Chapter 49
By nature, Shen Nian would not have spoken such words in front of Old Madam Shen. To outsiders, he might appear as a brute who lacked all courtesy, but in truth, he wore a mask in most situations to get through life.
Toward the Shen family—for whom he felt little affection—he would still offer the necessary respect and save face, as long as they did not cross him.
Toward court officials, even knowing full well that many despised him and wished him dead, he would still greet them with a smile when they met. And of course, the more displeased they looked, the more cheerfully he smiled.
Toward the Emperor, he had begun with all sorts of probing and testing. From pretending to be an ignorant fool at the Farewell Pavilion, and later went so far as to strike down the Empress's brother, Wen Yao, and Prince Ying's heir, Qi Fan.
The Emperor was a deeply calculating man. He had paid little heed to these petty tricks of Shen Nian's, and in fact, due to certain circumstances, had been quite supportive of such an attitude. Over time, Shen Nian's own mindset had shifted accordingly.
At the thought of the Emperor—and of Old Madam Shen's final caution—Shen Nian's gaze grew even darker.
Moments ago, his words to Old Madam Shen had been like the sharpest of blades, tearing open the secret of how the Shen family had escaped Emperor Jing's grasp.
Those words should not have been spoken. Perhaps Qi Junmu's sudden arrival had triggered something in his mind; perhaps the fever had addled his wits. But there, before Old Madam Shen, he had laid bare the thoughts he had buried for so long.
Emperor Jing and Shen Yi—who else in this world would dare even entertain such a notion?
Shen Nian himself had not dared at first. But once everything became clear, it all made sense: Wen Shi's loathing for him, Shen Yi's indifference toward the Shen family, and even how Emperor Jing had fallen ill and died while Shen Yi, distracted at the frontier, had been wounded and perished soon after.
Yet he could not tell whether it was the ruthlessness of the sovereign, or a minister's broken heart.
In the end, they lived apart and died apart.
Thinking of Emperor Jing and Shen Yi, Shen Nian could not fathom what had happened in that generation of enmity. He could not explain it, nor could he defend either side.
He only thought this: perhaps to love an emperor whose very life was steeped in the clash of swords and spears was simply the hardest thing under heaven.
An emperor's heart was too hard to read—so better not to read it at all.
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Qi Junmu's visit to the Marquis Zhenbei's residence had been an utterly willful act—especially since he had made that decision shortly after Lin Xiao had spoken to him about Shen Nian.
Fortunately, Qi Junmu had never once regretted anything he had done in his life.
Willful, then let it be willful. He was the Emperor—he could do whatever he wished, and his word was law.
Back in the palace, Qi Junmu felt sticky all over. Running about the palace and beyond in the sweltering heat did indeed make one sweat. He ordered water to be prepared and bathed in a wooden tub.
Lying in the water, Qi Junmu looked at his own body and suddenly thought of Shen Nian. Men, when idle, often found themselves comparing one another, and the Emperor was no exception at this moment.
Shen Nian's body, wrapped loosely in disheveled undergarments, had still revealed a powerfully built frame—lean and strong, with a narrow, wiry waist and long, straight legs.
Of course, the Emperor's own physique was excellent as well—tall and lean, without an ounce of flab, and equally strong. Having been raised as a prince, he had learned self-defense from a young age; horseback riding and archery were second nature to him.
Yet Qi Junmu's skin appeared too fair, giving a deceptive first impression of softness. It did not look like Shen Nian's—clearly honed by years of training, solid and firm.
At this thought, Qi Junmu frowned. He considered whether he ought to resume his training.
By the time his mind had already begun wandering through candidates to coach him in physical exercise, his hand was idly splashing the water. Droplets landed on his face, jolting him back to his senses.
Qi Junmu wiped the water from his face, his narrow brows arching slightly. He had clearly been muddled just now, thinking of such random nonsense.
He shook his head, casting those unfounded thoughts from his mind. What he ought to focus on now was not Shen Nian's build or looks, but how to clean up the mess in the West Frontier.
