Chapter 45

unedited

Outside the window, the cicadas were singing in waves, and the summer sunshine shone through the cracks in the window, making Shen Fengyue restless as he sat on the bed. His fingers kept tapping on the desk.

The system tried hard not to laugh out loud, waiting to see the show of Shen Fengyue.

“The Emperor has arrived–” someone announced from outside.

Shen Fengyue looked up at the door curtain when he heard the sound, thinking what was supposed to come finally came.

The eunuch whom he had seen in the morning came in first, lifting the curtain with one hand and standing aside while bowing slightly, revealing the ultimate big boss.

Shen Fengyue stepped forward to bow, “This concubine respectfully welcomes Your Majesty.”

Every move and even the smile on his face were all in line with the situation, perfect and appropriate. The system was impressed by Shen Fengyue’s ability to blend into the harem.

It has only been a short while, but he has already mastered this type of skill to this extent. Looking at his respectful and gentle appearance when bowing, someone would really believe he is truly a real palace consort. The system was amazed.

The Chu Emperor was over fifty years old, with his hair tied up, and wearing a dark-colored gown with a golden hairpin and jade crown on top. Embroidered dragons could be vaguely seen dancing on it, under the sunlight.

With a solemn expression, he only showed a slight movement in his eyes upon seeing Shen Fengyue. He stood there, exuding an aura of dominance.

“Concubine Yan, no need for excessive ceremony.” Emperor Chu reached out and helped Shen Fengyue to his seat at the table.

“Have you been sleeping well recently? Hong Mei told me that you got up in the middle of the night yesterday. Did you have a headache?”

Shen Fengyue felt uncomfortable when he was nudged, his hair standing on end. However, he still has to deal with it bravely, “Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I’m fine. I just tossed and mumbled in my sleep, which startled Hong Mei.”

“I had some free time today, so I came to see you and read a book in your company,” said Emperor Chu, as his eunuch brought him the book.

As Eunuch Shen left, Shen Fengyue watched him disappear behind the curtain. Emperor Chu noticed this and asked, “Why do you keep looking at Xiao Shenzi today?”

Shen Fengyue shook his head and replied, “I was just casually looking around.”

So Emperor Chu stayed at Shen Fengyue’s place for the whole afternoon, leaning against the table and reading a book, while Shen Fengyue could only pretend to work on his embroidery, with Hong Mei and Luo Xue.

Everyone was silently doing their own things, and the air seemed to be still. Shen Fengyue felt as if he was sitting on pins and needles, feeling like days and years have passed and wishing he could jump up and run away.

As time passed little by little, his wish finally came true, and at sunset, Eunuch Shen came in and reminded Emperor Chu that it was time to leave.

Emperor Chu only got up then, seeming to be reluctant to leave, and praised Shen Fengyue for the rare tranquility he found there, promising to come back in the future.

Shen Fengyue’s smile on his face became stiff, and he respectfully sent Emperor Chu away and dispersed the others, collapsing onto the couch. He kept his mouth slightly open, looking like a corpse, feeling as if his soul had drifted out of his mouth and dissipated into the air.

Shen Fengyue, “What should we do now?”

Although the system was secretly delighted, it had to feign comfort and console its host, saying, “Come on, Old Shen, pull yourself together, you can do it! Conquer Emperor Chu and become the favorite of the harem!”

After a moment of contemplation, Shen Fengyue sat up from the couch and said, “No, we can’t just wait for death, we must take some action.”

“How do we do that?” asked the system.

Shen Fengyue told the system about his ideas, and then the two of them quickly brushed through classic palace dramas such as “Desire of the Golden Branch”, “The Legend of the Palace”, and “The Strategy of Conquering the Harem” at super speed.

After finishing the last drama, they fell into a brief silence, which was finally broken by Shen Fengyue.

Shen Fengyue, “I feel like I’m invincible now.”

System, “I also feel like I’m invincible.”

They looked at each other, and said in unison, “Rule the harem, surpass all beauties.”

“…”

“……………………………………”

Wait, what were they just saying? 

Shen Fengyue suddenly snapped out of it, secretly afraid that he had been drugged and lost his mind.

It never rains but it pours, and bad things seemed to come one after another.

Just as he had come to terms with the fact that he had to cross-dress as a woman and successfully sent away the revered Emperor Chu, he was greeted by the imperial eunuch again.

Shen Fengyue looked at the bowing and submissive Eunuch Shen in front of him, speechless and choked up.

“Concubine Yan has been summoned by the Emperor for tonight, please prepare yourself accordingly. This servant takes his leave,” said the eunuch before bowing and turning to leave.

Upon hearing this terrible news, Shen Fengyue felt as if struck by lightning, and without thinking, he called out to Eunuch Shen.

Eunuch Shen’s step faltered, and he quickly glanced at Shen Fengyue before lowering his head once again and respectfully asking, “Does the Concubine have any orders?”

Shen Fengyue’s mind was in a daze, buzzing with confusion. He searched for something to say and asked, “Why did the Emperor choose me?”

Eunuch Shen’s lips curled imperceptibly, but he quickly smoothed over any trace of emotion and answered, “The thoughts of the Emperor are beyond the understanding of this servant.”

“I offer my congratulations to the Concubine on her promotion,” Eunuch Shen said while bowing before leaving. “This servant has other duties and will not disturb the concubine any longer.”

Shen Fengyue watched Eunuch Shen leave, and his heart slowly cooled.

