Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

The Xu Family Estate

It was already late when Xu Shikai, his wife, and their children returned from the lantern festival. As they passed through the garden, they happened to see a servant carrying a bowl of sweet rice balls. They stopped the servant to ask and learned the dessert was for Xu Xingchen, but he hadn’t touched a single bite.

Xu Shikai’s wife, Huang Yin, said worriedly, "It’s been two days. He’s locked himself in his room, barely eating or drinking, and there’s this constant BANGING noise. What in the world happened?"

Xu Shikai was still angry and had no desire to deal with Xu Xingchen’s affairs, mainly because he was utterly incapable of managing him.

Before, when Xu Xingchen was just a child, Xu Shikai simply couldn’t be bothered to manage him if he couldn’t control him. But now, Xu Xingchen’s official rank nearly matched his own; even if he wanted to intervene, he no longer had the authority.

Xu Ling, holding some pastries she had specially brought back, said, "I’ll go check on him."

Xu Shikai scowled at her retreating back. "He ruined Ah Ling’s engagement, and yet she still sides with him."

Huang Yin shot him a look. ’It’s true the engagement was ruined, but that Zhu Liang was no good from the start.’

’Huang Yin had wanted to call off the engagement long ago. But Xu Shikai, concerned with old ties and saving face, insisted on maintaining the alliance, showing no regard for his daughter’s future happiness.’

’Now that Xu Xingchen had directly destroyed the engagement, both mother and daughter were delighted. The only one unhappy was Xu Shikai.’

Huang Yin never argued with her husband over matters that were already settled. Right now, her only concern was Xu Xingchen.

"Xingchen hasn’t been right since he returned the day before yesterday," she said. "He spent a night in the Imperial Palace. Nothing terrible could have happened, right?"

Huang Yin clutched her handkerchief tightly and lowered her voice. "There have been rumors circulating... that His Majesty... prefers men."

"I also heard another faint rumor..." She found it difficult to say. "That His Majesty has taken a liking to Xingchen, and that when he stayed in the palace last time... he was... he was... violated..."

BOOM!

It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck Xu Shikai.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

But for all the conviction in his voice, his face was deathly pale, and his feet were already striding determinedly toward Xu Xingchen’s quarters.

He had to get to the bottom of this.

He had promised his second brother and his wife that he would look after their son. If the boy had truly been violated, even death would not be enough to atone for his failure.

’It’s all Father’s fault,’ he thought. ’If he was going to resign, he should have just resigned. Why did he have to send Xu Xingchen to the Emperor?’

When the couple arrived at Xu Xingchen’s residence, they could hear the loud BANG, BANG, BANG from a distance. Xu Ling hadn’t gone in yet; she stood patiently waiting at the door. Xu Shikai, however, had no such patience. He reached out and shoved the door open.

The sight that greeted him inside was stunning.

"This..." He pointed at the enormous wooden box in the middle of Xu Xingchen’s room. "What are you doing?"

’So all that knocking and banging was him working on this box?’

The box was very long and wide, and next to it lay a lid with a rounded top. It looked like a hybrid of a coffin and a bed.

Xu Xingchen was sitting on the floor, carving a design into the box. The pattern... was it a dragon?

Xu Shikai strode forward and pulled at him. "Xu Xingchen, I’m talking to you!"

After two days and two nights without sleep, even with his strong constitution, Xu Xingchen looked haggard. The skin under his eyes was dark and bruised, but his gaze was exceptionally bright.

At that moment, Xu Shikai was so desperate for answers that he hadn’t yet realized the true gravity of the situation.

Xu Xingchen glanced up at him. "Who are you here to plead for this time?"

Xu Shikai retorted, "I’m not here to plead for anyone. What happened between you and His Majesty? What did His Majesty do to you?"

"Hide him."

Xu Shikai asked, "What?"

Xu Xingchen caressed the bas-relief dragon he was carving, his eyes glinting with obsessive determination. "Hide His Majesty."

