The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

05/07/23- edited

Shang Junlin seemed to scare him. He coughed softly and hugged the stiff young man back to him. "I'm not that beastly. I won't do anything now."

Shen Yu looked at him suspiciously. "Your Majesty, you promised more than once last night that it was the last time."

Shang Junlin smiled but didn't say anything.

Shen Yu had been bullied too hard last night. His eyes were still red, and his lips were a little swollen. Shang Junlin rubbed his hair and said softly, "Let me give you some medicine."

After last night's ordeal, Shang Junlin had given Shen Yu medicine once before. The young man, who had fallen asleep from the pain, had let out a soft whimper. Shang Junlin had almost turned into a wolf again but had managed to hold himself back.

This was the first time, and Shang Junlin had been a little too cruel. It was still a little swollen and red there, and Shen Yu couldn't take any more.

Shang Junlin sighed and carefully applied the medicine. The medicine was specially made by the Imperial Hospital and worked very well.

"No need," Shen Yu refused without thinking.

He checked himself and found that besides feeling a little strange, everything was fine. He must have already been given the medicine once. His body was clean and fresh, and there was nothing in his body that shouldn't be there. He remembered that before he fell asleep last night, his body had been sticky, which meant that Shang Junlin had cleaned him up.

Shang Junlin didn't insist. The medicine worked well, and they just had to apply it once in the morning and once at night. Shen Yu's whole body was sore, worse than ever before. Shang Junlin wouldn't let him go, so he lazily leaned against Shang Junlin's arms, with his eyes half-closed and his thoughts drifting aimlessly.

"Shouldn't His Majesty go and attend to official business?" Shen Yu asked when he saw that Shang Junlin had no intention of leaving.

"I want to spend more time with Ah Yu," Shang Junlin rubbed Shen Yu's cheek. "And I want Ah Yu to spend more time with me."

After the intimate contact they had just had, Shang Junlin didn't want to be separated from Shen Yu for a moment. If it weren't for the morning court, he wouldn't even want to leave. If it weren't for the persuasion of Meng Gonggong, he would have taken Shen Yu with him. Shen Yu also enjoyed the feeling of cuddling with Shang Junlin like this.

This is the fastest morning court ever attended by the ministers in history. His Majesty seems to have more important matters to attend to, so after handling the necessary affairs, the court was hastily dismissed.

The plan of the Minister of Revenue will be completed in several steps. Once dispersed, those requests that were difficult for the regional princes will no longer be significant. By the time they are all added up, everything will have been settled, and there will be no way to change anything.

The Prime Minister took Jiang Huaiqing and the other two back to his residence. In order to facilitate their work, the Prime Minister's residence had almost become a second home for them, and it had become the place where they spent most of their time each day.

The Prime Minister knew about Shang Junlin's plan, and he also thought that these three people were capable of handling the task, and he trained them with more care. The Prime Minister was one of those who most wanted to see new blood enter the court as soon as possible.

Because Jiang Huaiqing and the others were going to Su Bei, the Prime Minister intended for them to have a better understanding of Su Bei, and the matters they handled during this time were mostly related to Su Bei.

During this period, the court was busy with matters concerning Su Bei, and Jiang Huaiqing and the others had no suspicion. At this moment, they did not know that after the matter in Subei was settled, they would not return to the Hanlin Academy but instead would go to Su Bei with other court officials, officially beginning their political careers in Da Huan.

Subei.

Batch after batch of supplies was sent to Subei, but they did not enter the main city. Instead, they were sent directly to various small places, where officials sent by the court and local officials worked together to handle disaster relief matters as if excluding the main city.

After working with Official Fang for a period of time, these young officials who came from the capital were no longer the same as they were before. With Official Fang's hands-on teaching, they could now independently handle disaster relief matters in small towns.

With food available, the smiles on the faces of the people increased, and their spirits were renewed. Remembering Official Fang's teachings, the officials did not let the people idle but arranged tasks that they were capable of doing and encouraged those who had the ability to participate in the post-disaster reconstruction.

As rumors spread in the capital and other places, a similar situation also occurred in Subei.

The people of the small towns were gathered together and led by officials from the government to work together in a relaxed atmosphere.

"Ten days ago, I couldn't even imagine that we could wait for this day."

"Me neither. My family had already run out of food, and if it weren't for the timely arrival of the officials from the court, my little one would have probably..."

The middle-aged man didn't finish his sentence, but his companions knew what he was going to say. The middle-aged man's wife died when giving birth to their child. He worked hard to raise the child to his teens, and just when there was hope for a better life, the drought hit.

"I am too. You guys should remember. I fell ill before, and it was you guys who brought me food. I was lying in bed at the time thinking, even if I could just have a little food, it's better to die full than starve to death. Then, I saw you guys bringing porridge in, and it scared me."

"No wonder you had such a big reaction."

