AEOGA CH71

“Yesterday’s opera? What opera was performed yesterday?”

Helian Xi subconsciously recalled everyone’s words and actions at the banquet. Their congratulations were all genuine, their joyful laughter entirely unfeigned—there wasn’t the slightest hint of putting on a front. Taking part in it himself, he had unwittingly forgotten his troubles, infected by the lighthearted, pleasant atmosphere.

Xifeng Kingdom would also hold banquets under all sorts of pretenses, but those were true performances. The laughter and chatter were purely superficial, and not a single word of congratulations came from the heart. Though clearly harbouring malicious intentions, they all put on a façade of humanity. He had never liked that atmosphere.

Seeing that Helian Xi hadn’t realized, Lu Xuechao knew that put-on drama was second nature in Xifeng’s imperial court. Having stayed there for so long, Helian Xi had forgotten the true meaning of putting on a performance.

It was quite a burden for nobility born into the imperial family to master the skills of an actor.

He reminded him, “Naturally, the one performed on the opera stage.”

Helian Xi hadn’t expected it to literally mean the opera. His face flushed slightly—he had overthought it.

Yesterday, only one opera had been performed: The Emperor and Empress Hold Joint Trial at the County Yamen. Helian Xi thought for a moment and answered conservatively, “Their Majesties presided over the cases like divine judges, lifting the people from dire suffering. Helian is deeply filled with admiration.”

“What we wanted you to see wasn’t just that,” Xie Chongjin said. “What is your view on the case of Lady Liu being violated? Do you find castration too severe a punishment?”

Helian Xi froze, his mind racing as he contemplated the deeper meaning behind the Emperor’s question.

During the day of the joint trial at the county yamen, the Emperor and Empress had tried many cases. As the opera arrangement had a limited runtime, it had selected only three classic, representative cases to portray: the violation of Lady Liu, the murder of a wife while seeking pleasure, and the wrongful accusation of Zhou—ending with the execution of the County Magistrate and the trial of the Prefect. The entire play built up climaxes one after another, culminating in a deeply satisfying ending.

Out of an opera with such rich content, His Majesty had specifically picked the case of Lady Liu being violated to ask his opinion…

Helian Xi pursed his lips and spoke strictly on the facts, “The perpetrator forced himself upon Lady Liu; he deserved such punishment. Helian believes this law is exceedingly good—it is rather a pity that Xifeng does not have it.”

Xifeng revered women and demeaned men. If a woman forced an unmarried man, once the man lost his chastity, his only choice was to marry that woman. Otherwise, a man stripped of his cinnabar mole was merely ruined, discarded fruit that no one would want. If she forced a married man, she would indeed be punished—because that was encroaching upon someone else’s private property and violating another woman’s rights.

As for the man, he was merely property, devoid of human rights.

Conversely, if a man forced a woman, people would laughingly joke that the woman was blessed with good fortune, without considering it a crime at all.

Helian Xi felt that this was unfair to both men and women.

By the same token, it was identical in Yelang, only with the genders completely reversed. If a woman lost her chastity, she either had to marry the man who forced her or be drowned in a pig basket. If she did not stay devoted to one partner until the end, she would be decried as a unchaste woman. Men had no concept of chastity; the more women a man possessed, the more he was praised for his romantic prowess.

The laws regarding this aspect were complete blanks in both nations, something Helian Xi had long opposed.

At this moment, he found himself envious of Changli. Whether seeking pleasure, indulging in pleasure, or receiving pleasure, anyone who committed a crime was uniformly subjected to castration. If the whole world were like this, there would be far fewer injustices in the world.

Lu Xuechao nodded and said calmly, “Your Majesty, issue an imperial edict bestowing castration upon Qin Yulong.”

Helian Xi: “???”

Wait, how did the topic suddenly jump to here?

A rare look of bewilderment and blankness appeared on the young prince’s face.

His pupils shrank: “He… told you?”

Qin Yulong had clearly promised him that he wouldn’t say a word!

However… with Qin Yulong’s stubborn head, after being refused when seeking forgiveness from him, going directly to seek punishment from His Majesty and the Empress wasn’t entirely impossible…

Lu Xuechao shook his head. “He refused to speak. But regarding matters within this inner palace, is there anything His Majesty and I cannot uncover? The two of you have been causing such a stir these past days; as the Master of the Central Palace, I had to investigate clearly.”

Helian Xi paused.

His Majesty and the Empress possessed divine powers and great influence; trying to pull the wool over their eyes right beneath their noses had been truly naive.

