Chapter 46 Gossiping and stargazing isn't illegal.
The decree demoting the princes quickly sparked a new wave of discussion, with everyone wondering why His Majesty would issue such a decree at this time.
Inappropriate behavior?
This reason seems a bit strange. Could it be that Jiang Chuge offended His Majesty? That seems unlikely.
Many people speculate that there might be more to the Beta's death than meets the eye. Perhaps Jiang Chuge is not entirely innocent as he claims, but His Majesty is hesitant to punish him because of his uncle's influence.
So they came up with this flimsy excuse.
After all, he was the only direct descendant of the Jiang family, and he was granted a title not long after coming of age. His Majesty also showed him great favor and allowed him to follow the eldest prince.
Most people believe that the eldest prince, Cyril, is the heir favored by His Majesty. After all, an older son has more advantages, which is why the Jiang family arranged for the heir to follow the eldest prince, paving the way for the future.
Even great noble families can decline. It may take hundreds of years for a family to rise to prominence, but only a few decades to fall—or even a matter of life and death.
In the end, Jiang Guyuan forced Jiang Chuge to apologize. His nephew's outrageous remarks stunned him, and he got caught up in the conversation—
"No, you think His Majesty would agree to have a child just because you asked him to?" Jiang Guyuan wasn't that extreme yet. He retorted, "What do you take His Majesty for? A tool for your own fantasy of creating a god? Hermer's talent is just so-so, he's not even an S-class Alpha. How could his father have a child like Asta with His Majesty?"
"Are you out of your mind or do you think I'm out of my mind to believe your nonsense?" Jiang Guyuan, unable to bear it any longer, beat up his nephew and said, "Do you think the royal family didn't match people back then? When His Majesty was sixty years old, he had already matched all the noble Omegas in the empire, and not a single one was suitable."
Since he even knows about the source blood, there are some things he can't say:
"Do you think the source bloodline is so easy to inherit? Asta and Sklag I had a total of three offspring, two princes and one princess, all of whom were super S-class Alphas. In the end, Emperor Charles inherited the throne. Although Emperor Charles was also very outstanding, these three descendants were far inferior to their parents."
"Indeed, later royal families discovered that the higher the concentration of source blood, the higher the intelligence, physical ability, and mental strength would be compared to others. However, not all royal families with high concentrations of source blood can make great contributions! After so many generations, His Majesty's concentration of source blood is far inferior to that of the royal family a thousand years ago. Moreover, His Majesty is the only emperor who has not entered the Holy Stele."
The monument is Asta's tomb, the final resting place of her and Sklag I.
This is also the first "empress" in the history of the universe to be buried with the emperor.
It is said that one can receive Asta's blessing from the sacred monument, and many emperors would frequently worship it, hoping to receive the protection of the Queen Mother. Sklag II's grandfather obtained a way to improve his physique from the sacred monument.
But His Majesty did not believe in these things. He was a staunch atheist and once publicly stated, "If Asta were still alive, I would believe in God."
So even though many people advised him to go and pray, he never did.
"His Majesty once said that rather than believing in ancestral blessings or divine intervention, it's better to believe that your ancestors will slap you in the face—even your ancestors would feel ashamed to have such useless descendants." Jiang Guyuan looked at his nephew with utter disdain.
He could finally understand His Majesty's feelings back then. It was one thing for his descendants to be inferior to him, but he also expected to become a god.
After being beaten up, Jiang Chuge was noticeably more obedient. Whether it was because his beautiful illusions about the source blood had been shattered or the pain in his body had awakened his reason, he honestly went to apologize to Shi Wei.
Shi Wei: There's no need for that.
Everyone knew perfectly well who this apology was for, and Shi Wei was too lazy to make things difficult for him. Anyway, after his title was demoted, this kid would have to keep a low profile in the aristocratic circles for the next few years.
"By the way, how's your marriage with Miss Moran going?" Shi Wei, who already knew the outcome, still couldn't help but ask the person involved.
