”

“Thank you, for willing to listen to me.”

Xie Chengfeng was stunned. Looking at her limpid eyes, he felt a little embarrassed for no reason. “I’ve never seen a girl like you,” he said.

“I’ve never seen a bird like you before either.”

The atmosphere was somewhat sentimental for a while. Xie Chengfeng thought about it and asked, “Do you want to know what the edge of the world is like?”

“Yes! Have you seen it before?”

“No. However, I have seen the sea.”

“Ah!” Shen Jiajia looked surprised.

“There are also some merchants that traveled by sea, the people from Song[2] and vassal merchants, as well as overseas royalties.”

“Can you tell me more about it?” Shen Jiajia blinked her eyes and implored, “Tell me more about it please.”

To think she would act cute for this kind of thing…

Xie Chengfeng felt his eyes ache slightly, yet also felt a little pleased inexplicably. He thought of how she would take liberties with him every day, so he thought he would do the same this time, so he laughingly said, “If you call me granddad, I will—”

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly heard the sound of a sword being unsheathed outside, followed by a man scolding, “You crazy bird, telling her to call you granddad, do you dare to be my dad?!”

[1] Changing Young Master to Young Lord because it’s more appropriate for Xie Chengfeng. Xie Chengfeng’s title is different from Zhou Luo’s title (XCF has higher title as the nephew of the emperor).

[2] I think it’s the Southern people as in Song of the Southern dynasties (?) which is located in South China, bordering with the ocean.

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