Chapter 9: Attractive To Both Men And Women

Shen Yu had just returned to the mansion, changed clothes, and no sooner had she finished than someone announced that a young woman had arrived outside the Grand Guardian’s residence, and that this young woman had explicitly come looking for Shen Yu by name.

Just as Shen Yu was stepping out of her room, wondering who might be here for her, another messenger came and reported, “Young Master, an honorable guest has arrived.”

Shen Yu looked even more puzzled. First a girl, now an honorable guest? When had she come to know so many people?

Fang Rui had just reached the gate when he saw a dust-streaked yet plainly attractive woman standing there in a rough gray cloth dress.

Why did this woman look so familiar to him? He felt as if he’d seen her somewhere before.

Because she seemed familiar, Fang Rui looked at her a few more times, but he still couldn’t place where he’d seen her.

While Fang Rui was racking his brain trying to remember where he’d seen the woman, Shen Yu came out of the mansion. And the moment Shen Yu appeared, the woman fell to her knees with a thud.

“My benefactor!”

That kneel drew everyone’s attention to the woman, so Shen Yu didn’t notice Fang Rui standing nearby, nor did Fang Rui draw any attention in his plain clothes.

“Why are you here?” Shen Yu asked, slightly stunned. She hadn’t expected to run into this person here.

Fang Rui glanced at the woman. It was clear Shen Yu knew her. Since Shen Yu recognized her and Fang Rui found her familiar, he was now very sure he had met this woman in his previous life.

“My lord, when Hengniang was in Suozhou she sold herself as a maid so that she could have money to bury her father. But an unreasonable butcher insisted on buying her as a concubine. Hengniang refused, and it was you, sir, who rescued her and had her deceased father buried. Ever since she was little, her father taught her to remember kindness and repay it. Now Hengniang has come to the capital to repay you, willing to be your maid for life.”

If he still didn’t know who this woman was after hearing that, then he’d really be a fool!

Fang Rui stared at the kneeling woman as if trying to bore a hole through her. He vaguely remembered Shen Yu having told him that in Suozhou she had seen a woman sell herself to bury her father, but a brutish butcher had declared that if he paid for the burial, the woman would have to become his concubine. The woman had only spoken of selling herself as a maid, not as a concubine, so she refused. The butcher was tyrannical and insisted on taking her as a concubine, but Shen Yu, moved by kindness, had the man’s deceased father buried so the woman wouldn’t have to become a maid.

But no matter how he looked at her, he felt this woman was scheming and deep. She had been adamant about not becoming the butcher’s concubine, claiming that the butcher was being unreasonable. In reality, wasn’t it because she thought the butcher old, ugly, and poor? Otherwise why would she travel a thousand miles to the capital to be Shen Yu’s maid, and end up a concubine to Shen Yu?

He saw the obvious ambition: she was after someone wealthy, powerful, good-looking, talented, good-tempered, well-built, and kind. That was Shen Yu!

In his previous life Shen Yu was a woman living under the guise of a man and had taken two concubines, probably to further conceal her identity as a woman. In that life he’d thought Shen Yu was a normal man and taking concubines was no big deal. But clearly things were different now. He couldn’t understand why Shen Yu had taken two such beautiful concubines.

Even if it was to hide her identity, one concubine would have sufficed. Taking two only added extra risk.

Rong Tai, who had been by Fang Rui’s side for years, could tell what his master was thinking and his expression clearly read “I’m jealous.” After a moment, he felt it necessary to warn Shen Yu aloud.

“Young lady, my lord saved you out of a moment’s compassion, not because he wanted you as a servant. If you insist on being retained, aren’t you making things difficult for him?”

When Shen Yu heard that and looked over, her eyes widened at the sight of Fang Rui. She was about to step forward and bow, but Fang Rui shook his head to signal her not to expose things.

“My benefactor, you showed kindness to Hengniang, so Hengniang can only repay you by working like an ox or horse so she may have a clear conscience.”

