He was too talented, so everything came too easily.
That was a lie.
Yun Xuan only realized in this life that it was a lie.
In his past life, he had always been subjected to such praise. He usually paid it no mind, because such compliments were often followed by admonitions to be cautious and conservative, with sayings like, “The tree that stands tallest in the forest will be the first to be broken by the wind.” It couldn’t compare to a courtesan in a brothel cooing, “Young Master Yun,” followed by an even more delicate, “For Young Master Yun to be willing to dote on me is truly a blessing I must have earned in a past life.”
Nor could it compare to the dejection of his uncle’s eldest son, who, despite being five years older, had failed to even pass the county-level imperial examination. He was forced by his uncle to recite texts outside in the dead of winter, and in the end, could only hang his head and ask his younger cousin for guidance.
Don’t misunderstand. Yun Xuan had once been a gentleman, at least in the eyes of the people of his time. Whether he measured up to the gentlemen described in the classics was another matter entirely.
He would not humiliate others for such things. He gave that courtesan a generous reward and shared his examination strategies with his cousin in full detail.
Yun Xuan did not act out of malice; he wanted to be a gentleman.
But that didn’t stop him from identifying with this superior treatment. It was true—he was a dragon among men, a member of the ruling class destined to strategize for the common people.
He would fulfill his responsibilities and enjoy his glory, because it was all his due.
However, his experiences over the past few months had told him otherwise.
He still possessed extraordinary intelligence and resilience, and even his handsome face and graceful bearing remained. The Yun family of this world was no worse off than his family in his previous life, yet he had gone from a young master being flattered in a brothel to a courtesan flattering others.
Yes, everything he had now was not reliant on his intellect—at least, most of it wasn’t. Most of it was because he was carrying a child in his belly, and because he was willing to greet the Third Princess with a smile.
Otherwise, Yun Xuan knew very well that he had little value left. He had brought the Third Princess out from Golden Phoenix Star and eliminated a powerful rival for her. Now she was a hot commodity, and there were plenty of people who could take his place. The people of this era weren’t particularly brilliant strategists, but they could use machines to arrive at many correct conclusions.
In fact, the fatal blow against Clarence had been a decision made by a machine. His own decision had been assassination—a clean end to the problem.
But the machine said that the Third Princess did not yet have a complete advantage, and that an heir who assassinated their own sibling would be abandoned by the Empress.
Abandoned?
Yun Xuan was puzzled.
The emperor of his time had ascended the throne by killing four or five of his own brothers. The old emperor had not abandoned him; he had even helped him eliminate the remnants of his brothers’ factions.
Ah, he had forgotten again. This was a fragile world.
The people here had hardly seen any blood. They were all like his sister, living their entire lives in a greenhouse.
Speaking of his sister, Yun Xuan looked up at the optical screen to his side. On it was Yun Chuji’s innocent and unaggressive face. She was currently discussing something—something very ancient, something that could be considered an antique in the Empire. Yun Xuan didn’t know what it was.
That thing was called a condom.
“Condoms were widely used during the Federation era, but they weren’t actually so widespread from the very beginning. According to historical records, condoms were invented before contraceptive pills. In even more distant times, condoms made from fish bladders and sheep intestines existed. However, they were only used on very rare occasions, typically a privilege enjoyed only by high officials and nobles. With the development of industry, the cost of producing condoms dropped significantly, but people at the time were still unwilling to use them.”
“The reason is simple. Yes, it reduces sexual pleasure. At the same time, men in that two-gender era did not have to bear the burden of childbirth, so they were both ignorant of and dismissive of the price paid for it. That’s right, just like the alphas of our era.”
“But later, with the invention of contraceptive pills and the development of abortion procedures, young girls and mothers could finally escape from endless domestic chores. Driven by the feminist movement, condoms became a necessity for sex. So, you see, only by fighting for power can one gain rights. This is also why I have always insisted on the omega rights movement.”
