The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Shang JunLin’s gaze suddenly became aggressive.

Instead of answering, he immediately lowered his head and captured the young man’s lips.

The taste was just as sweet as he remembered. The lips were sucked with a slight force, and the man’s breathing became heavy. He placed one hand behind Shen Yu’s head, giving him no chance to back away.

The kiss was long and intense. Shen Yu, not to be outdone, moved closer to join the dance.

At some point his hands began to tightly grasp the man’s clothes. He leaned back slightly, and his face was forced up to accept the man’s increasingly fierce attack.

Shen Yu didn’t close his eyes. He could see the man’s enlarged face and a sliver of the umbrella shade over his head.

The pattern on the umbrella seemed to rotate. Everything before him became hazy and strange, and the force against his lips grew stronger and stronger….

Shen Yu gradually closed his eyes. He wrapped his arms around the man’s powerful waist.

Beneath the rain and mist, a blue umbrella concealed a sensuous scene.

Meng Gonggong and Mu Xi fell far behind the pair. They could only see the two standing close together and the umbrella that tightly covered them.

After an unknown amount of time, the kiss ended and Shen Yu was slowly released. The man didn’t withdraw. His breath pressed against Shen Yu’s lips.

Shen Yu returned to his senses, emerging from the strange and dazzling illusion.

He didn’t push Shang JunLin away. The breath of the two people intertwined, and the umbrella divided them from the world outside. At the moment, he couldn’t think of anything; he could ignore everything. The whole world consisted of himself and Shang JunLin and nothing else, and he could indulge himself to sink into this small world for a short while.

The man’s breath drifted over his face, accompanied by small kisses falling like gentle raindrops, soft and soothing. Shen Yu’s heartbeat gradually calmed down.

The rain that continued to fall couldn’t extinguish the exchange of affection under the umbrella. In the end, Shang JunLin began to worry that Shen Yu would feel cold and offered to return inside.

Shen Yu felt he’d had enough fresh air and didn’t object.

When the rain stopped, the sun appeared high in the sky again. Shen Yu lifted his hand to shade his eyes. “This is unusual weather.”

He remembered that before his nap, the sun was shining brightly. After the rain shower, the sun returned again, as if it had also taken a nap in the afternoon.

Shang JunLin accepted the umbrella. He handed it to Meng Gonggong behind him, then reached out to touch Shen Yu’s clothes. He felt relieved when he confirmed they were still dry.

“Your Majesty is wet.” The water wasn’t obvious on the black clothes, but when Shang JunLin stood close by Shen Yu could see that his shoulder was wet. “Your Majesty, please change your clothes first.”

Meng Gonggong hurriedly brought in clean clothes. Shang JunLin saw the concern in Shen Yu’s eyes and decided not to refuse. He went over to the side to change.

Shang JunLin came out in fresh clothes, took Shen Yu in his arms, and smiled. “Was Ah Yu worried about this emperor just now?” 

Shen Yu leaned back, felt the constant wave of heat coming from the man’s body, and squinted his eyes. “It wouldn’t be good if Your Majesty caught a chill because of me.” 

After the two chatted for a while. Meng Gonggong came into the room. “Your Majesty, Minister Feng and Minister Duan are requesting an audience,” he said in a low voice.

In this contest between imperial power and the aristocratic families, it was time to bring down the curtain.

“Your Majesty can return to work. I’ll read by myself for a bit.” Shen Yu had recovered his equilibrium. He wasn’t a lonely little baby bird who was completely dependent on Shang JunLin.

Seeing that Shen Yu meant this sincerely, Shang JunLin agreed. “This emperor will go for a while. I’ll return and accompany you after handling this business.”

The sky had completely cleared up, as if the rain just now was no more than a dream. As he thought of the eager and active young man under the rain and mist, Shang JunLin curved his lips in a good mood.

