The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Chapter 109

07/06/2023 - currently been edited. if found any mistakes, please comment the sentence. 

Shang Junlin reached out his hand and said, "I will not disappoint Ah Yu's sincere feelings."

"It's fine if Your Majesty thinks so," Shen Yu smiled and placed the letter on the man's broad palm.

Shang Junlin didn't open the letter in front of Shen Yu but put it in his arms instead.

"Don't you want to see what I wrote, Your Majesty?"

"As long as it's written by Ah Yu for me, I will like it," Shang Junlin replied.

Shen Yu noticed that Shang Junlin didn't intend to open the letter immediately, so he didn't push it any further. In fact, he was quite curious about Shang Junlin's reaction when he read the contents of the letter.

At night, after Shen Yu fell asleep, Shang Junlin looked at the peaceful sleeping face of the man in his arms with tender eyes.

In the soft candlelight, the young man's delicate facial features were accentuated by a faint red blush on his fair skin. Shang Junlin knew how beautiful the young man's face looked when it was tinted with blush. The young man's eyelashes were long and quietly drooped down, like a butterfly resting its wings.

Shang Junlin had lived in the palace since he was young and had seen countless beautiful people. When he first ascended the throne, there were many people who boldly approached him because of their looks. He felt repulsed by their touch and thought that no matter how beautiful someone was, they were no different from ordinary people in his eyes until he met Shen Yu.

He had a strong desire to touch someone for the first time, a desire to forcefully pull someone into his arms, a desire to do everything he could to keep someone from leaving...

Now, Shen Yu would take the initiative to find a comfortable sleeping position in his arms, and he had also become accustomed to holding the person in his arms while sleeping.

After confirming that Shen Yu was asleep, Shang Junlin sat up lightly and took out the letter from under the pillow.

He opened the letter with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness, and carefully unfolded the pink paper.

What caught his eye was beautiful small cursive handwriting. Shang Junlin was taken aback. He had seen Shen Yu's regular script, cursive script, and running script before, but this was the first time he had seen him write in this font.

"What are you secretly looking at, Your Majesty?" Shen Yu's voice sounded slightly teasing.

Shang Junlin turned his head and saw Shen Yu looking at him with his chin propped up, his eyes playful.

"You haven't slept, Ah Yu?" Shang Junlin felt a bit embarrassed for being caught.

"If I had slept, wouldn't I miss seeing His Majesty secretly reading the letter I wrote?" Shen Yu propped himself up, his long hair falling down his shoulders like a waterfall.

In the candlelight, the young man's face looked particularly gentle, except for his eyes, which were like stars shining in the pitch-black night sky, shining brightly.

Shang Junlin slightly turned sideways and covered Shen Yu's eyes with one hand.

"I like what you wrote, Ah Yu."

With his eyes covered, Shen Yu couldn't see the man's increasingly red face. He blinked, and his eyelashes brushed over the man's palm like feathers.

A tingling sensation spread from his palm to his heart.

"It's good if His Majesty likes it." Shen Yu felt uneasy when he wrote the letter. He felt like his literary talent had lost its effectiveness, leaving only a few simple and straightforward words.

"Ah Yu's handwriting is very beautiful, as beautiful as Ah Yu." Shang Junlin sighed softly.

Shen Yu took away the hand covering his eyes and sat up, facing Shang Junlin. "I only use this font when writing to His Majesty."

Showing it only to one person and blooming for one person.

His eyes were full of sincerity, and some emotions were hidden deep inside, faintly revealing their clues to the outside world.

Shang Junlin's Adam's apple rolled, and he hugged Shen Yu tightly, "I'm happy, Ah Yu. I will never let you down."

Shen Yu's hand hanging by his side was lifted and dropped several times. After making a certain decision, he slowly wrapped his arms around the man's waist. "His Majesty promised me, you can't go back on your word."

"How could I go back on my word?" Shang Junlin lowered his head and kissed Shen Yu's hair, a faint fragrance lingering, and his heart was at peace.

Shen Yu leaned on the man's shoulder and slowly closed his eyes.

If it were Shang Junlin, he would be willing to try again.

Throughout his life, he faced difficulties from a young age and continued to live in deceit even as an adult. Even after his death, he was told that his life was used to fulfill others' ambitions.

Shen Yu never easily accepted his fate, so in his past life, after realizing he was deceived, he destroyed the King of Yue's dream of ascending the throne. In this life, he won't let the ending in the book play out as written either.

He could destroy that ending once, he can do it a second time.

The only exception is Shang Junlin.

The despotic emperor in the book who was cruel and ruthless, causing the people to suffer, was not actually as the book portrayed him. Instead, he governed diligently and loved the people, giving Shen Yu a glimpse of reality.

--

On a day off, Physician Sun brought a pot of good wine and visited a colleague.

The colleague was Physician Qian, who held the same rank as him at the Imperial Medical Hospital.

Physician Qian was a slightly chubby middle-aged man with a friendly face. Because of his good looks, he was well-liked by everyone. Originally, when Physician Sun retired, Physician Qian was supposed to take over as the new head of the Hospital.

"What wind blew Physician Sun here? Come in quickly," Physician Qian smiled before even speaking, with impeccable manners that made it impossible to find fault.

"Recently, I came across a pot of good wine and specially brought it to let you taste it," Physician Sun said, raising the hand holding the wine jug.

Physician Qian's smile grew even deeper. He loved good wine, but couldn't drink while on duty at the Academy, so he could only have a small drink during his day off.

The two of them entered the room, and Physician Qian ordered someone to bring out the food and wine. "If you don't mind, Physician Sun, stay and have a few drinks with me," he said.

