Chapter 039: “My lover is taller than me” (01/12)
T/N: The ML and Scum in this arc (as the author said last chapter) are publicly presenting as females in this world. Until they no longer are, I will be trying to use female pronouns when they are in public and male pronouns when with those who know the truth.
Xie Chenyang was lying on the bed while a soft-looking servant bowed down and carefully rubbed medicine on him. His white back was strewn with whip marks.
You Huang: “Does …… it hurt?”
Xie Chenyang gritted his teeth and said, “Send the plot!”
Just after reading the beginning, Xie Chenyang’s complexion changed drastically.
This was a world for women.
The original body, Yu Chen[mfn] Yù Chén (喻)Yù– surname Yu (晨)chén– morning; dawn; daybreak[/mfn], was the concubine son of the governor of Lanzhou.
And the scum, Liu Yuan, was the son of the governor’s house manager; because of his father’s delay in giving birth to a daughter, and in order for the status as house manager not to be shaken, his father fraudulently claimed that he was a daughter.
His mother’s concubines then gave birth to several daughters, and Liu Yuan’s father had no more children since then, so Liu Yuan continued to disguise himself as a woman.
When the concubine sisters had married and started having children, in order not to be discarded by his mother, Liu Yuan married Yu Chen, an introverted coward whom he had known since childhood.
On the day of their marriage, he beat Yu Chen half to death, and after that, he warned him that if he dared to reveal his real identity, he would be killed. The timid Yu Chen, who wasn’t favored in his family, could only endure this suffering all by himself.
Liu Yuan was an ambitious person; he had long colluded with another country’s undercover agent. After the wedding, he was recommended by his mother to serve in the Prefectural Office. He quietly obtained a large quantity of intel to send out and dreamt that once this place was overthrown by the other country, he would be able to become a government official.
Unfortunately, the people sent by the other country who took over the city didn’t like his traitorous deeds and ignored him, favoring other officials instead.
Regrettably, the city official had already killed himself and his family on the day the city collapsed while leaving Yu Chen, the married-off son of a concubine, behind.
The people in charge took pity on Yu Chen and didn’t make him lose his wife and master, leaving him with Liu Yuan, who he couldn’t stand.
Liu Yuan also saw the situation clearly–no longer abusing and scolding Yu Chen, but instead, being gentle in all aspects.
Xie Chenyang’s eyes flashed with a hint of violence: [So, the injuries on my body are all from Liu Yuan?]
You Huang: “Yes, these are the latest injuries, just a few days old. Now that the new governor has just taken over the office, Liu Yuan realized his position, and since yesterday, he has been very gentle with the original body.”
Xie Chenyang: [Heh.]
The junior attendant moved gingerly to give him medicine while murmuring, “Why do you need to be stubborn with your wife, my lord? Since we are already the people of your wife’s family, we should ……”
Xie Chenyang: “Get out!”
“My lord ……”
“Roll.”
The little attendant’s eyes reddened slightly before setting down the medicine bowl and rushing out.
You Huang: “He is probably concerned that you have angered Liu Yuan, and the one who suffers will be himself.”
The original Yu Chen knew Liu Yuan’s identity, and also knew that the two little attendants he had gotten were used to cover his tracks. He had never touched them, except to treat them as decorations.
Xie Chenyang buried his head in the pillow and sullenly mumbled, [Ah-Huang, it hurts a little.]
You Huang: “Don’t move.”
[Unh.]
A cold hand dipped in wet slippery medicine wiped his back.
Xie Chenyang wanted to turn around, but a hand pressed his head back onto the pillow.
You Huang: “I told you not to move.”
The medicine You Huang was using was much better than the one used by the young servant before.
As the pain gradually subsided, Xie Chenyang drifted off under You Huang’s fingers and fought to remain awake. [You can turn into a human being?]
You Huang: “Hmm.”
With his head down, he rubbed the medicine on each lash wound that mottled Xie Chenyang’s back systematically, and a few strands of his long hair strayed and brushed across Xie Chenyang’s side, causing him to tense up.
[Ha, a little ticklish.]
Xie Chenyang wanted to turn around again, but his head was firmly pinned down by You Huang.
[I can’t breathe.]
You Huang: “You won’t die.”
[Do you look ugly, afraid of me seeing?]
You Huang quietly said, “We systems have a rule–once you have witnessed our physical appearance, you must marry that system. Does Host want to marry me?”
