The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

“What part of Your Majesty isn’t powerful?” Shen Yu’s eyes flashed. “Naturally, all of Your Majesty is powerful.”

“Is that so?” Shang JunLin grasped Shen Yu’s waist with one arm. With the other, he took Shen Yu’s hand and toyed with it. “Would Ah Yu like to try it for yourself?”

“Try what…” As soon as he said the words, Shen Yu shut his mouth. Then he said, “Why does Your Majesty seem different from the way you were before?”

Shang JunLin considered it, but he didn’t think there was any change. “What’s different?” 

Shen Yu frowned. “Your Majesty never used to say the things you do now.” 

“What didn’t this emperor say before?” Shang JunLin pulled Shen Yu closer. Leaning in, he stroked Shen Yu’s cheek. “So does Ah Yu want to?”

A faint pink blush arose on Shen Yu’s face. The man’s body temperature pressed against him, just like his personality, giving Shen Yu a feeling of fever. The intimate touch on his face transmitted the same heat. Shen Yu pursed his lips.

“Do Your Majesty’s officials know that Your Majesty behaves like this?”

“Does this emperor need them to know? It’s enough for Ah Yu to know.” Shang JunLin turned his head and pressed a kiss on Shen Yu’s cheek.

The fingers hanging at Shen Yu’s side curled up. Shen Yu didn’t avoid Shang JunLin but let the kiss drift downwards.

After Shang JunLin held Shen Yu for a while, all the anger he’d felt because of morning court gradually extinguished. He hugged Shen Yu and sat down with him. “Ah Yu waited for this emperor a long time. Are you hungry?”

Now that he mentioned it, Shen Yu realized he genuinely was hungry. “A little.”

“Meng Chang, bring in the meal.”

Meng Gonggong acknowledged the order and left. Mu Xi poured tea for the two masters, then retreated to one side.

Shen Yu picked up his tea cup and gently rubbed the outer surface. “What is Your Majesty going to do about that Minister Zhao?”

“Does he think that just because there’s an aristocratic family standing behind him, this emperor doesn’t dare to touch him?” Shang JunLin took Shen Yu’s hand and drank from the teacup he was holding.

“… Your Majesty, that’s my cup.”

“Ah Yu won’t even give this emperor a sip of tea? Does Ah Yu dislike this emperor?” Instead of letting go, Shang JunLin drank down the rest of the cup in one gulp.

“Of course Your Majesty can have it if you want. It’s just a cup of tea.”

“Ah Yu, don’t take offense. In exchange, this emperor will compensate you with mine. All right?” Shang JunLin took the empty cup from Shen Yu and picked up the other cup, which was full. He held it up to Shen Yu’s lips.

“Ah Yu fed this emperor, and now this emperor will feed Ah Yu.”

It was clear he wasn’t going to give up until Shen Yu drank it.

Since Shen Yu couldn’t refuse, he took a sip. He could tell Shang JunLin was doing it on purpose.

Fortunately, Shang JunLin knew better than to tease him too much. After holding the cup for Shen Yu once, he returned to normal. “The ambitions of those aristocratic families are growing bigger and bigger.”

“Minister Zhao was merely a spokesperson for them, right? If they succeed in making Your Majesty give them an inch, they’ll demand a mile next time and want even more benefits for aristocratic families. He’s an imperial censor. If they have to abandon him, they will. Losing him won’t cause serious injury or shake their foundations.”

When Shen Yu waited in the back hall, he learned about Minister Zhao’s background. As an imperial censor, it was that man’s duty to advise the emperor. That didn’t mean he was supposed to influence the emperor out of his own selfish desires.

“Ah Yu isn’t wrong to think so. The aristocratic families have been making moves in the court for a long time. It’s not an easy thing to root them out.” Shang JunLin looked down to suppress the killing intent in his eyes.

Ever since he ascended the throne, the aristocrats had found various ways to trip him up, overtly as well as covertly. Unfortunately, because of the foolishness of the late emperor, most of the power in the court was still in their hands. Even though the imperial examinations were open to all, the aristocratic families had a lot of resources, and most of the officials selected by the imperial examinations were linked to them on some level. It had taken Shang JunLin several years to cultivate a group of useful officials who didn’t have ties to them.

