Chapter 24

The two of them quickly left Chunjiang Pavilion with the young person. Ye Shu wanted to give him some silver and let him go free.

"That can't be right." The young person firmly refused to accept it. "You saved me — I cannot accept your silver on top of that."

Ye Shu asked: "Do you want to go home?"

"I… I'm not going home." The young person shook their head. "I've lived with my father since I was small, but he accumulated gambling debts and sold me to a pleasure house without a second thought. I won't go back. I want to find a place to stay in the capital and figure out how to make a living."

Their eyes were clear and bright. "Could you tell me your name, benefactor? One day when I've earned enough money, I will surely repay you."

Neither Ye Shu nor Jin Wang was in a position to give their real names.

Ye Shu said: "We also live in the capital. If you stay on here, we'll have the chance to see each other again."

Ye Shu refused to give a name, and the young person didn't press further. They gave a nod. "I look forward to seeing you again. By then, I hope to have enough silver to repay you."

Ye Shu smiled and nodded.

The young person looked over at Jin Wang, who was standing a short distance away.

He stood beneath a tree dressed in black, upright and slender, with an exceptional bearing.

The young person asked quietly: "Is he… your husband? He's so handsome."

Ye Shu instinctively wanted to deny it. The young person quickly said: "Don't misunderstand — I don't mean anything by it. I just… I'm very envious of you. He must treat you very well."

"He…" Ye Shu paused, then said quietly: "He does treat me very well."

Honestly speaking, Jin Wang did treat him very, very well.

Sovereigns seemed inherently prone to suspicion, and Jin Wang's childhood had further shaped that tendency. Given all of this, the way he treated him was already exceptional.

If this dog emperor would just stop causing trouble, he'd treat him better in return.

The young person smiled. "May you and your husband be happy always."

The two of them parted ways outside Chunjiang Pavilion.

Ye Shu returned to Jin Wang's side.

"Why did that take so long — what were you talking about?" Jin Wang asked.

"About you." Ye Shu looked up at him with a small smile. "Saying that you're so good-looking, yet after spending so much money buying him back, Your Majesty just lets him go like that without even considering taking him into the palace?"

Jin Wang wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close. "We already have two beauties in Our rear palace — why would We need more?"

"And besides…" Jin Wang lowered his head and looked into his eyes. "He doesn't compare to you at all. We have no interest in him."

"Our eyes see only you."

Ye Shu's chest gave a faint, quiet tremor.

Jin Wang rarely said things like that to him. Or perhaps in the past when he did, there had always been a teasing quality to it, and Ye Shu hadn't taken it to heart.

But this time was different.

His gaze was sincere and intent — this was neither a casual saying meant to placate him, nor deliberate provocation.

Ye Shu suppressed the unfamiliar flutter in his chest, tilted his head, and smiled. "Your Majesty's sweet words are getting more and more impressive."

Jin Wang's eyes held a smile, and he was about to respond — when Ye Shu said wistfully: "What a pity for the consort, though. Not only can he not come out and enjoy himself with Your Majesty, he can't even hear the sweet words. If Your Majesty's eyes see only me, where does that leave the consort?"

"…First you laugh, now the old one cries — how fleeting is imperial favor."

Jin Wang's expression went rigid.

Had this person gotten addicted to playing palace intrigue games with himself?

"We naturally also keep the consort in mind — don't——" Jin Wang instinctively started to defend himself, then noticed Ye Shu's shoulders shaking with barely-suppressed laughter, and realized he'd walked straight into a trap.

Jin Wang gritted his teeth. "Ye! Qi'an!"

"Ha ha ha I was wrong I was wrong, please spare this one, Your Majesty——!"

As the sky gradually darkened, Ye Shu and Jin Wang returned to the palace by carriage.

Ye Shu remembered the question he'd had in Chunjiang Pavilion.

"Kun-sovereign?" Jin Wang's expression shifted slightly, and he frowned. "You don't know what a kun-sovereign is?"

Ye Shu said uncertainly: "I… should I?"

"…"

Ye Shu clearly remembered — this wasn't a concept that existed in the novel.

And from the remnants of the original host's memories, this term had never come up either.

But then, the events of this world had already diverged greatly from the book. If some new element appeared, Ye Shu wouldn't find it surprising anymore.

Jin Wang was silent.

He had originally assumed Ye Shu's failure to notice his own differentiation was due to his scatterbrained nature. But now it turned out the man didn't even know about the distinction between qian and kun at all.

That distinction was as fundamental as the difference between men and women — was there truly someone who had never heard of it?

Jin Wang sensed something was off, but couldn't arrive at a conclusion for the time being.

He was quiet for a moment, then said: "Kun-sovereign is simply what the pleasure house calls that young person."

