“Come here, Ah Huai, my child.” Wen Yulin beckoned to Xi Huai with a gentle smile.
No, have you finally lost your mind? Wen Yulin, don’t be ridiculous. Who is your child!
Yet, Wen Yulin reached out to stroke his hair, cradling him as if he were a mother holding her own offspring.
Horrified gazes fell upon them from all sides, and the Duke of Wen looked on, completely stunned.
Xi Huai wished he could find a hole to crawl into.
Wen Yulin’s expression remained calm, as if he were oblivious to the reaction.
“Come, have a bite of the egg custard.” He scooped up some steamed egg and held the spoon to Xi Huai’s lips.
“Mother, this is inappropriate.” Xi Huai stammered, his face flushed red from overwhelming shock.
He tried to pull away, but Wen Yulin seemed to sense his intention, gripping his waist firmly and refusing to let go. Xi Huai could not comprehend what was going on inside Wen Yulin’s head. He wanted to buy him a new brain, but he didn’t dare say it out loud. He was merely a dissolute, incompetent little emperor; why did Heaven have to send a lunatic to deal with him?
The spoon pressed directly against his lips, and he was forced to swallow the egg custard.
Almost simultaneously, a look of profound satisfaction appeared on Wen Yulin’s face. “Ah Huai is such a good boy.”
As he spoke, he scooped another spoonful of the custard.
The Duke of Wen’s face turned the color of a liver. He pointed a trembling finger at them. “What on earth are you doing? This is absolutely contrary to all human decency!”
Wen Yulin glanced at him coldly. “I am merely taking care of my child. Lower your voice; don’t frighten him.”
“Your child?” The Duke of Wen laughed derisively. He hinted pointedly, “How could you possibly have a child, Empress? Have you lost your mind?”
“Insolent!” The façade of benevolence that Wen Yulin usually maintained collapsed instantly, replaced by a surge of rage. “My child is the Emperor of Daqing! How dare you discuss him in such a manner? Do not forget your place.”
However, the Duke of Wen remained unrepentant, sneering, “The entire court knows that you have confined the Emperor to the Cining Palace. Do you truly believe you can rest easy?”
Wen Yulin frowned and commanded the guards, “What are you staring at? Escort the Duke out of the palace immediately!”
The Duke of Wen was taken aback, unable to resist the guards as they swarmed him. “Empress! Empress!”
With the Duke of Wen gone, the Cining Palace finally quieted down, but Xi Huai had never felt more ashamed. He buried his face in the plate, the surrounding gazes pinning him down, making it impossible to ignore them.
He was forced to bite the bullet and say, “Mother, I know you are doing this to uphold my dignity.”
“But the Duke of Wen is your eldest brother by blood. Please, do not alienate him. I am already a grown man; behaving like this will only ruin your reputation.”
He spoke with such heart-wrenching sincerity, completely abandoning his usual arrogant and domineering demeanor. He acted so filial that even he himself was moved; what a wonderful, obedient son he was. But the moment he remembered that the little emperor was a simpleton, and that with his meager intellect it would be difficult for him to think of such things, his entire body stiffened.
The more he spoke, the more delighted Wen Yulin’s face became.
Wen Yulin curled his lips and asked, “Ah Huai, are you worried about me?”
Xi Huai: “…”
You are the villainous Empress Dowager who plotted against the little emperor just to put your nephew on the throne. Why, now that you are protecting the little emperor, are you disregarding your own brother and nephew?
“I am very happy.” Wen Yulin switched to referring to himself as “I” again. He took out a handkerchief and affectionately wiped the corner of Xi Huai’s lips. “I am very happy that the Emperor is not as naive as I had imagined.”
Xi Huai went rigid, feigning confusion. “What are you saying, Mother? I don’t understand.”
“I know you are merely concerned for me, but don’t pay them any mind. They are nothing but ants.”
Ants. Xi Huai shivered as he caught a flicker of imperceptible mockery in Wen Yulin’s eyes. He realized that the situation was far more complex than he had imagined.
“They are just outsiders with a bit of shared blood; what do they have to do with me? In the end, aristocratic families have many members, and we merely share the surname Wen.”
In reality, it was exactly as he thought. Wen Yulin smiled. His voice was flat, devoid of emotion, sounding only deeply cold. Not to mention his expression, which was so calm that even the mockery had vanished. “What is an eldest brother? Only one’s own child truly belongs to them.”
“Child?”
Wen Yulin finally loosened his grip on Xi Huai, allowing him to pull away from his embrace. He looked at Xi Huai with such tenderness that it made his scalp tingle, then helped him straighten the creases in his robe.
“Ah Huai is my child.”
“I am not your child.”
Wen Yulin looked at him kindly, and as he stared, he uttered a chilling statement.
“I say you are my child, so you are. I say you are the Emperor, and that is what you are.”
Xi Huai shuddered. He keenly sensed a warning in these words, as if he were being reminded that his identity was granted by Wen Yulin, and he had better be obedient.
“I know you are guarding against me.” His voice was gentle, yet the content was bone-chilling. “But you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”
“It was all my fault. It was because I ignored you in the past that you felt so insecure, forcing you to act like a reckless, incompetent ruler.”
