After I Faked My Death, the Dog Emperor Completely Lost His Mind - Chapter 3

Outside the Hall of Pure Clarity.

The eunuch Xiao Linzi emerged looking crestfallen, muttering to himself, “Strange, how can this be?”

Several palace servants curiously crowded around him. After much prying, they were shocked to learn that Consort Shen had actually refused Lord Meng’s letter.

“Did Consort Shen and Lord Meng have such a massive falling out? He won’t even accept a letter now?” “It’s better this way. They should have ended it long ago!” “Finally, it’s over. We won’t have to worry about being implicated when the truth eventually comes out!”

No one in the Hall of Pure Clarity was unaware of Consort Shen’s deep devotion to Meng Qian. He used to wait daily for his lover’s letters, wishing he had wings to fly out of the palace. To be a male consort in the Imperial Harem while trying to please the Emperor on one hand and pining for a lover on the other—it was enough to make anyone shake their head.

Inside the Hall.

Under the pretext of “being too ugly to look at,” Shen Yuheng ordered Xiao Jin to be taken out and changed into decent clothing before returning. Once the boy was gone, Shen Yuheng immediately began searching the room based on the original owner’s memories.

Eventually, he scavenged over thirty illicit letters from the gaps in the bedframe and hidden compartments in jewelry boxes all from various secret admirers.

Before burning them, Shen Yuheng’s curiosity got the better of him, and he glanced at the contents.

Phrases like “Golden needles and powdered sweat on peach blossoms,” “Mandarin duck quilts,” and “Flipping through red waves” leaped off the pages.

What kind of predatory language is this?!

It was ridiculous enough that these people dared to lust after the Emperor’s male consort, but the original owner was even more absurd. Even though he wasn’t truly interested in them, he kept the letters as trophies of his own charm, taking them out to admire occasionally, unable to part with them.

As for the current Shen Yuheng if it weren’t for the fact that he was a fast reader, he wouldn’t want to see these erotic verses at all! He decided to find a quiet moment to burn the whole lot.

Shortly after, the maids arrived to help him wash and dress. Shen Yuheng wasn’t yet used to the ancient hierarchy of master and servant, but fortunately, the original owner rarely interacted with the staff. As long as he stayed quiet, he wouldn’t blow his cover.

However, when a maid held up a puff of cosmetic powder to apply to his face, Shen Yuheng couldn’t help but speak up. He backed away. “No, no, no, let’s skip that.”

When he had first arrived yesterday, the original owner’s face had been covered in a thick, suffocating layer of makeup. It was incredibly uncomfortable.

His refusal startled the two maids. Although Consort Shen was a man, he usually loved decorating his face more than anyone; even if he wasn’t seeing anyone, he wouldn’t go a single day without it. In fact, it wasn’t just Consort Shen from the concubines to the beauty-obsessed men and women of the capital, who didn’t put effort into their appearance?

They checked with him repeatedly. Shen Yuheng simply shook his head, too lazy to explain. “I don’t want to deal with the hassle. Don’t ask anymore. From now on, no more makeup. It’s too much trouble.”

The original owner actually looked quite like Shen Yuheng’s original self-clean-cut and handsome. There was no need for extra decoration. Once finished, Shen Yuheng looked in the mirror. His face was finally clean. While not as “glamorous” as before, he was definitely a refreshing beauty.

Behind him, the two maids hurriedly bowed and left.

In the storehouse, as soon as Xiao Jin changed clothes, Xiao Linzi’s horsetail whisk came swinging down.

“Move faster! How much longer do you want me to wait?!”

The soft whisk, when swung with force against flesh, stung like a whip. Xiao Jin looked up, staring expressionlessly at Xiao Linzi. The latter suddenly broke into a cold shiver for no reason.

Everyone looked down on Xiao Jin from the bottom of their hearts, yet at times, this prince whom anyone could bully gave off a bone-chilling aura.

Xiao Jin’s gaze slid over the whisk in Xiao Linzi’s hand. His heart, torn open by years of accumulated humiliation, seemed to release a shivering wave of malice. He suppressed the frantic, violent thoughts in his mind, and his eyes returned to their vacant, dark state.

“What are you dawdling for? Let’s go.” Xiao Linzi, unaware of what the boy was thinking, grumbled a few more times, but the hand holding the whisk instinctively pulled back.

As the two approached the main hall, they overheard two maids whispering while sweeping: “Lord Meng must have found a new love, and it’s broken Consort Shen’s heart.” “I didn’t expect the Consort to be this devastated. It seems their past bond was truly deep.”

Xiao Linzi raised an eyebrow and went over to pry. Only then did he learn that Consort Shen had gone “bare-faced” this morning, refusing to wear any makeup. Upon hearing this, Xiao Linzi’s expression changed instantly.

Quarreling with Lord Meng was a small matter, but how could he stop wearing makeup? The old Emperor already didn’t care for Consort Shen. Currently, aside from that lowly Su Cheng, Shen was the only male consort who hadn’t “served” the Emperor. If he didn’t make himself pretty, how could he get the Emperor into bed? If he didn’t get him into bed, how could he gain favor?

Back then, Xiao Linzi chose to follow Shen Yuheng because he saw he was young and beautiful, believing he would be favored. He hadn’t expected that after all the hardship of following him… it would just be pure hardship! The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He turned, shoved Xiao Jin aside, and stormed out.

Once Xiao Linzi was gone, the two maids quickly lowered their heads and pretended they hadn’t seen anything, terrified of being associated with Xiao Jin and provoking Shen Yuheng’s ire.

