Chapter Six: You Truly Are So Green!

“Are we that close?” Shen Fuyu raised an eyebrow. Why did this young emperor look so naive and clueless? Beloved consort? Who loves whom, exactly? Have you ever loved her, or has she ever loved you?

Changfu, who followed behind, didn’t even dare to breathe loudly!

When had there ever been a concubine like this?

Even as a eunuch, he couldn’t bear to watch!

Qin Zhiyi’s expression darkened slightly, then he suddenly said, “Changfu, leave us.”

Changfu: “?”

Shouldn’t the consort be the one to leave at a time like this? Why was he being dismissed?

“She’s telling you to go,” Shen Fuyu glanced at Changfu, “Don’t be a third wheel here.”

Changfu bowed his head. Fine, he’d go!

He didn’t know what was going on, but he felt he’d swallowed enough grievances in Crescent Moon Palace. As he left the main hall and saw that green tea of a maid still kneeling outside, his anger flared. He immediately summoned two young eunuchs. “Drag her away and give her thirty strokes. Let her remember her place! A lowly palace maid, daring to serve His Majesty? What a fool’s dream!”

As the green tea girl wailed in distress, Changfu’s heart felt much relieved.

Inside the hall, Shen Fuyu plopped herself carelessly onto a chair, raising her eyebrows at the young emperor beside her. Just now she’d received a hint of anger points, but why wasn’t the emperor angry anymore?

That wouldn’t do!

“Do you know you’ve been cuckolded?” What else could she do but repeat her trick!

Qin Zhiyi pressed his lips together, saying nothing.

“At this very moment, I feel like singing for you!” Shen Fuyu cleared her throat, then began, “Green, green, green, green, green... I have a date with the grasslands, to go seek out... green, green, green...”

Qin Zhiyi never spoke a word.

Shen Fuyu leaned in, her tone mocking, “Your Majesty, why are you silent? Am I wrong? Or are you angry? You wouldn’t, would you? Just this little thing, would you stoop to argue with a woman like me?”

“How petty you are!”

“You have an endless prairie growing on your head!”

“I’m just kindly reminding you, please don’t be truly upset.”

“Do you also think I’m useless?” Qin Zhiyi sounded utterly crushed, sitting in his chair, head in hands, hunched over his knees. “I am the most worthless emperor Da Xun has ever had. Even when the empress cheats on me, all I can do is swallow my pride!”

“Swallow what? The empress’s lover? That’d be tough to stomach even after three thousand cuts and washing it down with water,” Shen Fuyu grabbed a pastry from the table, completely unfazed by Qin Zhiyi’s misery, and ate with relish. “Oh, and don’t swallow raw—it might have parasites.”

She picked up another pastry with her slender fingers, eating without a care for her image, a striking contrast to the despairing Qin Zhiyi beside her.

It wasn’t that she didn’t pity him. To be an emperor and endure one’s own woman’s betrayal—anyone would be devastated. It was easy to imagine the depth of Qin Zhiyi’s despair.

But Shen Fuyu had lived far too long. She’d weathered countless storms, seen too many people at their lowest. Qin Zhiyi wasn’t even the most miserable she’d known. Long ago, she’d once felt too sympathetic to mock, and had tried to comfort people in similar situations, but the result was always one of two things: either the person, feeling better, would turn on her, or, after comforting them, she’d end up dead anyway.

After that, Shen Fuyu became a consummate contrarian. All she wanted was to argue—when the anger bar was full, she could enjoy one last life, then finally be free from immortality.

So as for Qin Zhiyi, pitiful as he was, sorry—he was only a tool for collecting her anger points.

In her ear, Qin Zhiyi seemed to be venting about something, but Shen Fuyu secretly swallowed a spiritual pill, blocking out the outside world. Watching Qin Zhiyi shout himself hoarse, she narrowed her eyes and then yawned.

Let the little emperor rant—she was going to take a nap.

Qin Zhiyi spoke at length, pouring out all his pent-up resentment and anxiety. At last, he felt somewhat relieved. Glancing at Shen Fuyu, he found he didn’t even have the strength to be angry anymore, and slumped back into his chair, totally deflated.

He truly was a disgrace as emperor.

For the sake of the nation’s security, he’d married a princess from the far more powerful Yun Jing Kingdom. Jing Lanxi had never liked him; even after their marriage, they’d never lived as husband and wife. Worse, he had to cover up her scandals.

The so-called “cursed to harm his wives” was just an excuse for outsiders, a way to separate him from Jing Lanxi, so they wouldn’t clash and risk war between Yun Jing and Da Xun.

In court, his uncles and brothers eyed his throne hungrily; the ministers only wanted power for themselves and never took him seriously. In the harem, the concubines were all entangled with former ministers, their every smile hiding ulterior motives. How many were truly sincere toward him?

All things considered, being scolded by Consort Xian was almost preferable.

His feelings were complicated, but after venting, he felt much better.

“Did you hear what I just said?” Qin Zhiyi suddenly looked up at Shen Fuyu, only to see her fast asleep, a bit of drool at the corner of her mouth. His anger flared anew. “Shen Fuyu!”

“...No, I wasn’t listening.” Shen Fuyu was roused, a little annoyed. “Does it really matter?”

“I am the emperor!”

“So what if you are?”

“You are my consort!”

“If you don’t like that, I could be your father instead,” Shen Fuyu wiped her mouth, feeling her anger bar nearly maxed out again. This young emperor’s rage was truly delightful! After all her struggles, she’d only reached level thirty-four before becoming Shen Fuyu, but meeting Qin Zhiyi, she was already about to hit level thirty-six!

“Insolence!” Qin Zhiyi’s face twisted in fury as he pointed at Shen Fuyu, her nonchalant attitude infuriating him even more. “I have never seen anyone as shameless as you!”

“Oh? Well, now you have!” Shen Fuyu blinked innocently.

But seeing that Qin Zhiyi was about to explode, Shen Fuyu worried he might not be able to handle it. Arguing was one thing, but she couldn’t let him die of rage—she’d never killed anyone before, after all, only ever been killed herself!

“Oh, Your Majesty, I was just joking with you. Are you angry?” Suddenly, Shen Fuyu changed her tone completely, moving closer with a gentle smile. “I’ve always been like this—please be patient with me. After all, I’m your savior!”

“I’d really rather not have a savior like you!”