Aided by the players’ evaluation materials, Shen Zhiwei quickly perfected the game, and succeeded in his request to turn To Forsake the World into a travel-style game. The company had already set about developing this new tourism project.

Once the core program had been written, the new game with its interstellar background no longer required Shen Zhiwei’s personal efforts. He could get some rest.

So Yun Ruifeng quietly went with Shen Zhiwei to register their marriage, without notifying anyone. They were planning to have a wedding ceremony when they’d had their fill of living in a world apart, just the two of them.

Yun Ruifeng had been wanting to touch the young doctor, but he’d been so busy with work that Yun Ruifeng couldn’t bring himself to make things any harder for him, so he’d held back. Now they finally had a vacation, and the two of them had gotten their marriage license, so Yun Ruifeng let himself go altogether and had an absolutely lovely night.

He let himself go just a tiny bit too much.

After what he had put him through, when Shen Zhiwei finally managed to get up the next afternoon, his back and butt ached something fierce. That lunatic Yun Ruifeng was like a perpetual motion machine—he just didn’t stop!

Seeing Shen Zhiwei’s grouchy expression, Yun Ruifeng brought over the congee he had made that morning and gently placed a pillow behind Shen Zhiwei so he could sit up more comfortably.

“I was being careless…” Yun Ruifeng apologized with his head bowed.

He really had been careless. In his memories, he and the young emperor had come together many times, so it absolutely hadn’t occurred to him that he and Shen Zhiwei were newlyweds, and he had carried on just as if they’d done this plenty of times. It would have been a wonder if it hadn’t been too much for Shen Zhiwei.

“It’s all right,” said Shen Zhiwei, still looking grim. “Have you thought of where we’re going on our honeymoon?”

“You decide,” said Yun Ruifeng. “I’ll do anything you say.”

“The travel game version of To Forsake the World is looking for testers. Let’s go there,” said Shen Zhiwei.

Yun Ruifeng absorbed this in silence.

That was what he got for marrying a workaholic. Even during his honeymoon, he wanted to improve his work.

A little morosely, Yun Ruifeng nodded. “Well, all right.”

He bent his head and missed the smile that touched Shen Zhiwei’s lips.

Shen Zhiwei had already brought some game helmets home. His two helmets had been specially programmed and were unlike regular helmets in two respects. First, they could block the game company’s monitoring of the players; second, when the players encountered danger, the helmets would force them back to the real world to protect their psyches.

In fact, because they were blocking the game company’s monitoring, this honeymoon of theirs wouldn’t be any help for the game testing. Shen Zhiwei just wanted to use this time to go back and have a look.

He couldn’t stop thinking about that world.

—

Yun Ruifeng opened his eyes and found himself once again dressed in feminine clothes, which were inferior to his former finery: this was a village girl’s attire, and his hair was tied up in two trailing loops.

He touched his chest and lower body and found that he was still a man, and when he stood, he was very tall.

The information in his mind concerning his character was scant. All he knew was that he was called Chunhua, that he lived in a small village near the imperial capital, that he was fourteen years old, and that his mother had died young and he lived with his gambling addict father.

Yun Chunhua was not convinced.

A fourteen-year-old girl who was 190 cm tall…

As Yun Chunhua thought about this, the people around him were pointing fingers at a middle-aged man. An elderly lady came forward and said, “Lai San, Chunhua is your only daughter. You should be good to her. One day she’ll bring in a husband and look after you in your old age.”

Chunhua’s father—Lai San—drank some wine and slurred, “Our Chunhua’s going to a rich family.”

Hearing this, the people around them silently spat in his direction.

Going to a rich family? Lai San wanted to sell his daughter to pay off his gambling debts. It was fortunate that Chunhua looked so…upright that the shabby whorehouse wouldn’t have her, or else Lai San would have sold his daughter there by now. They offered the best price.

