Qi Junmu smiled—yet at the words "the Empress," his eyes held no warmth at all. He said: "I only spoke a bit too freely because I did not want you to feel uneasy. But here, it is just the two of us. Let us speak of no one else."
Strangely enough, if Shen Nian were a woman, Qi Junmu could simply make her a consort and favor her as a matter of course.
Then neither the court nor the rear palace would have any grounds to object—not even the Empress could do anything but accept it with grace.
But Shen Nian was a man, and with someone like that, Qi Junmu always found himself weighing far more considerations.
He thought of the best-case scenario, and also the worst.
Given their positions, the best outcome was hard to predict, but the worst was easy to foresee. Even the Empress—if only in name—could still fling cold, cutting words at Shen Nian if she ever learned what went on between Shen Nian and the Emperor.
If he were truly a woman, the Empress would have no choice but to swallow her resentment and yield.
But Qi Junmu was precisely the kind of person who couldn't tolerate the slightest grain of sand in his eye. When he favored Wen Wan, she was the only one in his sight, the treasure cradled in his palm.
She betrayed him, entangled with another man, bore that man's child—and now she dared to speak sharply of Shen Nian and meddle in his affairs?
The mere thought of such a possibility made Qi Junmu's blood boil.
He had given Shen Nian his word, and he intended to keep it—to shield this man from any slight or injustice.
Shen Nian said, "Since Your Majesty has spoken plainly, then let this humble subject say this as well—this path is one I chose myself. Even if I face the censure of the court in days to come, I am prepared to bear it."
Qi Junmu looked at him, then after a long while, he smiled. "Shen Nian, this is exactly what I like about you."
You do not hesitate over matters of the heart simply because we are both men. You do not weigh status or consequences. You do not presume to make decisions for me under the guise of doing what is best for me.
Qi Junmu inwardly admitted that he really was a stubborn man
If Shen Nian had done any of those things, he would have nipped this feeling in the bud while it was still shallow.
With such twisted thoughts in his heart, Qi Junmu nevertheless teased him: "Since that's the case, can you be a little more at ease in my presence?"
Shen Nian looked at him in confusion, and Qi Junmu smiled faintly. "In private, you may call me by my name. And you don't have to address yourself as 'this humble subject'—what do you say?"
"Your Majesty..." Shen Nian was taken aback.
Qi Junmu shook his head at him, his face drawn in exaggerated disappointment, making it plain he had used the wrong address.
Shen Nian’s lips parted. After a long pause, he finally spoke Qi Junmu’s name.
In that moment, Shen Nian understood with absolute clarity—the Emperor was genuinely adapting to the shift in their relationship. Once the Emperor made up his mind, he would take the initiative and do everything in his power to make things unfold naturally.
Qi Junmu was born a prince. The palace servants had called him Third Prince; Qi Junyan and Qi Junyou had called him Second Brother; the late Emperor and the Empress Dowager had spoken his name aloud. But aside from them, not even Wen Wan in his previous life had ever called him by name.
An emperor is solitary—even his name is alone.
Now that Shen Nian had spoken it, Qi Junmu felt that he had someone by his side, and he was not alone at all.
While the sovereign and his subject spoke heart-to-heart inside, Ruan Jiqing stood guard outside the hall.
He did not need to check the time to know that this meal between the Emperor and Shen Nian had dragged on far too long.
Ruan Jiqing could not help wondering what the two were doing inside. But knowing the Emperor as he did, even though Shen Nian had been granted a special exemption from observing full mourning, his father had still passed away less than a year ago—so naturally, nothing of that sort was happening.
Still, this meal was dragging on forever. The cooks in the imperial kitchen must be tearing their hair out by now.
As Ruan Jiqing was mulling over these thoughts, a guard from the inner palace approached the hall entrance, carrying a letter sealed with hot wax. "Eunuch Ruan," the guard said in a low voice, "Prince Jin has sent an urgent, confidential memorial by fast courier."
Ruan Jiqing took the item and said, "Tell the messenger to wait. I will report this to His Majesty."
The guard acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Ruan Jiqing knocked on the hall door. When the Emperor's voice bid him enter, he drew a deep breath, adjusted his expression slightly, and stepped inside.
Once through the door, he kept his eyes from wandering. In a low, rapid voice he said, "Your Majesty, Prince Jin has sent an urgent confidential memorial." This time he did not ask Shen Nian to withdraw, knowing full well that in the Emperor's eyes, Shen Nian need not be shielded from such matters.
Qi Junmu had him bring it over, then said casually, "The imperial kitchen did well today. Reward them with three months' silver."
Ruan Jiqing thought to himself—the food was the same as always. If the Emperor found it good, it was surely because the company had put him in high spirits. And the Emperor was in high spirits because his companion was Marquis Zhenbei.
Shen Nian sat there with perfect composure, as though he did not notice Ruan Jiqing’s discreet scrutiny.
Qi Junmu opened the confidential letter and read it, then handed it to Shen Nian and said calmly, "Ah Zhuo says that at ten li from the North Frontier, they found the bodies of Chang Sheng and his personal attendants."
"Ten li from the North Frontier—that means they never even made it to the frontier." Shen Nian took the letter without even glancing at it and said pensively, "Even so, that does not easily clear the North Frontier of suspicion, nor will it silence the wagging tongues at court."
Qi Junmu rubbed his nose, but in his heart he was thinking—back then, when he had not taken the chance to pin Chang Sheng's death on Shen Nian and the North Frontier Army, he had probably already harbored different feelings for this man.
It just had not been obvious—or rather, he had simply never considered it in that light, telling himself he simply did not want to lose a loyal subject like Shen Nian. And that day, when Shen Nian was clearly angry, he had made a grand show of leaving the palace to visit him.
All those scenes from that day came rushing back in an instant, and now they seemed to make so much more sense.
"Don't worry about this." Qi Junmu lowered his hand and said with a serious expression, "I have my own plans for this matter."
Shen Nian replied readily, "This humble subject trusts Your Majesty."
Ruan Jiqing, standing by, watched the two go back and forth like this and felt a distinct sourness in his teeth.
He thought to himself: This Marquis Zhenbei is quite something. If he trusts the Emperor to clear his name and that of the North Frontier Army, then why did he start off with such nitpicking words in the first place?
As for playfulness—not everyone can appreciate it.
At least for now, Ruan Jiqing certainly could not.
"Inform the Left Chancellor of this news," said Qi Junmu.
Telling the Left Chancellor was as good as telling every official in the court and everyone in all of Da Qi. Then there would surely be those who would gossip about Shen Nian. For a moment, Ruan Jiqing could not tell what the Emperor's true intentions were.
But he was only a eunuch. Whatever the Emperor commanded, he need not dwell on it—he simply obeyed.
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