The Disabled Tyrant’s Pet Palm Fish [Transmigration] - Chap 48
Chap 48
When Li Yu learned the news that the Honorable Master Liao Kong entered the palace to have
an audience with the Emperor, he was currently clinging on the edge of the porcelain bowl,
glaring angrily at Jing-wang.
Jing-wang’s injury just got a little better; he already grabbed another ancient cultivation book
and started reading it right in front of fish’s face.
Li Yu didn’t know what was wrong with the tyrant master. This impressive protagonist of a
palace struggle novel was actually interested in cultivation and even read the books with such
seriousness. Li Yu felt a sense of danger rising in his heart. Like if he stopped paying attention
for one second, Jing-wang would go cultivate into an immortal.
In anycase, there’s a solution to every problem. This wasn’t even this first time he disturbed
Jing-wang from cultivating. Originally, he wanted to follow what he did before and get Jing-
wang’s book wet. He’s gotten plenty of these kinds of books wet before. Jing-wang never
blamed or got angry with him so Li Yu has always been confident and assured. However, this
time, he saw Jing-wang’s bandage wrapped hand and felt somewhat hesitant. If fish jumped over
directly, what if he accidentally got water on Jing-wang’s wound as well?
The imperial physician instructed countless times that the wound must not get wet. Li Yu
definitely didn’t want his tyrant master’s wound to get worse and get a fever again. Fish will die
of exhaustion.
How about…secretly hiding the book while he’s a human. Or… he could complain directly to
Wang-gonggong? Wang Xi probably didn’t want Jing-wang to become an immortal either, right?
Li Yu was currently plotting how to ruin Jing-wang’s cultivation plans when head manager Luo
arrived at JingTai Palace in order to impart the Emperor’s words saying: Master Liao Kong has
arrived. The Emperor wants Jing-wang to meet Liao Kong.
Head manager Luo then leaned close to Jing-wang’s ear and said some other things. Jing-wang
calmly gave a glance at Xiao Yu and then agreed.
Meanwhile, when Li Yu heard Liao Kong’s name, he felt somewhat flustered. If he remembered
correctly, honorable master Liao Kong was the head of Guardian Monastery. In the original
story, this was a position even higher than experienced monks. Later when Jing-wang became a
tyrant, Liao Kong once appeared to dissuade him. The blackened Jing-wang didn’t listen to his
words but also didn’t kill Liao Kong. From this it can be seen that Liao Kong really did have
some true skills.
However, in the original book, Liao Kong only appeared in order to dissuade Jing-wang. Right
now, Jing-wang was doing very well, why would Liao Kong see him?
Li Yu didn’t consider himself as a reason at all. He figured that Jing-wang had already read
plenty of introductory cultivation books. What if he changed his mind and didn’t want to
cultivate anymore? What if instead, he wanted to reject the physical world, follow Liao Kong,
and live his life as a monk?
Facing this palace-struggle genre protagonist, who never followed the script normally and was
always attempting to cultivate, Li Yu felt like even something like this was possible!
Seeing Jing-wang about to head off to Ganqing Palace, Li Yu immediately jumped out of the fish
bowl and hopped on top of the crystal bottle. He wanted to go too! Li Yu secretly decided. If
Jing-wang really mentioned becoming a monk to Liao Kong, he will turn Ganqing Palace upside
down into utter chaos once more and ruin Jing-wang’s plan to become a monk.
Jing-wang didn’t decide to leave Xiao Yu behind anyways. As he nimbly placed Xiao Yu into
the bottle, he felt like this carp demon inexplicably had somewhat of a killing aura right now.
When Jing-wang arrived at Ganqing Palace, the Emperor and Liao Kong had already finished
exchanging pleasantries. Jing-wang greeted the Emperor respectfully. Liao Kong also stepped
forth and faintly nodded his head at Jing-wang.
The crystal bottle was inside Jing-wang’s sleeve. Li yu also peeked outside from the sleeve. Liao
Kong was over 70 years old, with white hair and beard. However, he still was energetic and
vigorous, glowing in health. In comparison to the fake monks that the 6th Prince found, the
difference was heaven and earth. With one look, one can tell that this monk was on another level.
Li Yu only looked briefly. Not knowing if it was intentional or unintentional, Liao Kong’s
burning gaze immediately shot over at fish.
