Chapter 933 Female Competition

Yuwen Qian had cultivated for many years. Even after venturing into the mortal world and becoming the Crown Prince, who was second only to the Emperor, and even going to the battlefield to fight and struggle, he never gave up his cultivation at home.

However, he had not been to this room for a long time since the death of the Duke of Shenwu.

He stood in the center of the room, where the faint scent of sandalwood still lingered, facing the Buddhist shrine placed on the altar. However, his expression was not as devout and serene as before. On the contrary, the candlelight on the altar flickered when someone approached. Although the light was directly on his face, it did not illuminate his features. Instead, the dim light cast an even deeper shadow over his handsome face.

His gaze was more like a cold, scrutinizing stare.

This gaze puzzled Yu Mingyue and sent a chill down her spine, but she still stepped forward and said softly, "I have already sent away the people outside. Your Highness can now rest in peace for a few days."

"..."

"If there is any news from the palace, I will inform Your Highness immediately."

"..."

"Your Highness, is there anything else you wish to say?"

Yuwen Qian remained silent and motionless, as if he hadn't heard her words at all, or even that she wasn't there. He continued to calmly gaze at the Buddhist shrine.

Yu Mingyue could only turn away sadly.

But as soon as she took a step, a sense of resentment lingered in her heart. Yu Mingyue stopped again, turned back to look at the handsome figure in the dim light, and said in a hoarse voice, "Are you angry with me because I dealt with Lou Chanyue, because of her?"

"..."

"But you already know that it was her and Lou Yingxiong's recklessness and presumptuous actions that brought this disaster upon you. This time, if it weren't for the Emperor's keen insight and knowledge that this matter had nothing to do with you, you would probably be—"

"..."

"What's wrong with me disciplining her?"

Yuwen Qian finally turned his head and glanced at her.

His eyes were clear and shallow. Before the battle at Longmen Ferry, no matter what he encountered or who he met, his eyes always had a gentle and peaceful quality. But since then, his eyes have become darker and colder day by day. Now, this faint glance was not only unfathomable, but also seemed to hide a sharp blade, making Yu Mingyue pause in her breath.

She instinctively avoided that sharp gaze.

When Yuwen Qian spoke, his voice was very calm, even gentle: "I don't blame you. I was just thinking about those two words you said."

Which two words?

"Female competition."

"Female?"

She didn't know why he would think of those two words at this moment, and when she recalled his "warning" to her a few days ago, and the secret, even shameful, thoughts in her heart, Yu Mingyue subconsciously held her breath and carefully asked, "Why are you thinking about this?"

Yuwen Qian slowly turned around to look at her and said, "You said that this morning, when we had just left, you saw the person who came to our door and guessed that the Lou family father and daughter might have secretly done something, right?"

"yes."

"You were able to think of them so quickly, is it because you originally had some suspicions about Lou Liangdi?"

"……yes."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"because--"

Yu Mingyue hesitated, seemingly finding it difficult to speak. Yuwen Qian looked at her flickering eyes and calmly said, "It's because of what I said to you before, right? You were afraid that if you continued to target her, I would think you were narrow-minded and only concerned with competing with others, so you didn't say anything more."

Yu Mingyue bit her lower lip and nodded gently.

Yuwen Qian said, "In other words, if I hadn't said those things to you that day, if you hadn't deliberately avoided 'competing', and if you hadn't suspected her, you might have discovered this a day earlier. Then I wouldn't have been completely unprepared to face Father's questioning today."

"..."

"So, it was my words that misled you."

"...!?"

Yu Mingyue didn't expect him to say that, but upon reflection, it was indeed true. If it weren't for Yuwen Qian's admonition that day that if she wanted to be a "female," she should be open and aboveboard. These words made her, who was already ashamed of being a "female," feel lingering fear. Even if she had great dissatisfaction with the Lou family father and daughter, and even if she did have some doubts, she would still be timid and hesitant for the sake of her image in his heart.

Yuwen Qian sighed deeply, then turned to look at the Buddhist shrine on the incense table, and said in a deep voice, "I've been thinking about the word 'female' all along. I'm thinking, how vicious is the person who came up with this word?"

Yu Mingyue's eyes widened suddenly, staring at him in astonishment: "Huh?"

Yuwen Qian said, "The most fatal part of this word is the word 'female'."

"Why?"

"Because the opposite of female is male, and according to you, the so-called 'female competition' is two women fighting. But why can't people fight each other?"

"..."

“Even in Buddhism, there is the dispute between Shenxiu and Huineng in the Northern and Southern Chan schools; men fight on the battlefield, confront each other in the court, and even compete to see who can shout the loudest on the street. Where is there no struggle? And these struggles are called ‘golden spears and iron horses,’ ‘the spirit of swallowing ten thousand miles like a tiger,’ ‘feather fan and silk turban,’ ‘the enemy’s ships and towers are reduced to ashes.’ No matter how ugly the fight between men is, it can be described as good.”

"..."

Why is a fight between women called a "female contest"?

Yu Mingyue never expected him to say these words, but after hearing the last sentence, she thought about it seriously before saying, "Actually, in our area, the term 'female rivalry' is most often used when two women are fighting over a man they like."

"So, what do you say when two men are fighting over a woman? 'A battle of wits'?"

"...There is no explanation."

"That's right,"

Yuwen Qian said, "This is the wickedness of the person who created the term 'female competition'. They are fighting for men, but they don't see 'men' at all."

"..."

"Besides, what's wrong with pursuing someone you like, regardless of gender?"

"..."

"The ancients all knew to use the phrase 'a fair maiden is sought after by a gentleman' to praise men for pursuing women, so why is it that women who pursue men are belittled?"

Yu Mingyue thought for a moment and said, "It may be hard for you to understand, but we people from our area believe that instead of spending time fighting over men, we should make money and build our own careers."

Yuwen Qian said calmly, "That's even more wrong. Money, power, and the person you like are no different."

"..."

"The woman Matangi loved Ananda, and even though she was rejected and obstructed, she persisted in turning into a stone bridge to endure five hundred years of wind and sun. Is such sincere love less valuable than some people's obsession with power and money? I don't think so."

"..."

"People's likes should not be divided into high and low, noble and base. If they must be divided, it should not be based on people's likes, but on the means used to obtain them, which can be distinguished as upright and honorable or despicable and base."