Volume Five: Those Years When I Was the Prime Minister
A Perfect Match
There was killing intent!
A very strong killing intent!
Shen Zhijin glanced at Ling Wen Nuan, who had already turned her back, then looked with extreme caution at Sheng Tingwan before him, whose face had already darkened. He could be certain now.
Sheng Tingwan had killing intent for him!?
Realizing this, Shen Zhijin immediately scrambled out of Sheng Tingwan’s arms and bowed. “Since the Prime Minister wishes to rest, then… then Zhijin will not disturb her any longer. Your Majesty, this subject consort1 will take his leave. You two may continue.”
“Wait,” Sheng Tingwan said. She glanced at Wen Nuan and saw she had already closed her eyes. She figured that, having just been detoxified, her body was still weak and truly needed rest.
She took a deep breath, shot a meaningful glare at Shen Zhijin, and then said gently, “Wen Nuan, you rest well. Zhen and Zhijin will leave. If you need anything, send someone to find Zhen, and Zhen will come at once.”
Wen Nuan didn’t turn her head, merely waving a hand with the meaning: I won’t see you out.
Seeing that Wen Nuan wouldn’t even turn to look at her, Sheng Tingwan’s heart sank instantly. She turned, grabbed Shen Zhijin’s sleeve, and said with a smile through gritted teeth, “You, come out with Zhen!”
Shen Zhijin: “…”
My life is over.
The two walked out of Qianyang Hall, left through the gates of Shaoyang Palace, and stood on the First Palace Avenue.
Shen Zhijin immediately apologized, his attitude sincere. “This subject consort was wrong.”
Sheng Tingwan’s eyes narrowed. “Where were you wrong?”
“…”
To be honest, how would Shen Zhijin know where he went wrong? Was it wrong for him to show concern for Prime Minister Ling?
Could it be that he didn’t sit in her lap the moment he arrived?
It was strange, but back when Sheng Tingwan had taken him to Xizhou, she had specifically instructed him that he must, in front of the Prime Minister, display a very clingy and loving state, making it absolutely clear to the Prime Minister that the two of them were extremely intimate.
He had been completely bewildered, but Sheng Tingwan was the current Empress Regnant, and he had to obey her. So, the two of them had awkwardly acted out this “deeply in love” and affectionate appearance in front of the Prime Minister.
Thinking of this, Shen Zhijin tentatively asked, “Could it be because… this subject consort didn’t… sit in your lap… the moment I entered?”
Sheng Tingwan: “…..”
The killing intent intensified.
Shen Zhijin immediately apologized, “This subject consort was wrong.”
“…” Sheng Tingwan sighed, speechless. “You’re quick to apologize, but why can’t you examine the time and estimate the situation?”
Examine the time and estimate the situation?!
Examine what? Estimate what? The time and situation? What time and situation?
Could it be that a severe conflict had arisen between Her Majesty and the Prime Minister?
Shen Zhijin probed again, “Could it be that between the Prime Minister and you…”
His words sent a jolt through Sheng Tingwan’s heart, and her eyes flashed with panic. “No, Zhen and the Prime Minister have always treated each other with the respect due to a guest2. Zhen has always regarded the Prime Minister as Zhen’s dearest friend and relative.”
Shen Zhijin saw how quickly she answered, as if without thinking, spouting the words only to placate him.
Moreover, her frantic, flustered attempt to explain made the cracks in her story easy to see.
Sheng Tingwan and the Prime Minister were dearest friends and relatives; of course he knew that. Their relationship had always been exceptionally good, even better than his relationship with Sheng Tingwan, his “green plums and bamboo horse”3.
For Sheng Tingwan to be so eager to prove their relationship was one of “dearest friends and relatives,” did that mean she wasn’t certain if it truly was?!
Shen Zhijin looked at Sheng Tingwan with deep meaning. “What is Your Majesty flustered about?”
Sheng Tingwan’s eyelids trembled as she denied it, “Zhen is not flustered. Noble Consort Shen must be mistaken.”
“Is Your Majesty trying to confirm your own relationship with the Prime Minister?”
“…” Sheng Tingwan clicked her tongue. “What? What relationship? What nonsense is Noble Consort Shen spouting4?”