Fck. This one was a genuine master monk. Would he see through the fact that Li Yu was a
transmigrated fish?
Startled, Li Yu didn’t dare to peek again.
Jing-wang subconsciously blocked his sleeve, obstructing the view.
“Your highness, Jing-wang, long time no see.” Liao Kong said with a smile.
Jing-wang furrowed his brows and nodded.
The Emperor was very grateful. Lian Kong’s arrival made him remember some things that
happened in the past. The Emperor rubbed his hands and said: “TianChi, do you still remember
Liao Kong? When you accidentally fell into the water in your youth, you had a high fever that
refused to go down. Life in peril, the imperial physicians all didn’t know what to do. I could only
invite Liao Kong over to take a look at you. Luckily he knew an ancient prescription that reduced
the fever for you. He told me, your life lacked water. Because of this, I decided to change your
name to change your fortune. After that, you got better day by day and eventually recovered
completely.” The Emperor exclaimed: “What an escape from calamity. I still remember the pond
that you fell into. Back then the pond lit up with gold light, very dazzling. With the addition of
Liao Kong’s advice, I decided on the word “chi” for your new name.”
Jing-wang: “……”
This was the first time that Jing-wang has heard the Emperor tell this past event. Before he was
three years old, his name was TianJing. After that, it was changed to TianChi. When he became
of age, he was given the title of Wang. The Emperor specifically granted the word “Jing” for his
title, giving back the name that originally belonged to him. However, because he had a fever
back then, he couldn’t remember what had happened to bring this about; therefore, he also didn’t
know there was this story inside.
Li Yu who was unable to peek but still able to eavesdrop: “……”
Li Yu was completely dumbfounded. Was what happened in the illusion not a complete illusion?
Did it also happen to Jing-wang himself?
According to the Emperor’s words, what happened should be: when the little fatty was young,
he really did fall into the water and got a high fever that refused to go away.
However, in the illusion, Li Yu was present. In reality, Jing-wang might not have been so lucky.
Most likely, he floated back to land himself later. Li Yu recalled the little fatty’s round body; that
really must have been a hard task.
The situation back then must have been very dangerous. A fever that even imperial physicians
couldn’t do anything about was a matter of life and death for a 2-3 year old. The Emperor must
have really been out of his wits and had no choice but to find a monk instead of a doctor.
Changing Jing-wang’s name to change his fortune, this can be considered making a desperate
last attempt.
At this time, Li Yu didn’t actually realize what the gold light inside the pond that the Emperor
had mentioned was about. He only thought there was always light inside a pond; that was most
likely reflected from somewhere else.
The fact that Jing-wang was originally called TianJing was something that he had guessed
correctly.
Good thing Liao Kong advised the Emperor. Li Yu thought randomly. What if the Emperor got
too creative and changed Jing-wang’s name to TianGuang, TianJin, or whatever. None of them
sounded as good as TianChi.
Although Jing-wang didn’t remember what happened in the past, under the Emperor’s special
reminder, he still cupped his hands and saluted, expressing thanks towards Liao Kong.
Liao Kong said humbly: “This old monk was only lending a passing hand. Your highness Jing-
wang was the one who the heaven’s thought it worthy to save.”
“Honorable master, there’s no need to be humble.” After this pleasant exchange, the Emperor
finally moved on to the main point: “Today, I need to trouble you once more and have you take a
look at the fish that Jing-wang has been raising lately. I think it’s pretty nice.”
Li Yu: “…….”
Li Yu finally realized in the aftermath, so it’s not because Jing-wang wanted to become a monk.
The Emperor wanted Jing-wang to see Liao Kong mainly because of fish.
The little carp instantly felt somewhat apprehensive. He wasn’t afraid of others, but Liao Kong
this master monk… would he be able to tell instantly that Li Yu was a transmigrated fish?
Li Yu decided that if possible, he’ll hide this fact and did his best to feign being a normal
ingredient carp. He definitely wouldn’t cause trouble right under Liao Kong’s eyes.
Since the Emperor opened his golden mouth, Jing-wang pulled out the crystal bottle from his
sleeve with a heavy face and opened the cover in front of the Emperor and Liao Kong.
When Liao Kong looked at the black and gold fish inside the crystal bottle, he became pensive.
Under his gaze, the little carp was extremely vigilant, not swimming around much. Afraid of
Xiao Yu getting nervous at seeing a stranger, Jing-wang used his uninjured left hand to lightly
touch the fish’s back.
