Chapter 16

The young man's features were refined and handsome. When he smiled, his eyes lit up softly, and the arch of his brows was captivating.

Jin Wang's chest gave an unexpected tremor — like a small hammer tapping lightly and sending quiet ripples spreading outward.

Jin Wang pressed down the flutter in his chest and said composedly: "Did We not tell you to eat by yourself? Don't you know that coming here like this will disrupt Our affairs of state?"

The smile in Ye Shu's eyes receded, giving way to a trace of fluster.

He pressed his lips together and said quietly: "But… but people do need to eat. I heard that Your Majesty has been occupied with affairs of state since this afternoon and has yet to eat — how can your body possibly hold up like that?"

Jin Wang asked: "Are you worried about Us?"

Ye Shu lowered his gaze deferentially, a faint blush on his expression. "This subject is fond of Your Majesty, and of course that means worrying."

Jin Wang looked at him steadily, as if assessing the truth of those words.

After a moment, he beckoned to Ye Shu. "Very well — come here."

Ye Shu obediently walked over. Jin Wang took the food box from him with one hand and pulled him into his arms with the other.

Jin Wang stroked the loose hair cascading down the back of his head and asked mildly: "You just came like this?"

Ye Shu pretended not to follow. "Is there something wrong with the way this subject looks?"

"Hair loose and disheveled — it is improper conduct before the court hall."

Ye Shu made an innocent face. "But I don't know how."

"We left court ladies for you."

"I don't like the styles they do." Ye Shu drew a jade pin from inside his robe and pressed it into Jin Wang's hand. "This subject wishes Your Majesty to do this subject's hair."

Since Jin Wang's ascension to the throne, no one had ever dared put him to use like this.

He held the hairpin and laughed despite himself. "Ye Shu, you have quite some nerve."

Ye Shu held Jin Wang's gaze for a moment, then lowered his eyes slowly, a flicker of dejection crossing them. "Then forget it… this subject was just dreaming a moment ago and remembered that in childhood it was always Your Majesty who did this subject's hair…"

As he spoke, he reached out to take the jade pin back from Jin Wang's hand.

But to his surprise, Jin Wang suddenly closed his fingers tight around the pin, gripping it firmly.

"Your Majesty?"

Jin Wang's expression had gone entirely cold. His voice was ice. "Ye Qi'an — if you are testing the limits of Our patience, We advise you to stop while you can."

Ye Shu's lashes quivered faintly. He didn't dare speak.

He had indeed been testing him.

Jin Wang had always seemed deeply contradictory. He treated Ye Shu with attentiveness and indulgence out of his feelings for the original host — yet whenever Ye Shu brought up the past to win his favor, Jin Wang would become very resistant.

As though he had no wish for Ye Shu to mention these things.

Ye Shu genuinely couldn't figure out what this man was thinking, so he had taken the risk of trying.

But… it seemed to have gone too far.

This dog emperor's thoughts were truly impossible to read.

The ease in Jin Wang's bearing had completely vanished. Those handsome eyes now carried a thread of cold killing intent — like a true dragon whose scales had been touched, at last baring its fangs.

He gripped Ye Shu's jaw with one hand, forcing him to tilt his head up and look directly at him. "Our kindness to you is not license for you to act without restraint. What We think and feel is none of your concern, and is not something you are permitted to probe."

"From ancient times to now, those who presume to guess at the imperial will have never come to a good end."

"Ye Shu, you only have one life. Don't play yourself into the grave."

The atmosphere in the Imperial Study grew immediately heavy.

Ye Shu looked at those deep eyes and, after a long moment, lowered his gaze. "This subject understands. This subject will not dare again."

Jin Wang let go. Two red marks were left on Ye Shu's cheek.

Ye Shu reached up and rubbed them, muttering: "Can't Your Majesty say things with words instead? It really hurt."

Even now, he hadn't forgotten to keep up the act and stay compliant.

Having spent more than half a month in Jin Wang's company, this kind of attitude was nothing new to him. This person could carry him back to the bedchamber in front of an entire crowd, yet in the next moment kick him aside over a single word that displeased him.

Emperors were without feeling — no matter how much Jin Wang pampered him, he wasn't foolish enough to think it was sincere.

To put it plainly, this dog emperor at present was simply keeping him around as a convenient outlet.

A compliant little instrument — one that couldn't afford to do anything superfluous.

"No." Seeing Ye Shu settle into compliance, Jin Wang's expression softened somewhat. "Without that, you won't learn. And that isn't all — We intend to punish you."

Ye Shu asked: "What sort of punishment?"

Jin Wang lowered his gaze without speaking.

The young man's complexion was still a little pale, and his hands, hastily clutched just now, had been ice-cold through — all signs of a frail constitution.

Jin Wang thought for a moment, then pulled a booklet from the table and threw it into Ye Shu's lap, his distaste barely concealed. "We would like to punish you, but this palace has over a hundred forms of punishment — why don't you look through and see which ones your broken body can actually withstand?"

Ye Shu flipped through the booklet and read it seriously for a few pages, then shook his head with regret. "It seems like none of them."

