The lamplight flickered.
Li-shi leisurely poured herself a cup of tea. The tea slowly steamed upward, sending a wisp of white vapor into the dim yellow lamplight.
“I truly never imagined that the Second Prince could be someone capable of doing such a thing,” she said slowly and softly. “He would actually harm loyal officials just to persecute his imperial elder brother.”
Shu Changyu frowned and looked up at her, opening his mouth to explain.
He had not known that Li-shi had already investigated the information obtained by his spies thoroughly, and then followed the clues to uncover the “truth” of the matter.
Li-shi had spent many years managing the inner household, which had caused Shu Changyu to forget that she had originally been born into a prominent family and possessed quite formidable methods.
She simply had never used them.
Li-shi continued, “Jingchen, since he can do something like this, it shows how eager he is for quick success and immediate gain, to the point of disregarding familial affection. Someone of the imperial family like him will certainly stop at nothing for the throne, and can abandon everything else. Since that is the case, how could he possibly abandon morality and propriety for a man?”
“He…”
“Jingchen, he’s merely playing around with you,” Li-shi said.
Across the lamplight, Shu Changyu stared at her in a daze.
He wanted to explain, but did not know where to begin with Li-shi.
He could not possibly tell her that he had been reborn from the future, that he had witnessed the Shu family being destroyed, that he had spent an entire lifetime as a treacherous minister and committed every evil imaginable.
Nor could he tell her that Jing Mu had been forced by him onto the throne and made a puppet emperor for decades, yet had remained unwaveringly devoted to him.
He did not dare say it, nor did he want to.
“…It isn’t what you think,” Shu Changyu finally replied hoarsely.
“…I never realized that you were such a hopelessly stubborn person,” Li-shi said.
She lifted the teacup to her lips, paused, then put it back down. Her willow brows knitted together, and her eyes were filled with the pain of pitying him for his misfortune and anger at his failure to live up to expectations.
“Do you really have to run into the wall before you’ll know to give up?”
Shu Changyu lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Although he remained silent, Li-shi could see his attitude at a glance.
The two of them sat there with their lips pressed together, facing the lamplight. For a moment, neither spoke.
“But now, he has the means to harm his own brother, yet he does not have the ability to protect himself.”
After a moment, Li-shi spoke indifferently.
“Now that this matter has come to the Third Prince’s attention, he and the Second Prince are brothers of the same mother. Having learned that he harmed the First Prince, naturally, he will feel sympathy for his fallen brother and will not spare him. Once the evidence reaches the Emperor, harming loyal officials is one thing. Harming his own brother—that would mean coveting the imperial throne.”
Her words struck directly at Shu Changyu’s sore spot.
Ever since he had inadvertently learned of this matter from Fan Yuan’an today, he had been anxious and restless because of it.
Lingnan was far from the Emperor, and the Third Prince’s people had already set out. Given enough time, the evidence would fall into the Third Prince’s hands, and Jing Mu would then be in grave danger.
Shu Changyu even hated himself for not having made Jing Mu kill Fan Yuan’an and his father outright in the first place.
But the two of them were innocent in this life.
The one who had done wrong was Jing Mu.
Shu Changyu looked at Li-shi.
Her gaze was calm and steady as she looked at him.
After a moment, Shu Changyu sighed.
“…Mother, I don’t know what to do.”
“Cheng Lai is the Third Prince’s confidant. Naturally, he cannot simply be killed,” Li-shi said. “Now, if you want to save Jing Mu, you can only kill the Prefect of Huzhou. There is no other way.”
Shu Changyu naturally knew this.
But hearing these words come from Li-shi still made his vision swim, leaving him dizzy.
It was as though everything from his previous life had suddenly surged around him again, wrapping him tightly within it.
He had vowed to live an upright and blameless life in this lifetime, but now it seemed that he simply could not resist the workings of fate.
If he wanted to live, he could only repeat the same old path.
Li-shi, however, did not notice the sudden change in his emotions.
She continued, “The few people you have raised now are all from the General’s Residence. The Second Prince has only recently returned to the capital as well, so naturally, he is too far away to reach Lingnan.”
Shu Changyu looked at her.
“There are your father’s subordinates in Lingnan,” Li-shi said. “You can go to the banks of the Yellow River to control the flooding with peace of mind and accomplish something there. I will take care of this matter for you. I definitely won’t let your father find out.”
“Mother…”
Li-shi acted as though she had not heard him and continued, “Tomorrow morning at court, go to the Emperor and ask to take your leave. After court, I will immediately send people on fast horses to Lingnan. They will certainly get there before Cheng Lai and take care of the matter. I also hope that once you go south, you will properly consider everything that has happened these days.”
At this moment, Shu Changyu knew that there was only this one solution.
Li-shi was willing to personally kill an innocent man in order to help Jing Mu.
She had clearly made an enormous decision, intending to use this matter to force herself and Jing Mu to sever ties completely.
Shu Changyu could not help trembling.
He hated that he was weak and powerless at this moment, that he could be given a weakness by the Third Prince and still lacked the ability to calm the storm.
Clearly, these days, he had only been concerned with romantic matters and had relaxed his vigilance about everything else.
Now, in the imperial court, there was a blind Emperor above them and a group of ministers and princes harboring ulterior motives below.
As the son of General Shu, while Jing Mu was the Emperor’s Second Prince, if they did not fight for anything at all, it would naturally be difficult for them to remain uninvolved.
Now, the evil deed that had to be done could not be avoided.
He was even powerless to do it himself.
