Chapter 27

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

When there’s nobody else around, Bai Lianhua holds his head in his hands dejectedly.

“Jesus, the antagonists are getting stronger by the second… Why was I suddenly touched, and then agreed…”

“I thought I could withstand it for a little while longer!”

The system remarks joyously, “hey, it’s the host’s problem for not standing firm enough. Don’t think about it. Stuff you’ve promised the antagonist are stuff they won’t let you go back on.”

Bai Lianhua gets angrier, “whose side are you on?”

“Your side, your side, the host’s side of course.”

But the system’s words do not cheer Bai Lianhua up.

“System, I really think you should have looked for the antagonists to be your host. They’re more professionally inclined towards your ideal host. They can get imposing, get melancholic, they can switch up their attitude in a second. They’re even more of an expert than this so-called white lotus here when it comes to making people feel guilty. If they were the ones doing the mission, they’ll definitely be able to finish off any mission objective. They won’t just be a layabout salted fish like me.”

The system is dumbfounded for a few seconds before laughing dryly and shaking its head, “no, the antagonists are only this performative in front of you. Just look at how they’re disinterested in talking to literally anyone else… Besides, no matter how amazing the antagonist is they’re all going to bend their knees for you, so you’re the most amazing!”

Bai Lianhua “…” Thanks for the praise, but I feel more like I’m the one defeated when it comes to the antagonist every single time.

Oof, it’s depressing.

…

To do it gradually so that there’s no severe backlash, Meng Yanbai first decrees that Bai Lianhua will help coordinate the Ministry of Personnel .

This still caused ripples, however. A Prince that is kept as a mascot is completely different from a Prince that can interfere politically.

And most importantly, the Ministry of Personnel? It is not just any ministry – it is the head of the six ministries that is in charge of grading and oversight, in charge of every officers’ promotion and demotion.

There’s too much on Bai Lianhua that are causes for concern – former imperial Prince, granted the ‘Qi’ Princehood, the right not to bow in the presence of the emperor, still living in his old quarters, and now even making his way into politics… Each and every one of those is problematic.

Different from the situation up to now is that, given that he’s been devolved power, he’ll naturally have to make his way to the assembly to face it directly.

Fortunately, he didn’t just pass through all the worlds he had to merely sightsee. When push comes to shove he can be imposing and scare people senseless. It’s not that hard for him to rebuke every single person back to their place, at least, it’s not as hard as interacting with the antagonists——Especially when he is technically a Prince so the officer didn’t dare too openly voice their complaints. Then they are even easier to deal with.

Meng Yanbai looks on with interest, “I didn’t expect you to have such a side.”

He didn’t even need to make a move and guide him along when Bai Lianhua himself can deal with the problem. While his diligent setup is wasted, and even the pieces he laid out beforehand to cheer for him in court ended up unused, but he’s happy still.

Bai Lianhua says disinterestedly, “I am someone that has received formal imperial prince education.” Even if not for long, but since he wasn’t just eating and sleeping everyday to wait for his inevitable demise, there’s no way he’s learned nothing over the years.

Meng Yanbai says, “then I’m relieved. This is just the beginning. I’ll keep sharing more and more of my powers over time… Until in the end, we divide the Heavens in two.”

He holds onto Bai Lianhua’s hand and puts it onto the jade seal that represents the imperial throne.

…

The days following passed by somewhat peacefully.

Meng Yanbai has said that as long as there’s power in their hands, they wouldn’t be afraid of mere rumours. Still, when it comes to Bai Lianhua, who he holds dearly in his heart, and thinking about how he has just recently come into a position of power without a stable power base, Meng Yanbai doesn’t want him to face any trouble. He orders Hui Jifu to have the imperial servants shut their mouths in regards to this matter, so that nobody dares to make idle comments about his slightly more than intimate relationship with Bai Lianhua. And this news really didn't make its way outside the palace .

——For this, the system pridefully remarked how this proves his theory of ‘the antagonists never mean what harsh words they say.’

But then, this all-too-excellent secret-keeping causes more troubles.

Not just any other trouble either, but again Bai Lianhua’s maternal relatives, the Tang family.

The Tang family understands now that it’s impossible to become part of the royal family. So instead they start to think about how Prince Qi, Bai Lianhua, is also rising in the ranks. Then one day, when the assembly is over, Bai Lianhua’s uncle actually stops him midway and starts talking to him as they walked, implying their desire to marry the bachelorette to him instead.

And in between his lines, he’s even trying to evoke in him their ‘inseparable’ relationship when they were ‘childhood friends.’

Bai Lianhua is speechless. Where did this come from? True, before he ‘died,’ he’d certainly seen his cousin in the Tang family many times, but they’re seven years apart in age… Were they really suitable to be called childhood friends?

Speaking of, he does remember his cousin in the Tang family to be a good girl. She was a bit playful and cute, but never actually overstepping her manners. She’s well-versed in the arts, but is not therefore conservative and inflexible in views. She’s been raised well by his aunt.

Would such a girl really struggle to get married? If it’s her then as soon as she’s of hairpin age at 15, there must have been hordes of high-achieving young men asking for her hand in marriage. So it must have been his good uncles, those few people in charge of the Tang family making dumb decisions such as keeping the girl around to marry imperially, even waiting until the old emperor was dead so that they can see which imperial prince would become the new emperor… True, those imperial princes that are part of the race have all already married, so they can’t get an imperial consort, but at least they can get a Guifei, can’t they?

