CH 36

The young man beside him, pale and with downcast eyes, said nothing.

Jin Wang stared at him without prompting.

Whether this defense map was true or not, he had his own way to put it to the proof and confirm if what Yu Yan said was really what it was.

But he wanted to hear Ye Shu’s explanation more than anything else.

In his view, Ye Shu’s move was too daring and dangerous. Being in long-term contact with a foreign prince, one careless move could lead to a fatal disaster. However, he could also see that he had nothing to lose yet everything to gain from the arrangement.

Ye Shu didn’t betray him, not on this matter at least.

Jin Wang breathed a silent sigh of relief, then asked again patiently and softly, “Can’t say it?”

Ye Shu didn’t respond.

He didn’t know how he should explain it.

Making a deal with Yu Yan and persuading him to surrender to them wasn’t a bad thing at all, but rather a great feat. Of course, he could directly admit that he did it, but he couldn’t explain the following three years, couldn’t explain why the original owner still ended up betraying him.

Ye Shu hesitated for a long time, then he slowly said, “…I can’t say it for the time being.”

Jin Wang asked, “When can you say it?”

“Ju…Just not now,” Ye Shu involuntarily tightened his sleeves and hardly dared to look at Jin Wang. “Your Majesty, give me some more time. Wait for me… When the time is right, I will definitely tell Your Majesty.”

Jin Wang was silent for a moment, then he said, “Alright, I believe you.”

Ye Shu looked up and saw that the latter’s eyes showed gentleness, without a hint of accusation. He brushed away the sweet cake crumbs from the corner of Ye Shu’s lips and softly said, “Anyways, I feel quite elated.”

You’re not here to harm me, I feel quite elated.

Ye Shu’s heart gently quivered, suddenly feeling somewhat touched.

This man, as usual, was so easily satisfied.

“But…” Jin Wang’s tone shifted suddenly, his eyes slightly narrowed. “You’ve been in contact with him for many years?”

Ye Shu, “……”

Jin Wang mused, “Since before Gu ascended to the throne?”

Ye Shu, “……”

Jin Wang, “And you also made an appointment to meet him in Chang Lu.”

So this man hadn’t yet finished!!

Ye Shu coughed lightly and averted his eyes. “I-I’m tired. Let’s go back.”

Jin Wang smiled. “Okay.”

Jin Wang called the servant to bring the imperial palanquin. Ye Shu was about to get up, but was pulled to stop by Jin Wang.

Jin Wang bent down with his back to him. “Come up.”

Ye Shu was taken aback.

Jin Wang looked back at him, urging, “Hurry up.”

Jin Wang then carried Ye Shu out of the pavilion.

Ye Shu leaned on Jin Wang’s shoulder and tilted his head to look at Jin Wang’s profile. “How come Your Majesty’s so good to me today?”

“Was I bad to you in the past?” Jin Wang seemed to be in a good mood, chuckling, “You deserve to be rewarded for helping Gu so much.”

The smile on Ye Shu’s face somewhat faded.

As a matter of fact, the happenings today only confirmed that Ye Shu hadn’t colluded with Yu Yan. Whether Yu Yan’s capitulation was genuine or not remained dubious.

How was it worth being so happy about?

This emperor was not only a dog, but also a fool.

Ye Shu’s heart felt sour yet warm. He buried his head into the crook of Jin Wang’s neck and lightly nuzzled there.

I’ll be nicer to you in the future.

He may betray you, but I won’t.

Never ever.

It took the Great Yan’s envoy and the Court of State Ceremonies three days of negotiation before the clauses of discussion were finally drawn up.

On the last day, Jin Wang needed to be present.

Ye Shu helped Jin Wang fasten the jade buttons of the court dress. Jin Wang looked down at his appearance and lightly laughed, “Not here, those are fastened up on the left. How ham-handed.”

Ye Shu glared at him. “You do it yourself!”

“……” Jin Wang held back a smile. “You do it.”

Not having to get up early was a rare occasion. Jin Wang accompanied Ye Shu for breakfast before leisurely getting dressed.

In the past, Ye Shu was still asleep every time Jin Wang left. Today, however, he jumped on the rare opportunity to let Ye Shu learn to dress him.

As the name suggested, it was something an imperial wife ought to do.

