Ye Shaoyun’s hands, hidden in his long sleeves, clenched slightly. He asked, “Who is your accomplice?”
Qi Kun: “Is the National Preceptor asking sincerely? If you agree to cooperate with me, I can tell you all of my schemes. But in return, if you deceive me, I will certainly find a way to kill you.”
By the end, that playful, irreverent face was gradually replaced by genuine killing intent.
Ye Shaoyun’s expression darkened. “Then let me change the question: are you confident?”
Qi Kun’s smile returned to his face. “As long as you are included, I have a one-hundred-percent chance of success.”
“And if I am not?” Ye Shaoyun continued to ask.
“Fifty-fifty.”
Ye Shaoyun scoffed after hearing this. “And this is your confidence?”
Qi Kun shook his head, stood up, and walked over to him, spreading his hands. “Is that not enough? To me, this is a gamble, and you are the greatest stake the key to victory. I believe that as long as you take action, Qi Chu has absolutely no chance of survival.”
Ye Shaoyun looked at him without a word.
Qi Kun took two steps back, his gaze fixed firmly on Ye Shaoyun’s eyes. “Hesitating?”
“I believe that since you dare to gamble, you must be prepared to lose. Do you know the cost of losing?”
He understood Qi Kun, yet he did not. As a member of the royal family, anyone had the right to contend for the throne, but wasn’t it better to just be a leisure-loving Prince?
Qi Kun: “I know, death. But if I don’t gamble, I will still die once Qi Chu ascends the throne. Even if I don’t die immediately, I will spend every day living in safety while thinking of danger. I don’t want to live that kind of life. The royal family should not produce cowards.”
His expression was calm, yet the fear buried deep in his eyes was genuine.
Ye Shaoyun did not commit to a position, saying only, “Let me think about it.”
“Good.” Qi Kun nodded. This was already far better than he had anticipated; at least this person had been moved. “I didn’t expect you to agree right now, anyway; if you had, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
With that, he turned toward the folding screen and walked forward. As he walked, he spoke to the Ye Shaoyun behind him: “I know you don’t believe what I say right now. My mother was a low-ranking jieyu (concubine). Before I was born, there were already several talented princes. By all rights, I had no chance of succeeding to the throne, and my mother also advised me not to participate in the disputes. I laid low for over ten years, and the older I grew, the more I realized the difficulty of surviving in the royal family.”
“Many princes passed away before they were even born, and even those who did were not guaranteed a good life just look at Qi Chu. His birth mother was Noble Consort, but after she died, he was thrown into the cold palace. I was terrified that one day I would become just like him. I didn’t want to die, so I had to desperately fawn over others fawn over the Emperor, fawn over my brothers. Even after growing up, I still had to act as if I were detached from the world and irreverent, while plotting in the shadows.”
“This allowed me to dodge the first struggle for the throne. You should be able to understand me; from beginning to end, I simply wanted to survive.”
Ye Shaoyun watched him quietly. He might not necessarily understand, but he knew the hardships of surviving in the royal family, which was why he had been patient with this person in the past. However, the obsession and fear buried within some people could kill them.
“Is it that difficult to simply want to survive? If you don’t want to remain in the capital in the future, you can go to your fiefdom. You clearly have many choices.”
“No,” Qi Kun shook his head, now standing before the screen. “You don’t understand. You haven’t been a Prince, nor have you been a vassal. You should be able to guess I have privately contacted some vassal kings. They are far from the capital, some in barren lands, others in bitter, cold regions. They were also royalty once, but because the Emperor was wary of them, they were confined to their fiefdoms. Those fiefdoms are like cages, trapping them there. Once they make any move, the capital takes notice and becomes alert.”
Ye Shaoyun: “So they are your accomplices? That day, you were merely probing me.”
Qi Kun chuckled and pulled the folding screen aside. A young man, dressed in the attire of a scholar, stood behind it.
This young man was incredibly handsome with vermilion lips and jade skin, and phoenix eyes slightly lowered. Even Ye Shaoyun found this person pleasing to the eye.
