Chapter 34: Shen Yu Is A Good Person

At the sound of His Majesty’s voice, Xiang’er, who was holding the brocade box, trembled and nearly dropped it to the floor.

Fang Rui entered the main hall. Shen Yu and De’an both rose from their seats, stepped before him, and bowed.

In front of De’an, Fang Rui did not steady her but instead steadied Shen Yu. “My beloved aide Shen, you need not be so formal.”

When Fang Rui saw Shen Yu, he felt a twinge of guilt, but on the surface he acted as if nothing were wrong, revealing no flaw at all. He had fully inherited the consummate acting skills of the late Empress Dowager.

A smile touched Fang Rui’s lips, but De’an could not smile.

She composed herself, looked at her brother, and asked, “Brother, weren’t you unwell? Why have you come out of the palace, and even come to De’an’s residence?”

Fang Rui raised his sleeve, covered his mouth and coughed lightly twice, glanced at De’an, and then shifted his gaze to the peach-blossom hairpin Xiang’er was holding…

This girl had carved the jade he originally intended to give Shen Yu into such an ugly peach blossom! A peach-blossom jade! Wasn’t that clearly telling Shen Yu “my heart favors you”? Even though it openly conveyed that meaning, Fang Rui believed Shen Yu would never understand or think along those lines.

In matters of affection, Shen Yu was like a blank sheet. Even if you plainly told her you liked her, she could calmly reply, “I’m sorry, but I don’t like you.”

At least… Shen Yu had been like that toward him as Jia Ming.

Fang Rui withdrew his gaze from the hairpin, gave his sister a slight smile, and dodged De’an’s earlier question, “De’an, you’re truly clever at giving others’ gifts as your own. When you asked your brother for this jade before, you said it was for your collection.”

De’an had wanted to laugh, but at Fang Rui’s words the curve at the corner of her mouth twitched and her smile became strained. “I did mean to keep it in the collection, but I suddenly thought it suited Lord Shen, so I had it carved into a peach blossom and gave it to Lord Shen as thanks for saving me at last year’s banquet.”

When De’an mentioned last year’s banquet, Fang Rui paused. He only recalled that one year De’an had disguised herself as a eunuch and nearly fell into the lake. She was shaken and ill for a whole month. He had only heard someone had saved her but didn’t know who. Now hearing De’an, Fang Rui realized who that person was.

No wonder De’an was interested in Shen Yu. So there was that connection. All the more reason not to let De’an get close to Shen Yu! He was a living example: because Shen Yu had saved him, he gradually interacted more with her and ultimately fell completely for her! Both his body and heart!

Who knew how many people Shen Yu had saved? This habit of rescuing people everywhere really needed to be reformed.

Fang Rui took the jade hairpin from Xiang’er’s hands, stood before Shen Yu, and said gently, “My beloved aide Shen, don’t move.”

Shen Yu was stunned for a moment. Though Fang Rui told her not to move, when he drew near she couldn’t help but take a small step back.

Fang Rui raised the hairpin, removed the other green jade pin from Shen Yu’s coiffure, and inserted the white jade pin in its place.

De’an watched her brother’s every motion.

This was clearly the pin she had given Shen Yu, so why did it now feel as if her brother had given it to Shen Yu instead!?

She shot a glance at Rong Tai and asked with her eyes: Why did my brother suddenly come to my residence?

Rong Tai understood at once, gave a slight shake of his head: Your servant doesn’t know either.

Well, he knew perfectly well that His Majesty had come for Lord Shen, but he kept that fact to himself.

As Fang Rui drew very close to Shen Yu, she was slightly stunned. His Majesty carried a very, very faint scent of sandalwood.

That faint sandalwood scent suddenly reminded Shen Yu of Jia Ming. Though she had been drunk a few nights ago, she remembered everything clearly. Jia Ming had had the same faint sandalwood scent, remarkably similar to His Majesty’s.

Though Shen Yu was puzzled, she didn’t ask. Instead she looked troubled and said to Fang Rui, “Your Majesty, this hairpin is so valuable, I think it’s best to return it to Her Highness.”

Princess De’an, mentioned by the one she cherished, nearly cried with emotion. Luckily Shen Yu still remembered that the hairpin had been given by De’an and not by her brother.

De’an’s mouth opened slightly. She was about to say something, but her brother beat her to it.

Fang Rui said, “My beloved aide Shen, just accept it. De’an owes you a favor after all. If you refuse this gift now, De’an might give you increasingly more extravagant things.”

What Fang Rui implicitly meant was simple: Shen Yu, if you accept De’an’s hairpin now, things are even between you two, and you won’t have to worry about De’an finding excuses to get close to you in the future.

