{"id":7721,"date":"2025-12-18T08:58:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/?p=7721"},"modified":"2025-12-18T08:58:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T07:58:30","slug":"your-majesty-you-mustnt-chapter-96-1-listening-to-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/2025\/12\/18\/your-majesty-you-mustnt-chapter-96-1-listening-to-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Majesty, you mustn’t! – Chapter 96.1: Listening to You"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

It was only a few steps, but Xiao Rong ran as if he was sprinting a hundred meters.<\/span>
<\/span>
<\/span> \u2026<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Under the guards\u2019 strange gazes, Xiao Rong quickly lifted the curtain, but there was no sign of Jian Qiao inside at all. The entire royal tent was empty and deserted; even Qu Yunmie wasn\u2019t in his usual spot. Xiao Rong\u2019s heart tightened instantly. At that moment, he didn\u2019t quite know what he was thinking himself. Fortunately, he wasn\u2019t that impulsive. Before rushing out the door to look for the two of them, Xiao Rong habitually glanced around first. Then he saw Qu Yunmie sitting in his chair \u2014 a place Qu Yunmie would normally never go. Now, he was there, rapidly flipping through the bits and pieces he had written down over the past days.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There was nothing that couldn\u2019t be seen, it was either military affairs, official business, or at worst some intelligence reports from the front line. Xiao Rong always kept work and private matters separate, and he wouldn\u2019t leave any leverage outside, so Qu Yunmie could look if he wanted to.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If it were any other time, Xiao Rong would\u2019ve thought that way. He might\u2019ve even felt happy because Qu Yunmie was finally no longer avoiding official business like the plague. Today, however, Xiao Rong had a guilty conscience. As soon as he saw Qu Yunmie act unusually, his reflex was to seize the initiative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

L<\/span>ike preemptively striking first.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2026<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

\u201c<\/span>Your Majesty, why\u2019re you looking through my things?\u201d Xiao Rong\u2019s voice was a little tense, but Qu Yunmie lowered his head and ignored him.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He continued reading the paper in his hand, scanning it quickly line by line before immediately pulling out the next sheet.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong\u2019s bad premonition instantly swelled a hundredfold. Actually, when a premonition reached this level, it could be called a judgment because Qu Yunmie had never ignored him before.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong always considered himself an innocent victim caught in the crossfire, but victims shouldn\u2019t feel inexplicably nervous and guilty like he did now.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

His fingers twitched slightly by his side. Xiao Rong stepped forward.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He approached Qu Yunmie, and when he was still a few steps away, the paper in Qu Yunmie’s hand stopped moving.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Compared to before, Xiao Rong\u2019s voice was much calmer now. \u201cYour Majesty, what exactly are you looking for? Just tell me, and I\u2019ll find it for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie was silent for a moment, then carefully put down the half-written official document. He raised his head, his eyes sharp as a blade staring at Xiao Rong. \u201cIf I tell you, will you really find it for me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong replied, “Of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie chuckled lightly. He slowly stood up, circled the table, and came to stand in front of Xiao Rong. With the pressure his physique brought, he stared at Xiao Rong intently, then asked again, “Will you really find it for me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong disliked how he looked at him like that because that posture made him realize how weak he really was. Usually, Qu Yunmie wouldn\u2019t deliberately show his sharpness\u2014only on the day they first met did Qu Yunmie arrive with great momentum, openly showing his hostility toward Xiao Rong. To be fair, Xiao Rong himself hadn\u2019t performed well that day, so he never minded that.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If he thought rationally, today was partly his fault too. If the roles were reversed, and Qu Yunmie had hidden such a big matter from him, Xiao Rong would have been furious. Still, how many people and moments were really rational? Outsiders could casually say \u201ctry to see it from the other side,\u201d but every reaction from those involved was driven by their true feelings.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong wouldn\u2019t let himself show weakness, so he frowned and kept staring into Qu Yunmie’s eyes. Deep inside, a very faint feeling flashed, and that feeling was called grievance.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After one breath, that feeling was forcibly suppressed. Xiao Rong looked at Qu Yunmie and repeated his answer. \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie twisted the corner of his mouth. He might\u2019ve wanted to laugh but really couldn\u2019t. He breathed more deeply, perhaps trying to calm himself, but he still couldn\u2019t. Seeing Xiao Rong remain indifferent as if it didn\u2019t concern him, Qu Yunmie noticed Xiao Rong\u2019s eyes shifting on his face\u2014he was measuring and observing him to know how to deal with him next.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Click \u2014 that was the sound of their pretense breaking, the ice they carefully maintained for so long cracking.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Since waking up, Qu Yunmie had behaved well. He hadn\u2019t caused trouble once, and he obediently stayed in the royal tent nursing his injuries. He hadn\u2019t even spoken loudly to Xiao Rong again, but that obedience ended today. With the new situation, he was about to show his true colors.<\/span>

