Chapter 42 Old Master Duan's "Shortcomings"
The old ancestor was determined to die.
Duan Jiuyou woke up in warm water. Outside the steamy wooden tub, two female disciples who usually served her stood, one sprinkling flower petals into the tub and the other wiping her arm.
The bath room was filled with a light, faint fragrance of the Moon Palace, a gift from the Fairy of Hanshan when she last visited the Moon Palace.
Duan Jiuyou loved this incense very much and was usually reluctant to use it. He wondered who had chosen it so well today.
"The fragrance of the fairy of Hanshan is truly superior to all the flavors in the world."
Duan Jiuyou sniffed and suddenly opened his eyes, startling the two female disciples.
Half a basin of flower petals fell into the wooden tub. One of them was the first to come to its senses and said in a daze, "Grandpa, you're awake."
Can he open his eyes if he doesn't wake up?
Duan Jiuyou looked at them, his rationality gradually returning: "Wasn't I sleeping in my bedchamber before? How did I end up here?"
This question seemed to have touched on a topic that shouldn't be discussed, and the two girls' faces flushed red, as if they had been scalded by hot water.
Seeing their behavior, Duan Jiuyou became even more puzzled: "Who told you to serve me during my bath?"
She couldn't recall giving that instruction.
"this……"
How should I put it?
The two girls started pushing and shoving each other, acting coy and awkward, as if the answer was extremely difficult to say.
Duan Jiuyou frowned and directly called on a disciple to reply.
"Emerald Owl, tell me, what exactly happened?"
The owl dared not refuse to answer, and stammered, "Yes, it was Wolf Lord who ordered it. You slept with him until the middle of the night, and I guess... you sweated a bit, or, anyway, it was Wolf Lord who ordered the water, and we prepared it according to his instructions."
“Yes,” another added, “the bedding was also changed.”
What Wolf Lord?
What about water preparation?
Why change the bedding? And why sleep until the middle of the night?
Duan Jiuyou felt something was off as he listened, and after briefly connecting the words, he understood!
"He's back to normal?"
"yes."
Where is he?!
The disciple replied, "She's taking a bath next door..."
With a splash, Duan Jiuyou emerged from the wooden tub, dressed in a light blue undershirt and silk trousers, and casually wrapped in a sky-blue brocade robe.
Calling for water to bathe in the middle of the night—isn't he ruining her reputation?!
"Imperial Territory!"
The bathroom next door was shrouded in mist; as soon as the door was opened, it was as if a huge cloud burst out.
The cold energy within Emperor Jiang's body was too heavy, and the combination of cold and heat created a "thick smoke" that made the room feel like it was being steamed.
Duan Jiuyou waved his sleeves and searched for people in the "clouds and mist," finally finding the "culprit" on the side of the bath after a lot of effort.
The pool was built with white bricks and stone mortars. At first glance, it looked similar to the bathhouse used by the Emperor in the Ten Realms. Duan Jiuyou used a wooden tub to bathe in the next room. Compared with the Emperor's bathhouse, it was extremely shabby!
She sat down by the pool with her arms crossed, and immediately said, "Lord Wilderness really knows how to enjoy life. You made me wash the wooden tub, but you came to use the bathtub yourself!"
She wasn't confused by anger. Although she rushed over impulsively, she sat with her back to the bathtub, her long hair tied on top of her head, water dripping from the ends, revealing a section of her delicate neck and the back of her angry head.
Di Jiang looked at her with a smile: "So you've finally decided to wake up?"
The tone was languid, almost to the extreme of leisure.
Duan Jiuyou sneered: "They've already washed him, how could he not wake up?"
Di Jiang said, "They said you usually bathe in a wooden tub, and you sleep like you're unconscious, so they're afraid you won't be able to sit still in the bathtub."
"What do you care if I can sit still or not? No, I never said I wanted to take a bath!" They weren't even talking about the same thing. Duan Jiuyou gritted his teeth, he was so angry he was about to die.
She said, "You said you were awake, so you should have just gone back to sleep. Why make such a fuss and let everyone know? Now look what's happened! Everyone knows there was a man sleeping in my room. We slept from the afternoon until the middle of the night, and you still called for a bath!"
"What's wrong with calling for water?" Di Jiang's voice carried a hint of confusion.
Duan Jiuyou couldn't see Di Jiang's expression and assumed he really didn't understand. He pursed his lips and glared at the small couch opposite him, feeling both embarrassed to be too explicit and unable to swallow his anger.
"Calling for water means—"
She suddenly understood the awkwardness that the Green Owl and the others were feeling.
During her time in the mortal realm, she worked as a maid; in that life, she was a young lady's dowry maid.
The young lady married a young general. On their wedding night, the maidservants told them to prepare water, saying they would need it that night. On the wedding night, she and the other maids stood guard outside the door. It was the first time she understood "human affairs." After some commotion, the general rang a bell to call for water, and the young lady was helped by them to the bathing room.
