The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

I don't think this is the kind of good fortune the vassal kings want.

Shen Yu inwardly said a few words on behalf of the vassal kings.

And, Your Majesty, don't you think you have the potential to become a fatuous and self-indulgent ruler if you do this sort of thing?

Shen Yu complained to himself a bit and then banished these unlikely thoughts from his mind. He reached out and touched the booklet in Shang JunLin's hand. "Your Majesty, when will you arrange to bring back the gifts?"

It wasn't safe to leave so much wealth in an abandoned estate.

"When would the noble monarch like?"

"As soon as possible."

As Shang JunLin looked over at him, Shen Yu slowly added, "If Your Majesty contributes the manpower, I can split everything with Your Majesty, forty-sixty."

"How generous of the noble monarch."

It sounded like Shang JunLin wasn't satisfied with that.

"Forty-sixty is the most I can do." Thinking Shang JunLin wanted more, Shen Yu stressed how much he'd already given up. "Your Majesty should understand that you wouldn't have gotten anything without me."

Shang JunLin shook his head helplessly. "This emperor doesn't care. If the noble monarch likes these things, you can have them all for yourself."

"Then what does Your Majesty want?" Shen Yu had no intention of monopolizing the riches he'd plundered. "Even if Your Majesty doesn't care, I won't take Your Majesty's share."

After all, there had to be give and take. If he didn't bring His Majesty into the fold, his next plan wouldn't go smoothly.

Shang JunLin just looked at him without saying anything.

Shen Yu's eyes wandered. He had a suspicion or two, but he wasn't sure.

To confirm his guess, Shen Yu suddenly jumped forward and embraced Shang JunLin. "Then I'll give Your Majesty a hug for your hard work, all right?"

When the young man suddenly rushed over, Shang JunLin was startled and firmly caught hold of him. He was about to chastise Shen Yu, and then he heard what he said.

A wave of contentment flooded through him, as if a certain gap in his heart had been filled. Shang JunLin made a slight effort to tighten his arms, hoping the feeling would linger.

"Be careful next time or you'll fall," Shang JunLin said above him.

"Your Majesty will definitely catch me. You won't let me fall," Shen Yu said in a slightly upturned tone. His voice was full of trust.

Shang JunLin's thin lips were tightly pursed. Only the smile in his eyes revealed how happy he was.

Shen Yu was paying close attention to the changes in Shang JunLin's mood. He couldn't help but want to laugh a little. His Majesty was so easy to coax. One hug was all it took to soothe him.

Thanks to Shang JunLin, transporting the pile of gifts sent by the vassal kings was no longer a problem Shen Yu needed to worry about. After leaving the matter to Shang JunLin, Shen Yu began to think about how to manage his own forces.

Although he'd chosen a different path in this life compared to his previous one, Shen Yu had no intention of actually becoming a caged bird in the harem. It was always better to rely on yourself than other people.

His subordinates hadn't developed to the point of being able to work on their own. Shen Yu had the experience he gained in his previous life, and it wouldn't be difficult to train them. It was just that some of the subordinates he was accustomed to having weren't under his command yet.

That was why he needed to go to the village personally to check the situation.

Shen Yu had been reborn at such a random time. He barely solved the matter of Shen QingRan and his mother, and it was already time to enter the harem. When the palace sent attendants to the marquis' residence, Shen Yu couldn't reveal all his cards. He always contacted his people in secret.

Shang JunLin moved quickly. That night, the numerous gifts sent by the vassal kings appeared in Yuzhang Palace without attracting attention.

Shen Yu gave Mu Xi instructions in advance. When the items were delivered, Mu Xi had an empty room prepared.

The gifts included all kinds of rare and exotic treasures, most of which were glittering jewels, but there was also some beautifully crafted porcelain. Shen Yu even found an entire box of gold.

It wasn't on the gift list.

"Your Majesty, your younger and elder uncles have so much money." Shen Yu sighed.

"They do seem anxious to leave." If not, why would they part with so much property? "This emperor is also surprised they brought so much money with them."

