C151 — Kill the top Scorer（18）
by UntamedSWen Yurong couldn’t clearly see what was happening up ahead from where he sat—there was a beaded curtain in the way. He only heard the sounds.
“Get away from me!”
The voice was filled with shock, disgust, and blazing fury.
“Hah. What, you still think you’re some high-and-mighty emperor?”
…
Wen Yurong’s expression shifted sharply—he already guessed what Shi Zhou was trying to do. Clenching his teeth, he roared, “Shi Zhou, are you insane?!”
Shi Zhou let out a soft laugh when he heard that.
Insane? Yes, he was insane. This man before him—aside from his title as emperor—was absolutely worthless. Yet it was this very man who not only killed his older brother but also took his Yurong away from him.
Even now, when Wen Yurong knew that this sickly bastard had killed his brother, he still refused to lift a hand. He even stopped him from retaliating. Told him to forgive.
Forgive? Forgive what?
That sickly bastard got to live in luxury inside the palace, while they—the soldiers—shed blood and risked their lives every single day, always walking the edge of death. And Shen Jue killed his brother, even if it was by mistake.
Even if it was an accident, this man before him didn’t show an ounce of guilt.
Today, the weakling surrendered and had the nerve to ask for a quick death?
No way.
Shi Zhou wasn’t going to let him off easy. He was going to show Shen Jue what it meant to suffer a fate worse than death. And he was going to make Wen Yurong feel it too.
Weren’t those two head-over-heels for each other? Who knew how many times they’d done these filthy things together. Just look at the way they fed each other medicine last time—so damn intimate. As if they hadn’t done everything already. And the joke was, Wen Yurong even lied to him. Said he didn’t like Shen Jue.
Didn’t like him? Then why feed him with your own mouth?
…
Shi Zhou hated Shen Jue. Hated that he killed his brother. Hated that he stole Wen Yurong. He wasn’t going to let this go easily, and in the end, came up with this ridiculous, twisted idea.
He believed this was the only way to truly get his revenge on Shen Jue—and to torment Wen Yurong too.
He was going to make Wen Yurong watch the person he cared about suffer.
Outside, the rain finally began to fall. Though it was midday, the hall had grown dark.
“Shi Zhou, stop! Shi Zhou, he’s going to die! You can’t do this!”
No matter how Wen Yurong pleaded, Shi Zhou didn’t respond again. That was when Wen Yurong finally understood what he meant.
Shi Zhou wanted him to beg—beg while crying.
Wen Yurong closed his eyes tightly, gritting his teeth until his voice turned hoarse.
“Xiao Zhou, let him go. I beg you. I’m begging you, please.”
The rain outside was getting heavier and heavier, nearly drowning out Wen Yurong’s voice.
Eventually, Wen Yurong just stared through the beaded curtain in silence.
His lips had been bitten through. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The dim lighting in the hall made his features seem faint and blurred.
The streak of red on his pale chin made his jade-like face all the more hauntingly beautiful.
He simply stared outside.
His gaze shifted from desperate pleading… to hopelessness… and finally, to emptiness.
This act of violence had come as suddenly as the downpour outside—and lasted just as long.
So long that Wen Yurong thought… the man was already dead.
Shen Jue had made some noise at first. But later, not even a sound.
No one knew how much time had passed before someone finally lifted the beaded curtain in front of Wen Yurong.
Shi Zhou strode in, and when he saw the look on Wen Yurong’s face, his own expression shifted noticeably. He stared straight at Wen Yurong.
“You really care about him that much?” he sneered. “He’s not dead yet, relax. Still breathing.”
Wen Yurong turned his eyes to Shi Zhou, and his gaze darkened with hatred.
He spoke, clearly and bitterly:
“Beast. Shi Zhou, you’re a beast.”
Shi Zhou took two steps forward and bent down slightly, gazing at Wen Yurong with clear eyes.
Despite what he had just done, his gaze remained disturbingly calm—cruelly ironic.
