From Shadow Guard to Empress

Ying Si was sent to escort Shen Qingyu back and only Xiao Weixin and You Shu were left in the small house.

“Let’s go.” Xiao Weixin looked up at the full moon in the sky. At this time, the moon had already risen to the highest point and it was already midnight.

The two of them walked together under the moonlight. The long street was completely empty. You Shu raised his head and glanced at Xiao Weixin who was walking two steps in front of him. From here, he could only see his white cloak.

Although he couldn’t see his face, You Shu still vaguely felt that he was angry.

But why? The conversation with Shen Qingyu should have gone smoothly, so why is he in a bad mood?

As if he had read his mind, Xiao Weixin, who was walking ahead, stopped. He looked back at You Shu, who didn’t have time to avert his gaze, and asked calmly, “Do you like1 Shen Qingyu very much?”

“Ah?” You Shu subconsciously responded to this nonsensical question with another question before quickly shaking his head: “This subordinate only holds great respect for Lord Shen.”

Using the word “like” for two men is somewhat strange. Perhaps the protagonist wanted to ask him if he likes Shen Qingyu’s personality.

Xiao Weixin also didn’t understand why he was angry. He had always been rather emotionally detached and if no one especially explained to him, he wouldn’t understand what was happening to him at all. He just didn’t like watching the little shadow guard being close to other people.

“You are not allowed to talk to anyone as you please in the future.” Xiao Weixin ordered coldly, “And you are also not allowed to show off everywhere.”

You Shu head hurt from confusion. What logic did he use to come to the conclusion that he shows off everywhere?

Not to mention that he is not a girl, as a shadow guard, he already stays hidden most of the time. Where would he find the courage to show off?

“Yes.” You Shu didn’t dare to refute and, in the end, chose to shut up and agree. Anyway, the protagonist is the protagonist. Whatever he says is the truth.

Xiao Weixin finally became somewhat satisfied because of his obedient attitude.

The two returned home under the moonlight. Perhaps it was because of the silence of the night but the atmosphere was a lot more different than usual.

Although Shen Qingyu had said that he would consider it after going back, the fact that he hadn’t immediately refused Xiao Weixin’s offer that night meant that he had agreed. The plan for the [future of] the state that Xiao Weixin promised him was exactly what he wished for, and he also wanted to try to see if he could bring a little change to this country.

The two secretly reached an agreement but, on the surface, Shen Qingyu still worked for Xiao Weishen. Prime Minister Xia disliked him greatly and criticized him on every occasion. In order to ensure his safety, Xiao Weixin secretly sent several people to protect him. Unless the prime minister is an idiot, he wouldn’t dare to attack him at this time.

Shen Qingyu’s ability is clear as day to everyone and, within a few days after taking the position, he was publicly praised by Xiao Weishen and his position as Vice Minister of Revenue was quickly secured.

After the beginning of spring, everything seemed to be progressing in a favorable direction but Xiao Weishen has two headaches recently.

The first is the empty treasury. In recent years, the border has always been in turmoil. In addition, the old emperor was an ambitious and militant person. In the past few years, he had expanded his army and sent them on numerous expeditions. This caused the army’s expenditure to far exceed the original budget.

Then, two years ago, there had been a great flood in the south followed by a severe drought in the north last year. As a result, not only did the imperial court not receive any grain from the harvest but also lost money because of the money sent out as relief aid2.

Empress Dowager Xia is a person who loves to live in extravagance and luxury and only the most exquisite items are used in her daily life. To accommodate her, the shining white silver taels are spent as freely as water so, the national treasury has been severely depleted for a long time now.

The second [headache] is the issue of heirs. Xiao Weishen married at the age of sixteen and ascended the throne at the age of twenty. For some reason, although it has been six years since then, his children are scarce. Not to mention sons, there are only three daughters. All the others died in infancy, were miscarried or were stillborn and, in the end, no son was born. The Empress also never once became with child. Xiao Weishen secretly consulted the imperial physician many times but he still couldn’t find the cause. Without heirs, a country cannot be stable. This matter is of great importance for every Emperor so it is inevitable for Xiao Weishen to be anxious.

Shen Qingyu, the Vice Minister of Revenue, raised the issue of the empty national treasury in court. The Minister of Revenue was put in a tight spot and he simply left the resolution of this problem to the emperor.

Xiao Weishen was greatly troubled but Prime Minister Xia suggested a very malicious solution, “Since the national treasury is in deficit this year, this minister thinks there are two ways to resolve this.”