Shu Changyu had only experienced this feeling in his previous life when his father and sister had died and his elder brother had been falsely accused.
“…Yes.”
After a moment, Shu Changyu answered softly.
If he told Jing Mu, Jing Mu certainly would not agree.
But given the influence the two of them currently had in the capital, this was the only way to ensure absolute safety.
He would rather become the villain himself than gamble with Jing Mu’s life.
He had obtained such a rare opportunity to live another life. He did not dare risk Jing Mu in the slightest.
“That’s good.”
Li-shi sighed softly and continued, “Mother is doing this for your own good as well. You and Jing Mu have no real authority in your hands to begin with. One of you is a favored prince, while the other is the son of a general. Simply being together normally makes you targets for everyone. You are a civil official, unlike your father. If they want you dead because of this, they will not let you die cleanly. They will certainly make sure you die with a reputation that stinks for ten thousand years.”
Shu Changyu could not take in a single word of what she said.
Naturally, he knew all of this—more clearly than anyone.
But in front of Jing Mu, when he looked at this young man who in his previous life had devoted his entire life to him, he was unwilling to fear anything and too lazy to think about it.
He did not want to.
He was not afraid.
But that did not mean those dangers did not exist.
Just like now, he had to pay the price for it.
Standing in this position, constantly refusing to contend with the world would only make him weak.
And a weak person occupying a high position did not deserve to possess love.
Shu Changyu clenched his teeth.
At this moment, he heard Li-shi say, “The Prefect of Huzhou was once a close friend of my elder brother. Now that I am going to kill him, I hope you will always remember why this man died.”
Shu Changyu clenched his fists, his fingernails nearly digging into his palms.
——
The next day, after morning court, Shu Changyu had barely walked out of the Golden Hall when Jing Mu hurriedly stopped him.
Jing Mu did not care about anything else. He grabbed Shu Changyu’s sleeve and asked in a low voice, “Junior Tutor, when you said that you would handle everything, was this what you meant by making me feel at ease?”
Shu Changyu did not stop walking. He pulled his sleeve out of Jing Mu’s hand.
“In broad daylight, even as teacher and student, we should maintain some distance.”
He continued walking forward, anxious to return home and report to Li-shi, so that she could immediately send people out.
He did not want to turn his head to look at Jing Mu.
Whenever he saw Jing Mu, he felt as though something were blocking his chest, leaving him unbearably stifled.
He could not protect him.
In his previous life, he had made him a foolish emperor.
And in this life, he once again had to use this method to protect him.
Jing Mu knew nothing.
He took two steps to catch up with Shu Changyu, following closely behind him, and lowered his voice as he shouted, “Junior Tutor!”
“As for going south to control the flooding, I made up my mind long ago,” Shu Changyu said softly. “From the day I returned, I began rewriting the flood-control strategies. You know this.”
“…Wasn’t that because you wanted to avoid me?”
Even though Shu Changyu did not look at Jing Mu, he could hear the deep grievance in his voice, along with a barely perceptible sob.
Shu Changyu’s heart ached, and he quickened his pace.
“No,” he said softly.
After they passed through several palace gates, the carriages of the civil officials were waiting there.
When they were still one arrow’s distance from the carriage, Jing Mu suddenly grabbed Shu Changyu firmly.
Shu Changyu turned around.
He saw Jing Mu gripping him tightly, grievance and confusion visible in his expression, his eyes slightly red.
“…”
Jing Mu opened his mouth and said softly, “…You promised me you would stay.”
Shu Changyu looked at him, not knowing how to explain it to him.
He only wanted to silently take care of this matter and calm the storm without letting Jing Mu know.
If Jing Mu knew, he certainly would not agree.
After a moment, Shu Changyu lowered his eyes.
“You must investigate that arrow thoroughly. I believe the Third Prince is highly suspicious. You must guard carefully against him. Once he reveals any clues, you must eliminate him.”
“Junior Tutor…”
Jing Mu’s brows were tightly knitted together.
“The Third Prince was extremely ruthless in his previous life. He would even stop at nothing. I don’t know how long I will be away this time. Protect yourself.”
“You know that isn’t what I want to hear!”
Through the sleeve of his robe, Jing Mu tightly gripped his hand.
“Is your mother forcing you, or is there some other hidden reason? Tell me, I…”
Shu Changyu tried hard to pull his hand away, but could not.
He was afraid that the people around them would notice something strange, so he frowned and shouted in a low voice, “Jing Mu, don’t make a scene!”
“I’m not making a scene!”
Jing Mu shouted back.
For a moment, silence suddenly filled the space between them.
Neither spoke.
Jing Mu’s hand mechanically loosened its grip, allowing Shu Changyu’s hand to slip free.
After a moment, Shu Changyu turned around to leave.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
Jing Mu stood where he was and spoke softly.
Shu Changyu’s footsteps stopped.
“…There is no such thing as what should or should not be.”
He paused, then said softly, “Before, in Zhili, I let myself get carried away and lost sight of everything. Only these past few days have I come to my senses and realized that it is time to turn back from the wrong path.”
“I am nothing in the imperial court right now, and neither are you. So we have no right to talk about what should or should not be.”
He turned his head and smiled at Jing Mu.
“If you think this shouldn’t happen, then go and force the Emperor to withdraw his decree. If you don’t have the ability to do that right now, then don’t talk to me about what should or should not be.”
Author’s Note:
There’ll be another update at midnight tonight! Muah!!
——
Hehe, these two just need a little time to grow! Jing Mu can’t keep being babied anymore! It won’t be too long. I’ll only briefly write about their time apart! Don’t worry!