This was no place to linger. She flicked her sleeves and turned to leave. “Alright, Zhen has state affairs to attend to and will not stay here exchanging gibberish with you.”
“Your Majesty likes the Prime Minister, right?” Seeing Sheng Tingwan about to leave, Shen Zhijin blurted out the most absurd question in his heart.
Though he called it absurd, Shen Zhijin also knew this question was the most plausible.
Because when he connected it to their past, all signs indicated that Sheng Tingwan held a different kind of feeling for Ling Wen Nuan.
Sheng Tingwan stopped abruptly, frozen in place, not daring to turn around.
Seeing her reaction, the doubt in Shen Zhijin’s heart solidified. He had thought he would be utterly shocked, but unexpectedly, he felt a sense of calm relief.
Everyone thought that since they were childhood sweethearts, they should naturally marry and become wife and husband.
His entire clan believed he would one day be Her Majesty’s one and only Phoenix Consort, showered with endless favor. Every day, they drilled into him how to become a dignified and graceful Phoenix Consort of the Tianyang Kingdom.
But everyone had forgotten to ask what the two of them actually thought.
Did Sheng Tingwan really want to marry him?
Did Shen Zhijin really want to marry her?
Were the two of them really a good match?
…
In Shen Zhijin’s eyes, they were not a good match at all. He did not want to marry into the imperial palace; what he wanted most was to leave this cage and see the world outside. That was why he had been willing to go to Xizhou back then, even if it was desolate and dangerous, just to experience the unique and beautiful scenery the capital never had.
Only because he wanted to go out and see.
That was why he so envied Fang Minghe. As a man, he could do what he liked in the perilous, desolate lands of Xizhou and its military camps.
Free and dashing, unrestrained and wanton, untethered, and as spontaneous as the wind.
That was the kind of person Shen Zhijin greatly envied.
Sheng Tingwan clenched the corner of her robes, her voice trembling slightly. “What… what are you saying?”
Shen Zhijin walked toward her, stood in front of her, and said it again, “Your Majesty, you like the Prime Minister, don’t you?”
Sheng Tingwan wanted to argue, but when she met Shen Zhijin’s eyes, any excuse seemed pale and powerless.
Just as Shen Zhijin had said, they had grown up together. Many things could not be hidden from each other.
But—
Sheng Tingwan thought of what Shen Zhijin had said before. If she couldn’t hide certain things from him, could she really fool Ling Wen Nuan?
If she did fool her, then what?
And if she didn’t, did that mean Ling Wen Nuan knew of her feelings but pretended not to see?
Sheng Tingwan let out a long sigh and looked directly at Shen Zhijin. “Yes, Zhen likes Ling Wen Nuan.”
Since Shen Zhijin had guessed, there was no longer any need to hide it.
Shen Zhijin was silent for a moment, then smiled. “That’s great.”
Sheng Tingwan was stunned by his attitude, saying in disbelief, “What… what’s great?”
A woman liking another woman—how fantastical, how rebellious and heretical?
How did it become “that’s great” coming from Shen Zhijin’s mouth?
“This subject consort means that Your Majesty and the Prime Minister are a very good match, so I think it’s great,” Shen Zhijin said frankly.
“Zhen likes a woman. Don’t you find it strange? Aren’t you shocked?” Sheng Tingwan asked in surprise.
Shen Zhijin raised an eyebrow. “I found it strange and shocking at first, but how can something like feelings be defined? By man and woman?”
He wrinkled his nose and smiled. “This subject consort doesn’t think so. Whether it’s a man loving a man, or a woman loving a woman, such feelings are on par with the love between a man and a woman. There is no high or low, no noble or base, no distinction in ethics.”
“And by comparison, this subject consort feels that the Prime Minister is more suited for Your Majesty, not a useless man like myself.”
Hearing him say this, Sheng Tingwan frowned. “Zhen has never thought of you that way. You don’t need to be so unduly self-deprecating.”
“No, this subject consort is not being self-deprecating, but rather has self-awareness.”
No matter how many people said they were a perfect match, Shen Zhijin knew they were not.
A person’s value lies in having self-awareness.
Shen Zhijin didn’t feel inferior or cowardly because of this. They were clearly not walking the same path, so why force each other to go in opposite directions?
