Chapter Ninety-One: Qin Shihuang Was Dumped

He alone did not want to be spoken to like that by Shen Fuyu.

“All right, then I will put it another way.” She truly was short on sleep today, to be comforting this little emperor in the dead of night, but there was nothing for it; who had made him her benefactor? “Do not let stray thoughts interfere with your actions. Do not think of right or wrong. Only think of what you ought to do.”

“And then do it.”

Qin Zhiyi was not a foolish ruler. On the contrary, it could be seen that he cared for his country and for the people within it, so if there was something he wished to do, then he should simply do it. His choice would not be wrong; it would make this nation better and better.

There would inevitably be death along the way. Even if one tried as hard as possible to avoid it, it could not always be avoided.

She had once seen the long river of history, had tasted the bitterness of five thousand years, and had witnessed countless glorious moments.

“I believe in you.”

Qin Zhiyi pressed his thin lips together, and after a long while said, “Thank you.”

“Then I’m sleeping.” Shen Fuyu lay down, closed her eyes, and pulled up the blanket, all three steps executed in one smooth motion.

Within moments, she was already snoring, sleeping deeply and sweetly, leaving Qin Zhiyi alone to have his feelings interrupted by force.

Tsk.

He suddenly wondered whether Shen Fuyu had just been brushing him off.

Yet even as that thought crossed his mind, he did feel as though the clouds had been parted. With a deliberate effort not to overthink, he removed his clothes and lay down beside Shen Fuyu.

The next day, Shen Fuyu sat up from the floor.

Damn it! Qin Zhiyi had not left either! He had thrown her onto the floor again!

Shen Fuyu stretched. It was already broad daylight. Yawning, she sleepily slipped on her shoes and walked out, only to find Qin Zhiyi sitting in an inner hall chair, reading a military treatise.

“Your Majesty, do you not have morning court today?” Shen Fuyu yawned. Rare indeed was it to catch Qin Zhiyi at this hour.

Qin Zhiyi’s expression darkened as he closed the book. “It is a day of rest.”

“Oh.”

Shen Fuyu’s mind finally booted up. Today was the first day of the month; the emperor got one day off each month, and in another fifteen days they would be eating mooncakes.

“Your Majesty, are you not sleepy either? On a rare day of rest and you still will not sleep a little longer. Are you some kind of fake person?” Shen Fuyu sat down beside Qin Zhiyi. “I am hungry.”

“I have discovered that even when you are half-asleep, you still never forget that mouth of yours!” Not only did she speak unpleasantly, she was also picky at meals!

“Of course. Is there anyone more sarcastic and twisted-tongued than me?” Shen Fuyu put her hands on her hips, looking extremely pleased with herself. “Silver Bell, I am hungry!”

Silver Bell hurried in with the breakfast kept warm in the little kitchen. After setting the dishes on the table, she stood at the side to attend Shen Fuyu while she ate.

“My lady, earlier the eldest young lady came with the eighth young lady to pay their respects, but this servant sent them away,” Silver Bell said softly.

“They may still come and kneel to me now. Tell them to come,” Shen Fuyu said after some thought. Since they were using paying respects to her as an excuse to get close to Qin Zhiyi, having them kneel to her three times first was not too much to ask, was it?

A fair trade.

Qin Zhiyi had lost all appetite for reading. Looking at Shen Fuyu, he said, “It is rare that I have a day of rest, and I wish for some peace. Can you not let your elder and younger sisters in? Merely looking at them gives me a headache.”

“Really?” Shen Fuyu blinked.

“Why would I lie to you?” Qin Zhiyi suddenly had a very bad feeling.

“Quick!” Shen Fuyu hurriedly shoved Silver Bell. “Go, tell them to come in!”

Qin Zhiyi would get angry if he saw them!

“You!”

Qin Zhiyi flung the book aside. He could not go on living like this!

But Shen Fuyu froze on the spot, then suddenly said, “Never mind, no need to go. Tell the two of them not to disturb me and the emperor’s time alone together.”

There was no other reason for the sudden change of mind.

The spatial realm had merely leveled up.

Every time it leveled up, Shen Fuyu was happy. Level forty-two already, how nice, how wonderful!

Faced with Shen Fuyu’s intermittent, almost frenzied behavior, Qin Zhiyi let out a heavy sigh. “What now? I warn you, do not act recklessly.”

“Your Majesty, are you keeping watch over me right now?” Shen Fuyu blinked.

Tch. He really wanted to hit her.

“Mm…”

As they were speaking, somehow Qin Shihuang had crawled over to their feet. Head drooping, tail hanging limply, he looked like a dejected little person asking for comfort.

Shen Fuyu bent down and picked him up, looking baffled. “What is wrong with my son? Did I not just steal you a wife yesterday?”

The pastry Qin Zhiyi had just taken in his hand slipped from his fingers to the floor. He could hardly believe it. “Are you a mountain bandit? Why do you steal everything?”

As for what had happened yesterday, Qin Zhiyi knew the gist of it: beating the imperial guards, causing a scene in the imperial kitchen, and so on. Though in the end Shen Fuyu had whitewashed it all away with a brazen denial, Qin Zhiyi knew perfectly well that every last one of those things had been done by this woman.

Apart from her, there was absolutely no one else in the palace capable of such things.

Thus, regarding the confinement, Qin Zhiyi did not bother to manage it. Since even after punishment by the board she could break thirty boards, what was confinement to her? If she was in a good mood one day, or a bad mood the next, she would probably just climb the wall and go out.

As it turned out, he had guessed very accurately.

“How can you say that? What mother is not anxious about helping her child find a partner?” Shen Fuyu rolled her eyes at him and hugged Qin Shihuang. “Our Shihuang is at the right age too.”

“Do not say ‘our.’ I do not want to recognize a dog as my son.” Qin Zhiyi’s face darkened, and he firmly rejected Shen Fuyu’s way of speaking.

What sort of emperor called a dog his son? Was that appropriate?

“All right, all right, not ours.” Shen Fuyu set Qin Shihuang down. “And you call yourself the emperor, so fussy.”

“?” Qin Zhiyi wanted to hit someone again. “It is already generous of me to allow it to take my surname!”

“Stop arguing.” Shen Fuyu paid no mind to his anger. She lowered her head and rubbed Qin Shihuang’s head. “Son, tell Mother what is truly wrong?”

“A few days without seeing me, and you are actually talking to a dog now?”

“It is very clever, all right.” After all, she had washed it with the Spirit Stream; once intelligence had been opened, there was no going back.

Qin Shihuang arranged words on the ground with the little wooden tiles Silver Bell had made for it.

“My wife ran off. She will not bear me puppies.”

Pfft.

Shen Fuyu could not hold back, then burst into laughter. “You got dumped, hahahahaha…”

“…Is this how you act as a mother?” Qin Zhiyi’s brows tightened. He suddenly wondered whether it had been a mistake to have Xiu Xi’s child raised here.

What kind of real mother mocked her own child like this?

“Oh, it’s fine. There are so many little female dogs in this world. We do not need this one. Later, Mother will find you ten or eight more; there will surely be some who take a fancy to you!” Shen Fuyu patted the dog’s head and sent Qin Shihuang off to play. “Go on, play. Do not take it to heart. The little dog kept by Consort Hui was not good enough for you.”

“…So that is why Consort Hui was complaining to me yesterday that someone stole her dog.” Qin Zhiyi looked at Shen Fuyu. “So that was you as well?”

Heaven knew how annoying Consort Hui’s tearful, pear-blossom-in-the-rain crying had been yesterday!