Ye Shu gazed at those handsome eyes that were in close proximity and momentarily fell into a trance.

Did he really feel sorry?

Ye Shu himself couldn’t tell. No doubt, he detested this man so much, but why was it that when he saw him get hurt for him, his heart felt as if it was……too hard to bear?

After piping down, Ye Shu finally figured out why Chang Yuan acted that way then. And he could see that Jin Wang had already also figured it out based on his reaction earlier.

The more he thought about it, the more discomfort he felt. Was this man a fool? Why did he have to block it for him?

“……Fool,” Ye Shu mumbled.

Jin Wang didn’t hear him clearly. “What did you say?”

“I said who would feel sorry for you,” Ye Shu took away his hand and tilted his head to one side. “What kind of reaction was that? Who would fall for such a foolish ploy.”

Chang Yuan who was crouching on the ground and wiping the blood not far away. “……”

Jin Wang laughed faintly, and the heavy atmosphere in the room seemed to dissipate from the sound of this laugh.

Jin Wang reached out and pulled him up. “Right. You fell for such a foolish ploy and even almost cried in fear. What were you thinking?”

Ye Shu, “……”

Hu-mi-li-a-ting.

Ye Shu stressed, “That was because I felt sick at the sight of blood.”

Jin Wang wiped the tear trails on the outer corners of his eyes with his fingertips, and he nodded cooperatively, “Hmn, if you say so, Gu will believe you.”

“……” Ye Shu was too pissed to speak.

He got up to leave, but was caught by Jin Wang, who swept away the various bits and bobs on the table and placed him there. Both of Jin Wang’s hands naturally propped themselves on the table ledge, trapping him between his arms.

Jin Wang gazed at Ye Shu’s eyes, which were still a little watery, and said in a low voice, “A-Shu, Gu is very happy.”

Ye Shu’s eyes twitched.

“You no longer collude with others and no longer make your own plans to escape. This is one reason.” Jin Wang’s voice was so gentle. It seemed as if there was a tiny hammer gently tapping Ye Shu’s heart. “You can’t bear to see Gu hurt. You don’t want to hurt Gu. This is the second.”

Jin Wang caressed the back of Ye Shu’s hand, covered it with his, gently clasped it, and repeated, “A-Shu, I am very happy.”

He said ‘I.’ Ye Shu couldn’t bear Jin Wang talking to him in such a tone. He looked down at their clasped hands, his heart feeling so sour and soft that he almost threw his shield and armor away in defeat.

Ye Shu turned his head, not daring to look at him, and muttered, “You’re happy even when you’re wounded, does it not hurt anymore?”

“It hurts,” Jin Wang said in a tiny voice with a smile in his eyes. “It really hurts.”

Ye Shu’s gaze fell on Jin Wang’s forearm. He hadn’t dressed it well indeed; the bandage was tangled up in a mess, the bleeding hadn’t completely stopped, and the plain white gauze was oozing with spots of blood.

Ye Shu suddenly felt somewhat dizzy again. He hurriedly grabbed Jin Wang’s hand and said, “It’s better to call the imperial physician here to check, you……”

“No need,” Jin Wang came up to Ye Shu’s ear, his voice sounded low and soft, “It won’t hurt anymore if you kiss me.”

“……”

“A-Shu, Gu was wounded for you.”

He paused, then added, “Gu hasn’t been wounded for so many years.”

Ye Shu’s fingers holding Jin Wang trembled slightly.

Jin Wang was the emperor. Even if he was the slightest bit hurt, there would be an army of people busily serving him from inside to outside. But now, this man was wounded for him and was even keeping things under wraps for him.

Jin Wang had him pinched at his most vulnerable spot.

Ye Shu’s side turned face was visible with an inexplicable heat, and with a low voice, he said, “Then close…close your eyes.”

“Okay,” Jin Wang did as he was told.

Ye Shu took a deep breath and looked up. Jin Wang had kissed him many times, and he had even taken the initiative himself quite a few times, but those were all just for show whenever an occasion arised.

It was a whole different feeling than how it was at present.

The other party’s lips were slightly cold and just as soft as they were in his memory. Ye Shu found no time to dwell on where the subtle sense of loss of control in his heart came from as the sound of footsteps behind interrupted them.

He subconsciously pushed the other party away and turned to see Chang Yuan’s panicked eyes.

Chang Yuan stood not far behind them, red eared and panicking. “I…I didn’t see anything!”

Seemingly feeling that this wasn’t enough conviction, Chang Yuan added, “I’ll go and wipe the ground again!”

Ye Shu, “…”

Jin Wang, “……”

Jin Wang pressed the space between his brows and said, “Get back here.”

A short while later, Jin Wang, sitting in the main seat, lifted the cup of tea in his hand and took a sip.