Hearing that, he really wanted to tell this Hengniang: have some shame, young woman.

She claimed she’d work like an ox or horse and yet ended up as a concubine. Wasn’t that a backhanded way of insulting Shen Yu? Wanting to be a maid was very different from wanting to be a concubine. Just let Shen Yu off already!

Fang Rui’s emotions surged like a landslide, but he still managed a rare smile.

With His Majesty present, Shen Yu had no time to deal with the kneeling Hengniang, so she told the steward beside her, “You handle this.”

Shen Yu quickly walked up to Fang Rui and paused, unsure of how to address him outside the palace.

Fang Rui smiled at Shen Yu and asked, “Lord Shen, do you have time?”

When the emperor invites someone, even if you don’t have the time, you must say you do

“Yes.”

“If so, accompany me for a walk.”

“All right.” Shen Yu agreed to Fang Rui, then turned to the steward and said, “Tell my grandfather I have an engagement and will return later.”

Fang Rui made a gesture of invitation. Shen Yu’s face showed a hint of discomfort, and her smile was slightly awkward.

Watching her benefactor leave, Hengniang rose from the ground and looked at the steward. The steward was at a loss. His young master hadn’t said how to deal with the woman, nor had he ordered her to be sent away.

After thinking, he said, “Come with me.”

Hengniang’s face lit with a small smile. As she followed behind the steward, she glanced back at Shen Yu’s retreating figure. That smile carried a touch of bashfulness.

Shen Yu didn’t know that another person was now thinking of her.

One was a man who knew she was female; one was a woman who still believed she was male.

Fang Rui and Shen Yu walked out of the crowd and strolled along the bustling street, where vendors’ cries could be heard everywhere.

They avoided a vendor pushing a wooden cart. Fang Rui looked at Shen Yu and asked, “Shen Yu, what do you plan to do about that woman just now?” Outside the Grand Guardian’s residence, Fang Rui called her by name.

Shen Yu was slightly taken aback, then replied, “If she truly has no one to rely on, it won’t hurt for the Grand Guardian’s house to have one more person.”

He had guessed Shen Yu’s soft heart correctly, and that softness was dangerous. One weakness and there’d be another woman competing for Shen Yu. Though Shen Yu was also a woman, he couldn’t let his guard down. In his previous life he had accepted Shen Yu’s male identity and liked her anyway. Wouldn’t others, even upon learning she was female, still throw themselves at her without hesitation?

Anything could happen then: man with man wouldn’t be strange, nor would woman with woman seem odd…

Fang Rui’s worldview had become stranger ever since Shen Yu told him she was actually a woman.

“Shen Yu, don’t be confused.”

Shen Yu looked at Fang Rui in puzzlement, “Your Ma-…”

She still didn’t know how to address him.

Fang Rui smiled, “Call me Brother Fang, how about that?”

Shen Yu was slightly startled but still called out, “Brother…Fang, how am I confused?”

“It’s not that I distrust you, but do you really think a woman would travel a thousand miles from Suozhou to the capital just to repay a kindness?”

Shen Yu looked at Fang Rui, somewhat bewildered. “If not?”

Seeing her utterly naive face that was completely oblivious to others coveting her, he felt a sudden sense of guilt and an urge to give her a proper lesson about love and relationships. He even doubted whether Shen Yu knew how babies were conceived…

Fang Rui had an odd feeling that Shen Yu truly might not know. Perhaps she still believed that simply taking off one’s clothes and sleeping together for a night would make a child.

“Do you think that if an ugly man who is nevertheless fond of women had buried her father without expecting repayment, she would still have traveled a thousand miles to repay him?”

Shen Yu frowned. Back then, many had tried to buy Hengniang, but she seemed to refuse. Because the butcher had been unreasonable, Shen Yu had given Hengniang some silver to bury her deceased father.

