The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

"What?" Shen Yu suddenly grabbed the blanket, "When was he rescued?"

"Today," Shang Junlin eased his expression and sat on the bed.

"Today..." Shen Yu pondered, "Could today's assassination be related to the rescue of the King of Yue?"

Shen Yu's suspicion was not without reason. There were many motivated forces, but there wouldn't be many left who would rescue the King of Yue simultaneously.

"Perhaps, I don't know if Fang Jun has found out anything," Shang Junlin tucked the blanket around Shen Yu.

"The King of Yue has been imprisoned for more than just a day or two. Besides the He family, have there been others trying to rescue him?" Shen Yu was very concerned about the King of Yue's situation. Although this life's developments differed significantly from the previous one due to his involvement, no one knew the ultimate outcome of the story until the last moment.

Shang Junlin shook his head, "No, after the failed prison raid, I thought they had abandoned the idea."

The imperial examination cheating case concluded, and the implicated officials received appropriate punishment. Due to the special status of the King of Yue, Shang Junlin merely imprisoned him instead of subjecting him to execution like other officials.

The next morning, Shang Junlin summoned the prime minister and other important officials for a discussion.

They all had some knowledge of the King of Yue's situation, and upon learning that someone had been rescued, their hearts sank.

"Did Minister Fang get any results?" the prime minister asked.

First an assassination attempt, then a prison raid—timing couldn't be more coincidental. No one believed this was an accident.

"It's difficult to get information from those people. From my interrogation, I've determined that their target is His Majesty, but they are unwilling to reveal much more," Fang Jun sighed.

Those who could carry out such an assassination were mostly fanatics, and extracting information from them was an arduous task.

"What about the person we captured in the mountains yesterday? Did they confess to anything?" Shang Junlin inquired.

"That person couldn't withstand torture and revealed a fair amount of information. He came with Official Xu and is a servant of Madam Xu. Acting on Madam Xu's orders, he was relaying messages with Han Prefecture. A few days ago, Madam Xu instructed him to deliver a letter to someone who came from Han Prefecture, and yesterday he went to collect the response," Fang Jun provided a detailed account of the results of his interrogation.

"Based on what I've learned from my interrogation, there doesn't seem to be a direct connection between him and the assassins."

"A government official's wife who just arrived in the capital from out of town shouldn't have any connection with assassins, but..." the prime minister paused for a moment and voiced his perplexity, "During the recent incident involving the He family's legitimate daughter, His Majesty sent officials to Han Prefecture. At this time, why was she communicating with Han Prefecture?"

"What was written in the letter?" Shang Junlin lightly tapped the table with his fingers.

"That person doesn't know the contents of the letter. He didn't find the contact person, which led to him being seen as a suspicious individual and taken in. I've already instructed someone to find the contact person based on his description," Fang Jun answered.

"Minister Fang, I have full confidence in your work."

When Shen Yu woke up, Shang Junlin wasn't there. Mu Xi came in to attend to him upon hearing the movement, and after she left, Shen Yu noticed that the palace attendants were packing things.

"His Majesty has ordered an early return to the palace," Mu Xi explained.

Given the two recent major incidents, Shen Yu could understand.

The high-ranking officials also received the news and began to pack.

"We've never encountered such a thing during the autumn hunt in previous years. I wonder if there are any hidden assassins lurking in the shadows?"

"His Majesty has already dispatched people to search. He spent the night peacefully, so there should be no problem."

"I hope we can determine things quickly and return home as soon as possible."

No one wanted to linger in a place where assassins might be present.

Shang Junlin gave them three days. If there were still no results, the official in charge of the matter could be summoned for questioning.

Compared to the past, this was already a lenient approach. The official responsible for inspecting safety hazards on Qi Yue Mountain wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He led a team to the mountain for investigation, not daring to waste a moment.

The atmosphere at the camp was tense.

The individuals who had been retrieved the previous day were bewildered at first, but after learning about the situation, they all broke into a cold sweat. Assassination might be routine for Shang Junlin, but for many young scions from influential families, it was their first encounter.

With such an incident, the hunting couldn't continue. As everyone gathered together, nervousness was mixed with the need to find something to ease the tension.

Wives and young ladies who were on good terms gathered to chat, while young masters with nothing to do began to discuss hunting ideas for the remaining game they had caught over the past few days—enough to sustain them for a dozen days or so. With the elders busy with serious matters, they couldn't be of assistance. They could only gather in small groups, light a fire, and take the initiative to cook their own food.

