Chapter 48: From Beast to Domestic Dog

In the dim woods at night, the autumn wind rustled, the pine branches swayed, and shadows rose and fell. Ji Sheng, wearing only a thin undergarment, was forced to kneel on the ground by Cheng Yingwei, his arms pinned down. The gag used to silence him was roughly pulled out, and he slowly lifted his eyelids, his tongue pressing against the stinging corner of his mouth, looking up at Emperor Qian Yuan standing not far from him.

Such a commanding position.

He knelt there, adopting the demeanor of a monk, even giving a gentle smile, and asked, "Does Your Majesty have something to discuss with this humble monk?"

The emperor of Great Chu lowered his eyes. His power and status had always indicated that he had no need to show mercy to anyone, especially to certain villains who wanted to ruin the relationship between him and the empress.

"Ji Sheng."

Emperor Qianyuan spoke in a deep voice, his tone unreadable, "If I remember correctly, before you became a monk, you sent divorce papers to the women in your household, telling them to go home."

Ji Sheng felt a slight tightness in his heart, but his face remained unchanged. "Amitabha, this humble monk has long since become a monk, severing all ties with this mortal world. I have no further connection with those female benefactors. Whether they marry or not is their own choice."

"Ha," the emperor chuckled, "So you don't even want your son anymore?"

Ji Sheng's brow twitched heavily. He suppressed all his complex emotions, his face showing confusion. "What does Your Majesty mean? The imperial physician once diagnosed this humble monk...this humble monk..."

At this point, a hint of humiliation appeared on his face, and he said with difficulty, "This humble monk is physically disabled and has no possibility of having children."

This matter dates back to when the late emperor was still alive—

At that time, the late emperor and Consort Li's youngest son was still an infant, while Emperor Qian Yuan, Ji Huan, who had just returned victorious from the northern expedition, had just been granted the title of crown prince and became a thorn in the side of his other brothers.

After the winter hunt, even though everyone knew that Ji Huan's status as crown prince was just a shield, some people still harbored ill intentions because of his excessive popularity and wanted to get rid of this lowly person who came from the cold palace as soon as possible.

But no one expected that Ji Huan was far more cunning than they thought.

The traps set during the winter hunt failed to hit the Crown Prince. The black bear, driven mad by the drug, collided with the Eighth Prince Ji Sheng, causing him to fall from his horse and faint.

After everything settled down, the imperial physician diagnosed that the Eighth Prince had lost the ability to have children. Although he had previously been known as a "reserve crown prince" for a period of time, after this incident, he was completely removed from the competition list and became a target that the other princes would no longer target.

Thus, Prince Yu enjoyed peace and tranquility, and after Emperor Qianyuan ascended the throne, he faded from view, became a monk, seemingly untouched by worldly affairs, and lost interest in the supreme position.

Others didn't think Ji Sheng would use such a humiliating excuse to cover up his ambition, but Emperor Qian Yuan didn't believe it—his experience in the cold palace made him distrustful of everyone except the goddess in his dreams.

Therefore, regardless of whether Ji Sheng had any ulterior motives, Emperor Qian Yuan would keep everything under control. However, a few years after his ascension to the throne, he secretly discovered that although Prince Yu Ji Sheng had become a monk, his former steward had a private residence in the suburbs of the capital where he kept a woman who never left the house and a toddler.

Their demeanor was unlike that of an ordinary couple; it resembled more of a mistress and young master living in a servant's household.

It turns out that the Eighth Prince Ji Sheng, who was embroiled in the struggle for the throne, pretended to be unable to have children by falling from his horse, thus avoiding the palace's schemes and watching from the sidelines. He planned to wait for the then Crown Prince Ji Huan to defeat the others before eating the mantis like a cicada stalking a mantis.

But Ji Sheng never expected that the other party's abilities far exceeded his imagination.

