Marked by the Tyrant After Transmigrating into a Book - Chapter 9

Ye Shu felt a wave of numbness wash over him as he felt Jin Wang’s gaze turn toward him.

The atmosphere grew deathly cold.

“Oh?” Jin Wang’s voice was calm, yet it carried an edge that made one’s skin crawl. He let his hand slide down to Ye Shu’s waist, pulling him closer into his embrace until their chests were pressed together. He looked down at the pale youth and asked softly, “My dear official, is what he says true? Do you truly wish for my Jin clan to have no place to be buried?”

Ye Shu’s heart was pounding against his ribs like a trapped bird.

He knew he couldn’t hesitate. In a world of political intrigue and tyrannical emperors, a second of hesitation was the difference between a palace and a coffin.

“Your Majesty…” Ye Shu’s eyes turned red in an instant, and he looked up with an expression full of grievance and shock. He pointed a trembling finger at Mu Jiuqing. “He… he is slandering me! He saw that I refused to help him, so he wants to drag me down with him!”

Mu Jiuqing let out a raspy, blood-soaked laugh. “Slander? Ye Shu, the medicine you were supposed to give him is still in your sleeve! Why don’t you show the Emperor what ‘kindness’ you prepared for him?”

Ye Shu’s heart skipped a beat.

The jade bottle. He had forgotten to get rid of it.

Jin Wang’s gaze lowered to Ye Shu’s wide sleeve. He didn’t say a word, but the aggressive Information Scent of strong liquor began to radiate from him, thick and suffocating.

“Take it out,” Jin Wang commanded.

Ye Shu bit his lip so hard it nearly bled. He slowly reached into his sleeve and pulled out the exquisite jade bottle, holding it in his open palm.

Mu Jiuqing sneered, “Go on, tell him. Tell him it’s the ‘Night of Eternal Dreams’—a poison that makes one sleep forever without pain. Is that not what you promised me?”

Ye Shu ignored him and looked directly into Jin Wang’s eyes. “It is indeed a sedative. But I didn’t take it to use on you.”

“Then why did you take it?” Jin Wang asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

“I took it… because I was afraid,” Ye Shu whispered, his voice cracking. “I was afraid that if I didn’t agree to his face, he would kill me right there in the alley. I took the medicine just to get away. Majesty, if I really wanted to poison you, why would I have fed you that hangover soup just now? Why would I have stayed by your side when you were ‘drunk’ and vulnerable?”

Jin Wang stared at him for a long time. The silence was so heavy that the Imperial Guards didn’t even dare to breathe.

Suddenly, Jin Wang reached out and took the jade bottle. He uncorked it, sniffed it lightly, and then, without warning, tossed it into the deep grass of the mountain path.

“Kill the prisoners,” Jin Wang ordered flatly.

“Ye Shu! You traitor! You will die a miserable.” Mu Jiuqing’s curse was cut short by the flash of a blade.

The forest returned to silence.

Jin Wang didn’t look at the corpses. He turned and carried Ye Shu back into the carriage, tossing him onto the soft cushions. The Emperor followed him in, the carriage door slamming shut and cutting off the outside world.

In the dim light of the carriage, Jin Wang pinned Ye Shu’s wrists above his head.

“A-Shu, do you know why I was sober?” Jin Wang’s voice was low and dangerous.

Ye Shu shook his head frantically.

“Because the wine I drank tonight… was also mixed with a medicine that neutralizes all toxins and sedatives. I’ve lived my life in a nest of vipers; do you think I would truly let myself get drunk in a place like the capital?”

Ye Shu’s face went even paler.

So, everything tonight—the boat ride, the wine, the ‘drunkenness’—it was all a trap. Jin Wang had been watching him the entire time, waiting to see if he would actually pour the poison.

“I didn’t do it,” Ye Shu sobbed, the fear finally breaking through his acting. “I really didn’t do it, Jin Wang. Please…”

Jin Wang’s expression softened ever so slightly as he looked at the weeping youth beneath him. He leaned down, his lips brushing against Ye Shu’s ear.

“I know you didn’t. If you had even touched that bottle while pouring my wine, you wouldn’t be sitting in this carriage right now.”

Jin Wang let go of his wrists and instead moved his hand to the back of Ye Shu’s neck, rubbing the small cinnabar mole. The aggressive scent of liquor turned into a warm, comforting aroma, wrapping around Ye Shu like a blanket.

“But A-Shu,” Jin Wang whispered, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin. “You still met with him. You still lied to me about the cats. You still made me wait while you plotted with a rebel.”

“I was just trying to find a way to leave.”

“Leave?” Jin Wang let out a cold laugh. “You’re still thinking about leaving? It seems I haven’t been ‘dog’ enough to you these past few days.”

Ye Shu’s eyes widened. “Wait, what are you?”

“You want to go home to see the cats? Fine. We’ve seen them. Now, we go back to the palace. And until the day of the grand wedding, you are not to leave my sight for a single second.”

Jin Wang’s kiss was no longer gentle. It was possessive and territorial, tasting of wine and iron.

As the carriage rumbled back toward the summer palace, Ye Shu realized with a sinking heart that his small “performance” hadn’t earned him freedom. It had only tightened the leash.

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