33 Ye Cheng Fu

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Ye Cheng Fu

 Chapter 33: 

 

The court has been plagued with factional strife for years, but the sudden fall of a Minister of the Military Affairs is indeed shocking. After considering all the people I know, there is only one person capable of such an act.

When I returned to the residence, I saw Bai Shaotang standing at the door with a stern expression. This confirmed my suspicion even further. Without waiting for him to speak, I said, “You don’t need to say anything. I already know.”

With that, I led him towards the Jingxin Water Pavilion.

Upon our arrival, I found Shen Ye reading in a warm room lit by the glow of the charcoal fire. He sat in a rocking chair, looking somewhat tired. As I entered with the cold wind and snow, he neither startled nor showed anger. He merely gestured to the chairs and said casually, “Please, sit.”

“Did you have something to do with Chen He’s death?” I dismissed the servants, shut the door, and directly confronted him.

Shen Ye’s assistant, Shen Cong, came out from the inner chamber, poured tea for us, and answered on Shen Ye’s behalf, “Her Majesty needs a new Minister of the Military Affairs.”

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

“Needs a new Minister of the Military Affairs…” I trembled as I spoke, “How could it come to this?”

“As I said before,” Shen Ye replied nonchalantly, “Don’t cause trouble for others. Have you forgotten, Shu Cheng?”

I suddenly realized that Shen Ye’s choice of Chen He was indeed related to the matter between Bai Shaotang and me. I couldn't help but tremble, and I shouted, “Do you treat human lives as a joke? Using people’s lives for your own jealousy, Shen Ye, aren’t you afraid of divine retribution?”

“Lives?” Shen Ye looked puzzled, raising his head with a frown, “I did not take her life.”

“Chen He is dead!”

At my words, even Shen Cong was taken aback.

Bai Shaotang was the first to react, lunging at Shen Ye. Shen Ye’s small fan flew out in an instant, pressing against Bai Shaotang’s neck before he could reach him, while Bai Shaotang’s sword was aimed at Shen Ye’s chest.

Seeing this, Shen Cong calmly said from the side, “General Bai, this is not the Master’s intention.”

“Hand over my cousin!” Bai Shaotang demanded, his eyes reddened, “Last night, your people surrounded the Minister’s residence and abducted Chen Min. Now that my aunt has died, what more do you want?”

“Get out,” Shen Ye said, his face unchanging. “If you think my warning wasn’t clear enough, you can continue to test it. If Shu Cheng dares to enter the Linglan Pavilion again, for every time she does, I will have one of your Bai family’s fingers cut off.”

“**You!**” Bai Shaotang’s eyes reddened, and his sword pressed closer, the edge against Shen Ye’s small fan.

Shen Ye smirked, his voice cold, “You can’t touch my family, but you think you can manipulate the edges and corners? Aren’t you just waiting for me to die? Can’t you even tolerate this?”

Bai Shaotang’s expression changed dramatically. Shen Ye calmly withdrew the fan, folding it and putting it away, then lowered his eyes, “Whatever you have in mind, save it for after I’m dead. As long as I’m alive, you better behave and stay in the Linglan Pavilion. Today, I’m just reminding you—I’m still here.”

Bai Shaotang didn’t speak, his lips trembling as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to. I stepped forward, standing beside him, and gently took his hand. He looked at me, his eyes filled with pain, mixed with guilt and humiliation. I squeezed his hand and said softly, “Let’s go back to the Linglan Pavilion.”

“Shu Cheng...” His voice trembled.

I sighed and wiped the corner of his eye before he could shed more tears, saying gently, “Everything will be fine. Let’s go.”

He closed his eyes, tears suddenly falling. I thought to myself that he had never experienced such humiliation and helplessness in his life. Without saying much, he turned and left. Once he was gone, I sat down in a chair, feeling weary, and asked, “So, why did Chen He die?”

“His Majesty wants to promote Gu Qiangsheng,” Shen Ye explained, “and with you in the Inspectorate, Gu Qiangsheng can’t be promoted. She’s a valuable tool for His Majesty, but her current rank is too low to be effective.”

“So, you chose Chen He?”

“Originally, the target was someone from the Shangguan family. Her Majesty wanted to pressure the Shangguan family, but I changed my mind at the last minute and persuaded her.”

“I didn’t expect you to have such influence with the Empress.” I played with the tea cup in my hands, a bitter smile on my lips. “You must have done a lot for the Empress”

“For this trust, even King Goujian would fall short.”

