{"id":7062,"date":"2025-06-26T09:46:35","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/?p=7062"},"modified":"2025-06-26T09:46:35","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T07:46:35","slug":"your-majesty-you-mustnt-chapter-75-1-the-eye-pill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/2025\/06\/26\/your-majesty-you-mustnt-chapter-75-1-the-eye-pill\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Majesty, you mustn&#8217;t! &#8211; Chapter 75.1: The Eye Pill"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leaving the deeply disappointed Song Shuo behind, Xiao Rong returned to his own room. He turned around and shut the door before sitting down at the desk with the official documents in hand.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He wasn\u2019t as calm as he appeared.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking at it now, Song Shuo really was the future Song Qianzhen\u2014the one with the legendary &#8220;seven-aperture exquisite heart.&#8221; It was precisely because he understood human nature so well that he could get along with anyone.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This was probably a kind of talent. Even though Song Shuo was still rather na\u00efve, he was extremely sensitive to others\u2019 goodwill or malice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In contrast, Xiao Rong fell a bit short. He had read that letter twice back then, yet hadn\u2019t noticed Yuan Baifu\u2019s intentions at all. After that day, he had even thought to himself that since Yuan Baifu was so close to Qu Yunmie, he probably wouldn\u2019t do such things again.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Propping his head up with his hand, Xiao Rong let out a heavy sigh.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He had truly been too naive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yuan Baifu.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yuan. Baifu.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was one of the leaders of the Northern Army\u2019s eventual division; the one who caused the complete fallout between Southern Yong and the King of North. He was the spark that led to the fall of Sun Renluan, He Fu, and the entire Southern Yong.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even more unforgivable\u2014he was the one who killed Gao Xunzhi.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yuan Baifu seemed to have committed countless wrongs, almost to the point of being irredeemable. Even though Xiao Rong knew all of this, had never taken any action against him. That was because history wasn&#8217;t so straightforward. At that time, Qu Yunmie wasn\u2019t as reasonable as he was now\u2014he was caught in a cycle of killing and revenge. The chaos in the frontier left him overwhelmed, the spreading folk songs filled him with anger, and when the army morale fell apart, he grew even more anxious because he had to march against the Xianbei.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Qu Yunmie understood how fatal a decline in morale was. He ordered his subordinates to fix the issue. When they couldn\u2019t, he lost his temper. Yuan Baifu, being the most trusted and frequently used subordinate, often became the target of that fury. Meanwhile, Yuan Baifu had gone to suppress the unrest in Yizhou and stayed there for a long time. No one knew how Southern Yong\u2019s people reached him\u2014maybe Sun Renluan sent someone, or maybe Li Xiuheng played matchmaker. In any case, Yuan Baifu was persuaded by them. He no longer wanted to stay by the volatile Qu Yunmie\u2019s side. He wanted to serve someone else.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Up to this point, Xiao Rong didn\u2019t blame him. After all, he remembered clearly what kind of person Qu Yunmie had been at the beginning. Yuan Baifu\u2019s actions were ruthless, but they didn\u2019t make him a villain. He had simply been trying to improve his own circumstances\u2014who could blame him for that?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What he should never have done\u2014what he absolutely should not have done\u2014was to tie up Gao Xunzhi after he discovered the connection between Yuan Baifu and Southern Yong. Then, in front of the entire army, he cut off Gao Xunzhi\u2019s head to eliminate any doubts or hesitation in the soldiers still sitting on the fence.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Initially, Yuan Baifu led his troops to occupy Zhongshan County. It was merely seen as an internal split. That\u2019s why people like Zhang Biezhi didn\u2019t take it seriously. In Zhang\u2019s view, the King and General Yuan often argued, but Yuan was loyal to Qu Yunmie. Even if he declared he would no longer follow him, he\u2019d probably take it back in time. Many shared this view. After so many years, the Northern Army\u2019s relationships were more than just colleagues\u2014they were in-laws and family. One word could change everything. Yuan Baifu understood this well.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That\u2019s why, when Gao Xunzhi came to talk him down, he simply made him a sacrifice. With that act, everyone knew there was no going back. The King would never forgive them now.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The history books said Gao Xunzhi discovered a token sent by Sun Renluan to Yuan Baifu, so Yuan had to kill him. After Song Shuo pointed out the hidden meanings in that letter, Xiao Rong suddenly found the excuse unconvincing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Yuan had already decided to betray them, why would he fear the token being discovered? It felt more like an excuse\u2014a cover-up for his treachery.