Chapter 20

Sure enough, there were no more guards outside the side hall. Ye Shu had memorized the route when he came through during the day, and following his memory, he slipped out of the ancestral temple with ease.

…And then he got lost.

The imperial ancestral rites were no small matter. All the main roads near the temple were heavily guarded, so the map Changyuan had left Ye Shu showed only mountain footpaths.

The problem was the drawing style…

Crude and abstract, utterly unreadable.

After circling the same patch of forest several times, Ye Shu finally accepted the fact that he was, once again, completely lost. He sat down on a stone slab by the path, tipped his head back to look at the cold, clear moon, and let out a helpless sigh.

Why did every escape attempt end with him wandering into the trees…

Being directionally challenged was truly a curse.

Ye Shu sat still for a moment, and then heard the sound of someone approaching nearby.

The memory of his last such experience had left its mark. Ye Shu quickly hid behind the stone slab. He crouched down, arms and legs pulled in, concealing himself completely within the shadow of the stone and the undergrowth.

He had barely hidden himself when voices reached him.

"…This can't go on — we need to think of something, and fast."

"Think of what? His Majesty found that bewitching little thing from goodness knows where, and it's got him completely under its spell — he even made an exception at the ceremonial rites for it. I really can't imagine what else there is to do."

Ye Shu: "…"

So that was how people saw him.

Ye Shu peered through the layered grass and made out the two speakers.

Two young men had stopped right in front of the stone slab. After a moment's scrutiny, Ye Shu recognized them — they were officials from today's procession: the Grand Master of Ceremonies, Duan Chengzhi, and the General responsible for the escort patrol, Zuo Yan.

Ye Shu had no real idea how the court and the public had been discussing his presence — Jin Wang had never told him. But he could make some reasonable guesses.

After all, throughout history, every emperor had been unable to escape the expectations of heirs and a successor. His Majesty was a man who preferred men — one could well imagine how anxious these ministers must be.

"General, you shouldn't say it like that. His Majesty has momentarily been led astray — we as his subjects cannot simply stand by and do nothing. We must remonstrate with him."

"Remonstrate?" The man beside him gave a cold snort. "Didn't several of those officials try that not long ago? They were punished by being made to kneel in the Imperial Study for a full day. If Master Duan wishes to try, by all means."

The two men passed the stone slab and continued walking, still debating as they went. Ye Shu let out a quiet breath of relief.

This Grand Master of Ceremonies had been one of the original host's people, and had appeared in the novel.

The Grand Master was first among the Nine Ministers, and this man had some standing and reputation at court — not particularly ill-intentioned. But he was still not well-regarded by the sovereign, for one simple reason: this man was insufferably preoccupied with His Majesty's marriage.

In the novel he was the most minor of supporting characters, and Ye Shu didn't remember his plotline clearly.

He did seem to recall that this man had done something that greatly enraged Jin Wang.

But what exactly it was…

Ye Shu couldn't recall.

His mind wandered, and he didn't notice the change beginning to come over his body.

A trace of green plum fragrance began to spread from beside him.

When a kun-sovereign was pregnant, their pheromone would often slip out of control — it was beyond human ability to prevent.

Since the imperial physician had confirmed Ye Shu's pregnancy, Jin Wang had stopped giving him the Breath-Suppressing Pills and instead used his own qian-sovereign pheromone to mask Ye Shu's natural scent.

Tonight Ye Shu had left in a hurry. The pheromone Jin Wang had temporarily infused him with would not be enough to last through the night.

This was the moment it ran out.

Of course, Ye Shu knew none of this.

He only lightly tugged at his collar, trying to dispel the rising tide of restless heat.

In the distance, the two men who had walked away came to a stop.

Duan Chengzhi asked: "General — what is it?"

"This scent…" Zuo Yan's brow furrowed. He turned and looked back the way they had come. "Is there a kun-sovereign here?"

Duan Chengzhi was an ordinary man, but General Zuo Yan, as Protector General of the Nation, was an out-and-out qian-sovereign.

