AEOGA CH72

Seeing Qin Yulong, Helian Xi’s mind went blank for a moment before he immediately turned his eyes toward Lu Xuechao.

Were His Majesty and His Highness the Empress… putting on an act for him again?

Qin Yulong’s expression was not much better either, looking somewhat dazed and clearly failing to process what had happened.

After Hua Yan had guessed that he took liberties with Helian Xi, Qin Yulong had been terrified. Just as Hua Yan was pressing for details, a summons from Chongxue Palace rescued him like a heavenly reprieve.

Leaving without even bidding Hua Yan farewell, Qin Yulong had fled in a hurry.

Upon arriving at Chongxue Palace, Lu Xuechao remarked that his complexion had been poor lately and that he lacked his usual vigor—how could he train the elite imperial troops with such a state of mind?

Qin Yulong smiled bitterly and said, “Your Highness, you know why I am troubled. At yesterday’s banquet, as you saw, the Ninth Prince did not spare me a single glance. He will never forgive me.”

Xie Chongjin said, “Oh? How is it that I saw him steal several glances at you? When you weren’t looking at him, he was looking at you; it didn’t look like he was devoid of affection.”

Qin Yulong shook his head. “Your Majesty jest. He dislikes me so much that even if he was looking at me, it was likely out of hostility.”

“The words of a sovereign are no jest; why would I deceive you in this?” Xie Chongjin said. “The onlookers see clearly while the player is confused. The Empress and I see it with total clarity. What you assume might not be what he thinks. If you don’t believe it, let us make a bet.”

Qin Yulong froze. “What bet?”

“Bet on whether he likes you or not. Won’t it be clear once I ask him how he feels?” Xie Chongjin said. “You shall stay behind the screen and listen. Unless the Empress and I tell you to come out, you are forbidden from stepping out—that is an imperial order.”

Anxious, Qin Yulong replied, “I am the one at fault toward him; I beg Your Majesty not to bring up his painful past.”

Losing one’s chastity so inexplicably… no one would be happy about such a thing, let alone want more people to know or hear it brought up by others.

“He is sorrowful, but not because of that,” Lu Xuechao said. “He has other misgivings. Do you truly not wish to know what he is genuinely worried about?”

“Naturally, I wish to share his burdens,” Qin Yulong immediately said, though his mood quickly sank again. “Yet I am the source of his worries.”

Xie Chongjin: “You think too highly of yourself.”

Qin Yulong: “…”

“This bet comes with stakes,” Xie Chongjin said in an unhurried manner. “If he truly likes you, I shall grant you an imperial edict bestowing marriage, to be solemnized after his status as a imperial consort is dissolved. If he does not like you… you shall be granted castration on the grounds of taking liberties with a palace male. Do you dare to bet?”

Both Xie Chongjin and Lu Xuechao knew the latter was impossible. Through countless lifetimes, there had never been a single life where Helian Xi did not like Qin Yulong.

However, Qin Yulong did not know this.

He only knew that what he faced right now was a wager regarding the rest of his life.

Pondering briefly, Qin Yulong genuinely wished to make amends—otherwise, he would never find peace of mind for the rest of his life. Yet Helian Xi had forbidden him from telling anyone else. Now that His Majesty proposed punishing him on the pretext of taking liberties with a palace male, it provided a formal charge without implicating Helian Xi.

Besides… Her Highness had said Helian Xi had other worries.

What was he worrying about?

Weighing his options, Qin Yulong declared resolutely, “I accept the bet.”

Helian Xi and Qin Yulong exchanged a glance, then both turned their heads away simultaneously.

Xie Chongjin said with a smile, “Yulong, I won the bet.”

Helian Xi had confessed to liking Qin Yulong, even admitting that he had been lucid that night and had deliberately seduced him.

Though Xie Chongjin won the bet, the real winner of life was Qin Yulong.

“What bet?” Helian Xi gradually came to his senses, dried his tears, and looked at Qin Yulong in disbelief. “You used me as a wager?”

