Chapter 471 - 248: I Was Born a Man, Not a Fair Maiden
He Kongyue had a dream.
He stood in front of a majestic mansion, with a pair of imposing stone lions at the gate, and a towering vermilion door adorned with exquisite dragon and phoenix motifs. Above it hung a green plaque with two large characters—
He Mansion.
He familiarly pushed open the door and walked into the He Family courtyard covered with glazed green tiles.
The courtyard was empty, yet the cries of a baby echoed continuously.
He followed the sound, walking through the garden and around the decorative wall, to the inner courtyard where his father and mother resided.
A middle-aged man with a square face was holding a small baby girl, rocking her left and right as he tried to soothe her endless crying.
But the man’s eyes also brimmed with tears. When he himself was so full of sorrow, how could he comfort someone else?
"Yue’Er... The main line of the He Family has been passed down for generations, always with a male heir taking over as the Patriarch. Your mother has a gentle nature, and she gave birth to two daughters. Now that she’s gone, I can’t remarry, so I can only wrong you..."
The baby girl’s crying persisted.
The man’s tears fell, landing on the baby’s face:
"I’m sorry... It’s your father who’s wronged you... Your mother always said she wished her next child would be a boy. Boys have it better, she said. Boys don’t have to care about many societal norms, boys can do whatever they want, so they wouldn’t repeat the same mistakes..."
The man’s voice was choked with sobs, haltingly, as he continued to confess to the baby girl:
"Your mother went through so much to give birth to you, always hoping you’d be a boy. Your mother became somewhat delirious, and to make her final days a bit happier, I had the midwife announce you as a boy at birth. Soon you’ll be taken to the Divine Mountain to be sealed in ice, so your mother won’t know whether you’re a boy or a girl... There’s no turning back... I’m sorry, Yue’Er, just live as a boy. For your mother’s sake..."
As his words ended, the baby girl finally stopped crying.
The scene shifted to the same room.
A woman with an indistinct face was visiting with a three-year-old child, meeting this middle-aged man who was already showing signs of decline.
The child was dressed as a boy, with a handsome appearance already evident. At an age when kids should be running around playfully, the child was exceptionally well-behaved, timidly looking at the middle-aged man.
"Venerable Peiyu, Kong Yue is already three years old this year," the woman said calmly.
He Kongyue understood that Venerable Peiyu was the honorary title of her father, He Mingpei, the Patriarch of the He Family.
"Didn’t we agree to have her brought back when she’s ten? How can she return to the He Family at such a young age?! What if someone else sees through the disguise?!!"
He Mingpei was somewhat hysterical, frightening little He Kongyue into tears.
"Including the hundred years she was sealed with us, she’s been away for a hundred and three years. She said she misses home, so I brought her back to visit."
He Mingpei was somewhat moved; it dawned on him that he hadn’t seen his wife and child for a hundred and three years...
As time passed, he felt that his emotions were growing increasingly uncontrollable, just like his wife’s.
Was it too much longing that turned into an illness? But how could I not miss you...
He gently touched little He Kongyue’s head:
"Yue’Er, Daddy misses you very much. But Daddy is a man, so he has to keep his longing in his heart. You are a boy too, so you have to be strong, okay?"
Little He Kongyue stopped crying and silently nodded.
Then, at the age of four, the woman brought little He Kongyue back again.
"Yue’Er, I dreamt of your mother yesterday. She was very happy because she had a boy. She wants you to grow up carefree, doing whatever you want. Daddy feels the same way; whatever you want to do when you grow up, Daddy will support you unconditionally!"
Little He Kongyue was stunned for a moment, but then nodded sensibly.
She had been sealed for a hundred years, forced to mature early upon birth.
It was her mother’s lifelong wish to have a son, which also became her father’s obsession, and ultimately turned into the responsibility she couldn’t shake off.
For her parents, for the He Family, she needed to become a boy.
Then came five years old, six, seven...
All the way to ten years old, He Mingpei grew increasingly deranged, abnormally irritable, constantly muttering. Only when talking about his wife and son did he calm down a bit.
Facing the growing He Kongyue, He Mingpei’s tone when speaking to her grew increasingly firm, as if he had fully accepted that this was the son his wife had left him.
Though only ten, he was already planning to find a girl from a prominent family to engage to little He Kongyue early.
He Kongyue had been sealed on the Divine Mountain for a hundred years, and after defrosting, she was said to need time to adjust, so she was discreetly protected for another ten years. In reality, she was taught for those ten years at He Mingpei’s request, primarily on how to behave and think as a man, to perfectly become one.
The year she returned to the clan at ten was He Mingpei’s most lucid day; it seemed this deranged middle-aged man had been waiting for this day.
She shattered all doubts about her identity and gender with unrivaled talent, quelling the ambitions of the He Family’s collateral branches attempting to usurp the main line, and embarrassing those outside who believed the He Family had no heir.
That night, He Mingpei hugged his wife’s spirit tablet, tearfully asking if she saw that Yue’Er was an extraordinary man...
He Kongyue stared blankly at this surreal scene she had dreamt countless times, enveloped by an overwhelming weariness.
I was born a boy, not a girl.