Once the uncontrolled pheromone was released, it could not be stopped.

Ye Shu's awareness began to blur rapidly. He gripped the grass around him tight and fought with everything he had to keep from making any noise.

Just then, a completely different scent began to spread through the air.

That smell was as fierce and heady as pine resin, erupting through the forest without mercy, searching through the darkness for the kun-sovereign. Unlike the pheromone of the qian-sovereign who had marked him, this scent brought him no comfort — rather, it pressed down on him oppressively, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

Without any resistance, Ye Shu lost all strength. He collapsed to the ground, and in his haze felt someone approach.

"Can it be… this is truly a kun-sovereign?" Duan Chengzhi asked.

In the moonlight, a young person dressed in dark clothing lay curled in the undergrowth. From beneath the tightly bound sleeve peeked a small stretch of slender, pale wrist — it looked as though a single hand could snap it.

He unconsciously clutched the grass beneath him, brow furrowed and lips gently pressed together, beautiful enough to stir anyone's heart.

…Even with a disguise on, Ye Shu had chosen a strikingly beautiful face — though still somewhat less remarkable than his real one, to be fair.

Zuo Yan suppressed the surging desire in his eyes. "Yes. Undoubtedly a kun-sovereign."

He was about to step forward when Duan Chengzhi stopped him. "General — what are you about to do?"

Zuo Yan felt an inexplicable flash of impatience, but the interruption brought him back somewhat to his senses. He drew a deep breath and said: "This person's presence here is unexplained. It should be left to His Majesty to deal with."

But Duan Chengzhi refused to step aside. "General, wait — let us discuss this."

"Discuss what?"

Duan Chengzhi's eyes lit up. His voice trembled with excitement. "This is a kun-sovereign — one in ten thousand, a kun-sovereign capable of bearing children!"

Zuo Yan: "…What are you proposing?"

"Lean in closer — let me tell you…"

Their words were already beyond Ye Shu's ability to hear. And even if he had heard, he was in no state to process any information. His mind was a blank, and he soon lost consciousness under the unleashed qian-sovereign pheromone.

Before consciousness left him entirely, only one thought remained in Ye Shu's mind.

He and forests truly were fated enemies. He hadn't escaped again.

The following morning, a crash of shattering porcelain came from inside the sovereign's side hall at the ancestral temple.

Attendants and imperial guards knelt in a row outside the door. Inside the hall, a black-clad figure was being restrained by two imperial guards, forced down to his knees.

Jin Wang sat in the main seat. His expression was dark enough to be terrifying.

"You said you were to meet him at the foot of the mountain. Where is he now?"

The person kneeling on the floor had sustained considerable injuries. He bowed his head and for a moment said nothing.

Changyuan had waited at the foot of the mountain all night, but Ye Shu never came. Instead, Jin Wang's imperial guards had arrived.

He had initially assumed something had gone wrong on Ye Shu's end and he hadn't made it out. But looking at things now, it was clear he had in fact left the ancestral temple.

…So where had he gone?

A teacup smashed to pieces at Changyuan's feet, scalding tea splattering all over him. Before he could react, a tremendous force closed around his throat.

Changyuan let out a short, strangled gasp. His face rapidly reddened.

He forced himself to look up and met Jin Wang's blood-red eyes.

"If anything has truly happened to him, We will make sure you wish you were dead." Jin Wang's voice was low and rough, his gaze cold and shadowed. "Speak!"

Changyuan gripped Jin Wang's wrist with both hands and said with difficulty: "This subordinate… truly does not know."

Unconcealed killing intent flashed through Jin Wang's eyes.

Changyuan even thought Jin Wang was about to crush his throat on the spot.

But Jin Wang only shoved him backward, throwing him back toward the imperial guards' feet. "Take him away."

The guards quickly dragged the coughing figure out. Jin Wang returned to his chair and sat down, closing his eyes with exhaustion.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't believe that Ye Shu had dared to drug him.

