Chapter 3

The hall fell silent once more.

Ye Shu gripped the soft silk quilt, his knuckles taut and white, barely managing to keep himself from passing out again.

He still wanted to know what he had to say?

What good would anything he said do now?

This damned emperor.

Jin Wang, however, showed remarkable patience. He sat at the edge of the bed, watching him quietly, without any sign of hurry.

The two remained at a standstill for a while, until Ye Shu asked, trembling: "If… if I told you that I did all of this for your own good, would you believe me?"

Jin Wang clearly hadn't expected him to say that. He gave a slight nod: "I'd be glad to hear more."

Ye Shu quietly studied him.

Jin Wang had always been a man who kept his emotions off his face. Even the attendants who had served at his side for many years found it difficult to guess what was going on inside his head. His moods shifted without warning — one moment he might be laughing and chatting amiably with someone, and the next, a single ill-chosen word could send him into a killing rage.

To serve beside the emperor was to walk beside a tiger. The saying was no exaggeration.

Ye Shu's stomach clenched with spasms of anxiety. He rubbed his abdomen and, steeling himself, said: "I… Your servant discovered that the Western Xia had secretly sent spies into the capital, and so I feigned… feigned cooperation with them. Everything Your servant did was to lure them out, to help His Majesty eliminate foreign threats."

"Oh?" Jin Wang was perfectly calm. "Go on."

"As for the Imperial Guard Commander — he had long harboured treasonous intentions. Naturally, what I did was meant to catch every conspirator in the court in one sweep." Perhaps because he was so wound up with nerves, the more Ye Shu talked, the clearer his thoughts became, and he was spinning a story so convincing he nearly believed it himself. "And besides — did His Majesty not receive word from his spies beforehand, which is how you came to know that someone would attempt an assassination last night?"

Jin Wang raised an eyebrow: "Lord Ye is suggesting this matter had something to do with you?"

"But of course!"

Ye Shu's expression was one of utter sincerity: "Your servant feared word might leak out, and so dared not inform His Majesty of the plan in advance — I could only pass the message through those means. Fortunately, His Majesty's wisdom is unmatched, and your cooperation with Your servant was seamless, so it all…"

A gentle knock came at the hall door.

Jin Wang raised a hand to cut off Ye Shu's words, and called out, "Come in."

Several maidservants entered carrying trays.

The moment they did, Ye Shu caught the aroma of food, and his stomach let out a growl.

Jin Wang smiled faintly: "Hungry?"

"…Mm."

From the moment he had crossed into this world until now, Ye Shu hadn't eaten a single grain of rice. He had a chronic condition with his stomach — going too hungry or too full alike could trigger a relapse, and when it flared up badly enough, it warranted emergency treatment.

Jin Wang rose to his feet, his tone gentle: "Come then. We can talk while we eat."

Ye Shu followed Jin Wang to the table, where the eunuch responsible for tasting food had already sampled each dish one by one.

Jin Wang waved everyone else away and pulled Ye Shu down to sit.

Most of the dishes laid out were mild and light. Jin Wang personally ladled a bowl of millet congee that had been simmered until soft and sticky, and pushed it in front of Ye Shu.

Ye Shu threw him a suspicious sidelong glance.

What a picture of brotherly devotion — a wise ruler and his virtuous minister.

If he hadn't read the book, he might have almost thought he'd transmigrated into some socialist bromance novel.

What was Jin Wang performing for him here?

The stabbing pain in his stomach was growing harder to ignore. Ye Shu saw no reason to make things harder on himself, and obediently lowered his head to drink the congee.

Jin Wang hadn't touched his chopsticks. He tilted his head and watched him for a moment, then said mildly: "Lord Ye said just now that it was you who passed word of the assassination to our spy?"

Ye Shu's movement paused for just a beat, his expression natural: "Yes."

Jin Wang furrowed his brow slightly, as if deliberating whether what he had said was truthful.

