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Jin Wang’s eyes blazed. The way the corner of his mouth curved was just exquisite.
Even at such a time, he still carried himself with the calmness and verve of a man in control of the whole situation, an inborn aura that only came from being in a powerful position for years on end.
As if someone had snatched away his ability to speak, Ye Shu’s lips trembled lightly, unable to utter a single word.
He didn’t know how to answer.
Confronted with Jin Wang’s interrogation, he couldn’t deny it, nor did he have the courage to lie.
There probably will never be a more messy moment in Ye Shu’s life than today. Perhaps it was because he was really too slow when it came to such things, or perhaps because he had never dared or wished to think about them.
He was not part of this world. He even took advantage of feelings that were not intended for him, of the man in front of him.
He was the least entitled to consider these things.
Ye Shu had always had a somewhat evasive mindset towards this world; that as long as he didn’t get attached to anyone or anything and only regarded this place as a world in a book, he could do anything to survive.
He could deceive with countless lies, or he could extricate himself at any time.
Because once he began to sink into it, everything would take a different turn.
Therefore, he told himself over and over again not to care, not to take things seriously, that everything that happened here was nothing but fiction.
Until today. Jin Wang laid bare all the thoughts he was unwilling to face and afraid to think about.
“If you hadn’t told me about the matter tonight, I would have been willing to wait a little longer,” Jin Wang pinched Ye Shu’s cheek, and chuckled, “I’ve never seen you act like this before. What do you take me, the imperial prerogative, for? An easy source of solace?”
“O-Of course not!” Ye Shu pursed his lips. “I……”
His voice was hoarse, and swallowed back the words on the tip of his tongue.
Jin Wang stopped pressuring him. He straightened up and waited there quietly.
Ye Shu took a deep breath and quietly said, “I want……want to think about it for a few more days.”
Jin Wang’s eyes flickered slightly. Ye Shu promptly added, “Just a few days will do, and I will give you an answer. So much has transpired tonight. I’m…… I’m awfully confused, I don’t know……”
“It’s okay,” Jin Wang rubbed Ye Shu’s hair soothingly. “If it’s confusing to think about it now, then think about it tomorrow. Take as much time as you want. A-Shu, it’s okay, don’t push yourself.”
The rims of Ye Shu’s eyes grew warm. He covered them up by lowering his head and burying it into Jin Wang’s embrace. “……Why are you suddenly being so nice?”
Jin Wang paused.
Ye Shu, with a muffled voice, “You should be like the way you were before. The way you are now, I……”
Ye Shu’s voice choked slightly as he clutched on the other’s sleeve.
“If I wasn’t this nice, you would have scolded me again,” Jin Wang stroked his hair lightly. “And besides that, what if you ran away again if I was not so?”
Jin Wang pulled the quilt to wrap the man in his embrace tightly and whispered in his ear, “I sort of lied to you earlier, I was actually worried.”
“The Lord Protector’s fiefdom is situated far away from the capital, not to mention the bumpy journey and whether your body can bear it. If you do go there, when would I see you again?” Jin Wang sighed. “My little consort thinks of fleeing every day. Should I not behave better and put more effort into convincing you to stay?”
“……Dog emperor,” Ye Shu murmured. “I just knew you were up to no good.”
Jin Wang laughed.
“Alright, time to get some rest,” As he said that, he moved his palm down and ran it over the slight bulge of the other’s abdomen. “Even if you’re not really tired, the child should be.”
Ye Shu’s eyes fluttered.
That’s right, the imperial physician had specially advised that now was the time when the child was growing the fastest. He had to have an early night to conserve sufficient energy.
……almost forgot about this brat.
Ye Shu lay down obediently and closed his eyes. His breathing soon evened out.
Under the clear, cold moonlight, all that remained in the hall was the steady breathing of the two men. A long time had passed when Ye Shu quietly opened his eyes.
……He couldn’t sleep.
With all that had happened, he’d be damned if he could sleep.
Ye Shu looked up. The man beside him was peacefully asleep, his eyes closed and his breathing smooth and steady.
Through the moonlight, Ye Shu could clearly see the other party’s long, fine eyelashes, which cast a mini shadow on his face like a small fan.
Whether in actuality or in the book, Jin Wang was the most good-looking person he had ever seen.
It happened that this person was also so good to him.
What a riot.
Ye Shu lowered his eyes and said in a low voice, “If you keep being like this, even though I’m not the original owner, I’ll—”
“Ss……” Ye Shu suddenly sucked in a gasp of cold air.
The brat kicked him again.
Bothered by the noise all night, the pup finally had enough and was now throwing a tantrum.
Ye Shu frowned as he covered his stomach. Bearing through the discomfort, he said in annoyance, “Little rascal, believe it or not, I don’t want you?”
“……”
Perhaps disturbed out of his dream, Jin Wang drew Ye Shu into his embrace and conveniently settled his hand on his lower abdomen and softly caressed it. Soothed by his own father, the pup gradually calmed down and ceased his tantrum.
“Sleep now,” Without opening his eyes, Jin Wang spoke in a very soft voice, “stop making a fuss.”
Who knew whether this placation was addressed to Ye Shu or to the child, Ye Shu, though, welcomed it.
His forehead rested against Jin Wang’s arms, his restless mind slowly calming down.
