The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

The corners of Shen Yu’s mouth slowly straightened. He didn’t know if this happened in his previous life and caused Jiang HuaiQing to be implicated in the cheating scandal. At any rate, in this life, those people decided to target Jiang HuaiQing.

Jiang HuaiQing wrote about it in a joking tone. Obviously he didn’t take it seriously.

Shen Yu glanced at Shang JunLin. The man’s face was terrifyingly grim.

“Your Majesty?”

“This emperor didn’t know there were people with the courage to do such a thing! No wonder, no wonder they fought so hard over the examination procedures.”

“Your Majesty, don’t be angry. We don’t know for certain if it’s true yet. Have the Hidden Dragon Guard investigate it first, and then we’ll know,” Shen Yu said soothingly.

“Investigate! Yes, it must be thoroughly investigated!”

“Send someone to Jiang HuaiQing. Maybe we can catch those people in the act.” Shen Yu turned around, coming face-to-face with Shang JunLin. “Since they’ve done this, they must be targeting more than just Jiang HuaiQing, like other scholars who are similar to him. You should send people to keep an eye on them.”

“Just as Ah Yu says.” Shang JunLin held Shen Yu’s wrist. There was a bloodthirsty chill in his eyes.

“I’ll write back to Jiang HuaiQing and tell him not to do anything rash.” Shen Yu flexed the letter in his hand. “I wonder if anyone else has read this.”

Shang JunLin considered it. “There are no doubts about the people on our side. It depends on whether Jiang HuaiQing’s messenger is trustworthy.”

“There’s no need to be too concerned. We met Jiang HuaiQing under different identities. Even if other people saw us, they won’t expect this letter to fall into our hands,” Shen Yu said.

“Yes, this time it’s really thanks to Ah Yu. If Ah Yu hadn’t become acquainted with Jiang HuaiQing, he wouldn’t have told us about this. Perhaps this emperor will soon learn exactly how brave those people are.”

Shang JunLin printed a kiss on Shen Yu’s forehead. “Ah Yu is my lucky star.”

Seeing that Shang JunLin had calmed down, Shen Yu breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s also thanks to Your Majesty for bringing me out of the palace.

“Actually, I think we should thank the King of Yue as well.” Shen Yu deliberately adjusted the atmosphere. “If not for all the noise he made, we wouldn’t have met Jiang HuaiQing.”

“Then it’s all the more reason to thank Ah Yu. If Ah Yu hadn’t suggested sending letters to the King of Yue’s beauties, the events at Yingxing House wouldn’t have happened.” Thinking of this, Shang JunLin smiled gently.

Shen Yu lifted the corners of his lips. “True.” 

Every step was a matter of fate. Without each of those things, they wouldn’t have reached the current result.

After writing the letter, Shen Yu showed it to Shang JunLin. Then he gave it to the Hidden Dragon Guard to be delivered to Jiang HuaiQing.

Elsewhere in the city, Jiang HuaiQing was talking to Hè ChengYu.

“You have no idea how odd that man was. He stopped me and said I was the chosen one, saying that if I listen to them, I’ll get the top score with no trouble at all. How could I be that stupid? Unless he’s the Emperor himself—oh, wait, not even His Majesty controls the outcome of the exam.”

In order to ensure absolute fairness and impartiality, the officials who graded the examination papers weren’t permitted to see the names of the examinees. Only after the marking was completed would they see everyone’s score.

After Jiang HuaiQing said this, Hè ChengYu’s expression became serious. “When did you meet that man?” 

Startled by Hè ChengYu’s attitude, Jiang HuaiQing said hesitantly, “Isn’t he just a liar?”

When Hè ChengYu saw that he didn’t understand, he patiently explained, “Think about it. Why would a simple liar talk about cheating at such a sensitive time? Since he dared to say it, maybe he really has some contacts.”

Jiang HuaiQing was confused. “Huh?” 

But a moment later, his eyes opened wide with disbelief. “You, you mean, he’s asking me to cheat?!!”

