Chapter 122: 4.36

Of course while Duan Mengyao felt like there was no hope for the future of his love life, Tang Muxin also fretted a little as well. After all, Meng Meng is supposed to regain his memory soon after reaching the capital. 

Both she and Jia Hyson knew that Duan Mengyao had recovered his memory after Jia Hyson eavesdropped on them, but neither of them wanted to break the peaceful status quo for their own reasons. Duan Mengyao was a soldier, not an actor or a politician or even a particular good liar. Even if Yan Huizhong tries to cover it up it's easy for him to occasionally drop his vest* from time to time.

*vest meaning identity in this case. A person who has multiple vests have many identities. 

Essentially, what Tang Muxin and Jia Hyson's reaction was every time was something like 'You look at me, I look at you, pretend to play dead'. 

Really, no matter what, Meng Meng was still Meng Meng ah.

Forever an Ignorant Lemon Duan Mengyao: ...

However now that they've arrived at the capital Duan Mengyao can no longer lie and pretend to be someone he's not. Yan Huizhong as well to be honest but it sort of looked like Yan Huizhong was just planning to fuck off and ignore everyone but his date with Ye Cheng currently so whatever. 

Tang Muxin felt a bit of unprecedented pressure for herself. She personally liked Duan Mengyao a lot. He is very sturdy, stable, and a bit silly. Not to mention he respects her and her abilities, and they have similar hobbies. All in all as friends at the very least they're very compatible and she wouldn't say no to trying to cultivate a deeper relationship. 

But not minding is different to agreeing to spend the rest of this lifetime with the man ah. 

She knows what sort of world this was. Even though it's now her new reality, Tang Muxin was not unaware that in terms of romance, the male characters, especially the supporting male leads will either be scum or doting devoted followers. She didn't know what would happen if Pan Shuchun, the original protagonist, and Duan Mengyao met, nor if she was willing to fall in love so early. This isn't even mentioning the harsh double standards of society in this era, which is a whole other thing that needs serious consideration to.

A good friendship is hard to find and a sustainable love is even harder. Tang Muxin was sure she had found the former but she was not confident yet that she had found the latter. Unfortunately, she was running out of time to choose if she wished to take the chance to try before Duan Mengyao has to run off to do his duties and struggle through the complicated palace intrigue with Yan Huizhong. 

As for the idea of actually joining them in fighting?

╮(╯∀╰)╭ Sorry, Tang Muxin has read the complexities of that sort of shit, and she really rather fucking not if possible. It reminds her of her previous life working with the government and her spy-assassin agency. Too much backstabbing, two-faced idiots, political schemes, blackmail, poison… the only difference between modern day scum officials and ancient scum officials is that there's more kneeling and pregnancy drama in the imperial court then in the government. 

The fact she considered becoming an active help was already a great testament to their friendship ah. Maybe if Ye Cheng, who she considered her best friend, was roped in she would join, but right now they had plans to open a small high class shop here with the money they saved instead. Between Ye Cheng and Duan Mengyao… she would still choose Ye Cheng.

Tang Muxin knew with Jin Bao around she eventually had to enter the palace, and she's simply dreaming if she could avoid it altogether but if possible she still hopes to minimize her presence, prolong the inevitable and let the original protagonist do her thing first. 

To avoid being entangled by the drama of the palace one can only try remain neutral or become an untouchable existence. With Jin Bao it's possible to stand up high in this superstitious era but not to the point of being untouchable. In fact, many people will regard her as a free golden thigh to hug and use. 

Not to mention, the emperor at this time is getting alarmingly ill. The court was getting restless and the behind the scenes fight for the throne will soon become a free for all. This is truly the most dangerous time. 

Despite her hope to stay with her friends like before, it was really impossible even if she chose to join in the fight herself. It was better to be neutral. At the very least if she was, both Yan Huizhong and Duan Mengyao, two people who at least have to pretend to be in different factions, can visit Tang Muxin and Ye Cheng more openly and with less suspicion. 

Listening in to her thoughts, Jia Hyson suddenly spoke up in her mind, 'I disagree ah.' He understood Tang Muxin's indecision. 

After all who hasn't watched a palace drama before and thought 'fuck this place is really messy and disgusting'? The cruel concubines. Evil empresses. Despotic and ignorant emperors. Murder. Rape. Drugs. It may be a place associated with luxury and power but it's certainly not a place associated with safety and honest people. 

However Tang Muxin's approach was too timid for a protagonist. When she was in danger or in a high tension situation she was like a fish to water but she was very slow and even a bit muddleheaded during peace times. She was raised to be a natural soldier in her past life, taking orders and getting her hands dirty was normal. When released into this relatively peaceful time she had been unsure how to act normally but at the same time feeling unwilling to go back to the bloody world she was so skilled in. 