Xie Chenyang immediately ceased the idea: [I am not going to betray my lover; you can only ever be my mother.]
You Huang was so angry that his hands pressed down even harder.
Xie Chenyang: “Hiss–”
“If you want to call, then you can call me Daddy.”
[Ah-Huang, you have changed.]
You Huang: “Any more of your shenanigans, and I’ll record this scene for your lover to see.”
Xie Chenyang was puzzled: [Is there a problem with this?]
Xie Chenyang pondered for a moment and approved: [Record it, so that he can see what kind of beatings I’ve gotten, and specify that he has to be heartbroken; and then, I can do whatever I want on the basis of his heartache.]
“You’re dreaming.”
After medicating every whip mark, You Huang let him go and disappeared.
“You’re naked while spread out on the bed; there is a man giving you medicine. If your lover sees it, he’ll be too angry to let you into his room and you still think you can do whatever you want to do? Scoff.”
Ah-Huang really changed.
He used to be so good, ah; now he will also scoff at him.
Footsteps sounded outside the door.
Xie Chenyang sat up, grabbing the robe resting on the side and quickly wrapped himself in it. Just after tying his belt, the door pushed open.
Liu Yuan’s features were flat; he had deliberately drawn his eyebrows thickly to appear imposing, but his eyes were not righteous. At a glance, he did not look like a good person.
He wore a gorgeous dress and squeezed out a touch of gentleness when he saw Xie Chenyang. “Ah-Chen, are you feeling better?”
Xie Chenyang’s five fingers clenched slightly.
You Huang: “Don’t be impulsive. For the sake of his identity, Liu Yuan grew up practicing martial arts and Yu Chen grew up pampered. He has been abused and mistreated for quite a long time. Now his body is fragile and has many injuries, both new and old, so you will probably lose if you fight.”
Even if Xie Chenyang could explode with power, this body would not be able to withstand it.
Seeing that he didn’t reply, Liu Yuan thought that he was still angry and grieving. He pressed down the impatience in his heart and stepped forward. “I know that you are saddened by the deaths of your mother-in-law and the others, but the Yao Kingdom’s military strength is formidable, so I’m also looking out for the people of Lanzhou City.”
Xie Chenyang looked up with a sneer and hooked his lips. “After planning it all out, you didn’t get the position of governor that you wanted nor did you get your mother’s position as a canonical historian. How does it feel being a commoner again?”
Liu Yuan’s face darkened, his eyes gloomy. “You’d better conduct yourself like you used to.”
He didn’t expect Xie Chenyang to dare to talk back to him and even know about his ambitions; it seemed that he used to conceal his demeanor before, and as soon as his family passed away, it was like a shattered pot.
Xie Chenyang: “I’m sorry. I don’t know what good behavior looks like. Why don’t you demonstrate for me?”
“Yu Chen, are you looking for death?” Liu Yuan’s hand touched the flexible whip wrapped around his waist.
A feminine voice rang out from outside, “Madam, Lady Fan has arrived.”
Liu Yuan’s hand lurched and frowned. “Put your clothes on properly and follow me to the front yard.”
Xie Chenyang slowly and methodically put on his outer robe.
Liu Yuan: “You are not adding a middle robe? Just an outer robe?”
Xie Chenyang said impatiently, “I have so many injuries on my back. The inner robes you have given me will only add to my injuries if I wear them. Perhaps you can get me new and more comfortable inner robes. Or simply go by yourself–I won’t go to disgrace myself.”
Liu Yuan’s eyes chilled.
It wasn’t an illusion.
This person really did stop pretending and give up on himself because his family died out.
Liu Yuan: “Just leave it at that. Don’t say what you shouldn’t say; be silent. Otherwise, your injuries will never heal.”
Xie Chenyang didn’t agree, nor did he refuse.
Lady Fan was also known as Fan Wenze[mfn] Fàn Wēnzé (范)Fàn– surname Fan (温)wēn– warm; lukewarm; temperature; to warm up; mild; soft; tender; to review (a lesson etc); fever (TCM); old variant of 瘟[wen1] (泽)zé– pool; pond; (of metals etc) luster; favor or beneficence; damp; moist[/mfn]. She was the one who was sent by the Yao Kingdom to take over Lanzhou City, and was also the new governor of Lanzhou City.