Lu Xuechao put on a disappointed expression, looking like an elder brother heart-broken over a younger sibling’s misdeeds: “I originally thought Yulong was a good child. His Majesty and I are a few years older than him and can be considered to have watched him grow up. We believed him to be of upright character and pure nature, never expecting he would commit such a shameful act. After committing a mistake, he still refused to confess to the death. Even when His Majesty and I questioned him repeatedly, he only said he felt guilty toward you, not daring to admit what exact wrong he had committed. Showing such a complete lack of responsibility is truly a disgrace to the Qin family’s reputation, deeply disappointing His Majesty and me.”

Helian Xi hesitated, wanting to say that wasn’t it—Qin Yulong didn’t lack the courage to confess; it was he who had forbidden Qin Yulong from speaking out.

Did Qin Yulong really… not even tell His Majesty and the Empress?

Just as Helian Xi was about to speak, Lu Xuechao said gently with a look of apology, “It is Changli that has let you down. Ah Jiu met with such an ordeal, yet did not tell me either. Was it out of fear of embarrassment, or fear that Changli would favor him?”

“Ah Jiu, rest assured. Though Qin Yulong is a general of Changli, when the Son of Heaven breaks the law, he is guilty of the same crime as a commoner—otherwise, would the law not become a laughingstock? He shall be punished as he ought to be. The execution shall be carried out under the charge of forcing a palace male; it has nothing to do with you and will not damage Ah Jiu’s dignity.” Lu Xuechao sighed softly. “We treated him as a younger brother, yet he went and committed such an act. Over the past year, I have also come to regard you as a younger brother; I will certainly not wrong you.”

Hearing that word “brother,” Helian Xi’s eyes grew warm.

Xie Chongjin said, “Yun Luo, draft the edict.”

Hearing that the edict was truly about to be drafted, Helian Xi could no longer sit still. The words of the sovereign were no jest; once the imperial edict was issued, Qin Yulong would be ruined.

Rationally, he knew that if Qin Yulong suffered castration, his physical stamina would inevitably be far inferior to before. He might no longer be as brave and fierce on the battlefield as he once was, and the Qin family would certainly develop a rift with the Imperial Household. For Xifeng, this held a hundred benefits and not a single harm.

However, Qin Yulong should not be ruined like this. That young general who had been invincible on the battlefield with his Jade Dragon Spear should not lose his brilliance because of him.

He himself no longer had the chance to wear armor, but Qin Yulong still had to wear the silver armor he had gifted him.

As for whether the Emperor and Empress would truly commit such a deed that harmed Changli’s foundation, Helian Xi was too blinded by concern to even consider it.

He only knew what he had to say right now to prevent the imperial edict from being issued.

Helian Xi stood up in panic and said, “Wait!”

Yun Luo’s quill paused.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness the Empress, there is no need to punish Changli’s general for my sake…”

“It is not merely for your sake.” Xie Chongjin spoke with a tinge of anger. “It is even more to uphold Changli’s national law. I will never condone anyone who breaks the law. Yun Luo, continue writing.”

Yun Luo raised his quill to write once more.

Anxious, Helian Xi blurted out, “Don’t write! Don’t write! I… I like him!”

Xie Chongjin said, “Ninth Prince is kind-hearted; there is truly no need to say you like him against your heart just to save him.”

Helian Xi shook his head. “It is not against my heart. I truly like him! That night… I drank half a bowl of sobering soup; I wasn’t…”

He revealed the truth in a low voice: “…I didn’t truly lose my memory.”

…

Time rewound to that night.

At first, Helian Xi had indeed been so drunk as to be unconscious. But after Qin Yulong fed him half a bowl of sobering soup, his mind had remained lucid the entire time.

When he regained clarity, he found Qin Yulong by his side, his expression gentler than ever before. His handsome and bright features were identical to the young General Qin he had first met on the battlefield.

He was the person Helian Xi had fallen for at first sight.

The men he had seen growing up were either the delicate, alluring concubines in the imperial harem or insidious, ruthless siblings. His father-consort was always gentle and melancholic, whereas Noble Consort Zheng was valiant and spirited, teaching him how to ride horses and hunt. He loved his father-consort the most; outside of his father-consort, he liked Noble Consort Zheng best.

He had wanted to be a general ever since he was a child.