Li Yu: “……”
Li Yu pretended he didn’t feel anything and didn’t respond at all. He indifferently blew a bubble.
Jing-wang: “………….”
Jing-wang and the fish’s every move and action were seen by Liao Kong’s eyes. After Liao
Kong mumbled for a moment, he said to the Emperor: “From what I can see, Jing-wang’s fish is
indeed very unique.”
Pausing, Liao Kong, who was about to continue speaking, quickly received two burning gazes
from the normally cold-faced Jing-wang and the little carp who was acting stupid in Jing-wang’s
hand.
Talk about pets acting like their masters.
Liao Kong secretly laughed and continued to say: “I have never encountered this kind of
situation in my life. This fish……”
He purposely paused for the suspense. As expected, Jing-wang’s gaze was practically about to
cut him into a thousand pieces.
Even as a 70 year old, Liao Kong could still feel a chill to the back of his neck. With a faint
smile, he said: “This fish should be a descendent of Koi. Right now it doesn’t really look like it,
but in the future, it will look more and more similar.”
Li Yu: !!!
Li Yu was flabbergasted. He never thought this master monk would have such high wisdom. If
you say that he didn’t sense anything, then why would he specifically say “will look more and
more like a Koi.” But if you say he did sense something, then why not expose Li Yu?
Jing-wang gave Liao Kong a cold glance. As long as he didn’t say Xiao Yu was some kind of
demon or monster, or say that Xiao Yu will turn into a dragon, then it didn’t matter to Jing-wang.
The Emperor was stunned for a moment, then said: “This fish is really a koi?”
“…… yes.” Liao Kong nodded his head and said dramatically: “However, this kind of Koi is
extremely rare. For his highness Jing-wang to encounter it, it is an extremely lucky thing.”
The Emperor trusted Liao Kong. Liao Kong’s words also matched the divination from the
astronomy department. Finally, the Emperor felt at ease and said with a smile: “No wonder I’d
feel like it’s an auspicious sign. So it’s actually a descendent of Koi.”
Internally, the Emperor felt even more disdain towards the 3rd Prince, who’d go so far as to
slander a koi.
Li Yu still did his best to pretend he was only a normal carp as he continued to secretly observe
the Emperor and Liao Kong’s actions.
When Liao Kong spoke, he’d always paused in the middle of his sentences, really maintaining
the air of a master monk to its fullest extent. It caused Li Yu to tremble in fear several times.
However, ultimately, Liao Kong stated that Li Yu was a koi in front of the Emperor. If Li Yu
changed in the future, then… there’d be no issues?
This Liao Kong looked quite scary but in the end, he helped fish out. Fortunately for Li Yu, he
managed to unwittingly find a good excuse right in front of the Emperor and Jing-wang’s eyes.
Looks like it won’t be long before he can receive the Koi mission reward.
The Emperor and Liao Kong conversed happily. Jing-wang listened quietly to the side. When
Liao Kong took his leave, the Emperor ordered Jing-wang to send him off personally.
For once, Jing-wang didn’t bring the little carp with him. Instead, he ordered Wang Xi to bring
the crystal bottle back to his room first. He still had many questions that he needed to ask Liao
Kong, but he didn’t want the carp demon to know about it.
Sending everyone away, Jing-wang gave a deep bow.
Liao Kong said with a smile: “Many thanks for trusting me, your highness. I hope I have not
disappointed you.”
Jing-wang raised his head and shared a smile with Liao Kong. Back then when Jing-wang was
investigating Mu TianXiao(6)’s attempt to create the “transform into a dragon” rumor, he already
thought that things might spiral out of hand. The longer this kind of rumour dragged on, the
worse it got. Only decisive action can resolve this complex situation. By finding a person that the
Emperor believed wholeheartedly in, he could overthrow this rumor completely.
But who to find? At first, Jing-wang wasn’t too certain.
Although head divinator Sun had the Emperor’s trust, he couldn’t guarantee that the Emperor
wouldn’t be swayed by the rumor and continued to remain indecisive. Only relying on divinator
Sun was not enough. Jing-wang very quickly remembered the head of Guardian Temple,
Honorable Master Liao Kong. The Guardian Temple was established by the royal family. The
Emperor had an absolute trust in Liao Kong. If he had any doubts, he’d definitely ask Liao Kong.
