I [Imperial] Am Not This Kind of Man

Translated by Daed (@itsanotherreader)
Proofread by Salty (@EvilPecko)

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Last edited 12/10/20.

When he returned to the wing he resided in, the eunuch who waited upon Qin Nuo—Li Wan—came out to welcome him.

While attending to Qin Nuo as he changed his outer robe, Li Wan asked, “Your Highness, Lü He had come running back earlier soaking wet. This kind of behavior is utterly unacceptable. How about we use this reason to kick her out for one who is more obedient and sensible?”

Qin Nuo did not agree, “Now that Father Emperor is seriously ill, it is hectic in the palace. How can we trouble the House of Internal Affairs over this kind of trivial matter?”

“If you ask me, there’s no need to trouble the House of Internal Affairs. So long as we send her over to the other side, anything’s fine.” Li Wan gestured towards the West Wing with his mouth.

“No, this time she’s embarrassed herself. Presumably Lü He will stay low for a few days.” Qin Nuo sighed. With Consort Ge Xian’s power, he was afraid that there was no difference even if they exchanged her for another servant. Not to mention that Consort Ge Xian had always been known for her harsh temperament, enough for the palace workers to respect and fear her. If Lü He was really sent back, it probably wouldn’t be long before she was beaten to death under some random excuse.

Li Wan understood his scruples, unable to resist muttering, “Your Highness is too kind.” Yet he didn’t raise any other objections.

After attending to Qin Nuo, Li Wan went out to call for the meal.

Qin Nuo was left alone in the room. He closely scrutinized the exquisite face reflected in the mirror. One good thing about this body was that it has perfectly inherited its mother Consort Chen’s appearance. With exquisite eyebrows and a slim build, it was really easy to make people mistake him for a girl if he changed into female attire.

Just as he was assessing his appearance, a figure suddenly pounced from behind the cabinet.

Qin Nuo didn’t dodge. He only held out a hand, firmly blocking the other.

“Older Brother.” The girl’s cute voice sounded. Her looks were 70-80% similar to Qin Nuo’s. This was his twin sister, 13th Princess Qin Zhi.

She angrily smacked away the hand that Qin Nuo propped upon her forehead, “It’s always like this. You look skinnier than me; how do you have such strength!”

“Who told you to eat so much? You’re getting fatter and fatter, like a round ball.”

“You eat way more than me, okay?” Qin Zhi huffed. She wasn’t wrong, Qin Nuo’s appetite was almost double or triple hers. Who even knows where all that food goes?

Due to Consort Chen’s early death, the Qin Nuo siblings had a very close relationship. Regarding her brother beginning to understand things properly in this half-year, no longer being as dim-witted, Qin Zhi was full of joy. She could never imagine that her own brother had already died when he had fallen severely ill a few months ago and that the one now who had woken up was someone else.

Regarding this clingy “cheap”1sister, Qin Nuo quite liked her. Especially since he had inherited Qin Nuo’s identity, so he ought to take good care of his family.

Qin Nuo asked offhandedly, “Why did you come over again today? I thought you would be with the two Royal Sisters.”

According to Da Zhou’s palace rules, the princes must move out to live alone once they are of school age. On the other hand, the princesses can continue to stay under the care of the consorts. Of course, excluding the princesses like Qin Zhi who didn’t have a mother consort.

There were three such princesses, respectively Ninth Princess, 12th Princess, and 13th Princess Qin Zhi. The three of them lived together in the Shun De Palace2 on the north side of Si Yue Lake.

“Lately, I can’t live in the Shun De Palace. Ninth Royal Sister and 12th Royal Sister wash their faces every day with their tears, I can’t even bear to watch.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I heard that there were court officials who sent scrolls up in court again today, bringing up the political union with Bei Shuo3. Who wants to marry those barbarians?”

Bei Shuo was located to the north of Da Zhou. It was where all the nomadic tribes were. They were originally Da Zhou’s vassal, paying annual tributes to the officials as subjects, hoping for some rewards in return. This was the case until, decades ago, an outstanding genius emerged from a tribe. He unified the tribes, founding a country which he reigned over. They quickly became powerful. At first, they still maintained the tradition of referring themselves as subjects of Da Zhou. Two generations later, they began to reverse their position from a guest to the owner, causing trouble at the northern border and becoming a major problem.