“Brother Yurong, this is just the beginning.”
He reached out and wiped the blood from the corner of Wen Yurong’s mouth.
Then he smiled.
“You haven’t cried yet. I’ll be waiting for the day you cry for him.”
—
Shen Jue had never imagined things would turn out this way.
In the main hall, he had deliberately provoked Shi Zhou, trying to make him angry enough not to kill him outright but to imprison him instead.
What he didn’t expect… was that Shi Zhou, out of vengeance against him and Wen Yurong, would actually—
Halfway through, Shen Jue lost consciousness.
But Shi Zhou was merciless—he hated Shen Jue to the core.
He forcibly revived Shen Jue by pressing on his philtrum, only to continue the torment.
Eventually, Shen Jue was forced to lie across the long desk typically used for reading ministerial memorials.
He passed out and woke up, over and over.
Shen Jue thought he’d die.
But somehow, he lived to open his eyes again.
“You’re awake?”
The first thing Shen Jue saw when he opened his eyes was Shi Zhou.
He looked around—and realized he was back in his own Chengde Hall.
“I thought you were dead already. That wouldn’t be much fun.”
Shi Zhou sat beside Shen Jue’s dragon bed, twirling the dagger he had taken from him.
“You’ve been unconscious for over ten days. Missed the whole coronation of the new emperor.”
He looked at Shen Jue, his expression gradually turning colder.
Shen Jue looked at him too, struggling to force out a single question:
“Yu… Lang…?”
“Yulang? You think you still get to call him that?”
Shi Zhou let out a cold laugh.
“Your Majesty—no, I guess I should call you the Deposed Emperor now—haven’t you figured it out? You’re nothing but a prisoner.”
“You’re only still alive to show the benevolence of our new emperor. And—”
He leaned in, his eyes staring straight into Shen Jue’s.
“I’m not done playing with you yet.”
“Gotta say, you’ve got a nice body. If you were in a brothel in the capital, you could probably be the number one courtesan.”
“Sure, you’re a little older, but you’ve aged well. Especially that mouth—bet even the most seasoned pleasure workers wouldn’t hold a candle to you.”
These words were so hurtful that even Shen Jue’s already pale face turned even paler after hearing them.
But when Shi Zhou saw Shen Jue’s ugly face, he burst into laughter. He wanted to see Shen Jue in pain right now, otherwise he would have been waiting here for more than ten days in vain, and letting all kinds of precious medicinal materials keep the other party alive.
Shi Zhou even reached out his hand and patted Shen Jue’s cheek, “Don’t be so sad yet, there’s still a long time to go. I’ll take you to take a bath first, and give you a good wash. Don’t worry, I don’t like to play with dead people. Shen Jue…”
He suddenly frowned, “Calling you by your name is flattering you. Your name also has Yu in it. Brother Yurong is Yulang, and you should be Yunu.”
…
Later, Shen Jue learned that after the new emperor ascended the throne, he moved to another palace. The Chengde Palace where he lived was guarded by Shi Zhou’s personal soldiers all day long. In the entire Chengde Palace, apart from Shen Jue, there was only one mute palace servant.
The palace servant was responsible for Shen Jue’s food, clothing, housing and transportation. However, it seemed that the palace servant was used to doing rough work and didn’t know how to control the strength of his hands. Just by helping Shen Jue to put on his clothes, he left several blue marks on his body.
Shi Zhou was very busy and doesn’t come often. Perhaps it was because the new emperor had a lot of things to do after ascending the throne. Wen Yurong was locked up in Chengde Palace all day, unable to go out and no one could come in. The only person who accompanied him was a mute palace maid.
He wouldn’t answer any questions.
But once Shi Zhou arrived, it would be nothing but a disaster for Shen Jue.
He didn’t know why Shi Zhou was willing to do this kind of thing to torture him.
Shen Jue looked at the person above him, shaking violently, “Don’t you feel sick?”
