Chapter 59

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When Shen Nuo woke up, he was already at Mingyue Palace. Liyi had fallen asleep by the bedside, with her head leaned onto the bed. Shen Nuo's head was spinning. It must already be last noon. He woke Liyi up.

"Liyi, when did I come here?"

Liyi woke up and scratched her head. "It was His Majesty. Master slept for two days." She said in concern.

"What?" Shen Nuo gasped. He was at the camp. But two days had already passed. Shit! He forgot Zhanhua! He looked at Liyi with widened eyes. "What... What about Minister Zhanhua?" He asked quickly.

Guessing from Liyi's face, it was clear that she obviously knew what had happened. She pursed her thin lips with a worried expression. "Master Zhanhua was immediately thrown into prison."

Shen Nuo's face went pale in horror. "Prison?" He stuttered hoarsely in a weak voice. He did not know what to feel. To be honest, he still remembered a little from Zhanhua's play.

The fact that others didn't know was that Zhanhua was innocent here. It was he who forced Zhanhua in his heat. He pulled Zhanhua into this mess. And still amid that, Zhanhua kept to his promise and only left a mark. But who would have thought Li Yan and Shendu would barge inside unexpectedly?

Shen Nuo burried his face in his hands. How can he forget about Zhanhua? How wrong he was? No. He must stop this...

"Where's Li Yan?"

"I guess His Majesty is inside the hall summoning the court sessions. Hey! Master, what are you doing!!?"

"Liyi, help me dress up, quick!"

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So when Shen Nuo entered into the Court Hall unbidden, Li Yan was just about to dismiss the court. He looked at his consort coldly.

"Consort Shen, you're confined. What are you doing here?" That voice did not have any slightest touch of softness.

Shen Nuo narrowed his slightly red eyes. Those fearless eyes were fixed at the person who sat on the throne. "Release Minister Yue!" He spoke in an unfaltering voice.

Almost every minister inside the court hall gasped. Shen Nuo's tone was commanding. No one had ever spoken to the Emperor with a raised voice.

The officials though did not know what exactly the incident was, they more or less guessed Minister Zhanhua had infuriated the Emperor to the extreme. They also knew it that for some reason, this matter had something to do with Consort Shen too. But they did not dare to think too deeply.

And now when they saw Shen Nuo barge into the hall like this, they couldn't help but exchange nervous glances amid themselves.

Li Yan's face was frosty. "Punishments for rudely interrupting the sessions." He said in an icy voice. "Kneel infront of the Ancestral Tower for six hours! Leave!"

Shen Nuo laughed softly. But it wasn't friendly and gentle. "Your Majesty, I will kneel infront of the Ancestral Tower for six days. If you want, I can starve too, if you feel happy with it. But please release Minister Zhanhua!"

An extremely unpleasant silence followed. Li Yan's face was drawing colder and colder, his murderous aura intensifying in several folds. He slowly got up from the throne and stepped down the jade steps. His face was really frightening. "Did Zhen hear something?" That voice was full of killing intent.

Even when confronted by the tall Emperor, Shen Nuo still stood resolutely. "I said release Minister Zhanhua!" He said again clearly.

Li Yan's clenched fists were shaking in anger. His eyes were red. No one spoke in the silence and the terrified officials kept their heads lowered as if they were deaf and blind.

For a moment, the Emperor's and his consort's eyes clashed with each other. But neither of them had the intent of backing off.

Li Yan took a dangerous step towards Shen Nuo. "Criminals should be punished."

"Your Majesty, the fault was clearly mine. It was me who asked him to help me. The person who should accept the punishments is not Zhanhua but me!" Shen Nuo said coldly.

The ministers all looked blank. Some of their faces were already pale, their expressions revealing horrible dawns of comprehension.

"Zhanhua?" Li Yan repeated hatefully in a softer but more dangerous voice. He took another step closer. "When did you get this intimate with Minister Yue to call him by his name?" His voice was very low, so others couldn't hear at all. But the tone of it was deadly that it would make the hair stand on the end.

