Chapter 29: Legendary Face (2/2)

The sagely Nongyu I remembered first meeting, was this really the same person…?

The bantering tone hadn’t changed, but he seemed to have grown fonder of teasing others. I really wanted to shut him up, but…

Personal preferences aside, there was something important I didn’t understand.

“How did you guess it was me…did my disguise fail so hard?” I touched my face, uncertain. The layers of the mask were still there, so I shouldn’t have been easily exposed.

“Do you want to know? It’s actually very simple.” He smiled lightly, bending down. Those refined eyebrows were long and slender, giving him a relaxed and cheerful expression. “I’m a face-changing expert.”

Face-changing expert?

A guy like him…

I was too late to hide the expression of ridicule on my face.

Nongyu took back his unrestrained, frivolous manners, and said seriously, “Come with me.” So saying, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

“But this medicine…” I pointed at the package on the ground.

“There’ll be someone to take it away, don’t bother.”

Huh…

He actually rolled his eyes at me, t-t-this…I’m so mad! I could actually throw up.

I don’t know how many turns we made before we reached a house. Nongyu shut the door behind us as we entered.

“What’s the point of shutting the door up so tightly?”

“Of course…it’s so…” His leisurely voice followed the slow lift of his head, while I stood there in the breeze, puzzled. The corners of his eyes rose, and his face had the smug look of someone used to taking liberties. “We can work together to deceive everyone else.”

—All reproductions of this work not on volaretranslations are stolen copies.

I gave him a blank look, completely ill at ease. Plopping onto a chair, I found a bronze mirror to examine my fake face.

There was nothing enticing about this face at all…

Looks like Nongyu was an exceptional case, not even letting a vile old skinbag like this go. Truthfully speaking, I felt sorry for the old emperor.

He was sick enough to be confined to bed, away from all the beautiful sights of the inner court. Meanwhile this imperial physician could wander about the place as he’d liked. Even if he stirred up a big fuss, he could abort the situation quite easily, leaving no one the wiser.

“What are you whispering about in the corner?” His hand rested against the table as he leaned down, index finger picking at my face. The neatly trimmed nail brushed past my skin as his mouth creased into a smile. “Younger Sister Shào…”

“What are you babbling about, trying to call back the dead?” I beat him off.

“Your poison skills are superior to mine, and your medical skills might reach my level before long but…it looks like your face-changing skills aren’t much after all.”

He was looking down on me.

My reb.u.t.tal faded as I saw my reflection in the mirror. I looked back and forth a few times, before falling into silence.

“Yifu never taught me how to change my appearance.”

He smiled, and dug off a piece of skin from my face to take an experimental sniff. “This is the first time I, Nongyu, have seen anyone use poisonous powders to change their looks…Younger Sister Shào, you have some guts.”

“I was raised by Fang Hua. Do you think I fear poisons?”

“That makes sense,” he turned and took out a light green bottle from a side drawer. Pulling out the stopper, he gave a sniff before pouring some of its contents into his palm, eyes laughing. “Come and tilt your face towards me, be good.”

“Haven’t I been facing you the entire time…hmph…”

A fragrant aroma drifted from his palm, and some sort of liquidy, oily plaster was applied to my face. It felt like he was smearing paint over a wall… The strong force he was using gradually lessened as he asked, “Hn? Comfortable?”

“It’s all right.”

He smiled again.

I caught the hand that wanted to drift down to my neck and collar, and spoke tightly, “You haven’t done the bottom half of my face yet.”

“Excuse my lack of manners,” he lightly searched my face, as if looking for something. Then he made a polite gesturing motion to the side. “There’s water over there to wash off your face. You’ll be recognized sooner or later by the crown prince and your yifu like this.”

“First I get smeared with weird stuff, then I have to wash my face. What exactly are you playing at?”

“It’s very simple,” He took up his sleeves and spoke in a leisurely tone. “I’m going to make you another face.”

-o-All reproductions of this work not on volaretranslations are stolen copies.

[1] n.o.ble consort (贵妃) －guifei, depends on dynasty, but this is one of the highest (if not the highest) level of imperial concubines. Of course, the one on top is the empress.

[2] romantic scene (风花雪月) －feng hua xue yue, or “wind, flowers, snow, moon”, term originally used for certain types of works, and later referring to sentimental writings in general. Think along the lines of…cliché shoujo scenes or similar.

[3] eternal bachelor (无妻无儿) －wuqi wuer, “without a wife, without a son,” I took a bit of creative liberties here, hehe.