Yun Xuan had little interest in listening to what else Yun Chuji had to say. He searched for information on condoms, researching their history and their present, very thoroughly.
Suddenly, Yun Xuan froze.
Then he let out a soft chuckle, which grew louder and louder, even attracting the attention of the AI servant. Still laughing, he waved his hand. “I’m fine. Hahahahahahaha! I just did something foolish, that’s all.”
What am I doing? he asked himself.
How could he have been playing this game of house with Yun Chuji?
Her intention was perfectly clear. She just wanted to use this method to draw people’s attention to contraception.
Contraception. What a distant term.
In the more than six months since Yun Xuan had arrived here, he had not heard that word from anyone’s lips. And yet, the act of contraception was definitely happening. Otherwise, the child in his belly would not be the Third Princess’s first child.
Ah, he had forgotten something else.
There was also abortion. But even with abortion, it couldn’t explain why his was the only third-generation child in the imperial family. After all, the only specialty of the monsters of this era was having children.
But because they cared so much about having children, children were often linked to marriage, and marriage was linked to interests. So they used contraception, but they didn’t talk about it.
Meanwhile, those at the bottom of society, for whom marriage was just marriage, had no such concerns. They had children one after another, and their children died one after another due to their terrible living conditions.
This was a greenhouse. There were no fierce beasts here.
But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a food chain. People always needed to rely on others to prove themselves, and a partner was undoubtedly the easiest way. Omegas withered in this process of proving, and they fled from it.
Contraception. Omegas desperately wanted contraception, but they couldn’t easily achieve it, because the very word had long since vanished from the Empire.
After the Activation War, the Empire’s population was less than half of the Federation’s. The vast, sparsely populated lands persisted for a long time, and so did the glory of childbirth.
There was a time when the people of the Empire truly saw childbirth as the greatest happiness. Not just alphas and omegas; even betas, who had no pheromones, never took contraceptive measures.
Why use contraception?
Only people from the Federation use contraception!
We people of the Empire must carry on human civilization!
This tradition, which had lasted for over three hundred years, was now beginning to show signs of cracking with the rise of omega rights. People still didn’t talk about contraception, but delayed marriages and AO couples sleeping in separate rooms too early undoubtedly had only one purpose.
However, people at least weren’t openly exploring methods of contraception. They were only achieving this goal indirectly, and such matters were mostly led by omegas, since it was always omegas who gave birth.
And now his reckless sister, with her naive demeanor, was once again about to start a wildfire.
How interesting. He had almost been fooled by her. She always liked to take old things, give them new packaging, and present them to the world, sparking people’s endless curiosity while catering to the desires in their hearts.
But in reality, it was just an old thing.
It looked novel, but it had been discarded long ago.
If only she were willing to use others, Yun Xuan thought, then she would be a member of the Yun family capable of leaving the greenhouse.
This thought swirled in his mind, and not even the nausea of speaking with the Third Princess could suppress the impulse.
Finally, after planning a major event, he made the call.
Yun Chuji answered quickly. It was already evening, so it seemed she wasn’t busy.
“Elder Brother, what did you need?”
The voice that came through the receiver was still intimate, as if they were still living together in that three-courtyard house.
Yun Xuan’s cold heart trembled inexplicably. This was the sister he had watched grow up, the one he was supposed to escort to her husband’s door on her wedding day. And now, she was the only family he had left.
“Chuniang, would you be willing to enjoy the moon with your elder brother tonight?”
There was a brief silence on Yun Chuji’s end, followed by a slightly cheerful reply. “Of course, Elder Brother. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“…I remember, back when our family would watch the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, Nanny Li would make lots of plum blossom cakes. All the children in the family could eat their fill, and on that day, Mother wouldn’t stop us from eating sweets.”
“…Then wait for me for a bit, Elder Brother. I’ll bring the plum blossom cakes and come find you.”
