Chapter 28

Changyuan's expression went blank. He immediately started to get off the bed, but Ye Shu grabbed him. "Where do you think you're going — are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"But—"

Ye Shu shoved the blanket at Changyuan and made a snap decision. "Hide in there and don't move."

He leapt off the bed, pulled the curtains closed, and Jin Wang pushed open the door at exactly that moment.

"…Your Majesty." Ye Shu went to meet him and did his best to appear natural. "What brings you here?"

Attendants followed Jin Wang inside and lit the lamps in the room.

Jin Wang swept a glance around and asked: "Are you alright?"

"I… of course I'm fine." Ye Shu pretended to be drowsy and rubbed his eyes. "I just woke up — it's very noisy outside…"

"We heard a certain intruder escaped here." Jin Wang's expression was composed. He asked mildly: "You truly haven't seen anyone?"

Jin Wang had managed to finish his affairs early today — and had actually been thinking of returning to Yangxin Hall ahead of schedule to spend time with his little consort. But when he arrived at Yangxin Hall, no one was there. He was told the person had come here.

He had gone straight to Chengqian Palace — but before he was even halfway there, he heard that a prisoner had escaped.

Jin Wang hadn't wanted to make a commotion over Ye Shu's attempted escape, so he hadn't imprisoned Changyuan in the proper jail — he had found another palace hall to hold him. Unexpectedly, the man had found his chance when the guards switched shifts and slipped out.

And as it happened, the shadow guards had spotted traces of Changyuan near Chengqian Palace.

Was it really such a coincidence?

Or had this person started misbehaving again?

Jin Wang's eyes darkened faintly.

Ye Shu had no idea he had woken from his nap right back on the edge of being locked up again. He reached out to take Jin Wang's sleeve. "Your Majesty, I'm hungry — let's go back to Yangxin Hall?"

Jin Wang looked at him for a moment and gave a soft smile. "Why go to the trouble? Isn't eating here in Chengqian Palace just the same?"

"But—"

Without waiting for him to say more, Jin Wang gave the order: "Someone come — prepare a meal."

Chengqian Palace had never had the experience of serving a meal to the sovereign himself. The attendants were trembling and scurrying in and out, terrified of falling short in any regard and incurring the imperial wrath.

Ye Shu ate this meal without tasting a thing. His gaze kept drifting helplessly toward the inner chamber.

Poor little Changyuan — at this rate he was going to suffocate himself in there.

Jin Wang naturally noticed his distraction and tilted his head. "Not to your liking?"

Ye Shu's instinct was to shake his head, then he thought better of it and nodded. "I don't have much appetite."

He paused and added: "I want to drink the congee Your Majesty made."

Every attendant in the room inwardly jolted.

There had been rumors circulating in the palace recently — His Majesty had been visiting the imperial kitchen frequently these days, personally cooking, and in the process had nearly set the place on fire three separate times, while destroying untold quantities of pots and bowls.

Everyone had been speculating about which consort could enjoy such exceptional favor.

It now appeared the answer was Consort An.

Jin Wang simply set his chopsticks on the table and said mildly: "You're lying."

At the tone of His Majesty's voice, the attendants waiting on them were so alarmed their legs nearly buckled.

Ye Shu frowned. "I'm not lying."

Jin Wang said: "You didn't even finish the congee We made that day."

Ye Shu was flabbergasted by the unreasonableness. "Wasn't it you who stopped me from drinking it?"

Jin Wang: "You don't like it."

"…"

Jin Wang was absolutely impossible when it came to this.

Whatever he made — eating it was wrong, not eating it was wrong, eating it without showing enough enthusiasm was also wrong.

And the issue was, it was just plain congee — however masterfully anyone learned to cook it, how good could it possibly taste?

Jin Wang said: "Eat your meal. We'll make it for you again another day."

Ye Shu gave a disgruntled "oh" and said nothing more.

His mind was still preoccupied with Changyuan hiding in the inner chamber. He genuinely had no appetite and only managed a few bites before he couldn't eat any more.

Fortunately, since becoming pregnant his appetite had been unpredictable — this didn't seem particularly out of the ordinary.

Jin Wang truly didn't press him. The two of them quickly finished dinner and the attendants cleared the food away.

Ye Shu again tried to nudge Jin Wang toward going back to the bedchamber.

"What's the rush?" Jin Wang sipped his tea and pointed at the window. "It's snowing heavily — wouldn't going out in this be cold?"

Ye Shu followed his gaze to the window. "…"

Outside, the sky was thick and dark. Snow was falling through the black night, accompanied by biting wind — with the look of something that might go on all evening.

