After Crossdressing and Provoking Long AoTian

“Qingtang, wake up.” Ye Chenyan pinched Yu Qingtang’s cheek and gently shook him. “Wake uuuup—”

“Mmm...” Yu Qingtang cracked his eyes open and stared at him blankly. “Why are you in my bed?”

“Wrong.” Ye Chenyan propped his chin on one hand, smiling at him. “You’re in my bed.”

“Oh.” Yu Qingtang peacefully closed his eyes again. “So I’m in your... Hmm?”

He shot upright, yanked the blanket up over his chest, and reached down to feel his own butt.

Ye Chenyan’s eyes widened slightly, his expression caught somewhere between amusement and a smirk. “What are you checking?”

After confirming that his butt was safe and sound, Yu Qingtang breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down.

“Right, I remember now. I came looking for you myself last night. Scared me for a second...”

As he spoke, his eyes started drifting shut again.

Ye Chenyan hurriedly tugged him back up. “Hey, hey. Did you forget you told me to wake you up early?”

“I said that?” Yu Qingtang looked utterly baffled. His eyelids were already sinking again as he yawned. “Impossible. Why would I ever lose my mind badly enough to make life that hard for myself...?”

Ye Chenyan shook his head by the temples. “If you get up too late, Scholar Xiao will see you.”

“So what if he sees me?” Yu Qingtang hooked an arm around Ye Chenyan’s neck with perfect confidence. “He already knows! What am I supposed to be afraid of him finding out?”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow. A glint of amusement flashed through his eyes.

He thoughtfully tucked the blanket around Yu Qingtang and nodded.

“All right. Since you put it that way, sleep a little longer.”

Yu Qingtang peacefully closed his eyes.

Only a few breaths later, they snapped open again.

“Wait. Who did you say knows?”

He slowly turned his head and met Ye Chenyan’s gaze.

“Scholar Xiao?”

He scrambled upright.

“Nope. Still not happening. If he sees me, who knows what kind of interrogation he’ll launch into. And if he figures anything out, the whole world will know by the end of the day.”

Ye Chenyan watched, eyes slightly widened, as Yu Qingtang nimbly vaulted over him, jumped off the bed, threw on his outer robe at record speed, then crept to the window and peered outside.

“Front clear! Right clear! Left clear!”

He turned and waved at Ye Chenyan.

“I’m off!”

“Hey...” Ye Chenyan barely had time to call after him before Yu Qingtang had already flung open the door.

Only then did he hear Ye Chenyan finish asking:

“What about above you?”

Yu Qingtang instinctively looked up.

Scholar Xiao was standing upstairs with a rolled-up book in one hand and the other clasped behind his back, quietly reciting something under his breath.

Hearing movement below, he lowered his head.

Their eyes met.

Scholar Xiao froze. “Brother Yu?”

Then he smiled.

“Well, this is rare. Brother Yu is actually up this ear—wait.”

A sharp gleam flashed through his eyes.

“You just came out of Brother Ye’s room? Your clothes are... admittedly quite neat, but...”

Yu Qingtang slowly took one step backward.

Bang.

He slammed the door shut again.

He looked at Ye Chenyan in horror.

“Does that man not sleep?”

“He does.” Ye Chenyan nodded lightly and pointed toward the sun. “But he has a habit of reading at sunrise.”

Yu Qingtang slowly turned toward him.

“You knew?”

“Mm.” Ye Chenyan chuckled. “All of us knew. You’re probably the only one who didn’t.”

“After all...”

Smiling, he pinched Yu Qingtang’s nose.

“By the time you normally wake up, he’s long since finished reading. You never run into him.”

Yu Qingtang inhaled deeply.

“So if I got up at my normal time, I probably wouldn’t see him at all.”

“But because I got up early, I ran straight into him.”

He stared blankly into space and muttered, “Isn’t the early bird supposed to get the worm? How did I turn into the early worm getting eaten by the bird?”

Ye Chenyan muffled a laugh.

Yu Qingtang immediately narrowed his eyes and grabbed him by the front of his robe.

“Wait a minute. You already knew he gets up early, and you didn’t warn me!”

Ye Chenyan looked completely innocent.