Shen Yu put his hand over Shang JunLin’s. “Your Majesty won’t have to endure it for long. Weren’t the results of this imperial examination a clear slap in their faces?”

No one in the top three came from an aristocratic family. Didn’t those people like to boast about their superiority and rich heritage? Why couldn’t they compare to Jiang HuaiQing, who was born to a poor family, or Fang JiaYi, a woman?

Shang JunLin turned his hand over and wrapped Shen Yu’s hand in his palm, interlocking their fingers together. “Ah Yu is right. No matter how deep their roots are in Da Huan, this emperor will cut down the roots that feed on Da Huan’s blood!” 

As long as those people didn’t act up too much, he was willing to turn a blind eye, but now he had Ah Yu to protect. In order to shelter Ah Yu better, he would never allow any trouble to arise in Da Huan!

Not long after, Meng Gonggong led the palace servants in. One by one they set down the bowls of food sent by the imperial kitchen.

Shen Yu glanced at the dishes. They were all his favorites.

“Your Majesty, let’s eat.”

“Mm.”

The two took their seats, and the palace servants stepped aside.

Shen Yu wasn’t used to being waited on during meals. Shang JunLin had been eating with him a long time, and he’d gradually lost the habit of making people serve him directly as he ate. The emperor and the noble monarch, the two people with the highest status in the empire, enjoyed their meal like an ordinary family.

Meng Gonggong was an old man who’d served Shang JunLin for years. He’d seen with his own eyes the changes in Shang JunLin since Shen Yu entered the palace, becoming more and more expressive and human. Meng Gonggong couldn’t have described the emotions in his heart.

In the past he used to envision what would happen if someone entered His Majesty’s harem. Nothing he imagined was better than now.

After the results of the palace exam were finalized, the imperial court announced the news to the public. Every year this happened, the people in the capital paid a lot of attention to the top three scorers.

This time the results gave rise to heated debate.

The main reason was that, for the very first time, a woman appeared in the list of graduates, and she actually came in second.

In taverns and teahouses, everywhere you went, you could hear people talking about it.

“A woman as an official? It sounds like a fantasy tale.”

“How can a woman be an official? A woman shouldn’t show her face in public. Women ought to stay home with their husbands and children.”

“What do you know? If a woman has the ability, why can’t she serve the court like a man?”

“Those sons of noble families brag higher than the sky, but did you notice that none of them managed to get zhuangyuan, bangyan, or tanhua this time?”

“That’s right, that character who bragged about his towering genius every day only ranked fourth.”

“If you ask me, the aristocratic families really look down on everyone. They think they can rest easy by holding onto a lot of rare books they keep secret from everyone else. They don’t realize that closing themselves off and working in private just means they’ll be left behind.”

A young man in white was sitting not far away. When he heard these people talking, his expression turned ugly. Beside him, several other finely-dressed young men exchanged quiet glances. They were too embarrassed to say anything.

They noticed their friend hadn’t scored well and took him out to relax a little. They weren’t expecting to overhear something like this.

“Yi Xiong…”

“It’s true that I didn’t do well on the exam. You don’t have to say anything.” The young master in white took a drink of wine with an ugly face. “Did you find out about those people?”

Being outclassed by Hè ChengYu was one thing. At least he was the legitimate son of a prominent family. But who were Jiang HuaiQing and Fang JiaYi?

Those people came from the middle of nowhere. How dare they walk all over him?!

“We found out that Fang JiaYi is the only daughter of Minister Fang. As for Jiang HuaiQing, he’s just an orphan with no background at all. JianMing Xiong, do you want us to do something?”

The young master in white—that is, Yi JianMing—shook his head. His eyes were gloomy. “Don’t do anything rash. They might have ranked in the top three, but that doesn’t mean their official careers will go well. The truly difficult part is still ahead. Do they think it’s that easy to walk into the world of officials?”

Someone with no backing at all—was it hard to make trouble for a person like that?