It wasn’t a lean year. No one would sell their children unless they really couldn’t make it otherwise. During the decade and more of the late emperor’s reign, the harvest had been plentiful year after year, and everyone had been well provided for, able to care for as many children as they happened to have. The only ones selling their children were those who had ruined things for themselves.

Yun Chunhua was appalled.

It was a good thing he was so tall and broad…

Having failed to sell his daughter in that low place and unable to get a good price anywhere else, unwilling to give up the cut that women who dealt in the buying and selling of girls would have taken, Lai San took Chunhua to the capital himself. He’d heard that all the lords in the city had money; it should be easier to sell her.

And Lai San’s luck was good. As soon as he reached the city, he heard that Lord Chen’s household was short on staff and was urgently recruiting children from clean backgrounds who were also strong and capable of doing rough work. Chunhua had always been strong, and he had grown so big and tall without being given much to eat. He certainly fit the requirements. So Lai San took Chunhua to the recruiter at Lord Chen’s residence and signed a lifelong contract for Chunhua, selling him to the household.

Once he had the money, Lai San laughed and said to Chunhua, “I hear Lord Chen is a very, very important official at court. You’re going to be so happy!”

Now that the money from selling Chunhua was in his hands, he wasn’t in a rush to go back and pay his debts. He went straight to the capital’s gambling street.

Yun Chunhua remained appalled.

Lord Chen’s ancestor had amassed blessings and earned a hereditary title of marquis of the first rank. The family hadn’t produced anyone of astonishing talent and eloquence over the years, but at the same time, neither had it produced any useless layabouts. Each generation built steadily on the achievements of the last. They were all well-behaved marquises, and their children and grandchildren served as minor officials of the fifth or sixth rank. They had no great abilities, but they hadn’t made any mistakes either, so the title had passed steadily on.

His position wasn’t especially high and his lands had practically all been retaken by the court; in the capital, where officials below the third rank couldn’t even lift their heads, how could this count as an important official?

Once, he wouldn’t even have…

“Chunhua, is it? While you seem quite strong, you’re still a girl. You can’t work in the front courtyard with the pages. Why not go to the rear courtyard to chop firewood for now?”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Chunhua before he could get around to recalling his former glory. He followed the kitchen steward and went to chop firewood.

Shen Zhiwei must have arranged this identity for him and planned for how events would develop in the future. He only had to wait.

So Yun Chunhua began his life of chopping firewood in the marquis’s residence.

Chunhua was strong and healthy. He chopped firewood quickly and well, and often helped the kitchen steward with her tasks. The kitchen girls were delighted with him. In a cold-blooded abode like this, an aggrieved soul or two would always be hanging around. It was said that since Chunhua had come to the rear courtyard, those peculiar whisperings and rustlings hadn’t been heard again. Chunhua was effective at warding off evil!

Yun Chunhua didn’t know what to do with this.

Everyone in the rear courtyard seemed to see him as a girl; no matter how big and tall he was, no matter how developed his muscles were, no one ever “mistook” him for a man. But sometimes, a young maid with her hair similarly up in two loops would bring him an embroidered purse or handkerchief or something of that nature, and call him big sister. He was really perplexed.

Yun Chunhua…was only fourteen. The maids calling him big sister had all been at the residence for several years, and even the youngest of them was fifteen. Yet they all called him big sister…

He sighed lengthily, resigned himself to his fate, and went to bring water to the young madam.

Chunhua had become the young madam’s second-grade maid after the day the young madam had nearly fallen in the garden, and he had kept her on her feet. He had also detected from her pulse that she was pregnant, so he had escorted her back to her bedroom so she could rest, and had the physician in the front courtyard notified. The physician said that the young madam’s pregnancy was a tricky one, and if she had actually fallen earlier, she might have lost the child.

Out of gratitude toward Chunhua, and to have a sense of safety, the young madam had transferred the kitchen’s woodchopping maid to her own quarters to be a second-grade maid and had him stand watch over her at night to keep the forces of evil at bay.