Even the weather was conspiring against him!

Ye Shu kept his composure and pressed on: "We can take the palanquin back — it'll be quick, and we won't get cold."

Jin Wang didn't respond.

He beckoned to Ye Shu. Ye Shu walked over and was pulled into Jin Wang's arms.

Jin Wang stroked his hair, his voice gentle. "Why so eager to go back to the bedchamber? Is Us being here alone with you not good enough?"

Ye Shu was momentarily startled — and then understood what Jin Wang was implying.

Back at Yangxin Hall, it would be "the senior consort" and "Consort An" both waiting on His Majesty. Here, only Consort An was receiving His Majesty's attentions alone.

Ye Shu's expression froze.

He had come here today precisely to establish Consort An as the favored one — but did this dog emperor really need to cooperate with him quite so thoroughly?

Did this mean Jin Wang intended to actually spend the night in Chengqian Palace?

Ye Shu's gaze involuntarily swept toward the inner chamber. A chill crept down the back of his neck.

He didn't even dare imagine what it would look like if the sovereign, carrying his beloved consort to bed, pulled back the blanket to find another man underneath.

Would Jin Wang be so furious he'd throw both him and Changyuan out and have them cut apart?

He managed a strained smile and tried to wriggle free of Jin Wang's arms. "Your Majesty, it's not right to leave the senior consort alone in Yangxin Hall — perhaps we should—"

Jin Wang held him even more firmly, his voice indulgent. "What's not right about it? Isn't this exactly what you wanted?"

Jin Wang's voice was low and resonant. Softened to this register, it made the ears go numb.

The attendants of Chengqian Palace had never heard His Majesty speak with such gentleness and tenderness. Their cheeks flushed faintly and they bent their heads, not daring to look at the two.

Jin Wang's palm slid slowly along Ye Shu's waist, feeling the imperceptible shiver in the body he was holding. He gave a soft laugh. "Why so tense again — because there are people watching?"

Jin Wang's breath fell against Ye Shu's ear as he spoke. Ye Shu desperately tilted his head. "You shouldn't—"

"Stop fidgeting." Jin Wang wouldn't let him dodge, and even pressed a kiss to that most sensitive spot behind Ye Shu's ear. "Don't worry — they don't dare look. And whoever does dare, We'll gouge out their eyes."

Every attendant immediately buried their head even lower.

Ye Shu's knees had gone weak.

Jin Wang knew his weaknesses far too well.

Or rather — this body of his simply had no resistance to this man at all.

Over the past few days, Ye Shu had secretly found some books on qian-sovereigns and kun-sovereigns. They stated that once a kun-sovereign was marked by a qian-sovereign, they would become utterly dependent on them — a dependence impossible for the kun-sovereign themselves to control.

— It perfectly described Ye Shu's situation.

This dynamic was truly too unreasonable.

Ye Shu went limp in Jin Wang's arms and thought indignantly.

Jin Wang leaned down to kiss him. Ye Shu struggled to hold onto enough of his mind to turn his head away. "Don't do this…"

Cool lips brushed across the side of Ye Shu's face. Jin Wang looked down at the person in his arms and said to the waiting attendants: "Everyone out."

The attendants naturally knew what was about to happen and had already been unable to stand there any longer. They answered and quickly withdrew.

The hall doors closed. Jin Wang stopped teasing Ye Shu and simply held him, stroking his back slowly and steadily — a soothing motion.

"Relax. Not going to bully you tonight."

A pregnant kun-sovereign couldn't take much provocation — the slightest teasing and they'd become aroused, and then if they couldn't have what they needed, it was its own torment for them as well.

Ye Shu's breathing gradually steadied. "You…"

Jin Wang looked at him and said gently: "A Shu — is there really nothing you want to tell Us today?"

Ye Shu froze, then shook his head with a dull expression. "No… nothing…"

"Very well…" Jin Wang let out a sigh and suddenly scooped Ye Shu up in his arms.

"!" Ye Shu startled. "What are you doing?!"

Jin Wang said: "It's getting late. Taking you to bed."

With that, Jin Wang stepped directly toward the inner chamber.

Ye Shu let out a panicked cry. "No no no——!"

Jin Wang set him back on his feet and asked: "Did you have something to say?"

Ye Shu gritted his teeth. "I… I have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds. I sleep badly here."

"It's fine — We'll hold you as you sleep." Jin Wang smiled. "When you're in Our arms, you always sleep extremely well."

Jin Wang pulled back the bed curtains.

Ye Shu closed his eyes in despair.

