After I Faked My Death, the Dog Emperor Completely Lost His Mind - Chapter 22.2

A flash of surprise crossed Shen Yuheng’s eyes. Not to be conceited, but… Xiao Huai hadn’t summoned anyone but him for a very long time. Hearing this, the weight on his heart vanished. He didn’t feel a shred of regret.

Great!!! Xiao Huai was just a passing whim after all! The thought that he wouldn’t have to go to the “bed” made even the cold wind feel refreshing. He was happy to wait.

Zhou Yuan stood behind him. Usually, he’d leave after seeing Shen Yuheng into the hall, but today he lingered, a look of hesitation on his face. He noticed that the palace atmosphere was off—the usual lazy eunuchs had been replaced by a row of stern guards.

“Eunuch Fang,” Zhou Yuan asked, seeing Shen Yuheng rubbing his hands. “Could we get a charcoal heater? Consort Shen is His Majesty’s favorite; he shouldn’t be left to freeze.”

“The Consort will have to wait,” Eunuch Fang said coldly. “His Majesty dislikes extravagance; he likely wouldn’t appreciate such a request.”

Shen Yuheng waved it off. “It’s fine, I’ll wait.” If he caught a cold or a cough… then he definitely couldn’t serve in bed. He felt like a student trying to catch a cold on the last day of summer break to avoid school.

[Did you get out of school?]

“No, I got pneumonia,” Shen Yuheng thought, rolling his eyes at himself. “I ended up doing my homework while on an IV drip. It turns out the teacher didn’t even check the work.”

The System let out a “whir” of laughter. Just then, the doors of the hall burst open. A woman in coarse hemp clothing was dragged out by two guards. She wailed and struggled, only to be surrounded and forced into a waiting prison carriage.

The scene terrified Shen Yuheng. He backed away as the woman’s curses of injustice filled the air.

“Who was that?” he asked nervously.

“That,” Eunuch Fang interrupted before he could finish, “was Attendant Zhang. She was a maid of the presence who was blessed with the Emperor’s favor. But she betrayed that grace and committed adultery with the Second Prince.”

Adultery.

Shen Yuheng went pale. He knew why that voice sounded familiar. She was the “Yaoniang” from last night.

“Such treason cannot be tolerated, even by a benevolent ruler like His Majesty,” Fang Qing said. “She was sentenced to death, but His Majesty was merciful and granted her the white silk to maintain the palace’s dignity.”

Xiao Qi, being a prince of the blood, would likely face a light punishment. But the consort he targeted? Certain death. Shen Yuheng’s fingertips went cold.

Eunuch Fang conferred with a guard and told him, “His Majesty is tired and needs rest. I will have the Consort escorted back.”

Shen Yuheng nodded, trying to appear calm as he boarded the sedan chair. On the way, he asked, “System, do you think Xiao Huai knows?”

[Well… I can’t say.]

If this was a coincidence, it was too perfect. Xiao Huai might really know about him and Xiao Jin. Since when? The first bite? Or last night?

The System was panicking: [Host, what now? Will the scary old Emperor do the same to you?]

“Relax. Xiao Jin and I aren’t really like that.” He tried to comfort the System, but his own breathing was erratic. Xiao Huai held his life in his hands. He took a deep breath. “I’ll be careful from now on. I won’t let it happen again.”

The Next Day

In the capital’s market, Shen Tinglan stumbled out of a tavern. People were gossiping on the street.

“Did you hear? The Second Prince was stripped of his status for kidnapping a commoner’s daughter!”

“The Second Prince? I heard he was caught with one of the Emperor’s own women!”

Tinglan leaned against a wall, eyes closed, listening. Once palace rumors hit the streets, they became a mix of truth and fiction. He smiled and shook his head, heading toward the Shen manor.

As he guessed, Shen Yun璟 was waiting for him at the gate, looking like he hadn’t slept. “How is Yuheng?”

“Fine.” Tinglan bypassed him to find his water pipe. He took a puff and added lazily, “The kid is living a pampered life, don’t worry. With the Emperor’s favor, who could bully him?” Then he smirked. “When I was in the palace, I even saw a ‘mark’ on him.” He pointed to his own collarbone.

Yun frowned, looking confused. Tinglan tutted. “Brother, even if you aren’t married, surely you understand these things?”

“I know what it is,” Yun said flatly. “But I’ve been drugging the Emperor’s supplements. He hasn’t touched Yuheng.”

Tinglan froze. His water pipe clattered to the floor. After a moment, he exploded. “Are you insane?! You’re drugging the Emperor?! How many lives do we have to play with?!” He kicked the pipe aside. “And you say Yu is the reckless one? If the Emperor finds out, we’re all dead!”

He stared at his elder brother. “Wait… if the Emperor didn’t touch him, then that mark…”

“Xiao Jin,” Yun muttered, his eyes filled with a dark fury.

Tinglan closed his eyes. His heart felt “dead.” Great. One brother was drugging the Emperor to keep him away, and the other was sleeping with the Emperor’s son behind his back.

Absolute geniuses.

He clapped sarcastically in his mind. Who knew I, the town drunk, would be the most law-abiding person in this family? Is it just me who’s afraid of losing my head?? This is ridiculous!!

Qingzhuo Hall

Shen Yuheng’s plan to keep his distance was a massive success because for the next entire month, Xiao Jin didn’t return. He seemed to have vanished into thin air. At first, Shen Yuheng thought he was just off doing his usual “villain” business, but later he heard from Tinglan that the officials he wanted to introduce to Xiao Jin had started meeting with the prince in private.

