Chapter 107 [VIP]
The torrential rain soaked the courtyard and also drenched Lu Xuejin's body.
He looked out the window, his eyelashes damp with moisture. The winter rain mixed with the cold mist, condensing into thin ice that splattered against the eaves.
The thin ice fell to the ground, forming a thick layer of snow resembling ice.
His body was tainted by Xue Yi's aura. As he gazed at the heavens and earth, he realized that his body no longer belonged to him; he had become some kind of strange vessel. The vessel took on a shape capable of fulfilling desires, bearing the will of others on his body.
His consciousness was hazy, sometimes flashing back to his childhood, sometimes to scenes with His Highness. Because of his superior memory, he remembered every single frame of those scenes clearly.
He saw his younger self stumbling through the grass and trees, through the Unasked Mountain, the warm sunlight filtering through the grass and trees, refracting into incredibly dazzling shapes in the forest.
"Brother, Wei Ning, wait for me—"
“Look at the trees and plants in the forest. We’ve come at the perfect time to see such a beautiful sight. Sunlight filters through the green leaves, and the long stems glow with a green light. It’s so beautiful.”
"We see this every day, what's so special about it?"
"Changyou... Changyou always manages to find the strengths in the smallest things."
"But the strengths of these weak things are utterly useless. Except for beauty... Beautiful things are certainly precious, but most of them are useless except for being ornamental. Look at those pretty mushrooms, they are no different from poisonous snakes, the more brightly colored they are, the more harmful they are."
“I disagree with Wei Ning on this point. Most things only need the characteristic of beauty. Just as people love beautiful people, life is inherently ugly, and maintaining a beautiful appearance is very rare, which is something to be praised.”
"As the ancients said, women and petty men are the most difficult to deal with... Have you and the Princess reached a conclusion in your debate?"
"Hmph... Don't bring this up. The princess is wicked... I never want to speak to her again."
"Since you and the Princess haven't reached a clear understanding, I'll explain. Look at these mushrooms. Among mushrooms are ordinary white mushrooms and brightly colored poisonous mushrooms. Notice how the white mushrooms always grow in clusters, while the brightly colored ones are always solitary. This is like men and women. Men mostly don't care about their appearance, just like these white mushrooms, growing in clusters to provide nutrients and serve a purpose... Look at plants and animals; most are like this. Males exist as consumables, while the female plants they nourish are brightly colored but serve no purpose. Men and women in the world... men, as reproductive tools, provide women with a nutrient-rich environment, and women only need to exist within it as beautiful individuals. Thus, 'beauty' itself is already extremely meaningful. This is the original rule of nature, only we humans are different from the plants of nature... We can use our thoughts..." Expressing ourselves, we possess language, we have the ability to change our surroundings. However, because of our unique characteristics, distinct from other plants and animals, the simple relationship of providing and being provided for gives rise to other problems, leading to what our ancestors called "Women and petty men are difficult to raise." Here, we won't discuss whether the sages raised the issue of "women" as a matter of "beauty" and thus the difficulty in raising them, or something else... another possibility is one of the contradictions that will arise in the present world, and perhaps in the future, with increasing civilization. That is, men are not happy to provide for women, feeling that women exist independently as "beautiful" beings, unwilling to exist as expendable commodities. And women... like you, perhaps such women also exist, unwilling to exist as "those who are provided for," unwilling to fulfill their mission of bearing children for the propagation of the species or being provided for as reproductive tools.
"Let's set aside other considerations and assume that each of us is a mushroom, existing as a small mushroom. The instinct for reproduction and the continuation of the species are almost etched into our instincts generation after generation... Therefore, reproduction and the continuation of the species must be paramount. Because of this paramount necessity, as a mushroom, males and females only need to play their respective roles. Males need to remain anonymous, bearing everything for the growth environment of females, sacrificing themselves as nameless white mushrooms for the poisonous females. Females only need to serve as production tools, producing one new 'white mushroom' and 'poisonous mushroom' after another, thus fulfilling their mission."
