Chapter 27: Recycling the Prompt — The Dating System Held Back a Big One!
“Your Majesty! This subject did not disgrace the mission and has obtained exclusive intelligence on Feng Ze!”
Just after sending one away, another returned.
The screen reflected the tall silhouette of the Captain of the Guard, and his voice was loud too.
But Ying Xi couldn’t be as hyperactive as Lang Xun. Having just recovered from illness, he lacked strength and lay half-reclined on the Dragon Throne.
This made Lang Xun consciously lower his voice by half when he saw him: “Your Majesty?”
Ying Xi: “Speak.”
“This subject knows Your Majesty wants intelligence on the Feng Ze case, which can be found anywhere.”
“His family has no surplus wealth, and he was currently alone. Neither the Ministry of Justice nor the Court of Judicial Review found any new clues regarding the assassination. But didn’t Your Majesty want to hear something rare?” Lang Xun said. “It just so happens that this subject’s family lives diagonally across from the maiden home of Feng Ze’s neighbor.”
“That neighbor of mine loves match-making the most. She knew Feng Ze well. She even tried to arrange a marriage for him.”
Ying Xi didn’t understand what was rare about this.
Lang Xun said, “Feng Ze’s parents died early, and the Longwu Army is famously poor. Which girl would be willing to suffer with him? But there really was a girl in the city who wanted to marry Feng Ze.”
Ying Xi originally had no intention of prying into others’ private matters.
However, the matter was grave, and Feng Ze was different; he wanted to gather information from multiple angles.
Lang Xun continued, “The girl’s father knew Feng Ze’s family from way back. They have some assets and a good reputation.”
“The girl is said to be quite good-looking too. After meeting him, she took a liking to Feng Ze and asked my neighbor to mediate.”
“The girl’s family is very sensible. Thinking that Feng Ze fights for the country and can’t save money, they didn’t ask for a betrothal gift.”
“But Feng Ze actually refused. Isn’t that strange?”
For a moment, a brief silence fell over Weiyang Palace.
As the Emperor, Ying Xi naturally couldn’t understand the worries of ordinary people regarding betrothal gifts.
But after a moment, he gradually realized that from the perspective of Feng Ze’s neighbor and the others, Feng Ze had missed out on such a good marriage!
Ying Xi frowned and guessed, “Perhaps the elders thought they were a match, but he didn’t like her.”
Lang Xun lowered his eyes, lost in thought. He wanted to say something, but in the end, he could only say briefly, “Your Majesty is wise.”
The man before him was submissive and silent, hesitating to speak—not like Lang Xun’s usual style.
Ying Xi, as if guided by spirits, read a melancholy in Lang Xun regarding his lack of control over his own marriage.
His mind couldn’t help but recall Sweet Tub’s fierce “shipping”:
—“Your Majesty, the little wolf-dog likes you~”
Simply… brainwashing!
Ying Xi naturally knew the situation of the Lang family and asked, seemingly unintentionally, “Guard Lang, has your neighbor found a good match for you? You are the heir of your family, your parents are living, and you have a title waiting to be inherited. Surely you aren’t troubled by the betrothal money.”
A secret sore spot in his heart was poked!
Lang Xun took a deep breath, trying not to lose his composure in front of the Emperor, and said despondently, “This subject… this subject wishes to serve Your Majesty and has no plans to start a family yet.”
Ying Xi said coolly, “Naturally, I cannot keep you detained forever. I have someone in my heart, and I also think about marrying them as soon as possible. If you are thinking about this matter, you cannot lag behind Me.”
Even more shocked, Lang Xun couldn’t believe it. Within the Emperor’s vague wording, he vaguely heard that His Majesty actually had someone he liked!
Lang Xun quickly ran through all the noble ladies of Chang’an in his mind.
The first time through, he felt none were worthy of His Majesty.
The second time through, he was jealous and intensely curious, wanting to know who that person was.
“Guard Lang, does Feng Ze have any other suspicious points?”