By the time he arrived at the imperial study, Shang JunLin had reverted to his usual foreboding manner. Meng Gonggong witnessed the change take place and told himself the noble monarch was the only person who could soften His Majesty’s heart.

Minister Feng and Minister Duan knew that going to Shang JunLin on their own initiative was an indication the aristocratic families were willing to back down. In effect, they had already lost the confrontation.

Shang JunLin sat on his throne and gazed at the two aging cabinet ministers from high above. “You came to see this emperor. Do you have important business?” 

The pair knelt down in salute. Only after they got up did they speak. “We came because of the incident at the Qionglin Banquet.”

“Then you heard of it too?” Shang JunLin rested his forehead against his hand. “Tell this emperor how you intend to deal with it.”

After Yi JianMing and others were brought away from the banquet, they were placed in solitary confinement. No one was allowed to visit them, and Shang JunLin had given no orders on how to deal with them. Their families couldn’t sit still, so they had no choice but to ask the two cabinet ministers to intervene.

As Minister Feng and Minister Duan were well aware, the matter could be viewed as either big or small. Everything depended on Shang JunLin’s attitude. Since they didn’t know what Shang JunLin intended, they weren’t sure where to begin.

“Your Majesty, what those young people did really wasn’t appropriate. However, we were able to confirm that they didn’t actually do anything to anyone. It was just a bit of conflict between the two sides…”

They were extremely fortunate there hadn’t been time for anything to happen. No matter what the young people said or what plans they had in mind, since nothing was actually implemented, there was room to turn things around.

Shang JunLin didn’t interrupt the two men but let them finish. “Then, according to your argument, this emperor overreacted to a small matter?”

“This official wouldn’t dare!”

“This official knows these juniors acted improperly, but they’ll all meet in court in the future and will have to resolve this misunderstanding. Your Majesty might give them a chance to clear up this mistake face to face.”

“If everyone behaved in this way, how would the imperial court maintain its authority? This emperor believes the two ministers would not wish to see themselves disrespected like this one day, correct?”

The more Shang JunLin refrained from expressing a specific opinion, the more anxious they became. Although they’d suspected this might happen before they came, they continued to struggle.

The conversation went on for two hours. When Minister Feng and Minister Duan left the imperial study, it was already dark.

The two people exchanged glances and saw the bitterness in each other’s eyes. After all, Shang JunLin had broken free of control and turned into a ruler they couldn’t easily sway.

They didn’t return directly to their homes, but went to the place they frequently met. Some things could only be said in private.

“Clearly we underestimated him. We should have known from the beginning that certain people are destined to become uncontrollable.” Minister Feng let out a long sigh.

Minister Duan frowned. “But at the time, we had no choice other than him. The King of Yue’s foundation was too shallow, and he was never that one’s opponent. Not to mention the other princes. The ones who had any ability to compete no longer remain, and the rest were even worse than the King of Yue.”

Minister Feng: “What shall we do now?”

Minister Duan: “What else can we do? We’ve gone over all this before. All we can do is abide by his wishes. Anyway, there’s no need to rush. We aren’t the only ones who don’t want a woman to enter the court. Wait and see. There are so many people in the world, and the number of people in opposition will only increase.”

In their opinion, Shen Yu and Shang JunLin hadn’t really thought about how shocking it was for Da Huan to have a woman become an official. This was something only a tiny minority of people could accept. 

But there were some things that shouldn’t be abandoned simply because not many people will accept it. Accomplishing anything from scratch is difficult, and that had always been true without exception. The moment they made the decision they were ready to face all doubts.

After Jiang HuaiQing and Hè ChengYu returned to the house, everything was just as Hè ChengYu said. The servants had acted quickly. None of their precious books were caught in the rain.

After putting the books in order, Jiang HuaiQing took out the rice paper and ink he bought. Thinking of what he overheard in the shop and the encounter before, Jiang HuaiQing picked up his pen.

By the time he realized what he was doing, he’d already written several pages. Jiang HuaiQing stared at the words on the paper and pressed his forehead. Well, since it was already written he might as well send it.