"I really thought I was going to die at the time. It was like the gods had heard my prayers and fulfilled my wish before I died."

"The gods?" Someone suddenly sneered, "If there really were gods, why didn't they care about our life and death? To be honest, any gods are less reliable than the officials. The food we eat now is all from various places transported by the officials, and it has nothing to do with the gods."

"That's right. Before, someone came to us and asked us to believe in some gods. I thought it was unreliable at the time."

"Yeah, it's totally unreliable. When something happens, they run away faster than anyone else."

They didn't know that the conversation they were having was overheard by a soldier nearby. Soon, it would be transmitted to the imperial court, allowing the court to have a deeper understanding of the situation in Subei.

They were chatting happily when suddenly someone asked in a low voice, "Why do we still have to work for the officials? Shouldn't they be doing this themselves?"

The team suddenly quieted down. Then someone rebutted him, "What do you mean working for the officials? Aren't we working for ourselves?"

"That's right. We still have to live here in the future. Besides, the officials also gave us compensation."

"But aren't those things given to us by the imperial court? Why do we have to work before we get them?" the person continued.

"I think you just don't understand," the men of Subei were straightforward, but not stupid. The officials had already explained to them why the court did this. They also believed that exchanging their labor for compensation was better than getting free food.

Besides, they still received daily food rations, and the compensation was separate. They could save it and use it later. The officials may be here now, and they didn't have to worry about food and drink, but once they left, they would have to rely on themselves.

"Repairing Subei as soon as possible is a good thing for them. "

"Wait a minute, you sneaky kid. How come you're saying such things? Are you up to no good?"

Someone noticed that something was off and ran to the accompanying officials, saying, "Your lordship, we've discovered a suspicious individual over there."

Before that person could even do anything, they were caught red-handed. Similar incidents happened in other parts of Subei, and while only a few people were incited to act, more were caught before they could do anything.

---

Feeling exhausted and unable to sleep, Shen Yu lay on Shang Junlin's lap and asked him to read the documents to him.

"Did Official Fang prepare in advance? With the drought in Subei lasting so long and the court's arrival being delayed, anyone who had ill intentions could have taken advantage of the situation." Shen Yu said.

"Whenever  Fang Jun arrives in a new place, he gathers the local people and explains the reasons for their subsequent actions. When he leaves, the officials who were originally following him would have learned and could do the same, making it less easy to incite the people." Shang Junlin said as he read the documents, one hand playing with Shen Yu's hair.

"After these people that Official Fang brought back come back, we can evaluate whether or not they can continue to be used." Shen Yu pondered.

Although Shang Junlin wanted to suppress the aristocratic families, he did not completely disallow their existence. The most important thing for the ruler was to maintain balance, and having equal power between the aristocratic families and commoners was the best way.

"I will pay attention to their subsequent performance." Shang Junlin nodded.

However, people were always changing. This moment of enlightenment does not represent eternity, especially in the world of officials, where it is easiest to change a person. Shang Junlin did not need every official to be a saint; it was unrealistic. As long as they could be of use to him and bring real benefits to the Da Huan, he could turn a blind eye to some things.

With the help of the country's resources, the situation in Subei gradually improved. Although the drought had yet to be relieved, the court's constant concern over the possibility of an epidemic did not occur.

After a natural disaster, the most frightening thing was the epidemic that followed. The court sent many physicians, led by Head Physician Wu, to Subei, and they guarded against the epidemic every day, which finally allayed their worries. Shen Yu carefully thought back and confirmed that in his previous life, there was only a drought in Subei and no large-scale epidemic, which relieved him somewhat.

His most memorable epidemic occurred several years later, after which Shang Junlin's reputation plummeted.

There is still plenty of time until now, and that epidemic was not entirely caused by natural disasters. If the problem of "Fei Meng" can be solved in advance, perhaps the scene like a nightmare from the previous life will not be repeated.

"Master, the flower sent by Prince An has bloomed," Mu Xi came in with the brewed medicine.

After last night, although Shang Junlin carefully examined it, he still wasn't very reassured. He had let Physician Gu come to Yu Zhang Palace to take Shen Yu's pulse, and Physician Gu left a new prescription mainly for nourishing the body.

Shen Yu frowned slightly at the medicine.

Shang Junlin found it funny and put down the document in his hand. He took the medicine from Mu Xi and asked, "When did the flower bloom?"

When Prince An brought the flower, it was just a flower bud. After all these days, there was no sign of blooming. Why did it suddenly bloom?

Shen Yu was also curious about this question.

"Probably at the hour of the pig<sup data-mfn="1">21:00-23:00 hr last night," Mu Xi replied.

Shen Yu's heart skipped a beat for some reason. That time was exactly when he and Shang Junlin...were together. Why did the flower happen to bloom at that time?

Was it a coincidence?