“It was I who wanted to bet with him,” Xie Chongjin claimed all the blame for himself. “The words just now were not meant to deceive you. Yulong has been overwhelmed with self-blame these days, wishing he could offer his life in apology. I simply could not stand by and watch, which is why the Empress and I put on today’s show.”

“If the Ninth Prince truly had no such feelings, that imperial edict of castration would indeed have been issued.”

“If you did have feelings—” At Xie Chongjin’s glance, Yun Luo unrolled the imperial edict and chimed in, “His Majesty instructed that if the Ninth Prince had feelings, it would be changed to an imperial edict bestowing marriage.”

This was a gamble on Qin Yulong’s entire future.

Helian Xi’s heart was a tangled mess, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed—with just this one performance, he had laid all his cards on the table.

Yet he hadn’t truly been toyed with either. After all, Qin Yulong… had genuinely risked the penalty of castration to test his true feelings.

Thinking of this, Helian Xi suddenly couldn’t bring himself to be angry anymore.

Were his feelings truly that important? Important enough for Qin Yulong to risk the rest of his life to gamble on?

No one had ever valued his heart so deeply.

Living like duckweed with a drifting, helpless soul, this was the first time he had ever felt such a heavy, meaningful weight.

After a swirl of wildly jumping thoughts, Helian Xi merely said on the surface, “Your Majesty, Helian cannot accept a bestowed marriage…”

“I understand your concerns,” Xie Chongjin said. “What was agreed upon was to marry after your status as an imperial consort is dissolved, not to have you marry immediately. The calamity of Yelang cannot be resolved overnight; you two still have plenty of time to consider, and news of this will not leak out.”

Helian Xi was left speechless.

Seeing both of them silent, Lu Xuechao figured that with them present, the two might find it awkward to speak freely, so he said, “I am feeling somewhat weary.”

Xie Chongjin caught his drift: “You two may return. I shall accompany the Empress for a midday nap.”

Helian Xi and Qin Yulong were thus dismissed from Chongxue Palace.

The two walked in silence all the way, an awkward atmosphere pervading the air.

Yet because they were walking the same path, they couldn’t go their separate ways, forced to remain mutually silent.

When they finally reached Zhongyu Palace, Qin Yulong didn’t even glance at his own residence, continuing to follow behind Helian Xi.

Helian Xi finally couldn’t help turning around: “Why are you still following me? Your palace is over there.”

Qin Yulong looked at him: “Are you still going to hide from me?”

Previously, believing he had violated an unconscious Helian Xi, he had been filled with guilt. With the Qin family’s strict and upright reputation, he had felt he was bringing utter shame upon his ancestors.

Now that he knew Helian Xi’s seemingly unconscious actions back then were actually intentional seduction while fully lucid, his mood became… rather complicated.

He admitted he had indeed been seduced.

However, he no longer felt as entirely in the wrong as before.

Young General Qin’s tone even grew somewhat righteous.

“…” Left with no recourse, Helian Xi continued walking forward.

Qin Yulong followed Helian Xi into Feiquan Palace. The moment Helian Xi crossed the threshold, he dismissed everyone.

Sitting at the head of the bed, he gave up and broke down completely: “Yes, I did it on purpose, and I was fully awake. You heard everything anyway, so there’s nothing I can’t admit.”

“Now you don’t owe me anything, nor do you need to take responsibility to redeem yourself. I lied to you for so long, so I am the one who should apologize. If you are still angry, just punch me a few times.” Helian Xi said it all in one breath, closing his eyes like a slaughtered lamb awaiting his fate, “You can mock me boldly and to your heart’s content now.”

After all, Qin Yulong often made fun of him anyway.

Having done such a thing, even he felt utterly mortified.

A prince of a nation, using alcohol to seduce someone, only to turn around and make false accusations afterward—what kind of mess was this…

With his eyes closed, Helian Xi’s long eyelashes trembled softly, betraying his nervousness.

Qin Yulong stepped up to him and raised his hand, yet he didn’t land a punch on Helian Xi’s face.

He pinched Helian Xi’s cheek and asked solemnly, “When did you start liking me?”

Helian Xi opened his eyes, gritting his teeth: “…Let go.”

He wasn’t a child; why was he pinching his face!