“So, choosing Chen He was to warn me and Bai Shaotang?” I stirred the tea’s floating green leaves, murmuring, “That’s quite a bold move.”

“Her background was already tainted. I have records of her old accounts. It’s just that Her Majesty hadn’t planned to move against her before. If she wanted to, there were plenty of reasons.”

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

“So why did you abduct Chen Min?” 

“I didn’t intend for her to die,” he lowered his gaze, “I only meant to force her to resign from the position of Minister of War. I didn’t expect Her Majesty wouldn’t let her go.” 

Hearing this, I felt a bit more at ease, realizing that the person before me wasn’t as indifferent to human life as I had imagined. Yet, I now understood more clearly what he was capable of. If it hadn’t been for Bai Shaotang and me, if I hadn’t insisted on going to Bai Shaotang, Chen He wouldn’t have suffered such an unwarranted fate.

A heavy weight pressed on my heart, making my breathing feel labored. I had never imagined we would come to this, but here we were.

“Shen Ye,” I closed my eyes, letting out a soft laugh, “The reason I was afraid to marry you back then was because I feared we might end up in this situation.”

“As long as you have no other men, we won’t end up here.” He tightened his grip slowly, his voice hoarse, “As long as you are mine, and only see me as Shen Ye or Su Rongqing, none of this will involve the court, nor affect Her Majesty.”

“I haven’t done anything with Bai Shaotang.”

“I know,” he said softly, “So he’s still alive.”

I was momentarily speechless, my fear growing as I trembled and said, “Is it only if I don’t do anything with him, even if I don’t love you and love someone else, that you won’t coerce me like today?”

“Yes…” He spoke, his voice trembling slightly, “As long as you’re by my side, as long as your body belongs to me, even if you don’t love me… I won’t force you. Shu Cheng,” he gave a bitter smile, meeting my eyes directly, “Do you think I enjoy coercing you?”

His eyes seemed to speak volumes, but I didn’t want to read them or face them. I turned away and continued, “I understand. But I need to give Bai Shaotang some face; he is the heir of my family, as you know.”

“What do you want to do?”

“In the future, I’ll go to Ninglan Pavilion at night, but I’ll just visit and then sneak back here. You wait for me here, and in the morning, I’ll secretly return to Ninglan Pavilion.”

He didn’t say anything, so I continued, “I need everyone to see that Shaotang is favored, but I’ll always be with you.”

“Every night?” He seemed to be in good spirits, smiling.

I nodded, “Every night.”

“Good.”

"In exchange for this," I said, my voice firm and cold for the first time, almost like my mother who had been the head of the Shu family for decades, "in the Shu residence, you can only be Su Rongqing. You cannot use the influence of Phoenix Tower or the Dark Emperor's power. Everything must adhere to the rules of the Shu family. If you break these rules," I met his gaze with a new determination, "I will divorce you. Even if you want to kill me, or if Her Majesty wants to kill my entire family."

He was silent, watching me. After a long pause, he finally replied, "Good."

I said nothing more, stood up, and said, "Release Chen Min. With Chen He dead, she is of no further use."

I left without him trying to stop me.

As I stepped out, I went straight to find Bai Shaotang.

The snow had accumulated to the point where it crunched underfoot. He stood in the courtyard, using a long spear to clear the snow, as if he were on a battlefield. I stood at the door, holding an umbrella, silently watching him. I don’t know how long I stood there, until he finally had no strength left to lift the spear, throwing it aside and collapsing into the snow. I shook the umbrella, sending a thick layer of snow falling. I walked over, stood in front of him, and used the umbrella to shield him from the snow that was falling on his face.

“From now on, I’ll come here at night and leave before dawn. You don’t need to say anything; just tell everyone that I’ve been staying with you.”

“Is this his demand?” He looked at the umbrella and did not meet my gaze.

I remained silent, tacitly acknowledging his guess.

He covered his eyes with his hand and after a while said, “Shu Cheng… I’m really useless…”

I said nothing, merely standing quietly.

After a moment, I heard Shen Cong’s voice from outside, “Young Lord, the master asked if you would like to join him for dinner.”

“Shaotang,” I said softly, turning my back to Shen Cong, “We can wait.”

With that, I turned and walked towards Shen Cong, instructing him, “Have Shen Ye come to my place for dinner.”

I went straight back to my room, summoned a few trusted servants, and instructed them, “From now on, after nightfall, dismiss everyone. There’s no need for them to serve.”

© translations belonging to  flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com. If you read this somewhere else instead of flamingobeestranslations.blogspot.com then the translations has been posted WITHOUT permission of translator.

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