Ye Shu and Chang Yuan were positioned in front of him, this young master and his subordinate seemed to coincide with one another as they both knelt and bowed their heads.

Jin Wang put down his tea cup and said insipidly, “So you heard that Gu’s favored concubine was in Chengqian Palace today, and you wanted to use him to escape the palace?”

Chang Yuan, “……Yes.”

Chang Yuan had been under palace arrest for many days, not knowing that Ye Shu had already returned to the palace after his private escape that day. He found an opportunity today and, after wounding several shadow guards to escape, heard that His Majesty’s newly favored Concubine An was in his palace. That gave him the idea of threatening this man to cover for him so he could escape out of the palace to find someone. Who would have guessed……

Cough… Ye Shu coughed lightly and said, “I-It’s all my fault.”

“Don’t blame the young master,” Chang Yuan hurriedly said. “This subject was bewildered for a while. Your Majesty should punish me. The young master shouldn’t be implicated.”

Ye Shu also said, “No. It was all my idea to escape before. It had nothing to do with him—”

“Shut up.” Jin Wang swept him a glance and said in a cold tone, “You haven’t even fully received the punishment for your previous private great escape, do you have such a short-term memory that you forgot about it so soon?”

Ye Shu, “……”

“Chang Yuan assisted the noble consort to escape, wounded Gu’s shadow guards, and even stabbed the monarch,” Jin Wang said calmly. “Any one of these offenses is enough to be called treason and invite punishment for capital offense.”

Ye Shu silently gazed at Jin Wang, his eyes carrying a noiseless grievance.

Jin Wang averted his gaze and said without batting an eyelid, “……The death penalty can be waived, but not the punishment of life. This man can’t stay by your side any longer.”

“But…”

Jin Wang interrupted, “Or do you want him to be your servant in the inner court?”

“……”

Inner servant… Wasn’t that exactly the same as an eunuch?

Chang Yuan was one-track minded. Listening to Jin Wang, he didn’t even think more about it and said, “If this subordinate can stay with the young master that way, then this subordinate is willing to…”

“Shut up!” Ye Shu looked at Chang Yuan, who was dressed as an eunuch beside him, felt his scalp went numb at the thought that this costume might come true one day. “No. This man has no say in any of this.”

“Young master…”

Ye Shu had a headache. Of course he couldn’t let Xiao Chang Yuan really stay in the palace as a eunuch. It would be too humiliating. He pondered for a moment and then asked Jin Wang, “Wasn’t Your Majesty going to…return my family’s properties…to me?”

Jin Wang nodded. “Very well.”

Apart from that Ye Mansion, the Ye family also had dozens of shops in the capital.

Ye Shu said, “Chang Yuan, the Ye family’s properties will be handed over to you hereafter.”

Chang Yuan hesitated. “But this subordinate has not learned to…”

“Then simply learn if you have not!” Ye Shu exclaimed. “You’re just going to look after the family properties outside the palace for me. That’s still doing something for me. Anyhow, you have to take good care of those shops and not squander them, you understand?”

Chang Yuan, “……Yes. This subordinate understands.”

Jin Wang soon summoned Gao Jin in and ordered him to start handling the matter. Chang Yuan was then taken away, leaving only Jin Wang and Ye Shu in the room.

“This subject thank Your Majesty for this lenient treatment.” Ye Shu spoke.

Such treatment was beyond Ye Shu’s expectations. As Jin Wang had said, every crime Chang Yuan committed was enough to be subject to capital punishment.

“Thanks and that’s it?” Jin Wang asked with a smile.

Ye Shu, “What does Your Majesty want?”

Jin Wang thought for a while, when his gaze landed outside the window. “The snow has stopped. Accompany Gu for a walk.” 

The heavy snow came and went out too quickly. The dark clouds in the horizon had cleared away, revealing a vast sky full of stars and a waning moon.

The area outside Chengqian Palace was already deeply accumulated with snow. Several palace servants were sweeping the snow. Seeing the two of them come out, they immediately curtsied.

Jin Wang didn’t take along his attendants, and led Ye Shu to walk slowly in the snow.

The stained glass palace lanterns on both sides of the road were always bright and the long palace chambers seemed endless. The red walls and golden roof tiles were covered with snow, and a red plum tree stretched out from the wall, draped in snow and clear, icy crystals in full bloom.

Ye Shu was itching to touch them. While Jin Wang wasn’t paying attention, he reached out to feel the snow on the plum tree.

“Ye Shu.” Jin Wang coldly called out.

“……” Ye Shu made a prompt decision and broke off a branch with red plum blossoms to hand it over to Jin Wang. “For Your Majesty.” 