In the book, it had actually been a loose-lipped subordinate of the original owner who had let something slip while passing a message, which was how the capital's spy network had caught wind of it.

Now he had shifted the story, reframing it as a weakness the original owner had deliberately leaked.

If Jin Wang pressed further, he could even name which spy it had been and at which point in the chain the information had been obtained.

Hah. Try to out-manoeuvre him.

You didn't expect this, did you? Your young lord transmigrated here from inside a book.

Ye Shu felt quietly pleased with himself, and even the millet congee going down seemed sweeter for it.

Jin Wang simply propped his chin on his hand and asked with an air of curiosity: "Then could Lord Ye tell me — how did you come to know our spy network so thoroughly?"

Ye Shu's hand jerked, and his spoon tumbled into the bowl of congee.

Damn.

To consolidate his grip on power, Jin Wang had planted three hundred spies throughout the capital when he ascended the throne. These spies moved through the shadows, doing everything for Jin Wang that was inconvenient to do in the open.

He knew all of this, naturally, because he had read it in the book. But within the story, this was the most closely guarded secret in all of Changlu.

Knowing this secret would get him killed in a far worse manner than murdering his lord or plotting treason.

A layer of cold sweat broke out across Ye Shu's back, and his voice trembled despite himself: "Your Majesty…"

Jin Wang smiled: "I'm here. Take your time."

Ye Shu had nothing to say.

He felt like he was clubbing it in a minefield — move and die, don't move and die all the same.

A cramping pain tore through his stomach. In complete self-abandon, Ye Shu said: "Just put me out of my misery."

Jin Wang asked: "Whatever does my beloved minister mean by that?"

"Look at how you're treating me right now — have you ever truly believed me, even once?" Ye Shu shoved the congee bowl aside and stood up sharply. "Jin Wang, we've known each other since we were seven. These past ten-odd years — how I've been with you — surely you know that better than anyone."

Jin Wang stared.

"Suspect me, test me — if you're so certain it was me who did it, just kill me and be done with it. Consider these ten-odd years of wholehearted loyalty all thrown to the dogs!"

Ye Shu's eyes reddened: "And last night — you… last night you still treated me like that…"

His voice cracked into trembling, and the words died in his throat.

Jin Wang went quiet.

In the vast hall, only the sound of Ye Shu's ragged breathing remained. He looked as though he could barely stand, and he wrapped his arms around his stomach, slowly sinking into a crouch.

Jin Wang reached out instinctively to support him.

"Don't touch me." Ye Shu's forehead was beaded with cold sweat. He said weakly: "Just let me die of the pain."

Jin Wang's eyes darkened, but he said nothing. He quickly scooped Ye Shu up sideways into his arms and strode toward the inner chamber.

Jin Wang set Ye Shu down on the bed, then went to the door to instruct someone to summon an imperial physician.

Ye Shu lifted his eyelids and sneaked a glance outside.

So — this damned emperor responded to softness, not hardness.

The book hadn't gone into detail about Jin Wang's feelings toward the original owner, but it had touched on them briefly.

Jin Wang had been born in the Cold Palace, and his mother had died of illness when he was still very young. The late emperor had been consumed by his appetite for beauty and pleasure, and had paid little attention to this son of his. For a long stretch of time, Jin Wang had only been able to depend on the original owner to get by.

During the hardest of days, even a single mouthful of food had required the original owner to rack his brains to obtain.

Jin Wang had been weak and sickly as a child, and the original owner had always saved what little food there was for him — and as a result had developed a chronic stomach ailment.

Coincidentally, Ye Shu also had a stomach condition.

That made things considerably simpler.

Playing sick? He was more than good at that.

Footsteps drew near. Jin Wang returned to the bedside.

Ye Shu deliberately rolled over, turning his back to him. His thin spine curved up like a shrimp, trembling faintly with manufactured weakness.

Jin Wang ladled out a fresh bowl of congee: "Your old condition has flared up. Drink some congee."

Ye Shu didn't look back: "Don't want it."

