TMWTGD CH94

One year later.

The Star Palace.

Xie Jianwei sat at the head of the long table, not saying a single word.

The row of ministers below sat perfectly upright, not daring to breathe too loudly.

With Xie Jianwei remaining silent, the atmosphere in the entire conference room was stretched to its absolute limit, as if they had accidentally plummeted into a void, the suffocating lack of oxygen leaving everyone at a loss.

The minds of those in power were already hard to read, and figuring out what this wise lord was thinking was even more impossible to fathom.

After the stalemate lasted for five minutes, a young man finally dropped to his knees with a thud, his voice trembling as he spoke, “My Lord! This subordinate’s heart is filled with absolute loyalty. Everything this subordinate does is for you, My Lord…”

Xie Jianwei interrupted him with an icy glare. “Absolute loyalty? You are loyal to me, but what about the Marshal? What about the entire Empire?”

This young official was probably driven mad by the desire to climb the ranks. He stubbornly insisted, “You are far more suited to govern the entire Empire. You are the true, enlightened ruler who can earn the reverence of the people. This subject is more willing to pledge allegiance to you!”

Xie Jianwei sneered, “Pledge allegiance to me? Sun Bi, did your ten years of hard study go to the dogs? Is this what the Central Academy taught you? You keep proclaiming yourself a veteran official of the Federation, so tell me, what is the motto of the Central Academy’s School of Politics?”

Sun Bi kept his head bowed extremely low, but didn’t dare remain silent. “Born of the people, loyal to the people.”

Xie Jianwei repeated, “Loyal to the people.”

His voice wasn’t loud, but every word carried a thousand pounds of weight, smashing directly into the hearts of everyone present.

Xie Jianwei said, “You all followed me through life and death to get to this point. I have no need to waste words with you.”

He paused. The circle of people in the room didn’t dare make a sound, keeping their heads bowed in unison.

Xie Jianwei slowly stood up, his dark eyes sweeping over everyone present as he spoke in a steady, calm voice, “The Galactic Empire. If I truly wanted it, would I have needed to wait until today?”

This was a sentence that could truly be called arrogant to the extreme, but fatally, it was this very sentence that knocked sense into everyone present.

Xie Jianwei said, “The position of Marshal, the throne of the Emperor… if I truly wanted them, would I even need your help?”

It was a true awakening. The entire circle of people instantly raised their heads, each face revealing a look of bewilderment.

Xie Jianwei slammed his hand on the table, forcefully jolting these fools back to their senses.

They all quickly lowered their heads again.

Xie Jianwei: “Heads up!”

The “quails” hurriedly and obediently raised their heads.

Xie Jianwei still wore a cold expression, but his tone had softened slightly. “My heart’s desire is the peace of the Empire, the well-being of the people, and the stable development of humanity for thousands of years to come!”

They nodded vigorously.

Xie Jianwei’s voice grew much harder. “But what are you doing? The galaxy has just been pacified, the Empire has just been established. Instead of working for the benefit of the people and expanding our frontiers, every single one of you is scheming to divide the regime. Just what are your intentions!”

This was a massive accusation. The entire group stepped away from the table and knelt in a uniform row before him.

Xie Jianwei said with disdain, “Get up.”

No one dared to move. Xie Jianwei walked over and kicked them one by one, scolding them as he went, “Grow a brain, all of you! I promoted you because of your talents. Don’t use your abilities on these crooked paths. If you pull any more stunts, I’ll go back to the Marshal’s estate and never step foot outside for the rest of my life!”

These words clearly stimulated them even more. The one who was especially “loyal” was already wailing, “My Lord… please don’t!”

Xie Jianwei rewarded him with an extra kick. “Li Chenxing, let me tell you this: my greatest wish in this life is to stay by Lu Li’s side and watch the galaxy prosper and the people live in peace with him! This is my wish, and if anyone stands in the way of it, don’t blame me for turning my back on you all!”

Li Chenxing said pitifully, “This subject…”

Xie Jianwei glared at him, and Li Chenxing hurriedly amended, “This subject understands.”

