Chapter 17

The news that His Majesty had brought his future imperial consort back to the palace spread throughout the entire imperial city by the following day.

Yet no one still knew who this consort was.

After the consort returned to the palace, the sovereign had not allocated a separate chamber, but instead kept him at Yangxin Hall as a shared residence. The attendants of Yangxin Hall were one and all extraordinarily tight-lipped, and revealed nothing of the consort's identity or appearance.

As for when the consort went out, he was transported directly by the imperial-granted dragon palanquin with all bystanders cleared away — no one had any opportunity to see the consort's face.

The consort had been in the palace for several days, and all anyone had managed to confirm was that the consort was male — nothing else.

Yet even this much news was enough to shake the entire court.

The court officials had previously been naive enough to think His Majesty had finally come to his senses and was taking a consort to produce heirs for the imperial family.

Who could have known the consort was a man!

Changlu had precedent for male consorts, but every past emperor had first had wives, concubines, and children before taking a male consort.

And looking at the various ways His Majesty showed his affection for the consort — it was plain that his feelings ran deep. If things continued like this, it was feared no other woman would ever enter this palace again.

The entire court was thoroughly unsettled. Letters of remonstrance were sent to Jin Wang's desk in wave after wave, piling up like a mountain.

Jin Wang threw a stack of documents straight into an official's face and laughed in cold fury. "What — is it now your turn to interfere in Our marriage affairs?"

Inside the Imperial Study, everyone dropped to their knees. "Your Majesty, please calm your anger."

Jin Wang gave a cold laugh.

In truth, these people didn't care at all whether his consort was male or female — they only cared about heirs.

Childbearing men were not unheard of in this world, but they were kun-sovereigns, rarer even than one in ten thousand, and fewer in number than qian-sovereigns.

Everyone had assumed from the start that this consort would not happen to be a kun-sovereign by such convenient coincidence.

At this thought, something stirred faintly in Jin Wang's chest.

Not all kun-sovereigns could conceive — he hadn't given it much thought, so he hadn't yet had an imperial physician examine Ye Shu's constitution.

Thinking on it now, it did seem worth summoning one to take a look.

Even if it turned out he couldn't conceive, that was fine — Jin Wang had never been concerned about the matter of heirs. Even if there truly were no children, adopting from a collateral branch of the family was not particularly difficult.

The old ministers inside the hall were still droning on and on about something.

Jin Wang found it irritating. He dropped a cold remark — "Since all the ministers are willing to kneel, please continue kneeling there" — and left the Imperial Study with his attendants.

He had not had proper time alone with his little consort for four or five days now.

There had been a great deal of accumulated business from the traveling palace period, and Jin Wang had been so overwhelmed these past few days that he had been sleeping in the Imperial Study for several nights running. Even the time he spent with Ye Shu was brief and hurried, with hardly any opportunity to talk.

The two of them had grown accustomed to being together day and night at the traveling palace — now that they were suddenly apart, there was an unavoidable sense of… missing him.

Of course, this feeling of missing him was limited to Jin Wang alone.

With no need to walk on eggshells in front of the tyrant every day, Ye Shu was thoroughly enjoying his leisure — eating, playing, having an uncommonly good time.

In the Imperial Garden, a small boat floated on the Qin Garden Lake.

Ye Shu was draped across the boat, drowsing in the sunlight, and let out a sleepy yawn.

Changyuan was at the other end of the small boat, gently working the oar. "If Young Master is tired, this subordinate can take you back to the bedchamber now?"

"Not tired." Ye Shu rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I just find this palace a bit too dull — there are only so many things to do, going around and around, and it gets boring."

Changyuan lowered his eyes and said nothing.

Ye Shu glanced at the court maids waiting on the lakeshore, then lowered his voice. "These past few days we've gone all over the palace. Have you found any weak spots in the guard?"

Changyuan hesitated a moment, then said truthfully: "No."

"The palace is heavily guarded, with hidden sentries embedded throughout. Escaping from within — it would be very difficult."

Ye Shu clicked his tongue, and his interest in the lake outing instantly evaporated. "Let's go back."

Changyuan rowed the boat back to the shore. Ye Shu stood up to disembark.

Dizziness struck without warning. Ye Shu swayed slightly, and Changyuan quickly steadied him.