His feelings were like a parent whose runaway child was actually finding success—complicated, yet a little proud.

The System was happy: [So after you two ‘slept together,’ he really went to build connections! He’s a time-management master!]

“We did not sleep together!!” Shen Yuheng stammered, rubbing his burning cheeks.

One thing he didn’t tell the System: even though Xiao Jin was gone, he felt as if the boy had never left. While both the father and son had vanished from his sight as if by agreement, strange things kept happening. Sometimes furniture was moved. Sometimes the wardrobe smelled of blood, though he could never find the source.

And then… there was the headache.

He curled up on the bed, lazily napping like a cat to soothe the pain. Outside the curtains, Su Cheng called his name and stepped inside. Receiving no answer, Su Cheng grew bold. Seeing the disheveled man on the bed, his lips curved into a smile. He didn’t have the courage for more, so he simply poked Shen Yuheng’s lip with his finger.

Shen Yuheng shifted, leaving his white neck exposed. Su Cheng intended to leave, but from his vantage point, he saw something crimson. He froze. After a few seconds, he reached out and pulled back the collar of the sleeping man’s robes.

Shen Yuheng’s shoulders were covered in a mess of red marks bites and hickeys looking like blooming plum blossoms. They were concentrated on the back of his neck, as if hidden on purpose… or as if they were a warning mark to anyone else who might want to approach.

Su Cheng’s heart went cold. He knew instinctively: this was Xiao Jin’s work. The “hero” who had saved him. He felt no disgust, only a madness of his own. He didn’t want to possess Shen Yuheng alone; he just wanted to be part of the marks. He reached out his hand, unaware of the shadow falling from the roof…

Shen Yuheng woke up feeling like his clothes were messy. A hand that had been on his neck suddenly vanished. Who’s being sneaky?

He saw Su Cheng sitting by the bed, looking blank. When questioned, Su Cheng claimed he was just trying to wake him up.

Once Su Cheng left, Shen Yuheng checked himself. The bite mark from a month ago was almost gone. He began applying scar-removal ointment. Thinking of the banquet tonight, he applied more.

“System, do you think Xiao Huai actually likes me? He’s suspicious like Xiao Jin; he might kill me…”

[I understand, Host. It’s like a graduate who lies in bed all day and feels guilty—so they find a ‘job’ for some work-life balance. You are Xiao Huai’s job.]

“…” Your analogies are unhinged.

As he reached around to apply ointment to the back of his neck, he caught a glimpse of… crimson? Crap. Did I miss a mark?! He grabbed a bronze mirror, but he couldn’t see the angle. He set the mirror down, but in the reflection, he saw a man standing behind him.

His blood froze. A hand covered his mouth, and a second hand tilted the mirror up. He saw his own terrified face… and the long-lost Xiao Jin standing behind him.

“Mother Consort…”

“Long time no see.”

Xiao Jin gave a ghostly, terrifying smile. His gaze slid down to the secret marks on the man’s neck. This was his masterpiece. He hadn’t expected someone as cowardly as Su Cheng to try and overwrite his marks. A surge of fury rose within him.

Is one Imperial Father not enough? Or is it because he’s been lonely for a month?

Xiao Jin’s expression was dark. Shen Yuheng tried to look at him, but Xiao Jin forced his chin back toward the mirror. “Stay away from him.” It was a cold, jealous command.

Shen Yuheng realized he was talking about Su Cheng. He wanted to argue, but he knew reasoning with this kid was useless. “I won’t touch him, relax. What about you? When are you coming back?”

He needed the boy for the mission! He had been looking for him for a month! Seeing Xiao Jin’s silence, he rubbed his cheek. “I mean… I live alone. It’s lonely at night. And your father… he’s suspicious of us. If you stay away, he’ll only suspect us more.”

Xiao Jin sneered. First Su Cheng, now me. He’s already searching for a new ‘partner’ after only a month of loneliness? He slammed the mirror down, shattering it. Shen Yuheng didn’t dare look back.

A hand wiped his lips with unnecessary force before the presence vanished.

The New Year’s Eve Banquet

This was the last banquet before the first lunar month. Everything was high-spec. Shen Yuheng arrived late, hoping to be ignored. But Eunuch Fang greeted him with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, drawing everyone’s attention including several elder officials.

They were sitting with Xiao Jin. Since Xiao Qi’s fall, the officials had shifted their focus to the only remaining viable prince. Xiao Jin’s influence was growing at a terrifying speed.

[Host, how did he get so many connections?! He’s so bad at talking!]

“If I knew, I wouldn’t have been a corporate slave for so many years.”

He took a sip of sweet wine, watching Xiao Jin from afar. The youth sat among the wrinkled officials, his own dark, elegant aura making him look like the natural successor to Xiao Huai. If only the Xiao Jin I deal with was this normal, Shen Yuheng thought. He had planned to raise the boy to eighteen and see him crowned a benevolent king. In nine days, Xiao Jin would be eighteen. But his plan had been shredded by a series of bites.

Drunk and dazed, Shen Yuheng saw Eunuch Fang approach him with a “triple vision” blur.

“Consort Shen, His Majesty… requests your presence…”

He nodded, his face flushed. As he walked toward the high platform where the Emperor sat, the officials continued their toasts. But Xiao Jin, sitting among them, stared at the retreating back.

A corner of the wine cup in his hand was crushed to powder.