<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie said, “Good, very good.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c<\/span>Having a strategist like you by my side is truly a great blessing in my life. There is one thing I don\u2019t understand. Was my past behavior not clear enough? I have to ask you repeatedly about how many meals you eat daily. Xiao Rong, you know how much I care about your health. Why didn\u2019t you tell me what happened on the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival?!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As he spoke, he grabbed a few sheets of paper on the table, crushed them into a ball, and shook them hard at Xiao Rong, making a rustling noise.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie said, “So I came to see what else you\u2019re hiding from me. Do you know how I felt when I heard about this from Jian Qiao? Why didn\u2019t you tell me?! Why did everyone else know, but I was the only one left in the dark?!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong clenched his fists and suddenly shouted sharply at Qu Yunmie, “There is no why! That\u2019s just how I thought! Everyone else could know, but you couldn\u2019t!!!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie was stunned. Just now, his sarcastic and mocking demeanor lost all its momentum from that one sentence. He questioned, but he didn\u2019t want that answer.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie\u2019s Adam\u2019s apple moved. After a long moment, he spoke again. “Is it because… I hurt you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong\u2019s expression changed, but before he could say anything, Qu Yunmie suddenly stepped back. He looked at Xiao Rong, and when the layer of harshness that seemed intended to hurt him faded away, his eyes revealed the original colors: guilt, pain, confusion, and most of all, disbelief.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He couldn\u2019t accept that he had become the one who hurt Xiao Rong. He couldn\u2019t accept that what seemed like a predestined good fate was actually one-sided. Peeling off the outer layer of good fate, inside were two words: \u201cill-fated bond.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He didn\u2019t even dare get too close to Xiao Rong. Xiao Rong watched him retreat and opened his mouth to explain, \u201cNo, it\u2019s not\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie wouldn\u2019t listen. \u201cThen why did you get hurt after I got hurt? You told me before you couldn\u2019t do magic. I knew you didn\u2019t lie, so I trusted you, but not being able to do magic doesn\u2019t mean you don\u2019t have divine mysteries. You know where there\u2019s coal, you know when Mijing will return to the Central Plains. Xiao Rong, I\u2019m not as stupid as you think. Mijing is the head of the Buddhist order. I wouldn\u2019t let him stay in the Northern Army so easily. I sent people to check. Except for you, no one knew he was coming back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong didn\u2019t know any of this. His mind was in chaos. He tried hard to clear the messy thoughts and explain as clearly as possible. \u201cI do know some things others don\u2019t, but this has nothing to do with the Mid-Autumn Festival. I\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

His words were abruptly cut off because Qu Yunmie’s gaze stopped him from continuing.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie didn\u2019t know what he looked like now. He only saw that Xiao Rong was shocked. He guessed he looked pretty bad, so he lowered his gaze to avoid meeting Xiao Rong\u2019s eyes.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He said softly, “Now I understand why you hate me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Who wouldn\u2019t hate the one who caused them harm?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After saying that, Qu Yunmie turned and left. He forgot he was still holding those papers. He unclenched his fingers, and a torn, crumpled bunch of papers fell out. Qu Yunmie froze for a moment because it wasn\u2019t intentional. When he got angry, he grabbed those papers casually. Now they were ruined, unusable.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie suddenly pressed his lips together. He didn\u2019t want to look at those things anymore. He quickly left. Just as he was about to brush past, Xiao Rong was stunned and blurted out, “No!!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie stopped. His brow furrowed tightly. Xiao Rong had to run up to him, waving his hands excitedly, looking even more agitated than the day Qu Yunmie woke up.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c<\/span>I already said it\u2019s not! Why won\u2019t you listen to me? It wasn\u2019t you who hurt me, and I don\u2019t hate you! That day… that day\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He looked flustered and took a long time to come up with a reasonable explanation. \u201cI could feel you were injured, and I knew it was serious. My body was already weak. Once something happened to you, I worried a lot, so I ended up like that. In the end, it was because I wasn\u2019t steady enough. Do you understand? It was my problem, not yours!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie asked him, “Is there a difference?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Xiao Rong was stunned. Qu Yunmie said again, “To me, it\u2019s all the same.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

He was about to walk away again, but before he could take a step, Xiao Rong suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, looking like he was grinding his teeth. \u201cThe difference is, if it\u2019s my problem, then you don\u2019t owe me anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Qu Yunmie\u2019s muscles instantly tensed. He looked at Xiao Rong, who looked up at him and smiled slightly. \u201cYou just wanted an answer. Now I\u2019m telling you, everyone else could know except you because I understand you. I know what you\u2019d think\u2014that it\u2019s all your fault, that you caused me to become like this. But guess what? It\u2019s not you!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c<\/span>So you don\u2019t need to put on that look full of remorse. I don\u2019t need your pity! I don\u2019t need you to become timid because of this. Qu Yunmie, please remember this well: you don\u2019t owe me anything. You\u2014don\u2019t owe me anything!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Things seemed to return to a few days ago, but the one who was furious back then was Qu Yunmie, today it was Xiao Rong.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

After a long while, looking at Xiao Rong\u2019s angry face, Qu Yunmie finally spoke, but with some confusion. \u201cWhy do you always decide who owes whom, and declare what my feelings are?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

Edited by: Antiope<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Support translation:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\"This<\/a><\/figure>\r\n\r\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was only a few steps, but Xiao Rong ran as if he was sprinting a hundred meters. \u2026   Under the guards\u2019 strange gazes, Xiao Rong quickly lifted the curtain, but there was no sign of Jian Qiao inside at all. The entire royal tent was empty and deserted; even Qu Yunmie wasn\u2019t in […]<\/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_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7721","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\/7721","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=7721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7722,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7721\/revisions\/7722"}],"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=7721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ontimestory.eu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}