It was this sort of attitude in the story that made the plot take fucking forever to move. That and shitty writing choices. It was only because Jia Hyson had immediately pushed her to Ye Cheng that she had found a path to follow so quickly and happily went with the flow. Now that a big decision has popped up Tang Muxin couldn't help but fall into old habits that never got a chance to reveal themselves till now. 

She was like a lot of typical 'I travelled into another world and now I will live my slow life!' isekai protagonists where she had short bursts of ambition and adventurous spirit but ultimately always went back to wanting to live peacefully. It was a bit annoying but at the same time, it was also fairly normal to wish to have your cake and eat it too. People are just like that ba. 

It's impossible to change Tang Muxin's indecisive nature but Jia Hyson can suppress it with his own decisiveness as her telepathic mascot and fellow transmigrator character. 

Quickly arranging his thoughts, Jia Hyson jumps off Da Gong and scampers to crawl up Tang Muxin, swiftly reaching her shoulders and laying there comfortably. Da Gong squawked in displeasure but his sixth sense was good and he understood the two had something important to talk about, otherwise his little worm would not leave so abruptly.

Reluctantly Da Gong trots off to the carriage to go order the more agile animals to scout the area for suitable resting places for his humans. Somebody had to take charge, tsk.

'Right now is the best time to think about revealing your strengths,' Jia Hyson persuading, 'Think about it ah, Rome wasn't built in a day. It's better to show your identity as dragon priestess early and slowly stabilise that identity before things get rocky at the palace. Besides, thanks to the Wen family the emperor must have already overheard the news. It's better to smash the shattered vase* and make the first move then wait too long with our heads down and miss the best opportunity to harvest benefits.'

*Meaning that it's already broken, might as well completely break it. Go big or go home.

Even though Jia Hyson hasn't used his mouth too much in this world, he was still very capable of coaxing people. As he continues to bala bala* into Tang Muxin's ears about the benefits he could tell she was being moved by his words. 

*Slang, essentially blah blah as you can guess lol. 

'-I'm not saying we do it so blatantly or right away ah, it's best to establish the shop first, gain some reputation and spread the word naturally about my presence. That way it will kill two birds with one stone, providing the shop with popularity and garnering the interest of the palace without looking ambitious and bold. It will also give us the impression of having an aloof neutral attitude, and harbouring unknown strength, to the palace as well so they don't dare try scope out our bottom line.'

Tang Muxin quickly understood. Now that she has Jin Bad who is a bit more assertive in these matters she naturally felt a bit more confident and her talents once again come back online, 'I see. They'll overthink the reason we would choose to reveal ourselves but refused to ask permission to enter the palace. By being ambiguous and mysterious it would make people feel we're more unworldly and powerful. The moment they come to us, we'll be in the dominant permission and even the emperor may give us more face than if we demanded entrance.'

At that point they, who would already be considered powerful figures in the minds of the palace, would be placed on a much higher pedestal and given both a larger amount of respect and protection. Tang Muxin felt that compared to Jin Bao, her eyesight was like a mouse, only one inch long*.

*A mouse's vision is only one inch long, Shǔ mù cùn guāng : meaning short sighted and only plans for the immediate future.

'What do you think about Duan Mengyao then?' She asks, feeling a little awkward, like a shy schoolgirl gossiping about their crushes. 

Jia Hyson flicks his tail and lets it touch his snout thoughtfully. Honestly, it would be sort of tragic if Duan Mengyao doesn't end up with Tang Muxin at this point but at the same time, he hasn't had much opportunity to show off much either thanks to Da Gong's suppression. It can really go either way here but he was more inclined to making things work with Duan Mengyao. 

With that decision, Jia Hyson changes from tactical supervisor to love advisor. 'No matter what, you're a modern, independent at heart. Don't let this society change you into something you know you're not ah. Doesn't Meng Meng like you as you are? Then follow your heart, if you like him, then just like him. If you stop, you have laozi to back you up. What are you so worried for ah~?'

'But what if he takes a concubine?' Tang Muxin felt much more assured with the support of a fellow modern man who understood her values, but she still couldn't assuage all her concerns. 

Jia Hyson felt this question was quite easy, tsk, this girl was quite cute when asking for love advice. 'Would you still like him if he took a concubine?'

Tang Muxin shook her head. Even though she knew that it was a controversial and audacious opinion in these times to be the only wife of a man, she really couldn't accept being part of a harem. If her future husband did that, even if she still held feelings for the man, she would really be disgusted in her heart.

'Then it's simple ah,' Jia Hyson scratches his ear lazily, 'At this point if all goes right, the palace will value you a lot as a dragon priestess. Even if you publicly behead the man it probably won't be a big deal.'