Noble Consort Zheng had stroked his head and said that, in truth, his father-consort had also been the son of a general’s family—unrivaled in riding and archery—and had also possessed times of youthful, high-spirited brilliance. It was a pity he fell in love with the Empress, trapped and wounded by love, sinking into the gloomy, despondent state he was in today. Noble Consort Zheng said that the person who fell in love first always lost completely and utterly, to say nothing of falling in love with an Empress who could never grant a response. For someone like her, who knew upon marrying in that it was a political alliance between families, not falling in love with someone she shouldn’t allowed her to remain free from love’s harm.

It was a pity Noble Consort Zheng died. Even though he had stayed free from love’s harm, he had still been hurt by the sovereign’s suspicion all the same.

Helian Xi desperately wanted to escape that cage.

When he first saw Qin Yulong, the youth had been clad in silver armor, riding atop a tall, snow-white horse with the Jade Dragon Spear in hand—his war robe snapping sharply in the wind, his features steadfast and bold.

He liked Changli’s young general; he too wanted to become someone who was free and untamed like that.

Yet his fate was never his own to command. Even though he too had stepped onto the battlefield, donned armor, and briefly become a general, he ultimately had to wear a wedding robe and fall into another magnificent cage.

That night, half-drunk and half-awake, Helian Xi looked at Qin Yulong by his bedside and thought: Why can’t I use the alcohol as an excuse to act crazy just once?

Just act crazy once.

Just for this one night.

Casting aside all the misgivings that made him hesitant, he would take advantage of the alcohol to do the most absurd and daring thing—one that truly aligned with his own desires.

And so, using the excuse that the clothes were meant for Hua Yan, he deliberately stripped the man’s clothes and purposefully unbuttoned his own, revealing the scar on his shoulder. With a aggrieved yet eager tone, he told Qin Yulong: Look, I am “her.” Do you see now?

He boldly took liberties with the young general, kissing him all over, and Qin Yulong hadn’t pushed him away.

He had deliberately enticed him, and since Qin Yulong liked him as well, how could he possibly withstand it?

It was only when it truly came down to the critical moment that Helian Xi instead lost his courage and shrank back, not daring to actually go all the way.

Having been provoked, Qin Yulong couldn’t hold back and forcefully pulled him back.

…That was how the events of that night went.

The next day, when Helian Xi woke up, the effects of the alcohol had completely receded, and that burst of courage from the night before was swept entirely clean.

The scenes from the previous night were still vivid in his mind, yet all the misgivings of the mortal world resurfaced once more.

Helian Xi closed his eyes and silently chanted a few times:

I blacked out last night. I don’t know anything, and I don’t remember anything.

Nothing happened.

His true desires weren’t important; as long as he could fool himself, he could still remain safe and sound.

…

By the time Helian Xi finished recounting, his face had entirely flushed red.

In order to prevent Qin Yulong from being implicated, he had truly confessed everything cleanly, falling short only of revealing the fact that he had been on the battlefield himself.

Xie Chongjin fell into deep thought. “In that case, since you were lucid and had no intention of resisting, we certainly cannot punish him.”

Lu Xuechao said, “Since you like him, why act as if nothing happened afterward? When he sought forgiveness in that manner, you refused to see him as well. With the examples of Liu and Shen before you, I presume you know that we do not mind such matters.”

“Their Majesties are broad-minded; it was Helian who was cowardly.” Helian Xi began to sob softly. “My refusal to see him was because I did not know how to face him, not because I truly blamed him. If I admit that I was willing as well, you might fulfill our wishes, but… what about my father-consort and my elder sister?”

“I am Xifeng’s Ninth Prince. I cannot simply act according to my own whims; Mother Empress will surely be enraged. Those in the palace who fall out of Mother Empress’s favor always end up with a tragic fate. Fifth Sister was in a marriage alliance with the Empress of Leyang, yet she engaged in an affair with the Crown Princess. Though the Empress of Leyang did not pursue the matter out of consideration for the diplomatic relations between the two nations and merely deposed the Crown Princess while neglecting Fifth Sister…” The sixteen-year-old youth’s voice choked up. “When Mother Empress heard the news, Fifth Sister’s father-consort was cast directly into the Cold Palace and went mad… I do not dare to do wrong.”

Perhaps Lu Xuechao’s voice was too gentle, like an understanding older brother, causing one to unwittingly confide their grievances.

Too many people in Xifeng’s imperial palace had met with tragic ends. Having seen so much of it, he was unwilling to let his closest kin become one of them.

Lu Xuechao raised his eyes. “Your beloved is crying. Aren’t you going to come out and comfort him quickly?”

Helian Xi froze.

From behind the screen, Qin Yulong stepped out slowly.