“When I woke you up, he wasn’t there yet. If you hadn’t stayed in bed and had gotten up immediately, you never would’ve run into him.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“You’re the one who refused to get up. You can’t blame me.”

Yu Qingtang ground his teeth.

Ye Chenyan chuckled.

“He’s coming.”

Sure enough, someone knocked on the door.

Scholar Xiao’s voice came from outside.

“Brother Yu. Brother Ye.”

Yu Qingtang sprang up at once, spun around, and ducked behind Ye Chenyan in an attempt to escape from life itself.

“Tell him I’m not here.”

Ye Chenyan looked back at him.

“Will he believe that?”

“Besides, why are you afraid of him?”

“I’m not afraid.” Yu Qingtang looked up. “I simply possess a sense of shame.”

Ye Chenyan laughed under his breath and stepped forward to open the door.

Yu Qingtang shuffled along directly behind him, trying to hide himself completely.

It was, obviously, hiding in plain sight.

Scholar Xiao bent at the waist and peered around Ye Chenyan.

“Brother Yu...”

“Brother Yu isn’t here.” Ye Chenyan shrugged. “Brother Yu said so himself.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Scholar Xiao paused.

Then his face lit with understanding, his eyes curving into crescents.

“Ooooh—”

“I understand, I understand. He isn’t here.”

He gently waved his folding fan.

“I imagine absolutely nothing happened last night either. Just the same as always—a perfectly calm and uneventful night.”

“Though for Brother Ye, I expect it must have been quite a wonderful and unforgettable night.”

Ye Chenyan raised an eyebrow.

“...Wonderful is debatable. Unforgettable, probably.”

“Oh?” Scholar Xiao immediately perked up and leaned closer. “Do elaborate.”

Ye Chenyan glanced downward.

Then, deliberately leaning toward Scholar Xiao, he began, “Let me tell you. Last night, he—”

“Ahem!”

Yu Qingtang finally reached the end of his endurance and made a sound, tightening his grip on Ye Chenyan’s belt.

Ye Chenyan leaned back slightly, laughter in his eyes.

Scholar Xiao understood at once and deliberately spun around in place.

“How strange. I could have sworn I just heard Brother Yu’s voice. But Brother Yu isn’t here, is he?”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

“Strange, strange indeed.”

Scholar Xiao shook his fan as he headed outside.

At that exact moment, Chi Yantian emerged from his room too, stretching his arms as he walked out.

“Hey, breakfast? Hm? Yu Qingtang’s awake too? It’s rare to see you up this early. What, is Four Books Academy’s breakfast especially good, so you’re rushing to get some?”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

“Hm?” Scholar Xiao stared directly at him and asked with perfect innocence, “Where is Brother Yu? Why don’t I see him?”

Chi Yantian looked at him as if he had seen a ghost.

He raised a hand and pointed at Yu Qingtang, who was hiding behind Ye Chenyan with his head lowered.

“Right there. How can you not see him?”

“Well...” Scholar Xiao glanced back, then casually looked away again. “I truly did not see him.”

“Strange, strange. Hahaha.”

Laughing, he walked out of the courtyard.

Chi Yantian frowned in confusion and scratched the back of his head.

“What’s wrong with him...?”

He walked over to Ye Chenyan and pointed behind him.

“You can see him?”

Ye Chenyan struggled not to laugh.

“Of course.”

“Hiss—”

Chi Yantian became even more baffled.

He crouched down to inspect Yu Qingtang.

“Did you curse him? Is it some kind of Nanzhou parasite that makes people unable to see you?”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Guiltily, he looked away.

“Uh...”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Chi Yantian was completely lost. He turned toward Ye Chenyan. “What’s wrong with him?”

Ye Chenyan chuckled and pulled Yu Qingtang along as he headed outside.

“His body’s awake. His brain isn’t.”

“Ask him again once the rest of him wakes up.”

Yu Qingtang: “...”

Since he had managed the rare feat of waking up early, Yu Qingtang joined them in visiting Four Books Academy’s dining hall.

And honestly, the food there really was abundant.

The only problem was that most of the students walking around still had books in their hands. Most of the food was likewise the sort that could easily be carried around and eaten on the move.