"Does that matter?" Shen Nuo asked indifferently. "You're righteous you say. And is this the way you judge people? Punishing the innocent without a cause or a reason? Your Majesty, you were the one who caused me into that, did you forget?"

Li Yan's eyes flashed. He glared at him. Those frightening phoenix eyes were simply unsheathed swords and daggers, capable of piercing to the depth of a soul. "What do you mean, Consort Shen?" He took another step closer.

They were almost close. The ends of their clothes touched. But it was as if Li Yan had forgotten they were inside the court hall, under the watchful gaze of a hundred people watching...

Shen Nuo finally took a nervous step back. He was slightly frightened. But he still kept his rationality and continued nevertheless. "What I said was the truth." He said defiantly.

Li Yan looked at him quietly for a while. "You seem to be well concerned of Zhanhua, don't you?" He asked resentfully, the fire that he was hiding in the depths of his heart, leaking out convulsively. "Seems like you enjoyed much with Zhanhua that day. If Zhen hadn't come in time, he would have even satisfied you, isn't it?"

Shen Nuo glared at Li Yan. "So what?" He whispered n a furious voice to the person who stood closer to him. "It's fine as long as it's not you!"

Li Yan's eyes flashed again. "Don't cross the line! I've already forgiven you!"

Shen Nuo looked angry too. "I said the fault was mine! Just release him and punish me!"

Li Yan's face was icy. But behind that cold mask, his heart clenched. "Don't ask too much!"

Shen Nuo nodded slowly creasing his brows. "Looks like Your Majesty won't listen to me anyway. Then, Your Majesty, I will have to ask it this way. Either release Zhanhua, or divorce me!"

There was a sudden fluctuation in Li Yan's eyes. In the depths of those angry eyes were clearly sorrow.

"You'll regret this, Shen Nuo..."

Shen Nuo rolled his eyes. "What's there for me to regret? First of all there should be something between us to regret later. But from the start, we both had nothing to do with that word, had we?"

Li Yan felt as if stabbed. He couldn't maintain his fake angry face anymore. He swallowed a mouthful of blood that gushed into his mouth and held himself back restraining hard. His eyes were covered with a layer of blood vessels. "Are you sure?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"Dead sure!" Shen Nuo replied firmly.

Li Yan's heart ached as if bleeding. He closed his eyes tightly, to restrain the tears that were moistening his eyes, afraid that his subjects would notice. His hands clenched. He tried to endure it with all his might. But finally he could no longer.

So infront of the whole court with a hundred people watching, Li Yan actually pulled Shen Nuo by the nape and latched his lips with him. The ministers gasped bewildered. Even the maids and guard at the entrance blushed. What on earth was happening!!?

Shen Nuo was stunned. He couldn't move and went lame all over when he was attacked like this. He did not know whether it was his imagination or not. But he felt a sweet taste of blood when their lips entangled for a few seconds. And Li Yan's eyes looked wet.

Li Yan slowly pulled away. Their eyes were looking at each other closely. The kiss was very short, just a brush of lips than a proper kiss to be honest. But Shen Nuo was panting hard. His flushed face was scorching hot. He looked at Li Yan weakly.

"You can hate me." Li Yan whispered, wiping Shen Nuo's lips with the tip of his thumb, those lips that were wet and stained with his blood. That voice was wrenched with so much pain and bitterness. "But Shen Nuo, you will regret this. One day you will regret everything you did. But when that day comes, it will be too late..."

Shen Nuo's heart was suddenly beating so wildly. What did Li Yan mean?

Li Yan didn't say anything anymore. His eyes that looked at Shen Nuo were so red. It was also a bit wet at the ends. They looked very sad. Then he smiled slightly and turned away and walked towards the entrance of the hall in his firm steps.

"Consort Shen's confinement lifted. Release Yue Zhanhua! Court dismissed!"

