Chapter 21

Yangxin Hall fell into a long silence.

Ye Shu sat on his knees on the dragon bed, gazing out through the thin gauze curtain at the figure beyond, his heart hammering.

He had gone all the way around only to be brought back by that man surnamed Duan — and delivered directly to this tyrant's bed.

He was truly done for this time…

Ye Shu clutched the silk blanket in a white-knuckled grip, wanting to cry but having no tears left.

What was going on? In the novel, the person Duan Chengzhi had presented was clearly a woman — and Jin Wang had not taken any interest whatsoever in the beauty that was offered, and had simply had her dragged out and flogged to death.

This was not how the plot was supposed to go???

Ye Shu raised a hand and touched his cheek. The disguise mask was still on.

Could it be that the face he'd accidentally chosen for his disguise was one that Jin Wang had actually taken a liking to?

If that was the case — should he perhaps… keep up the act?

Outside the gauze curtain, Jin Wang was nearly laughing from exasperation.

For the past seven days, there hadn't been a single night he'd been able to sleep.

The beauty Duan Chengzhi had presented turning out to be him — the situation was as bizarre as it was absurd. After the initial shock, what had risen in his chest was fury, and a cold, belated fear.

This oblivious little thing — he couldn't even run away properly.

If the one who had taken him had not been Duan Chengzhi, but someone else with ill intentions — would this person even still be alive right now?

He had clearly been too gentle with him.

With that thought, Jin Wang reached out and lifted the gauze curtain. Ye Shu moved at exactly the same moment.

The two of them each pulled open one side of the curtain — and found themselves staring directly at each other.

A brief silence.

Ye Shu reacted first. Those eyes blinked innocently, and his voice came out light and faint. "You… who are you?"

Jin Wang: "…"

Ye Shu let his gaze dart anxiously around the hall for a moment before returning to the man in front of him, as though somewhat frightened. "How did I end up here?"

Jin Wang: "You…"

Ye Shu seemed to finally come to his senses. His face went instantly chalk-white. Clutching the silk blanket, he shrank back toward the far end of the bed. "You— you are His Majesty the sovereign?! Then that means Master Duan really did send me here… and I haven't even seen my mother one last time."

He looked on the verge of tears, eyes misting over, pitifully moving.

Jin Wang was so thrown off by this performance that he momentarily forgot what he had been about to say.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he never would have imagined this person could switch into character so instantly.

And it was quite convincing.

Jin Wang cleared his throat and composed himself, his tone warm. "In that case — you are not willing to enter the palace?"

"…" Ye Shu looked at him cautiously, not daring to answer.

Jin Wang said kindly: "We never force anyone against their will. If you are unwilling, We will not insist."

Ye Shu's eyes lit up. "Then…"

Jin Wang ignored him and turned to give the order: "——Drag this person out and flog him to death."

"???"

"!!!"

"No no no — I'm willing, I'm willing!" Ye Shu was so frightened he nearly fell off the bed. One hand seized Jin Wang's robe. "Your Majesty don't kill me — I truly am willing to enter the palace!"

Jin Wang smiled pleasantly. "Wasn't it the Grand Master of Ceremonies who forced you?"

Ye Shu shook his head furiously. "No, no, it wasn't…"

"But just now you were clearly…"

"This subject — ahem… this commoner was simply moved for a moment." Ye Shu held Jin Wang's gaze and forced himself to keep the performance going. "In truth, this commoner has long admired Your Majesty, and willingly entered the palace to remain always at Your Majesty's side."

"You admire Us?" Jin Wang sounded as though he had heard quite the amusing joke, and gave a cold, faint laugh. "Don't people everywhere say that We killed Our father and brothers, incited war, acted with cruelty and without virtue or justice… what exactly do you admire about Us?"

"I…" Ye Shu thought for a moment, then said earnestly: "The late emperor ruled without benevolence. The imperial family wallowed in pleasure. Foreign enemies watched hungrily from beyond the borders. And at court, officials protected one another in a web of corruption. Everything Your Majesty has done was to rescue the people from their suffering — it is not without virtue or justice."

Jin Wang's expression shifted faintly.

"…So you understand." He spoke as though sighing.

"What——"

Before the question was even out of his mouth, Jin Wang caught his wrist in a reverse grip and pressed him down into the bed.

A familiar presence closed over him. Ye Shu found it hard to breathe.

