The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

The force on Shen Yu's chin continued to increase. He curved his lips. "Is Your Majesty angry?"

Shang JunLin's eyes narrowed slightly. "This emperor is just reminding the noble monarch. Don't forget your identity."

"Then…" Shen Yu trailed off. "Your Majesty, tell me what my identity is."

"The noble monarch shouldn't ask things you already know."

"I was only speaking casually. How did Your Majesty hear about it?" Shen Yu rolled his eyes. "Does Your Majesty really care about me that much?"

"It has always been impossible to hide secrets in the imperial palace. This emperor can't say how many ears were listening to your conversation with the King of Yue." Shang JunLin was stating facts.

"Then it's no wonder the King of Li threatened me with that." As Shen Yu thought about it he put his hand on the back of Shang JunLin's. "If Your Majesty wants to know about my experience outside the palace, you can ask me directly. There's no need to hear it from others."

Shang JunLin's eyes deepened. "Then the noble monarch might as well tell this emperor how many good young masters you have outside the palace, hmm?"

With that, the conversation returned to the original topic.

"Does Your Majesty believe what I said to fool the King of Yue? Other than Your Majesty, I haven't had any good young masters. Isn't Your Majesty clear about that?" Shen Yu knew Shang JunLin must have investigated what happened before he entered the palace.

Shang JunLin didn't deny it. "What the noble monarch says is correct." He loosened the hand holding Shen Yu's chin and frowned. "How can you be so delicate?"

Shang JunLin deliberately used a light amount of strength, but unexpectedly, he still left a red mark on Shen Yu's chin.

"Meng Chang, bring the medicine."

"Yes." Meng Gonggong quickly brought in the medicine for removing bruises.

Shen Yu rubbed his chin, but he didn't feel anything. "Your Majesty, don't worry about it. It will fade on its own in a while."

Shang JunLin didn't listen. He opened the medicine bottle. One hand held Shen Yu's jaw, while the fingers of the other hand dipped into the ointment and carefully applied it to the red marks.

There was a cool sensation on his chin. The man's fingertips rubbed the ointment little by little, and the coolness gradually turned into heat.

Shen Yu was caught between Shang JunLin and the wall. The bitter cold aura and the heat coming from the man's body were constantly dueling each other, making his head swim.

Shen Yu closed his eyes a little, and his confused thoughts gradually calmed down.

"All right."

Just before his consciousness slipped into the abyss, he heard the man's voice. Shen Yu opened his eyes and found he was now even closer to Shang JunLin.

The two were only an arm's length apart, so close he could clearly see Shang JunLin's long, upturned eyelashes. Their breathing alternated, and Shen Yu's ears became hot.

"The noble monarch has a mole here," Shang JunLin said in a low voice.

Below his earlobe, there was a very light mole. Shang JunLin couldn't resist stroking it with his fingers.

Shen Yu tilted his head uneasily, wanting to avoid Shang JunLin's hand. At the same time he reached up to touch the side of his ear.

He never knew the place he had that mole was so sensitive. Shang JunLin had barely touched him, but it was like hitting a switch. He was trembling slightly.

"Your Majesty…" Hearing the unconcealed tremor in his voice, Shen Yu closed his mouth.

Shang JunLin withdrew his hand with a cough. "It's late. The noble monarch should get some rest."

Under his wide sleeves, the man rubbed his fingers. That delicate, warm, yet cool feeling seemed to linger on his fingertips.

Shen Yu lay on the bed with his head turned slightly to the side. Under the candlelight, Shang JunLin approved memorials in a firm, upright posture. The orange candlelight gave the man a warm glow, making it hard to look away.

It was destined to be a sleepless night.

The King of Huaiyu was suddenly taken away. The ministers were blindsided by the emperor's sudden series of moves.

Without a word, the imperial guard jailed several officials, including but not limited to some old ministers who'd been in office since the previous emperor.

This time the action was even bigger than for Imperial Censor Zhang.

Well-connected ministers gathered together to ponder His Majesty's decisions.