Having said all he needed to say, Xie Jianwei didn’t bother entertaining them any longer. He stood up and left the conference room.

Lu Li was also busy. The implementation of several recent new policies had lacked force and faced considerable obstruction, so he was currently chewing out a group of people from top to bottom.

Xie Jianwei waited for him for a while. Then, Lu Li kicked the door open and marched out, cursing directly, “If you motherfuckers meddle in my family affairs one more time when you’re bored, don’t blame me for shipping you off to the Alitofel Galaxy to watch bugs!”

As soon as he finished shouting and came out, he spotted Xie Jianwei.

Xie Jianwei cast a glance at him. The previously furious Lord Marshal instantly broke into a beaming smile—looking almost shamelessly fawning.

“Wi…”

Xie Jianwei raised an eyebrow, and Lu Li quickly corrected himself: “A-Wei.”

As soon as he spoke, his large hands boldly wrapped around his wife’s waist.

Xie Jianwei didn’t push him away, merely giving him a side-eye. “Let me guess. Barth was advising you to be wary of me again, to stay on guard, and not to regret it only after you’ve died in a tender trap?”

Lu Li said shamelessly, “My baby is brilliant, not a single word off.”

Xie Jianwei teased him, “So? Are you going to be wary?”

Lu Li said completely seriously, “I must be wary, absolutely must…” He leaned closer and added, “Wary that I don’t actually die in your tender trap.”

Xie Jianwei scolded him, “You’re never serious.”

Lu Li copped a few feels and took some liberties, feeling nothing but a sweet bliss bubbling in his heart.

The two husbands left together, leaving a circle of ministers behind feeling incredibly stifled.

Barth, the rough brute, sighed heavily. “What do we do? The Lord Marshal is completely whipped! It’s like he can’t wait to hand over all his power on a silver platter.”

He suddenly paused, and the people around him paused too.

Because just a moment ago, a young voice had popped up: “Since he’s already handing it over on a silver platter, why doesn’t the ‘ambitious’ Lord Military Advisor just take it…”

Well, that was fucking awkward…

Just as Xie Jianwei had predicted, after he and Lu Li became inseparable, Lu Li’s confidants felt Xie Jianwei was harboring ulterior motives to seize power; meanwhile, Xie Jianwei’s own core followers believed he was aiming to reclaim the universe and hold absolute sovereignty forever.

Both factions were rubbing their hands together, solely hoping to earn the merit of crowning a new ruler in the future.

At first, Xie Jianwei had tried to advise them with good temper, but by now he felt Lu Li’s method was the most effective.

To hell with gentle persuasion. A kick for everyone, kick them for a few more days, and sooner or later their mushy brains would finally see the light.

The roughneck Marshal even said, “If it weren’t for the fact that the Empire still needs them, I’d give each of them a slash. Once they go home to nurse their wounds, they’d behave.”

Xie Jianwei: “…You tyrant.”

The Marshal kissed him. “I’ve been a tyrant for a long time, totally dazzled and spun around by you.”

The corners of Xie Jianwei’s lips curled up. “Smooth talker.”

The Marshal played dumb. “Not oily at all, very refreshing. If you don’t believe me, give it a kiss.” As he spoke, he kissed Xie Jianwei.

Xie Jianwei was kissed until he no longer felt refreshed. “Don’t mess around in broad daylight.”

Lu Li didn’t actually do anything more. They were going to have lunch shortly, and that evening they had to attend a press conference.

“Right, come with me this afternoon.”

Xie Jianwei said, “Mm, alright.”

Lu Li said, “I had someone design a set of couple’s outfits.”

Xie Jianwei: “…” Could we not be so childish, my Lord Marshal.

However, ever since the two of them had completely cleared the air, Lu Li, deeply immersed in the sweet sea of love, had turned into an absolute maniac for showing off his wife and flaunting their affection.

Lu Li kissed him again. “I just wish I could let the whole world know how much I love you.”