A faint trace of green plum fragrance was picked up by the keen senses of someone trained in martial arts.

That scent again.

Changyuan's breathing faltered.

Ye Shu was completely oblivious to all of this. He gripped Changyuan's arm, frowning faintly. "I'm so dizzy…"

Only then did Changyuan come back to himself.

"…Is Young Master alright?" He looked at Ye Shu's complexion with concern. "Young Master has seemed low on energy these past few days — should this subordinate go and fetch an imperial physician?"

"Shh!" Ye Shu glanced at the court maids nearby and lowered his voice. "Don't say anything reckless — what if it gets back to His Majesty?"

Changyuan was somewhat confused. "This… it can't be told to His Majesty?"

"Of course not——"

"Can't tell Us what?" A man's clear, deep voice cut in, and Ye Shu flinched by reflex.

Jin Wang was approaching from a distance with his attendants. His gaze fell to Ye Shu's waist and darkened.

Changyuan's hand was still resting there.

Jin Wang had come here in a foul mood, intending to find his little consort to unwind — only to arrive and see this. The suppressed irritation inside him flared up at once.

Jin Wang's voice went cold instantly. "What are you doing?"

The attendants were frightened into kneeling en masse. Only then did Ye Shu notice Jin Wang's unfavorable expression, and quickly pushed the person beside him aside.

"Your— Your Majesty…"

Jin Wang walked up to him and swept a look over him. His voice was perfectly level. "Did We not have someone teach you court etiquette? When you see Us, why don't you know to bow — you're going backwards."

Ye Shu: "I…"

He had never knelt or bowed when he saw Jin Wang — this dog emperor was simply picking a fight over nothing.

Was this man having some kind of episode today?

Without waiting for his explanation, Jin Wang turned and swept his gaze over the court maids. "Who was responsible for teaching him."

A court maid in the group spoke up trembling: "Th— that was this servant, Your Majesty…"

Jin Wang said mildly: "Drag her out. Thirty strokes of the rod."

Attendants quickly moved to take her away. The court maid wept and begged for mercy. "Please spare this servant, Your Majesty!"

"Jin Wang!" Ye Shu stepped forward and blocked the attendants' path, furious. "If you're upset, direct it at me. Why drag an innocent woman into it?"

Being called by his full name did not appear to anger Jin Wang. Instead, a faint smile touched his lips, and his handsome features took on an almost otherworldly air. "You call Our decision a case of dragging someone in?"

"We ordered her to teach you proper etiquette. You failed to learn it — that is her dereliction of duty."

"Not having her flogged to death is already a mercy. How is that dragging someone in?"

The court maid was already sobbing in terror. Ye Shu could not bear to see a woman weeping, and made up his mind. "I'll take the punishment in her place — beat me instead!"

Jin Wang's eyes shifted.

Ye Shu was so angry he was barely coherent. "Beat me then! While you're at it you can count in those twenty strokes from before. If I survive, fine — if I don't, I won't complain one bit, and I won't drag anyone else into it!"

"You…" Jin Wang's lips moved. After a long moment, he said lightly: "Release her."

The attendants let the court maid go.

Jin Wang's arm curved around Ye Shu and pulled him close. "Come with Us."

The imperial palanquin was stopped not far away. Jin Wang led Ye Shu onto it.

Ye Shu had been playing the hero just now, and was only belatedly feeling the fear — he was so anxious that cold sweat had begun to prick at his back.

Jin Wang took his hand and held it in his palm. "Hands this cold — are you unwell?"

Ye Shu nearly bit his own tongue. "N— No!"

Jin Wang: "Then why just now were you telling Changyuan not to fetch an imperial physician — and not to let Us know?"

"You heard all that?" The two of them held each other's gaze for a long moment. Ye Shu's voice went small. "I really haven't gotten sick. I don't want to see a physician."

Jin Wang saw right through him. "You're just afraid of taking medicine."

Ye Shu lowered his head and said nothing.

The imperial palanquin soon stopped. Ye Shu looked out and asked: "Aren't we going to the Office of Punishment?"

This was plainly the sovereign's bedchamber.

Jin Wang led Ye Shu inside and dismissed everyone.

Ye Shu asked quietly: "You're not going to hit me?"

