The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits
Chapter 106

07/06/2023 - currently has been edited. If any mistakes are found, please comment the sentence.

Going to revert Noble Consort -> Noble Monarch since there's a lot of confusion amongst the readers. 

This is what Shen Yu has recently thought of: there has never been any dynasty in the past that has implemented a disaster relief policy like the one the court is about to announce, not even in Da Huan. The officials in the court have gone through a lot of disputes to understand this method, but the common people in Da Huan are not aware of it.

If someone with malicious intentions stirs up trouble at this time, ignorant people will easily fall into the trap.

"Ah Yu intends to use drama to help the people understand?" Shang Junlin picked up the script in Shen Yu's hand and asked.

"Yes, I originally wanted some minor officials to explain it to the people, but then I thought that verbal explanations alone might not be enough to deeply penetrate their hearts. I need to find another method, preferably one that can mobilize the people's discussions and thinking." The people in Da Huan love to listen to dramas, so Shen Yu thought of incorporating this method into a play and then having the drama troupe sing it to the people.

Shang Junlin roughly glanced through the script. It was still just a rough story outline, and he was familiar with the handwriting on the script, which belonged to Shen Yu.

"Ah Yu has good intentions." After reading the story, Shang Junlin felt that it was just right. The story revolved around disaster relief, and everything that happened in the play was connected to it.

What's more, Shen Yu even wrote about the possibility of someone maliciously misinterpreting the court's intentions, considering it carefully. Even if someone wanted to cause trouble at that time, their first reaction would be to think of the villain in the play.

Shen Yu was also busy enough, and it happened to be meal time, so he gave some instructions to the drama troupe and left with Shang Junlin.

"Just scared me to death," the woman in green clothes patted her chest. "The emperor was here, and I didn't even dare to breathe."

"I never thought my first audience would be under such circumstances," the slightly older man sighed. Their theater troupe was dedicated to serving the royal family. During the previous emperor's reign, who enjoyed leisure activities, the troupe often frequented the palace. However, when the new emperor ascended the throne, who was not fond of such activities, the troupe became completely idle.

He took over as the troupe leader from his master after the new emperor ascended the throne, hoping to expand the troupe's reputation and legacy. However, the troupe remained dormant under his leadership.

The troupe leader instructed his subordinates to continue preparing for the new play. This was their only chance to turn things around and make a name for themselves.

"It is our honor that Noble Monarch Shen is giving us this opportunity. Everyone, work hard and ensure that this performance is perfect, not to disappoint Noble Monarch's expectations!"

"Yes!"

Those who joined this troupe all had aspirations, and being able to serve the royal family meant that they were the best theater troupe in the capital. They never had this opportunity before, but now that they did, they had to perform well and maintain the troupe's reputation.

Meng Gonggong returned after leaving briefly, and the troupe leader nervously asked, "May I know if there is anything Meng Gonggong needs from us?"

Although Meng Gonggong rarely visited the palace, they all knew that he was the emperor's closest confidante.

"No need to worry, His Majesty specifically asked me to remind you that after you finish copying the words given by the Noble Monarch, make sure to return the original to His Majesty," Meng Gonggong smiled kindly.

"I understand," the troupe leader was relieved.

"Make sure to do it as soon as possible. His Majesty doesn't like His Highness's things to be left in someone else's hands for too long," Meng Gonggong emphasized.

"Yes, I will," the troupe leader wiped the sweat off his forehead and watched Meng Gonggong leave.

"Sir, why does His Majesty suddenly want to take back the script?" the man in pink approached the troupe leader, looking confused.

"Never mind so much, find someone with good handwriting and copy the playbook first." In just a short while, the troupe leader could already see how much the emperor cared for this Noble Monarch, so it was not surprising that he would want to retrieve the playbook personally written by him.

"I'll do it, and it will also help deepen my understanding of the character," the man in pink offered bravely.

As one of the main characters with a lot of lines, he indeed needed to be very familiar with the playbook. After some hesitation, the class leader agreed.

The man in pink happily took the playbook and began copying it.

The others watched enviously as he left, knowing that they were all retrained in the drama troupe and had never entered the palace, let alone seen any noble people there.

"Before we came, our teachers in the troupe warned us to be very careful in the palace, as even the slightest mistake could result in severe consequences. If anything happens, it would not only be our own lives at stake, but we could also cause the troupe to have to apologize for death. I was very nervous before coming, but when I got here, I found that it was nothing like what our teachers had said," said the young man, who looked around sixteen or seventeen and still had some innocence in his face and clear eyes.

"Me too. When I first entered the palace, I was extremely careful with every step I took, afraid of making any mistakes. I was even more nervous when I had to meet the Noble Monarch. But then I found out that the Noble Monarch was nothing like what our teachers had described. He was approachable and didn't put on airs, and even explained things to us when we didn't understand," another young man added. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the NøᴠᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

"I plucked up the courage to ask him a question just now, and he has such a pleasant voice," the first young man chuckled.

"I should not have hesitated just now, or I could have asked him a question too," another one lamented.

"Don't worry, the Noble Monarch will surely come again, and we will have another chance!" someone else comforted.

"The Noble Monarch is beautiful, has a beautiful voice, and is talented. No wonder he has the emperor's favor," someone else sighed in admiration.

