Joy of Life

Chapter 635: The Waves Retreating

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In an instant, the waves on the shoreline expressed their rage to the reefs and yearning for the sand. The waves sounded like thunder and looked like snow, quickly retreating and leaving silence behind. It looked like half an eye of sapphire sea and half of the blue sky.

Fan Xian heard her words clearly and couldn’t help smiling roughly. “If I was a woman, I would be living much more happily than right now.”

He knew the little Emperor had too much dissatisfaction and unwillingness in her heart. As a Qing person, Fan Xian did not have much opportunity to experience the little Emperor’s schemes and power plays. Their private interaction these years made him realize that although the Northern Qi Emperor was even younger than him, her resolutions were particularly mature. She acted with unusual coolness and heartlessness.

Perhaps the throne was an incubator that could turn one into a strange creature?

This female Emperor next to him had been raised as a boy from birth. Her growing process was a completely strange one. Until now, she had not become mutated. She had become a cold Emperor with great ambitions and an insubordination to the designs of fate. It should be said that Northern Qi’s Empress Dowager was truly a remarkable figure.

He had thought there was a big problem between the empress dowager and Emperor and had wanted to use it to put a wedge in Northern Qi politics. In the end, he had helped this mother and son throw up a smoke screen, got rid of Shen Zhong, and subdued Shan Shanhu. Fan Xian found this rather distasteful, but his admiration for the mother and son grew stronger.

“Woman?” The Northern Qi Emperor held her hands behind her back and faced the boundless sea. A glimmer of mockery rose to the corners of her lips. “In this world, all women are subordinate to men and forever in a position to be controlled. If you were really a woman, you would probably spend each night crying uncontrollably.”

Fan Xian was silent for a long time then suddenly said, “You detest your female identity, don’t you?”

“Yes,” the Northern Qi Emperor replied coldly. “If my body was not that of a woman, how could I be threatened by you?”

Fan Xian smiled and didn’t say anything. He thought that this female Emperor’s heart was truly like that of a heartless man. She considered everything in terms of power and country, and lacked a great deal of the gentleness he had imagined.

The two of them sank into silence at the same time. They stood side by side watching the sea with their hands behind their backs. Not far from them, Si Lili, in a light yellow robe, held an elegant paper umbrella in one hand and crouched down slightly to pick at the shells on the seaside. No one knew if her attention was on the two of them.

Fan Xian’s brows twitched slightly. He remembered standing with his Emperor on wooden boards by the Danzhou seaside three years ago and looking at the ocean. At that time, the white waves had risen from beneath their feet. Now, he was standing with the Northern Qi Emperor and looking at the sea. Besides the changing of situations and movement of time, these two viewings of the ocean expressed many things. After struggling and fighting for a long time in this second life, he finally had influence that was impossible for others to have in both the Qing Kingdom and Northern Qi.

The Northern Qi Emperor’s expression was cold. Her straight brows appeared particularly dull. Her bright eyes seemed to be telling others to stay away. Her long lashes laid calmly on her eyes.

“The diplomatic group has reached Dongyi. It is time for me to leave,” she said suddenly as she kept her eyes forward. “I must admit, it disappoints me greatly to have taken such a risk to come South and not have obtained any benefits.”

“There is nothing to be disappointed about. At least you didn’t kill me and cast the world into chaos.”

Fan Xian looked at her expression. For some reason, he felt a faint sense of pity like during that crazy night when he had seen her crying frantically. He knew this female-bodied and male-hearted Emperor had not lived happily in this life. Quietly, he said, “Although you are the ruler of Northern Qi, you cannot change the truth that has already been decided.”

The Northern Qi Emperor’s voice was slightly sharp as she said, with a harsh and cold tone, “For example, the fact that I am a woman?”