Shen Yu leaned back on the soft couch and a thought occurred to him. He called Mu Xi. “Last time you said that Shen Yue agreed to the plan. What has she been up to recently?”

“Recently she’s developed several new things, and they’ve been highly praised by the dowager concubine. She sent some of them to our palace. Do you want to have a look?”

“Bring them over and I’ll see.”

Mu Xi gave the orders. After a short wait the palace servants came in with a few things.

Mu Xi picked up a square item in a wooden box and introduced it. “Lady Shen Yue said this item is called perfumed soap. Its purpose is to clean one’s hands.” 

Shen Yu took it from her. It had a light fragrance which was pleasant to smell.

Mu Xi also introduced some other items. They were all convenient things for daily life.

Shen Yu got up from the couch. “Let’s go. We’ll visit the dowager concubine’s palace.” 

Shang JunLin was busy with his official duties, and Shen Yu had nothing to do in Yuzhang Palace. He might as well wander around.

The palace where the dowager concubine lived was a distance from Yuzhang Palace. While Yuzhang Palace was bustling and prosperous, this palace embodied the phrase “simple elegance” throughout.

When the dowager concubine was informed of his arrival, she came out of the palace with her servants to meet him.

After exchanging greetings, the dowager concubine led them into the main hall.

“I came here on a whim. My apologies for disturbing the dowager concubine.” Shen Yu looked at the woman who was wearing simple makeup. She was in her forties with a well-maintained appearance, and there weren’t many signs of age on her face. Maybe because of her inner nature, she gave an impression of calm. This soft-looking, non-aggressive woman had survived countless storms in the harem of the previous emperor to live peacefully to this day.

“It’s no bother at all. The noble monarch came here because of that child Shen Yue, isn’t that right?” The dowager concubine called for Shen Yue.

“I saw the things she sent to Yuzhang Palace. They were very novel, so I decided to come here to have a look.” Shen Yu didn’t hide his true intentions.

“The noble monarch is talking about the items Shen Yue made, isn’t that right? Shen Yue, that girl. Ever since she came to my palace she always likes to come up with new things. It’s her good fortune to be so valued by the noble monarch and His Majesty.” The dowager concubine’s tone revealed her fondness for Shen Yue.

“The dowager concubine needn’t worry. Shen Yue is the one who made those things, and she’ll be rewarded.” Shen Yu had always been clear about rewards and punishments. He wouldn’t dream of taking credit for what someone else had made.

Shen Yue gathered up the notes she’d prepared in advance and brought them to Shen Yu. The notes were based on what she knew from her previous life. Because she wasn’t sure what would be useful and what wouldn’t, she simply wrote everything down and handed it to Shen Yu to decide.

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Shen Yu didn’t stay for long. After receiving the notes, he said a few words to the dowager concubine and left.

After returning to Yuzhang Palace, Shen Yu looked at what Shen Yue had put together. It wasn’t the same as what he remembered from his previous life. Shen Yue wrote about items that were convenient for daily life, particularly things that women might like.

As for how to use those things, that still had to be discussed with Shang JunLin.

Just as he thought of the man, Shang JunLin walked in.

“What is Ah Yu looking at?” Shang JunLin asked as he walked up to Shen Yu.

“Looking at the information from Shen Yue.” Shen Yu shifted to make room for Shang JunLin.

Shang JunLin bent over Shen Yu, wrapped him in his arms from behind, and looked at the paper Shen Yu was holding. “Is this why Ah Yu treats Shen Yue differently?”

“Doesn’t Your Majesty think these things will be useful?” Shen Yu asked.

Shang JunLin caressed a lock of Shen Yu’s hair. “They’re quite useful, but how did Ah Yu know Shen Yue would be able to do this?”

TL Notes:

overreacted to a small matter – 小题大做了 – to make a big fuss over a minor issue (idiom), make a mountain out of a molehill 

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