Ye Shu closed his eyes, remaining conscious until he was lulled into a deep sleep.
The following days, neither of them spoke of that night again, as if they had an unsaid agreement.
There were three days of break following New Year’s Eve.
On the last day, Ye Shu proposed that he wanted to get out of the palace.
“Back to Ye Mansion?” The two men were having lunch when this was brought up. Jin Wang’s eyes twitched slightly. “What made you think of going there?”
Ye Shu replied, “I-I just wanted…wanted to have a look at the place where I lived before. I might be able to get some clues.”
Jin Wang was not surprised.
It should be said that ever since Ye Shu had come clean to him, he had anticipated that this man would have such an idea.
Without those memories in his head, Ye Shu had a hard time convincing himself to accept that he shared a past with the original owner.
He wanted to find some corroboration by revisiting his old abode.
Jin Wang pondered for a moment, and then hesitated.
Ye Shu tensed. “Can’t I?”
“Not that you can’t, just……” Jin Wang sighed and shook his head. “Nothing. If you want to go, I’ll take you there.”
The two changed into civilian clothes, set out of the imperial city in a horse-drawn carriage, and soon arrived at the back gate of Ye Mansion.
Jin Wang conveniently tore the seal on the door and pushed it open with great force. The wooden door, which had not been opened for a long time, creaked and a puff of dust alighted.
As the dust cleared, Ye Shu got a good look at the condition inside.
The last time they had come here, they only reached the narrow lane outside the back door and did not set foot in the mansion.
Ye Shu had no idea what the situation in the mansion was like.
Until today.
The former pomp and splendor of the Ye Mansion was no longer there. In the courtyard, the entire garden where the flowers and plants were cultivated had been uprooted, and even the lotus pond that once held water had already dried up, now containing only a scattering of snow that had not yet completely melted, rendering it rather desolate.
Every room in the mansion had its door wide open, a quick glance at which revealed that they were bare to the bones and devoid of absolutely anything.
Ye Shu, “……”
Jin Wang coughed lightly and said, “This place was searched thrice by the imperial guards; there should be……nothing left.”
“I can…can tell,” Ye Shu’s voice sounded gruff.
Jin Wang’s imperial guards……were quite competent in their duties.
Perhaps even a single copper coin could not be found remaining in this shitty place.
Jin Wang said, “Everything that was seized from here is still stored in the Judiciary Department. If you want to have a look, I will take you there.”
Ye Shu shook his head. “There’s no need.”
Those things must have been checked many times already by Jin Wang. If there were clues, Jin Wang would have found them long ago.
Ye Shu said, “Let’s just wander around.”
The Ye Mansion was not that big to begin with, and now that it had been emptied by the search efforts, Ye Shu and Jin Wang soon had gone through the entire mansion.
……And found nothing.
An hour later, Ye Shu sat beside the dried up lotus pond, gazing at the distant dreary courtyard.
Actually trying to find clues here was only secondary. He just thought that if he really did have some kind of ties with the original owner, he should find something by coming back here.
Even if it was just a sense of deja vu from the place.
This was what it all boiled down to in the book.
But the truth was, nada.
……He had been duped.
Ye Shu leaned over the guardrail at the edge of the lotus pond and sighed heavily.
“Take your time as you think about it, don’t stress,” Jin Wang came up from behind and embraced him. “I will instruct someone to send your things back to Yangxin Hall. Take your time, there are always clues to be found.”
Ye Shu turned his head and happened to catch a good glimpse of the other party’s handsome profile.
The sun shone for the first time that afternoon, providing a warm, balmy glow that warmed one from limbs to heart.
Ye Shu watched as he was lost in thought, before shifting his gaze. “Why do you have so much confidence in me? Aren’t you afraid that I’m putting on an act with you and am actually just trying to retrieve the things you raided? There were quite a few confidential letters in there.”
“If you want them, you can simply come to me, there’s no need to go to such trouble,” Jin Wang said. “I already said I would trust you. If you don’t feel assured about this, how would you feel assured to stay by my side?”
Ye Shu lost his tongue.
The days after the first snowfall always bring forth a peaceful mood. The breeze swept through the dreary courtyard, blowing through the snowy weeds and entangling their hair in the wind.
Ye Shu gazed at Jin Wang’s side profile, and after some time, he collected his eyes and spoke in a sigh-like manner, “You can’t do this…”
Jin Wang, “Why?”
“You’d make me……”
Make him not want to think of the original owner anymore and make him want to be selfish for once.
Ye Shu shook his head and broke away from Jin Wang’s arms. “It’s nothing. Let’s go, there’s nothing worth seeing here.”
Jin Wang asked, “You don’t want to keep looking?”
“No need. I’ll have a look at the recovered objects once we return,” He collected his lapel as he walked forward. “I wonder what the original owner was thinking. Living here for almost three years with nothing around but all the evidence of collusion with the enemies……”
His words came to halt.
Not right.
This courtyard was built and bestowed on the original owner by Jin Wang after he became prime minister.
The original owner had only lived here for three years.
And those three years coincided with the time that the original owner’s behavior drastically changed.
If it was really as Jin Wang guessed, and the consciousness of the original owner was beyond his control for three years, then the person who lived here was not, in essence, the original owner.
This was not the place he should have been looking.
.