Jiang Chuge's lips twitched: "It's a lost cause."
Shi Wei looked at him with "pity" and "comforted" him, "It's okay, with the Jiang family around, you'll definitely be able to marry an Omega—if it falls through, it falls through, the next rich woman will be even richer."
Jiang Chuge: "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Shi Wei smiled at him.
At this point, they disliked each other and would never have imagined that one day they would sit down together for tea, laughing and reminiscing about the past.
All I can say is that fate continues to play tricks on people.
Not long after this incident, Shi Wei's peaceful and happy days were shattered. She was busy organizing the Security Bureau's files when her brother suddenly called.
Shi Chuan rarely contacted her first, fearing that she would be implicated. Most of the time, it was Shi Wei who took the initiative to contact him.
The video call connected, and Shi Wei turned off the recording interface. Seeing her brother's solemn expression, she asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Shi Chuan's expression was complicated. Seeing that she seemed oblivious, a webpage popped up—
It's a gossip column from the Fran Empire, and the headline reads: "Sclag II's New Favorite? Stargazing Together is So Romantic!"
Shi Wei slowly opened her mouth wide, because the picture accompanying the news was actually a photo of her and His Majesty watching the Nebula Stream together.
No, she's only been gone for a few years!
Have the paparazzi of the Fran Empire evolved to the point where they can capture gossip about the leader of one side during a battle between two armies?
At that time, on one side was Manra's royal guard and tens of thousands of troops, and on the other side was a group of lurking mercenaries. It was one thing for both sides to watch her and His Majesty look at the stars together.
How did Fran's paparazzi manage to take photos of her with His Majesty?
Actually, the photo only shows a cruiser and two people wearing protective suits, making it impossible to tell if they are male or female.
However, the photo was very beautiful and gorgeous, with a silver spaceship, two small figures, one tall and one short, against the backdrop of a vast, dark universe—and in front of them, a beautiful nebula flow.
If it hadn't appeared on a gossip news channel, Shiwei would definitely have found the photographer, gotten the photo, used it as wallpaper, and looked at it every day.
But this kind of photo is actually in this kind of news, and Shi Wei also has a brother in front of her who is eyeing her covetously.
She forced herself to remain composed, trying to appear innocent: "Brother, is this true?"
"Shouldn't you be the one to ask me that?" Shi Chuan said coldly, his voice seemingly filled with ice shards.
Shi Wei gave a dry laugh: "Me?"
She had just glanced at it quickly and found only this photo where the face was not clearly visible, along with some vague guesses. The photo did not mention the female protagonist's name, only that she was a young woman with black hair and black eyes.
Seeing that she wouldn't admit it, Shi Chuan's voice grew even colder as he said, "Shi Wei, ever since you were five, whenever you lied, you would pick your ring finger with your right thumb."
Shi Wei's right hand froze—No, my dear brother, we've known each other for sixty years, how could you test your own sister like this?!
She put her hands behind her back, intending to deny it to the death. Sino people all have black hair and black eyes, and Manra has many of them, so why should she be the one to say it is her?
Shi Chuan, having lost all patience, posted a picture showing the height, weight, and measurements of the short person in the protective suit—
Damn high technology!
A single photo can expose a person's true colors.
Shi Wei often chats with Shi Chuan, and Shi Chuan can easily find out her current physical data by simply taking a screenshot.
Totally consistent.
"The itinerary matches up. There were reports that King Sklag II went to YN1 for an inspection that month. You said you went with the Similan prince. I saw you in the news and actually believed you."
Shi Wei: "..."
Which bastard released these photos?!
Since she had already been discovered, Shi Wei decided to go all out and search for the image right in front of Shi Chuan—to her surprise, the photo had just been posted on Manra's online platform.
ah?
Her first thought was that the Chiang family was going to take revenge on her.