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though it was hard to say. Yuan Baifu knew Qu Yunmie well. He would\u2019ve known that Gao Xunzhi\u2019s death would drive Qu Yunmie into a rage. Logically, he wouldn\u2019t have done something so stupid. Yet he did. Maybe he truly had a reason to kill Gao Xunzhi\u2014but it wasn\u2019t just because the token had been found.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In any case, Yuan Baifu did something that could never be undone. Though he began fleeing that very night, he didn\u2019t live for long. When Sun Renluan found out he had killed Gao Xunzhi, he knew he was in trouble. Fearing that Qu Yunmie would attack, he decided to eliminate Yuan Baifu\u2014and sent assassins who strangled him while he was completely off guard.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Was it over when Yuan Baifu died? Of course not. To Qu Yunmie, he had lost both a mentor and a father. That vengeance had to be personally repaid. Yuan Baifu\u2019s death didn\u2019t matter\u2014Qu Yunmie would just kill Sun Renluan and destroy Southern Yong to avenge Gao Xunzhi.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, after quelling the unrest north of the Han River, Qu Yunmie immediately marched south. Southern Yong was already teetering. Yang Zangyi, hearing Qu Yunmie was coming, was furious. Ironically, at that time, it was Sun Renluan who had developed a hatred of fools and wished Yang Zangyi would just kill himself. However, in the official history, it was the opposite\u2014Yang blamed the fall of Yong entirely on Sun Renluan, for bringing in that useless Yuan Baifu. What he thought was a brilliant move ended in disaster.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Sun Renluan killed Yuan Baifu, he hadn\u2019t consulted Yang. So when Yang Zangyi killed Sun Renluan, he didn\u2019t consult him either. He allied with Sun Shanlu, but unlike what Yang expected, Qu Yunmie\u2019s fury didn\u2019t lessen. He killed all the envoys sent to negotiate\u2014he was determined to repay blood with blood.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then things grew even worse. Without her brother\u2019s restraint, Sun Shanlu became even more unhinged. The alliance between Empress Dowager Sun and Chancellor Yang broke down. The Empress stirred up trouble in court, and the Young Emperor indulged her. He had his own ideas\u2014he no longer wanted to be controlled. He knew deep down that his mother couldn\u2019t really control him. If he had to listen to someone, he\u2019d rather it be her than Chancellor Yang.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As internal and external crises peaked, Chancellor Yang coughed blood and fell gravely ill. The male companion he had once installed no longer listened to him. That wild pair, devoid of political skill, briefly ruled the land. When Qu Yunmie\u2019s forces reached the capital, they made one mistake after another: inviting Taoist priests to perform rituals, sidelining Sun Renluan\u2019s man Shen Yangrui, and appointing only generals they trusted. They even planned to flee south again if things went wrong\u2014just like Emperor Guangjia had once done.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This domino-like chain of escalating disasters finally ended when Qu Yunmie stormed the palace. TanEr escaped but was killed by officials. No one knew where Sun Shanlu fled\u2014Qu Yunmie killed her. The Emperor tried to flee with a monk\u2019s help but was caught and killed.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just like the man who fired the first shot at Sarajevo never imagined it would lead to world war, Yuan Baifu never imagined his decision would trigger so many events\u2014opening a new era of chaos in a world already full of it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Objectively, Yuan Baifu wasn\u2019t the real culprit. He was already dead. Everything afterward was decided by others. That was why Xiao Rong never regarded him as the most dangerous villain\u2014he believed Yuan had merely been pushed forward by a series of events. If things had played out differently, he wouldn\u2019t have done the same.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then Song Shuo snapped him out of it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before Song pointed it out, Xiao Rong hadn\u2019t found anything wrong with Yuan Baifu\u2019s words. After Song said it\u2014everything was wrong.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe King must control his temper in front of Xiao Rong\u201d \u2192 Implied: You must speak properly to him, or he\u2019ll hold a grudge.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cXiao Rong is a rare scholar who can coexist peacefully with the King\u201d \u2192 Implied: Have you forgotten how much you hated scholars? Their arrogance? Their contempt for you? Have you yielded to them now?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cRelationships often don\u2019t break in a moment, but in accumulation\u201d \u2192 Implied: Think carefully\u2014how many times have you offended Xiao Rong recently?<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPerhaps the King doesn\u2019t even know when he offended him\u201d \u2192 Implied: You already have.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBy the time Xiao Rong leaves, even if the King regrets it, it\u2019ll be too late\u201d \u2192 Implied: If you offend him, he\u2019ll leave. Scholars are cold and heartless. When that happens, will you grovel and beg? You probably will\u2014but Xiao Rong won\u2019t come back. He\u2019ll just mock you.