Chapter 41

Ye Shu moved to Yongshou Palace the very next day.

No longer watched at every moment by Jin Wang's people, no longer having to walk on eggshells fearing his life was forfeit if he angered the tyrant — Ye Shu's days were finally, for a few days at least, peaceful and free.

…Not quite.

Ye Shu stared up at the gauze canopy above his head, eyes startlingly wide in the darkness.

He couldn't sleep.

All the time he had been in Yangxin Hall, Jin Wang had shared his bed and held him as he slept every night. Ye Shu had never been this close with anyone, and at first he had found it genuinely uncomfortable — but for the sake of staying alive, he had simply endured it.

What he hadn't expected was that after several months, he had become so accustomed to it that he now couldn't get used to being alone.

He wasn't used to having no one to remove his hair ornaments. He wasn't used to having no one to read him storybooks before sleep. He wasn't used to having no one who, when he slept restlessly, would draw him close and stroke his hair.

It was all that dog emperor's fault.

Ye Shu turned over irritably, seething.

Perhaps deliberately giving Ye Shu space, Jin Wang had come to Yongshou Palace rarely over the past few days, and when he did, he left after the meal without any intention of staying the night.

Having grown accustomed to the sight of His Majesty and the consort practically glued together, the palace servants had begun to whisper privately that the consort might have fallen out of favor.

In truth, looking back through previous dynasties, even the late emperor in all his fondness for beauty had rarely had his consorts sleep in Yangxin Hall overnight, let alone live there for months.

Living in Yongshou Palace was how a truly favored consort was supposed to look.

Of course, no one could remember that at this point.

The rumors of lost favor even reached Ye Shu's ears, and he dismissed them with a smile. Since the person concerned made no move to stop it, others took that as confirmation, and the rumors spread and grew.

On the third day of the rumors circulating, Jin Wang finally couldn't stand it any longer.

When His Majesty the sovereign arrived at Yongshou Palace, Ye Shu hadn't woken yet.

He brought no one, didn't have the palace servants announce him, and slipped quietly into the room himself.

The underfloor heating kept the hall at a comfortable temperature. Ye Shu was covered only by a thin silk blanket. One pale, slender ankle was sticking out from under the blanket with considerable lack of propriety. Jin Wang placed his palm over it. It was somewhat cool.

Ye Shu only stirred restlessly and didn't wake.

Jin Wang's palm stayed over that ankle, warming the small patch of chilly skin, then slowly moved upward.

Ye Shu was facing the inner side of the bed, leaving Jin Wang nothing but a slight, thin back.

Jin Wang bent down and gathered him into his arms.

"Mmm…"

Ye Shu murmured something in his sleep. As though sensing a familiar warmth in his dream, he instinctively nuzzled into Jin Wang's arms.

He didn't wake — on the contrary, he fell into an even deeper sleep.

Jin Wang looked down at the person in his arms. His fingers moved idly through Ye Shu's hair. His expression was gentle.

"Oh!" A long time later, a woman's startled cry broke the quiet of the hall.

The hour was much later than the consort usually woke. One of Yongshou Palace's court maids had come to bring hot water according to the usual routine — and found His Majesty at the bedside, and cried out in fright.

"Your Maj——" The court maid hastily knelt. Jin Wang looked up and gave her a warning look.

Her voice stopped dead.

But the commotion had been enough to disturb Ye Shu.

He frowned, let out an impatient little hum, and buried his face in Jin Wang's chest. "Jin Wang, don't be noisy…"

Jin Wang patted his back soothingly. "Mm, I won't disturb you."

The court maid knelt with her head bowed, not daring to look up — but she hadn't missed His Majesty's gentle, quiet voice.

…So His Majesty was capable of speaking to someone with such gentleness after all.

Ye Shu's consciousness drifted for a moment, then he slowly opened his eyes.

He looked up and met that pair of handsome eyes.

Ye Shu's gaze gradually cleared.

"…What are you doing here?" Ye Shu sat up and rubbed his eyes.

Jin Wang said: "Court was over early today with nothing urgent. I came to see you."

In truth His Majesty the sovereign had woken up this morning and immediately heard the servants' whispers, had worried his little consort might be upset, and had rushed over the moment court ended — still in his court robes. The wide sleeves had been pressed under Ye Shu earlier and were now thoroughly rumpled.

Ye Shu looked at the creases in his robes and felt an inexplicable twinge of guilt. "Then why didn't you wake me?"

"You were sleeping so soundly. I couldn't bring myself to." Jin Wang tucked the loose strands of hair behind Ye Shu's ear and said gently: "Now that you're up, go and get ready. I'll have the meal brought."

The hall doors were opened wide. Course after course of fine dishes was laid across the table. Ye Shu shuffled out of the inner room. Jin Wang was already seated at the table.

"Come here." Jin Wang beckoned to him.

Ye Shu glanced suspiciously at the court maids standing behind them.

Jin Wang preferred being alone with him and had long since stopped having servants attend at mealtimes.

Ye Shu didn't say anything and sat down beside Jin Wang.

Jin Wang placed a pastry in his bowl. "You love these the most — have a few more."

"Not interested." Ye Shu said dismissively. "I want what Your Majesty makes."

Jin Wang was unbothered, and patiently coaxed him. "Very well — I'll go and learn. I promise."

In truth, the two of them had always gotten on like this — it was just that before, with no servants around, no one had ever known.

