The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

Chapter 114

Shen Yu never feared fate. He had gone through many difficult situations in his past life, and regardless of whether the mark on his body was deliberately made by someone, he didn't care. He always believed that he had paved his own path.

"I will protect Ah Yu, no one will harm you," Shang Junlin tightly embraced Shen Yu.

"Do you believe what that person said? Do you believe in fate?" Shen Yu asked softly, leaning into the man's embrace.

"Fate?" Shang Junlin snorted. "I never believed in those things. When I was young, everyone told me to accept my fate as an abandoned prince in the corner. But I refused to believe in the so-called fate. If you want something, you have to fight for it yourself. Relying on fate is futile, you might as well give up from the beginning."

Shen Yu chuckled bitterly. "Your Majesty is right. I never believed in fate either. When I was young, the maids and servants in the estate told me countless times that I didn't have the right to be the heir, but that didn't change the fact that I was the rightful heir. Not only that, I will stand at a height that they cannot reach in the future and look down on them."

And indeed, Shen Yu had achieved that. Whether in his past life or this life, he stood higher than Shen Qingran and his mother. In his past life, despite being favored by the King of Yue, Shen Qingran still had to bow down to him.

Shen Yu never compromised himself. If he didn't like Shen Qingran in his past life, he wouldn't force himself to be friends with him. Whenever the King of Yue tried to repair their relationship, Shen Yu always showed disinterest.

"Do you think I'm wrong, Your Majesty?"

"How could it be? Whatever Ah Yu does is right," Shang Junlin rubbed his cheek against Shen Yu's.

"If you catch that person, I want to see him," Shen Yu said. Perhaps the King of Yue had come to him in both his past and present lives because of this person. Shen Yu was curious about the person's identity.

Shang Junlin hesitated for a moment. Privately, he didn't want Shen Yu to have any contact with that person.

"What do you want to do when you see him? He's just a swindler," Shang Junlin said.

"Since he accurately named 'the son of the Zhenbei Marquis,' maybe he has been active in the capital before or even visited the Zhenbei Marquis's estate. I'm curious about his identity. If he's a swindler, you can just deal with him. But if he's not, maybe he can help me clear up some doubts," Shen Yu explained.

"Okay, but when you go see him, you have to bring me along," Shang Junlin said. Mentioning Shen Qingran, the next morning, after Shang Junlin went to court, Shen Yu asked Mu Xi about the situation at the Zhenbei Marquis's estate. His men had been keeping an eye on it and any activity would be reported directly to Mu Xi.

"Shen Qingran has been quiet lately. It seems like he's not causing any trouble. Madam Ru is also quiet," Mu Xi replied.

Shen Yu was somewhat surprised by this result. According to reason, Shen Qingran and Aunt Ru were not the kinds of people who would obediently accept their fate. Otherwise, they wouldn't have caused so much trouble in the Zhenbei Marquis's estate before.

Shen Yu was right in his thinking. How could Shen Qingran accept his current fate? He believed himself to have traveled from the modern era and saw no reason why he couldn't beat some ancient people. How could he stand idly by and watch Shen Yu live a better life?

In the midst of a hot summer, he insisted on seeing the Zhenbei Marquis, claiming to have something very important to give him. However, the Zhenbei Marquis didn't even bother to see him. So he had to resort to his trump card, claiming that he could turn water into ice during the summer.

Before he could even report this to the Zhenbei Marquis, the messenger boy laughed and said, "I say, Second Young Master, you'd better give it up. The court has been selling ice at low prices for a long time now, and there are already methods for making ice. Don't tell me you just found some excuse to try and cheat Official Hou again?"

"How is that possible?" Shen Qingran didn't believe it. He clearly remembered that Da Huan didn't have a method for making ice. He kept this method in reserve to seek greater opportunities for himself in the future and didn't tell anyone about it. He grabbed the messenger boy's shoulder with a ferocious expression and said, "Are you lying to me? Did you get some benefit from Shen Yu and deliberately keep me from seeing my father?"

"Second Young Master," the messenger boy broke free from his grasp with a cold face, "Calling you 'Second Young Master,' and you still think you're the same as before. Why would I lie to you about this? Just ask around and you'll know if I'm lying. If it weren't for the court selling ice at low prices, do you think you could afford ice in your current situation?"

Shen Qingran's expression was blank for a moment. He had never considered this issue. Ever since he traveled here, he had enjoyed the same treatment as Shen Yu, thanks to Madam Ru's favor. During this time, he had been thinking about how to change his current situation and climb above Shen Yu, with no attention paid to the changes around him.

"Not just you, even the servants can afford ice now. Spend a little money and you can get a good night's sleep. Who wouldn't like that?" It was really hot in the summer in the capital. When they were poor before, they served their masters during the day and could still enjoy a bit of coolness, but they couldn't do anything at night because of the heat.

"As for the matter of the eldest young master giving orders, he is now living in the palace. How could he possibly give orders to the people in the estate from behind the thick palace walls? Moreover, His Majesty is about to go to the summer palace to escape the heat. As the only person in His Majesty's harem, the eldest young master naturally has to be busy preparing for the trip. How could he have the time to deal with your affairs?"

The messenger boy's words made Shen Qingran's face turn pale and green, especially the meaning behind his words that Shen Yu was doing well now, which made him feel even more uncomfortable.