Only now did he notice that the pair of handsome eyes mere inches from his own were riddled with red veins.

The sound of the hall doors closing came from outside. The attendants inside had all withdrawn.

Ye Shu swallowed.

This dog emperor wasn't about to do it again…

Jin Wang looked down at him and softly repeated: "You clearly know everything…"

Ye Shu didn't understand. "I… what should I know?"

Jin Wang gave no answer.

His eyes darkened faintly. His fingertip traced across Ye Shu's face, making the person beneath him tremble slightly with nerves.

Ye Shu had been in a fog for the past several days, and by now it had been many days since he'd been near Jin Wang's pheromone. A kun-sovereign during pregnancy was in extreme need of the qian-sovereign's comfort. That emptiness had been masked by the sleeping drug's effects, but now that the drug had worn off, it came rushing back with full force.

This physical instinct was far more honest than his rational mind. Unable to endure it, he shifted and reached out to grab Jin Wang's clothes.

"Your Majesty…"

A kun-sovereign's soft, pleading call was enough to strip most people of all reason — yet Jin Wang only looked at him steadily and said mildly: "Say what you said just now again."

Ye Shu paused, then obediently repeated: "Everything Your Majesty has done was to rescue the people from their suffering — it is not without virtue or justice."

Jin Wang cupped Ye Shu's jaw in his palm, making him look directly at him. "The sentence before that."

Ye Shu: "The late emperor ruled without benevolence…"

"Wrong — the one before that."

Ye Shu looked into those dark, shadowed eyes, and tried tentatively: "…I have long admired Your Majesty, and willingly entered the palace to remain always at Your Majesty's side?"

Jin Wang gave a small smile. "Good."

As the words fell, his fingertips at last found the edge of the prosthetic face mask, and with a slight pull, peeled it away.

The mask fell to the floor. That refined, gentle face appeared before him.

Ye Shu: "…"

Ye Shu let out a dry laugh. "Good evening, Your Majesty."

Jin Wang maintained the curve at the corner of his mouth. "Good evening."

Another silence.

The smile on Ye Shu's face faded bit by bit. He looked as though he was about to burst into tears at any moment. "…If I said I was just going out for a casual stroll that day — would you believe me?"

Jin Wang asked: "What do you think?"

Of course not.

His Majesty the sovereign might be weak to a pretty face, but he was not a fool.

Ye Shu made a bitter face. "…Is there still time for me to apologize?"

Jin Wang remained impassive. "What do you think?"

"…" Ye Shu resigned himself and turned his head away. "Punish me, then."

"You do deserve punishment." Jin Wang's tone was very gentle, yet it carried a danger that chilled the bones. "You deceived the sovereign, went back on your word, used the ancestral rites ceremony to flee the marriage, and even drugged Us… each of these offenses, on its own, is a capital crime."

"Ye Shu — how do you think We should punish you?"

Ye Shu turned his face aside, lashes trembling faintly, saying nothing.

"If you won't speak, We will decide for Ourself."

A teasing light kindled at the bottom of Jin Wang's eyes. His hand drifted downward and found Ye Shu through the fabric.

Ye Shu's whole body gave a sharp shudder.

"Jin— Jin Wang!" The end of Ye Shu's voice trembled — but it was not discomfort. It was, in fact… extremely pleasant.

His body had an inexplicable dependence on Jin Wang. Just from that gentle grip alone, he felt a comfort so intense he could barely contain it.

Yet Jin Wang simply held still in that position, making no other move.

Jin Wang kept him suspended there until Ye Shu's eyes had gone red.

"Why are you looking at Us like that?" Jin Wang said with cold indifference. "This is not for your comfort — don't forget, this is punishment."

…

Ye Shu hadn't understood at first why Jin Wang called it punishment — until the execution began.

The imperial family had always maintained the custom of sending court ladies to instruct the princes in intimate matters. But as the novel stated, Jin Wang had never paid any attention to such things, and had sent all the ladies that were dispatched to him away.

He had clearly been portrayed in the book as someone with simple desires and restrained impulses — yet somehow in this life he had become entirely self-taught and knew far too many ways to torment a person.

Ye Shu was reduced to a dazed and incoherent state very quickly. By the end, Jin Wang kept him tightly controlled — no relief permitted — until he had no choice but to beg in a tearful voice, saying every soft word there was to say.

— This was truly the most terrible punishment in the world.