Yun Chuji wanted to say more, but she didn’t know how to begin. She had never imagined this day would come, that her elder brother would be willing to open his heart to her.
Even if it was just a start, it was much better than his previous cold, indifferent state, where he seemed like a walking corpse. Yun Chuji was thrilled. She chatted with Yun Xuan for a little longer before they both realized that talking like this was just delaying their meeting, so they quickly hung up.
Yun Chuji’s eyes were sparkling, but Tang Jianxi, sitting beside her, was not so pleased.
The reason for her displeasure was quite direct, and anyone who walked into the room could see it clearly—after all, both of them were half-undressed.
It was rather embarrassing, but the reason Yun Chuji had answered the phone so quickly was that the two of them had just been playing a game on their optical computers.
Just a small puzzle game, but the loser had to remove an article of clothing.
The call from Yun Xuan, made in a moment of hesitation, had interrupted Yun Chuji’s predicament of being about to lose her fourth piece of clothing.
This was perhaps the first time in this life that this elder brother had extended a helping hand to his sister.
Even if it was unintentional, it had saved Yun Chuji from the dilemma of choosing between baring her upper body or her lower body.
Tang Jianxi propped her chin on her hand, looking regretfully at the little fruit she had almost finished peeling.
Tsk, now she had to go see the moon with another omega.
Ancient people were so melodramatic.
Tang Jianxi wouldn’t admit that she, too, was being a little melodramatic.
Meeting Tang Jianxi’s resentful gaze, Yun Chuji finally calmed down from her excitement and realized she was caught between her wife and her brother.
However, Yun Chuji naturally had a solution. First, she programmed the recipe for plum blossom cakes into the optical computer.
Ah, although Yun Chuji was a disaster at cooking, it had to be said that she was always quite good at remembering recipes. She could talk about them with others with great expertise, which added considerable weight to her reputation as the virtuous eldest daughter of the Yun family.
It would be a little while before the plum blossom cakes were ready.
She planned to use this time to appease her wife.
First, she went to her wife’s side for a lingering kiss, making sure to hold her wife’s hands to prevent her from getting mischievous and stripping her bare—truly, in her current state, it would be very easy to be stripped bare, and putting clothes on… that would only make Tang Jianxi more resentful.
Then, with lips glistening from the kiss, she continued to coax her.
Coaxing, naturally, had to be done with kisses. She had always loved kissing Tang Jianxi, and she loved kissing every part of her.
Tang Jianxi also loved kissing her. In fact, her kissing technique had been guided by Tang Jianxi—after all, only the foot knows if the shoe fits.
As Yun Chuji kissed her, she thought, I just need to make the pleasure of the kiss overwhelm her annoyance at the interrupted game. This wasn’t difficult. She was happy to do it; she loved seeing the look of pleasure on Tang Jianxi’s face.
Tang Jianxi leaned back against the sofa, her eyes half-closed, feeling both annoyed and amused. She reached out and vigorously ruffled that fluffy head of hair, but halfway through, her hand softened.
Tang Jianxi took a few breaths, then said with slightly pursed lips, “You certainly work fast.”
She muttered again, “It seems your usual shyness is just an act. Tsk, the little antique has learned some bad habits.”
Yun Chuji didn’t want to be slandered for no reason. She quickly changed her approach, freeing her mouth to speak, and stammered, “I’m shy… because Jianxi is too beautiful.”
Then she buried her head as if embarrassed.
Tang Jianxi took a soft breath, her hand beginning to knead the alpha’s soft ear.
She glanced down at her own, still relatively neat clothes and realized Yun Chuji had a point—hmm, she wasn’t a fool like Yun Chuji. She had started undressing from the inside out.
So, Tang Jianxi pinched Yun Chuji’s earlobe with her right hand and pulled at the hem of her own shirt with her left. “If that’s the case, then I’ll just take this off.”
Yun Chuji’s earlobe turned completely red.
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