Chapter 55

The same words, coming from Jin Wang's mouth, felt entirely different.

His voice was very soft, like a small hammer tapping gently inside Ye Shu's chest — not painful, but tingling, strangely pleasant.

Those beautiful eyes looked at him steadily, filled with tenderness, and yet carrying a certain carefully held hope.

Deliberate.

Ye Shu's heart was pounding, and he felt faintly lightheaded — as though standing on clouds.

He had never been good with words like that.

…This was completely unfair.

"Why isn't Elder Brother Ye Shu answering?" Jin Wang clearly knew exactly how to deal with him. His voice dropped lower and softer, pressing gently. "Tell me — go on?"

Ye Shu struggled to look away. "You… don't call me that."

"I shouldn't call you that? Then what does Elder Brother want me to call him?"

Ye Shu had reached his limit. He tipped his head up and stopped that chattering mouth with a kiss.

It went from a light, grazing touch to something deeper and more consuming. By the end, both of them were breathing a little unevenly.

When the kiss broke, Jin Wang pressed Ye Shu into the bed. His eyes had grown somewhat shadowed.

The heat on Ye Shu's face hadn't had time to fade before he was pulled into another round. He looked away, not daring to meet those intent eyes. "I… you clearly already know…"

"That's different." Jin Wang took Ye Shu's hand, interlacing their fingers tightly. "I want to hear you say it yourself."

"I…"

Ye Shu opened his mouth. Not a single word came out.

A silence fell inside the curtained warmth. Only the beating of two hearts could be heard.

After a long moment, Jin Wang let out a sigh. "Never mind — I won't push you."

He ruffled Ye Shu's hair gently. "Let's eat first. The food will go cold soon."

Jin Wang said this, then moved to get up from the bed. "Stay there — I'll bring it over——"

His voice cut off.

Ye Shu had suddenly wrapped his arms around Jin Wang from behind.

The warmth of Ye Shu's body passed through completely, pressing against his back. Ye Shu said quietly from behind him: "You can't keep being like this…"

Ye Shu's arms drew in and tightened around Jin Wang's waist. "…Since when does anyone give in to another person this much — are you still an emperor?"

"A Shu…"

Ye Shu buried his face in Jin Wang's back. His voice was somewhat muffled. "You're right — saying some things out loud really is different."

"Even now, I still don't dare confirm whether what happened to me, and the person beside me, is truly real."

"I never imagined a day like this would come. I never imagined being this close to anyone. I used to resent fate — why did other people have happy families, parents, friends, while I had none of it."

"Until I came here. Until I met you."

"What have I done to deserve to have all of this. If I woke up one day and found it was only a dream — I… I wouldn't even know what to do."

"You fool." Jin Wang said quietly.

He covered Ye Shu's hands with his own and gripped them tightly. "I understand what you're afraid of. Lately I've also been thinking — if one day I woke up and you had become not yourself again, what would I do."

Ye Shu went still.

Yes — and how could Jin Wang not feel the same way? If anything, this person had perhaps been even more uncertain than him.

If that day truly came, Jin Wang wouldn't even have the right to know. Just as three years ago — not knowing that the person beside him had been replaced, and yet having to endure the person he was closest to pulling away, then ultimately betraying him.

And yet this man had never said any of this to him.

He kept all his uncertainty, his worry, his fear buried within himself — and still turned around to reassure Ye Shu.

Ye Shu's eyes grew warm. His voice came out a little hoarse. "You're the fool."

"How extraordinary — we have crossed time and space, come all this way, and only now can we be together in peace. Rather than fearing the future, we should hold on to the present." Ye Shu closed his eyes. He said softly: "I have found someone I like. That person's name is Jin Wang."

"Every day spent with him has been the happiest of my life."

"I want to grow old with him."

Jin Wang's fingers trembled.

He turned, bowed his head, and pressed a kiss to Ye Shu's lips.

The kiss was very light — as though afraid of disturbing something. Or as though suppressing something.

"…That's a promise?" Jin Wang's eyes were faintly red. His voice was low and slightly rough. "Grow old together."

"Mm." Ye Shu's eyes were red too. He smiled and tipped his head up to kiss him in return. "This subject is terrified of dying — I would never dare deceive the sovereign."

That night, neither Ye Shu nor Jin Wang touched the dinner that had been brought.

Barely had those words left his mouth when he was wrapped thoroughly in a wave of qian-sovereign pheromone, and in the end he didn't even remember how he had left the Imperial Study.

Ye Shu sometimes thought the dog emperor had a different brain from most people.

Angry — settled in bed. Jealous — settled in bed. Moved to tears — also settled in bed. There was nothing that one round couldn't resolve, and if there was, two rounds would do it.

…Not that he had any particular objection to this approach.

Early spring arrived quickly. Jin Wang did indeed entrust the supervision of the spring imperial examinations to Ye Shu.

In name it was supervision, but in practice there wasn't much to do.

The examinations were normally administered by the Ministry of Rites, and all relevant matters were handled by their staff, then presented to Ye Shu for review. Worried about tiring him out, sometimes even the reviewing was handled by Jin Wang on his behalf.

In essence, it was nothing more than giving Ye Shu a formal title to attach to the proceedings.

