Chapter 21: The Envoy Seeking Aid

In the early morning, in the camp, the girls all got up; Qing'er heard voices, woke from her sleep, squinted, looked up at the still‑sleeping Li Bucai, felt his embrace was very warm, wished she could stay held by him forever and never get up, lightly stroked his face, then, still lingering, slipped out of his arms, put on her clothes, and left the tent.

"Mistress Qing'er, has the Master awakened?" two maids asked as they saw her come out.

Qing'er smiled sweetly and said, "He was probably tired yesterday and is still sleeping; let the Master sleep a bit longer, and don't wake him for now."

"Yes," the two replied, "what does the Master like to eat? We'll go prepare it."

"Hmm... first go to Yan Qiu and fetch some Lulu Meat, then later I'll have the sisters fish at the river; a mix of meat and vegetables, enough for five or six dishes would be best."

"Alright, we'll go right away."

After finishing the fishing instructions, Qing'er hummed a cheerful tune and went to wash by the Cicada Spring, where Yan Qiu had previously boiled tea.

It was already past eight in the morning at Bureinam, and from the opposite riverbank came the clang clang of lumbering.

While washing her face, Qing'er suddenly recalled the princess's request to her, fixed there, and the happy expression on her face instantly vanished.

"I didn't let the Master be with others, but it turned out with me... sigh, how should I explain this to the princess now? I should push him away, sigh... what should I do? If the princess finds out, she'll surely expel me."

Anran sat there, even forgetting to wipe the droplets from his face; after a while he suddenly said, "Better go back now and say that the lord across the river has already... that's all we can do." With the plan set, he hurriedly finished washing, rushed into the woods, and tried to go around the camp from behind to avoid being noticed.

She managed to go around the camp unnoticed; as Qing'er kept walking, her steps grew slower, feeling farther from the camp, and her heart felt hollow. It was as if a rope had been tied to her heart there, stretching to this spot; with each step the pull tightened, as if trying to yank her heart out of her body, a sharp pain that made her unable to walk, and she crouched there and began to sob.

"What should I do? If I don't leave, the princess will eventually find out; she'll surely drive me out, expose my role as an informant, and the Master will abandon me, leaving me truly homeless. Yet leaving hurts my heart so much—why is it like this..."

"Mistress Qing'er, what's wrong with you?"

Qing'er jumped at the voice, forced back her sobs, and seeing it was the gatherer Luo Ye, said in a slightly tearful voice, "It's... nothing... I accidentally brushed a wound, the pain is unbearable, so... what are you doing here?"

"They say they eat meat all day here, which would be deadly boring, so I took advantage of the early hour to wander the woods and see if I could pick some wild vegetables. Otherwise, I'll go back and help you return, Mistress Qing'er."

"I'm fine."

"Really fine, Mistress Qing'er."

"Really fine."

"Then... I'll go first."

"Hmm."

Luo Ye was about to turn when Qing'er suddenly called her back: "Wait."

"Any other instructions, Mistress Qing'er?"

Qing'er hesitated a moment and said, "Suppose... I mean suppose, suppose I really like someone and don't want that person to associate with other girls, and I have you watch over him..."

"Of course I'll carry out Mistress Qing'er's orders; who is that person?"

"Then... what if you also fall for him? If I find out, I'll drive you out of the Territory. Of course, only the Master can expel you. I said, all of this is just a hypothetical."

"If I'm driven out, so be it; it's no big deal. I like him because I like him; loving someone isn't something I can control, nor did I intend it. Being expelled over this is fine with me."

"That would kill you."

"If I die, so be it. If you love someone but are too afraid to love them, you'll eventually suffer and die anyway, so better to go out with a bang." Luo Ye paused, then couldn't help saying, "Mistress Qing'er... what you're doing is overly selfish and against the rules. Of course, everything I said is also hypothetical, so please don't take my words seriously, Mistress Qing'er."

"I understand, thank you. That's all, you may go now."

Luo Ye left at once.

Her words eased Qing'er's heart considerably. Indeed, living a gloomy life here is worse than a quick death; the princess hasn't noticed yet, so enjoy a few happy days, and worry about the future later.

She went back to the riverbank, washed her face again, put a smile back on her face, and returned to the camp...

Inside the medium-sized tent, Li Bucai was still sound asleep; the curtain fluttered lightly as two maids entered, a ray of sunlight fell on his face, waking him from his dream.

"Master, you are awake."

"Hmm. What time is it?" Li Bucai replied, tried to sit up, then suddenly remembered he was still naked and fell back down.

"It's probably a little past eight; breakfast is ready. The maid will first help the Master put on his clothes."

"Well... it's been a long time since anyone helped me dress, so I'm a bit unaccustomed. From now on, I'll handle such small matters myself, so I won't trouble you."

"This..."

What bothers Li Bucai most is pleading; they would surely say it's their duty, and if even dressing requires the Master's personal involvement, how could we keep any face staying by the Master's side.

