When Xiao Yun heard that laugh behind him, something finally clicked. He looked Liu Yun in the eye and realized what the old man was doing. His lips curled—this old man was sharp when it really mattered.
Liu Yun declared, “Your Majesty is truly worse than a beast!”
Xiao Yun’s handsome face twitched.
The officials all took turns berating the Emperor, and though Xiao Yun fought back fiercely, he was only one man. Eventually, he lost ground—outnumbered and out-argued.
Jiang Huaichu stood to the side, helpless, feeling as overwhelmed as he had when he first arrived in Northern Ning, completely out of his depth.
Xiao Yun glanced at Liu Yun and said with mock impatience, “Fine, fine, you win. Happy now? What do you want from me?!”
Liu Yun, sweating profusely from the effort, wiped his brow and said, “Since Your Majesty knows your mistake, we won’t dwell on it. What matters is that you change your ways.”
“How?”
“Naturally, make amends and take responsibility.”
Jiang Huaichu’s expression changed. He turned to leave, but Liu Yun, who had been watching him from the corner of his eye, rushed up and grabbed his sleeve. The anger on his face when facing Xiao Yun disappeared in an instant—he looked at Jiang Huaichu with a beaming smile. “Caiqing, dear…”
Jiang Huaichu: “…”
With that title, he couldn’t very well act like the aloof Duan Wang of Nanruo anymore. After a brief silence, he said gently, “Elder Liu.”
Liu Yun grinned like a blooming chrysanthemum. “We’ve scolded the Emperor for you, and he’s realized his mistake. So how about you be gracious and give him a chance to make amends…”
Everyone in the camp—including Xiao Yun—turned their burning gazes toward him. Jiang Huaichu finally realized what kind of play they were staging and his face stiffened. “…Elder Liu—”
“We all know our Emperor is useless,” Liu Yun quickly cut him off, not giving him a chance to speak, “A scoundrel, a rogue, idle, lazy, sloppy, lustful, vulgar yet flashy—he’s utterly hopeless and totally unworthy of you—”
“I’ll beat your—” Xiao Yun waved his fist behind him. But when Jiang Huaichu glanced over, he was met with a sweet, fawning smile.
The other officials nodded solemnly, clearly agreeing.
Jiang Huaichu: “…”
Liu Yun held back his urge to ask about the baby and carefully avoided looking at the noticeable bulge. He suppressed his joy and enthusiasm, speaking with a heavy tone and a helpless sigh, “But the child is already here—so big now too. It’s not good to terminate, and it would harm your health. But if you keep it, you’re a man of noble status, so young… raising a mysterious child alone could ruin your reputation. You’d suffer greatly.”
He had only meant to put on a show, but the more he talked, the angrier he genuinely became. The others listened and reflected—no matter how they looked at it, it was Xie Caiqing who had the short end of the stick. The Emperor had his fun and walked away without responsibility or commitment. Even concubines were treated better than this.
Liu Yun gnashed his teeth. “This is all our emperor’s fault!”
The others, too, were filled with righteous indignation and echoed, “It’s all His Majesty’s fault!”
“…” Xiao Yun smiled coldly, secretly grinding his teeth.
Jiang Huaichu had never truly been angry at Xiao Yun over this—after all, it was his own choice. Now, seeing Xiao Yun’s ministers scold him even more fiercely than his own brother ever did, he felt a bit embarrassed. Glancing at Xiao Yun, who was looking at him eagerly, he said, “…This really isn’t his fault.”
Liu Yun immediately grasped his hand and sighed emotionally. “You’re too kindhearted. With his conduct, we really don’t have the face to ask you to be with our emperor… but…”
He hesitated, then said, full of shame, “Just think of this old man’s age, think of the child, and think of yourself… Only if I see His Majesty settle down and hold the little prince or princess in his arms can I be at peace…”
The others quickly nodded in agreement, each sounding more ashamed and more eager than the last.
Jiang Huaichu’s face flushed uncontrollably. Facing their earnest and pleading expressions, he couldn’t help but feel a little soft-hearted. Still, he calmly replied, “After all, our statuses are different…”
Liu Yun said, “We all trust your character! And besides, the child is a citizen of Great Ning now. You wouldn’t harm Great Ning—or the child’s father—would you? Don’t worry! If he dares bully you for being from Nanruo, I’ll stand up for you. The entire Great Ning will stand up for you!”
“Yes! We’re on your side!” Zhang Kui said. “If His Majesty dares favor the new and abandon the old, and treats you and the child poorly, I, Zhang Kui, will be the first to deal with him!”