Shang Junlin had been busy these days, and occasionally Shen Yu would join him in discussions.

Fang Jun's skills were impressive, and two days later, he managed to extract some information from those individuals.

"According to their confessions, the purpose of their journey was solely for the assassination. The higher-ups ordered them that even if they couldn't succeed, they should create a major disturbance—chaos is better," Fang Jun revealed.

"A government official's wife who just arrived in the capital from out of town shouldn't have any connection with assassins, but..." the prime minister paused for a moment and voiced his perplexity, "During the recent incident involving the He family's legitimate daughter, His Majesty sent officials to Han Prefecture. At this time, why was she communicating with Han Prefecture?"

"What was written in the letter?" Shang Junlin lightly tapped the table with his fingers.

"That person doesn't know the contents of the letter. He didn't find the contact person, which led to him being seen as a suspicious individual and taken in. I've already instructed someone to find the contact person based on his description," Fang Jun answered.

"Minister Fang, I have full confidence in your work."

When Shen Yu woke up, Shang Junlin wasn't there. Mu Xi came in to attend to him upon hearing the movement, and after she left, Shen Yu noticed that the palace attendants were packing things.

"His Majesty has ordered an early return to the palace," Mu Xi explained.

Given the two recent major incidents, Shen Yu could understand.

The high-ranking officials also received the news and began to pack.

"We've never encountered such a thing during the autumn hunt in previous years. I wonder if there are any hidden assassins lurking in the shadows?"

"His Majesty has already dispatched people to search. He spent the night peacefully, so there should be no problem."

"I hope we can determine things quickly and return home as soon as possible."

No one wanted to linger in a place where assassins might be present.

Shang Junlin gave them three days. If there were still no results, the official in charge of the matter could be summoned for questioning.

Compared to the past, this was already a lenient approach. The official responsible for inspecting safety hazards on Qi Yue Mountain wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He led a team to the mountain for investigation, not daring to waste a moment.

The atmosphere at the camp was tense.

The individuals who had been retrieved the previous day were bewildered at first, but after learning about the situation, they all broke into a cold sweat. Assassination might be routine for Shang Junlin, but for many young scions from influential families, it was their first encounter.

With such an incident, the hunting couldn't continue. As everyone gathered together, nervousness was mixed with the need to find something to ease the tension.

Wives and young ladies who were on good terms gathered to chat, while young masters with nothing to do began to discuss hunting ideas for the remaining game they had caught over the past few days—enough to sustain them for a dozen days or so. With the elders busy with serious matters, they couldn't be of assistance. They could only gather in small groups, light a fire, and take the initiative to cook their own food.

Shang Junlin had been busy these days, and occasionally Shen Yu would join him in discussions.

Fang Jun's skills were impressive, and two days later, he managed to extract some information from those individuals.

"According to their confessions, the purpose of their journey was solely for the assassination. The higher-ups ordered them that even if they couldn't succeed, they should create a major disturbance—chaos is better," Fang Jun revealed.

"They also mentioned that they were divided into two groups. One group went up the mountain for the operation, while the other stayed in the capital. They don't know the specifics of what the second group was doing, but they waited for several days until they finally found an opportune moment to act," Fang Jun explained.

Without needing Fang Jun to say, everyone understood when that opportune moment was.

"And they didn't have an insider?" the prime minister cut to the heart of the matter.

"They did," Fang Jun's expression turned serious. "The insider posed as a servant from a prominent minister's household. They communicated daily about the situation on the mountain, mainly focusing on His Majesty's and Your Excellency's movements."

As an emperor, Shang Junlin's every move was widely observed. During the hunt, he wouldn't deliberately conceal his whereabouts, making it easy for others to find out where he had gone.

"Find that person. I want to know whether his master was aware of his actions," Shang Junlin's voice was cold.

Regardless of whether the official who had brought the individuals into the camp was aware or not, he couldn't have remained entirely ignorant.

An hour later, after dealing with official matters, Shang Junlin encountered Shen Yu outside.

"What are you doing?" Shang Junlin approached and asked.

"I'm thinking about who could be behind the rescue of the King of Yue," Shen Yu replied.

A lingering confusion still remained in his eyes.

Shen Yu had only told Shang Junlin a partial truth. His true thoughts were about his past life. During this time in his previous life, he had accompanied the King of Yue to his fief, while the King of Yue himself hadn't stayed there. Additionally, Shen Yu had been intermittently ill during that period, living in a daze and having very limited knowledge of the outside world. Looking back now, he couldn't even recall any useful information.