That meek, timid little manner of his was endearingly compliant. Jin Wang pinched that face and laughed. "Punishment doesn't have to be administered at the Office of Punishment."

"Go lie face down on the bed. We will do it Ourselves."

A moment later, Ye Shu lay face down on the bed wearing only a thin inner garment, hugging a pillow and curling himself small, his back trembling slightly.

Jin Wang sat on the edge of the bed, holding a slender bamboo switch in his hand, trailing one end lightly across Ye Shu's back. "Cold?"

Ye Shu trembled more intensely. "N— not cold…"

The emperor's bed was laid with several layers of thick soft carpet — comfortable and yielding — and the room was warmed by underfloor heating, neither cold nor hot, temperature perfectly maintained.

Ye Shu was naturally not cold. He was frightened.

The young man on the bed was slight and lean, and curled up like this he looked even smaller. A slender pale wrist extended from a sleeve, and the knuckles of the hand gripping the pillow had gone white with tension.

Jin Wang's gaze lingered on that pale, lotus-pale wrist for a moment, then looked away. "Do you know what you did wrong?"

"…"

To be completely honest, Ye Shu also wanted to know.

So what on earth had he done wrong???

Ye Shu thought for a moment, then said tremulously: "This subject should not… should not have failed to bow upon seeing Your Majesty, nor talked back to Your Majesty, nor called Your Majesty by name."

Jin Wang only looked at him quietly, without answering.

Ye Shu held his gaze briefly, then continued in a small voice: "…And I should not have talked about Your Majesty behind your back, or called Your Majesty a bastard, or said Your Majesty was worse than my old dog Awang."

Jin Wang still said nothing. Ye Shu grew anxious. "That's really all of it — I haven't done anything else these past few days!"

"…"

Ye Shu deflated and flopped back down on the pillow. "Just hit me."

The hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Ye Shu felt the person sitting beside him stand up. He watched from the corner of his eye — the young emperor was standing with the bamboo switch in hand, tapping it lightly against his own palm, thinking about something unknown.

The soft sound of the switch striking palm was like a series of taps against Ye Shu's heart.

One after another.

Ye Shu looked away.

After a moment, Jin Wang suddenly said: "The twenty strokes you owed before, plus today's thirty — fifty in total."

"We will not go easy."

The bamboo switch sliced through the air with a sharp crack. Ye Shu's whole body convulsed and he rolled off to the side, clutching the pillow. "I was wrong please just tell me what you want me to do please don't hit me!!!"

He yelled it all in one breath without a pause. When he opened his eyes, he found that Jin Wang's bamboo switch was hanging by his side — there had never been any intention of striking him.

Jin Wang looked at him, and suddenly smiled. "You are much more endearing like this."

Ye Shu met his gaze warily.

Jin Wang tossed the bamboo switch aside and sat back down on the edge of the bed. He spoke in a tone of quiet resignation: "Ye Shu — is it that unless you are frightened into this state, you cannot face Us with your true self?"

Ye Shu froze.

"Sometimes We would rather you cursed at Us a few times than watch you perform that act in front of Us." Jin Wang leaned forward slightly and lifted his face, his expression growing shadowed. "The real you would never use the past between us as leverage — to test, to exploit."

"The real you would never yield and plead softly the way you have been when We cross the lines that should not be crossed."

"Ye Shu, We have known you for many years. We have long understood what manner of person you are."

"You should not be like this."

A long silence fell over the hall. Ye Shu slowly sat up from the bed and asked quietly: "What is Your Majesty saying… what is it you mean to express?"

Jin Wang stood by the window, looking at him steadily, saying each word deliberately and slowly: "We only want to know — what happened to you. What changed in those three years. And why you became the way you are now."

Even at this moment, his tone was still that of someone high above looking down.

That was not how a friend or a lover spoke — it was the posture of absolute command, one that left the person before him no choice but to comply.

Ye Shu lowered his eyes, as though thinking.

Jin Wang didn't press him. The two of them were at a standstill for a moment, when Ye Shu suddenly said: "I understand… Is Your Majesty suggesting that there exists in this world some kind of sorcery — body-swapping, soul-possession?"

"You believe that in these three years I was being controlled — or worse, that I have been replaced entirely?"

The fingertips hidden in Jin Wang's sleeve trembled faintly.