“Keep your voice down.” Hè ChengYu got up and covered his mouth. “Even walls have ears.”

Jiang HuaiQing nodded, signaling that he wouldn’t say anything. Hè ChengYu let him go.

Jiang HuaiQing was flabbergasted. “What should I do now?” 

If any of this was exposed, as someone who’d been in contact with cheaters, his exam score would certainly be canceled.

“Don’t be anxious. I’ll think of something.” Hè ChengYu lowered his eyes and thought about what forces the Hè family could use to deal with this.

Hè ChengYu knew how important the exam was to Jiang HuaiQing, and he knew that with Jiang HuaiQing’s strength, if nothing interfered, he’d certainly do well. But then something like this happened…

Jiang HuaiQing stood up excitedly. “I also told Young Master Yu. Is he in trouble too?”

Da Huan had always been strict about investigating exam fraud. After Shang JunLin took office, there was zero tolerance for cheating. If anything really happened, there would be no escape. Now Young Master Yu was involved as well.

“I knew I shouldn’t have written a letter…”

Hè ChengYu stood up abruptly. “What did you say?” 

Jiang HuaiQing was startled. He said quietly, “I said I shouldn’t have written…”

Hè ChengYu cut him off. “Not that.” 

Jiang HuaiQing didn’t understand why Hè ChengYu reacted so strongly, but he repeated what he said before: “I said that I wrote a letter to Young Master Yu about it. I don’t know if he and the other young master will be implicated.” 

Hè ChengYu breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s OK. They’ll be fine.”

Jiang HuaiQing was puzzled. “Why?” 

Because the identities of those two weren’t simple. It was likely that they were His Majesty and the noble monarch, Hè ChengYu thought to himself.

After the two sides befriended each other, Hè ChengYu searched the capital with the resources of the Hè family. He never found anything about their origins. It was like they appeared out of thin air.

Together with the events at Yingxing House and Cangqi Mountain, Hè ChengYu reached a rough conclusion about their identities. If what he guessed was true, all the irregularities suddenly made sense.

Knock knock.

A sudden rap on the door interrupted their thoughts.

Jiang HuaiQing got up and answered it.

Standing at the door was a man he didn’t know. Before Jiang HuaiQing could say anything, the man took out a letter and handed it to him. “Young Master Yu said you’ll understand after you read this.”

It turned out to be a reply. Jiang HuaiQing calmed down a little and took the letter into the room.

“Young Master Yu already wrote back. I hope ChengYu Xiong won’t mind if I open it now.”

Hè ChengYu shook his head.

Jiang HuaiQing opened the envelope and took out the letter. The more he read, the more serious his face was.

After a while, he put away the letter. “Young Master Yu said the same things as ChengYu Xiong. He told me to be careful and not to beat the grass to startle the snake. He also said that I should concentrate on preparing for the exam and not worry about anything else. He said special people would take care of it.”

“Since Young Master Yu said so, just do as he says. That man you spoke to must have targeted more people than just you. Let’s keep our eyes open for a while.”

“I will.”

The next few days were calm and uneventful. Maybe because he had a hint of forewarning, Jiang HuaiQing had the feeling that it was the stillness before a storm.

The Hidden Dragon Guard quietly infiltrated various places where students gathered. They gradually identified several targets.

Shang JunLin received reports from the Hidden Dragon Guard every day. The investigation proceeded in an orderly manner.

The King of Yue’s people also made some moves.

In morning court, some ministers came forward and asked that the King of Yue’s matter be resolved quickly.

“Your Majesty, in any case, the King of Yue is also an imperial descendant. He must not be locked up in the dark prison forever.”

Because the King of Yue’s case involved so many young ladies, for the sake of the reputation of those women, it wasn’t directly stated what the king did. He was detained for a different reason.

In addition, the things Minister Fang found weren’t made public. Aside from some people who were unusually well informed or whose daughters were involved, a large number of officials didn’t know what the King of Yue had done.

Minister Ma, who came forward to speak, was one of these.

