SGT CH182

182 Tianjia: The Little Cake Runs Away

◎A rose from the wild is not suited for the soil of the imperial palace◎

[The Tianjia Emperor smoothed the fallen bangs away from his forehead, looking up to gaze at him.

“If left alone, wouldn’t Si Si feel uncomfortable?”

Mu Si’s gaze lingered on the Tianjia Emperor’s reddened eye rims. Pressing his lips together, he turned his head away, muttering in a low voice:

“It doesn’t matter. In any case, as long as I stay by your side in this manner, I am uncomfortable every single moment.”

The Tianjia Emperor soundlessly parted his lips, his eyes shimmering and trembling as he stared at Mu Si.

After a long while, he lowered his gaze, his voice hoarse: “I understand.”

The Tianjia Emperor still only stood up after Mu Si finished releasing his pheromones.

Mu Si curled beneath the blankets, ignoring him entirely.

The Tianjia Emperor stood alone beside the bed for a long time, departing only when dawn began to break.]

Choices before departure:

1. The love-brain flares up, leaving behind the draft bill and the cipher key.
2. An emperor’s duty outweighs the love-brain, departing directly.

[Choice 1]

Before departing, the Tianjia Emperor left behind a draft of the legal revisions.

Left alongside it was the cipher key representing the Emperor’s supreme authority.

“Whatever Si Si wishes to write, just write it.”

…

[Choice 2]

X departed directly.

Males possessed no political rights and were forbidden from interfering with legal revisions.

Even if the Imperial Consort was dissatisfied with the predicament of males, thousands of years of evolution had proved this was the model best suited for the progress of Tianjia society.

He promoted the military merit system, liberating males from the monopoly of the aristocracy and granting grassroots females the opportunity to obtain males.

Only this had forged today’s powerful, thriving Tianjia Empire where every citizen was a soldier.

Yet, while he could grant grassroots females the chance to win males, he could not keep his own male’s heart.

The Imperial Consort said he wanted freedom.

He said that as long as he stayed by his side, he suffered every single moment.

The Tianjia Emperor raised a hand to touch his visibly swollen belly, staring blankly at the mist-shrouded road ahead, his heart filled with bitter ache.

Inside the bedchamber, sensing the Tianjia Emperor’s departure, Mu Si kept his eyes open until daylight.

Even when bright sunlight pierced through the gap in the curtains, shining onto his hand resting by the pillow and scorching the skin until hot, Mu Si lay quietly, not moving an inch.

What else could he do?

The bill would still be enacted. The imperial power and military authority represented by the Tianjia Emperor had triumphed over the deeply entrenched nobility, dividing up the spoils of victory in a celebration belonging only to the winners.

And males were merely one share of the spoils being carved up.

Males had never possessed the right to choose.

The psychic plague would still arrive as destined.

He could do nothing at all.

Mu Si moved his scorched, heated hand away from the patch of sunlight, concealing himself within the gloom.

The breath of sunshine was within arm’s reach, yet he felt himself rotting away into death.

The Imperial Consort did not rise, and the attendants outside the chamber dared not disturb him rashly.

Suddenly, the head attendant’s terminal chimed, receiving a new visitor alert.

Hesitating slightly, the head attendant knocked on the Imperial Consort’s door, reporting softly:

“Your Imperial Highness, the Foreign Minister’s Male Monarch requests an audience.”

Mu Si sat up in astonishment.

Joshua?

Why would he pay a sudden visit?

For a Tianjia male to go out or visit another household, consent from both Female Masters was strictly required.

This looked like the Tianjia Emperor’s arrangement.

Did he want Joshua to persuade him?

Mu Si got out of bed to wash and groom.

Whatever happened to him did not matter, but he could not implicate Joshua.

He did not want Joshua to see him in such an awful state, nor did he want Joshua to worry.

Having washed and dressed, Mu Si received Joshua in the bedchamber’s parlor.

The attendants had arranged fruits and pastries in advance, tactfully retreating once the two males began their conversation.

Looking at his friend across from him, whose clear eyes seemed capable of seeing through everything, Mu Si felt a little self-conscious.

He lowered his head to peel a fruit, speaking casually:

“After seeing each other at the banquet last time, I had planned to invite you and other males into the palace to play, and was agonizing over how to draft the invitations. I didn’t expect you to visit me first.”

“If you want to see me, why would you ever need an invitation?”

Joshua replied along with his words, his gaze falling upon the ornate, gem-encrusted collar resting around Mu Si’s neck.

Every Tianjia male wore a similar collar.

Even if styles and appearances varied, their functions were identical.

Controlling the male, monitoring their every move, including pheromone fluctuations.

