The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

This time it wasn’t just the palace servants who were stunned. Shang JunLin, who was standing so close to Shen Yu, couldn’t sense the slightest trace of fear in him.

Shen Yu was trembling, but not because he was afraid. It was more like the intense excitement of encountering something extremely interesting.

Without conscious thought, Shang JunLin released the hand gripping Shen Yu’s chin. Shen Yu shook his head and complained in a low voice, “You pinched me.”

Shang JunLin couldn’t help looking at the skin he’d just grasped. It was already tinged with a light layer of crimson.

… So delicate.

Unexpectedly, a flicker of irresolution crossed his face. Shen Yu’s eyes sparked with interest. He stood up, slowly approached Shang JunLin, and leaned close to his ear. In a voice only the two of them could hear, he said, “Does Your Majesty feel guilty?”

Shang JunLin grabbed Shen Yu’s shoulder to stop him from getting any closer. “Shen Yu, you’re overstepping your bounds,” he scolded in a low voice.

“Your Majesty, please forgive me.” Shen Yu straightened up and gave a formal and proper salute.

Shang JunLin wasn’t sure why, but when he saw Shen Yu suddenly act like this, he felt a hint of loss. Covering up the unsettled emotions inside him, he took Shen Yu’s hand and led him to the side of the bed to sit down. “Are you truly angry with this emperor?”

Shen Yu: “Does Your Majesty want to hear the truth or a lie?”

Shang JunLin: “This emperor dislikes people who lie.”

Shen Yu: “The truth is… I’m not angry.”

Shang JunLin didn’t believe it. “You’re acting like you’re angry.”

“Well, in fact, at first I was a little angry.” Shen Yu lifted his hand and indicated a short distance between his thumb and index finger. “Just a bit. But I’m not angry anymore.”

Shang JunLin turned Shen Yu’s head towards him again, but this time he was careful with his strength and avoided hurting Shen Yu. He looked into Shen Yu’s eyes as if he was trying to see into his heart.

“Really?”

“How could I dare lie to Your Majesty?” Shen Yu let the man inspect his face. Curious, he asked, “Why didn’t Your Majesty tell me?”

“It wasn’t an important matter.” Shang JunLin avoided Shen Yu’s focused gaze. “The doctor said your body needs rest to recuperate. It wasn’t worth making a scene in front of you for that kind of thing.”

It was because of his health? Shen Yu was startled. A warm current welled up in his heart. He’d grown up with a sickly body, but received little thoughtfulness or concern from a young age. Whether in this life or his previous one, there weren’t many people who cared about his well-being.

As if aware he might have said too much, Shang JunLin added, “This emperor was also afraid you’d have nightmares and disturb my sleep.”

“Don’t worry, Your Majesty. With Your Majesty by my side, nothing can scare me.” Shen Yu didn’t try to poke further. Smiling, he leaned closer to the man and rested his head on his shoulder.

“This emperor has discovered you’re not afraid of anything in heaven or earth.” Feeling the unfamiliar weight on his shoulder, Shang JunLin’s lips slightly turned up.

“No, I’m only afraid Your Majesty will ignore me.” Shen Yu murmured.

Without waiting for Shang JunLin to speak, Shen Yu continued, “I know Your Majesty did it for my own good. How can I be angry with Your Majesty for that? Besides, how could some strangers I don’t even know be more important than Your Majesty?”

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The rancor in Shang JunLin’s heart completely vanished. His index finger nudged Shen Yu’s forehead, and he took the initiative to mention, “The confession of that palace maid is complete. Do you want to see it?”

Shen Yu gave a small nod. Because he was leaning against Shang JunLin’s shoulder, every time Shen Yu’s head moved, Shang JunLin felt his shoulder being gently rubbed.

“Meng Chang, bring the confession.”

“At once.” Meng Gonggong was amazed. Tsking to himself, he admired Shen Yu’s skill from the bottom of his heart. He’d never seen anyone who could calm His Majesty’s anger so quickly.

But not only that, he also coaxed the emperor into a good mood. His Majesty’s face lacked much expression, but Meng Gonggong knew him well and could tell that His Majesty was now in good spirits.

The confession was quickly brought in. Shen Yu leaned on Shang JunLin’s shoulder and read it together with him.

Perhaps because Shen Yue was frightened, she revealed every detail known to the original owner. When Shen Yu looked at it, he couldn’t help but frown.

After all, Shen Yue was a marginal character. She didn’t have much inside information about the plot. Still, her confession was enough to provide a faint glimpse of how ambitious the person behind the scenes was.

Shen Yu knew there were spies outside the palace, but he hadn’t thought their schemes were buried so deep.

Shen Yue was placed in the palace ten years ago. In other words, ten years ago—or even longer—those people had already begun to plot. What Shen Yue knew was just the tip of the iceberg.

What was beneath it, far below the surface, remained completely hidden.

The palace had many people like Shen Yue, but it was rare for them to take any action. Their secret masters were extremely cautious and would only order their people to act at a critical moment.

After Shang JunLin took the throne, he spent more time on the battlefield than in the palace. It was only in the past few years, now that the country was recaptured, that he wasn’t constantly away at war.

After Shen Yu read the confession, he understood why Shang JunLin made the palace people watch the slaughter. On the one hand, it was killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys, scaring them into line. On the other hand, it was the bloodiest possible warning to the people behind them: don’t play games in front of the emperor.

Even if he didn’t have a complete list of guilty people, what did that matter? After last night, how many palace servants would dare to make the same mistakes again? Moreover, in the past, Shang JunLin hadn’t spent much time in the palace, but in the future, he would live here at all times. Now his control over the palace would be greatly increased.

