Chapter 2: The General’s Mansion, True Colors Revealed

Chapter 2: The General's Mansion, Revealing True Colors

Ning Xishi barely registered a single word his father said next.

His mind was completely consumed by thoughts of his own miserable fate.

His mother was clearly even more shocked than Ning Xishi—she couldn't even stay seated, nearly collapsing to the ground. Minister Ning hurried forward to steady his wife, bracing against the table, and only then did the two manage to regain their footing.

What jolted Ning Xishi back to reality was his mother's shocked demand: "What? A male wife? You want my son to be a male wife for a crippled general?"

Minister Ning turned his face away, unable to look his wife in the eye.

"And you agreed to this?" Qin Rong demanded.

Minister Ning swayed slightly, but he dared not answer.

"You dare agree to this? Ning Hanjiang, let me tell you—if you dare agree to something like this, you won't even be written into the Ning family genealogy after you die!"

Seeing that Qin Rong was going too far, Minister Ning's face flushed red as he lowered his head and explained, "It's not a matter of whether I agree or not—His Majesty's word is law, and he issued the decree himself."

"Then he still can't just pick a minister's son and make him his brother's male wife!" Qin Rong slammed the table and rose to her feet, stepping in front of Ning Xishi. "Men marrying men—it's never been accepted since ancient times! As long as I live, no one's making my son a male wife! Let alone handing him over to that cripple!"

Minister Ning whispered in persuasion, "Dear, keep your voice down—they're royalty, we can't talk about them carelessly."

"Ning Hanjiang, I'm telling you, you go to the palace right now and tell His Majesty you won't agree to this marriage! Our Xi'er is such a good boy—he's bound to marry a wife someday, so how could he become someone's male wife!"

Since Ning Xishi had found out about the plot two days before his parents did, he was ironically the calmest one of the three.

However, since he was merely a cannon-fodder supporting male character, he had no idea what kind of struggle his parents would put up over his marriage.

Now all he could do was regret not having memorized the entire novel *The Graceful Imperial Consort* word for word, so he could dig the relevant details out from between the lines.

"Since it's already come to this, Mother, don't get angry," Ning Xishi spoke up. "Isn't it just marrying a cripple? He's already in that shape—what could he even do to me?"

Qin Rong: "..."

Minister Ning: "..."

The couple both turned their heads in shock, staring at their son, who was once again failing to stand up straight.

Ning Xishi slouched against the window behind him, his forearm resting on the sill, long legs lazily kicking out in front of him. He hung his head, not looking at his parents, his gaze fixed on nothing in particular, his tone as flippant as always: "General of the Western Expedition, the emperor's own little brother—look on the bright side. If this marriage actually goes through, we'd be royal relatives too, wouldn't we?"

Qin Rong: "Xi'er..."

Minister Ning roared: "Unfilial brat!"

Ning Xishi wasn't the least bit scared of his father's anger right now. This was a marriage decree personally handed down by the emperor—what was his father going to do, whip him with the family rod? If he actually hurt him, he'd have the royal family to deal with.

The plot of that book was already coming true, one event after another. There was clearly no room left to back out of the marriage now. All he could do was not court death and keep himself alive.

·

"He actually said that? Hah, what a disgusting good-for-nothing."

In the study of the General's Mansion, military advisor Qiu Changyu, dressed in white robes, twirled a dagger in his hand upon hearing the news. "He actually dares to set his sights on our general? Once he marries in, I'll cut his balls off first."

The man seated behind the long desk had his hair bound in a jade crown, his features strikingly handsome. Even with his sickly, frail body and pale complexion, the cold, sharp edge in his eyes was impossible to miss.

No one would dare have any disrespectful thoughts toward him.

Under that gaze, the kneeling spy's forehead was nearly beaded with sweat as he hastily lowered his head and said, "That was the conversation between the three after Minister Ning got back to his residence that day. I wouldn't dare utter a single false word."

"Enough. You may go. Keep a close eye on Ning Xishi—if he dares make any rash move, report back immediately," said military advisor Qiu Changyu.

"Yes."

After the spy left, Qiu Changyu bowed to Xie Jingxing with clasped hands, his expression grave. "General, coming back to the capital this time—you've been wronged."

That dog emperor truly had no tolerance for anyone. Their general was the emperor's own full-blooded little brother, yet just because of his outstanding military achievements, the emperor feared he might threaten his throne and decided to bestow a male wife upon him.

That way, those pedantic scholars would cite violations of ancestral rites and customs, and could never again push the general forward as a candidate for the throne.

With that, the dog emperor's throne was secured.

Since a male wife was to be chosen for the emperor's younger brother, his background naturally couldn't be too low. Bastard sons were out of the question—they had to pick legitimate sons from prominent families, and not the eldest legitimate sons at that. After much deliberation, three candidates were ultimately selected.

The spy inside the palace had relayed word at the time, revealing all three candidates to the General's Mansion.

The first was the third son of the Vice Minister of War. He was skilled with a blade, had considerable martial prowess, and had recently taken up a post in the Imperial City Bureau. He was sunny and outgoing, and handsome to boot. Qiu Changyu had looked him over and thought he was acceptable. After all, their general did like men—marrying such a male wife wouldn't be a disgrace to him.

The second was a bit more ordinary—the grandson of the late Governor-General of Liangjiang. He had passed the county-level imperial examination some time ago, was rigid and inflexible by nature, and pretty useless. His only good point was his fine calligraphy.

Qiu Changyu thought good handwriting was indeed a merit—their general's calligraphy was excellent too. If the two were really together, trading brushwork in their spare time would make for a nice story.