She treated the original officials with courtesy and also admired the previous governor who went to her death honorably; so even though Fan Wenze couldn’t stand to see people like Liu Yuan, she couldn’t bear the thought of making Yu Chen lose his wife and master and be all alone. Thus she just removed the Liu family’s official position and didn’t make things too difficult for them.
This time, she had come to the Liu residence to see Yu Chen and visit Liu Yuan. At the same time, she also wanted to show the people of Lanzhou City that even though the city had been occupied by the Yao Kingdom, their new governor was good and loved and cherished talents and people.
In the short time she had been in office, she managed to straighten out the city’s public order and gained the respect of some of the people by making it clear that she was taking control of all the injustices.
They didn’t care who was in charge of them; they only cared if they could have a good life.
Xie Chenyang was lazily following behind Liu Yuan in his flimsy robe; he wanted to kill him several times, but held back.
His current body was still too weak, and he was swaying even as he walked.
Although he might be able to fight it out and finish off Liu Yuan, he was afraid that he’d be stuck in the Liu Mansion afterward.
That wouldn’t do–he still had to survive and find his lover.
In the front yard.
Fan Wenze stood in the courtyard with arms folded behind her back and her guards scattered around her, not too far away but not close.
She was dressed in a striking blue robe with her hair tied up high in a ponytail and a jade pendant hung at her waist. There was no superfluous ornamentation, and yet her upright posture and powerful muscles made it clear at a glance that she was a “woman”.
Yes, in this world, women grew sturdy, men grew petite.
In this regard, You Huang explained, “In this world, men are impregnated and women are born with a little more strength, but mostly developed afterward.”
The men were pampered while the women were roughly raised; the men were nurtured in the depths of the home and ate less while the women ate a lot because of the expenditure of labor …… Over time, women stood taller than the men, and were stronger than men appeared as well.
Fan Wenze and Liu Yuan were in the same position–both were men and disguising themselves as women.
But Liu Yuan dressing up as a woman was a deliberate attempt by his father to strengthen his position, and the rest of the Liu family did not know anything about it. Only he and his father knew.
As for Fan Wenze, it was because he was sickly from a young age, and a wandering master predicted that the only way for him to live was to be raised as a daughter, so he was raised as one. Outsiders all thought he was a daughter; only his family knew he was a man.
Xie Chenyang listened to You Huang telling him Fan Wenze’s biography and spat, “Being raised as a daughter–you can eat a lot, exercise a lot, and your body is very good.”
Unlike the original Yu Chen, even if he was a concubine’s son, he was still the son of the governor.
Since childhood, he had been pampered, unable to do anything, not to mention his stunted growth; his strength was also weak. After being married to Liu Yuan and then being abused to death, the body was even more feeble.
Xie Chenyang recognized instantly when he saw Fan Wenze. [This is my lover!]
You Huang: “How do you recognize him?”
Although Fan Wenze’s stature was straight, and he had a strong body with hidden muscles,and a beautiful face, the kind of neutral beauty that did not differentiate between the sexes, he looked like he would have a gentle temperament. But in reality, he was solitary and cold, not quite the same as before.
[Intuition.]
You Huang: “……” Fine.
Liu Yuan, with a pleased smile, approached. “Lady Fan, this is my husband, Yu Chen.”
Fan Wenze turned around, revealing his charming face, and smiled gently. “Mr. Liu.”
Xie Chenyang’s face darkened. “Don’t call me that.”
Fan Wenze was a bit startled. “Then how do you want me to call you?”
[Call me husband.]
Xie Chenyang: “Just call me Ah-Chen.”
You Huang: “Snort.” If you have the ability to think it, you should have the ability to say it.
Fan Wenze, a beat: “This …… I’m afraid it’s inappropriate.”
Liu Yuan clenched his fists, suppressing the anger in his heart. He wanted to turn back and punish Xie Chenyang again, but smiled instead. “He doesn’t know how to be polite. I hope that Lady Fan will not be offended.”
T/N: MC is the neglected husband of secretly cross-dressing ‘wife'(this arcs scum). ML is also a hidden male but his family did it for his survival.
Males can give birth (Mpreg?) but no mention of any other biological changes to either genders. Implied that females get stronger because they are allowed to exercise and eat till full.
On the Mpreg, no actual mpreg happens as male-male can not fertilize.
Edit: Krone
Proofread: Choux_choux