If they said that, their hearts would surely soften; since I can't stand now, I changed the subject: "By the way, I felt a bit dizzy yesterday and forgot to ask how you address yourselves."

The two responded in turn: "I am the maid Liu Rushi, I enjoy mending clothes; from now on, entrust the Master's garments to me."

Li Bucai thought to himself: Liu Rushi? That name sounds familiar, it's on the tip of my mind, but I can't recall where I heard it.

"I am the maid Su Xiaoxiao, dedicated to attending the Master's meals and daily life."

Another name that seemed familiar—Su Xiaoxiao, Liu Rushi... Li Bucai was startled: "Damn, aren't those two of the four famous courtesans of antiquity? Their names appearing here—are they just coincidentally similar, or has Sky City's time‑space travel gathered all famous people from Earth? Whatever, they're all beauties."

"Could you two kindly go fetch Qing'er and Yan Qiu for me?"

"I'll go call them right away," the two replied, but only Liu Rushi went out.

The intention was to have them leave the tent so he could dress. Li Bucai then said, "By the way, there's something else; could you also call Zhuoran and her sisters over?"

After finally sending both away, Li Bucai donned his clothes at a speed of 9.37 seconds per 100 meters, and by the time the four arrived at the tent entrance, he had already stepped out.

"Is everyone here?"

"What orders does the Master have?"

"Hmm... there are no other tasks for now; first finish building the barracks. So, Zhuoran and Zhuoyue, you two should dispatch your subordinates around the camp to protect everyone; the rest is left to Yan Qiu and Qing'er."

With the orders set, everyone ate immediately, then took their positions—those who felled trees felled, those who fished fished, and they began rebuilding the camp. The new barracks were placed beside the five tents.

Li Bucai took out a logging axe and went into the woods to help cut trees. Not long after he swung, he felt inferior; he hadn't expected those two delicate girls, who seemed frail, to outcut him—while he felled three trees, they each already produced five pieces of timber.

"How can this be?"

Yan Qiu chuckled softly, covering her mouth: "Master, no need to be frustrated. Their Qi‑gathering technique is specifically for heavy labor and has been practiced since childhood; yours is a combat skill. Though you have strength, your technique is inferior. Even so, you're already much faster. They're cutting willow trees, while you're cutting oak; oak is hard, requiring their logging skill to be above level five before they can fell it."

"Is that so?" He recognized the willow trees, but knew little about oak.

"Yan Qiu would never dare deceive the Master."

"Looks like I'll have to find time to learn from you properly."

Initially, the loggers all carried six-slot packs, which could hold six thick logs; once full, they piled them on the open ground, and in a blink they formed a mountain-like stack. Then the carpenters selected the thickest and straightest logs from among them, peeled and drilled holes, and handed them to the construction workers, who first laid three layers of other wood on the ground as a base, crisscrossed and fastened with wooden pegs, making it very sturdy; then they inserted these round logs into the round holes of the low base: eight to the south, sixteen east-west, eight to the north, each spaced two meters apart—one can imagine that once completed this will be a tall and majestic building. This is the Xinggong designed by Yan Qiu especially for the honored lord.

……

"Honored lord, Sky City has sent an envoy." At noon, everyone was resting in the camp when Wu Zhuoran hurried back to the camp and said to Li Bucai.

"Oh? An envoy?"

At that moment, a white cloud drifted past the edge of the forest and slowly descended onto the open ground outside the camp, where a middle-aged officer in iron armor approached from that direction.

Li Bucai, accompanied by Wu Zhuoran, went to the stockade gate to meet him.

"Greetings, lord, the envoy of Sky City, Zou Ying, comes by the Emperor's command to pay a visit to you."

Li Bucai invited him into the tent; thanks to the carpenters, they had made two wooden chairs during a break, and Li Bucai asked him to sit.

"Why would Sky City suddenly send a military officer to pay a visit?" Li Bucai found it strange. After exchanging pleasantries, Li Bucai said, "The Emperor's decree forbids going to Sky City within a month; just yesterday they sent a wandering merchant, and today they send an envoy—I suspect something is up."

Zou Ying said, "Since you ask, I may as well speak frankly. You may not know, having just arrived here, there are a total of fifteen floating islands in this sky; besides Sky City there are four others: one is Luo Ping Hai, one is East Slope Terrace, and the other two are Rest Gate Bitter Sea and Extreme Bliss Hell. Decades ago, because Sky City's population was excessively large, the previous emperor sent people to garrison there, intending to relocate the excess population to the four islands, but those who went never returned; over the following decades, the emperor sent several troops to search for them, yet there was no news. But a few days ago, someone from Luo Ping Hai returned from there, saying they had been attacked by strange beasts; the earliest group sent, the Emperor's thirteenth brother Jie En, was trapped in Luo Ping Hai, and several attempts to rescue him failed."

"In other words, is the purpose of your visit this time, Lord Zou, to have us send troops to Luo Ping Hai?"