The servant was treated badly here and didn't want Shen Qingran to have an easy time. When he went to report back to the Zhenbei Marquis, he only mentioned that Shen Qingran had a bad attitude and didn't mention anything about the ice-making process.

Shen Qingran remembered when he was a child, the Zhenbei Marquis had taken him to the summer palace. He was sure that the Zhenbei Marquis would go this time as well, and this was his only chance. He wanted to personally tell the emperor that he was the one who should be in the palace, and it was Shen Yu who took his place. He wanted to take this opportunity to set things right!

Unexpectedly, he waited and waited, but the Zhenbei Marquis didn't take him to the palace, but instead took another maid from the estate.

Shen Qingran was so angry that he smashed his favorite ornament.

Mu Xi finished telling the story and laughed while covering her mouth. "After the Marquis went back, he scolded Shen Qingran again. Since then, Shen Qingran has been quiet in the Zhenbei Marquis's estate."

"The Zhenbei Marquis is probably completely disappointed in his son," Shen Yu played with the empty teacup on the table.

"That's right. Young master, you don't know. When the Zhenbei Marquis returned from the summer palace, Shen Qingran made a big scene and even went to question the Zhenbei Marquis for not taking him. He asked if the Zhenbei Marquis didn't value him as his son. If it weren't for the gentle and considerate maid calming the Zhenbei Marquis down, Shen Qingran would have been infuriated," Mu Xi said with a gleeful expression. When they were in the Zhenbei Marquis's estate, how arrogant were Shen Qingran and the maid towards her young master? They took advantage of the Zhenbei Marquis's favoritism and caused a lot of trouble for him. Now it's finally retribution.

Shen Yu just remembered to ask about it and after learning about the situation, he no longer paid attention to this matter. He looked at the place where the flowers and plants were placed and raised his eyebrows. "Did His Majesty send someone to bring flowers again?"

Among the flowers and plants, there was an extra one with a large yellow flower bud, and Shen Yu walked over to take a closer look but couldn't tell what kind it was.

"When was this sent?" Shen Yu asked as he looked at the flower.

"It seems to have been sent a couple of days ago?" Mu Xi's eyes flashed with a moment of confusion. "Why do I have so little impression of it? I'll have someone come and ask."

Mu Xi called the attendant in charge of taking care of the flowers.

The attendant saw the flower and thought for a moment before answering, "This flower was sent by Prince An. Prince An heard that Your Highness likes flowers and plants, so he specially searched for a rare one to send over."

Prince An?

What is the purpose of Prince An sending flowers for no reason?

"Take the flowers down. From now on, only put the flowers sent by the emperor here. Find a separate place to put flowers sent by others," Shen Yu ordered in a calm voice.

"Yes," the attendant hurriedly stepped forward to remove the flowers.

Shen Yu turned around and didn't see any unfamiliar flowers or plants.

"It's because I didn't do my job well and didn't investigate this matter carefully," Mu Xi apologized with a lowered head.

"Just be more careful in the future. Tell your subordinates to be careful and not to accept flowers and plants of unknown origin. There are too many people who tamper with flowers and plants," Shen Yu warned.

"Yes."

"Also, send someone to find out what kind of flower that is and check its origin," Shen Yu added.

"Yes."

"Master, there's one more thing. Many people in the palace have asked me if they can also donate some money. Although it's not much, it's a heartfelt gesture," Mu Xi asked on the way back.

"Hmm?"

"Didn't you let many people in the palace watch 'The Return of Spring' before? They have asked me several times and hope to contribute as well."

After "The Return of Spring" was staged, in order to test its effect, Shen Yu had them perform it several times in the palace. Since there were no imperial consorts in the palace, Shen Yu allowed the palace servants to come and listen. The reactions of these people could also reflect the reactions of the common people.

It's fine to accept their kind gesture but remind them not to compare themselves to others. Just do their best. I'll leave this matter to you and Xiao Meng Gonggong," Shen Yu instructed.

Shen Yue in the Tai Fei Palace also heard about this and was amazed at Shen Yu's ability. The donations outside the palace were managed by the court, and although Shen Yu couldn't completely ignore the donations inside the palace, with Mu Xi and Xiao Meng Gonggong in charge, he didn't have to worry too much.

When Shang Junlin returned to the palace, he heard about this from Xiao Meng Gonggong.

"If you ask me, Your Majesty, your method is really wonderful. Almost everyone is now paying attention to Su Bei. Those small-minded people won't be able to accomplish anything," Xiao Meng Gonggong said.

"Hmm," Shang Junlin was proud, "Ah Yu always manages to relieve our worries."

When they arrived at the Yu Zhang Palace, Shen Yu was looking at account books submitted by Mu Xi regarding the palace people's donations.

"What is Ah Yu looking at?" Shang Junlin waved his hand to signal the palace attendant to leave and walked up to Shen Yu.

"I'm looking at the accounts of the palace maids' donations. It's more than I imagined," Shen Yu handed one of the account books to Shang Junlin.

"The court has also compiled a list, and it's much more than expected. To save time on the road, I had them transported directly from their original location to Subei. It's a good opportunity to give the stationed troops something to do," Shang Junlin said.

"What was the reaction of the prince's side?" Shen Yu asked.

"Perhaps they were frightened by what happened in the capital during the New Year. After the court officials arrived, they worked diligently on the donations, and they are also concerned about it. Did you receive anything from the prince as a gift?" Shang Junlin remembered that Ah Yu had taken a lot of money from the prince before he left the capital.

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