After Eunuch Shen left, both Shen Fengyue and the system fell into silence.

Shen Fengyue cleared his throat, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and said, “To become a favored concubine, attending the emperor in bed is a necessary step.”

The innocent system was still cheering him on, saying, “You can do it!”

Shen Fengyue put down his teacup and it made a crisp sound on the desk. He remained silent for a long time. The system waited for a response for a long time, but when there was no answer, it suddenly felt cold inside, “Wha… what’s wrong? ⊙_⊙”

“Good brother, I’m counting on you.” He said lightly.

This time, the system panicked.

“You can do it!” Shen Fengyue smiled and pursed his lips, with a graceful bearing. “The rewards of this world are waiting for you ahead~”

The system urgently protested, “Wait, you…” but was interrupted by Shen Fengyue’s cool voice, “Some A.I made it clear before we started our mission that it owes me a favor. If there’s a need for it, it will go through fire and water and spare no effort to help.”

“And now is the time when it’s needed.”

The system couldn’t say anything. At that moment, its heart was bleeding.

Shen Fengyue, you ungrateful person! Using your favor for your own gain! Shameless villain!

After pushing the heavy burden of attending the emperor to the system, Shen Fengyue felt light and carefree. He was in a great mood and even had someone send him a late-night snack.

After eating, Shen Fengyue instructed someone to prepare a bath for him. He took a comfortable bath and changed into his pajamas, sitting on the edge of the bed with great enthusiasm.

System, “…”

As night fell, candles were lit in the palace, and their bright flames danced in the darkness.

A group of palace servants carrying lanterns followed Emperor Chu to Shen Fengyue’s palace with great fanfare.

“This concubine respectfully welcomes Your Majesty,” Shen Fengyue greeted him at the door.

Emperor Chu smiled and took his hand, leading him into the palace.

“It’s cold outside, Concubine Yan, you don’t have to come out to greet me in person. Be careful not to catch a cold,” he said.

Shen Fengyue lowered his head shyly.

The palace was dimly lit, with only flickering candles casting shadows. The beautiful and delicate face of Yen Fei seemed to glow and fade with the flickering light. Suddenly, a fire ignited in Emperor Chu’s throat. “Concubine Yan, it’s late. Let’s go to bed,” he said.

Shen Fengyue blushed and smiled coquettishly, taking hold of Emperor Chu’s collar and leading him step by step toward the bed.

Emperor Chu smiled indulgently and said, “It’s up to you now, system!”

The system remained silent.

In the past, it had laughed at Shen Fengyue’s cross-dressing, makeup, jewelry, and exaggerated mannerisms, but it never expected karma to come so quickly. Now it could no longer laugh, as it had to do something even more exaggerated.

In the moment when Shen Fengyue pushed Emperor Chu onto the bed, Emperor Chu suddenly lost consciousness and fainted. Shen Fengyue placed him properly, kicked him inside the covers, and then pushed him into the corner, leaving him curled up.

After doing all of this, Shen Fengyue closed his eyes.

“System, you’ve worked hard. Keep it up,” he said.

System, “…”

The next day, Shen Fengyue slept badly, but in a daze, he felt someone staring at him.

The look was full of desire.

Shen Fengyue instantly woke up and opened his eyes to find it was Emperor Chu.

Emperor Chu saw that the person beside him was awake and pulled up the covers for him, calling out softly, “Yan Yan.”

He called Shen Fengyue “Concubine Yan” before they went to bed, and “Yan Yan” after they slept together.

Shen Fengyue felt uneasy, his body stiff and motionless. He privately poked the system, “What did you do to him?”

System, “Ahem.”

“Yan Yan, are you awake? Do you want to rest a while longer?” The Emperor’s attitude suddenly changed, with a strong sense of indulgence.

Shen Fengyue trembled slightly, but he couldn’t ignore the Emperor and could only stiffly say, “Your Majesty.”

Unexpectedly, the Emperor spoke a surprising sentence the next moment, “Yan Yan, why don’t you call me Sanlang anymore?”

The Emperor had five brothers, and he was the third in line.

Shen Fengyue silently turned to the system to settle the score, “System, you come out.”

System, “Ahem.”

The Emperor had been keeping an eye on him.

“Sanlang,” Shen Fengyue could only follow suit and address him, but the whole situation felt off, “Yan Yan is here to help you up.”

Emperor Chu scratched his nose with his hand and shook his head with a smile. “No need, I know Yan Yan is still tired. You can continue to rest, I’ll leave first.” With that, he got out of bed and called for Eunuch Shen.

Shen Fengyue lay on the bed, feeling sickened by Emperor Chu’s affectionate actions just now.

Eunuch Shen came in from outside to help Emperor Chu get dressed, and his gaze inadvertently fell on Shen Fengyue who was lying on the bed like a dead body.

After the emperor finished dressing and was about to leave, he suddenly hissed and rubbed his waist. He turned around and glanced at Shen Fengyue, teasingly saying, “Yan Yan was really fierce last night.”

Shen Fengyue, “…”

Watching the emperor slightly supporting his waist and walking out the door, he suddenly recalled the incident where he kicked him a few times before going to bed last night.

“System.”

System, “Ahem.”

Shen Fengyue remembered the 180-degree turn in the emperor’s attitude towards him, and couldn’t help feeling a chill.

The system is really a talented one.

Sylph has something to say:

Who do you think the ML will be in this arc?

the emperor or will it be a new character?