The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat

Mrs. Xie looked at her younger daughter as if she were a stranger.

She had never imagined that her usually reserved and quiet younger daughter could say something so rebellious.

Her younger daughter thought they favored boys over girls, but that wasn’t the case at all.

Mrs. Xie had forced her elder daughter to give up her female identity and live as a man.

She felt terribly guilty about it and believed she owed her elder daughter a great deal, which was why she was especially indulgent and caring toward her.

But her younger daughter didn’t know any of this.

Mrs. Xie tried to explain.

"It’s not what you think. Amang, she actually..."

But Lu Wanqing didn’t want to hear any more.

"Enough. I don’t want to hear you mention my brother again. He’s nothing but a coward."

With that, she strode toward the cave entrance.

Mrs. Xie quickly stood up. "Where are you going?"

Lu Wanqing replied without turning back.

"I’m going to arrange the counter-attack with the trusted aides. You should get some rest."

After speaking, she left the cave, her small, thin figure vanishing into the thick darkness of the night.

...

Bian Ziming received a military order from the Regent King and led three thousand elite soldiers out of Tianjing in secret.

They concealed their movements, riding at top speed toward Longdong County.

Li Ji had anticipated trouble from the Yu Royal Mansion, so he specifically sent Bian Ziming ahead with troops.

Three thousand men were certainly not enough to confront the Yu Royal Mansion head-on.

Their main mission on this trip was to guard the area near the two major ports in Longdong County that led to the East Sea.

Longdong County was near the coast, and fishermen often sailed out to sea from there.

As a result, there were many ports along the coastline. The two largest among them belonged to the Yu Royal Mansion, and only their ships could dock there. Any ordinary fishermen’s boats that approached would be driven away.

Li Ji didn’t think much of the Yu Royal Mansion’s movements.

He even wished the Yu Royal Mansion would raise an army, as it would give him a legitimate reason to eliminate them.

But he was worried the people of the Yu Royal Mansion would make a foolish move.

Li Ji’s fingertip tapped a spot on the map.

"This is Longdong County. And a little further..."

His finger slid across the strait and landed on a small island.

"There’s a small island nation here.

The people of this country often sail out to plunder at sea.

Anyone who falls into their hands meets a tragic end.

They once even crossed the strait and landed in Longdong County, attempting to occupy the area.

Fortunately, Prince Yu was still hale and hearty back then. He personally led his troops and sent them fleeing in disarray."

Hua Manman asked, "Are you worried that the people from the Yu Royal Mansion will collude with this island nation and bring in a foreign enemy?"

Li Ji nodded. "Yes."

If Prince Yu were still well, with his personality and pride, he would never stoop to cooperating with a foreign enemy.

But now, Prince Yu was on his deathbed.

Without him to keep things in check, the Yu Royal Mansion would surely fall into chaos.

All sorts of wicked people would emerge then, and precautions had to be taken.

Hua Manman looked at the map of Great Zhou before her, a little worried.

"If the Yu Royal Mansion rebels, will the other Vassal Kings follow suit?"

But Li Ji was very calm. "They won’t. Those Vassal Kings will just watch the show from the sidelines. They’ll only make a move to pick up the pieces after we’ve both been badly wounded."

If those Vassal Kings were truly capable of uniting, they would have joined forces against me eight hundred years ago. They wouldn’t still be sitting on their hands now.

Every last one of them is incredibly shrewd, terrified of suffering even the slightest loss.

The corner of Li Ji’s mouth curved up in a sharp arc.

"As long as I eliminate the Yu Royal Mansion in one fell swoop, they won’t get a chance to pick up the pieces."

At the same time, he could use this opportunity to make an example of them, letting those spectating Vassal Kings recognize the reality that opposing him, the Regent King, would not end well.

Seeing his confidence, Hua Manman felt reassured and didn’t ask any more about the matter.

For the next while, Li Ji was out from dawn till dusk, preparing his troops and warhorses, arranging provisions, and getting ready to march out at a moment’s notice.

Although he didn’t deliberately publicize his actions, they still alarmed the Central Secretariat.

Given the Regent King’s violent reputation in everyone’s mind, the ministers all thought the Regent King was having another one of his fits.

Everyone wanted to live a peaceful life and didn’t want the Regent King to stir up trouble again.

So, several senior ministers conferred in private and decided to go talk to the Regent King, hoping to persuade him to pull back from the brink and not raise another army.

Unfortunately, their timing was poor.

Li Ji had gone out early that morning to drill his troops and was not in the mansion.

The senior ministers found no one, but they were unwilling to leave. They insisted on waiting in the Prince Mansion for the Regent King to return.

Gao Shan had no choice but to politely invite them into the flower hall to sit, then sent a message to the Regent King, hoping he would return as soon as possible.

Li Ji was busy drilling his troops and refused to return even after receiving the message.

He even sent a message back to Gao Shan.

"If there’s anything, just go find the one in my chambers. She can make any decision in the mansion on my behalf."

At first, Gao Shan didn’t understand.

’Who is the one in the Prince’s chambers?’

After a moment’s thought, it dawned on him. The one currently living in the Prince’s chambers was none other than the Heir of Prince Yu!

Gao Shan’s mood instantly became very complicated.

He couldn’t understand how a perfectly fine Prince could suddenly turn into a "cut-sleeve."

’Could it be that the Prince was so devastated by the loss of his beloved that his mind became deranged, even changing his sexual orientation?’

’But even if the Prince’s mind wasn’t right, why was the young prince so fond of sticking by the Heir of Prince Yu? And he even called him ’Mother’ so affectionately.’

Gao Shan couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

When he ran to request an audience with the Heir of Prince Yu, he saw that his own young prince was also there.

Today was a rest day for the Imperial College, so Li Xun didn’t have to go to school. After waking up, he had been sticking to his mother’s side, unwilling to leave her for even a moment.

He had been going to school every day recently and hadn’t had time to spend with his mother.

Now that he finally had a day off, of course he had to be affectionate with his mother.

When Hua Manman heard Gao Shan explain the situation, her head started to ache.

Those few ministers held significant positions at court. Their arrival together, coupled with their insistence on not leaving until they saw the Regent King, clearly meant they had something very important to discuss.

The Regent Prince Mansion couldn’t just leave them hanging.

But Hua Manman’s current identity was awkward, making it very inconvenient for her to receive guests.

After a moment of thought, her gaze fell on the child beside her.

Seeing his mother looking at him, Li Xun immediately broke into a goofy grin.

Hua Manman asked, "Are you willing to accompany me to meet those guests?"

Li Xun nodded to show it was no problem.

Hua Manman instructed him.

"When you see the guests later, don’t call me Mother. Call me Teacher.

If anyone asks, just say your father, the Prince, invited me to be your tutor."

Li Xun was very unhappy about it.

"But you’re obviously my mother, not my teacher."

Hua Manman patted his little head. "If you behave, I’ll make you something delicious later."

Her injuries were almost healed, so cooking wouldn’t be a problem.

Li Xun’s eyes immediately lit up. He nodded vigorously and agreed, not forgetting to add at the end,

"Make it just for me, not for Father."

Hua Manman didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, and she reached out to tap his little forehead.

"Alright, whatever you say."