Marked by the Tyrant After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 12

Ye Shu wasn’t certain if Jin Wang believed him or not.

However, from that day on, Jin Wang stopped finding creative ways to test him, and his attitude improved significantly. It was proof that the performance that day had been quite a success—aside from that monumentally awkward incident in the bathhouse.

Ye Shu didn’t consider himself someone who couldn’t control his lower half; he simply figured that everyone has a natural appreciation for beauty. Jin Wang was, after all, a rare beauty. When such a beauty presses you against the side of a pool, stark naked, and starts kissing you, it would actually be abnormal not to have an “impolite” reaction.

Yes, exactly. That’s all it was.

Ye Shu managed to convince himself and continued to play the role of the Sovereign’s “fiancé” with a clear conscience. Of course, he never gave up on the idea of escaping. It was just that the Western Xia spies had all been captured or killed by Jin Wang, effectively cutting off that particular escape route. He would have to come up with another plan to get away.

“What are you thinking about now?”

The sound of hoofbeats approached from ahead. Ye Shu looked up to see Jin Wang tossing a recurve bow to an attendant. His handsome features were pinched with displeasure. “I brought you out hunting to stretch your limbs, yet here you are, slacking off?”

“…” To hell with ‘stretching my limbs,’ Ye Shu thought. He couldn’t even pull the bowstring back.

Ye Shu set down his warm plum juice and said calmly, “Your Majesty, I do not know how to hunt.”

As they spoke, several attendants in the distance were moving the game Jin Wang had just caught. Ye Shu glanced over—goats, red deer, wild rabbits—at least a dozen animals in total. Some weren’t even dead yet when the attendants slit their throats, sending blood spraying everywhere. The camp reeked of iron and blood, a scent that had already made Ye Shu retch once today.

His face was pale, and he felt a faint surge of nausea again.

“If you don’t know, then learn.” Jin Wang pulled up his horse in front of Ye Shu and reached out a hand. “Come up. I will teach you.”

Ye Shu was resistant. “But…”

“The Bureau of Punishment is still owed twenty strokes of the cane, is it not…?”

Ye Shu answered decisively, “I’ll learn.”

Since the two of them hadn’t returned to the palace, Ye Shu naturally hadn’t had the time to go to the Bureau to receive his punishment. Jin Wang didn’t seem in a rush to enforce it, either; he just brought it up occasionally to make Ye Shu miserable.

Jin Wang smiled with satisfaction. He leaned down, hauled Ye Shu up onto the horse, and pulled him into his arms. Taking the bow back from an attendant, he urged the horse toward the woods.

It was late autumn, but the weather was exceptionally fine today. The sunlight was mild and warm. Ye Shu took a deep breath of the pleasant forest air, and the nausea caused by the smell of blood finally began to fade. At the very least, he wouldn’t vomit on Jin Wang.

Jin Wang pulled his cloak open to wrap Ye Shu completely within his embrace. Noticing the young man’s pale complexion, a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Since when did you start fainting at the sight of blood again?”

Ye Shu froze. “I… I’ve always been like this.”

“Mm, I remember,” Jin Wang nodded. “When you were a child, you could never stand it. You’d practically faint if you so much as pricked your finger.”

His tone shifted. “But I also remember two years ago, when you were supervising the spring examinations. A member of the Hanlin Academy was caught taking bribes, and you had your men beat him to death outside the palace gates. By the time I arrived, he was breathless, leaving nothing but blood all over the ground.”

“Back then, you weren’t even afraid of human blood. I thought you had been cured.”

“…”

The original owner’s methods were no better than this tyrant’s, Ye Shu thought. He gave a forced laugh. “P-perhaps I was just blinded by rage at the time.”

Jin Wang merely smiled, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

The forest was silent. Jin Wang had ordered the attendants not to disturb them, so no one dared follow. They rode together on a single horse, moving quietly through the thicket.

The rustling of grass came from nearby. Jin Wang brought the horse to a halt, his right hand silently reaching for the bow. After a moment of bated breath, a gray rabbit hopped out from the brush.

This part of the forest was part of the imperial hunting grounds. Game like rabbits, goats, and deer—animals with little to no lethality—were released regularly for the nobility of the capital to practice on. There was another hunting ground for wolves and tigers, but Jin Wang had only brought Ye Shu out to relax, so he hadn’t headed that way.

“The prey is here. Try it.” Jin Wang guided Ye Shu’s hand onto the bow and tucked an arrow into his palm. “Don’t worry. I take the top prize at every hunt; my arrows never miss. With me teaching you personally, you’re guaranteed to learn.”

Jin Wang placed his hand over the back of Ye Shu’s, drawing the string. “Level your arms, drop your shoulders, like this…”

Jin Wang’s instruction was meticulous, his voice low and deep. Because of the posture, their bodies were pressed tightly together. Ye Shu could even clearly feel Jin Wang’s warm breath as he spoke.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, something subtle had changed between him and Jin Wang since that day in the bathhouse. The most obvious change was… he couldn’t stand this man being so close to him.

Ye Shu’s ears began to burn, and he tried to shift away inconspicuously.

“Don’t move. Look where you’re aiming,” Jin Wang chided softly in his ear, pulling him back.

Ye Shu bumped right back into Jin Wang’s chest and instantly froze. What was that… he was touching behind him?

Jin Wang’s body also seemed to stiffen for a second. Ye Shu tried his best to lift his upper body away, twisting his waist uncomfortably, only for Jin Wang to pin him down even more firmly.

“…I told you not to move.” Jin Wang’s voice was tinged with hoarseness.