“JianMing Xiong, don’t worry. One of them’s a woman, and the other is deeply linked to that fraud case a while ago. It remains to be seen whether they manage to enter the court at all.”

Yi JianMing grabbed the speaker’s hand. “What do you mean by that? What do you mean by ‘deeply linked to the fraud case’?”

“Oh, as for that, JianMing Xiong, it was something that happened when you were focused on preparing for the exam. You must not have heard. They say that Jiang HuaiQing was contacted by those people before the exam. Did he really not do anything? Except for himself, who could possibly know for sure?”

“I see.” Yi JianMing smiled maliciously. “How can someone with no background get such a good score unless he cheated?”

“Ah-choo.” Jiang HuaiQing, who’d been talking, sneezed all of a sudden. He touched his forehead. “The weather’s been cooling down lately. Maybe I caught a chill?”

“Maybe someone’s talking about you.” Hè ChengYu slowly and methodically took a piece of vegetable with his chopsticks and lifted it to his mouth.

“ChengYu Xiong, don’t make fun of me. If that was true, you’d be sneezing too. So many people are talking about us.” As Jiang HuaiQing said this, his face was troubled.

Because both the zhuangyuan and the tanhua were staying there, the threshold of Yingxing House was almost worn out from all the visitors. It was exhausting to deal with the people who came to congratulate them, not to mention wave after wave of matchmakers with marriage proposals.

Da Huan had an old tradition of using the graduation list to catch son-in-laws. Hè ChengYu and Jiang HuaiQing were both handsome, with clean family histories. One was the zhuangyuan and the other was the tanhua, and neither were married. Countless people in the capital wanted to propose.

Jiang HuaiQing’s family background was weaker than Hè ChengYu’s, but not many people cared. If they wanted to marry someone from that kind of background, there were plenty of young masters from aristocratic families in the capital. Because of this, Jiang HuaiQing’s popularity was actually slightly higher than Hè ChengYu’s.

Almost every morning, more than twenty matchmakers came to speak to him. Jiang HuaiQing was so scared that he immediately shut the door and refused to meet any visitors.

Seeing how anxious he was, Hè ChengYu suggested they move somewhere else. The Hè family wasn’t based in the capital, but it wasn’t hard to get a house or two.

After thinking about it, Jiang HuaiQing agreed. He decided to live with Hè ChengYu for the time being. And for some reason, he decided to write to Shen Yu to tell him what had happened recently.

After reading Jiang HuaiQing’s letter, Shen Yu pictured the scene and couldn’t help but laugh. “He’s shocked by the enthusiasm of everyone in the capital.”

Shang JunLin finished reading the letter. “This emperor is surprised he’s still writing to you,” he said with a smile in his voice.

“I didn’t expect it either. I thought he’d be too frightened when he learned who we are. I didn’t think he’d write for a while.” Shen Yu was surprised to receive a letter so soon. “In the letter, he mentions their new address. Isn’t Your Majesty going to leave the palace in a couple of days? Why don’t we visit them?”

The Ministry of Works had made progress recently, and Shang JunLin planned to take a look. Shen Yu was the one who provided the formula. Naturally, Shang JunLin would take him along.

Shang JunLin thought about it and agreed.

“He certainly won’t expect us to show up.” Shen Yu winked slyly. 

After Jiang HuaiQing moved to the new house, he breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of visitors. Then he relaxed and recuperated for a few days. He had no idea he was about to receive a big “pleasant surprise”.

TL Notes:

I couldn’t access two of my favorite dictionaries today which made everything so much harder! (´•̥ ᵔ •̥`) They only started working after I finished the chapter 

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

Yi Xiong – 易兄

JianMing Xiong – 简明兄

expressive and human – 烟火气 – smoke and fire smell, the smell of cooking food; earthly vulgarity; refers to the emotions ordinary people experience in daily life

fantasy tale – 天方夜谭 – The Arabian Nights (classic story); fantasy story

brag higher than the sky – 那些心比天高 – hearts/minds higher than the sky

closing themselves off and working in private – 闭门造车 – lit. to shut oneself away and build a cart (idiom) / fig. to work on a project in isolation, without caring for outside realities