The book contained even fewer descriptions about that period, briefly mentioning Shen Qingran's sufferings in the palace and providing only insignificant fragments of information.

"Fang Jun has extracted some information," Shang Junlin informed Shen Yu.

"Two groups of people—one group stayed in the capital, likely to seize the opportunity to rescue the King of Yue," Shen Yu mused.

"I think so too. The assassination plot was actually well-organized. At least, no one noticed anything amiss before it happened. The only thing they underestimated was that I'm well-versed in various assassination techniques. Even though I appeared to have left the Hidden Dragon Guards elsewhere, there are ways to immediately inform them," Shang Junlin added.

By the end of the third day's deadline, Official An finally discovered a way for the assassins to enter the mountain without alerting the guards, narrowly saving his own life.

Through Fang Jun's investigation, the person who had secretly passed messages to the assassins was also identified—a servant from Official Xu's household, coincidentally enough.

When Official Xu was brought before the emperor, he was completely bewildered, not understanding how he had become implicated as a co-conspirator with the assassins.

"Your Majesty, this is a terrible misunderstanding! I truly have no idea what's going on!" Official Xu knelt on the ground, tears and mucus streaming down his face.

"Then tell us, did this servant accompany you to the mountain?" Fang Jun, standing nearby, questioned.

Official Xu turned his head to glance at the servant kneeling beside him. "It's true that I brought him here, but I genuinely have no idea what he's done! I implore Your Majesty to see through this!"

Listening to the commotion below, Shang Junlin furrowed his brows.

Meanwhile, Madam Xu had been increasingly uneasy since Official Xu was summoned away. She paced back and forth inside the tent, her sense of foreboding growing stronger.

The person she had sent to collect a message hadn't returned, and with such a significant event unfolding, she didn't dare to inquire outside. She could only wait for news. Several days had passed, and she had given up any hope of a fortunate outcome. Most likely, that person was in grave danger now. She could only hope that their communication with the family hadn't been discovered.

After the King of Yue was rescued, he was plunged into a prolonged state of disbelief. He had almost thought he would spend his entire life in a dark dungeon, never expecting to see the sunlight again.

Standing in the courtyard, he stared blankly, feeling the sunlight on his skin. It was as if he were experiencing a dream.

Was he really out?

Wasn't this just his imagination?

He had dreamt like this before—returning to his fief, rallying his troops with a triumphant shout, and leading them back to the capital, avenging all the suffering he had endured at Shang Junlin's hands.

Then the dream would fade away.

But he was still in a damp and dark cell, still possessing nothing.

The vast gap between reality and his dreams made him wish he could drown himself in that dream and never wake up.

Was this rescue just another dream he conjured up?

"Your Highness, please get ready. We need to set out," a middle-aged man approached.

"Oh, alright," the King of Yue seemed to snap back to reality. "Where are we going?"

"We need to evade the imperial pursuers first. My men have caused some trouble for the emperor. We must hurry. Once we pass Han Prefecture, we should be safe."

"Why Han Prefecture?"

"There are people waiting for us there."

If not for the King of Yue's bloodline and the instructions left by that person, there would be no need for such elaborate plans to rescue him from the capital, resulting in the loss of so many lives.

Thinking about the assassins who were sent to kill the emperor, the man felt a pang of pain. Those were people he had painstakingly cultivated, and they had suffered heavy losses during this operation.

In his daze, the King of Yue failed to notice that the reverence these people showed him was only surface-level.

They set off toward Han Prefecture.

Once it was confirmed that there were no other assassins on Qi Yue Mountain, Shang Junlin ordered a return to the palace.

Shen Yu continued to travel with Shang Junlin, but this time there were no more objections from the high-ranking officials. They were all too preoccupied to concern themselves with such matters, and the number of guards accompanying them had increased by half.

Leaning over, Shen Yu rubbed the furrowed brow of Shang Junlin. "Are you still thinking about the King of Yue?"

"I dispatched the Hidden Dragon Guards to investigate immediately, but they found no trace of them. I have no idea where these people came from. They were drawn out through Feng Pingqi, but they are just one faction among many," Shang Junlin responded.

"Having been locked up in a dark cell for so long, even if the King of Yue escaped, he wouldn't have been able to create much turmoil. Those people had been quiet all this time; I even thought they had given up," Shen Yu spoke in a hushed tone.

"The King of Yue is just a title. What they care about is never the person himself, but the identity he represents," Shang Junlin understood this better than anyone.