“The first is to reduce the army. The border is now peaceful so there is no need to keep so many soldiers and waste money needlessly. It is better to discharge them and decrease our expenses.”

“The second is to increase taxes. The spring this year is very favorable so the harvest must also be good. The successive disasters in the past two years have forced the imperial court to operate with very limited funds. Increasing this year’s taxes will alleviate this problem as well.”

Xiao Weishen considered this carefully.

But Shen Qingyu disagreed: “Your Majesty, the army can indeed be reduced but taxes must not be increased! How will the commoners live? In recent years, although there have been many disasters, the agricultural tax was always paid in full. This year, the situation has only just begun to improve. If you increase the taxes, wouldn’t that just be making things worse?”

Unlike everyone else here, Shen Qingyu has seen firsthand how the hardworking commoners struggled desperately for survival in the aftermath of these disasters. Hearing the imperial court’s decision to increase taxes in order to replenish the treasury, he instantly became anxious. Isn’t this the same as forcing them to death???

But, at this time, he had just managed to gain a foothold in the court and due to his weak position, no one cared about his opinion. Although Xiao Weishen felt that he was a talent, he felt that he couldn’t take this advice and finally decided to increase taxes by 50% this year, compared to previous years. Additionally, poll tax will also be collected and, at the same time, half of the army will be discharged.

Although Old General Yang also objected to this, the emperor was already wary of him so he couldn’t say too much. The emperor and Prime Minister Xia had just made use of this to weaken the military power. Even without the problem of the treasury, they wouldn’t have remained safe.

Hidden in his wide sleeves, Shen Qingyu’s hands were tightly clenched into fists. In addition to 50% increased tax, poll taxes were also added. This was evidently the same as only caring about the immediate results3 and its effects on them alone while the impact of this on the commoners was completely ignored.

Such an Emperor….how could he be worthy of sitting on that throne?

After court was dismissed, Shen Qingyu immediately left the hall with a dark face, not even bothering to mingle with his colleagues.

In the mansion, Xiao Weixin also heard this news but he was much calmer than Shen Qingyu because he had known early on that this would be the result. Shen Qingyu would also become accustomed to it soon enough. Xiao Weishen himself has no ability and doesn’t understand what the words “increasing income and decreasing expenditure” mean, let alone the words “rest and recuperate4“. He wants to maintain his luxurious lifestyle while also keeping the treasury filled. How else could he do this if not by sucking the commoners dry?

However, it is also because of his incompetence and decadence that he has the chance to strike. Otherwise, if he was a wise and conscientious ruler, how would he have his revenge?

At this time, You Shu squatted on the roof and basked in the sun, sighing with half-closed eyes.

Discharging the troops is the biggest disadvantage. This will be a hidden danger which will only emerge two years later in the great massacre. Xiao Weishen has truly committed a grievous crime. Although he [YS] knows what will happen in the future, he doesn’t have the ability to interfere. The protagonist Xiao Weixin is not strong enough yet, so what can he do?

“Come down.” Xiao Weixin’s voice sounded from below.

You Shu regained his senses and jumped down from the roof: “My lord, what are your orders?”

“Come with me to go out.” Xiao Weixin said calmly, “Remember to wear a mask and change your clothes.”

You Shu obediently went to change clothes but he couldn’t help feeling more and more like a personal maidservant, who is always available and waited on him personally. Although he is glad to be able to get closer to the protagonist, this seemed very different from the way he wanted to get closer to him.

Furthermore, the protagonist didn’t seem to have any intention of giving him a promotion or a raise. Should he give a hint? After all, he was doing two jobs now.

After he changed his clothes and wore a mask, Xiao Weixin was finally satisfied and left with him. He didn’t like having too many people accompany him. So, he would usually bring Qi Han, Wang Chen and Luo Yao with him but because the little shadow guard was here today, Wang Chen and Qi Han were mercilessly abandoned at home.

Wang Chen hugged his sword and dejectedly stood on the porch, looking at the distant back of his prince as he left, and asked Qi Han with teary eyes: “Brother, are we about to fall out of favor?”

“Only you are about to fall out of favor. Don’t rope me with you.” Qi Han rolled his eyes heavenwards, “It’s your own fault for doing foolish things and being useless all the time. It’s only a matter of time before the prince gives up on you.”

“I think that guy Ying San is a lot smarter and more reliable than you. One day, the prince will be so pleased with him that he will match him with Luo Yao5 and you will be left with neither a wife nor a master.”

Qi Han’s venomous tongue was probably inherited directly from his own prince. After only a few sentences, Wang Chen hugged his sword and began to cry, deciding that from this moment on, he and that little shadow guard were mortal enemies.