Xie Jianwei smiled. “No need. As long as I know, that’s enough.”

Lu Li got energized. “How much do I love you?”

Xie Jianwei held his face and kissed him. “However much I love you, that’s how much you love me.”

Those words truly hit the sweetest spot in his heart. The Lord Marshal felt that whatever he ate for lunch today was going to taste like sugar.

This past year had flown by quickly and very comfortably.

Xie Jianwei had also finally realized one thing: being able to predict something often didn’t mean it was necessarily a bad thing.

For example, after he involved himself in politics, the two factions had been pulling and tugging, fighting endlessly. But from another angle, it was also something worth utilizing.

Politics required the word “balance.” Competing against each other wasn’t necessarily bad. They had selfish motives, but if utilized properly, it could yield surprisingly effective results.

Ministers didn’t need to be too harmonious. Disliking each other would make them constantly try to outdo one another. You “monitor” me, I “monitor” you—this dynamic only made things easier for the ruler.

As for Xie Jianwei’s greatest fear—growing apart from Lu Li—that was already an impossibility.

Through several dreamscapes, several planes, and tossing and turning through several lifetimes, there was only one thing he could be certain of…

Everything could change, except for his and Lu Li’s feelings for each other.

Loving each other, understanding each other, and above all, trusting each other.

This was the true path to staying together.

Mili (the name Lu Li gave it, meant to keep it constantly alert; it was quite a thoughtful name :D) was very well-behaved now. It stayed within Xie Jianwei’s consciousness, pitifully guarding its palm-sized little body.

Xie Jianwei hadn’t disposed of it. Firstly, it was so stupid there was no need to destroy the evidence, and secondly, it still possessed ample utility value.

Over the past year or so, Xie Jianwei had communicated with it quite a bit. Tricking it into revealing information was simply too easy.

So, Xie Jianwei basically understood what was going on…

Not every plane had Trailblazers, but whenever a Trailblazer appeared, the current plane was bound to head towards destruction.

Xie Jianwei was fortunate enough to be a Trailblazer. It felt quite like being the protagonist of a novel: omnipotent in various ways, incredibly overpowered; even if not overpowered, possessing insanely good luck, breaking through human limits with just casual training, and breaking out of the plane with just a casual stroll…

In short, they were highly unstable factors. In order to keep the Trailblazers in check, the Order-Keepers were created.

Mili didn’t know how it had come to be, only that the great Arbiters bestowed upon it a great mission, and its very first mission was to stop Xie Jianwei.

However, its luck was absolutely abysmal. Xie Jianwei being incredibly strong was one thing, but there was also Lu Li.

As luck would have it, Lu Li was also a Trailblazer. It targeted the wrong person, tossed and turned for ages… and nearly got itself reduced to the size of a grain of rice.

It knew quite a bit, but didn’t think too deeply.

Yet the moment Xie Jianwei heard it, he understood the hidden truth.

The ones who created the Order-Keepers were the Arbiters. What were the Arbiters? A group of people positioned above the myriad planes.

Mili deeply worshipped the Arbiters. With its tiny brain, it couldn’t figure out where the Arbiters originated from.

But Xie Jianwei understood the moment he thought about it.

The first batch of Trailblazers had become the Arbiters. They didn’t want any more Arbiters to emerge, so they began suppressing the Trailblazers.

All that talk about maintaining planar balance was garbage; consolidating their own power was their true business.

No matter what kind of intelligent lifeform it was, they could never avoid harboring a selfish heart.

Perhaps there were those with universal love, but if one possessed universal love, they could easily be exploited by the selfish.

You have universal love, right? Then why don’t you love me? If you love me, you have to help me. This logic… could practically drive a philanthropist to death.

Xie Jianwei had no intention of interfering in the affairs of other planes. He was very satisfied with his current life. He had Lu Li, he had friends, he had the citizens of the galaxy…

Why should he abandon these important people to provoke a bunch of total strangers?

As for Lu Li’s lost memories, Lu Li himself was quite curious, and Xie Jianwei was actually curious too.