“The maid was only able to explain a small part, but it’s enough. This emperor’s people will follow the clues to find out the rest.”

Shen Yu was immersed in his thoughts when he suddenly heard Shang JunLin’s voice. He felt startled for a moment, and then he realized Shang JunLin was explaining to him. Hesitating, he said, “The confession…”

“Last night was a smokescreen. The Hidden Dragon Guard found more.”

Shen Yu understood. The emperor had acted to confuse the enemy’s line of sight and conceal what happened to Shen Yue. The conspirators could only guess how much the emperor really knew about their movements.

“This emperor had no idea that Imperial Censor Zhang’s hand stretched so far.”

Then it wasn’t a coincidence. Some of the details in Shen Yue’s confession pointed directly to Imperial Censor Zhang. He appeared upright and honest on the surface, but he’d done a lot of “clever things” in secret. The Hidden Dragon Guard followed the chain of clues and turned up a lot of incriminating evidence.

Shang JunLin didn’t conceal any of this from Shen Yu. “This emperor thought he was merely greedy, a snake trying to swallow an elephant. As it turned out…”

Imperial Censor Zhang belonged to an aristocratic family, but he was one of the few officials who did productive work during the reign of the previous emperor. He always had a good reputation. After Shang JunLin ascended the throne, he dismissed many corrupt officials, but Imperial Censor Zhang was one of the few who remained. Who would have thought it was all fake?

“Your Majesty, are you going to publish the evidence of Imperial Censor Zhang’s guilt?”

“Do you want this emperor to make it public?” Shang JunLin stared at Shen Yu with unclear meaning.

“I just think he’s done too many wrong things. It’s only right for the people to scold him.” To let a man like Imperial Censor Zhang keep his good name after death was going far too easy on him.

Shen Yu: “People should be held responsible when they do wrong, shouldn’t they, Your Majesty?”

Shang JunLin: “Everything the noble monarch says is reasonable.”

Shen Yu: “And… Your Majesty frightened my servant girl. Are you going to make up for it?”

Shang JunLin didn’t expect the topic to suddenly turn there. He looked at Shen Yu with a half-smile. “Was that the noble monarch’s plan all along? To ask this emperor to reward the little servant you brought into the palace?”

“If possible, I hope Your Majesty can do the same for the other palace people as well.”

“Fine.” Shang JunLin was in a good mood and happy to satisfy Shen Yu’s small request. “Meng Chang, do as the noble monarch said.”

“Aiyo, this slave thanks the noble monarch for remembering everyone.” Meng Gonggong smiled and gave thanks for his kindness.

When the reward came down, it diluted the fear of the palace servants. The King of Yue waited several days without receiving the good news he’d expected from the palace. He was so angry that he threw his cup.

“Is this what you call a foolproof plan? Who told me he wouldn’t care about the lives of palace servants?!”

“This…” His advisor couldn’t say anything. He too wanted to know why the emperor suddenly changed his routine. The palace servants who received a reward for being frightened were now more respectful than afraid of the emperor. The plan was in ruins.

“Useless!” The King of Yue took a deep breath. “Everyone, think carefully. Has anything unusual happened around the emperor recently?”

The King of Yue had some understanding of Shang JunLin. He knew that his royal brother disdained to explain himself. He didn’t care about other people’s opinions at all. Appeasing the palace servants over this matter wasn’t something he’d do.

“If I had to guess, does the newly appointed Noble Monarch Shen count?”

The King of Yue suddenly clutched at the table. His face darkened. When he heard Shen Yu’s name, he remembered the way Shen Yu viewed him as a substitute for that man. However, the others didn’t know about this and continued the discussion.

“They say Noble Monarch Shen is very favored, and what happened took place in the harem. It could very well have something to do with him….”

“Stop talking!” The King of Yue felt almost sick enough to vomit, but no matter how bad he felt, there were important things to decide. “We can discuss that later. The rest of you think about how to save Young Master He.”

He hadn’t forgotten the most important reason for concealing his identity and entering the capital.

Meanwhile, Shen Yu didn’t care what the King of Yue might do. He cleaned up a bit and prepared to explore Shen Yue’s background again.

Shen Yue was locked up in a special, dark prison, and Shen Yu naturally wasn’t allowed to go there. He ground down Shang JunLin over several days and finally got Shang JunLin to promise to take him there.

“You could have asked for something else, don’t forget.” Outside the secret prison, Shang JunLin lightly reminded him.

Shen Yu: “I know. I just hope Your Majesty can give me a little time alone with her and ensure no one is secretly watching during that time.”

Shang JunLin: “This emperor is really curious what big secrets you’re going to discuss.”

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Why was Shen Yu so certain he could get information from her that the Hidden Dragon Guards couldn’t?

Shen Yu followed a Hidden Dragon Guard member into the prison. The dark prison was like its name, poorly illuminated and cold in climate. After taking one step inside, it was like he’d entered a deep and terrible underworld.

Shen Yu wrapped his cloak more tightly around him and saw someone in a single person cell.

The jailer opened the cell door and ordered everyone else to retreat.

“Shen Yue.”

The person cowering by the wall raised her head at the sound. Then she saw that the person who entered was Shen Yu, the man she least wanted to see. She was about to say something when he lowered his voice and said a few words.

Shen Yue: ! ! !

The next moment, Shen Yue widened her eyes in horror.

How could this be?!

How could Shen Yu know?!

He really—

Who was he?!