C154 — Kill That Top Scholar (21)

Outside, the night had grown deep. As soon as Shen Jue stepped out, the young eunuch sitting by the door caught sight of the edge of his bright yellow robe and immediately scrambled to his feet, bowing deeply. “Your Majesty.”

“I’m going to rest in the side hall. Go summon someone,” Shen Jue ordered.

The eunuch was momentarily stunned by the command but quickly composed himself and ran off to carry it out.

Once Shen Jue saw that the eunuch had gone to call someone, he headed straight for the side hall. Just as he pushed the door open and entered, he heard footsteps behind him.

Eunuchs in the palace all wore soft-soled shoes so they wouldn’t disturb their masters when walking. Shen Jue didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.

“Your Majesty…” Shi Zhou’s voice came hesitantly behind him. In contrast to the weak, delicate tone he tried to put on, his eyes were intense—burning with heat and greed, like he was looking at some long-lost treasure.

Shen Jue didn’t stop walking and entered the hall. At that moment, the palace servants who attended to him had arrived. They were well-trained and observant, and the moment they stepped in, they sensed something was off between Shen Jue and Shi Zhou. Without saying a word, they lowered their heads and swiftly changed the bedding, then helped Shen Jue bathe and change clothes.

While Shen Jue was bathing, Shi Zhou didn’t follow him. But as soon as Shen Jue returned to the side hall, Shi Zhou appeared again.

His face was inexplicably flushed, and he now stood cautiously by the screen, watching Shen Jue.

Shen Jue ignored him and went straight to bed, lying down with his back facing outward. He didn’t know how much time passed before he felt one side of the bed sink down.

Someone had sat on it.

“Your Majesty, I… I feel awful…” Shi Zhou’s voice was barely louder than a mosquito. He looked at the emperor lying on the bed, and something flashed through his brows. Then he carefully laid down on the very edge of the bed.

But just as he laid down, Shen Jue sat up.

Shen Jue turned and looked at Shi Zhou. He didn’t say a word, but his eyes were filled with cold detachment.

Shi Zhou met those eyes and froze. After a moment, he slowly got up and left.

…

Naturally, Tong Meng’er knew the two hadn’t consummated the marriage. The next morning, as she accompanied Shen Jue during breakfast, she glanced at his expression and cautiously asked, “You don’t like him?”

Shen Jue replied blandly, “He’s fine.”

“Then… why…” Tong Meng’er paused. “Ah, as long as my darling is happy. But could you let him spend more time with you? Please?”

Shen Jue didn’t give a clear answer. Seeing this, Tong Meng’er didn’t push further. Lately, she had felt that something was off about Shen Jue—not just physically unwell, but like the spark in his soul had gone out. It wasn’t like his usual illness; it was as if his very spirit had withered.

Not long after Tong Meng’er left, Shi Zhou came.

He now lived in the Jingyang Hall next to Chengde Hall—where Wen Yurong had stayed in previous lifetimes. Now, it had become his residence.

“Your Majesty.” Shi Zhou gave Shen Jue a formal bow.

Shen Jue didn’t respond, just stared out the window with a detached look. Shi Zhou waited a moment, but since Shen Jue didn’t tell him to rise, he gritted his teeth and stood up on his own. As expected, Shen Jue didn’t punish him—he acted as if he didn’t even see him.

From last night until now, Shen Jue hadn’t said a single word to Shi Zhou.

Shi Zhou’s expression darkened. He stared at Shen Jue for a while, looking like he wanted to lash out, but forced himself to suppress it. He softened his expression and walked over to sit beside the couch where Shen Jue was leaning.

“Is Your Majesty planning to ignore me forever?” he asked.

Shen Jue still didn’t respond.

Shi Zhou’s gaze flickered. He suddenly reached out, trying to embrace Shen Jue—but the moment his hand touched Shen Jue’s sleeve, Shen Jue pulled away slightly.

Shen Jue finally looked at Shi Zhou—his gaze shifting from indifference to open disgust.

Shi Zhou saw it. The hand he had extended toward Shen Jue curled slowly into a fist in midair. After a long moment, he withdrew it.

“Your Majesty must be thirsty,” Shi Zhou forced a smile and continued. “I’ll go pour some tea.”

He stood up and brought back a cup of tea, setting it carefully on the small table by the couch. But even after the tea had gone cold, Shen Jue never touched it.

The days that followed were much the same. For some inexplicable reason, Shi Zhou seemed obsessed with making his presence known. He tried to dress Shen Jue, offer him medicine, serve him personally.

But anything Shi Zhou touched, Shen Jue would have the servants remove or replace. It wasn’t long before everyone in the palace understood: the Emperor did not like the Consort brought in for ritual marriage.

Tong Meng’er, of course, heard of it too. She privately summoned Shi Zhou and urged him to put in more effort.

“His Majesty is a good child. Whoever treats him well, he will eventually treat them well too. If you’re sincere and kind to him, he will accept you in time. He’s just going through a rough patch right now.”

Then she added more bluntly, “To be frank, though your appearance is fine, His Majesty might prefer someone more gentle. I’ve heard you still practice martial arts every morning—stop that. Learn to play the zither, do some embroidery instead.”

Shi Zhou: “……”

And so, from then on, the servants of Jingyang Hall were daily treated to the bewildering sight of the once-prominent young general of the court hanging upside-down from a tree… embroidering.

Time passed. Shi Zhou had been in the palace for over a month, yet Shen Jue had not said a single word to him.

On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Tong Meng’er hosted a palace banquet.

At the banquet, Shen Jue saw Wen Yurong.

Wen Yurong had once again become the top scholar in this life. He sat quietly at the end of the ranks of officials, speaking gently with those beside him.