Jin Wang intended to use this round of examinations to clear out the officials with treasonous inclinations from the court. The candidates who passed the examinations this year would quite possibly become senior officials in the years ahead.

And as the examination's chief supervisor, the standing Ye Shu would hold in their eyes was easy to imagine.

Jin Wang was giving Ye Shu power.

Ye Shu naturally understood Jin Wang's intent and threw himself into the examinations with full dedication.

On the last day of the examinations, Ye Shu walked out of the examination hall. One of the Ye estate's servants came hurrying to meet him. "Young Master — something has happened at the palace."

Ye Shu's expression changed. "What happened?"

"Consort An has been executed by His Majesty."

Ye Shu: "…"

Ye Shu: "???"

The young servant launched into a stream of palace gossip. According to the reports, after entering the palace Consort An had seduced and then disrespected the sovereign, and had caused trouble in the rear court. It had recently been confirmed that this person was actually a Xixia spy who had been passing information back to Xixia and plotting rebellion. His Majesty had no real feelings for Consort An and had kept him close these past months only to investigate the truth. Now that the evidence was conclusive, Consort An had been secretly executed.

The details were extensive and internally consistent, and Ye Shu very nearly believed it himself.

He had a mind to go ask Jin Wang why he had suddenly thought to wrap up the Consort An matter — but the examinations had just concluded and a great deal of business remained to be processed. Important matters first. He could only return to the estate.

By the time he had dealt with everything at hand, Jin Wang's decrees had already arrived.

There were three of them.

The first concerned Consort An, and also mentioned the Grand Master of Ceremonies Duan Chengzhi, who had presented Consort An. Though he had not known the truth, he bore responsibility for inadequate oversight, and was being reassigned to a provincial post.

The second concerned Xixia — their repeated disruptions to the capital, and now reaching into the sovereign's own rear court, had been the final provocation. His Majesty the sovereign had decided to declare war on Xixia immediately.

Neither of these decrees surprised Ye Shu.

Duan Chengzhi had always been incessant about Jin Wang's marriage, and had led a pack of officials pushing for it every day even before presenting Consort An. Jin Wang had been annoyed by him for a long time. This was likely as much a personal score being settled as an official action — and had the convenient effect of putting an end to the court's nagging about marriage.

As for Xixia — war between the two nations had always been inevitable. Consort An was only a pretext.

As for the third decree — it was the longest of the three, and the household servant reading it aloud went strangely quiet.

Ye Shu looked up. "What's wrong?"

The servant said carefully: "This decree… is written to you."

Ye Shu had an instinctive bad premonition, but maintained his composure as the Chancellor. "Read it."

It was a decree in name, but in content it was more like… a love letter.

The decree told the story of His Majesty the sovereign and Chancellor Ye — how they had known and supported each other since childhood, standing by each other through everything to the present day. It also spoke of how His Majesty had harbored admiration for the Chancellor for many years, but the Chancellor's heart was devoted to the realm and the people, and had long been unwilling to respond in kind.

His Majesty the sovereign had fallen ill from longing, lost all appetite for food and drink, and only hoped the Chancellor would spare him a glance and grant the wish he had harbored for so long.

Jin Wang had genuine literary talent, and was no less capable when writing this sort of excruciatingly earnest piece. The more than ten-year secret longing, rendered so vividly, was genuinely moving — even the servant reading it aloud had developed slightly misty eyes.

Ye Shu had reached his limit. "Stop reading!"

The tips of his ears were faintly warm. Picturing this "love letter" being read on every street and in every alley made his scalp crawl. He was sorely tempted to dispatch people immediately to have every copy destroyed.

What on earth was going on in Jin Wang's head???

At that moment, a servant came running in from outside. "Young Master — His Majesty has arrived."

Ye Shu gave a cold huff. "Tell him to get lost."

The servant: "…"

No amount of additional courage would have enabled the servant to say that word to the sovereign. But Ye Shu was currently in the full grip of irritation and couldn't be bothered, so he just turned and walked into the room.

He pulled the door firmly shut behind him, looked up — and found Jin Wang sitting inside his room, having already poured himself a cup of tea at his leisure.

Ye Shu: "…"

Knowing martial arts really was insufferably convenient.

One look told Jin Wang that his Chancellor was in a mood. He quickly came forward. "Are you upset?"

Ye Shu ground his teeth. "What do you think?"

"Don't be." Jin Wang took his hand and sat him down. "These past few days you've been so busy — I didn't have a chance to discuss it with you first. That's my fault."

Jin Wang said in a gentle, soothing tone: "Please don't be upset. All right?"

With this kind of coaxing, more than half of Ye Shu's irritation dissipated at once.

He wasn't actually upset, strictly speaking. He was just somewhat… embarrassed and indignant.

These things could be said between the two of them behind closed doors — but now it had been broadcast for everyone to know, and on top of that it had painted him as the cold-hearted heartbreaker.

…Too much.

"Let me explain." Jin Wang said patiently. "This decree was only the beginning. A few days from now, I'll issue another decree — to marry you."

"To marry you is a wish I have held for many years, now fulfilled. With all the realm as witness."

"There is no question of you depending on me, and you won't need to enter the rear palace."

Jin Wang took Ye Shu's hand and said earnestly: "From now on, we are sovereign and minister, and also husband and husband. We govern the realm together."

This was the promise Jin Wang wanted to give him.