After the palace coup, Emperor Qianyuan ascended the throne. In order to temporarily preserve his own power, Ji Sheng had no choice but to become a monk and bide his time in Lingyun Temple. He remained in seclusion for more than ten years, hoping to find a breakthrough through the new empress, but instead, he ran right into Emperor Qianyuan's eyes.

Now, after hearing Emperor Qian Yuan mention his biological son whom he secretly raised in the suburbs of the capital, Ji Sheng could no longer wear that mask of gentle pretense.

...So all these years, the current emperor has been watching him play the fool, hiding his tail between his legs?

The smile on Prince Yu's lips gradually faded, his once kind and benevolent face instantly turning sinister. He then gave a mocking laugh, "Your Majesty is truly... shrewd and cunning."

Emperor Qianyuan waved his hand, and the Chengying Guards who had been restraining him instantly loosened their restraints and disappeared into the deep forest once again, as if they had never appeared.

Ji Sheng slowly stood up, supporting himself on his knees. Although his heart was pounding like a drum, he maintained the elegant and composed demeanor he had during the day. He patted the dust off his sleeves and trouser legs and picked up the blue brocade pouch.

He said, "So this thing never came into the hands of Her Majesty the Empress?"

Emperor Qian Yuan remained silent, but Ji Sheng already understood the answer to the question.

He looked up at the emperor not far away and asked, "Does Your Majesty know that you are being monitored and watched by His Majesty in this way?"

Emperor Qianyuan flicked his sleeves, saying casually, "Of course I won't let her know."

"Where in this world can a secret be kept forever?"

Emperor Qian Yuan: "That's because you're useless."

“…You!” Ji Sheng’s face darkened as he opened the brocade pouch and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

This piece of paper mentions the many atrocities committed by Emperor Qianyuan in the past and the palace coup that was hidden back then. At the end, it also mentions a few words of doubt about Wen Miao’s identity as a woman from the Xie family of Jinling. Although he has not yet obtained conclusive evidence, Ji Huan has always been good at understanding people’s hearts and spreading rumors. He can make a lie seem like a lie. Whoever has such a piece of paper in their hands will become suspicious and gradually develop misunderstandings.

Everyone has curiosity, so this should have been an easy task to accomplish, with a success rate of at least 80%.

Ji Sheng hadn't expected that Wen Miao's curiosity was limited, not enough for her to examine the gift promptly after receiving it; nor had he anticipated the incident involving Princess Rui and Chen Wanqiu, which delayed things and distracted Wen Miao from the object; and he certainly hadn't expected that Emperor Qian Yuan had even arranged for the Cheng Ying Guard to secretly monitor the Empress, whom he had married in a grand and glamorous manner, defying all social norms—to such an extent.

Is it love and care, or... just suspicion?

Ji Sheng exhaled a breath of stale air. "So, His Majesty already knew."

“If you had remained in seclusion, I could have kept you for a few more days to live a life of vegetarianism and chanting Buddhist prayers. But you just had to offend the Empress.”

"Ji Sheng, you deserve to die."

Emperor Qianyuan thought that he should be considered a relatively patient emperor. He had known about Prince Yu's secret for several years, but he was too lazy to expose it, as if he wanted to find some fun to pass the time in the days without the goddess.

However, this Prince Yu was utterly useless. He had been lying low for over a decade without making a fuss or achieving anything significant. Instead, he acted like a wildflower by the roadside, always eyeing his wife.

...something that annoys people.

Emperor Qianyuan had lost interest in continuing his conversation with Ji Sheng. Rather than wasting time here, he preferred to return to his room and continue embracing the Empress, inhaling the intensely sweet fragrance of their love.

He made a stupid mistake today.

Before the furious Prince Yu, Ji Sheng, could say anything more, Emperor Qian Yuan had already turned and left. His black cloak blended almost into the night in the forest, soaked with the cold wind, as he headed towards the exit of the forest.