Though he was only a second-grade maid, the young madam had a great deal of trust in Chunhua, and her head maid was also very good to Chunhua, often giving him snacks and things like that.

Yun Chunhua felt as if he had activated an unusual game route. Though he was only an unattractive maid, men and women alike all adored him.

But there was one thing he didn’t understand. On the principle of opposite sex attraction, the young madam’s approval of him could be explained, but why would Young Master Chen, the future marquis, also approve of him?

Traditionally, when a man’s first wife was pregnant, she would arrange for a concubine to look after her husband. The young madam did just that: when she learned that she was pregnant, she trimmed the hairlines of two of the maids who had been part of her dowry and sent them to warm Young Master Chen’s bed. If Young Master Chen liked them, he could accord them the status of concubine. The young madam had their indentures; no one could make any trouble about it.

But Young Master Chen refused the two lively dowry maids and asked for the young madam’s second-grade maid Chunhua.

Yun Chunhua was bewildered.

He saw absolutely no signs that this profligate Young Master Chen was the young doctor, and anyway, it was obvious at a glance that the guy was straight. Why would he have taken a liking to Chunhua, big and tall as he was?

And then something even more peculiar took place. The young madam refused Young Master Chen’s request categorically, saying that she felt unwell because of her pregnancy and needed Chunhua to look after her. Chunhua was strong; if anything happened, he would be able to lift her. He was much more useful than the other maids. She couldn’t do without Chunhua.

The couple had a heated argument over Young Master Chen wanting to have Chunhua for his concubine.

Young Master Chen privately told Chunhua that he had obtained his indenture from the steward, and if Chunhua agreed to be with him, he would return the indenture to Chunhua and officially end Chunhua’s bond, so he could be a respectable woman.

Yun Chunhua was entirely perplexed by this. He urgently wanted to know just what kind of role Shen Zhiwei had arranged for him. So he said, “Eldest Young Master, I have neither talent nor looks, nothing but endless strength. What exactly do you like about me?”

Young Master Chen blushed. With a suggestive look at Chunhua, he stammered, “From the first time I saw you, I thought you looked very…very singular, not like all those girls outside. You’re different. That first time, you were chopping wood in the kitchen. I saw you standing in the kitchen yard, hacking a big, round piece of timber into pieces with a single blow of the ax, each piece identical in size. I thought then, Oh, what a unique girl! How wonderful it would be to have her. Also, I know you were studying with the head cook. I-I would love to try your cooking.”

Unperturbed, Chunhua said with a placid expression, “Thank you for thinking well of me, but I don’t want to be a concubine. I would rather marry one of the pages and be a steward. I would sooner be a commoner’s wife than a noble’s concubine.”

“Rather a commoner’s wife than a noble’s concubine…” Young Master Chen repeated despondently. His face turned white. Looking disappointed, he said, “I-I know, you’re not like those social climbers, you’re…special. But I already have a first wife. I don’t deserve to marry you.”

Young Master Chen raised his head and, full of hope, said, “Chunhua, what if I cast off Young Madam and take you as my first wife?”

Though Chunhua’s expression didn’t change, a shade of displeasure entered his eyes as he looked at the young master. “Eldest Young Master, Young Madam is devoted to you, and she’s carrying your child. She has in no way failed in her duties as your wife. If you cast her off, how is she supposed to live?”

Young Master Chen bowed his head in disappointment. “I knew it. Chunhua…you must marry a man who will be good to you. If anyone dares to mistreat you, I’ll fight for you!”

Then he fled in defeat. Each time Chunhua saw him afterward, Young Master Chen would gaze at him with a look of love and yearning, as well as reluctance to give up.

Chunhua did not become distracted but continued to wait conscientiously on the young madam.

At last, the peace of the Chen manor was broken by old Marquis Chen’s eightieth birthday.

That day, many statesmen and nobles came to the manor, and the young madam decided to go out to receive guests despite her pregnancy. Chunhua helped the maids wait on the important ladies in the rear courtyard, but somehow, while he was bringing fruit, he encountered a lost young gentleman in the corridor.

