MLIAM Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Little Ancestor Because This Official Prefers Men

Chapter 3 Little Ancestor Because This Official Prefers Men

The young General Yu pushed the Prime Minister, who was already poisoned and weak, to the ground, causing the Prime Minister to spit blood and his life hung in the balance.

The Censorate detained Yu Shuli overnight and will have the Emperor personally try him in front of the Golden Luan Hall on a selected date.

When the news reached The General’s Mansion, the General’s wife, Zheng Shiyi, fainted. The old General even dug out the Death Exemption Token that he used to prop up the bed leg overnight.

“Madam… don’t panic, I’ll go see His Majesty now…” Yu Huaxin trembled and drew out the rusty lance, “I will definitely bring our child back safe and sound.”

The General’s wife covered her face and sobbed, “Back then, we said that we couldn’t tell Ji’an about Miaomiao’s matter in the second brother’s family, but you had to say it without reservation! And you had to embellish it!”

“Ji’an has been good friends with Wei Yan for many years, but they broke up because of this one thing. Now Ji’an can’t let go of his sister’s matter and is at odds with Wei Yan everywhere. He is now the Prime Minister; how can our Ji’an be his opponent? If this continues, he will lose his life!”

“Aiyah, Madam!” Yu Huaxin said, “It was clearly Wei Yan’s fault back then. What’s wrong with me saying a few words? He took a fancy to Miaomiao; he should have proposed marriage. Why did he secretly arrange to meet her? And during the autumn hunt! It just so happened that the weather was not good that day, and it rained heavily. Although it was confirmed that he went to save the Crown Prince that day and was not a criminal, the damage to Miaomiao has already been done. Although he was unintentional, he was still at fault. Ji’an was not around at the time, so of course, I would complain a few words when he asked about it afterward.”

“Do you know the truth? You just complain randomly! Do you know how good Ji’an and Miaomiao’s relationship is? Now that Miaomiao is like this, how could Ji’an not want to find the villain who hurt Miaomiao and avenge her?”

The General’s wife said, “Wei Yan is really ruthless. The second brother’s family was so glorious back then, but after he was accused by Wei Yan with a single indictment, they can only barely survive now. If you didn’t occasionally help them, they would have difficulty even eating and staying warm…”

Yu Huaxin closed his eyes, “Although the second brother did back then… but he is still my elder brother after all, so it is right to help him…”

“Alright, what nonsense are you talking about at this time? Hurry up and meet with the Emperor, and at least get him to change his mind before the case is judged. Otherwise, if this case is sentenced, given His Majesty’s nature, a hundred Death Exemption Tokens may not be enough.”

*

Inside the Golden Luan Hall, wisps of agarwood incense curled around, and a majestic and heavy voice came from the hall.

“Kneel!”

Yu Shuli lifted his robe and knelt down with a “bang”.

The sound was real and clear, without any ambiguity.

Even the few young masters who came from the Censorate to file the complaint frowned, but Yu Shuli’s expression remained unchanged.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment.

The Emperor lowered his eyes and looked at Yu Shuli a few times, not knowing what he was thinking.

Gonggong Li, who was serving beside him, clicked his tongue lightly in surprise, ran over, and shouted, “Aiyo, little ancestor, you’re really kneeling so hard! If you get hurt, His Majesty will be worried!”

Being able to speak in such an environment where one doesn’t even dare to breathe loudly, Gonggong Li was naturally not an ordinary person. Not only did he not anger the Emperor, but he also gave both parties a way out, giving the Emperor a topic to start with.

Emperor Zhao Wu “hmph”ed, “I don’t think he wants me to worry.”

“Yu Shuli! You dared to injure people after entering the Censorate. You have quite the guts.” The man wearing the Dragon Robe above his head pressed his palm on the Dragon Throne and stood up with an air of looking down on the world. He kicked Yu Shuli: “I told you to marry Princess Jiangning, is it that unsatisfactory to you? You know that Xianqing is just someone who is conveying my words and exploring your thoughts for me. How dare you inflict such a heavy hand on him?”

“Is he someone you can provoke like any random cat or dog on the street? He is the current Prime Minister! Officially ranked first grade! Three levels higher than you! Even if you have merit in quelling the rebellion, you should never be so arrogant! Wantonly attacking an official of the Dynasty, do you even have me, the Emperor, in your eyes?!”

Yu Shuli tried his best to suppress the gloom in his eyes. He was kicked, but his body did not move at all. His face only turned slightly pale for a moment, and then returned to normal. Then, he replied sullenly, “Of course, I have Your Majesty… I dare not…”

“You dare not? If you dared, then Wei Yan would not be in the sickbed now, but in a coffin!” the Emperor scolded.