Not long ago, someone sent him a batch of rewards, saying that he only needed to mention the matter in court. Even if it wasn’t successful, the reward would remain the same.

Minister Ma told himself it was just a matter of a sentence or two. He was an official, and his duty was to advise the emperor. It didn’t matter if he said a word for the King of Yue.

“Oh? Then what does Minister Ma think this emperor should do?” Shang JunLin propped his chin in one hand and looked down at the officials from on high.

“That is…” Minister Ma was at a loss for words. He absolutely didn’t dare to ask Shang JunLin to release the person.

“Did Your Majesty forget your promise to the previous emperor?” An old minister stood up. “Or did His Highness the King of Yue commit the great crimes of collaborating with the enemy or treason?”

As soon as the old minister finished speaking, the hall fell silent.

Shang JunLin tapped on the armrest of the dragon throne. The expression on his face was unreadable.

“Do the rest of you also think this emperor should release the King of Yue?”

Some officials who took office later didn’t know anything about this, so they exchanged glances and didn’t dare to speak.

Several old ministers who served during the late emperor’s reign looked at each other and came forward. “Your Majesty’s words are like gold and jade and shouldn’t be changed easily.”

Even though he’d expected this, Shang JunLin was still furious. Why did he place such importance on the imperial examinations? It was to train new officials as fast as possible and replace these stubborn old ministers!

Shang JunLin’s eyes swept over the people one by one. Then he stood up and said, “You should know that this emperor is now the master of Da Huan. This emperor has my own opinions about the King of Yue, and you ministers need not worry about it!

“Dismissed.”

After speaking, he flicked his sleeves and left.

The ministers were left behind to look at each other.

After a moment of silence, someone couldn’t help but ask, “Ah… What in the world was that?”

“What exactly was the King of Yue thinking ? Couldn’t he have gone away peacefully? He just had to stay in the capital.”

“His Majesty is really… less and less willing to listen to advice.”

“He was always like that, otherwise he wouldn’t have…” The speaker abruptly shut his mouth. “Minister Ma, why did you mention the King of Yue so suddenly?”

As if they’d found a common point of attack, the ministers surrounded Minister Ma.

Minister Ma wanted to cry but had no tears. He didn’t know there would be such a big reaction either.

Shang JunLin returned to the rear of the hall. When he saw the young man by the window, he was taken aback for a moment.

The young man was dressed in white, cloaked in a layer of pale blue tulle. His long hair was unbound and fell softly behind him. An elegant gentleman, carved from jade.

“Why is Ah Yu here?”

Shen Yu’s range of activities in the imperial palace were basically confined to Yuzhang Palace. This was the first time Shang JunLin had seen him come to the main hall of the court to find him.

When he heard the voice, Shen Yu turned to him. “I came to see if Your Majesty has been bullied.”

Shen Yu arrived early. From his vantage point in the rear, he heard the commotion in the front hall, the minister pressuring Shang JunLin with the words of the previous emperor, and Shang JunLin’s voice raised in anger.

But he also knew that all of this was part of Shang JunLin’s plan to lure out the forces the previous emperor left for the King of Yue.

The beauty smiled, like flowers blooming in the clouds. Shang JunLin no longer had a thought to spare about the ministers. He strode over to Shen Yu. “If someone bullied this emperor, what would Ah Yu do?”

“What would Your Majesty like me to do? Go to the front hall and scold them?” Shen Yu lifted his eyebrows.

“No, no, how can Ah Yu’s mouth be used to scold anyone? Isn’t it wasted on them?” Shang JunLin leaned closer and said, with different emphasis, “Ah Yu only needs to console and comfort this emperor.”

TL Notes:

Every step was a matter of fate – 一饮一啄 – Every bite and every sip is preordained; live in conformity to nature and be leisurely and carefree; One cannot get what is denied him by destiny, no matter how hard he tries

like gold and jade – 金口玉言 – valuable advice; good advice; oracular words; precious words – Originally referred to things said by the emperor

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

Minister Ma – 马大人