Jiang Huaichu’s heart warmed. Looking at the familiar faces around him, he suddenly felt a sense of belonging.
He never expected he’d be accepted so easily, despite his identity from a rival nation.
He hadn’t dared hope—so now that he had received it, he didn’t quite know how to respond.
A man being pregnant, and yet not a single one of these people showed scorn or prying curiosity—only warmth and acceptance.
Xiao Yun, standing alone on the side, felt very much like a forsaken spouse. Watching the ministers fawning over and coaxing Jiang Huaichu, he suppressed his disbelief and felt a surge of mixed emotions.
He had always thought his efforts to woo his beloved were worthy of being written into the history books. Yet it seemed he was still outdone by these bootlickers—and, worse, they were more effective.
He began to seriously reflect on himself.
Had he known earlier, he would’ve just told them the truth. With their help, it felt like his presence wasn’t even necessary…
Now left on the side, looking quite useless and unwanted, Xiao Yun’s face darkened.
He couldn’t believe he had been outmatched by this pack of mutts.
Jiang Huaichu still did not give in. Knowing that pushing further would only make things harder for him, Xiao Yun pretended to be annoyed and drove everyone out.
In a moment, only the two of them were left in the tent.
Jiang Huaichu looked at him. Xiao Yun looked back. Their eyes met—and both awkwardly looked away.
Suppressing the awkwardness, Jiang Huaichu calmly said after a few seconds, “…I won’t agree to be with you just because they said so.”
Xiao Yun let out a breath of relief. “That’s great!”
Jiang Huaichu was stunned. Before he could react, Xiao Yun seized his hand and pulled him into his arms like a sneak attack. “You’re marrying me, not them. I was really scared you’d say yes to them.”
“No matter how nice they are, if I’m not good enough for you, it’s still unfair to you. Besides, what’s wrong with me, huh?!” Xiao Yun huffed. “I haven’t even proposed properly yet, and you were about to agree to them? What am I supposed to be then?”
Jiang Huaichu looked at the spirited man in front of him, his heart stirring slightly. A soft smile appeared on his face.
Birds of a feather flock together. If he had the good fortune to meet such loyal, reasonable, and amusing ministers, could it be because their leader… was also that kind of man?
Xiao Yun grinned. “I, Xiao Yun, will make Jiang Huaichu willingly marry me—and bear two children in three years!”
“….” Jiang Huaichu took back the smile he’d just allowed himself.
…
Meanwhile, at Yeming Pass…
Jiang Huaiyi had turned the entire place upside down looking for Jiang Huaichu, but couldn’t find him anywhere.
In the study, the door remained tightly shut. Jiang Huaiyi, furious, roared, “You’ve got some nerve!”
Taifei inside trembled in fear.
She had no idea the one in the wedding sedan wasn’t the young Wangye. And now, things had blown up: the daughter of Duke Yi had ended up married to Ru Shi from the Miluo Mountain Sect.
After the wedding ceremony, Ru Shi and Chen Yaner openly revealed the truth to the guests.
Now all of Nanruo knew that Duke Yi’s daughter, Chen Yaner, had long been in love with Ru Shi, and with the help of Duan Wang, the lovers had finally wed. The young Wangye had gained the reputation of defying tradition for the sake of others’ happiness. Jiang Huaiyi was furious.
And that was the lesser problem. The young Wangye had drugged him, disguised himself as a commoner, and been abducted by Xiao Yun.
Taifei had no idea the marriage was a sham. She thought Jiang Huaichu had been forced into it and, unwilling to see him live a miserable life, had come up with this scheme to help him escape—only to cause this mess.
Jiang Huaiyi had been digging everywhere to find Jiang Huaichu, and after hours of guilt, Taifei finally came to confess.
Trembling, she said, “Your Majesty, please don’t worry. The young Wangye is surely safe. After all, it’s Xiao Yun’s child… He won’t harm him.”
“Safe?” Jiang Huaiyi sneered, his face filled with disgust and fury. “It’s been an entire night.”
Those words were loaded with implication. Taifei turned beet red. “Your Majesty, please punish me.”
“Punish you? What good would that do?! My royal brother—a prince of Nanruo!—was taken from right under everyone’s eyes because of you!” Jiang Huaiyi smashed a teacup in rage. Taifei looked at the shattered pieces and shrank back. “…The young Wangye cares for you deeply. I’m sure he’ll find a way to return… please don’t worry too much.”
“Cares for me? You mean drugging me?” Jiang Huaiyi’s voice turned ice cold. “He’s probably too busy enjoying himself to miss home now.”
“…” Taifei gave a forced smile.