“But those men only desired Hengniang as a concubine. She only wanted to sell herself to be a maid.”

Fang Rui’s mouth twitched. “After selling herself, whether she becomes a slave or a concubine, do you think she really has a choice between those?”

If Hengniang had not been interested in Shen Yu, how would she have become Shen Yu’s concubine?

Shen Yu fell silent for a moment. “Then I’ll send Hengniang away.”

Fang Rui nodded, “That’s for the best.” He didn’t want to be wooing Shen Yu while having to guard against another woman.

One less romantic rival was one less romantic rival, whether that person was a man or woman.

After the matter of Hengniang was settled, Shen Yu remembered to ask why His Majesty had left the palace to seek her out at this hour.

“Young Master Fang, what is the purpose of your visit?” Shen Yu couldn’t bring herself to say the two words ‘Brother Fang,’ so she used ‘Young Master’. Besides calling him ‘Your Highness’ and ‘Your Majesty’, Shen Yu had never used any other forms of address.

Fang Rui looked aside and lied with a straight face, “Out for a stroll, and while out, to see the people’s livelihood and gauge the public sentiment.”

Rong Tai, following behind, glanced at his emperor and felt sorry for him. Clearly he had come to see Shen Yu, yet he spoke so grandly about inspecting the people’s livelihood.

“Shen Yu.” Fang Rui suddenly called to the Shen Yu at his side.

“Here.” The summoned Shen Yu grew suddenly nervous and replied earnestly to Fang Rui.

Fang Rui glanced at Shen Yu, smiled, and said, “It’s nothing.”

Shen Yu’s constrained manner convinced Fang Rui that his disguise in plain clothes was the right move. If he had approached her as the emperor, Shen Yu would likely have recoiled further and never given him a chance to make her feel anything toward the emperor, let alone grant him a single opportunity.

Approaching Shen Yu as a complete stranger was probably the best choice for now.

The three of them arrived at a teahouse and took a private room. Rong Tai waited outside. As soon as there were no other patrons, Shen Yu bowed immediately. “Earlier, I offended His Majesty, please forgive me.”

Fang Rui actually quite liked Shen Yu’s polite bows. Whenever this happened, he would step forward, take Shen Yu’s soft, boneless hand, and say, “My dear aide Shen, why are you being so formal again? You needn’t perform so many pointless rites before me in private.”

He touched Shen Yu’s hand briefly, then immediately let go. How could Shen Yu sense Fang Rui’s predatory intentions?

After withdrawing his hand, Fang Rui sat down, hands on his knees. Hidden by the table, he rubbed his fingertips where he had just touched Shen Yu’s hand, a smile lifting the corner of his mouth.

It was as soft and tender as the last time, very pleasant to the touch.

“My dear aide Shen, sit.”

Shen Yu smoothed her robes and sat down formally, very proper.

Once Shen Yu sat, Fang Rui asked, “My dear aide Shen, what is your view on this morning’s court proceeding?”

Shen Yu lowered her eyes. “Chen Chi’s death is no great pity.”

Fang Rui’s mouth was still curved slightly. He said bluntly, “The man has already been brought to the Court of Judicial Review. As for how to deal with him, even I in the palace cannot manage everything. If he dies, then he dies.”

Shen Yu mulled over Fang Rui’s words, then suddenly lifted her head, eyes filled with astonishment. “Your Majesty, do you mean someone intends to silence him?!”

Fang Rui placed his hand on the table, leaned forward slightly, a trace of seriousness on his face. “I want you, my dear aide Shen, to be the supervisor for this case.”

Even if Shen Yu refused to be supervisor, others would still come after her because of what she’d done in Suozhou. The Empress Dowager’s faction suspected that when Shen Yu killed the Suozhou prefect, some account ledgers had fallen into her hands, ledgers that recorded the names of corrupt officials and formed key evidence of the Empress Dowager’s factional corruption.