"Maybe they originally intended to develop their power in the capital." Shen Yu didn't think it was strange. "If you have money, you can get a devil to turn a millstone. As long as you're willing to spend, you can always find a few people who want money and don't care about their lives."

Shen Yu thought it over. The vassal kings had brought so much money with them. Clearly, they had a few plans. Their fiefdoms were far away. If they had eyes and ears in the capital, it was much better than knowing nothing in their fiefs.

But they had no idea so many things would happen after they came to the capital, and now they were scared out of their wits. Even if they wanted to spend their money, given all the turmoil, no one dared to accept it.

Out of all of them, the King of Yue was the one who was most ready to vomit blood. After a lot of hard work, he was finally able to confirm that he was the blood of the previous emperor, but most of his arrangements in the capital had to be abandoned. The people he wanted to pull to his side withdrew because of the chaos.

Compared to the King of Yue, the current emperor was far more frightening.

"Your Highness, another message arrived from the Zhenbei Marquis' residence. Should we ignore it like the last one?"

The King of Yue was sitting at his desk reviewing what had happened recently. When he heard his servant, he nearly told him to deal with it the same as before. Then a thought occurred to him, and he changed his mind.

"Wait, bring the letter here. The previous ones too."

He couldn't return empty-handed!

The subordinate soon returned with a large pile of letters.

The King of Yue's eye twitched. "Why are there so many?"

"There are several letters here from many other young masters and ladies of major families. Would you like to look at them as well, Your Highness?"

In order to facilitate his later plans, after coming to the capital the King of Yue had deliberately befriended several junior family members of important officials. Some were purely friends, while others were slightly more significant than that.

Too many things had happened lately. The King of Yue was busy proving his bloodline was genuine. He hadn't contacted many of these people for a long time. He rubbed his forehead with a fresh headache and said, "Bring them all here."

The owners of these letters were like Shen QingRan. The King of Yue had befriended them while concealing his identity, but not all of these people were interested in him.

Many of the letters contained words of sympathy and concern. The King of Yue flipped through them and put them aside. Then his hand stopped moving.

He was looking at a letter from Shen QingRan. The King of Yue ignored the crooked, ugly calligraphy and carefully examined the content of the letter.

The more he read, the more solemn his face became.

"Didn't he say he wants to see this king? Go and arrange a time for this king to meet him." The King of Yue flexed the letter in his hand. If Shen QingRan truly knew more than he wrote in the letter, he had to find a way to take Shen QingRan back with him.

He couldn't allow these things to fall into the hands of Shang JunLin!

The subordinate accepted the orders and left.

The King of Yue stood in front of the window, and the smile on his face gradually widened. He thought Shen Yu was the only person in the Zhenbei Marquis' family who would be of great use to him, but as it turned out he was wrong. Shen QingRan ah, Shen QingRan. What an enormous surprise.

Shen QingRan soon received the King of Yue's reply.

After a period of peace and quiet, the Zhenbei Marquis gave in to the repeated pleas of Aunt Ru and no longer confined Shen QingRan at home.

Shen QingRan's leg was slowly improving. He had no intention of being trapped in the marquis' residence until he died, and he certainly wasn't willing to be subordinate to Shen Yu for the rest of his life. After thinking about it, there was only one person he could use, although the identity of the King of Yue was still unclear to him.

As if clutching his last straw, Shen QingRan rifled through everything he knew, chose some things that would definitely be of use to a powerful man, and sent a servant to the King of Yue.

If the King of Yue had any desire for that position, he'd come to Shen QingRan when he saw the letter. But even if he didn't, nothing in the letter would hurt Shen QingRan.

After waiting several days, Shen QingRan finally received a reply. As he read the name of the meeting place in the letter, he slowly smiled.

The date the vassal kings would return had been set. The vassal kings, who'd been unable to leave for a long time, wept with joy and sent a lot of nice things to Shen Yu.

Shen Yu didn't think there'd be follow-up benefits. He divided half with Shang JunLin and put the rest away for himself.

Shang JunLin said nothing. He accepted everything, and then he turned around and found an excuse to deliver another batch of rewards to Yuzhang Palace. These things were in no way inferior to the gifts sent by the vassal kings.