"I envy Nan Qiao so much. He asked him many questions today, and he answered them all for him. Now he can even copy the script. I want to do that too..."

"Who doesn't want to? But our handwriting is really not as good as Nan Qiao's."

"When our teacher asked us to practice handwriting well, we shouldn't have been lazy."

Others nodded in agreement. Today's experience fully showed that having good handwriting is really important.

Before the new play was completed, they all needed to stay here. Considering that most of them were young, Shen Yu specially ordered the kitchen to make some delicious food for them.

After Shen Yu entered the palace, the imperial chefs' cooking skills improved rapidly. They were particularly adept at making delicious food.

With Shen Yu's orders, the food that the drama troupe ate in the palace was much better than what they could get outside.

"Did our teacher also eat such delicious food when he came to the palace before?"

After finishing the large table of dishes, the young men, who were full, slumped into their chairs, becoming more curious about their senior's experiences in the palace.

The middle-aged man who was called "teacher" remained silent for a moment and said, "No, these dishes were specially ordered by the Noble Monarch."

In the eyes of the nobles, they were just servants and their food was no better than that of the palace people. They never received such treatment before.

Shen Yu's summoning of the actors into the Yu Zhang Palace was not a secret. Although they didn't know Shen Yu's purpose, the ministers who heard the news frowned.

"How can His Majesty be so frivolous? In the midst of the severe drought in the north, you are indulging the Noble Monarch in luxury?"

"His Majesty has favored the eldest son of the Marquis of Zhenbei for quite some time. If you don't like it, you can impeach him in a memorial."

"Who would dare to impeach this matter now? Don't you see what happened to the previous few censors who did so? The most severe ones have disappeared from the court."

"Are we just going to let His Majesty behave like this? What does the Prime Minister think?"

"Is His Majesty ignoring the state affairs? Has His Majesty been indulging in pleasure and ignoring government affairs? Has His Majesty done anything harmful to Da Huan during your stay in the palace?"

The Prime Minister's series of questions left several officials dumbfounded. He continued, "No? Then that's settled. I said you all are idle. You stare at the affairs of the harem every day, have you finished your government affairs? Have you understood the specific measures regarding donations? Don't let me have to teach you hand in hand later!" The Prime Minister, who was getting increasingly busy, really couldn't stand these people who weren't doing their jobs.

The officials blushed and went back to their own business.

In Yu Zhang Palace, after finishing the meal, Shen Yu lay on Shang Junlin's lap and read a book. The book was purchased from outside the palace. After knowing Shen Yu's preferences, a palace servant was responsible for purchasing the latest books for Shen Yu every month. Over the past six months, Shen Yu had read all the books in the palace library that could be read as novels.

"When I went to the little theater before, what was Ah Yu talking about with that pink-dressed woman?" Shen Yu was interrupted in the midst of an interesting part and was confused.

"What pink-dressed woman?" It was only after asking the question that Shang Junlin realized what he was asking about and explained with a smile, "That was a man. His body frame is just a bit smaller and shorter. He is one of the main characters and was asking me about some things in the play."

"Why did he ask you out of so many people? If you couldn't understand, you could have just switched to someone else." Shang Junlin twirled a strand of Shen Yu's hair around his finger.

"Your Majesty, why are you so unreasonable?" Shen Yu looked up with interest and said, "His Majesty only saw him alone. Before His Majesty came, many others asked me questions. According to His Majesty's thinking, shouldn't all of these people be replaced?"

After thinking about the scene for a moment, Shang Junlin pursed his lips.

Shen Yu poked Shang Junlin's chin with his hand and asked, "Is His Majesty angry?"

"I'm not. Next time I go there, I'll accompany you," Shang Junlin knew how good Shen Yu was and that it was normal for many people to like him. He just felt a sense of discomfort when his own treasure was being viewed by others.

"Really not angry?" Shen Yu asked with his head tilted.

"No, I'm not angry enough to make Ah Yu upset about it," Shang Junlin denied.

"Well, then~" Shen Yu deliberately dragged his tone, "I was thinking that if His Majesty was angry, I would give him a kiss. Since His Majesty is not angry..."

"I'm angry," Shang Junlin suddenly interrupted Shen Yu's words. "Ah Yu, I'm angry."

"Hahaha," Shen Yu laughed uncontrollably at Shang Junlin's leg. "His Majesty just said that he wasn't angry about it."

"I said I won't be upset about it, but that doesn't mean I won't be angry with other people." Seeing that scene, Shang Junlin's anger almost became uncontrollable. Of course, he wouldn't blame Shen Yu or be angry with him. He only blamed those who deliberately approached Shen Yu.

If Shen Yu hadn't noticed his arrival and called out to him, Shang Junlin didn't know what he would have done.

Only Shen Yu could calm his anger.

Shang Junlin fixed his gaze on Shen Yu, and the affection in his eyes was like undissolvable ink. His pupils were originally jet black, and when he looked so intently at someone, the reflection of that person was imprinted in his eyes, as if he wanted to suck that person in.

As Shen Yu was being stared at, he slowly stopped laughing. He could feel the emotion in Shang Junlin's eyes almost drowning him. He propped himself up with one hand and hooked the other around Shang Junlin's neck, slowly approaching him.

"Then can I kiss His Majesty? Please don't be angry, okay?"

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