He wasn't sure whether it was the news of the pregnancy that had lowered his guard, or whether the person had been performing so well in these past days that he hadn't harbored even a shred of suspicion about him.

Every bit of that docile, obedient behavior had been preparation for today.

But if he had simply escaped, that would be one thing. Why was there no trace of him now?

A kun-sovereign with no martial arts training who was also pregnant — what might happen to such a person outside the palace walls? Jin Wang didn't even dare to think it through.

Chief Attendant Gaojin pushed the door open and came in. "Your Majesty, you…"

Jin Wang's eyes flew open. "Have they found him?"

"No." Gaojin said quietly. "Your hand, Your Majesty… shall this servant fetch an imperial physician to bandage it?"

Jin Wang paused and looked down.

The hand hanging at his side had been cut by a shard of porcelain and was bleeding heavily.

He let out a bitter laugh, ignored it, and said quietly: "Give the order. Recall every intelligence agent stationed outside the capital immediately. Have all agents and shadow guards begin searching — start from the ancestral temple and leave no stone unturned. We want to see him alive…"

"…or see his body if he is not."

"Yes." Gaojin asked: "And the ancestral rites ceremony…"

"Postpone it for now." Jin Wang said wearily. "The news of the consort's escape cannot reach anyone's ears. Say that We are unwell, and the ceremony will be held at a later date."

Gaojin: "Yes."

From that day onward, every one of Jin Wang's intelligence agents and shadow guards began searching in secret.

But no trace was found.

One day passed. Two days. Three days. Ye Shu's whereabouts were as though swallowed by the sea, with no sign anywhere.

Jin Wang, apart from losing control of his emotions on the first day, appeared to be remarkably composed throughout.

The imperial procession returned to the capital on the third day. The sovereign even resumed morning court the very next day, showing not the slightest sign of illness.

— Except that his expression grew darker with each passing day, and his methods more brutal.

For several days running, officials who said the wrong thing at court found themselves stripped of their posts and imprisoned. Even those with the lightest offenses were flogged dozens of strokes, barely surviving with half their lives.

The civil and military officials ground their way through several days of court sessions, and began to speculate among themselves.

The most widely held theory was that His Majesty had finally come to his senses and shaken off the spell of that beautiful face — and had begun to regret taking the consort.

Why else, given how much His Majesty had doted on the consort, would he have postponed the ancestral rites and stopped all mention of the wedding?

Well, young people rarely fell in love more than once — it was only natural that recovering from it wouldn't be easy.

The ones suffering were them, the poor ministers.

The officials were utterly miserable. Finally, on the seventh day of morning court, someone stepped forward.

The court was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Jin Wang was dressed in a black and gold court robe, tapping the dragon throne with his fingertips with idle menace. He narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Say that again?"

At that tone, a chill penetrated to the bone. The Grand Master of Ceremonies, Duan Chengzhi, faltered — then steeled himself and pressed on: "This subject… this subject recently came upon an extraordinarily beautiful kun-sovereign, and… and wishes to… to present this beauty to Your Majesty."

"Present a beauty…" Jin Wang repeated the two words slowly on his tongue, and smiled coldly. "Who gave you the nerve?"

"Please forgive this subject, Your Majesty!" Duan Chengzhi dropped to his knees with a thud. "Your Majesty previously stated a preference for men, and that if a kun-sovereign was found, one could be presented. This subject was acting on Your Majesty's edict!"

Jin Wang's fingertip paused.

Had he said that?

He probably had — in those days when the ministers had given him such a headache, he had dismissed them with something along those lines.

Kun-sovereigns were hard to find — he hadn't expected them to come up with one so quickly.

— And of all the timing, to walk right into his crosshairs like this.

Jin Wang was so furious he nearly laughed. He said softly: "Since it is said to be an extraordinarily beautiful kun-sovereign, We naturally ought to see for Ourselves."

Duan Chengzhi had barely let out a breath of relief before Jin Wang added with casual indifference: "However, if Master Duan has exaggerated, We will treat it as the crime of deceiving the sovereign. What do you think?"

