Transmigration: The Straight-Man Prince Was Driven Crazy by My Overachieving - Chapter 7

Shen Shangling heard the complaints directed at “him” but simply scoffed internally; he didn’t take it to heart. After all, he was a transmigrator, and those previous events had nothing to do with him.

He was single-mindedly focused on finding the mission objective. Fortunately, before long, the three men gathered their documents and left the room one after another. Shen Shangling felt relieved, took flight with a buzz, and searched every corner of the room, continuously urging the system to sense for anything. Unsurprisingly, the data showed no reaction.

“Eh?”

Just as he landed on a tabletop in the room, Shen Shangling happily spotted a set of blueprints. Unsurprisingly, the blueprints were labeled in Traditional Chinese characters. Although Shen Shangling hadn’t applied himself much in his studies from childhood, his grandfather and father were both quite pretentious; their home had a massive study with rows of books just for show, and he had been the one to peel the plastic wrap off many of those ancient-style volumes. He loved reading miscellaneous books and had even majored in the humanities… while he couldn’t write all the traditional characters, he could barely manage to read most of them.

Looking at the blueprints, it seemed like a plan for a small shrine to be built within the estate. The blueprints happened to show the general architectural layout of the Prince’s estate, and Shen Shangling scrutinized them carefully until he had a grasp of the situation:

The place he was in right now was the estate’s Secretariat Office. To put it bluntly, it was roughly equivalent to the Prince of Dingbei’s confidential secretarial office. It was not Lu Xiao’s personal study. Therefore, the “Qi (Fortune) product” related to Lu Xiao would likely not be here.

Having clarified this, Shen Shangling immediately flew away. Following the layout on the blueprints, he tracked down Lu Xiao’s bedchamber and study. The study door was locked tight, and there were guards posted outside, but it couldn’t stop his silent, invisible intrusion at all.

Lu Xiao’s study was large and airy, appearing to be three wide rooms combined into one. The desk and walls were hung with heavy, cold, and solemn swords and various topographical maps, which, contrasted against the massive bookshelves filled with books, gave the room a profound, fluctuating air of “literary and martial” harmony. What struck him as strange was that the bedchamber had almost no signs of daily living, while this study clearly appeared to be where Lu Xiao spent most of his time. Does this man live in his study every day? And… everything here was very austere, with no gaudy or extravagant items at all. Compared to this, his own room was like a princess’s chamber—not only was the furniture ornate and fragrant, but flowing gauze drapes hung everywhere.

Shen Shangling clicked his tongue. Lu Xiao had, indeed, initially treated the original owner as an honored guest.

Shen Shangling composed his mind and cast aside extraneous thoughts to continue his search for the mission objective. But after searching a full circle, he remained incredibly disappointed.

“Qi (Fortune) product…”

Shen Shangling pondered, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. Lu Xiao was the one who would eventually rebel and become the Emperor, so… could that “Qi product”… actually be the Imperial Jade Seal?

At this thought, Shen Shangling was suddenly stunned: There were still several years until Lu Xiao became Emperor. Does this mean he had to endure Lu Xiao’s torment and rot here for several years? Or should he escape and hide for a few years, wait until Lu Xiao became Emperor, and then, after assimilating with the little earth bee, fly into the Imperial Palace to find the jade seal and try his luck?

But Shen Shangling immediately dismissed this plan: It won’t work; it truly won’t work.

For one thing, as a “male concubine,” he wasn’t a truly registered member of the household; he was fundamentally a disgraced slave who had been “taken in” by a noble. The melodramatic book mentioned this too—after all, the original owner had offended the old Emperor and had been a disgraced prisoner tossed into the Human Hunting Grounds. The original owner no longer had a status of freedom, and no matter where he escaped to, it would basically end badly.