If they can even make her pregnant with an imperial prince, then teach him well, they might even get close to the dazzling riches.

——That’s, honestly, what they were thinking about when they sent Guifei Tang into the palace a long time ago.

And the Tang family thought they were this close to succeeding. If the sixth prince didn’t die early, they’d definitely have had his back and help him along in the race… It’s too bad he ended up out of the race early.

Even the final result of the race was unexpected. The new emperor wasn’t any one of the imperial princes of the Bai dynasty, and instead, it’s the Great General Meng Yanbai that’s famous for still being a bachelor.

So now their plans are thrown into chaos.

Bai Lianhua is speechless to this. He thought that with the thing last time, the Tang family would have given up on trying to imperially matchmake after Meng Yanbai warned them. Now great, they’ve decided to move their target onto him.

But true, Meng Yanbai isn’t quite adhering to the set protocols, and decided not to grant titles to any single person from the Meng family, so that this new dynasty ended up without any imperial relatives. Now the one most prominent in everyone’s eyes is this Prince Qi here.

When Meng Yanbai learned about it, he didn’t react in any way that Bai Lianhua had imagined he would, instead, he hesitated before saying, “… Do you want to have a wife?”

Bai Lianhua “???” This question is scary.

“Why do you ask?”

Meng Yanbai bites his lips, “You are the only one for me, so I’ve already sworn not to marry over a decade ago. This is just me, though. What about you? Would you want to have your own beautiful, gentle wife?”

“If it’s you, with your personality, you would be the best husband in this world, and the best father too.”

Bai Lianhua doesn’t know what expression he should put up. Instead, he quickly shakes his head to show he has no such intentions.

You kidding? He’s destined to be intertwined with the antagonist on all sorts of things his whole life. What’s he going to do dragging a girl into this? Wouldn’t he just be a scum then?

“I’m also not going to marry my whole life.”

Meng Yanbai’s eyes brighten. His lips are moving, but he’s so happy he doesn’t know what to say.

Bai Lianhua is a bit touched… Meng Yanbai sure isn’t aware enough of his position as the emperor. If he’s really worried about things like this, with just an order then he’d be acting as he wished.

“It’s because of love.” The system interjects, “I’m pretty sure the antagonist has been suppressing himself in regards to anything except the trigger point of you ‘leaving.’ He doesn’t want you the host to feel that your life is being manipulated.”

Bai Lianhua “…” Holy… This analysis actually sounds reasonable?

He forcibly drags his thoughts back, and voices his thoughts looking at Meng Yanbai, “speaking of which, I do want to ask you for a favour.”

“What is it?” Meng Yanbai looks expectant instead of looking reluctant.

Whether in the past or now, Bai Lianhua isn’t someone that would trouble others. It’s rare for him to open his mouth to ask.

“Look for a good marriage for my cousin in the Tang family.”

“The imperial palace had few princesses in the first place, and none of them was from my mother, so they’re not close to me… She’s the closest I had to a beloved younger sister.”

“I know her, and she’s not someone that would marry for riches or power. I’m certain it’s not her wishes that the Tang family keeps intervening in the matters of her marriage.”

“And with the Tang family blinded with gaining power like this, I’m not confident the Tang family will be able to land her a satisfying husband.”

The Tang family first targeted the new emperor Meng Yanbai, and then moved on to Prince Qi here when they saw that it wasn’t working. Are they just going to move one by one down the hierarchies afterwards? They’re only going to see if it’s beneficial for their family and not care about the personal qualities of the man.

Doing stuff like this will definitely be degrading for the lady.

Hui Jifu, standing in the corner waiting to be called, is a bit anxious right now.

His former master really is confident. He’s actually appealing to the emperor for the Tang family bachelorette when he’s her cousin? He’s not worried the emperor will overthink this?

This, this, this, this is almost making him dash forth to say ‘Prince, no!’

My former master, please, have you forgotten your dear uncle has just indicated he wants you to marry this cousin of yours? Are you not worried the emperor will get jealous?

When an emperor is angry perhaps a million will die. There’s not even a saying for what might happen when an emperor is jealous.

Oof. What an example of the master not hurrying along but their underlings getting anxious for them.

Meng Yanbai doesn’t seem angered, instead, he looks understanding, “since you see her as your younger sister, and you’re a Prince, given she’s the younger sister of a Prince, then I’ll give her the title of a Xianzhu . Then the Tang family would be unable to decide her marriage for her.”

With the title of a Xianzhu, when the royals don’t speak out, the Tang family would never be able to sell their daughter out like so. There’s also going to be time for them to look for a good husband for her.

Hui Jifu who’s agitated over there is stupefied.

What’s this development?

He’s first so shocked his jaws dropped to the floor, then he goes ‘tch tch tch’ in his mind. Cough, not that he’s trying to talk behind the emperor’s back or anything, but it’s true the emperor is a bit vengeful and nitpicky at times. It sure isn’t expected he’d be this generous to an almost-love rival when it comes to his former master.

Look how strong the feelings are here!

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