The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits

25.2

After eating, Shen Yu and Shang JunLin rested on the soft couch. Shang JunLin sat upright, carefully approving memorials, while Shen Yu leaned against his shoulder and read a book.

The book came from the imperial library, but it wouldn't be accurate to call it a storybook. In fact, it told of the romantic entanglements of the previous emperors of the dynasty. Shen Yu read it with interest.

The former emperors of the Shang Dynasty had a tawdry romantic history replete with all kinds of tricks: stand-ins and substitutes, seizing lovers by force, love rivals turning into lovers... Everything you could imagine.

In contrast, Shang JunLin's relationship history was as clean as white paper. Compared with the previous emperors of the dynasty, Shang JunLin really stood out.

If Shen Yu remembered correctly, in his past life there was no one else in Shang JunLin's harem except for Shen QingRan, whom he forced into the palace.

In that life, Shen QingRan only saw Shang JunLin a few times after he entered the palace, and certainly never had any physical contact with him.

People said the tyrant disliked being touched by anyone. After Shen QingRan escaped the palace, he complained about this to everyone. He once accidentally touched Shang JunLin's arm and was banished for several days....

"What is the noble monarch thinking about?" Shang JunLin glanced up from the folded report and saw Shen Yu looking at him in a daze.

"I'm thinking about Your Majesty...." Shen Yu paused. He glanced at the memorial in Shang JunLin's hand. "Is Your Majesty worried about water control?"

"Yes." Shang JunLin didn't hide it. He handed the memorial to Shen Yu to let him see it more clearly. "Is the noble monarch interested?"

The memorial was submitted by Lin County, which was located in the south of Da Huan. Because of the terrain, it had suffered from floods every year since the founding of Da Huan.

Over the years, Da Huan invested countless human and material resources into Lin County with little effect. Successive generations of emperors had worried about the situation there.

In his previous life, Shen Yu had witnessed the natural disasters in Lin County and knew the tragedies that would unfold there. In later years, with the help of Shen QingRan, the King of Yue made great achievements in controlling the floodwaters. That was the beginning of the King of Yue's rise to the pinnacle of power.

Shen Yu carefully studied the flood control scheme devised by Shen QingRan in his previous life, and it was better than any existing system in Da Huan. Some time ago, when Shen Yu was thinking of what birthday gift to give Shang JunLin, he suddenly thought of it.

He deliberately chose a day when Shang JunLin wasn't in Yuzhang Palace and quietly wrote down what he remembered of the plan point by point, intending to give it to Shang JunLin. If they made advance preparations, perhaps the tragedies of his previous life might not be as serious.

Today he left Yuzhang Palace on a whim, but he also intended to give the manuscript to Shang JunLin.

"Your Majesty knows I've been in poor health since I was a child, and I like reading miscellaneous books. A few days ago, I sorted out some useful things I read. I thought Your Majesty might be able to use them."

Shen Yu took out a thin book from his sleeve. The title on the cover was blank. Shen Yu handed the book to Shang JunLin. "Will Your Majesty have a look?"

Shang JunLin took the book, opened it, glanced through it, and paused.

He roughly read through the content without changing expression. The book wasn't long. It didn't take much time for Shang JunLin to finish it. He closed the book and took Shen Yu's arm with a slightly heavy movement.