The third... hah, was none other than Ning Xishi—the second legitimate son of the Minister of Rites, good at neither books nor martial arts, and fond of chasing women at a young age.

This one had not a single good quality. Qiu Changyu had even gone so far as to have someone steal Ning Xishi's examination papers from his years at the Imperial Academy, and the final conclusion was that this man was a hopeless wastrel, absolutely not a match for their general.

Though word on the street was that Ning Xishi was exceptionally handsome.

Qiu Changyu thought, handsome? Could he be better-looking than their general? Besides, if he was handsome and still went around chasing every skirt, what kind of partner was that!

And yet—and yet the dog emperor truly was a piece of work. Not only did he saddle the general with a male wife, but he picked a piece of trash like this one!

Ignoring Qiu Changyu's grumbling to the heavens, Xie Jingxing's gaze fell on the memorial spread open in front of him as he said, "My brother sending Wang Meng to oversee the marriage arrangements is precisely to keep us from killing Ning Xishi ahead of time and voiding the match. Wang Meng is a man I promoted—he can't betray me. There's got to be a reason."

Qiu Changyu said, "I know Wang Meng's history well. He comes from the prosperous Jiangnan region, where he should have lived a peaceful, happy life. But a flood hit his hometown, his parents died, and he was left with only his sister to depend on. On the road fleeing the disaster, his sister sold herself to buy Wang Meng half a sack of rice. All these years, his sister's whereabouts have been a thorn in Wang Meng's side—he's been searching for her constantly."

Wang Meng was a soldier personally promoted by General Xie Jingxing, completely loyal to the general. There was no way a single word from the emperor would make him turn his coat and embarrass the general.

So there had to be a reason.

Qiu Changyu thought—the only thing that could make Wang Meng do exactly as told was the matter of his sister.

Qiu Changyu sneered coldly: "The brocade guard's spies really are something. We've searched for so long and never found where Wang Meng's sister is. It seems they really got the jump on us."

Xie Jingxing's expression remained as cold and stern as ever, murderous intent plain in his eyes: "Look into the connection between Wang Meng's sister and Ning Xishi."

Hit by Xie Jingxing's hint, Qiu Changyu suddenly jolted: "General, you mean—that wastrel Ning Xishi got his hands on Wang Meng's sister! That wastrel is only seventeen! Not even married and he's already keeping a mistress!"

Qiu Changyu was truly disgusted by how these capital wastrels couldn't keep it in their pants.

There was no other explanation for Wang Meng suddenly switching sides.

Qiu Changyu immediately cupped his fists and headed out: "I'll send men to look into it right away."

·

Ning Xishi lay in bed, listening to the faint rustling from the tree branches outside his window, along the walls, and up on the rooftop, and silently counted to 'three' in his mind.

Three groups of people.

A useless rich kid like him actually had three groups of people staking him out. He couldn't tell if they were scared he'd bolt from the wedding or if they were just waiting for a chance to off him.

Ning Xishi silently wept in his heart: "This is literally a real-life case of 'the heavens spare no one'!"

Did he have it easy transmigrating into this world as a baby? All he wanted was to kick back and enjoy the good life—what's wrong with that?

However, fortunately, with three groups of people, even if someone wanted to kill him, others would try their best to protect his life.

"Maybe this is 'a man with many debts feels no burden'—the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So, my bros in the Embroidered Uniform Guard up on the roof, make sure you keep my sorry ass alive. Good night." Ning Xishi found some humor in his misery, then conked out in a second.

The three groups of spies outside heard the long, steady breathing from inside and just stared at each other, totally dumbfounded.

—This rich brat's got some serious nerve. He's about to become some guy's bride, and he can still sleep like a baby.

The news of Ning Xishi and Xie Jingxing's marriage had practically gone viral across the capital, but the man at the center of it all was still eating and drinking like nothing was wrong. Aside from being told to stay home and focus on wedding prep, nothing else had changed.

After lunch, Ning Xishi pinched his waist and suddenly asked his servant, "Am I getting fat?"

The servant boy said, "Second Young Master, with everything going on, you're worried about that? Yesterday, the master knelt in the Imperial Study over this marriage, and today his legs are still too sore to walk."

Ning Xishi was shocked: "My father knelt in the Imperial Study?"

The servant boy said, "Indeed, the madam asked us to keep it from you, so no one dared to say anything."

Ning Xishi hurried off toward the main quarters: "I'll go see my father."

But the moment he stepped out of the hanging flower gate and reached the entrance to his own courtyard, he was blocked by a pair of soldiers armed with long spears. The cold blades gleamed with a chilling light. Ning Xishi quickly stepped back three paces: "Hey, brave soldiers, let's talk this out!"

Seeing what a useless pretty boy he was, the soldiers sneered, "Chiliarch Wang ordered us to guard this gate and not let you set one foot outside. Second Young Master Ning, kindly turn around."

Ning Xishi immediately turned around and went back without any hesitation.

This matter was reported to the main quarters. Minister Ning, who was already stuck in bed with his bad legs, got angry all over again and called in sick for three straight days.

Qin Rong, however, was even more worried about the days ahead: "That Dog Emperor is dead set on marrying our Xi'er to his brother. That general's mansion is full of rough people—what will happen to our Xi'er when he marries into that family?"

Minister Ning: "..." You might want to care about your husband who keeps running around for this.

Your son doesn't have to go to the Imperial Academy now. He just eats and sleeps all day—it's truly the good life he dreams of.

At the same time, this matter was also reported by the three spies to their respective masters' desks.

Gong Changyu of the General's Mansion was furious: "General, can such a scoundrel who doesn't even care about his own father be allowed through the gates of our General's Mansion?!"

==========Author's Note:==========

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