In an atmosphere like this, Yu Qingtang, who needed both hands just to hold his bowl, suddenly felt extremely guilty.

“Don’t panic.” Scholar Xiao smiled and handed him a steamed flower roll. “Originally, there was a Senior Brother who became so engrossed in his studies that he forgot to eat and sleep. The academy held him up as a model student, and then everyone started imitating him. That’s how the dining hall ended up like this.”

“But...”

He glanced around and shook his head with a soft laugh.

“How many of them truly wish to study, and how many are merely afraid of looking out of place, so they copy everyone else? They hardly absorb anything they read. All they accomplish is getting grease on their books.”

Yu Qingtang guiltily lowered his head.

“At least they see someone admirable and try to emulate him. Me...”

He looked around, took a huge bite of his flower roll, and muttered,

“I may feel guilty, but all I’m going to do is feel guilty while eating my breakfast properly.”

Scholar Xiao burst out laughing.

“Is that not another form of unwavering resolve?”

Ye Chenyan split open a steamed bun and showed Yu Qingtang the filling.

“Osmanthus and red bean. It’s sweet. Want some?”

Yu Qingtang reached over and took it.

“Give me half. I’ll trade you half my vegetable bun.”

Ye Chenyan was just reaching for the vegetable half when Yu Qingtang abruptly pulled it back.

“No. Better eat another filling. Scores come out today. Anything this green feels unlucky.”

Ye Chenyan: “...”

He reached over, took the half vegetable bun Yu Qingtang was about to put in his own mouth, and stuffed it into his mouth instead.

Then he raised an eyebrow at him.

“The exam is already over. The result is settled. What could the filling in my breakfast bun possibly have to do with it?”

Yu Qingtang clicked his tongue and shook his head.

He pointed at Ye Chenyan and said to Scholar Xiao,

“See that? Now that is what I call impossible to season.”

Ye Chenyan was about to respond when his gaze suddenly shifted toward the dining-hall entrance.

Every student in the entire dining hall instantly straightened their back.

A man slowly entered, swept his gaze around the room, walked up to the serving window, and said in a steady voice,

“Twenty of every kind of bun.”

Yu Qingtang’s mouth fell open.

“What a bottomless pit.”

Wen Tianxia slowly turned his head.

Yu Qingtang’s eyes flew wide.

He stammered and hurriedly raised his bowl.

“I-I-I meant myself!”

“Exactly.” Chi Yantian nodded in agreement. “He’s the bottomless bun pit.”

Wen Tianxia: “...”

To their surprise, he actually chuckled, a trace of nostalgia appearing on his face.

“How long has it been since I last heard a joke this painfully stupid?”

Yu Qingtang grinned foolishly.

“Hehe. Right?”

Wen Tianxia smiled and nodded.

“Right.”

“But you still deserve a beating.”

His hand shot out with lightning speed and rapped both Yu Qingtang and Chi Yantian on the head.

“Ow!” Chi Yantian yelped.

Yu Qingtang had not even had time to bring out his Lotus Realm when Ye Chenyan tugged him aside, making him topple away from the strike.

Wen Tianxia’s expression shifted slightly.

His hand changed direction.

Thunk!

It landed squarely on Ye Chenyan’s head.

“Hiss—”

Ye Chenyan gritted his teeth.

Thunk. Thunk.

Two more knocks landed on his head.

Wen Tianxia smiled.

“You like helping him? Then you can take a few extra.”

“Teacher, enough, enough.” Scholar Xiao hurried over to mediate. “Your buns are ready. Go eat.”

“Besides, those two weren’t very smart to begin with. Keep hitting them and they’ll only get dumber.”

“Extremes reverse themselves.” Wen Tianxia withdrew his hand, took his buns, flicked his robe aside, and sat down across from them. “Perhaps a few more blows would actually help.”

“Really?”

Yu Qingtang held up his palm in front of Ye Chenyan and Chi Yantian.

“How many is this?”

“Five!” Chi Yantian answered.

Ye Chenyan: “...Still not stupid.”

Yu Qingtang lowered his hand in disappointment.

“Looks like nothing changed.”

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