Hearing this, Shen Yu glanced at His Majesty, then at Princess De’an, and finally bowed to De’an. “Then I will not refuse.”

De’an almost screamed. *When did **Lord *Shen ever refuse anything? Just now he was refusing my brother! It sure looks like this pin was given by my brother!

De’an’s smile was stiff but she could only follow Shen Yu’s lead, “This hairpin was originally made for you, Lord Shen. If you don’t accept it, I don’t know what to do with it either. Ultimately it would just gather dust in the storeroom.”

Fang Rui forcibly interjected, and De’an was instantly irritated. She thought she had finally arranged to see Shen Yu and yet her brother had interfered. He seldom came to her princess residence, so why the coincidence today?

Shen Yu stayed less than half an hour before Old Master Shen learned that Princess De’an had given Shen Yu an invitation to the princess residence. Reflecting that the princess had been going to the Grand Guardian’s residence every few days, he found it suspicious and immediately sent word to summon Shen Yu back, saying he had urgent matters.

After Shen Yu left, De’an withdrew her stiff smile, dismissed the people in the side hall, puffed out her cheeks and glared at her brother.

“Brother, it seemed you were deliberately targeting De’an just now.”

Fang Rui sat down in the spot where Shen Yu had been, glanced at De’an and said, “I was indeed targeting you.” He then picked up the teacup on the table.

Before De’an could scold her brother for saying he had targeted her, she saw him lift the cup Shen Yu had used and hurriedly warned, “That’s the cup Shen Yu drank from!”

Fang Rui curled his lips, “I know.” Knowing this, he nevertheless brought the rim to his mouth and drank the remaining half-cup of now-cold floral tea.

De’an stared at the now-empty teacup with eyes wide as saucers, stunned. She looked back and forth between the cup and Fang Rui several times, unable to process it.

Why would he still drink the floral tea Shen Yu had used?!

Fang Rui lifted his eyes calmly, curled his lips at De’an and said, “De’an, you must not harbor crooked thoughts about Shen Yu.”

When De’an heard she must not have crooked thoughts about Shen Yu, she swallowed and, instead of immediately throwing a fit, looked at Fang Rui hesitantly and asked, “Why…?”

Fang Rui set the cup back on the table, stood up, moved to stand in front of De’an, and said slowly, “Shen Yu is the one I took a fancy to first.”

De’an felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her squarely, leaving her scorched and shell-shocked.

She had long suspected her brother didn’t care for women. After all, there were three beautiful concubines in the harem, yet over the years he hadn’t so much as touched a hair on their heads. Still, suspicion was one thing. Hearing him admit it, and that his attention was on Shen Yu, left her mouth agape and dazed for a long time.

Seeing De’an’s reaction, Fang Rui said, “De’an, you must keep this secret for your brother. If the Empress Dowager finds out, she may devise schemes against Shen Yu that neither you nor I can predict.”

It took De’an a long while to come to her senses. She looked at Fang Rui, suddenly clutched her chest, and almost sobbed, “Brother, you’ve broken De’an’s heart!”

She had mustered rare courage to show her face in front of Shen Yu, only for her brother to tell her to give up because he was already secretly involved with this person. De’an felt as if blood crowded her throat. She couldn’t spit it out, and swallowing it felt unbearably stifling.

Fang Rui patted De’an’s head and said solemnly, “De’an, I will not force you into a political marriage abroad, you may find a husband on your own. But Shen Yu is off-limits.”

De’an suddenly burst into tears. “Brother, if I keep competing with you for Shen Yu, will you issue an edict to send De’an to marry abroad?”

Fang Rui withdrew his hand, said calmly, “Well,” and continued, “If you persist, perhaps I really will do that.” The best way would be to sever De’an’s attachment while it was still small, otherwise it would become much more troublesome.

De’an truly wept, saying through her sobs, “I should have expected this! Now that Father and Mother are gone, I’m a fatherless, motherless abandoned princess…even my brother can bully me over a man.”

Seeing his cherished sister of over a decade cry so, Fang Rui couldn’t bear it and opened his arms to hug De’an. “De’an is still your brother’s good sister, but Shen Yu is a no-go. It’s better to cut things off now while your feelings are not deep.”

Unaware that Shen Yu was a woman, De’an only thought her brother was domineering: what he desired, no one else should covet. She pushed Fang Rui away, crying and glaring, “Brother, you actually like men! How can you face our father and mother? They didn’t raise you to like men!”

Fang Rui didn’t expect De’an to accept it so readily. He replied, “Shen Yu is a very alluring person. If someone truly gets to know him, anyone would fall for him.”

At those words, De’an cried even louder. She was precisely the one who had gone to truly get to know Shen Yu!