Defeat the system! Kiss my little monster!

Shen Yu leaned against the bedside, quite interested in the empress's robes he was wearing. Even after Wen Yu entered, he was still fiddling with the sleeves of the robes. He had folded up the auspicious phoenix design, and the thin gauze wrinkled, revealing his strong arm underneath.

"Your Highness, how was it?" Shen Yu smiled at Wen Yu as he entered, "Does this count as a victory?"

Wen Yu walked slowly, silently looking at Shen Yu, from his face to his neck, and finally stopping at his lean waist hidden under his robe.

Wen Yu withdrew his gaze and asked in a calm tone, "What did Li Yongquan say?"

“He had no choice.” Shen Yu tapped his finger on the table. “The path I showed him was the only path he could take.”

Wen Yu: "What if he's going to fight to the death?"

"He doesn't have the guts."

Li Yongquan, an old eunuch in his fifties or sixties, had spent almost half his life climbing up from the bottom. There was no reason for him to ruin himself at this point.

To say how loyal he could be to Xuan Lin… Shen Yu found it even more laughable. How much loyalty could Li Yongquan have to a monarch who was overly suspicious and openly drank people's blood? Tonight, Xuan Lin was drinking Li Yongquan's blood.

The most urgent task is to protect oneself.

Wen Yu approached Shen Yu, who raised the corners of his lips upon hearing this, saying in an ambiguous tone, "That's right, with someone helping you behind the scenes, Li Yongquan won't be able to cause much trouble."

Shen Yu paused slightly as he fiddled with his sleeves.

After he entered Kunning Palace, he rarely had contact with the photography studio, but the head nanny still delivered messages to Shen Yu and the studio owner at fixed times according to the rules.

The fact that the guards didn't rush in after hearing the commotion suggests that the Lord gave the order to have the shadow guards sneak in and tamper with things.

Shen Yu sighed and said, "He's willing to help me now that I haven't been exposed, but that might not be the case in the future."

Wen Yu's smile froze for a moment, but he still maintained his upward curve: "Oh... he thought you were a woman?"

“How could that be?” Shen Yu glanced at Wen Yu. “He knows I’m a man.”

"...He knows?" Wen Yu stood still, his eyes unmoving, only looking at Shen Yu, his lips forming an empty straight line.

After a long pause, Wen Yu's Adam's apple bobbed as she asked, "Why are you with him? He's not your type, and he might even try to harm you later because of his status."

“I know.” Shen Yu understood his situation. He looked at Wen Yu, paused for a moment, and then deliberately spoke up, “But I’ve been poisoned, so I have no choice but to listen to him now.”

Wen Yu's expression changed: "He also poisoned you?"

Shen Yu: "Yes, don't the ladies all know this?"

"How would I know about these things?" Wen Yu frowned, his face darkening with anger, and he gritted his teeth. "So he forced you into this? You didn't do it willingly?"

Shen Yu: "..."

He vaguely sensed something strange in Wen Yu's words, but after reviewing everything, Shen Yu couldn't find anything amiss.

Wen Yu stood in front of Shen Yu, his body upright, almost forming a wall.

Seeing his displeasure, Shen Yu hesitated for a moment before continuing, "Ah...yes, he forced me to do all that before. I was poisoned."

Wen Yu blinked, his eyelashes drooping silently, his hands clenched into fists. The fingernails dug into the skin of his palms, sending waves of helpless and humiliating pain through him.

Shen Yu easily noticed the change in Wen Yu's emotions. Wen Yu's expression was always hard to hide, and even now that she was wearing a fake mask, it was still easy to expose her.

"Your Highness, what's wrong?" Shen Yu stood up and went to Wen Yu's side, his gaze shifting to Wen Yu's legs. "Has the wound reopened?"

Wen Yu didn't speak. He stood in the inner hall, his whole body ice-cold. After three or four minutes, he turned to look at Shen Yu and said, "I will kill him for you."

Shen Yu smiled slightly. He didn't say much, but simply lowered his eyes and said, "Alright, thank you, Your Majesty."

Wen Yu slowly relaxed her clenched fist.

He was now standing in front of the bed, only four or five steps away. Wen Yu glanced ahead, seemingly not seeing him, and said to Shen Yu, "I can't walk, carry me to the bed."

Shen Yu didn't suspect much. The wound on Wen Yu's left foot, caused by a ruptured tendon, had reopened once before, and with the added trauma, it was normal that it was taking so long to recover.

Shen Yu bent down and picked up Wen Yu, wrapping his arms around her waist, and said, "Your Majesty, we will only be truly secure when you can walk properly."

Wen Yu lowered his eyes and said, "I'll be fine soon."

"Row."

Shen Yu only gave a casual reply. Wen Yu's tendons and veins in her hands and feet had been severed for a long time, and it would take at least three or four months to recover. In the current period, it would be best if Wen Yu could learn to walk normally again.

After lying down on the bed, Wen Yu tore off the human skin mask from his face. He ran his fingers over the surface of the mask, and after confirming something, he casually threw it onto the table next to him.

He pulled the covers up and shifted his gaze to the outside of the beaded curtain.

Shen Yu was still changing his inner garments. The Empress's attire was still too elaborate, so Shen Yu removed the outer thin gauze, revealing several layers of ornate clothing underneath. He removed them one by one, finally piling them onto the armchair beside him.

A bloodstain appeared on the corner of the sleeve of his inner garment. Shen Yu frowned as he looked at the deep red stain and tore off his own garment with one hand.

He was shirtless, reached under his bed and pulled out a wardrobe, then put on a clean undergarment.

Wen Yu couldn't see the specifics of what was happening over there. His expression was indifferent as he leaned against the wall behind him, looking towards the candlelight. The candlelight illuminated Shen Yu's figure moving about, roughly outlining what he was doing.

Wen Yu rolled up the medical book in his hand. He waited until Shen Yu lay down on the bed before getting up to extinguish the candle. Shen Yu must have been a little tired, having done too much in the early morning. He soon closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep.

Wen Yu kept an eye on his situation. He pretended to sleep for nearly half an hour before quietly taking out the medicine bottle from under his pillow.

When the bottle cap was opened, the room was filled with that pleasant fragrance again. Wen Yu covered her mouth and nose, waited for four or five minutes, and then put the bottle cap back on.

Shen Yu had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Wen Yu picked up the cane leaning against the wall and walked to Shen Yu's bedside. Following the old custom, he pushed Shen Yu against the wall. Wen Yu made room for himself, lay down on his side, and silently watched Shen Yu's shadow in the darkness.

Shen Yu remained motionless. Wen Yu watched him silently for a while, then reached out and put his arm around Shen Yu's waist. As if to comfort him, he moved his palm down and massaged the skin below Shen Yu's waist.