Certain words could not be spoken aloud.

[Come with me.]

Joshua’s mental voice projected directly into his mind. Mu Si looked up in astonishment, meeting those clear, icy-blue eyes.

Mu Si parted his lips, wanting to question him. Realizing the surveillance, he switched to psychic communication as well.

[What are you saying?]

[Exactly what you think it means. Come with me, leave this place, escape the palace.]

[Have you lost your mind?]

Mu Si stared at him in disbelief.

[Do you have any idea what doing this entails?]

[Losing my mind is better than dying.]

Startled, Mu Si stood up immediately. Reaching across the tea table, he gripped Joshua’s white-gloved hand, his eyes filled with shock and inquiry.

[You…]

Mu Si thought Joshua had also foreseen that future.

The psychic plague erupting from the Imperial Capital, bringing death to all males.

[I saw a rose about to wither and die.]

Joshua looked at him and said.

Mu Si fell silent.

It was not the future, nor was it the psychic plague.

It was… him?

Mu Si’s loss of composure lasted only an instant. He quickly adjusted his expression and smiled, pretending not to understand.

“The roses in the garden are always tended to by dedicated bugs. They bloom beautifully.”

Except during the period when the Tianjia Emperor replaced the gardeners with mechanical Tianjia.

Mechanical Tianjia handled things brutally.

It was entirely thanks to replacing flowers frequently that the garden had not gone completely barren.

Joshua shook his head.

“A rose from the wild is not suited for the soil of the Imperial Capital. No matter how it is nurtured, it only appears beautiful on the surface; inside, it has long run dry and will soon wither.”

He had seen many males wither away in the back courtyards of Tianjia households.

Some witnessed with his own eyes, others preserved in archival recordings.

He knew very well what that feeling was like.

It was a desolate silence that neither the prettiest clothes nor the most exquisite jewels could ever conceal.

Dying quietly amidst the bustle and noise.

Back at that banquet ball, Joshua had already faintly sensed that feeling from Mu Si.

Now, that feeling had grown even more pronounced.

He did not wish to watch his good friend wither away into death in silence.

[So, come with me. Let’s escape this place together.]

Joshua, who habitually disliked physical contact with other Tianjia, took the initiative to clasp Mu Si’s hand firmly, his gaze resolute.

[The shuttle I arrived in was modified by the Foreign Minister. It can perform hyperspace jumps, with performance rivaling a military vessel. In the blink of an eye, we can leave the Imperial Capital and emerge several star systems away.]

The Empire had always banned unauthorized modifications to shuttles.

Yet what of it?

Laws could never govern the true elite at the very top.

Nor did any Tianjia dare intercept the Foreign Minister’s shuttle for inspection.

Before coming today, a flash of inspiration had led Joshua to pick the shuttle the Foreign Minister had shown him previously.

Didn’t this come in handy right now?

As for what the Foreign Minister would suffer because of this, it was outside Joshua’s consideration.

At most, he would be suspended pending investigation, only to be reinstated after a while. It would even give him the chance to replace him with a new Male Monarch who could be intimate with him normally.

[The Foreign Minister gave me some commemorative currencies from various nations before, along with miscellaneous jewelry. It should be enough for us to live for a while after leaving the Tianjia Empire.

[However, the tracking and positioning devices inside the shuttle will require you to dismantle them. Oh, and this as well.]

Joshua pointed at the collar around his neck.

Mu Si had not anticipated that Joshua had planned so much.

He had probably been preparing for this day for a long time.

Still…

[It is far too risky.]

[Fleeing with the Imperial Consort is treason. Do you know what you will face if caught?]

Joshua thought about it.

[An A-grade male is a scarce resource. They definitely won’t execute me; most likely… I’ll be sent to the soothing center for breeding.]

Just mentioning that word made Joshua reveal a look of disgust.

[I won’t let them have their way.]

Even if truly captured, he would choose to end his own life.

Committing suicide with psychic power was very convenient, taking only a split second.

He would end himself before the Tianjia military females could clasp a psychic seal onto him.

Mu Si could not let Joshua face such danger.

[I will not leave. What withering rose? You are overthinking. I am living very well. The Tianjia Emperor… dotes on me very much. Look at all the treasures filling this palace…]

Joshua looked around cooperatively and remarked:

[It resembles an exhibition hall. Entirely luxurious decorations without a single breath of everyday life. Have you treated yourself as a traveler lodging temporarily in the imperial palace?]

Cold, opulent, devoid of emotion.

A true home was not like this.

Although Joshua had never seen a real home either, he knew it was definitely not what lay before him.

Far too neat and orderly.