It’s still fine to steal someone’s master but to also steal someone’s wife? This feud is irreconcilable!

You Shu couldn’t hold back his sneeze and quickly backed away from Xiao Weixin, afraid of disgusting him.

“Is Ying…San-gege6 sick?” Luo Yao said shyly. Unlike the others, she had never been afraid of Xiao Weixin and always said whatever she wanted but in front of You Shu, she purposefully acted coquettishly, wanting him to pay more attention to her.

You Shu shook his head and replied, “It’s nothing. Thank you for your concern, Miss Luo Yao.”

Xiao Weixin walked in front of the two of them, seemingly lost in thought, and didn’t pay attention to the interaction between the two behind him. Meanwhile, Luo Yao, who finally had the opportunity to go outside with the person she liked, couldn’t hide the joy on her face. If it wasn’t for You Shu’s cold expression which prevented people from getting close, she would definitely cling to him immediately.

You Shu was a little flustered and kept a distance from her, for fear of being misunderstood by the prince. Now is the time for him to advance his career and he must not let the master think that he is a good-for-nothing.

What’s the use of falling in love? It will only delay my career.

While the three of them were wandering around, a tall figure suddenly jumped down and landed lightly in front of them.

You Shu instantly became alert and stepped forward and blocked Xiao Weixin behind him. Unsheathing the sword at his waist, he pointed it at that person and said in a cold voice: “Who dares to attack the prince!”

Na Sutu raised his hand and waved, his extraordinary face looking attractive and bewitching, and greeted in an overly loud voice: “How do you do!~”

The second male lead?

You Shu was taken aback. Why is he here?

Na Sutu’s scrutinizing gaze swept over You Shu’s face and then away, without showing whether he recognized him or not, “What a coincidence! Did you guys also come out to have fun?”

Xiao Weixin face became cold and he asked You Shu to stand down before giving him an icy glare: “What does the hostage prince want?”

“Don’t be so indifferent~” Sutu smiled teasingly, looking exactly like a prairie fox7: “I happen to be all by myself. Why don’t you take me with you?”

“Scram.” Xiao Weixin didn’t even bother to feign politeness and stepped forward, wanting to go around him.

Na Sutu’s eyes darkened slightly. He took a step forward to stop Xiao Weixin, lowered his head and whispered in his ear: “I want to strike a deal with the prince. I wonder whether the prince is interested..?”

“Not interested.” Xiao Weixin pushed him away without raising his head.

Na Sutu looked at him with a smile, not angry at this rejection. But, the next moment, he began to yell loudly: “Everyone, come and see! Your Central Plains prince played around with someone and then abandoned him8!”

“Is there any justice in the Central Plains?”

Xiao Weixin’s eyes were filled with murderous fire.

You Shu was stunned.

Why did the second male lead become OOC???

T/N: Guys. I know 23 chapters in is a little late to be saying this but do you mind the footnotes? Does it disrupt your reading too much? The ones where I add some tl queries or the ones where I explain the idioms. Do they seem unnecessary? I just thought about it and felt that you are reading English translation not necessarily for the Chinese idioms so if they are bothersome, please do tell me.

As always, stay healthy <3

1

喜欢 (Xǐhuān) means to like someone or something, to be fond of or to have affection for. Ordinarily, it is used in the sense of ‘I like this book’ or ‘I like you’ (when confessing). Because of the latter, it is rarely used directly for two men like ‘I like him’ more like ‘I like his character’ or something like that.

2

And if anyone remembers, this already minimal amount was further embezzled by Xia Huaizhang. These bastards are seriously not worthy of ruling a country.

3

I am not sure about this. The actual phrase used here is 釜底抽薪 which means to remove the root cause of a problem and thus erase the problem entirely. But I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. If anyone can guide me about this, it would be appreciated <3 Btw it also means to secretly sabotage something or someone.

4

休养生息 (xiū yǎng shēng xī) means to take measures after major unrest, disasters and turmoil in order to reduce the people’s burden and restore prosperity and social stability.

5

The chances of that happening are lower than Trump becoming likable, my guy.

6

哥哥 (gēgē) Older brother or older male. Can be related or unrelated. Similar to the Korean ‘oppa’ except this is used by both men and women. Though ‘ge’ is a little less cutesy and close than ‘gege’.

7

     

8

No idea how better to translate it. I was tempted to just write ‘fuck and run’ and then ‘fuck first, abandon later’ but that’s not it and it’s not exactly appropriate either lol. Basically it means being a scumbag. Any suggestions? 始乱终弃