Jiapingguan Chronicle

“Yes, that’s what I think too.” Shen Haolin nodded. “After listening to the whole story, it seems that Liao Wang Jia is not a person who can do great things. He has no ambition, no courage, and all he has is escapism and cowardice.”

“Brother, without his escapism and cowardice, that Yi would not have come into being.”

“Yes, so I was thinking, besides eating, drinking, having fun, and accompanying the Princess of Liao, should Yi handle everything else?” Shen Haolin looked at Chu Han. “What do you think, Grand Uncle?”

“I think what you two said makes sense, and it coincides with my thoughts.” Chu Han gave Shen Haolin and Shen Cha a high five. “This Jia is indeed not capable of handling things. If anything goes wrong, he will shirk responsibility.”

"Grand Uncle, you have met the King of Liao. Did you sense anything different about him?"

"Of course, when the ministers are around, he is quite serious and dignified, but when it's just the two of us drinking, he becomes all sticky and cuddly, you know?" Chu Han took the hot tea that Shen Cha handed him, took a sip, and said, "In my opinion, the two of them have already made their arrangements. Just like Hao Lin said earlier, A doesn't care about anything except enjoying himself, and B is responsible for everything else."

“That’s right, my brother and I both think so.” Shen Cha nodded, then looked at Jin Miaomiao, “Is that possible?”

“Theoretically, it is possible, but in practice, it’s not easy. As you know, no one is born liking work; everyone likes to enjoy themselves, eat, drink, have fun, and rest. So, even if they have a division of labor, disagreements will inevitably arise at some point. However, the duties of the King of Liao stipulate that A will appear relatively less often, while B will appear more often.” Jin Miaomiao blinked, reached out and poked Xiao Fengqi, asking, “What do you think, Young Master Xiao?”

"It seems so." Xiao Fengqi recalled seriously. He hadn't had much contact with the late King of Liao. He wondered if it was because the late King of Liao suffered from dissociative identity disorder, but he always felt a distance from this person, even though this person was very kind and approachable in his presence. He thought for a while before saying, "I'm not very sure. I can only say that he is a very kind person, but sometimes he can be quite strict. I'm not really able to tell who he is either. I may not have even seen Jia before."

"It's not impossible. After all, Jia probably appeared more often before the Liao Princess passed away. After the Liao Princess passed away, he probably only appeared when he was eating, drinking and having fun. It's very possible that you haven't seen him."

“I think so too.” Xiao Fengqi nodded, thought for a moment, and said, “I just thought of something. We’ve always said that we don’t care about Prince Lan even though the late king loved the late queen so much. But if it’s said that Yi controlled this body most of the time, then it makes sense that he used Prince Lan. Yi didn’t have any feelings for the queen or Prince Lan.”

“That makes sense, but then another one doesn’t.” Shen Cha said, resting her chin on her hand, somewhat puzzled. “If it’s Yi using Young Master Lan to deal with those two little princes, then here’s the problem: according to Jia’s logic, those two little princes are Yi’s children. Would he really be willing to abandon them?”

“Of course.” Jin Miaomiao patted Shen Cha. “Don’t really think of them as two different people. They are two different personalities of the same person. A is the kind of person who likes freedom and enjoys life, living an unrestrained life with his sweetheart. B is more like a king, but they are essentially the same. Their likes and dislikes about people and things are the same. Although B fully accepts all the troubles that A throws at him, it doesn’t mean he likes these troubles. He is just more capable of handling these troubles than A. Do you understand?”

"Now you understand, it's still the same person."

“Of course it’s one person. A and B might know of each other’s existence and might even fight over who should appear, but in most cases they’ll coexist peacefully.” Jin Miaomiao sighed and continued, “It’s just that as time goes on, the conflict between A and B becomes more about who appears for longer or more often. However, such a struggle is extremely painful for patients with dissociative identity disorder; the pain is beyond what ordinary people can understand.” “Excruciating pain? Worse than death?”

“More or less.” Jin Miaomiao sighed and looked at Xiao Fengqi, who seemed to be deep in thought. “He must have felt very gratified before he passed away. Death is actually a kind of relief for them.”

"Yes, I heard that she left with a smile on her face." Xiao Fengqi picked up the tea that had gone cold and drank it all in one gulp. "When my great-aunt came back and described it to me, I didn't quite understand. Now that I've heard what Lord Jin said, I understand why."

“Rather than living in pain every day, it’s better to be completely free.” Jin Miaomiao shrugged helplessly and said, “But, this matter shouldn’t be known to more than just my great-uncle, right?”

“Perhaps the old man and those who know him well know, but they just don’t say it. After all, this illness,” Xiao Fengqi smiled bitterly, “is actually difficult to treat, just like what Lord Jin said. There is simply no way to cure it.”

"It must have been tough on him." Jin Miaomiao nodded. "On the other hand, both A and B are cold and disdainful of these two little princes. As for Young Master Lan, I still maintain my previous judgment: he has some affection for him, but not much."

“I think so too. If Jia were Ai Lan Gongzi, he probably would have sent the person away long ago.” Shen Cha agreed with Jin Miaomiao. “After saying so much, we still have no idea what exactly happened that night!”

"Isn't this about explaining all the character relationships and backstories?" Xiao Fengqi smiled. "However, we'll have to wait a bit. I need to calm down. Knowing so much information is a bit..."

"Feeling overwhelmed, aren't you?" Jin Miaomiao patted Xiao Fengqi. "I understand you so well. Sometimes you know too much at once, that's just how you are."

“I never imagined that someone who seemed perfectly fine would get such an illness and suffer so much in secret, without anyone knowing.” Xiao Fengqi spread his hands. “No wonder the Regent Prince had to handle state affairs later on; he no longer had the strength to deal with these matters.”

Shen Cha sighed softly, looked at Jin Miaomiao, and said, "If this hadn't been brought up this time, I wouldn't have known that such a disease existed in the world."

"Don't even mention you, I'm almost the same way." Chu Han sighed as well. "This must be a psychological problem, right?"

“Yes!” Jin Miaomiao nodded. “Mental illness is difficult to cure; it’s beyond human control. Perhaps future medical techniques will make breakthroughs, but right now…” she shook her head, “we are truly powerless.” (End of Chapter)