Even with his mild mysophobia, walking into this place brought not the slightest discomfort.

Mu Si could find no words to refute him.

He knew he would die of the psychic plague sooner or later, and he knew the Tianjia Emperor merely used him as a tool to harvest pheromones.

He had never regarded this place as home; he was merely a wandering soul residing here temporarily.

[You were always the bravest among us, the least afraid of adventure. What has shackled you?]

Joshua asked.

Mu Si still could not answer.

The past him dared to venture to the most dangerous front lines; now, he was chained inside a cage.

Was it because of the Empire’s rules? The Tianjia Emperor’s absolute authority? Or the inevitable psychic plague?

Joshua checked the time, stood up directly, brushed away nonexistent dust from his hem, and said:

[If you don’t come with me, I will leave all by myself.

[Oh dear, I only know how to use autopilot and don’t know how to pilot a shuttle. The moment I leave the Capital Star, I’ll probably be caught.]

Joshua sighed in feigned distress, glancing sideways at Mu Si with a melancholy gaze.

[When that happens, you’ll only be able to visit me at the soothing center.]

Mu Si knew Joshua was goading him, yet he had no way out.

Because Joshua was genuinely capable of doing it.

Joshua appeared cool and detached, yet he possessed the fiercest temperament among them.

When he went crazy, he was crazier than anyone.

He truly would fight to the bitter end.

Continuing to stay here offered only a dead end.

Beneath the psychic plague, not a single soul survived.

Better to… take this gamble.

At least he could see Joshua safely away.

Although in the future he had foreseen, even males taken outside Tianjia borders eventually fell infected and perished.

Yet what if?

Before the psychic plague arrived, it was worth a try.

Only… he could not take more males away, nor could he let more males take risks with him.

[I will go with you,] Mu Si said.

[However, I must prepare a few things first.]

A few minutes later, Joshua looked at several vials of blood on the table, and then at the pale-faced Mu Si beside him pressing on his arm to stem the bleeding.

[These are the things you needed to prepare?]

Joshua’s expression was grim, furious that Mu Si disregarded his own health like this.

Yet he could only take a cloth to help him press the wound.

[The egg in the Tianjia Emperor’s belly needs pheromones, and only my grade is high enough.]

Mu Si carefully packed the three vials of blood into a refrigeration box, setting it upon the table.

[These… should be enough for him to lay the egg smoothly.]

Involving another life, Joshua could voice no objections.

[Still, this is far too much! Why would he need this much?]

The pheromone concentration in blood was exceptionally high, ranking in the top three among bodily sources.

Purified slightly, it was enough to last a very long time.

[Are you trying to cover the pheromones for his next cub as well? When that time comes, he’ll be carrying another male’s cub while using your pheromones!]

Furious, Joshua spoke without filter.

Mu Si lowered his eyes, his eyelashes quivering faintly.

[It doesn’t matter, it counts as saving one more life.]

In any case, the current reality was no different from Joshua’s hypothesis.

[Let us go.]

Mu Si pulled down his sleeves, wiped away all scents inside the room and on his person, and led Joshua out the door.

Hearing movement, the head attendant turned, bowing as he inquired:

“Is Your Highness heading to the garden? I shall prepare at once…”

The head attendant’s voice broke off abruptly, his expression wooden as he activated his terminal.

Using psychic power, Mu Si manipulated him to contact the guards:

“His Imperial Highness is fatigued and preparing to rest. The Foreign Minister’s Male Monarch is departing the palace. Bring the shuttle over.”

Afterward, he hypnotized the guards in identical fashion, making them forget his existence.

Boarding the shuttle smoothly.

Mu Si first used autopilot, setting the shuttle to return to the Foreign Minister’s estate.

Once the shuttle gained distance from the palace, Mu Si immediately hacked all positioning instruments, making them display the false image of continuing toward the Foreign Minister’s estate.

At the same time, he switched to manual piloting mode.

Mu Si cast one final glance in the direction of the imperial palace, his hands descending onto the control console.

Tracing an exquisite arc in midair, the shuttle climbed, soaring toward the firmament.

Inside the imperial palace, within the Tianjia Emperor’s study.

X felt a sudden premonition and looked up toward the window.

An inexplicable wave of palpitations rose within his chest.

“Where is the Imperial Consort?”

The Tianjia Emperor contacted the head attendant in the Imperial Consort’s palace.

“His Imperial Highness is tired and currently resting,” the head attendant answered.

The Tianjia Emperor lowered his eyes, quietly gazing at the steady data synced to the virtual screen.

He was far too familiar with the Imperial Consort’s physiological data.

Familiar enough to… discern the truth from falsehood at a single glance.