A year ago, Xie Jianwei had stopped Lu Li from unsealing his memories, mainly out of fear that Mili would take the opportunity to cause trouble.

But now that Mili was practically just a literal grain of rice and posed no real threat, Xie Jianwei no longer stopped him.

Yet now, Lu Li himself didn’t want to unseal them.

Xie Jianwei asked him, “Why? Don’t you want to know?”

Lu Li’s reasoning was sufficient: “Memories that don’t have you in them, what use do I have for them?”

Xie Jianwei said, “Hard to say. What if you had another sweetheart?”

Lu Li said, “How is that possible? Would a dignified Trailblazer like me fail to recognize his own wife?”

Xie Jianwei: “Heh heh.”

Lu Li got anxious. “I definitely only like you! My past memories were probably just too boring, which is why I tossed them all away in one go.”

Xie Jianwei ignored him.

Lu Li anxiously coaxed him for a long time, until suddenly a thought struck him, and he asked in pleasant surprise, “A-Wei, are you jealous?!”

Xie Jianwei: “…”

Lu Li got energized, leaning in close to look at him. “Are you really jealous?”

Xie Jianwei flared up out of embarrassment: “So what if I am? Is it not allowed?”

Lu Li was thrilled to the point of exploding. “It’s allowed, it’s absolutely allowed.”

Xie Jianwei’s heart actually did feel a little sour. “It seems there really was another sweetheart?”

Lu Li felt a pang of heartache again. He hugged him tightly and said, “No, absolutely not. Besides you, I truly can’t imagine myself ever falling in love with anyone else… Don’t be jealous, jealousy doesn’t taste good. My A-Wei should only eat Sweet-Sweet fruit.”

Being held like a child, Xie Jianwei felt both annoyed and amused. He pushed him gently and said, “Alright, alright, I was just teasing you.”

But Lu Li said seriously, “Then I should still unseal my memories, just to let you see clearly.” He possessed a kind of inexplicable confidence, truly believing that in this life and this lifetime, he only had Xie Jianwei.

It was a very wondrous feeling, yet Lu Li firmly believed it was the truth.

Xie Jianwei said, “Forget it. Since you’ve already thrown them away, don’t try to think about them again.”

Xie Jianwei cared a little bit, but there was no need to care too much.

At that time, Lu Li hadn’t even known him, so blindly pursuing past events had no meaning.

Moreover, since Lu Li had chosen to discard those memories, it meant they weren’t worth having. Wouldn’t retrieving things he didn’t need just be torturing himself?

He didn’t want Lu Li to feel even a tiny bit of sadness.

Things were great now. Their current life was already incredibly beautiful.

On their seventh anniversary, Xie Jianwei and Lu Li only invited some close friends, not holding a grand celebration.

Loren hurried back from an outer star system, travel-worn, bringing a massive congratulatory gift for the two of them.

Lu Li patted his shoulder. “Not bad, kid.”

Loren smiled. “Fortunately, I didn’t fail my mission.”

It was a star map. Loren had spent these past years continuously exploring new frontiers, finding many resources for the Empire and encountering many dangers along the way.

In this era of peace, there truly weren’t many people who worked as desperately hard as he did.

Lu Li asked, “Do you want to come back and rest for a bit?”

Loren shook his head and said, “No need.”

Lu Li knew what was weighing on his mind. After considering it for a moment, he said, “You can’t keep hiding forever. When he gets married later on, where are you going to go cry?”

Loren gave a self-deprecating laugh. “Cry about what? I should be wishing him well.”

Lu Li looked at him with great disdain. “Can’t you have a little more ambition?”

Loren said, “There’s nothing I can do. He likes women.”

Lu Li said, “Go bend him.”

Loren smiled bitterly. “If he could be bent, it wouldn’t be called liking women.”

Lu Li shot him a glance. “Then go get a sex change and strap on a pair of big boobs…”

Loren begged for mercy. “Boss, please spare me!”

Lu Li didn’t have any good tricks up his sleeve either. When it came to feelings, you really couldn’t force things.