…

Ye Shu collapsed exhausted into the dragon bed. Jin Wang tossed the silk cloth aside and lay down as well.

Ye Shu instinctively inched away.

Jin Wang gave a helpless laugh. "That frightened of Us?"

Ye Shu had half his face buried in the blanket, the rims of his eyes still faintly red — as though he had suffered some enormous grievance.

"Alright…" That expression always made people feel a twinge of guilt. Jin Wang held him close and said quietly: "No more punishment today. We'll let you off for now."

Intercourse was not to be attempted before three months had passed — yet a kun-sovereign's body was in desperate need of comfort, and Jin Wang could only use this method. It both relieved him and served as punishment. Two birds with one stone.

Ye Shu's breathing was unsteady. He rested against Jin Wang's chest, catching his breath in soft, uneven exhales.

Jin Wang couldn't resist teasing him. "Can't even handle once — what will you do in the future? We haven't finished punishing you yet."

Ye Shu was disbelieving. "There's more?"

Jin Wang arched a brow. "You think one time covers the crime of running away?"

"…"

Dog. Emperor!

Ye Shu fumed and refused to pay him any further attention. Jin Wang pulled the blanket over and wrapped him up carefully.

"It's still early. Sleep a little more, then get up for dinner." Jin Wang said.

Ye Shu had been thoroughly worn out and quickly felt his eyelids grow heavy. He murmured a vague "alright."

Jin Wang stroked his hair and let out a low hum. "Look where running got you — will you try it again?"

Muzzy with sleep, Ye Shu answered with his eyes closed: "…Of course I will. Am I supposed to stay and let you bully me?"

A shadow passed through Jin Wang's gaze.

"Though I can never escape anyway…" Ye Shu's voice faded into drowsiness, heavy with exhaustion. "Might as well not bother for now. I'm so tired."

That shadow vanished in an instant. Jin Wang drew in a slow breath, tightened his arms, and turned to enclose the person against his chest.

"That's right — you can't escape." Jin Wang looked down at the young man in his arms, his fingertip brushing past his ear. His expression carried something like tenderness. "You foolish thing — you've been unable to escape for a long time now. And We will never let you."

What happened at the ancestral temple had been an accident, and Jin Wang never made the same mistake twice.

A faint smile touched the corner of his mouth. He lowered his head and pressed a kiss to Ye Shu's forehead.

Ye Shu slept all the way through to the middle of the night, and was woken by hunger. He sat up rubbing his stomach and accidentally nudged the warm body beside him.

Jin Wang was still sleeping.

Ye Shu looked down at him.

The lamps in Yangxin Hall were still unlit. Only the moonlight, clear as water, poured in through the windows and spread across the hall.

Jin Wang was lying on his side. That handsome face was half-swallowed by darkness, the other half washed pale and cool by the moonlight.

That face looked tired.

Looking at him like that, Ye Shu reached out as if moved by some invisible impulse and lightly touched the shadows beneath Jin Wang's eyes.

Jin Wang was rarely in this state. Even back when the original host had betrayed him, Ye Shu had never seen Jin Wang look this worn and fragile.

As an emperor, he was not supposed to show weakness to the outside world.

At any time, before any person. That was always the way.

These past few days… had he been genuinely worried?

Ye Shu had grown up without parents, raising himself. He had learned to be pleasant to people and worked hard to fit in, but his upbringing had left him with a deep-rooted distrust of others, a sense of distance that came naturally to him. Over the years he'd had a few friends, but he'd never been able to give himself fully to anyone.

This was the first time — the very first time — he had felt someone in this world actually cared about him.

Ye Shu's fingertip slid down and gave Jin Wang's cheek a gentle poke.

Actually, this feeling… wasn't all that bad.

His stomach gurgled. Ye Shu rubbed it and was just about to get up to have someone bring him something to eat.

He had barely raised himself to a kneeling position when he heard a faint, clear sound — the clink of a chain.

Ye Shu went still. He looked in the direction the sound had come from.

Around his pale, slender ankle was clasped a shackle. A thin gold chain was attached to it.

The shackle was crafted with care — delicate, lightweight, and lined on the inside with a layer of soft fine down, so that wearing it produced no discomfort whatsoever. The gold chain was long and sturdy, and the other end disappeared somewhere on the inner side of the bed, fastened securely in a place Ye Shu couldn't see.

…Surely not.

Taking things this far???