C153 — Kill That Top Scholar (20)

It felt like he had slept for a long time—or maybe not at all. Shen Jue could sense people around him, more than one, coming and going.

When Shen Jue was finally able to open his eyes, the first thing he saw was the bright yellow canopy above the bed. The overly familiar surroundings stunned him for a moment.

He couldn’t move much. As soon as he turned his head slightly, his eyes met another pair.

Those eyes widened in shock the moment they saw Shen Jue. “Your Majesty! Your Majesty, you’re finally awake! This servant will go report to the Empress Dowager at once!”

What did that mean?

Empress Dowager? Tong Meng’er?

When Tong Meng’er rushed to his bedside with teary eyes and hugged Shen Jue, calling him “my darling child,” Shen Jue finally realized that this realm had somehow restarted.

“My darling, you scared your mother to death! You’ve been ill for so many days. I cried day and night, thinking that if you left, mother wouldn’t want to live either.” As she spoke, she wiped her tears. Then, noticing Shen Jue staring blankly at her, she blinked and asked, “Darling, why are you looking at mother like that?”

Shen Jue turned his face slightly and frowned. At that moment, his memories slowly came back, and the chaotic thoughts in his mind began to sort themselves out.

This realm had started over. He didn’t know why he had returned to it. By all logic, whether he had completed the realm or not, he should have entered a new cycle. But instead of progressing into reincarnation, he had come back.

Now, he was once again twenty-nine years old. Compared to previous lives, nothing seemed different before that age.

Why had he returned to this realm? Could it be that Wen Yurong had been reborn?

Shen Jue didn’t know what happened after he committed sui-cide, so he had no way of knowing how Wen Yurong died or whether this reset had anything to do with him. But he no longer cared.

He no longer wanted to make Wen Yurong fall in love with him, nor did he want to get involved with him and Shi Zhou’s affairs. Whatever happened between them was their own business.

This time, he didn’t want to change the story’s course.

Shen Jue decided to go back to the mindset he had in the first few cycles—just live out this realm plainly and uneventfully.

So when Tong Meng’er brought up the idea of finding someone to perform a ritual marriage (to ward off evil and bad luck), Shen Jue didn’t even ask for the person’s name and simply said, “Whatever Mother decides is fine.”

Tong Meng’er stared at Shen Jue. For some reason, she felt her beloved son had changed. Before, even though Shen Jue was physically weak, his eyes had always been bright. But now, those phoenix-shaped eyes that resembled hers were dull, hollow, desolate.

She looked at him for a long moment, almost on the verge of tears.

Tong Meng’er raised her hand to gently touch Shen Jue’s cheek, her eyes glistening. “Jue’er, Mother only has you. Even if it’s just for my sake, you must live well, do you hear me? Don’t give up on yourself. If you do this, what are the people who love you supposed to do?”

The people who loved him?

His master would probably be sad, knowing he couldn’t break through the realm cycle. And… perhaps his senior brother would be a little sad too.

The rest? Probably no one else.

His master had only accepted two disciples: him and his senior brother. Shen Jue had spent his years in the heavens focused solely on cultivating, knowing nothing of the rest. As for the celestial lords and ladies, he didn’t know or remember a single one of them.

For immortals, as long as they didn’t make a grave mistake, they could live for a very long time. Given enough time, his master and senior brother would surely forget about him.

“Shen Jue!” Tong Meng’er, perhaps sensing the mood Shen Jue was in, unexpectedly called out his full name. “Are you trying to kill your mother?”

She was the one scolding Shen Jue, yet she was also the one crying.

Shen Jue looked at Tong Meng’er, who was crying nonstop, and let out a soft sigh. He raised his hand to wipe the tears from her face. “Mother, your son will live well. I won’t seek death, so please don’t worry.”

He would keep living like this. If he couldn’t be happy, then maybe others could be a little happier.

…

Because of Shen Jue’s poor health and low spirits, Tong Meng’er didn’t bring up the matter of the ritual marriage again, and Shen Jue didn’t ask either. It wasn’t until the afternoon of the wedding that Shen Jue found out that today was the day Wen Yurong would enter the palace.

“Your Majesty, the Consort is currently waiting in the side hall. He has already bathed and changed and is awaiting your summons,” the head eunuch beside Shen Jue said cautiously.

Though Shen Jue hadn’t gotten angry or punished any servants recently, they were even more on edge—feeling as if a blade was hanging over their heads, ready to fall at any moment.

“Is that so? Then let him in,” Shen Jue said casually.

Wen Yurong was only coming in for formality’s sake anyway. He would soon be knocked out by Shi Zhou’s pressure point technique, and the two of them would then go on to perform that act on Shen Jue’s dragon bed.

In previous lifetimes, Tong Meng’er had drugged Wen Yurong and, to avoid the disgraceful event leaking out, instructed the head eunuch to keep all the palace staff outside the Chengde Hall. Only a young eunuch would wait at the door for further instructions.

This time was no exception. After the eunuchs carried the person in, they quickly lowered their heads and retreated silently.

Shen Jue sat by the window, trimming the potted plant in front of him with a pair of scissors, not once glancing at the bed. He was simply waiting for Shi Zhou to show up and knock him out.

Time ticked by. The candle on the table had burned halfway down, but Shi Zhou still hadn’t appeared. Shen Jue started feeling sleepy. He set down the scissors and got up to leave—only to be stopped by a voice.

“Your Majesty!”

Shen Jue halted.

That voice wasn’t Wen Yurong’s.

He turned around and saw a youth crawling out from the bedding, wearing only inner garments.

Why was it Shi Zhou?

At this point, Shi Zhou was only seventeen—youthful and in his prime. His handsome face was flushed, and his eyes glistened with moisture. He stared at Shen Jue without blinking. “Where is Your Majesty going?”

Shen Jue looked at the person in front of him, unable to hide a trace of shock in his eyes.

Why was it Shi Zhou?

It should have been Wen Yurong.

No—maybe Wen Yurong really had been reborn. Perhaps he had changed the course of events, and the one chosen for the ritual marriage was no longer himself but Shi Zhou.

But that didn’t make sense. Wen Yurong was supposed to marry Shi Zhou—why would he send Shi Zhou into the palace?

Shen Jue was so deep in thought that he didn’t even notice Shi Zhou had come to his side.

“Is Your Majesty not staying the night?” Shi Zhou asked.

Though only seventeen, Shi Zhou was already taller than Shen Jue. His face still held traces of youth, but he was trying hard to arch his body delicately, as if to appear weak and graceful. It only made the scene seem more awkward and unnatural.

Hearing the voice snapped Shen Jue out of his thoughts. Realizing how close Shi Zhou was, he instinctively took a few steps back.

Shi Zhou followed cautiously with a step forward. “Your Majesty, it’s already quite late…”

Shen Jue didn’t move.

A flicker of joy flashed in Shi Zhou’s eyes, though he quickly concealed it. He slowly edged closer, and just as he reached out to touch Shen Jue—

Shen Jue turned away and vomited.

Shi Zhou froze in place. His previously flushed face turned pale.

Shen Jue hadn’t had any appetite lately and had only been drinking medicine, so there was nothing for him to throw up, so he just dry heaved. He retched for a while, his eyes reddening, then stood upright without sparing Shi Zhou a glance and walked out.