Bebe: '…'

Jia Hyson: 'What?'

Bebe: 'Bebe has nothing to argue with and that makes Bebe a bit uncomfortable ah.'

Jia Hyson: 'Hehe, you little green tea bitch, I knew you pick fights for fun.'

Bebe: (,,UwU,,) 'Bebe is too cute to respond to host's nonsense.'

Jia Hyson: '…' Now I have too much to argue with and that makes me uncomfortable. 눈_눈

Tang Muxin's eyes brighten like her mind had been opened to a whole new world. Jin Bao was right. She had been thinking far too narrowmindedly. Maybe because this was a romance based story Tang Muxin had boxed herself with this romantic logic and worried about various things now that she lived in this story world. Slowly she had slowly and subconsciously adapted too much to the culture and outdated views.

It wasn't bad to immerse yourself to some extent. After all, one had to adapt to survive and live well. But to trap yourself was another matter entirely. 

Maybe in the beginning when she had just transmigrated she would have had to seriously consider these sort of problems about reputation and a loveless marriage.

But now she had a dragon!

Unless she decided to steal the emperor as her husband, there was no man with higher status than her. Hell, even the emperor probably had to give face to flatter her ah.

She can date whoever! Break up whenever! Divorce? Whatever!

Hahahaha! ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Duan Mengyao: (｀◎△◎)!? Suddenly feel a chill out of nowhere ah?

Jia Hyson: …

He knows that Tang Muxin was on some weird sort of long overdue feminist high or power trip or something that should hopefully be temporary but he sort of wants to change protagonists now.

Bebe: 'Tsk, first Song Chuntao, now Tang Muxin. You've ruined some perfectly good protagonists and you wonder why you can't have nice things.'

Jia Hyson: 'That does explain why I got used goods like you ah~' ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Bebe: (╬⓪益⓪) 

So with that off her shoulders, Tang Muxin happily goes off to invite a pleasantly surprised general on a date after they drop their stuff at a good inn. 

Watching the group split into two pairs of coquettish little mandarin ducks Jia Hyson clicks his tongue disdainfully and jumps off Tang Muxin's shoulders to get away from all the sugary dog food being shoved down his throat. "Tsk, tsk, young love, how nauseating." 

A familiar black and feathery figure suddenly blocks his vision.

Da Gong, holding a flower in his beak: 'Cluck.' ✿(ಠ  ⊝ ಠ)✿ 

Jia Hyson: (///o//△/o//)!!!

Carefully, Da Gong placed the small flower into Jia Hyson's mane, nestled behind his ear. After looking at his little worm for a few seconds, he finally snorts in dissatisfaction. "Hmph. Not as good-looking as my baby." He declares domineeringly as he raises a wing to brush it off. 

Jia Hyson raises his own claws to stop him, his heart warm and ticklish, "It's okay ah," He happily reaches up to playfully nip at the rooster's chest feathers, "I love whatever you get for me Brother Gong~" 

Da Gong: "H-Hmph. That's good. However laozi will get you something better when we explore the capital together okay?" 

Wrapping around Da Gong, similar to how an anaconda would wrap around a deer, Jia Hyson peppers him with kisses in agreement. "Okay!" ("ˆ ³(,,ಠ⊝ಠ,,) ♡

Tang Muxin, Duan Mengyao, Ye Cheng and Yan Huizhong: Tsk, tsk, young love, how nauseating.

...

Authors Note: Yo, so due to the new WN algorithm they've finally managed to find this author's lil book and her use of kaomoji ;-;

Because Chinese or Korean characters (e.g. ⋋(ಠ ⊝ ಠ)⋌) appears in the chapter content my updated work will not be voted and gifted until I ask for the editor to help solve it every time if I choose to keep using them ah. So. I have decided to just try do the kaomoji anyway- at least for this arc because Da Gong's emojis are important to the plot okay ;-; - and see how it goes. Therefore you may not be able to vote or gift my work for a temporary amount of time (I'll ask the editor to solve it once in a while but there's no point bothering her everytime ah). 

Honestly I can live without powerstones and gifts for a while for the sake of the kaomoji humor ah- if you can't comment though, then that becomes a bigger problem because I love all your comments QAQ and I'll rethink the plan if that's the case ORZ. However it would be great during this time if you can support me by:

1. Donating on my ko-fi-  https://ko-fi.com/hweichan 

2. Reviewing this story (For some reason people thought you can only review once? Nah man you can totes review more then once guys come on lol. I mean, I don't like spam reviewers but occasionally it's nice to see there's people who review every few months lol)

3. Recc-ing to other BL lovers in other places ah

4. See 1. again. This greedy author likes money (∩❛ڡ❛∩) hehe