Qi Junmu rose from the water. Droplets rolled down his body, soon absorbed by a large, soft cloth that wrapped around him.
Once he had made himself comfortable, Qi Junmu began to ponder the West Frontier.
Chang Sheng had gone missing in the North Frontier—and naturally, that was by his command.
As Emperor, he had not only the visible guards like the Imperial Guard, but also secret guards—shadow operatives who handled matters that could not be spoken of openly.
Their numbers were few, and they were scattered across various posts. Those sent to the West Frontier alongside Qi Junyan were eunuchs from the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs.
No one would ever suspect that the eunuchs dispatched by the Emperor would become Chang Sheng's death warrant.
And that was the way of things: the more closely one was watched, or the less one was noticed, the easier it was to act without suspicion.
Chang Sheng had commanded the West Frontier army for many years and carried considerable authority among its troops. His sudden disappearance would inevitably throw the West Frontier into chaos. But now, Qi Junyan and Cheng Jin were there.
Qi Junyan was a prince—the Emperor's own elder brother, Prince Rui. With Chang Sheng gone and a prince present, he could keep any troublemakers in check.
As for Cheng Jin, he was the one meant to draw the crowd's gaze—or rather, to become the primary target of the West Frontier army's resentment.
Chang Sheng had been ordered north, yet he vanished there. Cheng Jin, as Marquis Zhenbei's personal guard, would naturally come under attack. But with Prince Rui and Vice Minister of Works Xing Yi present, the accusers could only vent their words—nothing more.
Chang Sheng's disappearance would stir some unrest in the West Frontier, but Qi Junyan and Cheng Jin were more than capable of holding things together. Cheng Jin was a man who had crawled through mountains of blood. In the capital, before Shen Nian, he might seem gentle-tempered, but his killer aura—born of far more blood than the West Frontier soldiers had ever seen—was not something they could meet head-on.
Away from Shen Nian, Cheng Jin was still a man who could stand alone.
This was why Qi Junmu had dared to take this risky step. Compared to the North Frontier army, the West Frontier army lacked combat spirit. They had huddled in safety under Chang Sheng for years, their strength too weak.
Had Chang Sheng's disappearance involved Shen Nian instead, Qi Junmu was certain that if not handled immediately, the North Frontier army might very well rise in rebellion.
Chang Sheng and Shen Nian were incomparable in military standing. And even in the worst case—if the West Frontier army truly dared to riot over Chang Sheng's disappearance—Shen Nian could lead troops to put down the chaos.
For Qi Junmu, killing Chang Sheng at this time carried risk, but it was also a steady move.
Still, Chang Sheng's disappearance could not be traced back to him. Of course, apart from Shen Nian, no one would suspect that he had orchestrated it. Lin Xiao, Censor Shi, and the rest all believed that his order to send Chang Sheng north was merely to suppress Shen Nian.
Just as Shen Nian had anticipated.
In the current court dynamic, Shen Nian was his shield—and so was the North Frontier.
Chang Sheng's disappearance was a major affair, requiring a thorough investigation in the North Frontier.
The investigator must satisfy everyone, the findings must align with the Emperor's wishes, and most crucially, Shen Nian must not be implicated.
Qi Junmu considered several candidates, weighing them carefully, then rejected each for various reasons.
Finally, the name Yang Jinglei surfaced in his mind—and on the surface, Yang Jinglei seemed the most suitable choice.
Now that Yang Jinglei was staying at home with nothing to do, if he truly had no ambition, he wouldn't have been lurking around the Marquis Zhenbei's estate. After all the cold shoulders and fair-weather treatment he'd received lately, he figured Yang Jinglei should have learned his lesson and would think twice before acting rashly. Besides, the position Shen Nian held in the palace was originally Yang Jinglei's.
After mulling over the benefits of sending Yang Jinglei to handle this matter, Qi Junmu ordered Lin Xiao, Imperial Censor Shi, and the others to the Imperial Study to discuss it.
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