The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Chapter 2

There were some things that Shen Yu didn't know until he died.

Like the fact he was only a stand-in.

After Shen Yu died, he happened to encounter a text. At the time, he was trapped in a gray, featureless world. Bored, he began to flip through the only thing that existed in the space aside from himself.

It was a book, and many of the words were missing strokes. Even though Shen Yu had to guess some of their meanings, after reading the entire text, a thousand curse words flooded his mind.

In the script, he was a spiteful villain who did all sorts of evil things and tried to interfere with the relationship between the two protagonists. The protagonist shou was his shu brother, Shen QingRan, who originally entered the tyrant's harem, and the protagonist gong was Shang JunYue, the King of Yue.

Shen QingRan was a transmigrator who possessed the knowledge of later generations. Before he had a chance to show off his abilities, he was sent into the tyrant's harem by the villain Shen Yu. Shen QingRan, who was parted from his lover and tormented by the tyrant, underwent a dramatic personality change. Later, after enduring all sorts of things, he finally managed to flee the palace and reunite with his lover, but he found someone else standing beside the King of Yue—his old enemy, Shen Yu. On the eve of the king's accession to the throne, Shen QingRan quietly separated Shen Yu from the King of Yue and convinced the king to end his life. Then they lived the rest of their beautiful lives together.1

Of course, that was only what happened in the book. In Shen Yu's previous life, he was the one who killed the King of Yue.

The book was told from Shen QingRan's point of view, and a lot of it was different from what Shen Yu remembered. For example, in order to help the King of Yue seize power, Shen Yu soaked his hands in blood, and the King of Yue treated him like a substitute for his real lover. But Shen Yu had no idea when he became a substitute.

When he thought that Shang JunYue looked at him as a substitute for his half-brother, Shen Yu was disgusted, and the last feelings he had for the King of Yue vanished.

Seeing the King of Yue again, Shen Yu lost his composure for only a moment. He blinked his eyes and pretended to be unhappy. "Even if I tell you, it won't change anything. Besides, if I don't go, Shen QingRan will have to. Maybe you can think of a way to send my dear brother instead of me."

With that, Shen Yu gazed at the King of Yue with keen interest.

If the story recounted in that book was accurate, by now the King of Yue had met Shen QingRan and the first hints of love were blossoming between them. Shen Yu wanted to verify whether it was true.

The King of Yue was silent for a moment. Then, in a pampering, slightly helpless tone, he said, "If I had a way, I would never let you enter the palace."

He avoided Shen Yu's suggestion.

Shen Yu hadn't expected him to come up with anything. If the King of Yue really had that kind of ability, Shen Yu wouldn't have had to expend so much blood, sweat, and tears to push him to the throne in his previous life, and he wouldn't have ended up in a dead end despite all his efforts.

Even if the King of Yue hadn't stabbed him in the back in his previous life, Shen Yu wouldn't have lived long.

"Since you can't do anything about it, why should I come find you?" Shen Yu tilted his head and appeared puzzled.

The King of Yue kept getting the feeling Shen Yu had a barbed tongue today. He thought the other man was in a bad mood and comforted him gently, "It's not certain yet. There will definitely be a way."

As for Shen Yu entering the palace, of course the King of Yue didn't want that. He came to the capital in disguise to develop contacts, and Shen Yu was the most capable person he'd found. He didn't want to give up a valuable asset unless he had to. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of sending Shen QingRan to the palace instead, but he couldn't reveal his true identity. If his presence was discovered, all his plans would come to nothing.

Indeed, the King of Yue hadn't revealed his true identity to Shen Yu, and Shen Yu didn't intend to expose him just yet. It wouldn't be fun to reveal it too early, right?1

Shen Yu lowered his eyes, hiding his palm-sized face in his fur collar. It gave him a charming, delicate air. When the King of Yue saw it, he couldn't help but step forward, stretching out his hand to touch that captivating face.

Shen Yu tilted his head to the side, avoiding the King of Yue's touch.

The King of Yue was stunned for a moment, coughed a little, and withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened. He wanted to say something, but when he saw Shen Yu's small face looking off to the side with a slightly stubborn expression, he swallowed back his words.

He thought Shen Yu was worried about entering the palace. The King of Yue was surprised when the emperor told the Zhenbei Marquis to send his son to the harem. If it happened later, he wouldn't be afraid to protect one of his people, but right now he was constrained everywhere.

Avoiding the touch of the King of Yue was a completely unconscious action on Shen Yu's part. After dodging away, Shen Yu was too lazy to guess the King of Yue's thoughts. Now that he'd been interrupted by this visitor, his plan to take a leisurely walk was in ruins.

Since he was unhappy, Shen Yu didn't mind making the person responsible even more unhappy. He looked back at the King of Yue and said slowly, "His Majesty's harem is empty. When I enter the palace, I'll be the only one to receive his favor, right? His Majesty must like me too, don't you think? Otherwise why would he appoint me and only me to the palace after so many years?"

Shen Yu said this deliberately. As he spoke, his eyes remained fixed on the face of the man opposite. Sure enough, he saw the anger the man tried to hide before the last of his words fell.