The moment those words left his lips, Duan Chengzhi immediately regretted everything.

But having already announced the gift, taking it back now would equally be a crime of deception.

Duan Chengzhi could only force himself to say "yes." Jin Wang said mildly: "Bring the person in."

Four attendants shortly carried a palanquin into the hall.

The palanquin was draped on all sides with vivid red silk. Duan Chengzhi shuffled forward on his knees, gripped one side of the silk cord, and pulled hard.

All four panels of silk fell away, revealing inside — a golden iron cage.

The bottom of the cage was also lined with a thick layer of red silk, on which lay a beautiful person dressed in plain white.

The cage was not small — just large enough for an adult man to lie in. The beautiful person was curled at the bottom of the cage, their complexion rosy and peaceful, sleeping away without a care in the world.

Hair spread across the floor, only half a fine, pale profile showing.

Even that half a face was stunning enough to leave people breathless.

Yet Jin Wang said lazily: "So that's all."

Not one ten-thousandth of Ye Shu's looks.

This was what they called extraordinarily beautiful?

"Deceiving the sovereign is a grave crime. Drag him out — a hundred strokes." Jin Wang issued the order without inflection.

Attendants immediately moved to take Duan Chengzhi away. He wailed: "Your Majesty please forgive me — he, he is a rare kun-sovereign, Your Majesty, you——"

He carried on with his lamentations, and the beautiful person in the cage, as though disturbed by the racket, shifted on the soft red silk.

The cinnabar mole that had been hidden behind one ear came into view. In the same instant, a fresh, sweet fragrance swept through the entire court hall.

A kun-sovereign's pheromone — like green plum after rain, light and clean, sweet and tart, making the mouth water.

Jin Wang's expression changed instantly.

The fresh, sweet kun-sovereign pheromone was something almost no one could resist. Throughout the court, more than a few qian-sovereigns found their own pheromones beginning to surface, a silent rivalry starting among them.

The beautiful person in the cage was disturbed by the surrounding pheromones and frowned, uncomfortable. A low, soft sound slipped out.

"Mm… it hurts…"

Jin Wang came fully awake.

In the next moment, a powerful qian-sovereign pheromone surged through the court hall.

The purity of an emperor's pheromone was extreme, and its dominance immense — in an instant it overwhelmed every other scent in the hall.

The ministers' legs went soft and they very nearly could not remain standing.

Within that suffocating density of pheromone, the ministers heard the young emperor on the dragon throne give a soft laugh. "We are very pleased with this gift. Master Duan has been very thoughtful."

When Ye Shu next awoke, he was lying inside a bed canopy.

He rubbed his eyes and drowsily rolled over.

For the past several days he had been in the hands of that man surnamed Duan. The man had apparently given him some kind of sleeping drug — he spent far more time asleep than awake, completely unaware of where he was or how much time had passed.

Only in occasional waking moments had he caught the man surnamed Duan saying something about presenting him to His Majesty.

…Wait. Presenting him to His Majesty???

Ye Shu suddenly remembered — in the novel, not long after Chancellor Ye Shu's death, Duan Chengzhi had begun searching everywhere and eventually presented the sovereign of Changlu with an extraordinarily beautiful person.

The problem was that the "gift" had been made in too blunt and graceless a fashion, and it happened to run into Jin Wang's exacting standards.

Jin Wang hadn't given the person presented to him so much as a glance before having him dragged out and flogged to death.

Duan Chengzhi had also received a hundred strokes and barely survived.

This would not do. If he was truly passed off as a beauty and presented to Jin Wang, wouldn't that be walking straight back into the tiger's den?

No — he had to escape, and fast.

Ye Shu dragged his aching, uncooperative body upright, reached out and pulled the curtain aside — and was frightened out of his skin by the figure sitting perfectly still at the bedside.

He was looking straight into a pair of dark, blood-red eyes.

The air was still for a moment.

In the next second, Ye Shu's hand flew out and yanked the curtain closed again.

Jin Wang: "…"