Although she and Di Jiang did not have these "procedures", in the disciples' guesses, it must have been a "complete upheaval", otherwise why would the maid serving her blush?
"It's just not good!" Duan Jiuyou said. "You're young, so I won't explain the things you don't understand. But there's one thing you have to remember: water is a common problem that can be misunderstood. You can't wake up in the middle of the night and ask someone for water anymore."
Di Jiang remained silent. After a while, Duan Jiuyou asked again, "Why did you have them wash me?"
Di Jiang said, "You smell of medicine."
Duan Jiuyou understood immediately.
The "wolf cub" was narrow-minded and couldn't stand the smell of dragons on her.
"Can't you wake me up and let me wash myself?"
"How do you know I didn't call you?" Di Jiang said with a smile. "Your disciples have such vivid imaginations, and you want to blame me for it? How could you not make a sound in such a situation? If that were the case, you wouldn't have only called for water once."
He's not that physically weak, and Duan Jiuyou probably isn't the kind of person who can hold back his screams.
“That can’t be—” Duan Jiuyou turned her head away, and at the moment they looked at each other, something exploded in Duan Jiuyou’s mind. She looked at Di Jiang with her face flushed red.
"You understand everything?"
I don't really understand it; it's just theoretical.
Firstly, there is a method of union and dual cultivation in the practice of Dharma. Secondly, men generally understand this kind of thing better than women.
Although Emperor Jiang was young, he was still a grown man, and many wanted to send women into his palace. There were also quite a few who worried that he would be "lonely at night" and tried to keep him by their side.
Duan Jiuyou's reaction surprised him. Given her long life and countless immortal companions, she shouldn't have reacted this way, unless—
"If you understand, why did you pretend to be stupid just now!" Jiuyou's face turned bright red, her delicate face full of anger.
Emperor Jiang put away his joke.
"Jiuyou, you've never done this before?"
"What do you mean by 'never before'? I don't understand what you're saying." Duan Jiuyou's expression was unpleasant, while Di Jiang stared intently at her, as if he had to hear a reason.
She didn't want to elaborate, turning her head away coldly: "If you have experience, then you have experience. Why do you care what others do?"
She's had many romantic partners, but none of them have actually gone down that path.
As mentioned before, our ancestor was a fickle person with a very shallow understanding of love. If she saw someone who was beautiful and felt a little fond of them, she would think that this feeling was love. But when the other person wanted to take things a step further, she would feel strange and uncomfortable. Once someone got close to her, she would find all sorts of reasons to push them away.
She had only a superficial understanding of relationships, and no one told her that she didn't want to be touched because she hadn't truly fallen in love.
With her reputation for womanizing, if people found out that she was actually a "silver-plated spearhead" who had never even had a meal with meat, wouldn't they laugh at her?
She wanted to silence Di Jiang, and was just about to tell him not to tell anyone outside, when she heard Di Jiang whisper.
"I don't have any either."
"What's missing?"
Duan Jiuyou didn't react in time.
Di Jiang remained silent.
Water splashed in the pool, and just like last time, he jumped out of the water without any hesitation.
Duan Jiuyou quickly turned his face away, thinking to himself, "Twice! Twice!!"
He really doesn't treat her like a woman!
In fact, Di Jiang thought the exact opposite of Duan Jiuyou. The previous time, he really didn't have a gender, or rather, he didn't treat Duan Jiuyou as a human being at all.
At that time, he was unsure of her purpose in coming to the Ten Realms. He couldn't distinguish between friend and foe, and there were old grudges between them. At most, he regarded her as a fat turtle.
This time it's different. His feelings for her have changed a long time ago. If she wants to see his body, she can do so anytime.
There was a set of robes prepared by the disciple on the small couch in the bath room. It was probably because the two of them would want to take a nap, so they specially left a light robe that would be easy to sleep in.
Di Jiang slowly and methodically put on his clothes, seemingly hesitating for a moment.
"I have no experience either, we're about the same."
Duan Jiuyou looked at his elongated silhouette under the lamplight and suddenly felt a sense of tension, as if he were enveloped in danger. His heart tightened and his words became incoherent.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Why are you stuttering?" Di Jiang turned to look at her and smiled casually.
He had a thin, indifferent face, and his body was honed through real combat, but he usually concealed it under a loose robe. At this moment, his clothes were loose, half-concealing his usual sickly appearance.
Duan Jiuyou glanced at it quickly, then lowered his gaze.
"Where did I stutter? I just wanted to say, are you going to sleep or not? You're making such a fuss in the middle of the night, and in another hour it will be dawn."
Di Jiang straightened his sleeves and walked up to Duan Jiuyou, extending a hand to take Jiuyou's hand.
The language is concise and to the point.
"sleep."
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