He smiled with relief and, just like when they were children, patted Sheng Tingwan’s shoulder. “Sheng Tingwan?”
He didn’t call her Your Majesty, but called her by name, just as he used to.
Sheng Tingwan looked at the familiar gesture and answered, “Yes.”
“I feel like you’re scared, aren’t you?” He also stopped referring to himself as “this subject consort.”
Sheng Tingwan’s heart trembled. She nodded. “Yes, I am a little… scared.”
She also stopped referring to herself as Zhen.
The way they addressed each other and the casual feeling of their childhood interactions seemed to return in that moment.
“Are you still afraid of what happened three years ago?”
Sheng Tingwan pressed her lips together, remaining silent.
Three years ago, Ling Wen Nuan had demanded Sheng Tingwan establish an imperial consort and had personally delivered Shen Zhijin to her, demanding she ennoble him as the Phoenix Consort. But Sheng Tingwan had not agreed, which angered Ling Wen Nuan, who then feigned illness to skip court, refused summons, and openly defied the imperial decree to challenge the authority of the imperial family.
Sheng Tingwan was terrified by Ling Wen Nuan’s actions and could only reluctantly ennoble Shen Zhijin as Noble Consort, a position second only to the Phoenix Consort.
She thought the matter would end there, but the next day, Ling Wen Nuan came to court and submitted her resignation, wanting to withdraw from the court and live in seclusion amidst the mountains and rivers, uninvolved in worldly affairs.
Ling Wen Nuan’s attitude was too firm to resist, because she had a thousand ways to control her with ease.
But Sheng Tingwan had also thought that if Ling Wen Nuan resigned, as long as she was still by her side, the title didn’t matter.
She never expected that her “resignation” was not a resignation in the typical sense, but a complete disappearance from her side.
The world was so vast, yet not a single trace of her could be found, as if she had never come to this world, as if Ling Wen Nuan was merely a dream.
Shen Zhijin sighed softly. “Although I’m also sad about why the Prime Minister would give me to you and insist you grant me the title of Phoenix Consort, there is one thing I can be sure of.”
“What?”
“In the Prime Minister’s heart, she must have believed what other people were saying.”
Sheng Tingwan’s eyelashes fluttered. She looked up. “What words?”
“You and I grew up together, childhood sweethearts. Everyone believed we should be together, should marry and have children, should grow old together in happiness,” Shen Zhijin said. “And among ‘everyone’ was Prime Minister Ling.”
“You’re saying…?”
Shen Zhijin said with conviction, “My meaning is, in Prime Minister Ling’s heart, she must also believe that we should be together, loving and happy.”
That was why the Prime Minister didn’t feel jealousy, possessiveness, or irritation when she saw them acting intimately.
Because deep in her heart, she believed it was right and proper for them to do so.
“Then next…”
Shen Zhijin took Sheng Tingwan’s hand, pressed it to his own face, a dark glint flashing in his eyes. “You should slap me, and then depose me, so the Prime Minister can see that you don’t actually like me.”
Sheng Tingwan’s brows furrowed as she asked distractedly, “Is that so?”
“This way, you can eliminate the doubts in the Prime Minister’s heart, and then Your Majesty can have her. Wouldn’t that be a joyous outcome for everyone?”
“And then you can leave the imperial palace to live your life of idle clouds and wild cranes5 and your satisfying life in the jianghu?” Sheng Tingwan saw right through his little scheme with a single sentence.
Shen Zhijin: “…”
Sigh, a miscalculation.
Sheng Tingwan gave a cold laugh. “Shen Zhijin, until Zhen has completely won Wen Nuan, don’t even think about running.”
Shen Zhijin pouted. “You like the Prime Minister, so what’s the use of keeping me here?”
“Naturally, there’s a use. In the end, you’ve reminded me of something,” Sheng Tingwan said, her eyes unfathomably deep.
“What use?” Shen Zhijin asked curiously.
A corner of Sheng Tingwan’s mouth hooked up. “You’ll know when the time comes. When that day arrives, even if you want to leave the palace, Zhen will applaud and send you off.”
Watching Sheng Tingwan’s departing back, Shen Zhijin couldn’t help but lament, “One is ruthless of heart and vicious of hand6, the other is full of crafty schemes. Truly a perfect match.”
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