I, The Substitute, Am With The Main Character Chapter 47

Xueya took almost half a day to squeeze out a single sentence: “Your Majesty, please don’t joke with me.”

Empress Lei squatted down, bringing her gaze level with Xueya’s. “Why do you think I’m joking with you?” She lightly tapped Xueya’s lips with the pearl fan in her hand. “Your lips seem swollen. The man who kissed you must have been quite rough.”

Xueya’s expression stiffened even more. He slightly tilted his head, avoiding the Empress’s pearl fan, and stammered, “I… I…”

“I know you come from a background as a courtesan. Do courtesans only serve male clients and not female ones?” Empress Lei smiled softly, interrupting Xueya’s words. This time, she rested her pearl fan on his shoulder.

Hearing his identity as a courtesan exposed, Xueya’s face turned pale. He realized that Empress Lei must have investigated his background, or at the very least, inquired about him from others.

“Why so silent? There are benefits to male clients, and there are also benefits to female ones.” Empress Lei leaned closer to Xueya. “You’ve grown up so much—have you ever tasted a woman?”

Her words were too bold, and Xueya’s face turned white and then red. He shook his head stiffly, then hurriedly said, “Your Majesty, I am willing to serve you loyally in any capacity, to repay your kindness. I only beg you to spare me.”

Empress Lei shook her head as well. “Being loyal is so dull. I have too many people who are willing to be loyal to me. But being my little stallion in bed—that’s more interesting.”

Her words became even more outrageous—almost beyond what an empress of noble birth could say. Xueya’s face turned completely red, beyond his control.

Empress Lei stared at Xueya for a while, then curled her lips into a smile and withdrew the pearl fan from her hand. “It’s fine. I’ll give you time to think it over. Either I tell the Emperor about your situation, or you come to my chambers in five days.” She paused and spoke in a soft, alluring voice. “Think about it. Serving one person is still serving, and serving two people is still serving. I’ll treat you well. And if your affair with him ever gets exposed, I can guarantee your life.”

***

Because of Empress Lei’s threats, Xueya was in a daze for the next few days, and Cui Lingjing couldn’t help but notice his unusual behavior. Cui Lingjing had thought that after bringing Xueya back to his side, the man would be full of gratitude and would cling to him. Who would have guessed that this trembling rabbit had been spacing out more and more frequently in his presence? Now it had gotten so bad that he couldn’t even hear his own name being called.

Cui Lingjing’s gaze turned cold as he yanked Xueya over, startling him into a gasp. When Xueya realized it was Cui Lingjing who had grabbed him, he quickly forced a smile and spoke cautiously, “Your Majesty?”

“So, you still remember I’m your Emperor? What’s wrong with you these past few days? You’ve been distracted and unwilling to serve me.” Cui Lingjing, out of habit, pinched Xueya’s cheek.

“No, I haven’t, Your Majesty,” Xueya hastily denied. His voice was somewhat muffled due to the pinch, and his soft, sticky accent from his southern Jiangnan hometown became even more so. He tried to think of an excuse. “It’s just… just that I’ve been feeling a bit warm.”

Cui Lingjing paused, surprised. “Warm?”

He looked outside the window. Although it was already late spring, it hadn’t turned into summer yet. How could it be warm?

Afraid that Cui Lingjing wouldn’t believe him, Xueya used his hand to mimic a fan and began fanning himself. “I’ve always been more sensitive to heat than others, so I haven’t been feeling well.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cui Lingjing touched Xueya’s forehead.

Because Xueya was so nervous, his body heat really did seem higher than usual. After feeling his forehead, Cui Lingjing contemplated for a moment. “In that case, you don’t need to serve in the afternoons anymore.”

Xueya, seeing that his excuse had worked, breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly expressed his gratitude. But before he could finish thanking him, Cui Lingjing pulled him over again. The Emperor had been in a foul mood lately.

Affairs of state and palace matters weighed heavily on him. Ministers were pushing him to take concubines, which he had done, and now they were pressuring him to produce heirs, urging him to spend more time with his consorts—especially with Empress Lei. This emperor business was suffocating.

Of course, what irked him most was the issue with He Xulan.

Suddenly, Cui Lingjing began to understand why his father had left the palace.

As Cui Lingjing embraced Xueya, his mind wandered to He Xulan, while Xueya, in his arms, also thought about He Xulan. He was torn about whether or not to tell He Xulan what was happening, but even if he did, would it solve anything?

Empress Lei came from a noble family. Her father was the Grand General Lei, and she was his only daughter, doted on beyond measure. He Xulan, on the other hand, was merely a nominal empress dowager. How could he possibly contend with Empress Lei? And if Empress Lei were to expose their secret, while He Xulan might remain unharmed as Cui Lingjing’s favored one, Xueya would be finished.

Weighing the pros and cons, Xueya decided against telling He Xulan.

