I'm the Farmgirl You Can't Mess With

Chapter 1312: Side Story: The Mighty Great Qi (2)

Editor: Atlas Studios

That night, Qi Xiuyuan broke out in a sweat. When he woke up and saw his brother leaning against the head of the bed, he thought that he was dreaming. He looked at the mosquito net above his head and muttered to himself, “I wonder if I can survive this time.”

Qi Haoran immediately woke up and said unhappily, “Big Brother, the imperial physician said that you’re just suffering from a cold and only have to take medicine as instructed. Why do you have to say such disheartening words?”

Startled, Qi Xiuyuan reached out and pinched his brother hard. Seeing him frown, he said in surprise, “So this is real. I thought I was dreaming.”

Qi Haoran rolled his eyes at him impolitely and said, “Big Brother, why does something happen every time I go out to sightsee? Could it be that we brothers simply can’t be separated?”

Fan Zijin, who had also woken up, said disdainfully upon hearing this, “You think too highly of yourself. When you were posted elsewhere in the past, nothing happened to His Majesty either. This is just a coincidence.”

Qi Haoran tilted his head and expressed his doubts again. “Could it be because the heavens can’t bear to see me live a carefree life?”

Qi Xiuyuan took a sip of water from the cup Fan Zijin handed him and snorted. “Well, you might as well say that the heavens can’t stand to see me being the Emperor any longer and want to take me away to accompany them.”

When Mu Yangling woke up, she heard this sentence. Her mind was still a little muddled, so she said groggily, “In that case, don’t be the Emperor. Just let Little Treasure take over.”

The hall fell silent. Qi Xiuyuan and Fan Zijin looked at Mu Yangling in surprise. Qi Haoran covered her mouth and scolded softly, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Then, he turned around and smiled ingratiatingly at Qi Xiuyuan. “Big Brother, Ah Ling is still dazed from sleeping.”

Mu Yangling pulled his hand off and yawned. “I’m just following the logic of Big Brother’s words. Since the heavens don’t want him to be the Emperor, he can be the Emperor Emeritus and focus on nursing his health.”

’Even then, you’re not supposed to say those words out loud!’

Qi Haoran glared at his wife, turned around, and said to Qi Xiuyuan, “Big Brother, this is what I told her previously. I think you’re working too hard. Since Little Treasure has already grown up anyway, why don’t you pass this burden to him…”

Sober now, Mu Yangling glared at her husband and said, “Alright, you don’t have to take the blame for me. Why don’t I remember you saying that? This is clearly my idea. Don’t even think about snatching my credit.”

Mu Yangling looked at Qi Xiuyuan with sparkling eyes and said, “Big Brother, don’t you want to be the first person ever to do that?”

Fan Zijin was a little speechless. Surely the Emperor wasn’t going to give up his power just because of an empty title?

Just as he was about to speak, Qi Xiuyuan suddenly patted the bed and said with bright eyes, “Not bad, the first person ever to do so!”

This time, it was Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran’s turn to look at Qi Xiuyuan in shock.

For someone who was used to enjoying wielding great power, it was not something that they could easily give up.

Qi Xiuyuan regretted his words instantly. But when he thought about what he had been thinking for the past year, he felt that it was only right.

Mu Yangling might have suggested the abdication on a whim, but he did not agree on a whim.

Qi Xiuyuan had had this thought for a long time.

Ever since the imperial physician said that he did not have long to live, he had wanted to quickly teach his son everything he needed to learn and hand Great Qi to him.

However, later on, his younger brother found him famous doctors to help him recuperate, allowing him to live for another ten years.

However, in the past ten years, because he was focused on taking care of his health, half of the matters in the imperial court were actually assigned to Little Treasure. In other words, the father and son had started ruling Great Qi together for a long time now.

Ever since Haoran brought Ah Ling out to sightsee, Qi Xiuyuan felt as if a tiger had been locked up in his heart. Looking at the specialties and memorabilia that his brother had sent back from all over Great Qi, he yearned for the outside world even more.

This was his Great Qi and his world. Yet, he had never personally gone out to take a look!