Therefore, Jing-wang might as well directly ask Liao Kong for help.
Everyone knew that Liao Kong didn’t bother with worldly matters and basically only listened to
the Emperor. However, they didn’t know that Liao Kong had a personal friendship with Jing-
wang’s grandfather, the Old ChengEn Gong. Although only the Emperor can summon Liao
Kong, he would also bustle about for close friends.
Back then when Liao Kong accepted the Emperor’s invitation and saved the extremely sickly 5th
Prince, it was also partially for Old ChengEn Gong’s sake. Jing-wang knew about this. The
reason he could successfully obtain Liao Kong’s assistance this time was also because of Old
ChengEn Gong’s mediation. Jing-wang already went over the answer to this issue with Liao
Kong early on. The display before the Emperor just now was only making the act look real in
order to dispel the Emperor’s suspicions.
Now that there was no one in the vicinity, Liao Kong exclaimed repeatedly: “With this kind of
cunningness, your future is really boundless and prosperous.”
Jing-wang only thought Liao Kong was teasing. Lowering his eyes, he cupped his hands and
saluted.
The following conversation was all top secret. Jing-wang pulled already prepared paper and
brush from his sleeve and gave it to Liao Kong. Liao Kong picked up the brush and wrote
quickly: Keeping him beside you, are you really not afraid of the consequences?
Liao Kong didn’t actually state clearly who this “him” was, however, Jing-wang and Liao Kong
both knew in their hearts.
Not even needing any time to consider, Jing-wang confidently wrote: He wouldn’t hurt me.
Liao Kong nodded his head. He can also sense that Jing-wang’s fish wasn’t a normal carp.
However, it also wasn’t anything evil. Liao Kong didn’t feel any ill will. If this wasn’t the case,
he wouldn’t have agreed to help Jing-wang here and cover up for this special fish.
Liao Kong said: “Since you know clearly already, what else do you need me to answer?”
Jing-wang wrote: Do you know why he came here?
Liao Kong gave Jing-wang a deep look: “Other things I might not know, but I just happen to
know a little about this one aspect. Many years ago, on the day you accidentally fell into the
water, I just happened to be in the Imperial Palace. I discovered that a black fish with gold
streaks swam past inside the pond that you accidentally fell into.”
Jing-wang: !!!
Gaze stirring and hands trembling uncontrollably, Jing-wang swiftly wrote something and then
crossed it out.
Jing-wang calmed down. In the end, he wrote: What kind of fish is this?
Liao Kong said: “The same as the fish that you are raising right now. Basically pitch black with
some gold scale on its stomach and tail. Just a little larger.”
Jing-wang fell silent. Size really didn’t matter. His family’s Xiao Yu doubled in size not long
ago. What Liao Kong saw…was most likely Xiao Yu.
Did Xiao Yu come find him before when he was younger?
Liao Yu continued to say: “Back then, the pond that you fell into was very deep. A 2-3 year old
child couldn’t have swam out on their own…… Do you understand what I mean, your
highness?”
“Let’s say it like this.” Liao Kong said with a smile: “I also don’t know what “he” is. However,
“he” definitely came here for you.”
–came for him?
Jing-wang felt extremely touched. He suddenly remembered when Xiao Yu returned to fish form
and laid on his chest. The reason he thought it felt familiar was because it was something that
happened when they first met. Back then when he first picked up this fish that almost died after
being discarded by the cat.
What exactly was he thinking at that time? Why did he halt specifically for a fish?
Because he had heard something lightly hitting the floor.
This was…… the sound of a fish tail touching the ground. Don’t know why he knew. This
seemed like something was engraved in his memories.
The sound of the fish’s tail meant the fish was still alive. Later, this sound disappeared, meaning
the fish was about to die.
Because of this, he thoughtlessly went to save the fish.
Jing-wang couldn’t help but chuckle lightly. Although he no longer remembered what happened
in the past, this instinct that remained in his body… was probably a memory from that time.
Next
~
(For some silliness, please enjoy this twitter thread and comments about a modern au with Li Yu
and Jing-wang.)
Also pictures I saw on twitter by talented peeps:
Li Yu
Jing-wang and fish in cup
Fish hopping for a kissu
Li Yu changing
Lots of fish antics
and more fish antics
Fish being a cutey
Jing-wang’s existential crisis
