Chapter 149
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“Did you really get punished?” Xue Yao trembled all over.
Lu Qian snorted. “Just putting on a show for outsiders.”
“Your eldest brother actually allowed himself to hit you? He must have been driven mad by us!” Xue Yao looked at Lu Qian in pain. “You promised that if they opposed, our agreement would be void.”
“Your grandpa let Second Brother do the beating.”
Xue Yao paused. “Did you intentionally let His Majesty hit you to soften your eldest brother’s heart?”
Lu Qian watched the little reader-in-waiting and chuckled. “Display it for the ministers, Silly Yaoyao.”
“Why?” Xue Yao saw the sly confidence on this rascal’s face and wondered what clever idea he had come up with.
“To let the neutral faction come knocking,” Lu Qian whispered to Xue Yao, “Most of the court used to be in the Crown Prince’s faction. The neutral faction needs connections, find a new support, to compete with Eldest Brother’s ‘own people.’ Your grandpa will pretend to be at odds with Eldest Brother, open the door for them to exploit, and they’ll speak for your grandpa.”
Xue Yao’s pupils contracted. It took a while before he regained his voice, “You want to compete with your eldest brother?”
“Your grandpa wants to marry you.” Lu Qian corrected his thoughts.
“But doing this will hurt your eldest brother’s heart.” Xue Yao hastily grabbed Lu Qian’s arm. “Your eldest brother opposes you marrying me for the sake of your reputation. You can’t treat him like this. He’s always been selfless, wholeheartedly supporting you. Would you let him feel estranged because of something like marrying a man?”
“If your grandpa simply draftz a bill in the cabinet, allowing the eldest son to take male concubines, the second son to marry a male spouse, and women to establish their own households or marry female husbands,” Lu Qian explained patiently, “there will be court officials willing to take action on my behalf.”
Xue Yao paused. Altering the marriage law like this would create chaos, wouldn’t it?
Then again, in this day and age, how many commoners dared to joke about their lifelong affairs? Even with legal protection, they would face family opposition. Those genuinely marrying same-sex partners were those truly in love.
With legal protection, it could indeed reduce some tragedies of same-spouse marriages.
However, Lu Qian deliberately created the illusion of discord among brothers, enticing court officials to take sides, suppressing interference from the original Crown Prince’s faction.
Was this still his Long Aotian Husky?
But upon closer inspection, all of this seemed quite natural.
If Lu Qian didn’t have such means, how could he have possibly persuaded the feudal princes and besieged the Third Prince back then?
This Long Aotian seemed innocent and harmless only in Xue Yao’s eyes. Now, faced with a major event, no thick filter could conceal Lu Qian’s inherent cunning.
Xue Yao, full of concern, said, “If your eldest brother finds out you got yourself punished to intentionally create a false impression and consolidate support, he will surely be angry.”
Lu Qian smirked. “Eldest Brother probably thinks your grandpa is acting pitiful.”
“But he will find out sooner or later,” Xue Yao reminded, “Once the cabinet drafts the bill, your eldest brother will likely guess that you orchestrated it in private.”
“Your grandpa must marry you.”
“Having a formal status isn’t mandatory. You shouldn’t do wrong things for the sake of appearances.”
“Is establishing a new law a wrong thing?” Lu Qian, rarely showing a serious questioning expression to the little reader-in-waiting, said, “In regions like Jiangnan and Guangdong, male relationships are prevalent. Without legal protection, who will safeguard them? Who will protect those forced into same-sex marriages?”
Xue Yao urged, “You know what I mean. Creating a new law isn’t a bad thing, but using schemes to achieve your goal will surely hurt your eldest brother.”
Lu Qian raised an eyebrow. “Eldest Brother always thinks about justice but ignores the effectiveness of results. That’s why he lost to Third Brother. Since he entrusted your grandpa with the throne, your grandpa won’t be constrained by his principles.”
“Even so, you don’t have to turn him into an enemy,” Xue Yao pleaded, “Don’t hurt your eldest brother’s heart for the sake of our reputations. We have plenty of time in the future. After you ascend to the throne, you can consolidate imperial power within a few years. Why oppose your eldest brother now?”
Lu Qian honestly told Xue Yao, “If everything goes according to Eldest Brother’s wishes, your grandpa won’t be able to see you for at least three years.”
Xue Yao earnestly said, “We don’t need formalities. Your eldest brother won’t trouble us. Isn’t it good for us to be together like this? It’s been like this for over a decade. Formalities mean nothing to me.”
“The position of Empress can’t remain vacant forever.”
If not Yaoyao, then he must marry someone else.
Xue Yao paused.
“How long does Yaoyao want to escape?” Lu Qian approached, glaring at Xue Yao. “Compromising can only solve the current problem. Your grandpa doesn’t want to lead you into a dead end. We can’t concede on this matter from the beginning.”
“Things will work out with time. If you just pretend not to seek formalities now, we can meet normally. After a few years when you ascend to the throne…”
“After a few years?”
“At most two or three years, and you’ll have the ability to legitimize this matter.”
Xue Yao understood too well how precious Lu Qian’s friendship with his brothers was. Human hearts were fragile, and someone as pure as Lu Jinan couldn’t withstand repeated betrayals, especially from his beloved youngest brother doing such a thing.