Qin Yulong didn’t let go, speaking to himself: “If you won’t say, I’ll say it first: I liked you back on the battlefield.”

The youth lowered his eyes nervously, a rare occurrence for him: “Are… are you the same?”

Helian Xi habitually refused to say anything sweet: “Do you think your attitude back in your palace deserves to be liked?”

It was a roundabout way of admitting that his heart had moved long ago on the battlefield.

Qin Yulong gave a foolish grin, suddenly cupped Helian Xi’s face, and bent down to lightly peck his lips.

Helian Xi’s eyes widened.

He couldn’t tell whether Qin Yulong’s actions were reckless or innocent.

To call him innocent, he had been fiercer that night than on the battlefield; to call him reckless, his kiss was so shy and careful.

A hot-blooded young man.

Qin Yulong pulled away as soon as their lips touched, pursing his mouth, and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know… you had so many worries.”

Hearing Helian Xi’s heartfelt confession behind the screen, he had been dazed for a long time before joy gradually took over.

Yet after the joy passed, sheer heartache remained.

Hearing Helian Xi choke up as he spoke of how worried he was for his father-consort and elder sister, and how he dared not make a single mistake, Qin Yulong had felt a sudden, sharp ache in his heart.

Qin Yulong’s upbringing had been simple; he had never imagined there could be so many twisted complexities between relatives. Had Lu Xuechao and Xie Chongjin not put on that act, forcing Helian Xi to voice his true inner anxieties, Qin Yulong would never have thought along those lines.

Now that he knew, though he couldn’t fully empathize with Helian Xi’s state of mind, he felt immense tenderness for him and certainly wouldn’t blame him for his deception.

He only wondered: How terrified must Helian Xi have been to tread so cautiously to this extent?

Chongxue Palace.

“Neither of them is the hesitant type; after this play, they will likely be able to talk things out clearly,” Lu Xuechao lowered his head in thought.

Xie Chongjin said, “For them to truly have no worries, we will still have to wait until Helian Yu gains real power.”

They had certainly exerted themselves to the utmost for this pair of lovers, acting with such effort.

Matters of affection always required a step-by-step process. Having witnessed countless lifetimes where the two either grew old together or died for love—seeing all kinds of endings, both beautiful and tragic—returning to the very beginning made Xie Chongjin wish he could fast-forward directly.

Furthermore, Xie Chongjin and Lu Xuechao had discussed this in detail. To shatter the game’s plot, they had to pull the fates of every Plot Consort back onto the right track. Their career lines were one aspect, and their romance lines were another.

Whatever romantic partners the Plot Consorts were destined for, it certainly shouldn’t be Xie Chongjin, the Emperor.

Therefore, matchmaking the Plot Consorts was also one of Xie Chongjin and Lu Xuechao’s objective tasks.

“Your Majesty, Your Highness, Noble Consort Flower requests an audience,” Shuangjiang reported.

Lu Xuechao raised his head: “Send him in.”

Moments later, dressed in bright and tender pink, Hua Yan entered. After hurriedly offering his greetings, he wore a face full of worry: “Your Majesty, Your Highness.”

Lu Xuechao asked, “What is it?”

Hua Yan hesitated, wrestling with himself repeatedly before speaking in conflict: “I have a matter, but I do not know if I should speak it.”

He used to think that phrase was nonsense—say it if you want, or don’t if you don’t; what was there to ponder? Only now, when facing it himself, did he realize how fitting the expression was.

No wonder those two had been acting strange lately; Qin Yulong had actually taken liberties with Helian Xi!

Hua Yan felt this matter ought to be reported to the Empress, yet he feared speaking out might harm Helian Xi.

Still, was he supposed to just stand by and watch that rogue Qin Yulong go unpunished while Helian Xi suffered in silence?

After deliberating again and again, he had come.

Yet with the words right at his lips, he couldn’t bring himself to say them.

Hua Yan was practically dying of conflict.

Seeing him like this, Xie Chongjin opened his mouth and said, “What? Finding it so hard to speak—did Fu Xinian propose to you? I shall simply bestow a marriage upon you two. Yun Luo, draft the edict.”

Hua Yan: “…?”