The handsome young gentleman walked up to Chunhua and playfully grabbed him by the chin. “What a very…unique maid. Come with me, and I’ll make sure you are spared any hard labor and can live in luxury. Look at your hands. You’ve done so much rough work that your knuckles have turned big and coarse.”

Chunhua took a step back, avoiding the handsome gentleman’s fingers, and said seriously, “These are the hands I was born with. They’re this big without doing any work.”

“I’ve never seen such an honest and unpretentious maid before. I really am interested now. Tell me your name, little maid.”

“My name is whatever my master wishes it to be,” Chunhua answered calmly. “Sir, the fruit on this plate I’m holding was a gift to the old marquis from His Majesty, which the marquis is treating his female guests to. If anything happens to this plate on the way, it will mean disrespect toward His Majesty.”

“Oh?” The gentleman’s eyebrows went up. “What a clever girl you are to threaten me with His Majesty. You really are different. I’ll let you go this time. Next time…things will be different.”

As he spoke, from the corridor across from them came a voice: “Xiao Hongjian, that’s the women’s quarters over there. Why are you heading that way?”

This was a lovely voice, a voice that caressed the ear. Chunhua was certain that no one but the man he loved could make him feel like this. He turned his head to look, but all he saw a swirl of hems as the speaker turned away.

Xiao Hongjian said, “See you next time, little girl.”

Though it had been only a brief incident, Chunhua kept thinking of that voice. Many days had passed since he had seen the person in his heart; he couldn’t help feeling a little wild.

But he was only a maid, in no position to find out information about the masters. After asking around for several days, he still hadn’t found out who that person was.

Just as Chunhua was seeking that person everywhere, Young Master Chen, looking shocked and furious, summoned him. “Chunhua, on the day of my grandfather’s birthday feast, did you encounter Prince Jing?”

Prince Jing? Chunhua raised his eyebrows slightly. Calmly, he said, “While bringing fruit, I met a gentleman named Xiao Hongjian. Is he Prince Jing?”

A person with the title of prince must be a member of the imperial family; it probably wasn’t Xiao Hongjian.

“Xiao Hongjian? Part of the Xiao family? The Xiaos are relatives of the imperial family. It must be Xiao Hongjian! Chunhua, don’t worry. I’ll protect you!”

Then Young Master Chen hurried away, leaving Chunhua behind, all at sea.

A Xiao family related to the imperial family… That must be the Xiaos of Mobei? So he had met a member of his own family’s younger generation, perhaps even two generations down from him?

Chunhua had a feeling that nothing good could come of Young Master Chen coming to him in a rage. Sure enough, the next day, looking bitter, the young madam said to Chunhua, “Chunhua, you saved my life, and you’re the person I trust most in this courtyard. I had meant to wait until you came of age and release you from your bond and pick a good man for you to marry in proper style, so your children wouldn’t have to be slaves.”

“Thank you, Young Madam. I will always remember your kindness to me.”

“But… Oh, my poor Chunhua…why must you be so special? You’ve captivated me, and my husband as well. And now even Prince Jing…Prince Jing has asked for you by name. We’re only a marquis’s family. We can’t refuse Prince Jing!” Tears streamed down the young madam’s face.

The word “captivated” gave Chunhua a considerable fright, but fortunately he had always been steady. Calmly, he said, “Thank you for your care, Young Madam. I have my own fate. There is no need for you to worry about it.”

The young madam’s tears dripped on the sandalwood box she held. She placed the costly box in Chunhua’s hands. Wiping her tears, she said, “I can’t do anything to help you. I can only give you some possessions. Prince Jing’s residence is a wealthy home. It’s hard to get by there without some money. Don’t feel embarrassed. This money is my thanks to you for saving the child in my womb and my own life. That’s worth any amount of material objects.”

Seeing Chunhua nod and accept the box, the young madam cried a while longer, then at last tired herself out. Chunhua helped her to bed.