By the end of this one meal, the attendants of Yongshou Palace were inwardly astonished. There was no trace of the consort falling out of favor — on the contrary, it was plain to see that the consort had been so thoroughly spoiled as to become rather demanding.

After the midday meal, Ye Shu lay with his head in Jin Wang's lap, too comfortable to move a muscle.

Jin Wang pinched his cheek. "You're getting lazier every day. This won't do."

Ye Shu said with complete serenity: "I am as I am. If Your Majesty finds it disagreeable, you don't have to come and see me."

"How would We dare not." Jin Wang shook his head, half-amused. "I only didn't stay overnight at Yongshou Palace for a few days, and there are already rumors outside that I've abandoned you. If I stopped visiting altogether, who knows what they'd be saying."

Ye Shu narrowed his eyes. "So today you came to make a show of our affection?"

"Not a show." Jin Wang ruffled his hair gently and said: "I don't care at all about whatever rumors are being spread outside. Anyone who talks out of turn about the imperial family can simply be executed. I only worried that you might hear."

"You and I both know the rumors are false — but I was still afraid you would be upset." Jin Wang bowed his head and looked directly into Ye Shu's eyes. "I don't want you to be unhappy."

Ye Shu didn't answer and looked away. "Your Majesty is overthinking it. Why would something invented from thin air make me unhappy?"

"Is that so?" Jin Wang's fingertip stroked the side of Ye Shu's face, paused for a moment, then smiled. "Even so, I'm happy to coax you."

Ye Shu pressed his lips together.

In truth there had been a faint unhappiness — which was exactly why he hadn't stopped the rumors from spreading, and had deliberately let Jin Wang hear of them.

Ye Shu didn't fully understand what he was upset about, or why he'd done it. But when he saw Jin Wang rush over in worry, afraid he had gotten the wrong impression, that small, nameless unease dispersed entirely.

This dog emperor was still so easy to hook.

Ye Shu lay drowsing in Jin Wang's arms. Before long, an attendant came in to report: "Your Majesty — the Duke Protector has been waiting in the Imperial Study for quite some time."

"Understood."

Jin Wang sent the attendant away. He scooped Ye Shu up and set him back on the bed. "Be good and sleep a little longer. The Duke Protector has returned to the capital today — I need to go see him first. I hear he has brought a troupe of performers along. This evening I'll take you to watch a performance."

Ye Shu yawned drowsily and answered: "I know."

Jin Wang bent down and kissed the corner of his lip, tucked the blanket around him, and turned to leave.

The hall was quiet for a long stretch. Then Ye Shu suddenly opened his eyes.

Wait — who had Jin Wang just said had arrived???

The sleepiness vanished completely in an instant. Ye Shu quickly called an attendant over to ask.

The young eunuchs of Yongshou Palace were well-informed and answered readily. "It is the Duke Protector. Word is he arrived in the capital just yesterday, and has come to the palace today to pay his respects to His Majesty."

Ye Shu asked: "The Duke Protector you're speaking of — is that Xiao Yuanfei, General Xiao?"

"Of course, who else? Changlu doesn't have a second Duke Protector."

This title of Duke Protector had not been bestowed by Jin Wang but by the late emperor.

Decades earlier, Xiao Yuanfei had been Changlu's supreme general, who had fought countless battles over many years with outstanding merit. Disgusted with the late emperor's tyrannical rule, he had been stripped of his military authority and given an empty title, banished to his fief, and had rarely returned to the capital.

During Jin Wang's seizure of power, Xiao Yuanfei had dispatched former subordinates to secretly lend assistance. Jin Wang had always held this Duke Protector in esteem because of it.

That was beside the point, though. What mattered was that Xiao Yuanfei in the novel had a daughter, two years younger than Jin Wang.

In the original novel, Jin Wang had never taken a wife or had children. His emotional storyline remained unresolved even at the ending. Even so, as the male lead of a satisfying power-fantasy political intrigue story, those who admired him were certainly not few.

That young woman was one of them.

If Ye Shu recalled correctly, the Duke Protector's reason for returning to the capital this time had been to introduce his daughter to Jin Wang.

Wasn't that today?

Ye Shu couldn't sit still anymore.

"Prepare the palanquin. To the Imperial Study."

The imperial palanquin gifted to the consort was stopped outside the Imperial Study, but no one stepped out. The guards couldn't help looking over several times, and the attendants carrying the palanquin called from beyond the curtain: "Young Master — we've arrived at the Imperial Study. Won't you come out?"

Ye Shu didn't answer.

Now that he was at the Imperial Study's door, he felt rather foolish.

Not to mention that even the Jin Wang of the novel had shown no interest in that woman — and the current Jin Wang quite plainly didn't like women at all. Even if there were some young miss or other, this person would not give her a second glance.

And besides… why was he so nervous about it?

For a sovereign, taking a wife and concubines, a rear palace full of three thousand beauties — wasn't that the most natural thing in the world? What did it have to do with him?

Ye Shu pressed his fingers to his brow and told himself he had been playing at palace intrigue so long he had gotten too caught up in the role.

He was just about to tell the attendants to carry him back — when the doors of the Imperial Study suddenly opened.

Jin Wang walked out side by side with a white-haired but still remarkably vigorous elderly man. Behind them followed a young person with clean, handsome features.

Young. Male.

And a kun-sovereign.

Ye Shu's eyes narrowed in displeasure.