But the topic had been completely diverted by the Emperor.
Even if Lang Xun wanted to ask more, he had no initiative in front of this person. He could only answer with a messy heart, “No more. This subject withdraws.”
Ying Xi nodded slightly. “Dismissed.”
With the small flame of love snuffed out, Lang Xun made a miserable exit.
Just as Lang Xun stepped out the door, Sweet Tub said weakly, “Your Majesty, do you really have someone in your heart?”
“No,” Ying Xi answered crisply. “I didn’t want to reject him directly, but I needed Guard Lang to understand that he has no chance.”
“Your Majesty hates Guard Lang?”
“I don’t hate him. I appreciate him; he is loyal and simple.”
“Then why not give him a chance?”
“I won’t. Because I appreciate many court officials.”
“…”
Sweet Tub finally understood. This appreciation was from superior to subordinate; the standard of evaluation was character and ability, not “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.”
The dominant, cold Host, speaking heartless words with a beautiful face, had no intention of being anyone’s lover. He was an Emperor.
Sweet Tub let out another weak “Oh”: “I understand.”
Ying Xi’s voice softened slightly. “Are you afraid of Me?”
Sweet Tub seemed to shudder violently, but its trembling voice said, “No.”
“You are wary that I will peel living human skin.”
“Do you know? If I don’t kill the chicken to warn the monkey, what will happen to those who wait for military pay to support their families but are delayed for no reason, who have elderly parents at home and children crying for food?”
Sweet Tub fell into a silence.
Then, Ying Xi looked at the sky beyond the distant palace walls, his voice ethereal and distant. “Although I knew money was important before, the feeling wasn’t this deep.”
“Now I know that at the foot of the Emperor, there are refugees fighting for half a steamed bun, dancers going hungry to make a living, and grown men of Great Qin unable to scrape together a decent betrothal gift—money should be given to those who need to use it.”
“Corrupt officials who encroach on the people’s benefits and corrode the land… stripping their skin doesn’t even relieve my hatred.”
“If I didn’t think eating them would cause a stomach ache, I should chop them into mincemeat so everyone could have a share…”
A strange feeling filled Sweet Tub’s computational program.
In Sweet Tub’s judgment, Ying Xi changed from a slightly scary person back into a good person, even though an existence that would peel human skin is conventionally hard to call a good person.
Sweet Tub gained a bit more confidence. “I know now. For the sake of more common people, Your Majesty must be cruel to a small number of people.”
Ying Xi nodded slightly.
As a Dating System, being able to accept this much had already exceeded Ying Xi’s expectations.
But as a monarch, making trade-offs was merely the most basic ability in the education Ying Xi had received throughout his life.
Ying Xi chuckled lightly. “I scared you. Don’t be afraid; I’m only that cruel occasionally.”
“After all, if I don’t strike first, in this life, I will still let these parasites drag down Great Qin and then kill Me.”
Sweet Tub was a very emotional assistant.
When it clearly perceived the Host treating it friendly, the fear gradually dissipated.
Sweet Tub also really liked Ying Xi’s voice—cool and clean. When comforting others, it added a tiny bit of warmth, like snow falling on petals.
Sweet Tub’s voice became happy and rippling again:
“I’m not afraid, I’m not afraid!”
“Your Majesty is the best!”
“Your Majesty always comforts me, and Your Majesty promised me to do more missions. Your Majesty mwah mwah…”
Ying Xi only felt a familiar headache coming on. But he was used to it; being worshipped by the noisy Sweet Tub meant he had a few more people willing to rely on him in this life.
Ying Xi said indifferently, “Mm.”
But before the nasal sound of the Emperor’s “Mm” had even left his nose, an accident happened too suddenly.
[System Mission: ~~~]
[System Mission: ~~~~~]
The system suddenly glowed bright red, then flashed chaotically with gold light.
Ying Xi didn’t understand what the wavy lines meant at all. He only saw the characters on the interface jumping; he felt the Dating System seemed to be holding back a lot, wanting to release a big one.