“Your Majesty! Please calm down! The imperial physicians are now treating the Prime Minister, and I have already been copying scriptures and praying for the Prime Minister. I believe the Prime Minister can overcome this difficulty…” Gonggong Li walked to the Emperor’s side and smoothed his breathing.

Emperor Zhao Wu kept exhaling through his nostrils, “In the end, I owe the Wei family. If old Wei knew in the afterlife, he would definitely scold me for not taking good care of his only son.”

Gonggong Li advised, “The old Prime Minister cherishes Your Majesty; how could he blame Your Majesty?”

“Your Majesty… General Yu is requesting an audience outside the palace gates…” a small eunuch reported tremblingly.

“I won’t see him! Tell him to get lost!” the Emperor’s gaze shifted to Yu Shuli on the ground.

Yu Shuli lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Not knowing what he was thinking, the Emperor dismissed everyone and sighed, looking at Yu Shuli.

“Yu Shuli, what exactly do you want?” He slowly walked down, softened his tone, and helped Yu Shuli up, “You are a Key Minister of Da Liang. You know that I cannot do without you, and Wei Xianqing is the brain of my Dynasty, and obviously I cannot do without him either. Why do you always have to be at odds with him?”

Yu Shuli didn’t speak.

Besides his sister’s matter, there was of course another reason.

Even his father didn’t know about this matter. Yu Shuli had secretly joined a faction long ago.

He was of The Crown Prince Party, while Wei Yan was obviously of the Crown Prince Party.

It was normal for the two sides to be at odds.

And Princess Jiangning’s grandfather, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue Qiu Wanshan… was of the Crown Prince Party.

But Yu Shuli couldn’t say anything.

He kowtowed again, “Your Majesty, please withdraw your order. I cannot marry Princess Jiangning.”

The Emperor frowned, “Why? What does this have to do with you disliking Wei Yan?”

“Because… because…” Yu Shuli bit his lip, trying to fabricate some reasons. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to him, and he said, “Because Jiangning likes Wei Yan!”

It was well known that Princess Jiangning admired the Examination’s Top Place Winner who was once as dazzling as the stars.

The Emperor breathed a sigh of relief and softened his tone again, “You don’t know what kind of temper Jiangning has? It’s just nonsense that she said when she was a child. You took it seriously?”

Yu Shuli shook his head, “No, Jiangning wasn’t fooling around… she once told me that she was serious.”

Zhao Wu Di looked Yu Shuli up and down, his eyes a little complicated, “Ji’an, do you… have someone you like?”

Yu Shuli was stunned.

He couldn’t admit it, and he couldn’t deny it.

If he said he had someone he liked, he would be asked who it was. He couldn’t even protect himself, so it was impossible to just say someone’s name and drag them into the water for nothing.

If he said he didn’t have someone he liked, the Emperor would definitely still make a fuss about his marriage.

Suddenly, Yu Shuli thought of the glamorous picture books he had found in the Brothels. Some of them contained male-male love affairs that were very popular among the nobles in the capital.

The capital did not advocate male love affairs, so these young nobles all frequented brothels on the surface, pretending to be looking for prostitutes, for fear of being known for their alternative preferences and being despised.

But Yu Shuli could only go against the grain now.

He braced himself, carefully raised his eyes, and answered the Emperor, “Answering Your Majesty, it’s not that I intentionally wanted to deceive you… it’s really…” He knelt down again with a “bang”.

The Emperor’s eyebrows twitched, “You were talking well, why did you kneel down again?!”

“I hope Your Majesty will forgive me.” Yu Shuli kowtowed.

“Alright, alright, if you have any unspeakable secrets, just say it. I will pardon you.” Zhao Wu Di’s eyes deepened, and he signaled Gonggong Li to help Yu Shuli up again.

Gonggong Li helped Yu Shuli up, calling him “darling” and “ancestor”.

Yu Shuli straightened his robe and thanked the Emperor before explaining with a slightly red face, “I am unwilling to marry Princess Jiangning, really because… I… prefer men…”

The Emperor’s originally deep expression suddenly trembled, the muscles on his cheeks twitched, and he seemed to open his eyes wide in disbelief, “What did you say?!”

Yu Shuli’s ears were numb, so he simply closed his eyes and said, “I prefer men, I don’t like women, and I can’t get hard for women.”

Gonggong Li “Aiyo, aiyo”ed twice and covered his eyes.

Zhao Wu Di glanced at him, “Why are you acting so pretentious? You heard everything, why are you covering your eyes?”

Gonggong Li reluctantly put his hand down and looked at Yu Shuli’s face.

“So, you rejected Jiangning just because you didn’t want to hurt Jiangning?”