’His original plan was just to put His Majesty in a box, but ordinary boxes were too small.’

’A coffin-sized box would have been perfect, but it could only fit His Majesty. So now he was making the box bigger, big enough for two people.’

Xu Shikai was a well-read man, but at this moment, he felt his powers of comprehension were sorely lacking.

’What does "Hide His Majesty" even mean?’

Xu Shikai’s brow furrowed deeply. "Xu Xingchen, answer me properly. That night you stayed in the palace, what exactly did His Majesty do to you?"

Xu Xingchen replied, "We drank. His Majesty had me drink."

Xu Shikai stared at him intently. "And then?"

’And then?’

Xu Xingchen couldn’t remember what happened after he drank. "We slept."

The last shred of hope Xu Shikai was clinging to finally died. His eyes filled with the despair of a man who had failed to protect his nephew, allowing him to be violated.

His face turned ashen, the color of death.

He slammed a fist on the box in fury. "That animal! That beast!"

Far away in the Imperial Palace, Xiao Yang: "Achoo!"

’Who’s cursing me in broad daylight?’

Seeing Xu Xingchen go back to carving his box, Xu Shikai stormed out, no longer feeling the least bit tired. He was going to the study to write a letter to the Old Master, insisting he return at once. Otherwise, the boy would be ruined.

Huang Yin and her daughter looked at each other, speechless.

Xu Ling asked, "Why is Father so angry? Did he misunderstand something?"

Huang Yin hesitated for a moment before whispering to her daughter, "The rumors outside say that Xingchen was... violated... by His Majesty..."

Xu Ling’s eyes went wide. "How is that possible?!"

’What is Father thinking? His Majesty is a man, and so is Xingchen.’

’Then again, I did hear that His Majesty prefers men... ’

Xu Ling’s thoughts were suddenly in a tangle.

’What is even happening anymore?’

Xiao Yang knew nothing of the chaos unfolding in the Xu Family. She was busy causing-trouble!

Being a well-behaved, rule-abiding emperor was just not her style.

A "good" emperor was an agreeable emperor, and an agreeable emperor was one who was easy to bully. You wouldn’t necessarily get undying loyalty from your ministers, but you would definitely get a lot of people who’d take advantage of you. And occasionally, you’d even have treacherous officials who wanted to rebel.

She didn’t care who wanted to rebel, nor did she care who was plotting what.

The best defense is a good offense. She had to turn up the heat and let them know that the Emperor was the most difficult person of all to deal with.

「Prince Jing Mansion」

That’s right, Xiao Yang was back to torment Prince Jing.

The Emperor’s three questions arrived:

"Uncle, how’s the rebellion plan coming along?"

"Who are you planning to take down next, Uncle?"

"Let me see your plan, Uncle."

Prince Jing, feeling his world go dark yet again, protested, "Wait, isn’t this matter over and done with?"

He’d been serving diligently, transferred from the Ministry of Revenue to the Ministry of Industry, doing whatever the Little Emperor asked of him. Wasn’t that good enough?

Everything was going perfectly fine now, so why would he still be rebelling?

Prince Jing was bewildered, but the Little Emperor, at the slightest disagreement, whipped out the Jade Seal.

"I have a mission that only you can accomplish, Uncle. If you can’t complete it, then this throne is yours."

The sight of the Jade Seal made Prince Jing’s heart tremble. "Let’s talk this over, we can talk this over!"

After Xiao Yang finished explaining, the clear, innocent light in Prince Jing’s eyes had become complicated.

People say the human heart is sinister. Well, the human heart is one thing, but the Little Emperor was the *sinister* part.

This was not how conspiracies and schemes were supposed to work.

"Your Majesty," he said, "if you keep playing around like this, you’re going to lose this uncle of yours."

Xiao Yang slung an arm around his shoulder. "Lighten up, Uncle. Life is short. It’s over in the blink of an eye."