He couldn’t take the risk. If He Xulan found out that Empress Lei had uncovered their secret and was unable to silence her, would he silence Xueya instead?

When it comes to life and death, love pales in comparison. In fact, love can falter even before money does. If love were truly steadfast, there wouldn’t be so many courtesans in the Red Moon House. Xueya had personally witnessed a courtesan leave, brimming with excitement, after being ransomed by a customer. At the time, everyone had said the courtesan was lucky to have found someone who loved him. But less than half a year later, Xueya heard that the courtesan had died.

After the man who ransomed him fell on hard times, he could no longer afford to support the courtesan. It would have been fine if that were all, but with no money to spend, the man forced the courtesan to sell himself on the streets, standing in the shadows after dark to solicit clients.

For just a few copper coins, they didn’t even need a bed—just the street would do.

The courtesan obeyed, but it wasn’t long before the local patrol caught him and threw him in jail. Two taels of silver were needed to bail him out. The man refused to pay and instead cursed him as a jinx.

That night, the courtesan committed suicide by smashing his head against the wall.

***

Five days passed swiftly, and Xueya found an opportunity to visit Empress Lei’s chambers in the afternoon. This was his second time there; the first was on the night of Cui Lingjing’s grand wedding.

The air in Empress Lei’s chambers was heavily scented, so much so that Xueya felt a bit dizzy from it. He stood outside the screen, his expression tense. Before long, the palace maid who had gone inside to announce his arrival returned.

“Her Majesty has just woken up; she says you may enter.”

The maid’s words made Xueya even more anxious. His hands in his sleeves were damp with cold sweat. After a moment, he nodded to the maid and softly walked toward the inner chamber. Before he reached it, he heard the sound of the palace door closing behind him.

The dull creak made Xueya nearly jump. He froze in place, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe his face and then wiping the cold sweat from his hands before entering the inner chamber.

Once inside, he froze again.

Empress Lei had indeed just risen, but she hadn’t gotten out of bed. She was reclining, resting her head on her hand, smiling at Xueya.

The moment Xueya met her gaze, he quickly lowered his head. His heart was racing so fast that he could almost hear it himself.

“Why are you just standing there? Come over.” Empress Lei chuckled softly. “Five days felt so long. I was tired from waiting for you.”

She finished speaking and noticed that Xueya still hadn’t moved. Her gaze flickered as she got up from the bed and walked over to him. Seeing her approach, Xueya instinctively wanted to retreat, but she quickly grabbed his arm and dragged him toward the bed. “You’re already here. Why keep pretending to be an innocent rabbit? Didn’t you choose to come here yourself?”

As she spoke, she had already pulled Xueya to the bedside. Hearing her words, Xueya opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. In the next moment, he was pushed onto the bed, his body sinking into the soft blankets.

The scent in Empress Lei’s chamber was overwhelming, and not just from her—it permeated her bed as well. The thick fragrance invaded Xueya’s nostrils. Panicked, he tried to get up, but Empress Lei climbed onto the bed after him.

She placed her hands on either side of Xueya, trapping him in place. Her face, both alluring and bold, held a smile. “If you like playing the timid rabbit, I’ll play along. But when it comes to serving me, you better put your heart into it.”

As Empress Lei lowered her head, all the mental preparation Xueya had done before coming vanished. He didn’t dare push her away—in fact, he didn’t dare touch a single finger of hers. Seeing her lean down, he was so frightened that he tried to escape from under her.

Empress Lei seemed intent on playing the rabbit game with Xueya. She allowed him to crawl away, but as soon as he reached the edge, she blocked him again. “You won’t be able to escape today. The palace doors are already locked.”

Xueya regretted everything. He kept retreating until he was cornered at the edge of the bed.

“Your Majesty, please spare me. I really can’t. His Majesty will kill me.” Xueya shook his head frantically, his face pale, completely devoid of color.

“Why do you keep bringing up His Majesty? If neither you nor I say anything, how would he ever know?” Empress Lei paused for a moment. “Unless… someone else knows about us. Did you tell anyone?”

Xueya immediately denied it, “This servant didn’t.”

“Then there’s no issue. If no one speaks, how would he find out? He never comes to my chambers anyway. Oh, and stop referring to yourself as a servant. I’m not referring to myself as ‘this Empress’ either. Today, you’re just serving a client. Don’t courtesans have special names they call their clients?”

Xueya’s lips trembled. After hearing her words, he could barely force out a single word: “Master.”

“Master? That works. Then call me Master too. Today, Master will treat you well.” Empress Lei reached out and stroked Xueya’s face. The moment she touched him, Xueya felt as if the skin she touched no longer belonged to him. After caressing his face for a while, she suddenly got out of bed.

She grabbed her pearl fan from the vanity.

“This fan has a total of 128 pearls.” Empress Lei waved the fan in front of Xueya. “How many do you think you can fit?”