Meanwhile, his younger brother and sons had already traveled all over half of Great Qi.

He would grow old in this palace, then gradually deteriorate physically like the previous emperors of the dynasties, and then die. Even though he had contributed more than many emperors, and future generations might think of him as a wise ruler, was his life considered happy compared to his younger brother?

If he did not have someone like Haoran by his side, he would not think too much about it. After all, during his conquest in the north and the south, he had been to many places and gained many experiences. With his supreme power, status, and wealth, he could be said to be the most powerful person in the world.

Alas, there was his younger brother as comparison.

In terms of achievements, Haoran was not inferior to him since he was responsible for conquering half of Great Qi. In the future, he would definitely leave his name in history.

In terms of power and status, although he was only a King, with the Emperor around, he would never have to suffer. Moreover, Qi Haoran was satisfied with this, so he was not inferior to him in this aspect.

In terms of wealth, Qi Xiuyuan could not guarantee that his brother was poorer than him. Although his inner treasury had income, the expenditures were also quite sizable. Furthermore, due to the many natural and man-made disasters happening everywhere this year, he had taken a lot of money from his inner treasury to support the national treasury. Meanwhile, his brother’s income exceeded his expenditure. Thus, Qi Haoran might probably be even richer than him now. It was truly hard to determine who was the wealthier between the two.

But in terms of being carefree and happy, Qi Xiuyuan felt that his younger brother won him by more than 10 times.

Qi Haoran could do whatever he wanted. If he yearned to go out for a sightseeing trip, he could simply pick up his bag and leave with Mu Yangling. As for Qi Xiuyuan, ever since he became the Emperor, he had only taken one leisure trip, and that was to the temporary imperial residence. Merely more than 20 kilometers away from the capital, one could go back and forth between the two places twice in one day.

Qi Xiuyuan was too embarrassed to compare himself to his younger brother.

In the past year or so, he had wanted to abandon government affairs more than once. He wanted to go on tours of inspection to the south, north, and west. In short, he wanted to go wherever it was fun!

But his rationality told him that he couldn’t!

It wasn’t a simple affair for an Emperor to take a trip. One trip cost no less than 200,000 taels, and could even cost up to 500,000 taels if it was an extravagant one. If the local officials wanted to outshine each other, a million taels of silver might be easily wasted.

Being a rational person, Qi Xiuyuan had not forgotten his ideals. As the Emperor, he wanted the commoners to live a good life, not pressurize them. Therefore, he could only keep suppressing his own desires.

Qi Xiuyuan knew in his heart that he was sick of politics!

And all Emperors began to be muddle-headed once they started getting sick of politics. Fearing that he would become like that, Qi Xiuyuan had long wanted to hand over power to the Crown Prince.

But he couldn’t bear to!

He couldn’t bear to part with the throne, power, and even more so, he couldn’t bear to give up on his unfulfilled ambitions. However, deep in his heart, he suspected that if he continued to be the Emperor, he would probably become a muddle-headed ruler, let alone dominate the world and realize his aspirations.

It was precisely because he had such thoughts long ago that when Mu Yangling suggested he abdicated the throne, Qi Xiuyuan only fell silent for a moment before agreeing.

After agreeing, he felt both regretful and relieved.

Sitting on the bed in a daze, he recalled what he had done in his life and could not help but sigh sadly. It was a pity that he had aged too quickly. It was a pity that his health was not good. Otherwise, he could have done more.

Seeing that his big brother’s eyes were red, Qi Haoran thought that he was regretting his words. He immediately instructed Ah Ling and Zijin to leave, then squatted by his bed and whispered, “Big Brother, if you regret it, just tell me. I’ll tell Zijin and Ah Ling not to tell anyone. Anyway, there were only the four of us in the room. No one else knows about it.”

Looking at his shifty-eyed younger brother, the sense of regret vanished. He kicked him off the bed with a frown. “Am I the kind of person who goes back on my word? Since I said I’d abdicate the throne, I’ll do it. Alright, get lost and start making preparations.”

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