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Xiao Rong: \u201c\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe he was over-interpreting it a bit. Given Qu Yunmie\u2019s personality\u2014if this had been two or three months ago, back in Yanmen County\u2014Qu Yunmie wouldn\u2019t have trusted him this much or followed everything he said. Back then, he was suspicious, arrogant, insecure, and sensitive. Even if he didn\u2019t understand the full meaning of those words, the seed would\u2019ve been planted\u2014that Xiao Rong might betray him, might serve someone else.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Qu Yunmie was the type to give everything\u2014or nothing at all. If that subconscious doubt took root, the consequences were obvious.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Xiao Rong frowned, deeply conflicted.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">From the letter, Yuan Baifu probably had issues with him. Maybe he felt threatened. Maybe he hated that Qu Yunmie only listened to a scholar like him. This only proved Yuan Baifu was petty\u2014it didn\u2019t mean he intended to leave the Northern Army.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, it seemed more like he didn\u2019t want to leave. It was precisely because he wanted to stay that he fought for his own interests.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was petty and cunning\u2026 and he reported everything directly to Qu Yunmie, rarely interacting with anyone else.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Xiao Rong pressed his lips together.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the evening, Qu Yunmie returned from the military camp. These days, the army was incredibly busy, and hardly anyone was idle.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He had gone from spending only a few hours there each day to staying the entire day, only hurrying back to the palace at nightfall.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, at this point, there was no real need for him to return at night. There wasn\u2019t anything at the palace that absolutely required his presence. Rushing back after dark and leaving again before dawn was exhausting\u2014he might as well have just stayed overnight at the camp.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regardless, Qu Yunmie insisted. His excuse was that the scholars might need him to make decisions, and since he had already promised to do his duty as King of the North, naturally, he had to reside in his princely manor.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gao Xunzhi: \u201c\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m just going to sit here and quietly watch you make things up.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gao Xunzhi had gone from dazed and headache-ridden, to frustrated and bitterly disappointed, and now he had entered a state of cold indifference. Everything about Qu Yunmie annoyed him\u2014he didn\u2019t want to talk to him or even look at him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As soon as Qu Yunmie entered the room, the first thing he did was change out of his dirty clothes and take a brisk cold shower. He had a naturally high body temperature, and after exercising, he practically gave off steam. Especially in winter, he could literally see wisps of vapor rising from his chest.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the bath, he let his hair hang wet, not bothering to dry it. With his body heat, it would dry on its own soon enough.<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/><br \/><\/span><\/p>\r\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n<p>Edited by: Antiope<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Support translation:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/bePatron?u=25191841\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"217\" height=\"51\" class=\"wp-image-338 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ontimestory.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/become_a_patron_button.png?resize=217%2C51\" alt=\"\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 217px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 217\/51;\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ko-fi.com\/lajnaa\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ontimestory.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/kofi3-3.png?resize=185%2C47\" alt=\"This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is kofi3-3.png\" width=\"185\" height=\"47\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 185px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 185\/47;\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>\r\n<p><!--EndFragment--><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Leaving the deeply disappointed Song Shuo behind, Xiao Rong returned to his own room. He turned around and shut the door before sitting down at the desk with the official documents in hand. He wasn\u2019t as calm as he appeared. \u2026 Looking at it now, Song Shuo really was the future Song Qianzhen\u2014the one with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-your-majesty","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ontimestory.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/20240106180053_200_280-1.jpg?fit=199%2C280&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7063,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7062\/revisions\/7063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}