For another, he probably couldn’t escape either. What was Lu Xiao’s status? How many elite soldiers and brave generals were under his command? To say nothing of his personal guards, even a random servant in the estate was a battle-hardened veteran who had retired from the battlefield… Furthermore, Lu Xiao’s rebellion had likely been planned for a long time; by now, his intelligence network probably extended everywhere. To catch him, they wouldn’t even need to “use a butcher’s knife to kill a chicken.”

Shen Shangling racked his brains, and his head felt like it was about to explode: There truly was no way out!

Just then, Shen Shangling suddenly felt his head “exploding” for real, and the pain caused the world to go black before his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, his five senses had returned to his own body. At this moment, he was still leaning against the pillows, the bed curtains right before him. This sudden shift in perspective was like coming off a roller coaster, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. At the same time, his brain felt like it was being pricked by needles.

“System, System…” Shen Shangling couldn’t control his stress-induced tears as they gushed out. “Wh-what happened? My head hurts…”

“Host,” the system replied timidly, “this should be the side effect of the assimilation.”

Shen Shangling: “…”

“How long will it hurt?” He took a deep breath, clutching his head, and asked weakly.

The system said carefully: “According to the calculations, it should be about equal to the time spent by the Host during assimilation.”

Shen Shangling: “…”

So, he had to suffer for as long as he used this ability? Tell me that sooner! Being both in pain and angry, he hugged his thin quilt, his nose stinging. He took a sniff, couldn’t help himself, and tears began to slip down again.

He was truly terrified of pain, but when he was in pain, he usually didn’t make a sound. Before transmigrating, although he was a lackluster rich kid dabbling in the entertainment industry and looking carefree, he had actually been transparent since childhood: his biological mother passed away, and then he had a stepmother and younger siblings. He self-consciously acted as an invisible person; when he suffered grievances or fell ill, he never told anyone. No one would truly care about him, and telling them would just be humiliating. He had always been this way… even when a “salted fish” (slacker) shed tears, they were always shed in silence.

Shen Shangling silently slid down from the pillows and pulled the quilt over his head. What else can he do? Just suffer through it.

He was in too much pain to think; he didn’t know how long he endured it, feeling dazed and delirious. He felt the thin quilt beside his face become damp with tears. His body was also drenched in a cold, sticky, and uncomfortable sweat from the pain.

“Master Shen?”

Just as Shen Shangling felt his headache suddenly lighten, he heard a maid’s cautious voice outside the door. “Servant has… urgent matters to report to you, Master.”

“Come in.”

Shen Shangling slowly lifted the quilt and let out a long breath. His head finally stopped hurting, and he felt as though he had come back to life.

“Master Shen?”

It was still the long-faced maid. She caught a glimpse of Shen Shangling, her eyes widened, and she hurriedly said, “Master, do you feel unwell? Should servant call for a physician from the medical office to take a look?”

She could see that the hair at Master Shen’s temples was damp, and the dark, glossy locks clung to his neck, which was smoother and whiter than southern pearls—he looked so disheveled, yet possessed an indescribable air of romance… He was pitiable. The dissatisfaction she had previously felt toward his behavior seemed to have been washed away in an instant.

“No need,” Shen Shangling hurriedly said. “But please, trouble yourself to bring some more water; I still need to wash again.” He had already asked them to bring water many times, and he felt a bit guilty, but he truly felt uncomfortable. Thinking of what the maid had said earlier, he asked in confusion, “What urgent matter?”

“Reporting to Master, several bees have arrived in our Qiyu Courtyard, and it seems there are more and more of them,” the maid replied hurriedly. “Servant noticed they are preparing to build a nest in the corridor over there—should servant call someone to drive them away?”

When she spoke, there was a hidden trace of fear in her eyes. They had all clearly seen the bees; they were the infamous “Honey Rakshasa.” These wild bees were said to be highly productive, but their temperament was the most ferocious, and no one dared to raise them without extensive experience; hence, they were called “Honey Rakshasa.” If these Honey Rakshasa were to build a nest in this courtyard, it would be a disaster; the people in the courtyard would likely all be poisoned by their venomous stingers.