“That won’t happen again.”
Wen Yulin finished adjusting his clothes and stood up. “From now on, I will teach you. I will teach you how to be the Emperor of Daqing.”
“You are me, and I am you. We are mother and son, inseparable. We are the closest people in this world. You are my extension, and you are the Emperor…”
He was tall, with a bone structure larger than that of a woman. As he stood up and leaned in, he possessed a natural sense of superiority, looking down on him. That pathological gaze made Xi Huai uncomfortable. Please, don’t be like this; I am just an ordinary person.
After finally finishing the family banquet, Xi Huai returned to his quarters, utterly exhausted. He not only had to act as the little emperor but also had to play this “mother-son” game with Wen Yulin.
Just thinking about the days ahead, he couldn’t help but open the group chat and roar in frustration. He explained his situation, his time under the cliff, and his house arrest by Wen Yulin, concisely.
The group chat fell silent until the male lead from the Doomsday novel asked, “Are you sure the Empress Dowager is a woman?”
Xi Huai froze, his typing trembling. “What? What are you trying to imply? Why wouldn’t the Empress Dowager be a woman?”
The male supporting character from the House Intrigue novel replied, “Uncle thinks, based on the development of derivative BL novels, the Empress Dowager might be a man in women’s clothing.”
“Are you serious? Why are you all so sure that I am in a derivative BL novel?”
Male Lead (Derivative Novel): “Because I’ve read your story. The Empress Dowager is definitely a big shot in drag.”
Male Lead (Derivative Novel): “Whether it’s the Empress Dowager or the Regent, they all have feelings for you.”
Male Lead (Derivative Novel): “And the childhood friend general, even the male lead and the Imperial Noble Consort; they all have ulterior motives toward you.”
Xi Huai was struck as if by lightning, his eyes losing focus. “Male Lead from the derivative novel, I am a straight man. Please, be a decent person.”
The male supporting character from the House Intrigue novel added a cruel remark: “Listen, Uncle has to remind you: those restorative pills are actually aphrodisiacs.”
Xi Huai was driven to the brink of madness by their constant attacks. “What does that have to do with whether or not I’m in a derivative BL novel?”
Female supporting character (Palace Intrigue novel): “After you took the aphrodisiac and saw the male lead, your body recovered. It’s clear that, at the very least, you are in a BL novel.”
Xi Huai recalled how the female supporting character had repeatedly asked him about the male lead back then; it turned out she had already guessed it.
Xi Huai was furious. He typed angrily, “But that day I didn’t just see the male lead, I also saw Qin Mingjing! What do you say to that?!”
The Male Lead from the Doomsday novel paused and said, “What? You really do play hard mode, getting sandwiched between them. As expected of you.”
Xi Huai was flustered and exasperated, “Doomsday male lead, you are so annoying!”
Male Lead (Derivative Novel): “Have you finally realized you are in a BL novel?”
Xi Huai lacked confidence. “I haven’t thought about it that way…”
Male supporting character (House Intrigue novel): “The last one who refused to face facts hasn’t logged on in a long time.”
Xi Huai realized who the group was talking about, the male supporting character from the Xianxia novel, and he wanted to cry again.
“Wuwuwu, you are doing this on purpose! This is too much!”
The male supporting character from the Xianxia novel popped up: “Enough! I’ll spoil you!”
Having been absent for a long time, the Xianxia character immediately tossed a personal red envelope to Xi Huai. Xi Huai quickly opened it. “Xianxia male lead, you’re finally online?”
Inside the red envelope was “Absolute Obedience Powder.” As the name suggests, it makes people follow every word. He was quite satisfied, but he still complained, “Xianxia male lead, while you were gone, they all said I was in a derivative BL novel.”
The male supporting character from the Xianxia novel was silent for a moment. “…Perhaps they are not wrong?”
Xi Huai: “?”
Realizing he had spoken out of turn, the character used a voice bubble to change the subject awkwardly, “I went to the Demon Realm and spent a long time becoming a demon, which is why I wasn’t online. I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m better than ever.” The character’s voice was deep and masculine, his tone cheerful. “I finally got rid of that idiot master.”
“I replaced my treacherous heart with my senior brother’s, then immediately fled to the Demon Realm. Through persistent effort, I am now the Demon Lord, feared by all across the four seas and eight wildernesses.”
That was great news. Xi Huai was sincerely happy for him, but thinking of his own situation, he wilted again. No one had told him he was in a derivative BL novel; his advantage of knowing the plot had lost its value.
Xi Huai somewhat believed the Derivative Novel’s male lead now. Since it was a derivative BL story, at least they wouldn’t kill him. But he still couldn’t rest easy. If he helped with the house raids, did that mean Li Jue had no reason to kill him?
Just as he thought this, the long-absent Group Owner finally spoke up: “What are you thinking about?”
Xi Huai snapped back to reality. He hadn’t expected the Group Owner to talk to him, and he stiffened. The Group Owner was mysterious, giving off a feeling of peace that made people want to confide in them.
“I was thinking that I have weakened the Regent’s power and the Imperial Noble Consort won’t kill me anymore. However, power must be mastered in my own hands.”