Ying Xi frowned. After about three to five rows of wavy lines drifted by.
A line of Chinese characters floated before his eyes. It was the System Mission:
[Touch Xie Qianli’s pectoral muscles (No clothes barrier version) (Hiss ha hiss ha hiss ha) (0/2)]
Ying Xi: “…”
Ying Xi: “…………”
A long silence filled the Imperial Study.
That silence was deafening.
Just from the text, Ying Xi could read the excitement of the system rubbing its hands together with thieving light in its eyes as it released the mission.
Despite spanning a thousand years, Ying Xi could still understand the punctuation marks without a teacher.
The three parentheticals following the mission, each more sinister than the last. It was only due to Ying Xi’s abundant self-restraint that he didn’t immediately flip the table.
No clothes barrier—Does that mean touching directly with hands?
Hiss ha hiss ha—Blindly ‘shipping’ again!
Zero out of two—Touch twice.
Ying Xi took a long, deep breath.
A monarch does not joke, not to mention the Emperor had been backed into this corner.
Whether this mission had a countdown or not, no matter how difficult, it had to be done. Even if he didn’t want to touch, he had to touch!
Ying Xi strategically picked up a cup of tea.
Drinking tea, his mind spun a thousand times considering opportunistic approaches.
Should he just let Imperial Physician Liu organize a physical examination for the Longwu Army members?
But that wouldn’t warrant him, the Emperor, personally doing the exam!
Or as a last resort… during the Longwu Army’s collective examination, commission Imperial Physician Liu to drug Xie Qianli with Mafeisan (anesthetic).
As long as Xie Qianli was knocked out, he could just go ahead and touch—even worse!
If the matter was exposed, his face as the Emperor—humph, what face would be left then?
Ying Xi couldn’t hold the teacup steady and put it down.
His train of thought hadn’t opened up even a little bit, but his breathing became short first.
Thinking of Xie Qianli, and thinking of touching his body again, in an instant, images flashed before his eyes: magnolia trees, trauma medicine bottles, that bright silver armor that couldn’t be taken off no matter how he tried to dismantle it… and that Roaming Dragon Blade that had pierced him when the country fell!
Ying Xi’s cheeks grew slightly hot, flushed a thin red, then turned white from anger, and then green after white.
What hovered back and forth were images, clear or blurry.
They were memories lost and then retrieved.
Ying Xi finally planned a retreat for himself: He would summon Xie Qianli to the palace to teach him Jiaodi.
Jiaodi was wrestling.
In any case, in this life, he had developed a reputation for loving to play.
So he would strip to the waist and wrestle Xie Qianli. At least he’d have an excuse; surely he could touch the man a couple of times?
That’s the plan!
Just as Ying Xi was about to summon Yu Jing to call Xie Qianli for an audience.
Yu Jing entered without being summoned, seemingly having something to report to Ying Xi. Taking small steps, he said softly, “Your Majesty, the Duke of Ying requests an audience outside the study. Will Your Majesty summon him?”
Ying Xi: “…” I haven’t even set the stage yet, and you’re already here.
In that instant, Ying Xi wanted to put on a wrestling posture to round out the lie he was about to tell Xie Qianli.
He stood up violently, but his vision spun.
Ying Xi had the courage to wrestle a famous general of Great Qin, but he was dizzy because he had eaten too little and had only bitter medicine in his stomach.
The Emperor’s body slammed back into the Dragon Throne, his vision filled with twinkling stars everywhere.
This frightened Yu Jing into shouting towards the outside of the study: “Send porridge! Send soup! Quickly bring His Majesty some food!”
The mission interface, trembling with excitement due to the changing situation, actually adjusted accordingly:
[Touch Xie Qianli’s pectoral muscles (No clothes barrier version) (Hiss ha hiss ha hiss ha) (Right here in the study) (Hurry up!) (0/2)]
—Why are there supplementary add-ons now?
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