Her Majesty Chose Violence, They Chose Her

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Is This Something to Be Proud Of?

"Your Majesty~~~ I didn’t mean to~~~"

"Oh dear, how did my robes come undone?"

Xiao Yang watched the little palace maid who had fallen before her. The girl fumbled with her lapels, yet she only managed to pull them wider. She was draped all over Xiao Yang’s leg, and her hand was just about to find its way between her thighs.

Xiao Yang: "..."

’If I actually had one, I wouldn’t be stingy about letting her have a feel.’

’But I don’t!’

’What a truly sad story this is.’

Xiao Yang bent down and gently pulled the girl’s lapels closed. With a faint smile, she reached out and patted the palace maid on the head. "Such a pretty girl shouldn’t be doing this. It wouldn’t do for someone to see. Be good now."

Ever since Xiao Yang had publicly announced that she liked men, the women of the Imperial Palace, as if acting on some secret command, had been pouncing on her like mad.

It was as if they were all determined to "straighten" her out.

But if they succeeded, she would actually *become* gay!

Whatever their motives, these women were undoubtedly acting on someone’s orders, so Xiao Yang didn’t make things difficult for them.

Isn’t there a saying? The only reason you hate a manipulative girl is because you’re not the one she’s trying to manipulate.

This gaggle of girls tried every trick in the book to please her. Whether their affection was genuine or not didn’t matter; from her perspective, she was quite enjoying it.

They were fragrant and soft, endlessly charming and beautiful, and they exhausted every scheme to seduce you. It was impossible to get even a little bit angry.

It was as if the gloomy Imperial Palace had finally brightened, with a hundred flowers blooming at once.

Watching the Little Emperor walk away, the palace maid murmured in a daze, "Your Majesty... how can you be so gentle..."

His gentleness was clear in those starlit eyes. His Majesty had clearly seen her scheme and saw right through her clumsy act.

But His Majesty said nothing, only patting her head with gentle pity, as if he could forgive her anything.

His Majesty is so wonderful—so noble, so handsome, and so gentle—so why on earth must he like men?

The heavens are blind!!!

The Emperor wasn’t gentle with just one woman. Rather, any who tried to seduce him were met with gentle treatment and a kind word of advice.

The Emperor wasn’t being fickle; he was simply being true to his own heart, and yet remained so gentle and tolerant.

The inability to win His Majesty’s heart was a source of regret and heartache, but it only made them love him more.

Now, whenever Xiao Yang appeared in the Imperial Palace, she was invariably trailed by the longing gazes of palace maids. At first, they were merely following orders to seduce the Emperor. Later, however, it became pure infatuation. They followed him of their own volition, their adoring looks nearly flooding the entire palace.

While others were delighted to see this, Xiao Lv was perhaps the only one who knew the Little Emperor was... incapable.

Suppressing his laughter, he advised, "Your Majesty, if you don’t want to take three thousand consorts, it’s best not to be so gentle with them."

’Why lead them on if you have no intention of marrying them?’

His Majesty’s casual indulgence was a potent poison to these girls, one with no lifelong cure.

Just then, Xiao Jinsu entered, her arms laden with a large pile of items.

She looked at Xiao Yang with some embarrassment. "Your Majesty, the young ladies of the palace have prepared many gifts for you, but they were afraid you wouldn’t accept them, so they sent them all to me."

"I’ve checked them; they’re all just embroidered handkerchiefs and sachets..."

Xiao Jinsu hadn’t wanted to bring them over, but those young maids were relentless. Each one was a young girl dreaming of romance, and they couldn’t be persuaded otherwise.

She didn’t want to deliver them, but since His Majesty seemed to treat the girls so well, she had come to ask how he wished to handle the gifts.

She certainly didn’t dare throw them out, or that mob of girls would have torn her to shreds.

Xiao Yang glanced at the pile and had Bi Fang take them away for storage. She wouldn’t use them, but she wouldn’t throw them out either.