"First His Majesty punished the King of Li and the King of Yue, and now it's the King of Huaiyu. The King of Huaiyu didn't disrespect the noble monarch like the other two princes, did he?"

"Probably not. The King of Huaiyu always kept a low profile, right? He never even asked questions about the government. The King of Li wanted his niece to enter the palace as empress. I never heard of a young lady like that in the King of Huaiyu's family."

"His Majesty suddenly made a big move and sent the imperial guard to surround the Huaiyu Palace. I really don't think it's because of something trivial."

"Could it be… rebellion?"

"Careful, mind what you say."

"In fact, it's not completely impossible. You may not know, but before the previous emperor ascended the throne, the King of Huaiyu was the prince with the most support to inherit."

The speaker fell into his memories. Back then, the King of Huaiyu was only seventeen or eighteen years old. It was the most vigorous time of a young man's life. He had outstanding natural talent and was prominent among the other princes. Unfortunately, the dazzling star shone for only a brief time before it was concealed by dark clouds and disappeared into obscurity.

Many years had passed since then, and the once-proud son of heaven became like gravel on the ground, his elegance worn away by time.

Another person put forward a different view: "But the current emperor has been on the throne for so many years. If he really wanted to do something, he wouldn't have waited until now."

"Yes, the imperial court is stable, and His Majesty is viewed favorably and has the support of the people. If what you say is true, wouldn't it have been better to take action before His Majesty ascended the throne?"

Many of these ministers had personally experienced the chaos of the previous reign. The late emperor was weak-minded in his later years. He doted on treacherous ministers and allowed them to control the court, wantonly amassing wealth and eliminating dissidents. Capable generals were falsely accused. Millions of soldiers gave their lives in vain and died with grievances in their hearts. Meanwhile, enemy nations took advantage and attacked on a large scale, seizing one rich land after another.

The previous emperor was only focused on pleasure and turned a blind eye to the turmoil. When the current emperor took the throne, he was like a sharp knife, stabbing into the belly of the enemy and recovering the lost territory piece by piece.

Shen Yu flipped through the court records sent by Shang JunLin and tried to piece together some clues.

In his previous life, nothing happened with the King of Huaiyu. Shen Yu didn't know how Shang JunLin dealt with the previous emperor's concubines back then. Did he ever discover that someone was secretly manipulating them? Shen Yu couldn't help feeling there was something strange about it.

"Noble monarch, Imperial Physician Gu is here."

Now that Shen Yu's health was better, Imperial Physician Gu didn't come every day. It had been three days since his last visit.

After paying his respects, Imperial Physician Gu took Shen Yu's pulse as usual. After a while, Imperial Physician Gu frowned and withdrew his hand. "The noble monarch's pulse isn't quite right."

Shen Yu didn't respond immediately, and Mu Xi was too anxious to worry about etiquette. She quickly asked, "Imperial Physician Gu, is the noble monarch well?"

"This minister still needs to confirm it. There's no need for Lady Mu Xi to feel alarmed. It's not necessarily serious," Imperial Physician Gu said.

"Mu Xi." The maid wanted to say something else, but Shen Yu interrupted. "Don't be rude to Imperial Physician Gu."

Imperial Physician Gu thought for a moment, then said, "Noble monarch, please stretch out your other hand. This minister will check again."

"Thank you, Imperial Physician Gu."

Imperial Physician Gu carefully took Shen Yu's pulse twice more. His tightly knitted brows loosened a little.

"The noble monarch needn't worry. The noble monarch's body has reacted to a certain toxin and rejected it. Fortunately, you weren't exposed to much. This minister will write a prescription. It will soon heal."

"A poison?" Mu Xi frowned. "But the noble monarch's diet is strictly controlled. This slave can guarantee that everything that enters the noble monarch's mouth is good."

"It may not necessarily have been in food," Imperial Physician Gu explained. "The amount of toxin in the noble monarch's body is very low. If not for the noble monarch's weakness from birth, and the fact you've been taking medicines that are in conflict with the toxin, it wouldn't have any effect on your body."