Physician Sun had come with a purpose, so he naturally wouldn't refuse. "Then I won't be disrespectful," he replied.

Physician Qian had someone set up a table in the courtyard, and the two of them sat across from each other.

After three rounds of wine, Physician Sun was starting to feel a little drunk. Considering the purpose of his visit, he thought carefully before speaking up. "There's something I'm not sure if I should say or not."

"What is it? If it's convenient, why don't you say it? Perhaps I can help you out," Physician Qian said, his face losing its smile.

"In fact, everyone in the Imperial Medical Hospital thinks that you are the most qualified to succeed, regardless of your qualifications or other factors. If you were to take up that position, I'm sure no one would object. Unfortunately, someone is taking a shortcut and trying to replace you by using their relationship with a noblewoman in the palace." Physician Sun took a sip of wine and seemed to be speaking up for Physician Qian.

"The current head of the Imperial Medical Hospital is still Wu. It's not wise to make assumptions about the future, so please be careful with your words, Physician Sun." Physician Qian put down his wine glass.

Physician Sun glanced at Physician Qian's expression and thought he seemed unhappy, thinking that his words had had an effect. He continued, "Regardless, the person who takes up that position should be someone like you. And don't think I'm just talking nonsense. I can guarantee that everything I've said is true."

"It was Head Physician Wu who said it himself." Physician Sun looked around and lowered his voice.

"What do you suggest I do?" Physician Qian calmly asked.

"At the very least, we can't let someone who's not fit for the job take up that position," Physician Sun stated the ultimate goal.

"I understand. Physician Sun, you're drunk. Someone, take him to rest." A servant came over, helped Sun up and despite his protests, led him to a guest room.

After Physician Sun was out of sight, a young man walked out from around the corner.

It was Physician Gu.

Physician Gu's mood was complicated. He knew that Physician Sun had always been at odds with him, but he didn't expect that he would do such a thing just to get back at him.

If he succeeded, the hospital would be in chaos, which would cause a lot of trouble.

"It's a good thing that our teacher has a keen eye and recognized this person's evil intentions early on. He warned us to be on guard against him, but I don't know who else he went to see besides us." Physician Qian looked disgustedly in the direction Physician Sun had left.

"I don't know where I went wrong with him," Physician Gu smiled bitterly. "Since I came to the hospital, I have been targeted everywhere."

"It's not your fault. Petty people are always jealous of the talented," Physician Qian patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, our teacher has entrusted us with the matter. We will help you with everything."

There were several students of Physician Wu in the hospital, and Physician Qian was one of them. Physician Wu knew exactly what kind of people his students were, and before talking to Physician Gu alone, he had already talked to these students. Compared with the struggle for power, his students preferred to study medicine and had no objections to their own teacher's methods.

"Don't worry about Physician Sun. Our teacher will handle it."

"Thank you." Physician Gu bowed and thanked him. Because he was young, Head Physician Wu had taken care of him when he first came to the hospital. Later, because he was indeed talented in medicine, Physician Wu's students slowly befriended him, and this time was no exception...

"If you want to thank us, why don't you bring out your new medical book and discuss it with us?"

"I will definitely come to you for advice after I finish the final touches."

Physician Sun didn't know that he thought he could provoke conflicts between Physician Gu and other Physicians in the hospital. But the first one to be dealt with was himself.

"By the way, have you seen 'Return of Spring,' the play that's been very popular in the capital recently? It's a good time to take a break. Why don't we go and see it together?" Physician Qian not only loved wine but also enjoyed watching plays. Everyone who had seen the new play was full of praise, and Physician Qian had been itching to see it for a long time.

Physician Gu couldn't refuse and went with Physician Qian.

---

Shen Yu wanted to experience the feeling of sitting in the crowd and listening to the opera, so he found a day when Shang Junlin was not busy and went out of the palace with him.

The theater was crowded and full of eyes, so Shen Yu and Shang Junlin disguised themselves to avoid causing a stir.

Shen Yu wore a red robe this time, which was as eye-catching as fire. His facial features were beautiful and bright, and instead of being overshadowed by the red robe, he looked even more stunning, making it hard for people to take their eyes off him.

Shang Junlin looked at Shen Yu in his red robe, and his eyes revealed a mixture of admiration and possessiveness. He didn't want anyone else to see Shen Yu like this.

Mu Xi was about to tie a hairband for Shen Yu when Shang Junlin walked over and said, "Give it to me."

Mu Xi handed the hairband and ivory comb to Shang Junlin.

Shang Junlin gathered the long hair behind Shen Yu with one hand, and the smooth and silky black hair slipped through his fingers. With the other hand, he gently combed through it with the ivory comb, brushing it all the way down.

Shen Yu touched the back of his head and asked curiously, "His Majesty knows how to do hair?"

Shang Junlin proved with his actions that he not only knew how to do it but was also very skilled at it. The hair that he combed was no worse than that combed by Mu Xi.

Shen Yu turned his head and looked at himself in the bronze mirror. He asked, "When did His Majesty learn how to do hair for others?"

Mu Xi giggled on the side, still remembering the awkward way the lofty emperor had learned to do hair not long ago.

"I learned it from your maidservants. How is my skill?" Shang Junlin smiled and asked, holding the ivory comb.

"It's very good!" Shen Yu's eyes were full of admiration.

"From now on, I will also comb Ah Yu's hair. How about that?"

Translator's note:

I will be going to change Doctor -> Physician since Doctor seems more modern to me and really does not fit with the story which is historical. I will backtrack and change all words to Physician.

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