“Yaoyao.” Lu Qian tilted his head, puzzled. “Do you think they will let your grandpa delay for three years? They will immediately arrange a candidate for the Empress. At the beginning of your grandpa’s reign, they can use ancestral rules and the Empress Dowager to pressure. It will only cause more resentment.”
Xue Yao lowered his head.
“Yaoyao?” Lu Qian sought his approval urgently.
“I don’t want to see walls built between you brothers.”
“It depends on the reason.” Lu Qian’s eyes flashed with frustration. “Except for you, your grandpa can endure anything.”
“There must be other reasonable solutions. Your eldest brother trusts us so much. You can’t be this stubborn and childish.”
Lu Qian frowned. “Yaoyao is the childish one. Living in a world of ideals with Eldest Brother, untainted, either black or white. Waiting for ‘things to work out with time’ when facing difficulties. Without your grandpa clearing the path, where’s the time for you to wait?”
“So, being mature means you have to turn bad?”
“Is finding a way to marry you considered bad? This world has both black and white. If Yaoyao doesn’t touch them, does the darkness cease to exist? We have to use them, balance them, to achieve our goal. Your grandpa’s goal is just to marry you. Is that bad?”
“I just think your method is too aggressive. Let’s all calm down and see if there’s a way that won’t hurt your eldest brother.”
“Should hurt your grandpa instead? He won’t let your grandpa see Yaoyao.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Xue Yao said. “If there’s a chance to peacefully resolve our matters, we mustn’t harm the people who love us. Pure emotions are too rare in this world. I don’t want you to become a lonely person in the future. Let me try, Seventh Lord. Not everything can be solved through battle and destruction. If I fail, you can use your own methods.”
Lu Qian, for the first time, lost patience with Xue Yao. “Yaoyao only knows how to concede.”
“Then why did Seventh Lord fall in love with me?” Xue Yao lifted his hand, gripping Lu Qian’s chin. “Goodness is like water, and I am part of this mundane world. Excessive sharpness will only attract enemies. There’s something in me that you don’t have. Do you think these qualities, in your eyes, are just childish purity? I want you to see clearly why I can captivate you.”
Xue Yao couldn’t let Lu Qian follow his nature in everything. What Lu Qian lacked was an understanding of emotions. To achieve his goals, he could be rational to a ruthless extent.
But living in the world required taking necessary detours for cherished emotions. If Xue Yao let Lu Qian choose his own shortcuts, he would eventually revert to the cold-hearted tyrant sitting alone on the throne.
Fortunately, Xue Yao possessed a quality that Lu Qian couldn’t fathom, a kind of trait sent by the heavens to restrain this little tyrant. It could soften Lu Qian’s sharpness effortlessly.
“What does Yaoyao want to do?” Lu Qian, unknowingly, chose to concede.
“I’ll seek an audience with Prince Rui tomorrow,” Xue Yao advised, “Don’t hint at the cabinet drafting new laws for now. It’s better to have your eldest brother on our side than to force him against us.”
Lu Qian sighed. “He won’t meet you.”
“How do you know if you don’t try?”
Lu Qian hesitated, then nodded. “Give it ten days.”
“Two months,” Xue Yao knew this matter couldn’t be resolved overnight.
“At most ten days.” Lu Qian refused to concede. In two months, he would be on the throne, and there wouldn’t be time for any planning.
“Ten days definitely won’t be enough.”
“Your grandpa has to go.” Lu Qian glanced at the moon, having no time for further negotiation. He lowered his head, drawing close to request a farewell kiss from his fiancee.
“A month and a half,” Xue Yao set a compromise, “Or I won’t let you get close in the future.”
“Your fiance can kiss whenever he wants!”
“Who said so?” Xue Yao, coldly, arms crossed, said, “Your Highness can’t even hug.”
“Wants to hug!”
“Humph!” Xue Yao turned away, using his peripheral vision to observe the sly expression of the mischievous brat. He noticed a dark streak suddenly beneath Lu Qian’s nose.
In the moonlight, it wasn’t clear. Xue Yao turned back, leaning in for a closer look, and suddenly, his mind went “buzz.”
Alarmed, he cradled Lu Qian’s face. “Why are you nosebleeding?”
Lu Qian blinked, lowering his head to touch his lips and indeed felt traces of blood.
Looking up, he found his little reader-in-waiting already in a panic, immediately wrapping his arms around Lu Qian’s neck, tears and mucus streaming down uncontrollably.
“Did you suffer internal injuries? What exactly happened? Who dared to use such force!” Xue Yao was in despair. It must be internal injuries causing nosebleeds. He reached out to touch Lu Qian’s lower back. “Was it hit here?”
Lu Qian didn’t answer, pressing the little reader-in-waiting against the wall, resuming the “devouring.”
However, Xue Yao was nearly paralyzed with fright. Tears and mucus hindered the sensation of the passionate kiss. Lu Qian had to stand up and confess, “Yaoyao, don’t cry. No internal injuries. Mother Consort fed your grandpa too much tonic soup this afternoon.”
“Why didn’t you say so earlier!” Xue Yao immediately stopped the intimacy, adopting a business-like tone. “Give me a month, alright?”
Lu Qian looked displeased.
“Is it alright? Just one month, Seventh Lord?” Xue Yao utilized his twisting skills.
【Tyrant’s Fluttering Heart Quest Progress 92%】
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