On the other hand, Da Zhou has had repeated civil unrest in recent decades, especially the Chaos of the Four Princes, which caused great damage to the whole court. Although Emperor Jing Yao finally successfully ascended to the throne, the powers in the court were very complicated and Emperor Jing Yao himself wasn’t a person of great talent. Hence, the authority of the court has been deteriorating day by day over the years.

No matter how one looked at it, it looked like the downfall of the imperial dynasty!

Qin Nuo heaved a melancholic sigh. It hadn’t been easy for him to live the nice life of not worrying about food and wear; he did not want to return to the days before his liberation within one dynasty.

If it was about political marriage, there was only so few princesses in court right now who were of suitable age and unmarried; the others had mother consorts and family clans to depend on, so the one who would be chosen was most likely going to be either the Ninth Princess or 12th Princess. The two of them were both born from a mother consort of low birth who died early and had no brothers in the palace to rely on; they could only live their days in the court with caution.

Qin Nuo couldn’t help but be glad that Qin Zhi was still quite young; she didn’t need to worry about this.

As they were talking, Li Wan led the attendants over to send dinner. He turned a blind eye to Qin Zhi’s appearance in the room. Clearly, he already knew that the 13th Princess came.

Two palace girls set up a dozen cups and saucers one after another. Then they retreated out of the room.

Qin Zhi picked up her chopsticks excitedly, “I feel more at ease when I eat over here. No need to listen to those old nannies4 nag.”

There were many rules in the palace. Qin Zhi had a lively nature; her days at the Shun De Palace were extremely unpleasant. Although those lady etiquette female officers would not openly bully a princess, they naturally did not have as much respect for the princesses who didn’t have a background.

Every time, Qin Nuo couldn’t resist being grateful that he had transmigrated into a male body. In this patriarchal time, even if it was a royal princess, they were not free.

“I heard that Bei Shuo has a very cold climate; the winter snow can bury a person whole. Ninth Royal Sister has frigophobia. If she can’t even bear it in the palace, how will she live out her days if she goes over there?”

Qin Nuo also sighed, but there was nothing that he could do.

While stuffing honey ham into her mouth, Qin Zhi muttered disgruntled, “Might as well call upon Great General Pei; I bet he’ll beat that gang of thieves down to the ground.”

Qin Nuo’s heart moved, he asked, “Why would you think of Great General Pei?”

“That’s what everyone’s been saying recently in the palace. If we have General Pei take action, why would we still need to worry about those Bei Shuo barbarians?”

A huge wave rose in Qin Nuo’s heart. The Great General Pei Ling was an exceptional and famous general in the Da Zhou dynasty. In the last decade or so, almost all of Da Zhou’s most glorious military feats were his doing.

Just ten years ago, there was still a north and south to confront. Nan Chen5 had seceded the Jiang Nan for nearly a century. It was Pei Ling who led the army to capture its capital, Jian Yi City, unifying the land. Then he went up north to fight Bei Shuo, destroying hundreds of thousands of its elite troops. Even the king’s war-tent was forced to retreat three hundred miles to avoid the warfront.

This kind of world-class talent, this kind of top-class achievement, there was virtually nothing else that the court could reward him with. After all, as early as the time when Nan Chen was destroyed, Pei Ling was already a first-ranked Great General. So after repelling the Huns6, the court added to his rank to take the post of Marshal. This position had only been held by the crown prince when Da Zhou was first established. The crown prince had been known for his bravery. Even the fellow first-ranked Prime Minister had to yield to Pei Ling.

But he refused to accept such glory. He continuously sent scrolls up in protest, his tone full of humility and respect.

Yet the surface-level humility could not dispel the fear that the emperor and the court held towards him. After all, after so many years of war, almost all of the high-ranking military officers abided by his orders. Half of Da Zhou’s elite troops were in his hands.

Qin Nuo flipped through historical figures in his mind. This imposing manner was only comparable to Cao Cao7 or Sima Yi8.

How could the emperor be at ease with a person like this! Especially when there was a grudge and resentment between Pei Ling and the Qin imperial clan based on the elimination of a whole clan!