If she married him, Jiangning would be guarding an empty room.

“That’s right, it would be too unfair to Jiangning.” Yu Shuli interjected, cautiously hinting to the Emperor, “My old Yu family will be childless with me.”

The Emperor sized him up, “So you go to brothels, also…”

Yu Shuli had to answer with a stiff face, “To find male prostitutes.”

Everything seemed reasonable.

“Cough…” The Emperor’s face also rarely changed color, and his attitude towards Yu Shuli improved slightly, “Does your father know about this?”

Yu Shuli shook his head, “I dare not tell my father…”

The Emperor sighed, not knowing whether he was relieved or regretful, “If your father knew you were like this… he would definitely be furious.”

What Yu Shuli said was not false.

His grandfather had three sons. The eldest, Yu Shikang, sacrificed himself heroically on the battlefield, leaving only a widow and no children.

The second, Yu Ganmu, was found guilty of corruption during his tenure as Minister of Agriculture and was sentenced to confiscation of his property and exile. His eldest son died in a riot of civilians along the way, and his youngest son died of illness during the exile. Only a crazy daughter with the intelligence of a few years old was left. Yu Huaxin took her back and raised her outside, and the Emperor turned a blind eye.

And the third son was Yu Shuli’s father, Yu Huaxin. He only had Yu Shuli as a son and treasured him very much since he was a child.

Yu Huaxin was the former Leader of the Flying Dragon General. He wielded his lance with superb skill. He was the god of war of the entire Da Liang and once held the position of Grand Marshal of the first rank. He was recommended several times to be appointed to the Three Dukes. The Emperor even drafted an Imperial Decree to confer him with the title of a noble with a different surname and had the idea of giving him the title.

But later, Yu Huaxin suffered a defeat on the battlefield. The Xizhao Kingdom seized three counties and ten million dan of grain. From then on, he was discouraged. He returned his military power to the Emperor and asked to be demoted to atone for his sins.

The Emperor, remembering his past merits, not only did not blame him but also gave him a Death Exemption Token and allowed him to continue to stay in the capital, retaining his title.

But the Yu family can be considered to have fallen.

It was not until Yu Shuli inherited his father’s mantle that he not only drove Xizhao back and recovered the counties but also pursued them for hundreds of miles, taking the enemy general’s head and preventing Xizhao from attacking again.

The Yu family once again entered the public eye.

This was only in the last two or three years.

The Emperor was once afraid that Yu Huaxin’s merits were too high and overshadowed the Emperor, so he would naturally be afraid of the current Flying Dragon Junior General Yu Shuli.

Logically, Yu Shuli should inherit the title this time when he returned to the capital.

But the Emperor had his own plans and stubbornly delayed the celebration banquet for a few days.

Yu Shuli was not stupid. He knew that the Emperor was afraid of him.

Therefore, he had to take this opportunity to reduce the Emperor’s suspicions to the lowest possible level.

A general who liked men and would not have descendants would naturally not be a threat.

It was just that Yu Shuli was too simple.

Zhao Wu Di had been the Emperor for so many years. He was naturally sinister, ruthless, and had cruel methods.

When he first heard what Yu Shuli said, he was indeed shocked and believed it a little, but in an instant, he understood.

This little fox, Yu Shuli, had ulterior motives.

Zhao Wu Di pondered for a moment, climbed up the steps, returned to the Dragon Throne, and looked down at Yu Shuli, “Since that’s the case, I have a marriage here that is even more suitable for you.”

Yu Shuli walked out of The Imperial Palace with his feet high and low.

When he arrived at The Palace Gates, his mind was still in chaos.

“Son, where are you going!” Yu Huaxin ran over in a hurry, grabbed Yu Shuli’s wrist, and pointed to the left, “Home is over there. The direction you’re going is towards the Prime Minister’s Residence!”

Yu Shuli’s eyes were empty for a moment, and then he said “Oh” for a moment, and then said nonsense, “Anyway, I’m going sooner or later…”

Yu Huaxin didn’t understand, but he anxiously stuffed his son into the sedan chair.

“It’s good that you’re out, it’s good that you’re alright.” Yu Huaxin hugged Yu Shuli, crying with tears streaming down his face.

After a moment, Yu Shuli’s soul landed as if he had traveled to outer space. He glanced at his old father and said slowly, “It’s not really… alright.”

“Ah?!” Yu Huaxin became anxious and took out the Death Exemption Token, “Then I’ll take this, will it work?”

“It might not work very well…” Yu Shuli sullenly lifted the curtain of the car, his voice a little soft, “His Majesty… wants to bestow a marriage between me and Wei Yan.”

Yu Huaxin opened his eyes wide, “Ah?!!!”