The monarch’s court dress was so intricate that it took Ye Shu twice as long to help him put it on. Jin Wang looked down to fix the jade pendant, then looked up to see that Ye Su had already taken the moment to slump on the bed.

He smiled as he shook his head. “Getting lazier.”

Ye Shu sank into the soft bed, half-raised his eyelids to look at him, and thought in his heart: if this isn’t your pup’s doing.

Ye Shu said, “Your Majesty, you should set out soon ba. I’m worried you might delay time.”

“I’ll get going now,” Jin Wang leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. “Sleep if you’re still sleepy. If it goes well, Gu will be back soon.”

Ye Shu nodded obediently.

Before long, Jin Wang left the bedchamber.

No sooner had Jin Wang stepped out, than Ye Shu got up from the bed and also went out.

Recently, Jin Wang had stopped restricting Ye Shu’s activities in the palace; though there were still several palace maids following him and more than a dozen shadow guards on his tail. There was no scope for Ye Shu to even try to run about.

Ye Shu wasn’t afraid of people following him either, leading them directly towards a certain direction.

No one dared to question and went along with him.

They got farther and farther away from the palace until finally a palace maid couldn’t help but say, “My Lord, it’s the Huitong Building ahead.”

“I know,” Ye Shu continued in his pace and said casually, “Huitong Building is where the envoy of Great Yan resides. Can’t I go visit a friend?”

“This…”

Ye Shu laughed. “Don’t worry, I have a good personal relationship with the second prince of Great Yan. His Majesty knows of this and won’t blame anyone.”

The palace maid replied, “Yes.”

Ye Shu then arrived in front of Huitong Building.

The officials of the envoy from Great Yan were meeting with Jin Wang today, and only a few guards were left inside and outside the Building. Ye Shu ordered someone to announce his arrival and was quickly led in by an imperial guard.

It was none other than the guard who was with Yu Yan that day.

Yu Yan was somewhat surprised to see Ye Shu coming. “Why did Minister Ye visit today?”

Ye Shu looked at the guard beside him.

Yu Yan understood. “Yungui, you may wait outside.”

The ink-clad guard frowned slightly. “Master…”

“There’s no issue,” Yu Yan interrupted. “I’ll have a chat with Minister Ye.”

“…Yes.”

The guard then left. Yu Yan poured Ye Shu a cup of tea and said leisurely, “Minister Ye pretended not to know me the other day. Why come over here now?”

“……” Ye Shu coughed lightly. “In the presence of His Majesty, I naturally need to be cautious.”

“Hmn, so cautious that you don’t dare to recognize an old friend,” Yu Yan tapped his fingertips on the tabletop. “Putting love before friendship.”

Ye Shu was speechless.

His tone sounded rather bitter.

The original owner and Yu Yan were this familiar with each other???

Ye Shu pondered for a moment, then said, “I didn’t want to either, but there have been some recent changes.”

“I heard some of it in Great Yan.” Yu Yan looked a little hesitant and then nodded. “How did you and Jin Wang get into such a situation? If I hadn’t known that there was some secret between you two, I would still have thought you really were at odds with each other. Also, the letter you passed on to me before…”

Ye Shu’s eyes flickered slightly. “When did I send you the letter?”

Yu Yan didn’t doubt Ye Shu’s question and replied, “The letter came to me three months ago, and you said you wouldn’t send me another letter in the future. If it was necessary, I should pretend not to know you.”

He paused, then added evasively, “……it sounded like a posthumous letter.”

Ye Shu said nothing.

If it was three months ago, then that letter might really have become a posthumous message.

In light of the plot’s direction, the original owner was supposed to have died two months ago.

Ye Shu asked, “Is the letter still there?”

“I burned it long ago,” Yu Yan frowned. “Ye Shu, do you take me for a fool? The two of us are from two different states. What should I have kept that letter for? So that someone might try to get me to leave behind evidence?”

That was a good point.

Even if there was nothing confidential in the content of the original owner’s letter to Yu Yan, it should still have been burned upon reading. Leaving it behind would have been a surefire way of revealing something that could be used against him.

Two months ago, however, the original owner and Western Xia’s conspiracy letters were all tracked down by Jin Wang.

Did the original owner just overlook it?