The Pei family had also once been a huge clan in Da Zhou. Pei Ling himself had been Emperor Jing Yao’s young school companion. Unfortunately, the elders got involved in the political struggle, resulting in the ransacking of their house and elimination of the clan. All the children were exiled to the frontier. Pei Ling himself had started from being a foot soldier at the frontier, forcibly paving his own path to reach the position that he held today.

Such a strong, heaven-defying figure was truly a threat to the court. Last year, when the frontier stabilized, the court used Great General Pei’s old wounds relapsing as an excuse to call him back to the capital to heal. They temporarily removed the military power from his hands. However, this year, as the Huns plundered the border, the defending troops kept losing and retreating. The calls asking the court for Pei Ling’s return increased every day, and now it was even being discussed in the palace.

This kind of situation regarding public opinion made Qin Nuo unable to resist from remembering how back in the day, everyone on the street knew what was on Sima Zhao’s mind9.

The figure who the heart of the military leaned towards, the hope of the people, the target of the emperor’s suspicions, bearer of an eliminated clan’s grudge; any of these points were the harbinger of the yellow robe being worn on the body!

“Older Brother, why aren’t you eating anymore? Don’t you still have to go wait upon the ill tonight?” Perhaps Qin Nuo pondered for too long; Qin Zhi couldn’t resist calling out to remind him.

Qin Nuo came back to his senses, forcing himself to eat. He may have to stay up tonight.

Ever since Emperor Jing Yao fell sick last month, all the princes had to wait upon the ill. Fortunately, Qin Nuo was an unfavored prince; he only had to go once every couple days.

After eating dinner, soon there was an officer from Qian Yun Palace who came to guide over two princes. Tonight, it was Qin Nuo and Qin Ze.

If you were close in age, then you were always assigned together. Towards the court’s mechanical operation for affairs, Qin Nuo was a little speechless. It wasn’t like he liked being stuck together with Qin Ze all day. Even if the kid didn’t look bad, it couldn’t overcome how annoying it was when he was out for you every time.

See, they’ve just met up and it’s already started.

“Ninth Brother, you’re late. There’s no need to eat so much for dinner; they have sweets in the Qian Yun Palace too.” Qin Ze always acted courteous and polite when there were others around.

Qin Nuo rolled his eyes internally and returned an impish grin, “Thanks for Tenth Brother’s concern. Wasn’t it just that I was thinking that I could only have the energy to properly attend to Father Emperor if I’m full?” Who can’t act out a scene of brotherly comradery and respect? I can do that too.

Qin Ze turned his head expressionlessly, not wanting to see this smile.

“As expected, Ninth Highness is stupid. He can’t even hear the mockery in Tenth Highness’ words.” Eunuch Wang who came to guide them thought, smiling as he said, “If Your Highnesses are ready, let us head over.”

Footnotes

Cheap in that she came with this identity, as his twin sister. 顺德 – Shun De北朔 – Bei Shuo or “North North/Beginning/First (day of the lunar month)”Elderly female servants, in this case.南陈- Nan Chen, South Chen匈奴- Xiongnu (Huns)曹操- Cao Cao (1552-220), a famous statesman and general at the end of the Han dynasty, later warlord, founder and first king of Cao Wei, father of Emperor Cao Pi; the main antagonist of the historical fiction novel The Romance of Three Kingdoms.司马懿 –Sima Yi (179-251), warlord under Cao Cao and subsequently founder of the Jin dynasty, father of Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. “Everyone on the street knows what’s on Sima Zhao’s mind” (司馬昭之心, 路人皆知)—this is an idiom meaning that a person’s intentions (i.e. usurping the throne) is so obvious and well-known, it’s like an open secret. Sima Zhao (211-265) was a military general and statesman of Cao Wei—the most powerful of the Three Kingdoms, established as a dynasty by Cao Pi (Cao Cao’s son). Following his father Sima Yi and his brother Sima Shi, he continued to develop the power of the Sima family, and his power surpassed the imperial court. This idiom came from a quote by Cao Mao, the fourth emperor of Wei (Cao Wei), who launched an unsuccessful crusade against Sima Zhao to take back imperial power.