Shi Zhou lowered his head and pinched Shen Jue’s chin. When he saw a mark, he let go with satisfaction. “Disgusting, of course it’s disgusting, but I just want to torture you. Who told you to kill my brother? Yu Nu, if you really have the guts, you can commit suicide. I won’t stop you.”
As he spoke, he reached out and rummaged through a pile of clothes on the stool next to him, and finally found Shen Jue’s dagger.
Shi Zhou threw the dagger beside the pillow and said, “Here’s the dagger for you. Use it whenever you can’t bear it anymore. Of course, I still hope you’re alive and well. Otherwise, who would I torture?”
Every time he came, Shen Jue would be unconscious for ten days to half a month. Those precious medicinal herbs flowed into Chengde Palace like water, just to save the life of Shen Jue, the deposed emperor.
Shen Jue didn’t know where Wen Yurong was. He asked Shi Zhou, but Shi Zhou just laughed sarcastically and said to him, “Yu Nu, when you can hold on and not faint, I will tell you.”
Shi Zhou’s tone sounded very much like what the guests in a brothel would say.
Shen Jue looked at the person in front of him, his eyelashes drooping, and after a long while he said, “Are you serious?”
Shi Zhou was silent for a long time before he gritted his teeth and said, “Really, of course it’s true.”
But Shen Jue couldn’t hold on, not even once.
When he woke up, Shi Zhou scolded him, “What’s the use of your broken body? Living is a waste of medicine and food.”
Just when Shen Jue thought there was nothing he could do in this situation, someone came to Chengde Palace.
Only when the man walked to the bed did he notice him.
“Are you the deposed emperor?” a male voice sounded outside the bed.
Shen Jue first reached out and pulled the quilt next to him to cover himself, then turned his head to look at the other person.
It was a man he had never seen before, but he saw the dragon robe he was wearing. This person should be the grandson of King Jinling, the new emperor who just ascended the throne.
The new emperor stood beside the bed, staring at Shen Jue with interest, as if Shen Jue was some rare animal.
“Turns out General Shi kept you for such a purpose. According to seniority, I should still call you ‘Imperial Uncle.’ I had heard that you were cruel and heartless, but I never expected you to have such grace and elegance.”
His gaze fell on Shen Jue’s neck, where the marks were. Anyone who had experienced the ways of the world would know exactly what those were.
Shen Jue pressed his lips together, staring at the new emperor before him. After a long pause, he said, “If you’re here to humiliate me, feel free to do so. After all, it’s just the way of the victors and the vanquished.”
“No, Imperial Uncle, you’ve misunderstood me.”
What surprised Shen Jue was that the man actually sat down by the bed and even smiled, saying, “I can’t stand it anymore. Imperial Uncle, you were once a ruler of a nation. Now you’ve become a mere prisoner. General Shi has really gone too far. And Imperial Uncle, do you know? General Shi is getting married.”
Shen Jue’s expression changed drastically. “To whom?”
The new emperor’s voice was soft and smooth, “To the eldest son of the prime minister, Wen Yurong. By the way, Wen Yurong used to be your study companion, right?”
Wen Yurong was going to marry Shi Zhou?
They were getting married?
Shen Jue turned his face away in confusion, disbelief written all over his eyes.
Why were they getting married? Shi Zhou had come just a few days ago. Although he didn’t act on it, he had constantly humiliated him.
And then there was Wen Yurong. He clearly knew what Shi Zhou had done, so how could he marry him?
And what did that make Shen Jue?
“Imperial Uncle, what’s wrong? Imperial Uncle!”
Unable to hold back, Shen Jue coughed up a mouthful of blood. This seemed to alarm the man next to him.
“Someone! Someone come!”
Shen Jue looked at the fresh, crimson blood on the bed. Slowly, he reached out and grabbed the new emperor’s sleeve. “I’m fine. It’s just that I spat out some old, foul blood.” He turned his gaze toward the other man, his eyes deep like a phoenix’s. “When are they getting married?”
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