"So, from the perspective of humanity's mission, and from the angle of racial survival, humans only need to be like mushrooms. Assuming our primary responsibility is racial reproduction, then men should not harbor the idea that 'only women and petty men are difficult to deal with,' and women should not harbor the idea that they can stand on their own in the environment. These ideas are detrimental to racial reproduction. At any time, ignoring the ability of the masses to spread their ideas is a hidden calamity. Now, this is from the perspective of the ruling class, or rather, all of humanity. Because of the special characteristics inherent in humans, as we have mentioned before... due to these inherent characteristics of humans, the so-called inevitable contradictions that you discussed with the Princess—that men and women are no longer willing to play their own roles—are that we are all tiny mushrooms, yet none of us are weak mushrooms."
"This contradiction will manifest itself as civilization becomes more and more prevalent... Not to mention the source of your and the princess's ability to think this way, the princess has the foresight to rule for generations because of her noble birth and privileges of the ruling class, while you, because of your wealthy family background and your parents' unconventional indulgence, have developed a similar idea that you, as a 'man,' can take on family responsibilities, which has created a collision with the princess's policies of governance that is almost a historical contradiction."
"Leaving aside the question of whether your arguments are right or wrong—right and wrong are meaningless—historically speaking, every erroneous idea from one period can become the correct direction of development in later eras due to complex political changes. Viewpoints themselves are neither right nor wrong, only limited and narrow in their application to the current political situation. If you want to persuade her to think from your perspective… according to the laws of historical development, you must find a way to involve her interests. For example, due to the foresight of our wise rulers, who broke through historical conventions, women were given the right to become crown princes, and this right prevented her from standing by your side."
"Because this inherent right has already transcended all the power you have fought for, or the right itself... It is impossible for someone who originally possessed everything to speak for you unless the Buddha himself appears. If our dynasty were still in an extremely stubborn, conservative, feudal, and closed era, where women could not hold politics or official positions, and women still acted according to some kind of instinct that was dependent on animals, plants, or primitive beings, then as a princess, and with great ambition and dictatorship, she would extend a helping hand to you. It is like being on a chessboard; if this person is not your piece, they will naturally not be used by you, and being your piece does not necessarily mean being controlled by you... It may be some kind of cooperative relationship, where the victory of the game belongs to the victory of all the pieces, not just the individual."
"Then only one question remains... namely, can you manipulate the eldest princess to serve you? Do you possess the ability to control the thoughts of others?"
He casually picked up a fallen leaf, brought it to his lips, gently kissed the soil on it, and looked at Wei Ning with a slight smile.
After listening to his thoughts, Wei Ning thought about them carefully and said to him, "Even if she has the right to become the crown prince, it is only one of the possibilities. Emperor Liang has more than one child, unless she is the only child... If it were not our dynasty, but a previous dynasty in a less open era, even if she had only one child, a boy would be adopted from a collateral branch."
“Exactly,” he said. “So it’s clear that the tyranny of a system has both advantages and disadvantages…this is true at all times. As the system tilts downwards, the gaps widen the further down you go. How do you exploit those gaps to get things done?”
"History records are based on the father's surname. In my opinion, if a woman committed adultery, whether the records are consistent with the original account is self-evident. Every extreme system inevitably breeds problems, and these problems, beneath the glamorous surface, will eventually surface after the test of time."
"Leaving aside other issues... let's assume, what if, in the future, civilization advances to a point we dare not even imagine? Everyone possesses the instinct, like you, to prioritize their own interests over the propagation of the race. Then, the contradictions we currently exhibit among a minority group become contradictions that everyone must consider, contradictions between the sexes. This very primal necessity for racial reproduction might even become an obstacle to the progress of civilization... What do you think we should do then?"
Wei Ning: "This...this, Changyou, what you're saying is all hypothetical, and hypotheticals don't exist."
