The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

"It's natural that I would want to know better about such matters."

After returning to the palace, Shang Junlin took Shen Yu to the palace where Zhu Wang was temporarily staying.

"I wonder how Mr. Zhu has been these past few days? The palace attendants must have been very attentive, right?" Shen Yu approached Mr. Zhu, who was sitting in front of a stone table in the courtyard, and sat down directly.

Shang Junlin sat next to him.

Mr. Zhu glanced at the two individuals who had just sat down and mockingly said, "I suppose both of you should know better than anyone else how I've been, right?"

Shen Yu seemed oblivious to the resentful undertone in Mr. Zhu's words and casually replied, "The palace attendants who serve here are carefully selected. I hope we haven't disappointed Mr. Zhu."

"You've confined me here. What exactly do you want?" Mr. Zhu put down the teacup he had been holding in his hand and looked straight at the two individuals.

"We simply wanted to invite Mr. Zhu as a guest to the palace. How can you call it confinement? Is Mr. Zhu implying that I and His Majesty have been inhospitable?" Shen Yu's face carried a smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"If there's anything unsatisfactory, feel free to voice it." Shang Junlin chimed in.

"Do you really think you're treating me as a guest?" Mr. Zhu's eyes twitched. "Which host would restrict the freedom of their guest?"

"Since Mr. Zhu managed to escape from the Hidden Dragon Guard, the imperial palace shouldn't pose a problem, right?" Shen Yu feigned ignorance. "The place where Mr. Zhu escaped from initially was much more heavily guarded than here, wasn't it?"

"What exactly do you want?" Mr. Zhu realized that the two individuals were acting intentionally.

"We're not doing anything. We just want to see if Mr. Zhu, who is hailed as an extraordinary figure, truly possesses divine knowledge, transcending mortal boundaries. And now..." Shen Yu clicked his tongue, leaving the implications unspoken.

"Are you just going to let him continue?" Mr. Zhu turned to Shang Junlin, filled with disbelief.

"I'm also curious to know what else Mr. Zhu, who managed to escape from the Hidden Dragon Guard, is capable of." Shang Junlin's words undoubtedly dealt another blow to Mr. Zhu.

Relying on his identity as an exceptional person, Mr. Zhu was revered wherever he went. When had he ever been treated like this? In an instant, his anger grew so intense that he couldn't even maintain his facade.

He sneered, no longer bothering to pretend, "His Majesty brought me to the capital city for that saying, didn't he?"

When Shang Junlin sent someone to the King of Yue's territory, Mr. Zhu deliberately leaked that saying. He knew that given Shang Junlin and Shen Yu's current relationship, once that sentence was uttered, it would surely attract their attention. That was his intention all along.

Indeed, not long after, he felt someone secretly searching for him. He deliberately exposed himself, was brought to the capital city, and then escaped in front of everyone's eyes. All of this had been meticulously planned.

Up until the moment just before the main event unfolded in front of Shang Junlin, everything had been unfolding according to plan. He couldn't understand what went wrong, causing such a significant deviation from the intended outcome.

After being in this line of work for many years, he knew that the higher someone's position, the more they cherished these matters. No one was exempt, not even Shang Junlin, who was merely a prince, let alone Emperor Shang Junlin.

If they truly held these matters in contempt, why bother bringing him all the way to the capital city?

"I did bring you to the capital city because of that saying," Shang Junlin didn't deny it, "because that saying involves Your Excellency. I want to understand if the appearance of that saying was accidental or intentional and if there's a hidden motive behind it."

"Your Majesty doubts the authenticity of that saying?"

Shang Junlin didn't answer but instead asked, "Why did you say that to the King of Yue?"

"Why? If a saying is divined by me, I can tell anyone I want. Do I need a reason?" Mr. Zhu was so infuriated that he no longer maintained his high and mighty demeanor.

"Is it truly divination?" Shen Yu's voice carried heavy skepticism.

Mr. Zhu couldn't stand it when others didn't believe him. "What benefit would I gain by deceiving people in this matter? If we're talking about benefits, didn't the two children of the Zhenbei Marquis gain from it? They obtained the favor of the future ruler of the world without having to do anything."

Superficially, there didn't seem to be any problem with Mr. Zhu's statement, but upon closer examination, things were not that simple.

"Do you really think that saying is a good thing for us? If that's the case, why don't you proclaim to the world that you are the one destined by fate?" Shen Yu mockingly curled his lips.

"How can it be the same?"

"What's the difference?"

Mr. Zhu was rendered speechless.

"You know very well in your heart that while that saying might seem advantageous to me, it actually imprisons my entire life. Those who approach me have impure motives, and those I care for might fear getting close to me because of the meaning behind that saying. Rather than enjoying prosperity and wealth, it's more likely that I will become a target for ambitious individuals, never finding peace."

Shang Junlin held Shen Yu's hand by his side.

Shen Yu paused for a moment, then held Shang Junlin's hand back and continued, "Regardless of whether that saying was divined by you or not, when you spread that saying, you should have known what consequences I and Shen Qingran would face because of it. I'm not curious about the truth of that saying; I just want to know where your hostility towards me comes from."

Mr. Zhu's gaze evaded for a moment, and he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"From the very beginning when you had contact with the King of Yue, you were planning this, weren't you? Now that you see the King of Yue can't fulfill your objectives, you've shifted your focus to His Majesty. Let me guess, just like you did with the King of Yue, you'll find a way to make His Majesty unquestionably believe you and suggest getting Shen Qingran close to the palace, right?"