She really had nothing to say for herself.
Observing his expression, she braced herself and asked, “Then… what should we do now?”
Jiang Huaiyi said, “Send someone to retrieve him in secret.”
This matter absolutely couldn’t be made public—otherwise, the entire world would know that the Little Wangye of Nanruo and the Emperor of Great Ning were entangled in an ambiguous relationship.
Taifei asked hesitantly, “…What if he refuses to give him back?”
Jiang Huaiyi said coldly, “Then we fight.”
Taifei said weakly, “What if… he kills the hostage?”
Jiang Huaiyi looked like he was about to smash a teacup again. Taifei instantly fell silent.
Just as Jiang Huaiyi was about to send someone to negotiate with Xiao Yun, the head eunuch entered and presented him with a letter.
Jiang Huaiyi, still preoccupied with his troublesome younger brother, had no patience for anything else. He frowned and asked, “Who’s it from?”
The head eunuch glanced around and, seeing that only Taifei was present, replied, “From Ye Country.”
Jiang Huaiyi’s brows instantly furrowed. His expression turned cold, and Taifei’s face also twisted in disgust upon hearing the name.
Jiang Huaiyi made no move to open the letter. “Take it back. Tell their messenger to scram.”
The head eunuch, swallowing hard, said, “Their envoy said His Majesty would definitely be pleased upon reading it, and asked that Your Majesty at least take a look…”
Jiang Huaiyi sneered, opened the letter, took one glance, and tossed it to the ground. “I thought there might be something of value. Have their envoy get lost.”
The eunuch hurried out, and Taifei immediately said, “How dare they write to you?!”
Their disgust for Ye Country was longstanding. Great Ning and Nanruo only shared a small border at Yeming Pass, while Nanruo’s true neighbor was Ye.
Nanruo was in the south; Ye was in the southwest—remote, impoverished, only recently unified a few decades ago. Its people were savage, its military strong, and for years, their soldiers plundered Nanruo’s border towns. The Ye court even openly claimed that Nanruo was their treasury and imperial garden.
In other words, they felt entitled to rob them.
Truly shameless.
Nanruo wasn’t afraid of them, but even lions get annoyed by fleas. Their constant harassment had become intolerable, especially since many families were torn apart because of them.
Jiang Huaiyi’s temperament wouldn’t allow him to retaliate in kind by looting Ye’s civilians. Sending troops would cost too much and, at the time, their biggest enemy was Ning Country. If civil conflict broke out, Xiao Yun would benefit the most.
So Jiang Huaiyi had to swallow the humiliation. Ye Country mistook this for cowardice and weakness. Two years ago, they even sent 200,000 troops to invade Nanruo, apparently trying to swallow the nation whole. But the Little Wangye borrowed over 200,000 troops himself and scared them off without a fight.
After Ye Country’s humiliating retreat, they had behaved themselves these past two years—and yet now they had the nerve to write.
Jiang Huaiyi said blandly, “Ignore them.”
Taifei asked, “What did they write?”
Jiang Huaiyi frowned without replying, so she took the liberty to pick up the letter and skim it. Her expression turned to surprise.
Xiao Yun originally had 300,000 troops, but they consumed too many resources, and he didn’t know how long he’d be stationed at the border. So he withdrew 230,000 infantry back to the Three Prefectures and kept only 70,000 cavalry with him. This much they already knew—just by counting cooking fires from the city wall at mealtimes, they could roughly estimate his numbers.
The letter from Ye Country noted this and exaggerated how weak the 70,000 troops were, claiming they were vulnerable. It said they knew how much Nanruo hated Great Ning and invited them to launch a pincer attack—Nanruo would attack from the front, Ye from the rear, and they’d kill Xiao Yun.
It added that if they succeeded in killing Xiao Yun, Great Ning would lose all its fierce generals, the emperor would die, the court would be leaderless and fragmented, its borders undefended—and Ye Country and Nanruo could then divide and conquer, strengthening themselves and perhaps even becoming the foremost nation in the world.
Shameless as Ye was, their logic wasn’t without merit.
If the weak don’t want to be devoured by the strong, uniting to eliminate a greater threat is a classic strategy.
Strike while he’s down.
Once the strongest is gone, the rest can finally breathe and grow.
Taifei looked cautiously at Jiang Huaiyi. “You… you’re not going to…?”
Jiang Huaiyi frowned, clearly not understanding her implication.
She gave him a subtle look and said, “…Why not agree?”
Jiang Huaiyi clearly hated Xiao Yun to the bone…
Jiang Huaiyi sneered, “That beast better thank my little nephew.”