Although they say a good woman fears a persistent man, there are also plenty of cases where the persistence just leads to absolute disgust in the end…

Loren had been a coward for far too many years, making him increasingly afraid to take that step.

Especially since he had a “reputation as a playboy” all these years… Although he had never actually done anything for real, he had given Yan Ke that impression. If he tried to pester him now, he’d probably just make Yan Ke sick to his stomach.

Loren didn’t know where he had gone wrong either. Perhaps it was wrong from the very beginning.

If he hadn’t tried to get close to him, if he hadn’t provoked him, he wouldn’t have ended up in this situation.

Although they had only invited familiar friends, the number of people who showed up uninvited to mooch a meal was still quite high.

It was a massive crowd, and the banquet accidentally ballooned from a dozen people to dozens of people.

After Lu Li and Xie Jianwei led the first dance, everyone started letting loose.

When people came to offer toasts, Lu Li blocked them all, eventually growing quite impatient: “What is wrong with you people? Today is our wedding anniversary. Once you’ve dropped off your gifts, hurry up and get the hell out. Don’t disturb my alone time with A-Wei.”

In private, their relationships were all very good, so the crowd wasn’t afraid of him, jeering: “Isn’t the Boss supposed to be able to drink a thousand cups without getting drunk? This is only a few cups! Drink more, drink more!”

Lu Li couldn’t escape, and Xie Jianwei was happy to play along with them, so he watched with a smile, waiting for Lu Li to get drunk.

As soon as Lu Li saw his wife standing with those little brats, he instantly got fired up. “Fine! You’re the ones making me drink. If you end up drinking yourselves to death later, don’t blame me.”

The crowd was absolutely thrilled.

After offering a few toasts, Loren slipped away.

He had been looking around for ages without spotting Yan Ke, and couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

Logically speaking, it didn’t make sense. For the Military Advisor and the Marshal’s wedding anniversary, Dr. Yan should have returned, right?

But the man was nowhere to be seen.

Loren couldn’t figure out if he wanted to see him or didn’t want to see him.

Every time they met, Yan Ke had a female companion by his side. Loren couldn’t ignore it even if he wanted to. He would masochistically go over to greet him, and after going back, he would experience sharp chest pains every time he took a breath for days on end.

He constantly asked around for news about Yan Ke. Even from the other side of the galaxy, he kept a close eye on Yan Ke’s every move.

But the more he paid attention, the colder his heart grew; the clearer he understood, the more he felt utterly hopeless.

Yan Ke liked women, specifically women with beautiful chests.

These two points were things Loren could absolutely never possess.

He had disguised himself as a “straight guy” and “coincidentally” run into him at bars a few times.

But that behavior was like drinking poison to quench thirst. They met, they talked, yet it felt like acid had been poured over his heart, the pain turning the sky dark and the earth dim.

Loren downed several glasses of alcohol but still couldn’t suppress the disappointment in his heart.

Even if it meant watching him with someone else, at least he would have seen him…

Now look at this, he couldn’t even catch a glimpse of the person.

Looking at the blissfully happy Marshal and Military Advisor, Loren truly felt both envious and heartbroken.

He wished he could be as brave as the Lord Marshal. If Dr. Yan had shown even the slightest inclination, he wouldn’t be this cowardly.

But the Military Advisor and Dr. Yan were different.

If the Military Advisor always had lovers by his side, would the Lord Marshal have made a move?

Loren felt he had no right to disturb Yan Ke’s life.

Wine doesn’t intoxicate a man; a man intoxicates himself. Loren drank a bit too much. Just then, someone came over to ask him for a dance. Loren thought that his inner melodrama was his own business, but outwardly he still needed to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor. Thus, he stepped onto the dance floor and danced one song with this lady whose face he couldn’t quite see clearly.

Yan Ke had come after all.

For a banquet like this, he naturally had to attend, he just hid himself rather far away.

He knew Loren had returned. Thinking back to the Giant Panda dreamscape, he felt scared shitless.

