The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

2

There were some things that Shen Yu didn't know until he died.

Like the fact he was only a stand-in.

After Shen Yu died, he happened to encounter a text. At the time, he was trapped in a gray, featureless world. Bored, he began to flip through the only thing that existed in the space aside from himself.

It was a book, and many of the words were missing strokes. Even though Shen Yu had to guess some of their meanings, after reading the entire text, a thousand curse words flooded his mind.

In the script, he was a spiteful villain who did all sorts of evil things and tried to interfere with the relationship between the two protagonists. The protagonist shou was his shu brother, Shen QingRan, who originally entered the tyrant's harem, and the protagonist gong was Shang JunYue, the King of Yue.

Shen QingRan was a transmigrator who possessed the knowledge of later generations. Before he had a chance to show off his abilities, he was sent into the tyrant's harem by the villain Shen Yu. Shen QingRan, who was parted from his lover and tormented by the tyrant, underwent a dramatic personality change. Later, after enduring all sorts of things, he finally managed to flee the palace and reunite with his lover, but he found someone else standing beside the King of Yue—his old enemy, Shen Yu. On the eve of the king's accession to the throne, Shen QingRan quietly separated Shen Yu from the King of Yue and convinced the king to end his life. Then they lived the rest of their beautiful lives together.

Of course, that was only what happened in the book. In Shen Yu's previous life, he was the one who killed the King of Yue.

The book was told from Shen QingRan's point of view, and a lot of it was different from what Shen Yu remembered. For example, in order to help the King of Yue seize power, Shen Yu soaked his hands in blood, and the King of Yue treated him like a substitute for his real lover. But Shen Yu had no idea when he became a substitute.

When he thought that Shang JunYue looked at him as a substitute for his half-brother, Shen Yu was disgusted, and the last feelings he had for the King of Yue vanished.

Seeing the King of Yue again, Shen Yu lost his composure for only a moment. He blinked his eyes and pretended to be unhappy. "Even if I tell you, it won't change anything. Besides, if I don't go, Shen QingRan will have to. Maybe you can think of a way to send my dear brother instead of me." 

With that, Shen Yu gazed at the King of Yue with keen interest.

If the story recounted in that book was accurate, by now the King of Yue had met Shen QingRan and the first hints of love were blossoming between them. Shen Yu wanted to verify whether it was true.

The King of Yue was silent for a moment. Then, in a pampering, slightly helpless tone, he said, "If I had a way, I would never let you enter the palace."

He avoided Shen Yu's suggestion.

Shen Yu hadn't expected him to come up with anything. If the King of Yue really had that kind of ability, Shen Yu wouldn't have had to expend so much blood, sweat, and tears to push him to the throne in his previous life, and he wouldn't have ended up in a dead end despite all his efforts.

Even if the King of Yue hadn't stabbed him in the back in his previous life, Shen Yu wouldn't have lived long.

"Since you can't do anything about it, why should I come find you?" Shen Yu tilted his head and appeared puzzled.

The King of Yue kept getting the feeling Shen Yu had a barbed tongue today. He thought the other man was in a bad mood and comforted him gently, "It's not certain yet. There will definitely be a way."