Shi Chuan snorted coldly: "I checked too. Until this morning, there was no news about this photo in Manla's media. It wasn't until after 10 o'clock that rumors started to circulate."
Shi Wei was puzzled: Could it have come from the mercenaries?
There were only a few people in that scene at the time.
Shi Chuan's virtual avatar frowned and said, "They should be mercenaries. I heard that King Sklag II was ambushed by mercenaries on his way back from YN1. The two sides fought and he was almost captured alive—ha!"
As her brother's dark eyes stared at her, Shi Wei couldn't help but shiver. She heard him say, "I was wondering when Sklag II became so weak, almost getting captured alive. Turns out it was all to take the Omega to see the stars."
Shi Chuan's tone was so sarcastic that Shi Wei felt embarrassed—it was so awkward.
It felt like being caught cheating by my brother.
"Actually, I've had my suspicions many times—every time I contact you, you're almost always in the palace. It gets stranger and stranger each time. Look at where you're living now. Do you think this is what an ordinary staff member's dormitory should have?"
Shi Wei began to look around and discovered that the high-quality Q-version emperor she had recently created was still sitting on the shelf, looking at her.
Noticing her gaze, the doll smiled at her, its big blue eyes blinking.
Shi Wei hurriedly stuffed it into the vase.
That's enough, stop being so smart, okay? You're just a soft, fluffy doll, okay?
"And that painting, if I remember correctly, it should be Asta's doodle, right?" The older brother's cool voice came from behind.
Shi Wei stumbled.
She then remembered that during her persistent process of making dolls, she had indeed received many gifts related to Asta, which she treasured and kept here.
This is also a major reason why she was able to persevere.
Shi Wei quietly took off the ring from her hand, preparing to secretly tuck it into some corner.
Then Shi Chuan's eyes swept over like searchlights, and he even chuckled, "Come on, let me see what the legendary ring Asta wore looks like—"
The elder brother's expression was like that of a volcano about to erupt.
Shi Wei had no choice but to awkwardly walk over, hold the ring in her palm, and show it to him.
Virtual fingers rested on her palm and held her hand.
Just like long ago when they were children, Shi Chuan held her hand and said he would hold her hand for a lifetime.
"Xiaowei, tell me, why did you get involved with him?"
Since his sister went missing, Shi Chuan felt that everything was suspicious and that something was wrong.
He even doubted the authenticity of his sister many times.
But no one expected this outcome.
What puzzled him most was how Shi Wei came into contact with such a powerful emperor.
Putting that aside, he undoubtedly admired Sklag II. Although he was a Franco and abhorred imperial power, he had to admit that Manla's current strength was thanks to this man.
Between him and his sister lay a vast time gap and a disparity in social status—he had a slight belief that the prince might fall in love with Shi Wei, but this emperor, a cold-blooded and ruthless ruler, could never possibly fall in love with her.
"The love of an emperor is not to be trusted." Looking at his silent sister, Shi Chuan said, word by word, "Just like Sklag I and Asta, even if they really loved each other as much as the history of the Manla Kingdom, it cannot cover up the fact that they fought each other for half their lives - the more powerful a person is, the less likely they are to be moved by the hearts of the insignificant."
Shi Wei sighed deeply: "I didn't tell you because I didn't know how to bring it up."
“Brother, there are some things I may never be able to explain in this lifetime, but I am doing this for your own good, for our own good… You may not believe it, but His Majesty did indeed fall in love with me at first sight.”
After saying that, Shi Wei felt ashamed, but it really was the truth.
This reserved man only recently admitted that he had already fallen for her when she was taken to see him in Milan.
Feeling that she was afraid of him, he could only silently keep her by his side.
After hearing this, Shi Wei was speechless: This kind of tragic lover persona really doesn't suit Your Majesty.
Sklag II's deeds make him seem like someone who only knows how to seize by force.
Looking at his younger sister, who was five parts shy, three parts annoyed, and two parts smug, Shi Chuan had only one thought in his mind: the situation was hopeless.
