Second Marriage

Translator: tarararawr

Editor: Larkspur

Chapter 21 Part 2

“No, I am just telling the Young Master that Your Majesty was sleepy last night,” Fu De replied immediately.

Ye Shen had no official position and was a special presence in the palace. People usually called him Young Master.

The Emperor said, “Are you complaining about zhen in front of zhen?”

Ye Shen took a few steps forward when he heard those words. He got closer to the Emperor and calmly said, “Your Majesty must pay attention to your health and drink some milk when you are sleepy. According to medical experts, milk can help you sleep. There is a new eunuch who will make it, which tastes better than that made in the imperial kitchen.”

The new eunuch was Fu De’s young eunuch who was kicked.

As he spoke, Fu De smiled and recorded this favor.

“Zhen does not like drinking that. But now that you’ve said it, zhen can try it.” The Emperor was rarely willing to listen to advice and then continued to speak about what troubled his sleep. “Datong makes zhen upset. You boy, too. When something happens to Datong, you never ask about it. Can it be… You are still trying to avoid suspicion? Haven’t your eldest sister’s family and the Xiao Family cut ties? You don’t have to avoid suspicion.”

“Your Majesty has a command.”

The Emperor had said a long string of words, but he could have the Emperor look at him with a short sentence. The Emperor chuckled. “You boy, if I don’t command you, then you don’t know how to share the worries. What do you want to do in front of the court? Be careful or zhen will kick you!”

Ye Shen lowered his head to appear like he was hard-working without a complaint, but precisely at his core was a coldness, so such an appearance looked indifferent.

The Emperor looked at him a few more times and felt that what he had just said was boring.

Perhaps Ye Shen was waiting to be released from the palace.

But he couldn’t do that.

“All right, when the court is over, you can come with me to the study and help me manage those records about Datong. The Ministry of War is getting worse and is a bunch of rubbish. They can’t even calculate the losses. It is very hot now, but winter arrives early in Datong. The army provisions need to be ready, and cannot be reduced at all.”

Ye Shen’s response was still an expression like a gentle breeze and a light cloud. He did not show any enthusiasm for being entrusted with such an important task of extreme secrecy.

The Emperor’s words were not hidden from the servants, and he did not reveal any secrets.

But for Ye Shen, a lot had been revealed.

At least the part about the “army provisions cannot be reduced” was very problematic.

When the Xiao Family’s father and son had the accident, they lost a lot of soldiers. Their share of the provision should have been subtracted, but the emperor said it could not be reduced.

Ye Shen made a mental note of this, and when he was approaching the throne room he took a few steps back to walk with Eunuch Fu De and whispered a command, “Do not let them spread what His Majesty said just now.”

Fu De understood. He turned around and gestured with stern eyes to look straight at the palace servants lowering their heads.

Ye Shen looked at the face of each of the palace servants before turning around. In his mind, he was contemplating as to how Huo Mingwu would be able to use this without letting himself be involved. Only the palace servants could obtain information from the Emperor, so they should be able to spread today’s crucial information.

In the throne room, the Emperor used an excuse to lose his temper and let the Embroidered Uniform Guard arrest several officials on the spot. They were set up to be charged with crimes of looting and conspiracy. This frightened several grown princes.

The Crown Prince and several of them knew that Ye Shen frequently visited the imperial prison in recent days. After the court session, he wanted to inquire about the reasons but was distracted and didn’t find the opportunity.

Ye Shen didn’t bother with the thoughts of the princes. It was true that they grew up together, but they should avoid arousing suspicion. He did not match with any of the princes, and he never revealed the meaning behind his words.

In cases like this, these people were still trying to get closer, which annoyed him a lot.

As a result, Ye Shen, who was trying to avoid being disturbed today, went to the Emperor’s side. The Emperor was not in a rush, so he did not leave. When he was free, Fu De told him about the current affairs and mentioned what the emperor said in the morning about Xiao Youning.

“Those people outside are all gossiping about Fifth Master. You have been implicated.”

Ye Shen sipped his tea. After a while, he used the corners of his eyes to look at all of the palace servants. He faintly said, “The little girl from the Xiao Family has been close to the Li Family since she was a child. As for the implication, I barely have an impression of her and I happened to meet her that day. I was misunderstood as usual. Maybe I’ll give that little girl a gift someday to calm her down. The Ye Family has never had anything else to do with the Xiao Family.”

It was rare for him to say such gentle words. Fu De was shocked and smiled at the next moment. “Then that is a blessing for Young Miss Xiao. It is the first time that this servant has heard of Fifth Master sending a gift to someone.”

Ye Shen had on a blank expression like he was tacitly agreeing with those words.