Since this realm had restarted, Shen Jue couldn’t help but suspect Wen Yurong might have been reborn. Because of that, he stole a few extra glances at him during the banquet.

And each time Shen Jue looked, the face of the person beside him—Shi Zhou—grew darker and darker, so much so that even Tong Meng’er on the other side of the hall noticed. She found an excuse to call Shi Zhou over and chided, “A man should be magnanimous. Don’t wear that sour look.”

After scolding him, she glanced toward Wen Yurong, recognizing him as this year’s top scholar. It struck her—this was the first person Shen Jue had looked at more than once in quite some time. She thought it over and ordered servants to send a few plates of fruit over to Wen Yurong’s table.

After the banquet, Shi Zhou shamelessly followed Shen Jue back to Chengde Hall. While the palace attendants helped Shen Jue change into more comfortable clothing, he stood to the side watching. Once Shen Jue was dressed, Shi Zhou dismissed the attendants.

The servants hesitated, but seeing that Shen Jue made no move to stop him, they quietly withdrew. Now, only the two of them remained in the hall.

Shen Jue ignored him.

Bored during the day, he had started a game of chess by himself. The unfinished board still sat there, and now he planned to continue.

Just as he sat down on one side of the board, someone sat across from him.

Shi Zhou stared at Shen Jue. In this whole month, Shen Jue hadn’t spoken to him, hadn’t even spared him a glance. It was as if he didn’t exist.

“Your Majesty seemed especially attentive to someone tonight,” Shi Zhou said, voice probing. “Why is that?”

Shen Jue didn’t look up. He simply picked up a black piece and placed it on the board.

Shi Zhou glanced down at the move—his brow twitched slightly.

He seemed unable to suppress his emotions any longer. With a sharp movement, he shot up, strode around the table, and forcibly pulled Shen Jue into his arms.

“Okay, let’s get this straight. I have memories of my past life, and so do you, right? You hate me? But can you please say something to me?” Shi Zhou’s eyes turned red. “As long as you say something to me, I will let you go immediately, okay?”

But even though he said that, Shen Jue still didn’t speak to him. He just tried hard to push him away. When he found that he couldn’t push him away, he was so angry that he was shaking, but he still didn’t speak to Shi Zhou.

Seeing this, Shi Zhou gritted his teeth and said, “Say something to me, even just one word, whatever you want to say, and I will let you go.”

Shen Jue’s face turned pale, making his eyes look even darker. He glared at Shi Zhou, but his lips were tightly pursed and he didn’t say a word.

Shi Zhou looked at Shen Jue with a complicated look in his eyes, which included pleading and other expressions.

In his previous life, Shen Jue committed suic-ide in front of him, and even the director of the Imperial Medical Bureau was unable to save him.

He looked at the corpse that was gradually getting cold on the bed, then turned around and beat the new emperor who had heard the news.

“Why did you tell him those things? Why?” Shi Zhou hit him a few times and was pulled away by a group of people. The new emperor touched his face, stood up, and looked at Shi Zhou with a hint of sarcasm in his eyes.

“General Shi, did you make a mistake? Is it necessary to make such a big fuss just because a deposed emperor is dead? Besides, was it me who forced him to death? Wasn’t it General Shi himself?” The new emperor sneered, “General Shi locked him up, then married someone else. Now he has forced him to death, and now he is pretending to be a romantic. If I remember correctly, when we attacked the deposed emperor’s army, General Shi’s face was full of disgust when he mentioned him. What? Now that he is dead, you like him?”

like?

Shi Zhou was stunned when he heard this. His lips trembled and he squeezed out a sentence after a long time, “I don’t like him. I love Brother Yurong.”

“General Shi, you can lie to others, but it’s really pointless to lie to yourself.” The new emperor sneered, “Since General Shi doesn’t like him, then today is considered a great revenge. The deposed emperor who killed your brother is finally dead. General Shi should hold a three-day banquet to celebrate.”

Shi Zhou could no longer listen to what the new emperor said. There was only one sentence in his mind:

“I don’t like him. I love Brother Yurong.”

There was no way he would be tempted by a man who killed his brother, no way! But why wasn’t he happy?

Without Shen Jue, no one could hinder him and Wen Yurong anymore. Without Shen Jue, his brother’s death was avenged and everything was back on track.

But his heart seemed to be empty.

The news of Shen Jue’s burial was kept secret and Shi Zhou was unable to go. He beat the new emperor and was punished with confinement, which was already a very light punishment. Because the new emperor hadn’t yet completely secured his throne and still had to rely on the Shi family, he didn’t move Shi Zhou much.

However, when Shi Haoran found out that Shi Zhou had actually attacked the new emperor, he beat him severely and made him kneel in the ancestral hall.

Shi Zhou knelt on the ground, looking at his brother’s tablet, feeling mixed emotions.

He should have happily told his brother that his revenge had been taken, but he couldn’t say it, and even felt very sorry for his brother. Because after Shen Jue died, he didn’t feel happy at all.

There was no joy of revenge, only emptiness.

…

“You can tell me to get out, scold me, hit me, it’s all fine, but can you just pay attention to me, okay?” Shi Zhou hugged the person in front of him and almost wanted to kneel in front of him. Maybe, kneeling before the other party would get a word.

While struggling, Shen Jue grabbed the ceramic chess box next to him. He held the chess box tightly and smashed it directly on Shi Zhou’s forehead.

The chess box was very heavy, and even though Shi Zhou was an iron man, he still bled from the impact. He took a breath, but didn’t wipe the blood from his forehead. He just stared at Shen Jue with burning eyes, “Hate me? Then hit me, as many times as you want.”

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