In the past, if any bees had entered the courtyard, they would have called the estate’s security guards to deal with them directly. But Master Shen had previously said he liked these insects… so they had to come and report it first. Otherwise, they feared this Master Shen would throw a tantrum if he saw them.

Shen Shangling guessed that it must be his little earth bee; no wonder he hadn’t seen the little thing after his headache—it couldn’t wait to start gathering its gang.

“Oh, this…”

He could only bite the bullet and lie. “Do not drive them away. That… bees entering a house is a good thing, a good thing it’s quite auspicious”

“…But,” the maid opened her mouth, seemingly speechless for a moment, but quickly added with a worried expression, “Reporting to Master, I fear the insects will sting people.”

“No need to worry,” Shen Shangling said. By now, he could sense the little fat bug’s joyful emotions, as if it were moving into a new home, which made his eyelids twitch, but he hurriedly comforted the little girl. “I… learned some beekeeping methods when I was young. Don’t worry, I will domesticate them; they won’t sting anyone.”

As he spoke, he softened his tone and gently changed the subject. “What is your name?”

The maid was stunned, blushed instantly, bowed, and hurried to reply: “Servant is Yutao.”

The maids of the Qiyu Courtyard all had the character “Yu” (Jade) in their names. When they were first assigned by the estate manager to serve in this courtyard, they had all greeted the Master, but back then, the Master had treated them, the servants, as if they were invisible and had never once looked them in the eye. Now, this Master Shen, who looked like a beauty from a painting, had suddenly asked her name so earnestly; for a moment, she even felt a sense of being flattered.

“Good name,” Shen Shangling couldn’t praise her in a literary way and could only offer a dry compliment. “Well, Yutao, after I’ve finished washing, you may come in again; I have something to ask you.”

Since he couldn’t escape for the moment, he wanted to get on good terms with the girls in this courtyard. In case he needed to ask for help at some critical moment later… When Lu Xiao beat him half to death and left him bedridden, he might need to ask these girls for a cup of water. Just thinking about that scenario made him feel miserable.

Most importantly, he wanted to know more about the basic situation of the Great Yin Dynasty. He had also made up his mind: if he wanted Lu Xiao to torment him less, begging definitely wouldn’t work. The only way was to make Lu Xiao feel that he was somewhat useful.

He loved reading miscellaneous books and had read quite a few transmigration novels. If he could clarify the general situation here, he might find some suitable ways to highlight his little bit of ability.

At this thought, Shen Shangling couldn’t help but criticize the system: Transmigrating is fine, but at least leave the original owner’s memories! Right now, his mind was a blank slate regarding the Great Yin Dynasty he was completely in the dark. Before transmigrating, he had read the original work, but because it was so melodramatic, he had skipped through it, only reading the general gist and remembering a few scattered key names and events… he knew absolutely nothing about the other details or background.

Yutao replied, blushing.

Soon, the hot water was delivered to the bathing room partitioned off by a screen in the room. Shen Shangling soaked himself in the wooden tub, and when his gaze fell on the small tray on the side, his eyes lit up. On a tray on that small side table lay the bath beans used for bathing here.

He hadn’t seen soap or liquid soap since transmigrating; should he try to make some and offer it to that killing-god Lu Xiao as a “token of submission”?

“System?”

Excited, Shen Shangling hurriedly communicated with the system. “Didn’t you mention that spirit-transformation could briefly trigger hyperthymesia (super-memory)?” He actually still roughly remembered the soap and liquid soap-making process from the book, but he had never actually done it himself. If he could trigger hyperthymesia and make everything he had seen “vividly detailed,” it would surely be more thorough and clear. Besides, besides soap, maybe he could make something else…

Otherwise, once Lu Xiao learned to teach others how to make soap, he would be useless again, and the consequences would surely be unimaginable.

Shen Shangling miserably accepted this possibility: after all, after Lu Xiao was reborn, he would likely be itching to flay him and pick his bones. Once he was no longer useful, he would probably immediately begin to subject him to all sorts of creative tortures.