Yu Yan had no idea what was running through Ye Shu’s mind. He sighed, “I knew it wasn’t easy for you to be the Prime Minister of Chang Lu. I didn’t dare to communicate with you more in the past three years, therefore I was really anxious when I received your letter three months ago. Later, I heard that Chang Lu’s emperor executed Minister Ye. I almost thought…”

He touched his nose and muttered, “…thought you had really died.”

It wasn’t until Yu Yan saw Ye Shu’s arrival at the state banquet that he was truly sure he was alive and well.

And he never doubted that they were two people who just looked alike.

Others may not dare to consider such an absurd thing as faking a death in order to assume a new identity, but with Yu Yan’s understanding of Ye Shu as well as the relationship between the two, it wasn’t surprising at all.

This monarch of Chang Lu could still pull a neat trick.

“Anyway, it’s good that you’re alright,” Yu Yan paused, then half-jokingly said, “Oh, that’s right, why didn’t Jin Wang know that you and I had contacted each other? Let me be frank, if you people dare to go back on your words, don’t blame me for turning my back on you.”

Ye Shu forced a smile. “I’m not that kind of person. Don’t worry, what I have promised you will be done.”

“It’s good to have your word.”

Ye Shu made oblique references to ask Yu Yan a few more questions about the original owner, but didn’t reap much.

Still, the information he got today was already enough.

The two chatted for a few more minutes. Ye Shu estimated the time and thought that it was almost time for Jin Wang to return to the palace. He then prepared to take his leave, “The second prince should take a good rest. I’ll go back first.”

Yu Yan nodded. “Alright. We will return to Great Yan in a couple of days. Let’s have a small get-together before we leave.”

Ye Shu responded with ‘okay’ as he got up, when his legs suddenly weakened for no reason, could barely stand firm while holding the edge of the table.

“Why are you…” Yu Yan subconsciously went to help him.

Ye Shu, “Don’t touch me.”

He hadn’t noticed it earlier, only now that he felt his body weak and strangely…hot.

Ye Shu instinctively felt something unusual and turned his head to look at the incense burner on the table. Blue smoke wafted from it and the faint scent of sandalwood spread within the room.

Ye Shu asked, “What’s that?”

Yu Yan paused oddly for a moment, not daring to meet his eyes. “Incense ah.”

Ye Shu’s eyes narrowed and looked at him coldly.

Yu Yan felt diffident by his look, and he vaguely said, “It’s…It’s a faith incense suppressor.”

Ye Shu didn’t hear clearly. “What did you say?”

“It’s a faith incense suppressor!” Yu Yan’s ears inexplicably reddened, and he said annoyed, “Didn’t you guess it already, what else to ask.”

Ye Shu’s brows furrowed.

He had painstakingly studied and improved his knowledge about Qian and Kun this month, and roughly guessed the use of this suppressor as soon as he heard it.

It was probably used for the same thing as the pill Jin Wang once gave him.

Ye Shu’s stream of thoughts were in chaos, and barely managed to calm down. “Why would you put that incense in the room? You’re……a Kunjun?”

The stately second prince of Great Yan, the one who would ascend to the imperial throne someday in the future, was actually a Kunjun?

Yu Yan lowered his voice. “Shhh! Someone might hear you.”

He sat down at the table and sighed, “Who could have thought that I would differentiate into a Kunjun. If this were to be known, then it would be completely impossible to inherit the throne. The physician said that the only way to cover it up was to use this incense to suppress my faith incense every day… I heard some Qianjun were extremely sensitive to this smell, so that must be why you’re like this. Is it very uncomfortable? Shall I have you sent back?”

“No…” Ye Shu dodged Yu Yan’s hand. His own hands and feet were so weak that he could hardly stand. “What would happen if…it wasn’t a Qianjun that smelled it?”

“Not a Qianjun?” Yu Yan sized up Ye Shu, then said in astonishment, “So you’re also a…”

Ye Shu, “Say it quick!”

Yu Yan said, “This incense is harmless to people. Every Kunjun can use it, and smelling it naturally can suppress your faith incense. Oh wait, unless you’re pregnant.”

His voice came to a halt.

Yu Yan cast a blank look at Ye Shu. “You, you, you…you’re pregnant???”

Ye Shu’s body was getting hotter and hotter, and an intense fever surged up within his body. A thin layer of sweat had already formed on his forehead.

He took a deep breath and gritted his teeth to ask, “What happens if…the one who smells it is pregnant then?”