Although he had a god’s-eye view the whole time, and the one dating Loren wasn’t actually him, it was still his exact face!

And that “Yan Ke” had perfectly recreated the real him!

Especially the part where he made a massive fuss seeking death—Yan Ke had actually experienced that in reality.

When he saw Xiao die in battle, he had also spent a period in a complete daze.

To use Yan Duan’s words to describe it: He looked exactly like the melodramatic shou in my stories whose husband just died.

At the time, Yan Ke didn’t even have the energy to beat him up. Yan Duan had said to him, “Brother, if you die, I’m going to starve to death too.”

Having such a worthless younger brother, what could Yan Ke do? He could only pull himself together.

Although he stepped out of the gloom, he kept having dreams. In the dreams was that man wrapped up like a mummy. He clumsily tried to please him, he looked at him with absolute focus—as if everything he did was sacred and solemn.

Yan Ke had never been looked at like that by anyone before, so he liked it very much.

He liked the profession of a doctor, and he liked this “big mummy” who respected his profession.

Yan Ke knew Mr. Mummy liked him, but he was too embarrassed to show it.

For things like mutually confessing feelings, shouldn’t they at least wait until they could communicate with each other?

Talking to himself all alone would have been way too awkward.

When he could finally take off the bandages, when he could finally open his mouth to speak, he… he would tell him that he knew his feelings, and that he was willing to accept them.

But reality never gives you the chance to wait.

Wait, wait, wait, and in the end, you only miss out, you only feel regret, you only live with remorse for the rest of your life.

The words you want to say, the things you want to do, don’t hold them back. Once missed, you truly can never get them back.

Yan Ke regretted it, regretted it to death. If he had known that their next meeting would be a parting of death, he absolutely would have told him that he liked him.

Even if they were destined to face life and death, at least he wouldn’t have left any regrets behind.

Unfortunately, regret is the most useless emotion in this world.

Because no matter how much you regret it, the past can never be rewound.

Yan Ke looked listless, having no desire to step onto the dance floor, so he hid in a corner where no one could see him.

He saw Loren, but after just one glance, he quickly averted his eyes.

He had never really dared to look Loren in the eye.

Loren was decisive and ruthless, the renowned number one general in the galaxy. Ordinary people indeed didn’t dare hold his gaze.

Out of respect, and driven by politeness, Yan Ke would usually offer a salute and then quickly look away…

They had run into each other in private a few times. Back then, Yan Ke was mostly drunk, giving him the courage to actually look at Loren, but after one glance, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

He didn’t know how to describe it. He didn’t want to look at Loren’s eyes, he was very unwilling to look at them.

That eerie sense of familiarity always stirred up the place in his heart he least wanted to remember.

Xiao was already dead. Don’t go looking for someone similar to like; that was a massive disrespect to everyone involved.

Not to mention, Admiral Loren was a straight man with a constant stream of female companions. Just what kind of nonsense was he imagining?

Yan Ke was born with a face that naturally attracted women, so there was always a beauty by his side.

Initially, Yan Ke wanted to force himself out of his depression, to try and fall in love with someone else, because he had to keep living.

But later he realized it was useless. The girls who approached him were all very interesting; they treated him like a younger brother, teasing him for fun but never getting serious.

After going back and forth, Yan Ke just accepted it. Looking at beautiful women, easing his mind, acting as if he really was a playboy who only liked chests—.

—It was fine. Deceiving others also meant he could deceive himself.

Yan Ke was in a terrible mood. To be such a buzzkill on a day of joy and laughter like this, he really shouldn’t be here.

He simply walked out of the room to get some fresh air outside.

As for Loren, after dancing one song, he felt completely drained.

With Yan Ke absent, he had no mood to put on a show.

Seeing that others were coming to invite him, he simply slipped outside to hide.

Rushing back from thousands of miles away, unable to see the person he wanted to see, it was truly frustrating to the extreme.

I’ll go check out the bar Yan Ke frequents tomorrow. Maybe I’ll run into him.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Loren crashed head-on straight into someone.