"Can Imperial Physician Gu determine when I ingested this toxin?" Shen Yu recalled what had happened recently and formed a certain guess.

"It should be within a week."

Within a week, that matched the time Shen Yu was thinking of.

The only unusual thing that had happened lately was probably the trouble caused by Concubine Yu when he visited that place. It just so happened that Mu Xi was his closest servant and followed him there.

Shen Yu needed to confirm his thoughts. "I'll trouble Imperial Physician Gu to diagnose my handmaid also."

After taking Mu Xi's pulse, Imperial Physician Gu was surprised. "Lady Mu Xi also has a very small amount of this toxin in her body."

Sure enough, it was as he thought. Shen Yu asked, "What impact does this toxin have on people?"

"It has a certain hallucinogenic effect. If the dosage is large enough, it can trap people in a nightmare, but the noble monarch can rest assured the amount of toxin in your body won't have any such effect."

Shen Yu noted that if it weren't for Imperial Physician Gu, he'd have had no idea he was somehow poisoned.

"Can I trouble Imperial Physician Gu to also take a look at His Majesty?"

"It's this minister's duty. I don't dare to use the word ‘trouble'."

When Shang JunLin returned to Yuzhang Palace after finishing his work, he found Imperial Physician Gu conversing with Shen Yu in a low voice. The upturned corners of the emperor's mouth slowly straightened.

Shen Yu saw Shang JunLin before the palace servants announced him and stood up. "Your Majesty, come here quickly."

Imperial Physician Gu and the palace people knelt to pay their respects.

"You may rise." Shang JunLin went over to Shen Yu.

"Your Majesty, I found something," Shen Yu told him about his guess. "Your Majesty, first let Imperial Physician Gu take your pulse."

Shang JunLin's face was serious. He stretched out his hand to let Imperial Physician Gu check.

As expected, Shang JunLin also had traces of toxin residue in his body.

"Your Majesty?"

Shang JunLin's face suddenly became extremely ugly. Shen Yu was about to explain that such a small quantity of poison wouldn't have much impact on his body, but he heard the emperor's deep voice ask Imperial Physician Gu:

"Will this toxin harm the noble monarch?"

Imperial Physician Gu froze. He didn't expect that to be Shang JunLin's first question after learning about the poison.

Once again Imperial Physician Gu sighed at His Majesty's deep affection for the noble monarch. He explained, "Your Majesty, don't worry, it won't affect the noble monarch's health."

Shang JunLin nodded and his face returned to normal. "What's the name of this poison?"

"It's called ‘Fei Meng'."

"‘Fei Meng'?! isn't ‘Fei Meng' banned?" Shen Yu blurted out. Due to his poor health, Shen Yu had done some research on various drugs. "Fei Meng" was deeply impressed on his memory, because in his previous life someone had used this seemingly insignificant substance to almost destroy a city.

After speaking, Shen Yu realized this appalling event hadn't happened yet, and "Fei Meng" wasn't banned. At the moment "Fei Meng" was just an obscure drug.

Shang JunLin's eyes narrowed slightly. He'd heard of "Fei Meng", but it wasn't a drug worthy of attention. It was often used with certain kinds of medicine to heighten pleasure. Why did Shen Yu have such a strong reaction to hearing its name?

Was it something he'd experienced, or…

After pressing down various thoughts, Shang JunLin gave orders to thoroughly inspect Yuzhang Palace.

"Your Majesty." Shen Yu grabbed Shang JunLin's hand. "We have to find out where this ‘Fei Meng' came from."

Shang JunLin gave him a deep look. "Give this emperor a reason."

Noble monarch, how many more secrets are you hiding from this emperor?

TL Notes:

The next 2 chapters are already prepped, so I don't need to take a break tomorrow. I'll take a 1 day break after Ch 28 ♥

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

Lady Mu Xi – 慕汐姑娘 – Mù Xī gūniáng – Alternatively: Miss / girl / young woman / young lady / daughter / paternal aunt (old)

Fei Meng – 绯梦 – "Crimson Dream"

[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]