When Chunhua opened the box, he found several thousands in silver banknotes and some precious ornaments. The young madam was truly considerate, giving him such costly things.

Chunhua put away the banknotes and the ornaments and returned to his room to think. With his looks, it might be possible for him to captivate a girl or two. But for a tall and broad maid with his hair in two trailing loops to enchant both the young master and the young madam, to enchant the imperial kinsman Xiao Hongjian as well as Prince Jing, they would all have to be blind.

He must be exuding some kind of attractive force.

Young Master Chen’s promise was completely meaningless. In a few days, Chunhua was taken to Prince Jing’s residence. A caustic-looking elderly woman came to pick him up. She looked Chunhua up and down, snorted, and said, “I don’t know how a person like you managed to catch His Highness’s eye. When we get to the residence, we’ll have none of your flattery. While His Highness’s residence has no mistress, there’s still nothing for the likes of you to set your sights on. Do your work, that’s all. There are rules at His Highness’s residence. If you don’t understand the rules, you’ll be beaten to death after a few days.”

“Ma’am,” said Chunhua calmly, not frightened by these words, “what kind of a person is His Highness? I’m a newcomer. I’m afraid of offending my master somehow.”

As he spoke, he placed a small silver ingot in the old lady’s hand.

The old lady weighed the ingot and tucked it into her sleeve. Her expression warmed slightly, and she began to tell Chunhua about Prince Jing.

Ever since the late Emperor Jingren had adopted the present emperor from the wider imperial clan, Emperor Ning’an had wanted to follow suit and choose an outstanding heir from among the children of imperial kinsmen rather than adhering to the practice of choosing his own child. All the distant offshoots of the imperial clan became important once again, and so this side branch had been found. Emperor Ning’an had taken a liking to the young Prince Jing at first glance.

When Emperor Ning’an saw Prince Jing, he wept. That very night he had the six-year-old child stay in the palace and took him for his foster son, having him raised by the empress. Ten years later, Emperor Ning’an gave him the rank of imperial prince, with the name “Jing.” The late emperor’s title was Jingren, so these two characters should have been taboo and not used again. But Emperor Ning’an loved Prince Jing, and when the cabinet saw Prince Jing’s face, they didn’t object either. Only a few censors made a bit of trouble without raising any major waves. So Prince Jing’s title was settled.

Emperor Ning’an chose a very prosperous area for Prince Jing’s fiefdom, but he didn’t send him to rule it. Instead, he built a residence in the capital where he could keep Prince Jing nearby.

At court, people said that given how fond Emperor Ning’an was of him, there was every chance that Prince Jing would inherit the throne.

“His Highness has yet to marry. That’s because His Majesty loves him so much that he wants to choose the best woman for him, so he’s left it this long,” the old lady recounted.

Chunhua’s lips turned up in the faintest of smiles.

It must be Prince Jing, then. When he came to the prince’s residence, they would be able to see each other.

Chunhua had thought that he would experience an immediate promotion upon entering the residence, but instead he didn’t even get a chance to see Prince Jing before he was sent to the kitchen.

Yes, it was the kitchen again.

But this time Chunhua wasn’t chopping firewood. He was helping the cook, as something like a disciple.

The cook had previously worked in the imperial kitchens and had been given to Prince Jing by Emperor Ning’an. His cooking was a family inheritance, which he had at first been unwilling to pass down to a girl. But when he saw Chunhua’s large form and nimble knife work, he gradually changed his opinion and decided that, despite being a girl, he could probably still cook. So he began to teach Chunhua in earnest.

Chunhua lived very comfortably during his time in the kitchen. He ate and slept well, and even had a room to himself. No one came to bother him.

But one day, when it was his turn to stand the night watch, a thief snuck into the kitchen for a snack and was caught by Chunhua. The thief was somewhat chastened at first, but when he saw Chunhua, he immediately lit an oil lantern and said, “So this is where my cousin’s been hiding you.”