"There's none of that. Don't dream, Jin Wang." Ye Shu looked up, his gaze finding Jin Wang's. "The person from ten years ago was me. The person from three years ago was also me. I have not changed, nor could I change."

Ye Shu sat up on his knees on the bed, his tone flat. "The truth is that you are simply deceiving yourself. You are unwilling to believe I betrayed you, so you probe and test — and the more suspicious clues you find, the better able you are to convince yourself."

"You tell yourself over and over — 'there must have been some change in between, the one who betrayed me is not him.'"

"So you resent it when I bring up the past — you feel I am only using those things as cover, to exonerate someone who may or may not exist."

"In truth I am trying to exonerate myself, no one else."

Ye Shu gave a soft laugh, and asked in return: "I committed treason, a crime beyond forgiveness. When the plan fell apart, I found a way to clear my own name — is that not what I should do?"

Jin Wang's eyes quietly suffused with a faint red. "You aren't afraid We will kill you…"

"If I didn't say all this, would you not kill me?" Ye Shu said. "This entire past month, my life has hung in your hands at every moment. One misstep and you would seize on it as cause, and toy with me in a hundred ways."

"What do you take me for — a plaything?"

"Jin Wang, you tell me not to perform in front of you — but if I don't perform, could I have survived until now?"

"And what about you — when have you ever said a single true word to me?"

Those words drained the color from Jin Wang's face. He closed his eyes and said coldly: "Get out."

Ye Shu didn't move.

Jin Wang: "Don't make Us say it twice. Out!"

Ye Shu got off the bed, pulled on his cloak, gave Jin Wang a composed bow, and left.

He didn't go far — he simply came to a stop in the open space just outside the hall.

The hall doors slowly closed in front of him. He silently let out a long breath.

Tonight's performance had been far too dangerous.

Jin Wang had already sensed that he was different from the original host — rather than letting him keep guessing, probing, and gathering evidence, it was better to cut off that line of thinking himself.

What Jin Wang had been doing all these days, at its core, was a refusal to believe that the original host had betrayed him.

Tonight, Ye Shu had not only torn down all his previous pretenses — he had also torn down the last faint thread of hope in Jin Wang's heart.

Ironically, even having been told every truth, Jin Wang still couldn't bring himself to kill him.

He only had him stand outside as punishment — a penalty that was already laughably light.

If this had been a month ago, Ye Shu might have felt a twinge of guilt.

Destroying someone's hope was the cruelest thing.

But who told this dog emperor to torment him the way he had.

He deserved it.

A cold wind swept across the courtyard. Ye Shu pulled his cloak tighter and murmured it silently in his heart.

The sky slowly darkened. Inside the hall, no lamp was lit.

Jin Wang sat alone in the hall. His handsome features were hidden in the darkness, and his eyes, normally sharp and clear, were now clouded and shadowed.

Someone knocked at the door. Gaojin's voice came from outside: "Your Majesty, shall this servant come in and light the lamps?"

Jin Wang didn't respond.

The voice outside paused, then added: "Young Master has been standing outside for two hours now. The evening wind is strong — if he keeps standing like this, his body will not be able to bear it."

Jin Wang said sharply: "Get out."

If his body can't bear it but he won't come in and apologize, then let him stand. He can stand there until he drops dead and We won't care.

He was the one who plotted to assassinate Us. What's wrong with Us testing him a little — it's his good fortune We haven't killed him. His ancestors must have done something right.

In any case, We will absolutely not apologize first.

A short silence fell outside the door, and then a commotion suddenly broke out.

Gaojin's voice came again: "Your Majesty — Young Master has fainted!"

Jin Wang shot to his feet.

He pulled open the hall door and found several attendants scrambling to support Ye Shu.

The young man in plain white robes was deathly pale, his head lolling to one side — he had lost consciousness.

Gaojin knelt. "Your Majesty, even if you are angry with Young Master, you cannot truly let it become a matter of life or death. Now what is to be done——"

He hadn't finished speaking before he watched his sovereign stride forward, wrest the person away from the attendants' hands, and pick him up in his arms.

Jin Wang carried Ye Shu and turned back toward the inner chamber. As he stepped inside, he glanced at Gaojin, who was still kneeling on the ground in a daze, and said with a dark expression: "What are you staring at? Send for an imperial physician."

"Yes!"