Chapter 13 Are you born not fond of smiling?
The smile on General Weiyuan's face froze instantly.
His body stiffened, his neck cracking as he turned to look at his colleague who had just been gloating.
The civil officials didn't hesitate either, immediately casting a series of meaningful glances at each other.
One of them even lowered his voice, speaking in a volume that everyone could hear, and asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh dear, General Weiyuan, why aren't you smiling anymore?"
"Could it be that you're just naturally averse to smiling?"
General Weiyuan's mouth twitched violently, feeling as if his face was about to be slapped so hard by an invisible hand.
He stubbornly refused to admit it, his neck stiff.
"Hmph, this general was born not to smile!"
"Besides, there are plenty of governors and generals with the surname Zhang or Wang in this court, how could it be me again?"
He spoke with a tough exterior, but inside he was kneeling on the ground, frantically kowtowing.
It couldn't be me! It couldn't be me! It couldn't be me!
Good heavens, Empress! Did I desecrate your ancestral graves in my past life? Why are all sorts of gossips being thrown at my head?!
Impossible! This general prefers beautiful young women! How could I possibly have anything to do with a man! It must be someone else!
General Weiyuan frantically denied it in his heart.
That soft, adorable little voice rang in the minds of the civil and military officials once again.
Wow! This emperor of Yan is really something!
While swinging her small feet, Yu Zhaoning enthusiastically flipped through the system data.
[They'll do anything to cause trouble in our Dayu!]
[His previous jobs as a bodyguard, stable boy, and eunuch were just appetizers; he even went so far as to develop a new career path for himself when he was bored!]
The ministers' hearts jumped into their throats.
A new career path?
[He himself once played the role of a courtesan!]
All the ministers were completely bewildered, their jaws dropping to the floor.
Courtesan?
An emperor came all the way to their Great Yu to become the most beautiful courtesan?
What an outrageous plot! Is everyone hallucinating?
This is something not just anyone could do!
Yu Zhaoning's sweet, childlike voice was filled with amazement.
[Looks like this Emperor of Yan has some real talent for playing the heartthrob! He must be quite handsome!]
[System: Not only that, he actually won first place in the capital's most beautiful courtesan competition back then!]
Yu Zhaoning exclaimed inwardly again.
[To say he's multi-talented feels like an understatement!]
Now, not only the civil officials, but even the military officers couldn't hold back anymore.
The most beautiful courtesan in the capital...
Was it a man? Or the emperor of a neighboring country?
The amount of information was too much for their brains to process.
General Weiyuan, who had just been praying frantically, felt his heart finally settle back down upon hearing this.
He let out a long sigh of relief, and his smug, irritating expression returned to his face.
Courtesan?
That definitely wasn't him!
He thought to himself with a smug satisfaction.
Who on earth is so unlucky as to fall into such a huge trap? It certainly wasn't me!
Although the person hidden deep in this general's heart is also a courtesan...
The moment he thought of that figure, General Weiyuan's eyes softened.
His beloved, Lian'er, was once so stunningly beautiful that her dance captivated the entire capital, renowned for her unparalleled beauty! How could she possibly be played by a man? You must be joking!
He straightened his back and began to look at the other military officers around him with a sympathetic gaze.
The generals he saw felt a chill run down their spines and their faces turned green.
They began frantically recalling whether they had ever been close to any courtesan in their lives.
No way? Could it really be me?
Just as a group of generals began to question their existence, that voice rang out again.
[Haha, this is hilarious!]
[Poor General Weiyuan, he really thought he had met the love of his life. He was clearly a blockhead, yet he racked his brains every day to compose poetry.]
[And what happened? After spending so much time in private, pouring out her heart, and showering him with countless riches, she finally discovered that he was actually a man!]
[Tsk tsk tsk, I really didn't expect this. The reason General Weiyuan discovered the other party was a man was because the Emperor of Yan felt a little embarrassed about constantly using the gold and silver treasures given by General Weiyuan to fill his national treasury, and decided to have a real affair!]
The smugness on General Weiyuan's face shattered once again.
It seemed like he heard his own name called?
[As it turned out, the night the truth was discovered, the once-mighty general was so frightened that he ran home and cried all night, clinging to his mother's leg!]
[The very next day, he hastily agreed to the marriage arranged by his mother and married his current wife. After the marriage, she dared not disobey him, for fear of encountering the same retribution again!]
Someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Oh, I see!"
"I knew it! Wei Yuan used to be notoriously stubborn. The old lady was so worried about his marriage that her hair turned white. How could she have changed her mind overnight!"