Chunhua looked and found that the thief was Xiao Hongjian, whom he had encountered at the Chen residence.

Seeing Chunhua, Xiao Hongjian said furiously, “I thought you were different from other girls. I wanted to bring you to live with me, give you a good life. But it turns out you’re a woman of easy virtue. As soon as I look away, you cozy up to my cousin Prince Jing. I thought you were a woman not given to vanity, but actually the Xiao family just isn’t good enough for you!”

To someone else, Chunhua wouldn’t have had anything to say. But toward a child of the Xiao family, he felt profound care and responsibility.

“You’re from the Xiao family?” Chunhua asked, frowning. “From what I know, the sons of the Xiao family are trained from childhood at the Mobei barracks. They go into battle when they’re young to hone themselves. Each and every one is a staunch and unyielding man. And you?”

He grabbed Xiao Hongjian’s hand and said, “There isn’t a trace of calluses on your hand, your footing is unstable, and you have an air of softness. You’ve clearly never trained in martial arts, never been on a battlefield, never killed anyone. Aren’t you ashamed to call yourself a member of the Xiao family when you act like a pampered rich boy? The Xiaos are heroes. How could they have a descendant like you, who only knows how to tease serving girls!”

Xiao Hongjian’s face flushed at Chunhua’s scolding. “Don’t you think I want to go to war?” he said sullenly. “But Grandfather says that I’m the last child of the Xiao family. A man of the Xiao family has to survive to carry on the family name, so he won’t let me go into battle! Don’t you think I envy my elders for being able to kill the enemy in battle?”

“Then why don’t you write? Can’t you practice in secret?” said Chunhua. “Your grandfather, Xiao Jinshu, could still move mountains with his words after his legs were broken. Though he couldn’t go into battle, no one could resist his plots. If you can’t practice martial arts, can’t you learn literary ones?”

Xiao Hongjian was speechless in the face of his admonitions.

“Return to Mobei,” Chunhua said calmly. “The capital is wealthy and not subject to the bitter weather of Mobei. Here, you are sheltered from the hardships of the human condition. Only by experiencing the harsh winters of Mobei can you develop a will like iron and live up to the brilliance of the Xiao family.”

Not uttering a word, Xiao Hongjian sat sunk in thought. Chunhua sat with him.

Only when the sky was beginning to lighten did Xiao Hongjian clench his fists and say firmly, “I’ll return to Mobei. Even if Grandfather won’t permit it, I will study martial arts. Even if I can’t go into battle, even if I can only be a secretary, I still want to go back!”

Looking at his firm gaze, Chunhua at last gave him an approving smile. “Now that’s how a child of the Xiao family should behave.”

“Chunhua…” Face flushing, Xiao Hongjian said, “I-I blamed you wrongly. You aren’t the sort of girl who would curry favor with the wealthy for her own advancement. W-will you come with me to Mobei?”

“I am a servant of Prince Jing’s residence,” Chunhua said calmly.

“I’ll go ask my cousin!” Xiao Hongjian leapt off the ground and ran out of the kitchen.

At midday, a summons came for Chunhua: Prince Jing wanted to see him.

Chunhua had been up all night standing watch and ought to have been making up sleep during the day, but he wasn’t asleep; instead, he was sitting in his room, quietly waiting. When he received the news, he straightened his clothes and touched the trailing loops on his head, checking for any breaches of etiquette in his costume.

When everything was arranged appropriately, he went with the person who had come with his summons to see Prince Jing.

Prince Jing’s study was very peaceful. No servants were in attendance. The person who had brought him left as soon as they reached their destination. He and Prince Jing were the only people in the room.

Chunhua bowed his head and said, “Greeting, Your Highness Prince Jing.”

Upon kneeling, he was immediately lifted to his feet by a familiar form.

“Chunhua,” Prince Jing whispered in his ear, “Hongjian wants to take you to Mobei. What are your plans?”

Calmly, Chunhua said, “I am a servant of this residence. I will do as Your Highness commands.”