The man saw the two and offered a slight bow in greeting.
Ye Shaoyun looked at Qi Kun, confused: “What does this mean?”
Qi Kun took a few steps back to let him see the man clearly, and asked: “Have you noticed anything different about him?”
Ye Shaoyun scrutinized him closely and realized the man’s pupils were a pale, clear color, his brow bone was slightly high, and his nose bridge was delicate and small. “This young man is quite handsome, though he does not look like someone from the Central Plains.”
“Indeed he is not. Does the National Preceptor like him?”
Ye Shaoyun’s expression turned cold again. “What is the meaning of this, Prince? Putting a man before me and asking if I like him?”
Whether he preferred men or women was not the point; he did not like the feeling of being probed.
Qi Kun shook his head, remaining calm and collected. “The National Preceptor has misunderstood. Although this person appears to be a man, he is different from others; he can be both a man and a woman.”
“Oh?” Ye Shaoyun raised an eyebrow. As someone with a modern soul, he naturally knew what Qi Kun was talking about: a hermaphrodite.
“In the outer regions, they call this a ‘Shuang-er’ (Double-Child). It is an auspicious omen.”
“And so? Is the Prince now past the point of not sparing even a ‘Shuang-er’? Can the Prince really bring himself to touch a man’s face?” Ye Shaoyun teased indifferently.
Qi Kun laughed: “This wasn’t prepared for me; it was prepared for you.”
“I noticed you don’t have much interest in women perhaps you are impotent with them? So, I thoughtfully found this solution that satisfies both.”
“The Prince is truly thoughtful.” Ye Shaoyun was so irritated by him that he sneered. Though he wasn’t interested, who would want to be told they were “impotent”?
Qi Kun was smug: “That goes without saying. Asking the National Preceptor to cooperate with me, naturally, isn’t something I’d ask without paying a price. This ‘Shuang-er’ was carefully nurtured in the outer regions; he knows a bit of witchcraft and is also very skilled in affairs of the bedroom. I am sure he will satisfy you.”
Ye Shaoyun suddenly felt the tea in his cup was somewhat disgusting; he flicked his wrist and splashed it out. The man was startled and stepped back half a pace.
Ye Shaoyun took the opportunity to say: “Is this the kind of person you find? So lacking in composure?”
Qi Kun hurriedly glared at the man and kicked him in the knee, causing him to drop to the ground with a thud. “Beg for the Master’s forgiveness!”
Qi Kun: “He is a coward, but if you take him back and train him, you will surely find him interesting.”
Ye Shaoyun raised his eyes and swept a glance at Qi Kun: “What’s the matter, have you tried it yourself?”
Qi Kun waved his hand: “Not at all, I guarantee he is a virgin.”
“Bullshit.” Ye Shaoyun did not believe him. “If you claim he was carefully nurtured, how could he be… a virgin?”
Qi Kun laughed: “National Preceptor, don’t nitpick.”
Ye Shaoyun sighed lightly, a hint of resentment seeping into his tone: “Is that so? Just a moment ago, the Prince said you were interested in me, and in the blink of an eye, you’re introducing beauties to me. It really makes one unable to understand you.”
Qi Kun stepped forward excitedly, leaning his face in: “If that’s the case, does the National Preceptor have an interest in me? If it were truly so, this Prince would actually be willing to offer himself.”
Ye Shaoyun’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, the indifference in his eyes nearly overflowing: “Is the Prince willing to let me be the one on top?”
“Uh…” Qi Kun froze, his smile in place. “Let’s talk about something else. Do you really not like this person?”
Ye Shaoyun snorted, his body slowly relaxing on the soft cushion: “Is the Prince now planting spies around me so openly and aboveboard?”
On the Beacon Tower, the two were fighting fiercely.
Mo Qing rushed up, scanned the two, and hurriedly walked to a position close to his master, saying quickly: “Your Highness, the National Preceptor and the Prince have gone off together to a brothel…”