Meng Gonggong delivered the reward.

It had to be said that Shang JunLin's actions once again underscored the public perception of his attitude towards Shen Yu. Meng Gonggong, who knew the inside story about the vassal kings, felt the weight of Shen Yu in Shang JunLin's heart even more deeply.

By now, Mu Xi had grown numb to the rewards sent to Yuzhang Palace from time to time. Her master gave half the "spoils" to His Majesty, but a couple of days later, His Majesty sent back a reward that was twice as large.

She exchanged glances with Meng Gonggong, and they couldn't help wondering the same thing: Is this the way royal husbands show their love?

Maybe people who weren't rich or powerful enough really couldn't understand.

"Your Majesty."

After morning court, Shang JunLin returned to Yuzhang Palace. Ever since Shen Yu entered the harem, the emperor had become accustomed to returning there directly. As soon as he stepped through the gate, he was greeted by Shen Yu.

Shang JunLin quickened his pace, and an unconscious smile appeared in his eyes. "Isn't this your nap time? Why are you still outside?"

"The sudden reward Your Majesty sent frightened me so much I couldn't sleep," Shen Yu complained, but he was only half sincere. "There's hardly any room left in Yuzhang Palace."

"The noble monarch doesn't like it?"

"I like it," Shen Yu answered honestly. "But why did Your Majesty reward me with so many things?"

Shen Yu couldn't remember doing anything recently.

"The noble monarch gave this emperor a gift. It made this emperor very happy, so I wanted to make you happy too."

Shen Yu truly was happy, but…

"I was hoping to enrich Your Majesty's treasury. But not only did I not enrich it, I made Your Majesty dig out another sum."

"Everything this emperor owns belongs to the noble monarch too, doesn't it? This emperor just moved it to another place. If this emperor can't even afford to support Ah Yu, I wouldn't be the emperor of Da Huan."

Shen Yu's heart warmed so much when he heard this that he couldn't help wrapping his arm around Shang JunLin's waist and burying his face in the man's shoulder. He said to himself secretly: Sure enough, money charms the eyes. If Shang JunLin made any excessive demands of him right now, his brain was so feverish he might just agree.

Shang JunLin had no idea what he'd missed. He mentioned something else: "The Hidden Dragon Guard sent word that the King of Yue is planning to meet privately with your shu brother. It's set for three days after the vassal kings leave the capital."

"They haven't broken contact yet." Shen Yu thought that after so many twists and turns, the two would develop differently than in his previous life.

"Your shu brother sent him a letter. It's not clear what he wrote, but the King of Yue decided to risk staying a few more days to see him."

"Didn't Your Majesty say the King of Yue concealed his identity in the capital and met with the children of a lot of officials? Including some young women from the ministers' families." Shen Yu didn't have to ask to know what the King of Yue was thinking. "Why don't we send them all a letter too? After all, it's their last chance to see him before he goes. How can he favor one person over another?"

Shen Yu leaned against Shang JunLin's shoulder and smiled. "It should make for an interesting scene."

—

The author has something to say:

The King of Yue: You two have taken all the bamboo shoots on the mountain

TL Notes:

Due to the holiday tomorrow I'm going to take a day off from posting to rest. TY~~ (✿◡‿◡)

fatuous and self-indulgent ruler – 昏君 – incapable ruler, foolish emperor

caged bird – 金丝雀 – canary

If you have money, you can get a devil to turn a millstone – 有钱能使鬼推磨 – An idiom. / fig. with money, you can get anything done / money talks

want money and don't care about their lives – 要钱不要命 – AKA "get rich or die trying"

You two have taken all the bamboo shoots on the mountain – 山上的笋都被你两夺完了 – A meme which basically means "you two are really bad" or "really powerful", as in "you snatched all the bamboo shoots on the mountain from all the other pandas (and now they're going to starve)". It's related to a previous meme spawned by a vlogger about "snatching bamboo shoots" (夺笋), a near-homophone for "multiple losses" (多损) (various, Google)

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

younger uncle – 叔叔 – shū shu – father's younger brother

elder uncle – 伯伯 – bó bo – father's elder brother

[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]