This body had a weak foundation, and Ye Shu was terrified of pain. If Jin Wang actually resorted to physical punishment, there was a real risk of causing serious harm.

And Jin Wang had never wanted him to die.

Jin Wang laughed. "So you're saying there is truly no way for Us to punish you?"

Ye Shu ventured: "Then how about… we keep adding to the tab?"

Jin Wang made no comment. "This is owed, that is owed — what you owe Us is piling up more and more."

"But what else can be done when there's nothing to pay with?" Ye Shu's voice was soft. "If Your Majesty beats this subject to death, who will serve you?"

Jin Wang was momentarily at a loss for words.

After a moment, he laughed and raised his hand, rubbing the pad of his finger lightly against Ye Shu's lips. "This mouth of yours — sweet enough to make Us truly fond of it."

Usually when this person said that, it meant he'd already been forgiven.

Ye Shu was secretly pleased, and was about to speak, when Jin Wang added: "Only We wonder — how skilled is this mouth when put to other uses."

"…"

"??? "

Put to what other uses???!

Ye Shu's expression froze. He very nearly broke character entirely, and said hoarsely: "…Your Majesty, this subject… this subject doesn't know how…"

"Then We will teach you." Jin Wang's lips curved. A hint of teasing stirred in his eyes. "We have faith in you."

The lights in the Imperial Study gradually dimmed. Chief Attendant Gaojin knocked at the hall door. "Your Majesty, this servant has come to replenish the lamps."

No reply came from within.

After a moment, Jin Wang's low, husky voice reached him: "Come in."

Gaojin led several lamp-tending court maids into the Imperial Study. The maids lifted the covers of the palace lamps and replaced the wicks. Gaojin walked to the main writing table, his expression slightly puzzled.

In the lamplight, the young emperor's features were exceptionally handsome — yet the tips of his ears were, inexplicably, tinged a faint crimson.

He looked up, and asked with cold indifference: "What is it?"

"Your servant recalls that Young Master came to the Imperial Study just now — how is it that he's no longer…"

Since returning to the palace, Ye Shu couldn't be addressed as Chancellor, and they hadn't yet wed, so for now he was simply called Young Master.

The moment Gaojin finished speaking, Jin Wang suddenly let out a small cough. His brow creased faintly, and a peculiar expression crept across his face that was difficult to name.

Gaojin was standing nearby. From the corner of his eye, he accidentally caught a glimpse of something beneath the writing table.

A long piece of silk cloth was draped over the table. But now, the hem of that cloth shifted in an odd manner, revealing a corner of plain white fabric — a color that looked strangely familiar.

Gaojin suddenly understood what was happening. His aged face went instantly scarlet.

Jin Wang's gaze was dark and heavy. Through gritted teeth, he said coldly: "Get. Out."

"Yes!" Gaojin didn't dare linger. He hurriedly led the lamp-tending maids out.

The hall doors closed. Jin Wang lowered his eyes, let out a long breath, and then lifted the cloth beneath the table.

The young man was kneeling beneath the writing table, his head resting against Jin Wang's knees, his breathing somewhat unsteady. His eyes had gone glassy and moist, and he looked up at Jin Wang with an aggrieved expression.

That single look sent a buzzing heat to the back of Jin Wang's skull. He promptly hauled him back up.

Jin Wang held the tea to Ye Shu's lips. "Rinse."

Ye Shu obediently rinsed his mouth, then gave Jin Wang a resentful look. "You're terrible."

Jin Wang said: "Who was the terrible one — you almost made Us…"

Jin Wang's voice trailed off.

He hadn't expected Ye Shu to be that nervous either. When Gaojin spoke just now, Ye Shu had been so startled that his jaw clenched and he'd nearly…

…In any case, the whole affair was very difficult to put into words.

"Who told you to let someone in?!" Ye Shu was floored by this man's ability to turn the tables on him. He accused hoarsely: "And another thing — you clearly said not inside, so what happened to a sovereign's word being his bond?!"

"Alright, it was Our fault." Jin Wang pulled him close and soothed him. "Can't We apologize to you?"

"A verbal apology doesn't count. Unless you return the favor next time."

"That…"

Ye Shu's eyes went red at the rims. "What — you're not willing?"

"We didn't say…" Jin Wang had no way to deal with him, and said helplessly: "Whatever you want — We agree to all of it."

Jin Wang set aside the teacup and glanced at the food box Ye Shu had brought. "Everything's gone cold. We'll have someone prepare something fresh — eat first."

"Not eating." Ye Shu rubbed his stomach and said listlessly: "I had too much of what Your Majesty gave me — I don't have room for anything else."

Jin Wang went still for a moment, and for once, his own ears turned red.

Ye Shu clutched his stomach and laughed with delight. "Haha — Your Majesty isn't blushing, is he? So even Your Majesty has moments like this — how wonderful, truly mmph mmph mmph——!!!"

Jin Wang, at the end of his tether, stopped that insufferable mouth of his.

A short while later, the attendants waiting outside the Imperial Study watched with their own eyes as their sovereign opened the hall doors, stone-faced, and ejected a young man in plain white robes by the collar.

…After which he personally granted him the use of the imperial palanquin to be sent back to the bedchamber.