In his previous life, Shen Yu interacted with the King of Yue a great deal. One might say he understood the king's thinking eight times out of ten. The King of Yue had a high opinion of himself and regarded the throne of Da Huan as already in his pocket. He couldn't endure others saying anything good about the current emperor in his presence, let alone someone he considered his own property.

"A'Yu, I know you're not going there of your own free will. It makes me sad too." Of course he would be sad. He was losing such a useful chess piece. The King of Yue didn't want his previous efforts to go to waste, so all he could do was try to calm the person down. "No matter what happens, A'Yu, my feelings for you will never change...."

As he spoke, the King of Yue tried to take Shen Yu's hand. When Shen Yu avoided him once again, he was confused. "A'Yu?"

"Who said I'm not willing?" Shen Yu looked at the man standing so close to him, and his eyes contained a burning emotion that couldn't be concealed. "His Majesty is so powerful and brave. I've admired His Majesty a long time. Now I can enter the palace to serve him, and it's all I could hope for. How could I be reluctant?"

Hearing Shen Yu's words, the king could hardly maintain the gentle expression on his face. "... If that's what you think, it's naturally for the best."

"Since I'm going to enter the palace, we should keep some distance. You don't have to come to the marquis' residence to see me in the future," Shen Yu said, cutting off the King of Yue's escape routes without directly saying "I'm breaking off our relationship".

After being trounced several times in a row, the King of Yue's face was ugly. He hadn't come to Shen Yu for this kind of result. He originally wanted to appease the person. If Shen Yu agreed to convey messages for him in the palace, that would be best. He was extremely unwilling to give up a chess piece in such a way.

"A'Yu, do you have to be like this?"

Shen Yu suddenly recalled his previous life. He'd just fallen for the King of Yue, and when he learned the Zhenbei Marquis was going to send him to the palace, he was desperate and angry and fell seriously ill. What was the King of Yue doing at the time? Sad to say, he was busy developing a relationship with Shen Yu's brother, the transmigrator, whispering sweet nothings in his ear.

Looking at the man who was acting so affectionate right now, it felt like such a joke.

If Shen Yu remembered correctly, the King of Yue disguised himself to enter the capital this time because the young son of the He family had been imprisoned for offending the Son of Heaven. In Shen Yu's previous life, the King of Yue rescued Young Master He and won the unconditional support of the He family and the forces behind them. It played a decisive role in several important battles.

Shen Yu wasn't impressed with the He family, but he was very interested in the forces behind them. Of course, he was even more interested in how to make sure the King of Yue never received their help.

After noting to himself what happened with Young Master He, Shen Yu lost interest in continuing the conversation. He said coldly, "It seems that it's none of your business how I am. And I don't like the name 'A'Yu'. Don't call me that in the future."

You don't dislike the name, you dislike that it's me who's calling you that, right? The King of Yue was angry. "A'Yu, no, Young Master Shen, are you trying to distance yourself from me?"

"Hmm..." Shen Yu pretended to be embarrassed and glanced at the King of Yue. "I think it's better if I don't say it."

"What do you mean?" The King of Yue had a bad feeling.

"In fact, if you didn't look one or two parts like His Majesty, I wouldn't have paid any attention to you."1

Shen Yu said this deliberately. In his past and present lives combined, he had little contact with the emperor, let alone deep love for the person. But he still wore an expression on his face like "You're the one who asked, so don't blame me" to make the king believe it.

Blinking his eyes, Shen Yu continued, "Well, you know I'm entering the palace. As for you and me..."

The King of Yue was so angry he almost fainted. What was that? Now that you can go into the palace to see the emperor, you don't need me anymore? After taking a deep breath, he tried to calm down. The King of Yue warned himself over and over not to waste his previous effort.

He tried to make himself relax but couldn't manage to do it. When he thought he was nothing but that man's substitute, even if there was just a one in ten thousand chance it was true, he couldn't calm himself at all.

"You're just saying that, aren't you? You're angry with me and said that intentionally...."

"I intentionally said what?" Shen Yu interrupted him impatiently. "Why else do you think that I, the son of a marquis, would befriend you, a man with no background, and accompany you everywhere? Don't say it's because we share the same interests. There are a lot of people who want to share interests with me."

After all, Shen Yu was the only legitimate son of the Zhenbei Marquis, and he had looks as well as talent. There were countless people trying to befriend him. Why would this man alone catch his eye?

The King of Yue didn't want to believe it, but once he followed Shen Yu's train of thought, the more he considered it, the more he thought it was true. What's more, he was the current emperor's half-brother. They had similar eyebrows and eyes....

So in Shen Yu's opinion, he was just a substitute for the emperor?!5

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TL Notes:

(ﾉ◔ ₒ ◔)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

many of the words were missing strokes - This means the text was written in simplified Chinese characters instead of traditional

shou - 受 - The uke or bottom

gong - 攻 - The seme or top

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Shen QingRan - 沈清然

Shang JunYue - 商君越

King of Yue - 越王 - Yuè wáng

A'Yu - 阿郁 - A nickname for MC