He said to Wei Ning, “How can it not exist? What you and the Princess are discussing is the present, and the conflict you have is the future. Every small problem that can be foreseen may become an irreconcilable conflict in the future.”
Xue Yi looked at him and asked, "Changyou... what does Changyou think?"
"Alright... As I just said, this is unavoidable. Suppose that this conflict really exists in the future... then the ills caused by long-term patriarchal guidance will cause women, who are suppressed as 'beautiful' things, to become extremely rebellious and go in an extreme direction. Extremes are never a good thing at any time. When people suddenly realize that they are being controlled, they will resist in a non-gentle way because they want to 'immediately change their current situation.' The spread of ideas is far more terrifying than actual war. At that time, there may be some discussions that are similar to the verification of 'beauty' itself, like Shang Yang's reforms, and even more so."
"It's not men who will suffer, but the conflict between women who oppose 'beauty.' It's like how you feel the princess is clearly in a high position, with the potential to become the crown prince, yet she doesn't offer you, a fellow woman, a helping hand. In a more advanced era of civilization, this kind of thing might be commonplace. If we prioritize gender over self-interest, the future is almost predictable. First, women who were originally in a 'dominated position' will face discrimination. Future changes will clash with outdated ideologies, making conflict inevitable. If we need to create an atmosphere of impending change, then the first to be punished are those women who 'only know how to obey and be dominated by men of the old era.' Next, their responsibility to bear children will be criticized… If things go even further, perhaps reproduction itself will be resisted. Like in the present era, everyone talks about love between men and women, and it's taboo among the common people. Then, in that time, it might be taboo for women to talk about childbirth. It will develop into an era completely opposite to our original mission."
Wei Ning: "Changyou... what you're saying is all nonsense. Enough... why should I listen to you? I've been influenced by you and have become more and more prone to fantasy than to focusing on the facts in front of me."
"I was just asking you casually. The point is what you should do... If the future is even more bleak, what can you do now? What can you do for the women of the future? Protect them? Inspire them?"
He thought for a moment and then said, "I probably shouldn't tell you so much. Although we are good friends, I am still a man after all. Perhaps if our conversation gets out, I will suffer some kind of criticism because I am a man. These are all foreseeable."
Wei Ning was getting a little angry and couldn't help but say, "Then why are you telling me all this? Do you think it's funny?"
"Hmm... just take it as such. What I'm telling you is merely a fleeting thought that came to mind. If you are influenced by my words... then it means you have no capacity for thought. If even I can control you, how can you contend with the Princess?" he said.
Xue Yi thought for a moment and said, "Even if the eldest princess came... she might not be a match for Changyou."
"Alright, alright... let's not talk about this anymore. This mountain road is so beautiful, let's just focus on enjoying the scenery."
"Just focus on enjoying the scenery!"
Lu Xuejin pulled himself out of his past thoughts. He opened his eyes, and a blast of cold air rushed in, revealing the white snow outside. Beads formed a base layer, above which drifting snowflakes fell.
Xue Yi, who was sleeping beside him, fell asleep. He looked at Xue Yi's profile and saw that Xue Yi was sleeping very peacefully beside him, as if he had found a nest and was holding him as if he were a talisman.
Looking at his features now, they seem much more youthful and innocent. Now that he's grown up, he always gets a strange feeling about him.
It's snowing outside.
“Young Master… Physician Qiu has entered the palace,” Ziyan said beside him.
He looked at the snow outside, the vermilion eaves were covered with snowflakes, and the world was shrouded in a gray layer. The snow always looked somewhat lonely, and the snowy days became gloomy, an extreme contrast to the bright sunshine.
“I understand… I’ll arrange suitable accommodations for him,” he said.
"And General Xiao, General Xiao has returned to the capital... He has already heard about the upcoming conferment of titles upon the Second Young Master Xiao, and is now outside the palace preparing to meet His Majesty."
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