The ministers bowed and left the court one by one, whispering with each other frantically. Only Shendu and Shen Nuo were left. Shendu walked towards Shen Nuo. His eyes were dark and frightening.

"Either go and kneel infront of the throne and say sorry. Or kneel infront of the Ancestral Tower for six days without getting up! The choice is yours! If you dare refuse, I will show you what it is like to be disciplined by me!"

But Shen Nuo didn't seem to be listening. He seemed to be in a daze. His face was pale. He was silent for a long time. At last, he raised his red eyes to look at him. "Third brother, is Li Yan hiding something from me?"

"Why don't you go and ask him yourself?"

"I'm afraid I'll annoy him again..." Shen Nuo said in a hoarse voice.

Shendu's jaws tightened. He smirked. "I only have one thing to say. Both you and me, our entire general's manor is alive until today because of His Majesty's mercy. So you better behave!"

Shen Nuo frowned slightly. "He just wants to bully me. That's all. He's the Emperor after all. I'm just a consort. There's really nothing I can do."

"Stop being childish, Shen Nuo, do you think he's happy with the throne?" Shendu asked, rolling his eyes. "We have everything. But he has nothing. But still he lives to bear the burden to protect what we have while he has nothing but torture. Do you think he's happy?"

Shen Nuo felt lame... "Third brother... What do you mean?"

Shendu's face was a bit pale. "At least haven't you noticed that he had changed?"

Shen Nuo's heart stopped beating. Yes... Suddenly he realized that Li Yan wasn't the same person he used to be when Shen Nuo had transmigrated here...

Shendu shook his head dismissively. "You're so dumb. I only can say one thing. Just open your eyes and see before it's too late even to regret. You won't have a lifetime." With that, he shrugged and walked away.

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When Shen Nuo came back to Mingyue Palace with a heavy heart, Jinyu knelt down with red eyes and pulled Liyi down onto her knees too. When Liyi was confused and tried to get up, Jinyu glared at him. "Kneel down!"

Liyi was horrified. She quickly knelt down. She had obviously never seen Jinyu like this.

Shen Nuo nearly had a headache. "Now what's up with you two?"

"It's too late." Jinyu said on a hoarse voice, staring at the wooden tiles. "But I still need to clear the misunderstanding. Master, it wasn't His Majesty's fault. It was our fault. My and Liyi's."

Shen Nuo frowned. "And what does that suppose to mean?"

Liyi still looked confused. Jinyu raised his moist eyes to look at him. "It was me who swapped the heat suppressant pills with... aphrodisiacs..."

Shen Nuo felt thunderstruck. "What... what do you mean?"

Liyi's eyes widened when she realized what Jinyu was mentioning about. She opened her mouth but couldn't speak at all. Jinyu's voice was very hoarse. "Master, you ran into heat not because you spent the night with His Majesty together, it's because what you drank as heat suppressants was but aphrodisiacs."

Shen Nuo felt lame. His heart bled. He suddenly remembered something from that particular night when Li Yan had brought him from the cave.

He seemed to remember Li Yan speaking to Jinyu about this matter. But he only thought it was a dream. He couldn't believe that he heard this. He looked at Jinyu incredulously. "What did you just say?"

"Actually His Majesty knew it even from the begining. But, he didn't say a word when you blamed him. It's my fault. Please punish me..."

Shen Nuo was suddenly breathing so hard. His eyes were also red. "Get out!" He said through gritted teeth, narrowing his eyes. "You're not allowed into my chamber unless I call you in, both!"

When Jinyu and Liyi had left, Shen Nuo felled onto his couch feeling weak all over. His heart was beating like thunder. How can he miss something obvious like this? He only repeatedly payed his attention to Zhanhua in fear that Li Yan would do something to him. So he hadn't been that keen on paying attention to Li Yan...

He did not notice it before but now that Shendu suddenly mentioned it, he did notice it. Something was definitely wrong with Li Yan. He just didn't understand why.