Jin Wang narrowed his eyes dangerously: "Ye Shu. Don't test my patience."

Ye Shu's fingers curled tight, and he pressed his lips together nervously.

Today, he really was going to test it once.

The inner chamber fell utterly silent. An unspoken undercurrent seemed to surge between the two of them.

After a moment, Jin Wang let out a sigh.

"Fine. It was my fault." Jin Wang said. "Get up and eat something. The physician will be here shortly."

The tension in Ye Shu's fingers released, and the heart he'd been holding in his chest finally dropped back into place.

This hurdle, at least, had been cleared.

Jin Wang was still willing to coax him into eating, and willing to call a physician for him — which meant he had no intention of letting him die. Not yet.

Ye Shu rolled over and sat up, his complexion still somewhat pale: "Give it to me then."

Jin Wang ignored him.

He scooped a spoonful of congee and blew on it to cool it, then held it out to Ye Shu's lips: "Drink."

Ye Shu hesitated for just a moment, then obediently lowered his head and drank a mouthful.

The tension in Jin Wang's expression finally eased a little.

Jin Wang was, in truth, a very attractive man.

His features were handsome and striking, his brows and eyes sharp-edged, carrying a faint air of aggression. Yet when he looked at someone like this — the hint of a smile in his gaze — that shadow of cold menace dissolved from the depths of his eyes, and one could almost glimpse something that looked, dimly, like tenderness and depth of feeling.

It was the kind of thing that made a person lose themselves without meaning to.

"Do I look good?" Jin Wang asked.

Ye Shu snapped back to himself, the tips of his ears burning hot: "I w— I wasn't looking at you."

Jin Wang smiled but said nothing.

He fed Ye Shu the congee one spoonful at a time. They had barely gotten through half the bowl when the imperial physician arrived.

As it happened, the elderly physician had trouble walking, and when Jin Wang had sent someone to fetch him, he had only just reached the palace gate.

The physician who had spent an entire day doing nothing but going back and forth between the sovereign's sleeping quarters and the palace gate: "……"

The physician stepped forward to take Ye Shu's pulse. Jin Wang didn't move aside, and with an air of leisurely ease, continued to feed Ye Shu his congee.

The physician, apparently unbothered, quickly finished his examination and said: "Lord Ye suffers from a chronic stomach ailment. It is not advisable for him to experience strong elation or grief, or to subject himself to mental strain. He must maintain a calm and settled spirit and eat at regular intervals — only then will there be any improvement."

Ye Shu: "……"

While serving at the side of this tyrant, was there truly anyone who could maintain a calm and settled spirit?

Ye Shu said docilely: "I understand."

The physician nodded, and went into the outer chamber to prepare the prescription.

Once the bowl of congee was empty, Jin Wang took a silk handkerchief and moved to wipe Ye Shu's mouth.

Ye Shu finally couldn't stand it any longer, and turned his head to dodge away: "I can do it myself."

Jin Wang smiled: "Shy?"

Was this person addicted to playing out forbidden romances or something?

Ye Shu snatched the handkerchief out of his hand and gave his mouth a couple of haphazard wipes.

The outer hall door opened and closed as the physician finished writing the prescription and left.

Ye Shu looked up at Jin Wang. The latter met his gaze, his expression unreadable.

There was actually something strange about this.

Given Jin Wang's petty and suspicious nature, the moment he'd learned of the original owner's betrayal, he should have flown into a rage and thrown him in prison.

Not sat here listening calmly while he made excuses.

And besides — Ye Shu had a vague sense that Jin Wang didn't actually seem all that angry right now.

Jin Wang observed him quietly and said in a soft voice: "What you said earlier… there is some truth to it. Over the past ten years, you treated me very well."

"Even setting aside the bond between ruler and subject, I ought to still take into account the friendship built over so many years."

Ye Shu was moved: "Does that mean His Majesty believes me?"

Jin Wang smiled faintly: "No."

"Not a single word."

Ye Shu: "……"

This man was seriously unhinged!!!