He adjusted his glasses and let out a sigh of frustration: "No, my dear sister—you actually believe this kind of nonsense from Alpha!"
Holding up the ring, Shi Wei was furious: "He said he would marry me!"
Shi Chuan chuckled: "That soap opera you loved most when you were eighteen, the female lead got tricked by that scumbag in the same way—"
Shi Wei angrily took back the ring, slammed it on the table, and said angrily, "You don't believe me? I'm going to find him right now. Anyway, the photos have already been leaked and everyone knows, so let's just get married!"
Shi Chuan then realized things were going wrong and hurriedly said, "Hey, hey, I was just kidding! What marriage? What kind of Omega proposes to another woman? That's so embarrassing!"
Shi Wei cursed him as an old fogey and said fiercely, "Who said I proposed? He proposed to me first! It was him!"
Her tone left Shi Chuan with no choice but to believe her.
That would make things even more complicated.
He might be somewhat confident in dealing with Prince Similan, but dealing with Sklag II—
Shi Chuan racked his brains, thinking it was highly unlikely.
Seeing him like this, Shi Wei couldn't help but soften her heart. In the end, it was all her fault for insisting on going to Manla for tourism.
By sheer coincidence, they ran into the defector Dekari, which triggered a series of events.
She felt a pang of sadness when she thought of her brother risking his life to come to Manla to save her, even though she hadn't actually suffered much. Life had become much easier since she met His Majesty, and now she was even happier—so happy that she subconsciously ignored her family members who were still worried about her.
I don't know how my parents are doing. My brother is deliberately keeping them away from me, afraid that they might get too excited and do something wrong.
She can actually live so happily in Manla without feeling guilty.
"I'm sorry, brother. I didn't mean to hide it from you, but I didn't know how to bring it up—I was afraid you'd be angry, afraid you'd say I was shameless, just to save my life..." She lowered her head, not daring to look at her brother.
She could argue with Jiang Chuge with a clear conscience; if he insulted her for one sentence, she would retort with three.
She didn't care what the nobles thought of her, nor did she care about the rumors about her rising to power through the Emperor.
But she was afraid to see the disappointment in her brother's eyes.
Although Shi Chuan was always very strict with her, he had always been exceptionally kind to her since she was a child.
They love her even more than her parents do, and will do everything in their power to support her no matter what she wants to do, as long as it is right.
Her occasional rebelliousness was tolerated by her brother, who was probably the best person in the world to her.
But she had to hide so many things from him.
They also wanted to get him investigated and tortured by the Fran Empire.
Just as the tears were falling, the doll she had stuffed into the vase finally pulled its head out and jumped from the shelf onto the table.
Upon discovering that she was crying, he rushed over in a panic—but he was not a perfect doll, with a large head and a light body, and he even tripped and fell halfway there.
But he still insisted on running over, using his round body to hug her head and gently stroking it.
The dolls she makes can't talk, but in fact, this anthropomorphic behavior is achieved through technology.
But every movement, every glance, carried the feelings of another man for her.
The person who set up the program was sincere.
She hugged the soft "Your Majesty" and sobbed.
I felt caught in a dilemma. Telling my brother the truth would undoubtedly bring risks to both my brother and His Majesty.
Not telling my brother would seem like I was letting him down.
Shi Chuan felt as if his heart was being gripped. He remembered what that person had said to him, looked at his sister, and finally covered his face in despair.
He also seemed to be caught in a dilemma.
At that moment, he also realized that someone was taking advantage of his relationship with his sister to obtain some secrets.
After his sister went missing, his friend and classmate kept helping him come up with ideas and even helped him "rescue" his sister.
Now it seems like we knew something all along.
According to his sister, Sklag II met her after returning from the battlefield and fell in love with her at first sight—this remains to be verified, as his older brother, Tokikawa, who is also an Alpha, refuses to believe in love at first sight.
Yes, Shi Chuan is currently single.