Xiao Yang rubbed her chin. "Actually, I’m suddenly thinking that selecting consorts might not be a bad idea. Aren’t fragrant, soft girls much more pleasant than those smelly men?"

Xiao Jinsu was astonished. ’Has His Majesty been straightened out after all?’

Xiao Lv’s eyelid twitched. He hurriedly pulled Xiao Yang away, then issued an order that no palace maid was to leave her post. Violators would be punished with twenty strokes of the cane.

Xiao Lv was acting for Xiao Yang’s own good and for the peace of the palace, but his actions were completely misunderstood.

"The Heir of Prince Jing was personally invited into the Imperial Palace by His Majesty. Don’t tell me His Majesty is into his type?"

"Heir Xiao is certainly handsome, but he’s a step down from the Regent King. His Majesty personally admitted to liking the Regent King and even made him a consort, you know."

The Regent King: ’Is this supposed to be some kind of honor?’

"That’s different. His Majesty and the Regent King are enemies. The Regent King is his unattainable crush, the one he can never have. But the Heir of Prince Jing is close to His Majesty, well within his grasp..."

Xiao Lv: ’So I’m the cheap option?’

"Ehh, surely not. The Heir of Prince Jing is His Majesty’s first cousin."

"The Regent King is His Majesty’s cousin-uncle. Besides, it’s not like two men can have children. Who cares about bloodlines?"

"Look how much the Heir of Prince Jing cares for His Majesty! He’s always been a steadfast supporter, and he even got jealous when he saw all of us trying to win His Majesty’s favor."

"Hee hee hee, I heard his face was green with anger yesterday..."

Xiao Lv: ’No "hee hee"!’

’My good name, my lifelong reputation... It’s all ruined!’

’I haven’t even gotten married yet!!!’

Now, wherever Xiao Lv went, people would stare at him. If he stood even slightly close to the Emperor, he would feel prickles on his back, as if he had been stripped naked for all to scrutinize.

Rong Yin and Li Wei weren’t faring much better.

When Li Wei needed military funds and the Emperor had none, he had simply raided his own maternal grandfather’s house and given all the confiscated wealth to Li Wei to distribute.

If that wasn’t true love, what was?

The Regent King might not see eye-to-eye with the Emperor, but he had protected His Majesty on more than one occasion now.

When the Emperor fell ill, he kept a personal vigil; when the Emperor faced assassins, he threw himself in front of him.

And just recently, His Majesty had bitten him on the face. How passionate must things have been to draw blood?

This love square—the more one dug into it, the more there was to find. It looked like true love with every single one of them.

Li Wei and Rong Yin were also victims of this gossip, forced to endure strange looks every day. The only silver lining, perhaps, was that they were both seen as the "top" in these imagined relationships.

After all, the Emperor was young, delicate, and beautiful. No matter how you looked at it, he was clearly the one being "taken advantage of."

The two men: ’...What part of this is a silver lining?’

Two perfectly fine men, and now they were both "bent."

The two of them had no idea how to explain themselves, and they knew that even if they tried, no one would listen. People weren’t interested in the truth of the matter; they only wanted to believe the salacious gossip.

Even the Empress Dowager’s remaining faction members were beating around the bush, asking if they should procure a male favorite for His Majesty.

The Empress Dowager’s face turned shades of green and purple, burning with shame.

She had never been so humiliated in her entire life.

’Of course I know "His Majesty" likes men,’ she fumed. ’She’s a woman! Nothing could be more normal than liking men!’

’But her public identity is male! For a man to say he likes men... what kind of scandalous declaration is that?’

’Liking men is one thing, but with "his" physique, everyone has classified "him" as the bottom! At this rate, even if I announced that I’d given birth to a daughter, people wouldn’t be shocked. They’d just look at me with pity, lamenting that I gave birth to a son for nothing.’

’She has a son, but the family line is finished.’

The Empress Dowager: "...How did I give birth to such a little monster!"

Before, she had been terrified that the Little Emperor’s identity as a woman would be exposed, causing the Empress Dowager to lose her grip on power.

Now, she thought losing her power might be preferable.