"Pleasure houses have traditionally distinguished between qian and kun. Qian-sovereigns are skilled in arts and performance — they entertain without offering intimate services. Kun-sovereigns are prized for beauty — they serve with their appearance." Jin Wang began making things up. "As for differentiation… think of it as something like a rank or classification."

Ye Shu looked puzzled. "That's all it is?"

Jin Wang said firmly: "That's all it is."

"Alright…" Ye Shu accepted it without suspicion, then said: "Anyway, we were discussing something just now — has Your Majesty decided what title to bestow on me?"

Jin Wang: "…"

Ye Shu had only been joking with that remark, but to his surprise, the very next day after returning to the palace, Jin Wang actually issued a decree.

The beauty presented by the Grand Master of Ceremonies was bestowed the title of Imperial Consort An — one rank below that of the senior consort — and, just like the senior consort, all attendants were to address him as Young Master.

As the sovereign's only two rear-palace consorts, one was assigned Yongshou Palace and the other Chengqian Palace, positioned on either side of Yangxin Hall — a clear demonstration of His Majesty's favor toward both.

However, the grand wedding ceremony that had been put on hold was not mentioned again.

From that point on, no one at court raised any further objections to the matter of the consorts.

As long as His Majesty had taken a kun-sovereign into the palace, heirs would follow in due time. There was no need to rush.

As for Ye Shu… he didn't go to Yongshou Palace, and he didn't go to Chengqian Palace either.

He continued to be kept in house arrest in Yangxin Hall.

"I think this won't do." Ye Shu stood at the bedside and said to Jin Wang with grave seriousness: "You cannot keep confining me like this."

The attendants were helping Jin Wang change. Jin Wang looked up at the words. "Why not?"

Ye Shu said indignantly: "I've been getting fat these past few days!"

Ye Shu was naturally slender, but when he changed clothes today, he found his waist and abdomen had grown noticeably rounder than before.

No matter how he thought about it, this was Jin Wang's fault.

At those words, however, Jin Wang's eyes lit up. "Come here — let Us have a look."

Ye Shu huffed over, and was pulled into Jin Wang's lap as he sat down.

Jin Wang gently placed his hand on Ye Shu's abdomen.

The small belly had not yet begun to show — nothing was visible from outside — but when touched, it was indeed noticeably softer and rounder than before, with a yielding, warm feeling beneath the palm.

Jin Wang suppressed the smile in his eyes and said deliberately: "Where's the fat? We see no difference."

Ye Shu was annoyed. "In any case you can't keep confining me — I want to go out."

Jin Wang: "No."

Ye Shu: "…Hmph."

Jin Wang tapped him on the forehead. "Whose fault is it for not behaving before? If We let you out after only a few days, would We have any authority left?"

Miserable bastard Jin Wang.

Ye Shu was too irritated to speak to him.

Morning court was approaching. Jin Wang left with his attendants. Ye Shu stayed behind in the bedchamber alone.

Bored out of his mind, Ye Shu started fiddling with his collection of disguise materials again.

Over the past several days, Jin Wang had been taking Ye Shu out for a stroll after court every day.

Ye Shu had now become addicted to playing two different consorts, changing his persona daily, under the official justification of ensuring His Majesty spread his favor evenly.

Not only that, he had also tried making Jin Wang wear a face mask and join the palace — an attempt to get him added to the rear palace as well.

The first time he tried it, Jin Wang came back from court to find a strange man in his dragon bed, and nearly had the person dragged straight out and beaten to death in a rage.

…A spectacularly catastrophic failure.

Ye Shu had just finished his disguise when an attendant came in to report: "Young Master — Imperial Physician Feng is here for the routine examination."

"Ask him to wait outside for a moment."

Ye Shu acknowledged this and was just about to remove his disguise when his hands suddenly stopped.

Imperial Physician Feng came every few days to take Ye Shu's pulse. But every time, the conclusion was that he was in good health with nothing abnormal to report.

Yet his fatigue and drowsiness, the heaviness in his abdomen, the occasional nausea and vomiting — none of these symptoms had fully disappeared.

Could the physician be in league with Jin Wang, hiding something from him?

At that thought, Ye Shu lowered his hands and turned back toward the bed. "Let him in."

When Imperial Physician Feng entered, he did not see the Chancellor — he saw a young man he didn't recognize.

The young man was draped languidly against the side of the dragon bed, his expression listless. He glanced at the physician from within the parted bed curtains, as though feeling somewhat unwell.

Imperial Physician Feng naturally recognized this as Consort An.

He immediately bowed. "Greetings, Young Master."

Ye Shu softened his voice to a gentle register. "At ease, physician."

Imperial Physician Feng straightened up. "Young Master — this subject has come to take the senior consort's pulse. As for him…"

"The senior consort is not here today. You may come back a little later." Ye Shu lay draped with a languorous, willowy air, his voice soft. "As it happens, I'm feeling rather unwell today. Could the physician take a look at me as well?"

A hand extended from within the bed curtains.