If His Majesty could know his future brother-in-law's true feelings, he would look at him with affection: For decades, he did not believe in the special attraction between AOs, nor did he believe in love at first sight. Now he understands that it was all because he did not live long enough—or, he was not lucky enough.
Unable to empathize with this good fortune, Shi Chuan sighed: "Alright, alright, stop crying over that thing! It makes me sound like some vicious villain who broke up a couple. I'm not trying to criticize you. You're happy now, so everything is right."
He came to terms with it. During the days when his sister was nowhere to be found, he had endured the most difficult time in decades. Now that his sister was perfectly fine and had even hooked up with a powerful bodyguard, it wasn't so bad.
I'm still a little depressed.
After being coaxed by him for a few words, and after squeezing the soft doll a few times until it was teary-eyed, Shi Wei finally laughed.
Shi Chuan witnessed this scene with an inscrutable expression, finding the doll utterly disgusting.
Seemingly sensing the malicious gaze, the soft "Your Majesty" snuggled closer to Shi Wei, resting his head on Shi Wei's chest and giving Shi Chuan an innocent smile.
Shichuan: Is this thing really that anthropomorphic? I'm inexplicably itching to touch it.
"By the way, what are you thinking? Once the photo is released, someone with ulterior motives will definitely be able to find out it's you," Shi Chuan asked.
Shi Wei thought for a moment and said, "I also think it was the mercenaries who did it. There were only two parties present at the time, and no one on His Majesty's side would dare to leak the photos... So it must be the mercenaries! But what would be their purpose in doing this... I'm just an unarmed civilian Omega. If it gets out, it will only give people more to talk about during their leisure time."
It can't be that Yi Lan invested in some entertainment news company.
Shi Wei had read the Security Bureau's investigation file on him. This man was a pure violent individual, extremely belligerent, and in some ways even more devoted to force than Sklag II. His fighting style was also the kind of reckless, death-defying approach. If he hadn't refrained from killing last time, Shi Wei and Sklag II probably wouldn't have survived.
If given a choice, Shi Wei would absolutely never offend someone like that.
But somehow, she ended up being noticed by this bastard.
From that fleeting glimpse on the smuggling spaceship, she assumed he was just a petty thief greedy for money and lustful.
I was quite surprised when I saw his sharp eyes on the Similan starship.
A series of events later made Shi Wei completely change her opinion of him, and she decided to stay as far away from him as possible.
Unfortunately, relationships between people are reciprocal. She tried to avoid it, but the other party was determined to get to the bottom of things and wouldn't stop until they had squeezed her dry.
Shi Wei hung up the call and spoke to His Majesty about the matter.
His Majesty's reaction was indifferent: "Let them say what they want. What's wrong with looking at the stars? It's not illegal..."
His attitude of giving up entirely and making no attempt to hide anything surprised Shi Wei.
She thought His Majesty would suppress such a matter.
Shi Wei made a few subtle hints, but the other party seized on the key point and asked, "You don't want them to know?"
There are many subtexts to this statement. Is it that you don't want outsiders to know, or something else?
Don't want to take responsibility?
This accusation was too damning, and Shi Wei dared not admit it. Every time she tried to handle their relationship in a cowardly manner, His Majesty was very dissatisfied.
So she went to Similan, hoping to get some information about Yi Lan from him.
The Second Prince knew exactly what she wanted to ask as soon as he heard the question, and laughed without any mercy: "You got caught running around with Father, didn't you? And you were looking at the stars, tsk tsk tsk. We were all chased away and waited far away. What kind of romantic time were you two enjoying? And look what happened. Father insisted on showing off and ended up being chased instead of picking up girls. Luckily, I saved you in time. If I had been slower, you two would have been captured alive by Yi Lan."
Shi Wei had a long face. She hadn't fared well during the chase either. Her pheromones were out of whack, and she had been kissed by His Majesty in public. It was incredibly embarrassing.