The Li Yan of the book was a murderous emperor who was heartless. The emperor he knew was cold faced and warm hearted, who would never show a smile no matter how much happy he was. He would never shed a tear no matter how sad he was. But...

The Li Yan he see now was...

Shen Nuo shook his head furiously. What on earth was with Li Yan so suddenly to have such a strong emotional change? When did he start crying? When did he start begging? When did he start loosing his control infront of his subjects?

And what on earth did Shendu mean? Shen Nuo had a very bad feeling. He was scared by Shendu's words. Shendu wasn't someone who would casually mess around or finger into the personal lives of others. But him to be this serious, what on earth was Li Yan hiding!!?

Shen Nuo felt a headache.

He knew Li Yan must have had one of the darkest and lonely childhoods. He was forced to bear heavy responsibilities since small. His parents and sister were murdered. Amid that, at such a young age, Li Yan was forced to ascend the throne. It mustn't have been easy on him. He must have definitely suffered a lot.

But Li Yan definitely wasn't a person who would like to talk about his misery. It had always been his reverse scale. Shen Nuo sighed softly. Looks like he will have to find it himself alone...

He went out of the chamber even without taking his noon meals. When he came to the gate of Mingyue Palace, he saw Liyi and Jinyu outside the gate, kneeling. Jinyu's eyes were red. He raised his eyes to look at Shen Nuo when he came out.

"Master!" He spoke hoarsely.

Liyi had her face entirely lowered. But her shoulders trembled slightly. There was a pool of tears beneath her face on the pebbles. It looked as though Jinyu had given her a good lecture. "Sorry..." She whispered in a barely audible voice, pain apparent from her tone. "I'm... sorry."

Shen Nuo sighed shaking his head. "You're two! Here after stop messing around, understood? Now both of you, go back and wait until my return."

Jinyu gulped. "Master, where are you going?"

Shen Nuo smiled. "To accept my punishments... It will take several days. So I will have to ask you both to manage everything here during my absence."

When Liyi heard this, she couldn't take it anymore. She started crying loudly. She repeatedly banged her head against the pebbles, whimpering. "I'm sorry!"

"Jinyu, take her inside." Shen Nuo said to Jinyu and left. When he came to the Ancestral Tower, it was already evening. The sky above the stone tiled platform infront of the tower was gloomy. The dark clouds swept slowly, randomly flashing with soundless lightnings. Shen Nuo looked at the sky heavily. Looks like it's going to be a storm tonight...

Shen Nuo smiled and the ends of his eyes were red. He silently knelt on the freezing cold stony tiles, facing the sky towering Ancestor Tower, with the gloomy sky as his roof and cold earth as the floor.

He did not feel the icy winds that swept past his thin clothes, freezing him to his bones. He did not feel the coldness of the stones beneath him that chilled his knees either. But deeper to the depths of his aching heart, it was numb and itchy.

So with hands behind his back, and with a lowered head and closed eyes, he started reminding everything from the begining. Where did it go wrong? When exactly did Li Yan start changing?

When the evening drizzle started descending down slapping against his body like thin needles piercing his skin, his body must have shivered a lot in pain. But his mind wandered in those wholesome days of olden, amid memories that bore a different pain... into a past that even he had not remembered properly before, of the days when he was very young, barely big enough to understand things around him...

Tears repeatedly felled down his eyes, mingled with the cold drizzle, collected at his chin and descended down in drops, staining the moist stony floor beneath...

But that person did not know that on the highest storey of the Ancestral Tower, under the same gloomy sky, under the same heavy drizzle stood Li Yan, his eyes fixed at person who knelt on the cold stony floor, thirty storeys below.

His eyes were red with tears but his heart had a different emotion that was hard to fathom. He silently raised his face to look at the dark sky above him and let the rain drops splash on his face. No one knew whether the water drops that left his face at the end were water... or tears...

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Five more chapters. 😅🤭😉