The more the Emperor acted like this, the more Xia Guo's mind raced.
The Emperor had not punished him, so the trouble must still be with Shen Nian. The Emperor was, after all, the Emperor—master of life and death over all under heaven. If he had favored Marquis Zhenbei but now there was a rift between them, the Emperor could hardly lower himself to coax a minister back.
Every situation needed a stepping stone—a way down from the heights.
Convinced he had grasped the crux of the matter, Xia Guo braved the Emperor's anger and ventured cautiously: "Your Majesty, this servant will withdraw at once. But the gifts you had prepared for Marquis Zhenbei—shall this servant deliver them to the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion?"
Hearing this, the Emperor let out a cold snort. "He's already gone. What gifts would he need? If you don't withdraw now, don't ever appear before me again."
Xia Guo quickly fell silent and slipped out of the hall, thinking to himself: "The Marquis's favor sure didn't last long. The Emperor won't even take the stepping stone I offered him. This favor truly came and went in a flash."
After Xia Guo left, Qi Junmu slowly sat back down on the imperial chair. He pursed his lips, his expression dark and unreadable. He thought: What a mess. How are we supposed to face each other after this? And on top of everything, I was so rattled that I actually let him walk off with that booklet. Who knows what absurd ideas he's cooking up in his head right now. Maybe I should just have him executed and be done with it."
No one knew what the Emperor was truly thinking.
Meanwhile, Shen Nian's face was still flushed with heat, and it didn't subside until he got back to the Marquis Zhenbei Mansion—but the booklet tucked inside his robes felt even more scorching than his cheeks. He still had no idea where he had mustered the audacity to take it.
Upon returning home, he ran into Wen shi.
Or rather, she had been deliberately waiting for him.
In the past, he would have had the patience to exchange pleasantries with her, but today was different.
He walked past her without even a greeting. Wen shi, who had been wearing a smile, immediately darkened her expression. "Is this how you treat your mother?"
Shen Nian stopped, turned, and said coldly: "Mother, if this is about younger brother, then don't even bring it up. He has to study hard, take the palace examination, and become an official—that was the Emperor's own decree, and no one can change it. If Mother does not want younger brother to offend the Emperor and incur his wrath, then just let him study quietly—or else he might end up losing his head."
At this, Wen shi grew anxious. "Your brother simply cannot study! Forcing him to read so hard every day is no different from taking his life!"
Shen Nian's eyes filled with sarcasm as he looked at her and said flatly: "If he knew he wasn't cut out for books, why did he make such a fuss about becoming an official in the first place? Now the Emperor has granted him the chance. Mother, surely you're not thinking of going back on your word?"
Wen shi's face turned pale, and Shen Nian turned and walked away.
When he reached his courtyard, his expression was calm. He had long since grown indifferent to Wen shi's favoritism. He had seen too many partings of life and death at the border. No matter how harsh Wen shi's attitude, it could no longer wound him.
Shen Nian was a refined man; from his appearance alone, anyone would take him for a gentle scholar. One might expect his room to be filled with books and elegantly decorated
But only the servants who had entered his room knew that Shen Nian's room was starkly bare.
Apart from the essentials, there was nothing at all.
Crack open the shell, and this room was like Shen Nian's heart—cold and devoid of feeling.
He sat in his room for a while, then his thoughts drifted back to the object in his robes. His mind returned to that matter.
And then he thought of Qi Junmu's stunned, flustered expression—and suddenly laughed. It was the first time he had seen the Emperor look like that, and he found it deeply amusing.
He had some understanding of the Emperor: restrained, composed, firm in his decisions, and his way of doing things reminded him of border warfare—endless tactics, one after another, always keeping people guessing.
Most crucially, the Emperor was heartless—or rather, his heart was made of stone. And yet such a man had been so utterly flustered by this matter—the contrast was simply too striking.
Still, although the booklet had appeared on the imperial desk, he did not believe the Emperor had wanted to look at it. Though he couldn't claim to know the Emperor well, he could tell that he was a restrained and self-possessed man. His recent moves were like fighting a war on the frontier—he rarely used conventional methods, but kept unleashing one crafty scheme after another, catching everyone off guard. A man with that much inner resolve would never need to find comfort in a picture book.
Besides, as Emperor, if he truly wanted to know about matters of intimacy, he would hardly need to learn from such booklets. There were countless beauties in the realm, countless women dreaming of climbing into his bed—not to mention the Empress in the rear palace.
Thinking of all this, Shen Nian shook his head and sighed: What a mess.
Of course, he didn't notice that while his reasoning was clear, his face was still burning. A virgin himself, how much could he truly understand of such matters?
He took the booklet from his robes and prepared to burn it.
The illustrations were drawn with great care. As he flipped through it absentmindedly, the first half showed scenes of man and woman, while the latter part depicted the pleasures of the same sex.
When Shen Nian saw that final page, he blinked rapidly, then quickly used a flint to set the thing ablaze.
The booklet vanished in the flames, slowly turning to ash that drifted through the air before settling on the ground.
Shen Nian's expression turned strange and awkward. "Could I have been wrong? Maybe the Emperor wasn't looking at the first half at all—maybe he was curious about the latter part. And now that I know this secret... will he have me killed to keep it quiet?"
While Shen Nian worried for his own life, rumors of his fall from favor spread swiftly from the palace.
Many had seen Shen Nian leave Qianhua Hall. And the Emperor's angry outburst at Xia Guo was hardly a secret either. Shen Nian had rendered such great service, yet the rewards that had been prepared were never bestowed. All these signs pointed to one thing: Shen Nian had fallen out of favor with the Emperor.
When word got out, there were plenty who gloated. After all, Shen Nian had been far too conspicuous lately, a thorn in everyone's eye—how could they not feel slighted?
Others just shook their heads and sighed: Truly, the Emperor's heart is unfathomable.
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