Ye Shu’s voice trembled with nerves. “Then don’t… don’t be so…”

He couldn’t say it. Just from a bit of friction, he’s already this… “spirited”? Was this dog emperor on drugs?

The gray rabbit was completely forgotten. The rabbit twitched its head left and right before disappearing back into the bushes.

Jin Wang lowered the bow and said tonelessly, “Seducer.”

“…Huh?”

Jin Wang was even more blunt. “You’re seducing me again.”

“…Huh???” Ye Shu was shocked by his audacity. He tried to be reasonable. “Your Majesty, clearly you were the one who started… Fine! Fine, I’m a seducer! Can you just stop poking me!”

“No.” Jin Wang put the arrow away, his voice calm and steady. “That’s what you get for being a seducer.”

The day after Ye Shu had caused a scene by crying and shouting, Jin Wang had woken up feeling regretful. Just because this man shed a few tears, he had actually commuted a capital crime like regicide to twenty strokes of a cane? And he’d even agreed to one stroke a month?

Jin Wang found it hard to believe. He wished he could go back to the night before and kill his past self for being so blinded by lust. However, a ruler’s word is final. Since he had promised not to kill him, he couldn’t go back on it. Regardless, the man couldn’t stir up much trouble now.

Except for… openly seducing his sovereign every day. Little fox.

The atmosphere in the forest grew increasingly strange. The unavoidable sensation behind him became even clearer. Ye Shu’s ears were bright red. Suddenly, a tingling, numbing sensation shot like an electric current from his spine to the back of his head.

Jin Wang had kissed the small mole behind his ear.

“!” Ye Shu never knew that spot was so sensitive. He couldn’t hold it back and let out a low gasp.

He couldn’t see what was happening behind him, but Jin Wang saw it clearly. That little mole turned a vivid red at a speed visible to the naked eye—the color was lush and inviting.

“How did you…” Jin Wang reached up to touch it. Hadn’t he taken the medicine? How could he still…

Ye Shu’s limbs felt weak, and an uncontrollable impulse began to take over. He turned his head to look at Jin Wang helplessly. The sweet and sour scent of green plums began to drift through the forest air.

“You really are…” After a long moment, Jin Wang sighed with a smile and pressed Ye Shu into his chest. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Just as he was about to lean down and kiss Ye Shu, a strange noise erupted from the woods.

Before Ye Shu realized what was happening, he saw Jin Wang swiftly draw his bow and fire an arrow toward a hidden branch. A figure tumbled down from the tree, rolling miserably to a stop right in front of the horse’s hooves.

The horse, startled, reared up. Ye Shu, losing his balance, fell backward and slammed hard into Jin Wang’s chest. Both men let out a muffled groan.

Jin Wang steadied the reins and patted the horse’s mane, quickly calming it down.

The interruption cleared Ye Shu’s head a bit. He gripped the saddle and tried to discreetly distance himself from Jin Wang… only to be pulled back forcefully again.

Jin Wang’s gaze landed on the assassin dressed in black night-gear. He narrowed his eyes, a cold, murderous intent flickering within them. No one had ever dared to disturb his “good business” before.

The assassin, wounded in the shoulder, struggled to crawl up. “…Tyrant! Even as a ghost, I won’t let you off! I will die to avenge Minister Ye!”

…Wait, who are you?

Jin Wang raised an eyebrow, and Ye Shu looked back innocently. This time, it really had nothing to do with him.

Soon, a squad of the Imperial Guard emerged from the woods, surrounding the assassin. As the ruler of a nation, Jin Wang’s “hate meter” was maxed out; there was never a shortage of people inside or outside the capital who wanted him dead.

This wasn’t the first time the guards had dealt with an assassination attempt. Seeing the Sovereign’s displeasure and the “springtime” look in the eyes of the person in his arms, it was clear their business had been interrupted. Fearing the Emperor’s wrath, the leader of the guards drew his blade to execute the man on the spot.

Jin Wang suddenly spoke. “Wait.”

With one arm around Ye Shu and the other holding the reins, he said, “Ask him who he is.”

A guard pressed a blade to the assassin’s neck. “Speak.”

The assassin said coldly, “…The man who wants your life.”

The voice sounded familiar. Ye Shu suddenly said, “Look up.”

Upon hearing the voice, the assassin snapped his head up. ” Young Master?”

The assassin looked to be about Ye Shu’s age, in his early twenties. His delicate face was stained with blood, and a blade scar ran across his cheek, the wound already scabbed over.

Ye Shu remembered this face. On the day he first crossed into this world, this was the first person he had seen in the tent.

Ye Shu called out tentatively, “…Chang Yuan?”

Chang Yuan was held down and couldn’t break free, but his eyes turned red. “Young Master, it really is you… So, you… you didn’t die.”

“I…”

Ye Shu wanted to say something, but his expression suddenly froze.

Beneath the cloak, Jin Wang had suddenly given his waist a firm squeeze. The burning heat of his palm was transmitted through the clothes without reservation. Those hands lingered at his abdomen, even showing a faint intention to reach further inside.

Meanwhile, the sensation from behind hadn’t faded; if anything, it was intensifying.

Ye Shu realized too late how dangerous this posture was. His legs felt weak, yet Chang Yuan continued to ask, “Young Master, why are you here? I thought you had already been executed. What is going on?

“…”

“My dear official, your confidant is asking you a question. Why don’t you answer him?”

Jin Wang’s tone was steady, but his hand under the cloak was heading straight for places that shouldn’t be touched. He smiled thinly. “What a touching display of loyalty between master and servant. I am truly deeply moved.”

Ye Shu: “…”

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