Ignoring them, Xiao Jin stepped over the threshold of the Hall of Pure Clarity. Upon entering, he noticed a faint, refreshing scent. Shen Yuheng had replaced the heavy, cloying incense with a seasonal, clean fragrance. It was no longer sickly sweet and suffocating; breathing it in felt clear and comfortable.

The Hall of Pure Clarity, which Xiao Jin knew so well, suddenly felt a bit foreign.

At that moment, a voice tinged with anger came from within: “What kind of trashy clothes are these?”

Shen Yuheng was walking toward him, his brow furrowed. His milky-white, light robe drifted with his movements like a cloud of annoyance. Seeing Shen Yuheng approaching in a rage, the corners of Xiao Jin’s lips actually twitched upward.

Is he finally unable to hold it in anymore?

This felt more natural. It was better than yesterday where the strikes never hit the skin and the scoldings were as light as a feather, like scratching an itch through a boot. It had made him feel uneasy.

However, as Shen Yuheng reached him, he wasn’t holding a whip. He simply grabbed Xiao Jin’s shoulders with his bare hands, held him in place, and looked him up and down. The more he looked, the more dissatisfied he became.

What kind of cheap rags are these?!

The fabric was atrocious. You didn’t even have to touch it to know it was unwearable. He didn’t know where in the palace such poor-quality clothes could even be found; Xiao Linzi must have really gone out of his way to find them. Not only that, they were ugly that muddy green color did not suit Xiao Jin at all.

Was this the “decent clothing” Xiao Linzi prepared on his orders?

Shen Yuheng sighed. “What a waste of your face.”

He walked straight to the wardrobe. Surely a person as obsessed with appearance as the original owner had a few decent sets of clothes.

In truth, based on the original owner’s status, his daily allotment should have been bottom-tier. However, his father was the most prestigious General Shen of the Great Zhou. The Shen family’s wealth and territory surpassed even the Prime Minister’s, so they could easily afford for Shen Yuheng to live in luxury within the palace.

However. The good news: The original owner indeed had many clothes. The bad news: The original owner’s fashion sense was explosive.

To match his gaudy makeup, almost all the clothes aside from the silver-trimmed milky white robe Shen Yuheng was currently wearing were in garishly vulgar colors. They would never suit Xiao Jin. The mere thought was awkward.

He called the maids Yundou and Jiaobai in. “Change his clothes and prepare some decent accessories.”

As soon as he said “decent,” Shen Yuheng thought of that hideous green outfit. He tossed a heavy bag of silver to the maids. “I want the good stuff. The best.”

The best?

Yundou and Jiaobai wanted to clean their ears. Did Consort Shen just say that?

The next second, as if knowing what they were thinking, Shen Yuheng added, “His Majesty is hosting a family banquet tonight. Don’t let him dress like this and embarrass me.”

So, it was for the banquet.

The two maids hurried off to prepare. Tonight, the old Emperor was hosting a family dinner; princes, princesses, and harem concubines were all expected to attend. For a face-saving person like Consort Shen, if Xiao Jin showed up looking like a beggar, Shen Yuheng who had taken him in would lose face completely.

However, Jiaobai and Yundou still underestimated just how much Shen Yuheng valued “face.”

In the original book, Xiao Jin was kicked out by Shen Yuheng and went to the Cold Palace. When Su Cheng found him there, he intended to take Xiao Jin to the banquet as his “mother-consort.” When the original Shen Yuheng heard this, he was furious. In his eyes, Xiao Jin’s presence at the banquet was a constant reminder of how foolish he had been to think he could use the boy to win favor.

Before the banquet began, the original Shen Yuheng had sent people to sneak into Su’s quarters to knock Xiao Jin unconscious and lock him back in the Cold Palace. That night, however, Xiao Jin still appeared at the banquet perfectly fine. Meanwhile, the Hall of Pure Clarity, where the original owner lived, was engulfed in flames. Because most servants were busy at the banquet, by the time the fire was discovered, it was out of control.

All the maids and eunuchs in the Hall died in the fire, and the original owner was forced to move to a remote, dilapidated palace. There was never any evidence to prove Xiao Jin started the fire.

To prevent this, Shen Yuheng decided to take Xiao Jin to the banquet himself to keep a close eye on him. One lapse in attention and the boy might start killing and burning things again.

Soon, Yundou and Jiaobai returned with a set of deep red formal robes and a sandalwood jewelry box. After putting the items down, the two maids moved to help Xiao Jin undress, but Shen Yuheng stopped them.

“I’ll do it.”

A protagonist like Xiao Jin, who lived more like a villain, was extremely vengeful. If his wounds were exposed naked to the maids, he would surely add another mark against Shen Yuheng’s name in his mental ledger. It was better to do it himself.

Once the maids had carefully left the bedchamber, Shen Yuheng told Xiao Jin to take off his clothes. He called out twice, but Xiao Jin remained motionless, his eyes filled with defensiveness.

Shen Yuheng sighed and simply reached out to pull off Xiao Jin’s outer robe.

Xiao Jin’s brow knit tight. Seeing that Shen Yuheng was truly about to strip him, the youth violently swiped his hand away and took a step back, refusing to let him get any closer.

“Do you think I want to do this?” Shen Yuheng sighed, feeling like he was being treated as a pervert. “I’m not interested in men. Hurry up and strip.”

Not interested in men?

A flash of mockery crossed Xiao Jin’s eyes. “Consort Shen truly loves to joke.”

In the vast city of the capital, who didn’t know about Shen Yuheng’s filthy little habits?