"No wonder! No wonder he never went to the brothel again after getting married! It turns out he had a deep emotional wound!"
"Tsk tsk, it's truly heartbreaking to hear!"
The generals around him whispered amongst themselves, their suppressed laughter and sympathetic glances rubbing salt into the wound with every word.
He felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and the world spun around him.
At that moment, General Weiyuan remembered everything; it was indeed true.
The fact that the courtesan he had loved for so long was a man was something he couldn't accept, and for so many years he had been telling himself it was all a dream.
Over the past few years, he has come to believe it himself.
Who knew that His Majesty would expose it in court?
The sky has fallen!
He looked around in disbelief and found that everyone, civil and military officials alike, was looking at him with gloating eyes.
The one who's having fun is actually myself?
General Weiyuan's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down before his colleagues on the spot.
Stop watching! Stop watching!
Don't I have any pride?!
On the dragon throne, Yu Zhaoning was completely unaware that her heartfelt words had already led to the death of General Weiyuan.
Her little head was brimming with curiosity.
[This little one is so curious, what does this Emperor of Yan look like, that he could possibly win the title of Flower Queen?]
[By the way, system! What about the high-definition short video you promised as a gift? Show it to me now!]
[Ding! Host, the video is ready. Play it in your mind?]
The system's voice sounded.
[Play! Play! Hurry up!]
The next second, everyone who could hear the inner voice, including Empress Dowager Yuanhua and Prime Minister Lin, felt a buzzing in their minds.
Immediately afterwards, an incredibly clear image slowly unfolded in their minds like a scroll.
The first act takes place in a secluded palace.
A handsome man, with unparalleled charm, was inserting a wooden plum blossom hairpin into Consort Mei's hair.
So this is the Emperor of Yan!
The ministers were furious when they saw this.
Great! The evidence is conclusive!
The scene changes.
At some point in the future, Yu Jingchuan, dressed in prince's robes, kneels before a man in a dragon robe, weeping and calling out to his father, the emperor.
The scene shifts, and that man is also the Emperor of Yan!
Then, Yu Jingchuan waved his hand and offered the city to the Emperor of Yan!
"brute!"
"wild ambition!"
Several hot-tempered military officers were so angry that they almost vomited blood on the spot, their eyes turning red.
If this is true, then wouldn't their Great Yu kingdom be ruined by this bastard?
However, before they could finish venting their anger, the scene changed again.
The scene transformed into a brightly lit stage.
A stunningly beautiful woman dressed in red is dancing gracefully to the music.
Her figure was alluring, her eyes sparkled, every movement was seductive, and every glance was captivating.
That face was breathtakingly beautiful, truly stunning and captivating.
A collective gasp filled the Golden Palace.
A group of military officers, accustomed to the rough and tough men in the army, stared blankly, their Adam's apples bobbing, and their lips twitching uncontrollably.
Even those self-proclaimed aloof civil officials were stunned.
Is there such a stunning beauty in the world?
But just as they were lost in thought, their minds suddenly came to their senses.
This courtesan is the Emperor of Yan! And he's a man!
A crisp slap rang out.
A military officer slapped his colleague hard across the face.
The general who had been struck covered his face and roared, "What are you doing!"
The general who had slapped the man muttered to himself in a daze, "Let me see if I'm dreaming, this is too..."
"Then why don't you slap yourself in the face!"
"It hurts!" the military officer who slapped her answered confidently.
Amidst the chaos, only Lin Xiang remained calm.
As he carefully observed the images in his mind, a storm raged within him.
This ability is simply unheard of...
It can even project images directly into a person's mind!
It seems that His Majesty did not wrong Consort Mei and her son. Yu Jingchuan is indeed of enemy blood, and there is no doubt about it!
However, Lin Xiang looked at the incredibly handsome Yan Emperor in the picture, then glanced down at the unconscious Yu Jingchuan on the ground, and was somewhat puzzled.
Why is the emperor of that enemy country so handsome...?
Is the eldest prince not as good-looking as his father? In fact, is he even a bit ugly?
At this moment, Yu Jingchuan, who had just fainted from anger, twitched his eyelids and was vaguely about to wake up from his daze.
He naturally couldn't hear the Empress's thoughts, nor did he know what kind of blockbuster was going through the minds of his civil and military officials.
If he could really hear what Lin Xiang was thinking right now, he probably wouldn't even need to struggle; he would immediately faint from anger, and even die.