But in fact, those ledgers were not actually in Shen Yu’s possession at that time.

After roughly telling Shen Yu some things to watch for at the Court of Judicial Review and seeing the sun beginning to set, Fang Rui let Shen Yu go.

After parting with Shen Yu, he opened a crack in a second-floor window and watched Shen Yu’s back as she left the teahouse. Beside him, Rong Tai asked, “Your Majesty, are we returning to the palace now?”

Fang Rui glanced back at him, “I’ll be going out again tonight. Going back and coming out again would be a bother.”

His mind was full of plans for seeing Shen Yu that night: thinking of when he could win Shen Yu over, when he could lure her into the palace, wondering which child of Shen Yu’s the child might resemble… well, that was getting ahead of himself. The first step hadn’t even begun, yet he was already jumping to the ending and couldn’t stop.

The child should resemble Shen Yu. Whether son or daughter, it wouldn’t turn out badly.

Perhaps his fantasies showed too clearly, for Rong Tai coughed twice to snap him back to reality.

“Your Majesty… if you go out this frequently, the Empress Dowager will notice.”

Fang Rui’s lips curved and amusement flashed in his eyes as he put a hand on Rong Tai’s shoulder. “Isn’t that why I have you?”

Rong Tai didn’t know what to say. He truly felt the emperor thought him an omnipotent factotum, but he wasn’t one!

Who knew the bitterness of being a capable subordinate?!

“Your servant understands…”

The corners of Fang Rui’s mouth stretched further into a smile. Had he known Rong Tai would be so capable and useful, he should have rescued more little eunuchs like him back then. Someone obedient, useful, and not talkative.

He turned his gaze back to the window. As Shen Yu’s figure faded from sight he closed the window. Then his ears caught a familiar voice.

“Sir, if those ledgers did fall into Shen Yu’s hands, what should we do?”

Fang Rui narrowed his eyes as doubt flickered in his gaze. The voice sounded familiar. After thinking carefully, he was certain it was the voice of that particular court minister.

Seeing the emperor suddenly become grave, Rong Tai, though also trained in martial arts, didn’t have the keen hearing Fang Rui had developed after rebirth, so he didn’t know what Fang Rui had heard nor that he was eavesdropping, and asked, “Your Majesty, what’s wrong?”

Fang Rui shushed him, made a gesture to remain silent, and then crept to the right wall to listen to the conversation in the next private room.

“What can we do? If the ledgers were truly in Shen Yu’s hands, he would have handed them to the Emperor already, but we wouldn’t know for sure. If the ledgers are in his hands and he doesn’t yet know what they are…” The voice paused, then dropped even lower and became sinister, “Then we must retrieve them before he discovers what they are. If necessary, silence him.”

Fang Rui recognized the voice as Wang Zhongyuan’s. Planning to silence Shen Yu? He smiled coldly. A bold man indeed for daring to make a move on someone so close to the emperor.

In his previous life, Shen Yu had suffered many assassination attempts shortly after returning from Suozhou. It seemed the Empress Dowager’s faction was behind them.

Now that he knew who the two men were, Fang Rui guessed their next moves and stopped eavesdropping. Instead he looked at Rong Tai and said, “Find some men and tail Wang Zhongyuan and Cui Hao closely.”

The one speaking with Wang Zhongyuan was Cui Hao, a Third-Grade Court of Judicial Review official who was also aligned with the Empress Dowager. This did not surprise him at all.

Throughout the Three Departments and Six Ministries, the Empress Dowager had placed her people inside over the past three years. Besides those recent placements, many high officials were disciples of the Empress Dowager’s father. The Empress Dowager’s father, or his maternal grandfather, had long ago ceased meddling in state affairs and lived a reclusive life. The one who actually controlled those disciples was his uncle, Wang Zhongyuan.

Upon hearing the emperor’s order, Rong Tai immediately responded, “Yes, Your Majesty.”