A flash of silver light swept past.

Jin Wang seemed to have anticipated this. His expression didn't change. He shifted sideways and avoided the blow.

Changyuan held a dagger — its sharp blade came slashing diagonally downward through the air — but abruptly shifted its target mid-arc and drove straight toward Ye Shu, who stood beside Jin Wang.

It happened too fast. Ye Shu had no time to dodge. Jin Wang clearly hadn't expected the target to be him either, and on instinct lurched forward, pulling the frozen young man out of the way.

In the next second, a cold sensation struck Jin Wang's forearm, followed by a sharp, searing pain.

For someone trained in martial arts, a flesh wound like this was nothing. Jin Wang snatched the dagger from Changyuan's hand with his other hand, and in a flash the blade was at Changyuan's throat.

"Your Majesty — is something the matter?" Shadow guards outside the door had heard the commotion and called in.

Jin Wang's eyes were cold and dark. He looked at the person beside him for a long moment before he slowly spoke. "We are fine. No one enters."

Those outside answered "yes."

The atmosphere inside the room was so heavy it was nearly suffocating.

Yet Ye Shu seemed unable to feel anything at all.

Jin Wang's injured hand hung at his side. Blood ran down the black robe and bloomed in small dark spots on the floor.

Ye Shu stared at that vivid red with a dazed expression. His face was pale.

He was hurt.

He had been hurt… trying to protect him.

Jin Wang's expression was still as water. He said quietly to Changyuan: "Outside are all Our imperial guards. At Our word, you all die. Don't do anything unnecessary."

He dropped the dagger to the ground and said flatly: "Clean this up. Don't let anyone notice."

Jin Wang tore a strip from the hem of his robe and wound it around his forearm to staunch the bleeding, then walked to the dressing table by the window and began rummaging through it.

Ye Shu followed without thinking.

Bedchambers were typically stocked with emergency bandaging supplies. Jin Wang quickly located some bandages and medicine. He looked up — and found Ye Shu standing blankly at his side.

Jin Wang gave a soft laugh. "Aren't you afraid of blood? What are you following Us for?"

Once he had calmed down, Jin Wang realized immediately that he had acted on impulse.

Changyuan would never harm Ye Shu.

Ye Shu was in disguise right now. Changyuan's intent with that move had been to draw a clear line between himself and Ye Shu — to make Jin Wang believe that he didn't recognize Ye Shu, and that the two of them had not been in collusion.

If he didn't do that, his presence in Ye Shu's bedchamber was impossible to explain.

This was probably the only scheme that straight-minded young guard was capable of devising.

And yet even so, Jin Wang had walked right into it.

Even a one in ten thousand chance — he still couldn't let this person be put in danger.

Ye Shu's complexion was pale, but the rims of his eyes had gone faintly red. He said quietly: "I… let me help you."

Jin Wang sat before the dressing table and watched him in silence for a moment, then pushed the medicine forward slightly.

Ye Shu knelt on the floor and carefully pushed back Jin Wang's sleeve.

The wound wasn't deep, but it was long — a winding trail of blood across the pale, slender forearm, stark and unsettling to look at.

Ye Shu suppressed the waves of nausea and dizziness threatening to rise, and with trembling fingers gently wiped away the oozing blood, then applied the styptic powder.

"Hiss—" Jin Wang's brow creased. "Your technique is terrible — are you trying to kill Us with pain?"

Ye Shu: "S— sorry, I… I'll blow on it."

He was even more careful after that, and didn't hurt Jin Wang again. Jin Wang rested his uninjured hand under his chin. When Ye Shu finished bandaging him, he gave a quiet, self-deprecating laugh. "We are getting worse with each year."

Ye Shu hung his head and said nothing.

Jin Wang said idly: "In the past, you sent over ten elite assassins to kill Us, and We emerged unscathed without so much as a scratch. Today, We can't even dodge the dagger of this little guard of yours."

"…I'm sorry."

Jin Wang asked: "What are you apologizing for?"

Ye Shu didn't answer.

Jin Wang leaned forward slightly and tilted Ye Shu's chin up. "We are asking you — why are you apologizing."

He continued: "Thinking back on it now — Changyuan was under Our guard all this time before today. And you have had shadow guards with you at all times. There was no opportunity for you to have conspired together. Which means today's events were in fact nothing to do with you — isn't that so?"

Ye Shu's lashes gave a faint tremor. His fingers curled tight in his lap.

Jin Wang looked into those red-rimmed eyes. His tone softened. "…A Shu — We were hurt for your sake. Are you worried about Us?"