Ji Sheng, who tried to resist, was struck on the back of the head by Cheng Yingwei, who appeared in the blink of an eye. He lay on the ground in a daze, and the last thing he saw was the dusty brocade pouch.

At the moment he lost consciousness, he asked himself, "So all these years of bearing the humiliation of being unable to have children, and becoming a monk, was it all just a self-righteous act of enduring hardship and biding my time?"

The autumn wind was chilly in the evening, and the forest in Huiling Mountain rustled and trembled, as if someone had passed by silently. This only caused a few birds to chirp, and the commotion did not reach Lingyun Temple.

Emperor Qianyuan walked back to his room quickly, keeping a very low profile throughout. After entering the room, he did not immediately approach the bed. Instead, he took off his cloak, shook off the chill, and waited until the autumn chill dissipated from his body before carefully washing his hands and returning to the bed.

Wen Miao remained sound asleep in the warm bedding, undisturbed by the autumn breeze of the evening. In the dim light, her beautiful face was flushed with a faint blush from the warmth of the room, and the sweet fragrance silently burned away at Emperor Qian Yuan's reason.

Almost...

If he had been careless today, or if Wen Miao's curiosity had been a little stronger, the contents of the brocade pouch would likely have completely exposed his most shameful side to the Empress.

That was the past that Emperor Qian Yuan least wanted the other party to know, aside from the lie about his identity.

A filthy, vile, and ugly past—Emperor Qian Yuan feared that his goddess would take away the light that shone upon him.

He was already being very careful.

Therefore, it would be better for Prince Yu to keep his mouth shut forever.

Emperor Qianyuan's malice toward Ji Sheng subsided slightly, but as he looked at Wen Miao, another restless emotion arose—he wanted to do something to the Empress.

He wanted to kiss, hug, and please, and he even wanted to lick up the flowing fluids, trying to ease his unease in this way.

The dead of night fueled the wicked desires of wild beasts, and Emperor Qian Yuan's breathing suddenly became heavy.

Half-asleep, Wen Miao tilted her head slightly. Her soft, plump, white skin was wrapped in her nightgown, and the movement of turning her body caused a glimpse of white skin to peek out from her neckline, making the jade key around her neck dangle precariously.

She seemed to whisper something indistinctly.

The nasty emotions swirling around the emperor inexplicably subsided for a moment, as if he had healed himself. Before long, he suppressed those terrible thoughts of wanting to mess with Wen Miao. He transformed from a wild beast into a leashed house dog, obediently and carefully climbing onto the bed and holding her in his arms.

There's nothing to be anxious about anymore; just now, his queen called his name in her dream.

She called him Ji Huan.

Emperor Qianyuan buried his nose in Wen Miao's neck, his eyes filled with even greater satisfaction, before slowly closing them.

The chill of the evening was kept out of the house. The pine forest in Huiling Mountain rustled, making the bright moon hang high above the treetops, never to fall to the ground.

Two breaths mingled on the bed, warm and cozy. In the darkness, Wen Miao slowly opened her eyes, her pupils contracting slightly. She stared blankly at the dark bed curtains for a long time.

In her mind, which had just calmed down, she felt as if she... remembered something.

The shackles that bound this memory since last winter have begun to loosen slowly, but no one knows when they will be completely removed.

Wen Miao turned her head to look at the emperor sleeping beside her, and after a moment, her eyelashes trembled as she slowly closed them and snuggled closer to him.

...She seemed to have grown accustomed to Emperor Qian Yuan's body temperature and embrace.

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Author's Note: Prince Yu, Ji Sheng: (Lying dormant) (Enduring hardship) (Taking on bitter pills) (Waiting for the right opportunity) (Planning for a great cause)

Your Majesty: Ha, useless. (Too lazy to pay attention) (Ignores)

Prince Yu, Ji Sheng: (Appears before Miao Miao) (Prepares to stir up trouble) (Secretly speaks ill of His Majesty)

Miaomiao: (Curious, but not that curious)