He was wrapped in a snow white fox fur, the fingertips of his fair and slender hand were frozen slightly red from holding the flower. The red plum blossoms, along with Jin Wang, filled his clear and bright eyes with their reflection. Jin Wang struggled to avert his gaze away from the other party’s eyes as he took the branch and said with a dry mouth, “How many times has Gu said, you can enjoy the snow but you are not allowed to play with it.”

A Kunjun’s body was at its weakest during pregnancy. He could easily catch a cold if he touches the snow.

Ye Shu was previously unaware of why Jin Wang would always worry about this, only now did he understand. He snorted, not wanting to argue with him for once, and subconsciously wrapped the fox fur around him tighter.

“Great Yan’s envoy will arrive at Chang Lu in ten days. You shall attend the state banquet as the wife.” Jin Wang said.

Ye Shu, with most of his face hidden in the snow white fox fur, tilted his head to look at him. “Is Your Majesty saying this to the noble consort or to Concubine An?”

Jin Wang looked back at him and replied seriously, “Gu is saying this to you.”

It doesn’t matter which identity as long as it was him.

Ye Shu stared at him for a moment before he withdrew his gaze. “This subject understands.”

The palace servants sweeping the snow in the distance had already dispersed. Ye Shu looked at the snow on the curb and suddenly called out, “Jin Wang.”

“Do you want to build a snowman?”

“……” Jin Wang replied, “Not allowed…”

“Not allowed to play with snow,” Ye Shu imitated Jin Wang’s tone and seized the red plum blossom branch from his hand. “Then you go build it, I will watch.”

Jin Wang, “But Gu has never built a snowman.”

“It’s alright. I will teach you,” Ye Shu sincerely said. “Go for it.”

Really, His Majesty’s craftsmanship in building a snowman was as appalling as his cooking.

One incense stick later, Ye Shu looked at the strange, white unidentified mass of snow with distorted eyes and a nose in front of him. The corners of his mouth twitched and he said, “It’s pretty…well built?”

Jin Wang brushed the snow off his body and said annoyed, “You sound hesitant.”

Ye Shu frankly said, “But that thing just barely passes the mark.”

Actually, it wasn’t even barely, it was straight on polluting the eyes.

It even marred such a beautiful snowscape for no good reason.

Jin Wang coldly snorted. “This is Gu’s first time.Being able to show you something like this on the first try is a feat of its own in its own right. In any case, it must be better than your first time.”

Ye Shu shrugged. “I haven’t built one yet.”

“……” Jin Wang gritted his teeth. “You haven’t even built one yourself yet and yet you dare to issue instructions so cockily?”

“I have seen other people build it like this!”

“Ye Qian!”

“I’m not lying! People really do build it like this! Who would have imagined yours would turn out so unsightly!”

Ye Shu was about to run away, when Jin Wang caught him back. Without waiting for him to flare up, Ye Shu suddenly squatted down while clutching his stomach.

Jin Wang’s complexion paled. “What’s wrong?”

Ye Shu lowered his head, his voice faint, “It hurts a bit…”

Jin Wang immediately lost all his playfulness and stooped down to lift him up.

The next moment, he was hit point blank with a faceful of snow.

His Majesty the monarch rarely had such a wretched time. His hair and neck were covered with snow, and his expression was slightly bewildered. He looked extra cute. Ye Shu crouched as he laughed, his snow white attire almost blending in with the snowscape.

“Ye Qian!” Jin Wang brushed the snow off his face and stalked forward to catch the culprit.

Ye Shu was pushed and pressed against the palace wall by Jin Wang.

Jin Wang still had flakes of snow on his eyebrows, which made him look even more handsome. He rubbed the tip of his cold nose against the side of Ye Shu’s face and said coldly, “How bold you’ve become, you even dare to attack the emperor?”

Ye Shu quivered from the coldness and promptly supplicated for mercy, “Your Majesty, I was wrong…”

This method didn’t work for Jin Wang. He raised his hand to peel off the human skin mask on Ye Shu’s face and looked down at him. “Since you dared to go against the emperor, you should be prepared to pay the price. Gu will punish you—”

Ye Shu suddenly raised his head and kissed him on the corner of his cold lips.

Jin Wang froze.

The two had been in the snow for so long that the cold had reached every part of their bodies. Only their breath was so scorchingly hot that it could almost burn people.

After a while, Ye Shu let go of him and smiled slyly, “Is this enough to make amends, Your Majesty?”

Jin Wang had forgotten what he was about to say and barely managed to maintain his sanity. “Don’t think that…”

Ye Shu kissed him again.

This time, it took even longer than before.

The moonlight was clear and cold, shining on the red wall and white snow, reflecting off of the two kissing silhouettes under the wall.

Ye Shu secretly looked up to Jin Wang and thought silently in his heart. Still so easy to deal with.

However, it really did not feel quite the same as putting on a play in the past.

He didn’t hate it at all. He even…liked it a little.

Just a little.