Mr. Zhu's gaze evaded even more intensely.

"Why do you know all of this?" He had never revealed his plans to anyone. Those people revered him as a divine seer, obeying his commands without needing to know what he was really planning.

How did they know? Shen Yu lowered his eyes, recalling many suspicious aspects from his previous life, such as the King of Yue's changing attitudes, sometimes favoring him and sometimes favoring Shen Qingran. If the King of Yue had approached him from the beginning with the goal of obtaining the world, and Mr. Zhu had been manipulating everything behind the scenes, it would explain all the oddities.

"Now that I suspect you, I won't let you go until I have my doubts resolved. If you want to speak up, it might make your suffering a little less severe."

"That saying is true," Mr. Zhu struggled for a moment, as if he had realized something, "but in the divination result, it only referred to you. I personally added your half-brother to it out of personal interest. You're right; I indeed didn't want to make things easy for you. After all, you are that person's child."

At the end, Mr. Zhu chuckled strangely.

"Do you know my mother?" Shen Yu tightly grasped Shang Junlin's hand.

Unfortunately, no matter how Shen Yu questioned afterward, Mr. Zhu refused to speak about his mother.

"Don't worry, I'll send people to investigate," Shang Junlin held Shen Yu tightly and walked back to Yuzhang Palace. "I won't take what Zhu Wang said seriously."

"I'm curious about what my mother did back then that made everyone keep silent about her existence. Whether they loved or hated her, no one was willing to speak about her." Shen Yu couldn't understand.

"Perhaps it's not that they didn't want to speak but that they couldn't speak. So much happened that year, with the former emperor's deposition, shifts in power within the court, and everything intertwined." Shang Junlin looked at the clouds in the sky. It was also the year when his own life underwent earth-shattering changes.

The death of the Zhenbei Marquis' wife was just a tiny ripple in the rolling waves. Her presence among the aristocrats in the capital city wasn't particularly noteworthy, and after her passing, the Zhenbei Marquis's residence remained unremarkable. But once the second wife appeared, within the shortest time, she covered up all traces of the first wife of Zhenbei Marquis' existence.

"Zhenbei Marquis said he didn't know about my mother's background, but I don't believe it," Shen Yu blinked, his tone light. "Your Majesty, I want to know what really happened back then."

"You will know," Shang Junlin held Shen Yu tightly in his embrace. "I promise."

Shen Yu's curiosity about his mother wasn't driven by a desire to uncover the truth but rather an intuition that this matter hid a crucial secret related to him.

In his previous life, those people never surfaced until he died. But what would happen after his death? Shen Yu had no way of knowing.

Shen Yu gave the fragrance recipe he obtained from Shen Yue to Xu shopkeeper. Under Xu shopkeeper's management, the shop expanded in size, and they opened a branch in Jiangnan.

Jiangnan's prosperity was no less than that of the capital city. Even before the branch opened, there were already noble families from Jiangnan specifically sending people to the capital city for purchases.

Fang Jun returned to the capital city just before the autumn hunt began.

Among those brought back by him was a Beimo person captured in Subei.

Fang Jun had made significant contributions this time, and the courtiers knew it. The position in the Grand Cabinet was reserved for him, so when Shang Junlin decreed it, no one was surprised.

Thus, the Grand Cabinet now had two ministers who shared the same stance as Shang Junlin.

The day of the autumn hunt quietly arrived.

The Ministry of Appointments sent over the newly made clothes. Shang Junlin still wore black embroidered with dragon patterns, while Shen Yu had a red and black outfit.

Shen Yu requested the black one, while the red color was designated by Shang Junlin.

The group set off grandly for the location of the autumn hunt.

The vicinity of Mount Qiyue had already been cleared, awaiting the arrival of the emperor and the courtiers.

The founding emperor of the Da Huan Dynasty attached great importance to martial pursuits. The annual autumn hunt had been passed down since that time without interruption.

"I heard that His Majesty greatly favors His Excellency. Why don't I see the ceremonial escort for His Excellency?" A courtier looked ahead with curiosity. The higher one's status, the more concerned they were about these formalities.

In the palace, the empress, noble consort, and concubines each had different levels of ceremonial escorts, but at the forefront of the procession were only the emperor's entourage.

There was no sign of an entourage for the Noble Monarch.

More than one courtier noticed this issue. Recently, as the power within the court was being reorganized, the courtiers' attention was not focused on Shang Junlin's personal matters, and they didn't pay much attention to the affairs of the palace.

The courtiers privately discussed the matter. Inside the carriage at the forefront, Shen Yu let down the curtain and said, "When they see me stepping out of Your Majesty's carriage, they might have something to say again."

"Why should we care about their opinions regarding our affairs?"

The carriage came to a slow stop, and Shang Junlin stepped out of the carriage.

The courtiers were about to pay their respects when they saw Shang Junlin turn around to face the carriage and extend his hand.

Slender and fair fingers emerged, resting on the hand extended by the emperor. The emperor exerted strength, lifting the person inside the carriage into his arms.

The courtiers widened their eyes as they watched Shen Yu being embraced and carried out of the carriage belonging to the emperor.

Author's Note:

The truth about Shen Yu's background will be revealed later on. Dear readers, please be patient.