This also indirectly led to the two of them sleeping together.
It's all Yi Lan's fault, that damned bastard.
Yi Lan, who was at the Locust Fortress thousands of miles away, learned of this gossip and laughed for a long time.
He asked his men, "Why don't we release the video of the raid that day and let that bastard be laughed at? He's trying to pick up girls, huh? He dared to mess with me right in front of me, and he even dared to play me for it, causing me to lose so many men!"
His subordinate looked at him in horror: "No, no, no! Think it over, Commander! Sklag II just blew up one of our bases the month before last, and the new base has just been built. If you do something like this again, he'll definitely blow up more than one base—that's a lot of money gone!"
Yi Lan reluctantly abandoned this plan. This bastard, relying on his power, influence, and wealth, was able to wage a war of attrition and had been causing trouble in the Chaotic Starfield frequently in recent months.
His losses in recent months have been greater than in previous years.
His men spent a long time coaxing him to stop him from going crazy.
Outsiders only know that Yi Lan, the deputy commander of the mercenary group, is a madman, but they would never imagine that the madness he displays is only part of the story. In fact, if it weren't for the rational dissuasion of his subordinates, he could have been even more insane.
While browsing the real-time trending topics on various news websites, Yi Lan noticed that the mercenaries also had their own special agencies that collected this kind of intelligence. He found several comments saying that the photos were released by the mercenaries to smear His Majesty.
No, you can't blame me for your emperor having a romance.
Such high-resolution, flawless photos could only have been taken by the two parties involved at the time.
Yi Lan finally realized something. His lips twitched, and he was both annoyed and amused, saying, "No, this stupid photo, he released it himself?"
The subordinates exchanged bewildered glances, and one asked, "Huh? Why did you release them yourself?"
Their thinking is the same as Shi Wei's; isn't spreading such gossip with the intention of smearing Sklag II?
Why would they release the photos on their own initiative?
Yi Lan stared at the messy comments, cursed "insidious," and said angrily, "He just wants to smear me!"
Subordinate: ...
The female officer standing next to Yi Lan sighed as she watched these Alphas, who were skilled in combat but lacked emotional intelligence, discussing how to defeat the conspiracy.
"Do none of you have a partner?"
The group of muscular men exchanged bewildered glances, not understanding why she had asked that question.
The female officer sighed again: "My esteemed commander, I think that His Majesty is not trying to smear you; he just wants to make this matter public."
Yi Lan didn't understand: "I knew he was going to go public."
The female officer sighed and said, "I said, he wants to make his relationship with this Omega public."
The men exchanged glances, and the air fell silent for a moment. Yi Lan, belatedly realizing what she meant, said, "You mean he went through all that trouble, releasing the news from the Chaotic Starfield and then spreading it to Manla, covering up the traces, just to announce that he's in a relationship?"
The female officer paused for a moment, then said, "You can understand it that way."
Yi Lan: "No way—is he sick?!"
Wouldn't it be faster to just hold a press conference?
...
Meanwhile, after listening to Shi Wei's analysis, Similan asked curiously, "Yi Lan? You think it's him? I know he wants to target you and the old man, but... with his crude way of thinking, he shouldn't understand that you can make a fuss about something like this, right?"
Shi Wei said firmly, "I think it's him! Apart from him, no one else present is a suspect."
Simanan thought about it and it seemed to make sense, but then he quickly thought of another possibility. He tentatively asked, "Shiwei, have you considered that maybe others will also release photos, for example—"
"Like you?" Shi Wei said coldly, unwilling to believe there was any other possibility. She said angrily, "It must be this bastard. I knew it all along. This guy is no good. I felt something was wrong the first time I saw him..."
Similan quickly denied it, saying, "If it were me, I would definitely post intimate photos of the two of us. Do you think if I went public first, the old man would give you to me because of public opinion?"
He's been trying so hard to hint, please, you idiot, haven't you ever considered that this gossip might be orchestrated by some bastard?
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