Chapter 21 Ajiu’s metaphysics class is starting!

It was the middle of the night and Jiu was sleeping soundly. In her dream she was riding a big colorful butterfly, flying over clouds covered with candy flowers. Suddenly she was woken up from her sweet dream.

She opened her eyes drowsily and saw her master Chu Xuanyi, with a face darker than the bottom of a pot, sitting quietly beside her bed.

"Sir?" Jiu was startled and lost all sleepiness. He shrank back into bed. "You...you are not sleeping at this time of night. What are you doing in Jiu's room? Do you want to watch the moon with me?"

Chu Xuanyi took a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound less like he was going to kill someone: "Ajiu, I...I have something I want to ask you."

Jiu rubbed his eyes and yawned a little. "What's up, sir? Do you want to know how many bowls of rice Jiu had for dinner today? Jiu ate two bowls! And a bowl of minced meat stewed eggs, it was delicious!"

Chu Xuanyi's temples began throbbing again. He fought the urge to pick the girl up and shake her around, and instead, in what he considered a gentle and persuasive tone, asked, "Ah Jiu, I want to ask you, were those things you said you saw above His Royal Highness the Regent's head today in Changyin Pavilion real?"

"Really?" Jiu perked up immediately, nodding his little head like a chick pecking at rice. "It's so real! There really is a little pink flower and a sparkling little star on top of that fierce brother's head! The little star even sings a lullaby to the little flower! Didn't you see it, sir? Oh, what a pity! It's so beautiful!"

Chu Xuanyi felt a mouthful of blood stuck in his throat, unable to move. He forced himself to hold it back and continued, "Then...then tell me how...how did you see it?"

Ah Jiu blinked his big innocent eyes, as if it was a matter of course: "Just...just use your eyes to see! They are right there, twinkling, Ah Jiu saw them as soon as he looked up!"

"Use your eyes to see?" Chu Xuanyi's voice rose a few notches. "But why can't I see it? Why can't the entire court, including the civil and military officials, the Empress Dowager, and Your Majesty, see it? And yet you are the only one who can see it?!"

Jiu was startled by his sudden rise in voice. Her lips pursed, aggrieved. "I don't know why Master can't see... Maybe... maybe Master's eyesight isn't working well? How about I go to the mountains tomorrow and pick some eye-brightening grass for Master to make tea with?"

Chu Xuanyi: "..." He felt like he was about to have a myocardial infarction.

He tried to calm his breathing and changed the question: "So... so, have you often seen these... weird things growing on other people's heads before?"

Ah Jiu started counting on his little fingers, "Hmm...yes! There's always a dark cloud hanging over Aunt Wang's head next door. Every time it comes over, the clothes hanging out to dry in her house get soaked! And Master Zhang in the academy always has an open book on his head, and it's emitting golden light! Master says it's the 'Wenquxing shining overhead'. It's amazing!"

Chu Xuanyi's mouth twitched. He hadn't noticed Aunt Wang's dark clouds, but the "Literary Star Shining Above" above Master Zhang's head...wasn't that something he'd made up to encourage Master Zhang to teach well?! How could this girl take it so seriously?!

"Then...then your master, that is, Master Xuanxu, has he ever taught you how to distinguish whether these things are true or false? Or in other words, what do these things...represent?" Chu Xuanyi asked persistently. He now urgently wanted to know where Ah Jiu learned this "theoretical system" from.

Mentioning his old charlatan master, Ah Jiu's eyes immediately lit up with admiration. "Master is amazing! He said that everything has a spirit, and that qi transforms everything! The flowers, plants, stars, and moons we see are all manifestations of the 'qi' within each person! Good 'qi' turns into beautiful flowers, sparkling stars, and colorful butterflies! Bad 'qi' turns into dark clouds, black smoke, and... and stinking mud!"

Chu Xuanyi was stunned. All things are spiritual, and qi is the power of all things? This sounds... a bit like the mystical meaning of Taoism. However... this metaphor of "pretty little flowers" and "stinky mud" is a bit too... down-to-earth.

"Then... the 'little pink flowers' and 'glittering little stars' above His Royal Highness the Regent's head, according to your master, are considered...good 'qi'?" Chu Xuanyi asked cautiously. He felt that he seemed to be one step closer to the truth (or perhaps further away).

"Of course it's good!" Ah Jiu nodded without hesitation. "The pink flowers represent sweet love! The sparkling stars represent a beautiful and shining fate! Master said this is called 'peach blossoms blooming, and marriages are rolling in!' It's a great thing!"

Chu Xuanyi: "..." Peach blossoms are blooming, and marriage is coming... He now just wants to find a piece of tofu to kill himself.

He suddenly felt a little desperate. He realized that he couldn't communicate with this girl using normal logic! Her worldview was unique and full of fallacies and heresies!

"Then...then have you ever...missed the opportunity?" Chu Xuanyi made his final struggle.

Jiu tilted his head, thought carefully, and then shook his head. "It seems not! Master said that Jiu's eyes are the purest, and everything he sees is the most real! As long as Jiu doesn't add his own thoughts and tells what he sees exactly, he won't be wrong!"

Chu Xuanyi was completely speechless.

Without adding your own thoughts... just tell it as it is...

He looked at Ajiu's clear eyes without a trace of impurities, and suddenly a strong sense of powerlessness surged in his heart.

Maybe...what this girl said...is true?

At least, in her own world, these are all true.

Chu Xuanyi has studied metaphysics for decades, and he prides himself on being able to see through the mysteries of heaven and avoid misfortune and seek good fortune, but he has never seen such... such a unique "art of observing qi".

"Sir, are you feeling unwell? Why is your face sometimes white and sometimes blue?" Ajiu looked at Chu Xuanyi's ever-changing expression, and stretched out his little hand with some worry, wanting to touch his forehead.

Chu Xuanyi subconsciously stepped back, then heaved a long sigh and waved his hand, his voice filled with fatigue and resignation: "Forget it... Forget it... You go to sleep. I... I should also go back to rest."

He felt that if he continued asking, he might really die young.

Some things, perhaps... really cannot be guessed by common sense.

Especially when the person involved is still lacking in more than one way.

Chu Xuanyi stood up and walked out with a somewhat unsteady step. When he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and glanced back at Jiu, who had already slid back into bed, ready to continue his date with Zhou Gong. He added quietly, "Jiu, from now on... from now on, if you see someone with something strange growing on their head, can you... can you tell me first? Or... just don't tell me at all, okay?"

Jiu poked his little head out from under the quilt and said "Hmm?" in a daze.

Chu Xuanyi held onto the door frame, feeling even more tired.

He accepted his fate. He was afraid that his Imperial Master's Mansion would never have peace because of this little ancestor.