I, The Substitute, Am With The Main Character Chapter 80

“Ah?” Xueya was caught off guard.

Yin Qingxuan pulled out a small candy box from his sleeve, opened it, revealing candies in various bright colors, shining like little gems. “Try one,” he said, holding out a piece.

Xueya didn’t understand why Yin Qingxuan suddenly offered him candy, but he shook his head. “Thank you, Lord Prime Minister, but there’s no need. I’ll go fetch Huang Gonggong for you.”

“I’ve already met Huang Gonggong. He’s busy at the moment.” Yin Qingxuan responded while holding the candy closer to Xueya’s lips.

Xueya glanced at the candy, hesitated for a moment, then took a step back and reached out his hand. “This servant will eat it myself.”

Yin Qingxuan obliged and gently placed the candy in Xueya’s palm. Xueya, noticing that Yin Qingxuan was watching him intently, had no choice but to put the candy in his mouth. After chewing a few times, he forced a smile. “It’s sweet.”

“As long as you like it.” Yin Qingxuan smiled faintly and put the candy box back into his sleeve.

Before leaving, he paused at the door, looking back at Xueya. Outside, the rain drizzled down, making his figure appear somewhat blurred in the dim light.

A gust of cold wind blew open the window by the desk. Fearing the rain would wet the letters on the table, Xueya quickly leaned over to close it. By the time he turned back, Yin Qingxuan was already gone.

Ten days later, Yin Qingxuan returned to Ningfu Palace. This time, Xueya wasn’t in the study but in the bedchamber, trimming the flowers in a potted plant. The sudden sound of the door opening startled him, and he assumed it was Huang Gonggong.

But when he saw Yin Qingxuan, Xueya hurriedly put down the shears and awkwardly explained, “This servant was just trimming the flowers for the Empress Dowager’s room.”

Indeed, he had been trimming flowers, but moments earlier, he had been sitting leisurely on the chaise longue, looking more like the owner of the bedchamber.

Yin Qingxuan slowly walked over, glanced at the potted plant, and, in an indifferent tone, said, “You’ve done a good job.”

Being praised for something so trivial made Xueya even more uncomfortable. He pursed his lips and quickly offered, “There’s no hot tea prepared. This servant will go get some for you.”

He was anxious to leave and find Huang Gonggong. Last time, Yin Qingxuan’s unexpected appearance in the study had already made him uneasy. Although Yin Qingxuan was the Prime Minister, he was still an outsider. Entering the study of Ningfu Palace without permission was already overstepping his bounds, and now he had even come into the bedchamber.

“Stop,” Yin Qingxuan’s voice called out.

Xueya halted in his tracks, turning back to meet Yin Qingxuan’s gaze.

Once again, Yin Qingxuan pulled out the same candy box and asked the same question, “Would you like some candy?”

Xueya hesitated, then nodded. He took a piece from the candy box, hoping that, like last time, after eating the candy, Yin Qingxuan would leave. But this time, Yin Qingxuan didn’t leave. His eyes fixed on Xueya’s lips, and after a long silence, he said coldly, “This time, it’s real candy. No need to hide it under your tongue.”

He had figured it out.

The thought flashed through Xueya’s mind.

Last time, Xueya hadn’t actually eaten the candy; he had kept it under his tongue, and once Yin Qingxuan left, he spat it out. He hadn’t expected Yin Qingxuan to notice, and worse—Yin Qingxuan had said, “This time, it’s real…”

Did that mean last time… it wasn’t?

Xueya looked at Yin Qingxuan in shock, “You…” He barely managed a single word before quickly spitting out the candy. He rushed to the table and poured himself a glass of water, hastily rinsing his mouth.

Afterward, he tried to flee. But as soon as he turned, he found that Yin Qingxuan had somehow appeared right behind him.

Panicking, Xueya backed up until he hit the table behind him, eyes filled with fear and apprehension. He could see the murderous intent in Yin Qingxuan’s eyes.

Yin Qingxuan wanted to kill him!

“I…I…I…Lord Prime Minister, did I…did I do something wrong? If you’re angry about me kicking you last time, you can kick me back!” Xueya stammered in fear.

Yin Qingxuan didn’t reply. He just stared at Xueya, the eerie silence making him even more frightened. Glancing toward the door, Xueya calculated the distance and, trembling, steeled himself to run for it.

If he could get out of the room, Yin Qingxuan wouldn’t be able to kill him. After all, even if a servant committed a crime, it wasn’t the place of an outside official to carry out the punishment—let alone to kill.

But a strong hand grabbed Xueya, pulling him back.

Yin Qingxuan clamped a hand over Xueya’s mouth, using his other arm to restrain him, dragging him toward the inner chamber. Despite Xueya’s desperate struggles, it only slowed Yin Qingxuan down slightly. 

Soon enough, Xueya was thrown onto the bed. Before he could react, a heavy quilt was thrown over his face. Realizing Yin Qingxuan intended to suffocate him, Xueya panicked completely, thrashing to free himself while tears flowed uncontrollably.

Yin Qingxuan watched the struggling figure beneath the quilt, his gaze cold and detached. After a moment—perhaps only a brief one—the struggles began to weaken. The hand that had reached out from under the quilt slowly lost its strength and eventually fell limp.

Finally, it stopped moving altogether.

Yin Qingxuan loosened his grip, but suddenly, a powerful kick landed on his abdomen, causing him to grunt in pain.

Xueya, who had pretended to be dead, had tricked him. After holding his breath to fool Yin Qingxuan, Xueya leapt from the bed and bolted for the door. But just as he reached the threshold, he was caught again.

In desperation, Xueya shouted, “Help! The Prime Minister is trying to kill me!”

A mocking laugh echoed behind him. “Who do you think will come to save you? Huang Gonggong? Or the Empress Dowager?”

Hearing the mention of He Xulan, Xueya froze, his long lashes trembling as panic overtook him. Did Yin Qingxuan know something?

Suddenly, Xueya was spun around to face Yin Qingxuan, and their eyes locked.

Yin Qingxuan’s gaze was utterly indifferent, and his words were even more cutting. “I thought you held some weight in the Empress Dowager’s heart. Now it seems you’re nothing special.”

Xueya pretended not to understand, stiffly shaking his head. “This servant… this servant doesn’t understand what you mean, my lord.”

“Don’t understand? Then let me make it clear for you today. Half a month ago, the Empress Dowager should have returned to court, but there hasn’t been a single word since. I left two men by his side, and they were supposed to send me reports every seven days. But in the past half month, there’s been no news. It seems they’ve likely been killed.”

Seeing Xueya’s confused expression, a hint of mockery appeared in Yin Qingxuan’s eyes. “Still don’t get it? If the Empress Dowager doesn’t return to his position, those of you who once served him, whether it’s you or Huang Gonggong, will meet only one end—death.”

Suddenly, Xueya remembered his third dream. In it, He Xulan had rebelled, and the army had broken through the palace gates. But now that he thought about it, neither he nor anyone from Ningfu Palace had appeared in the dream.

At this thought, Xueya’s face turned pale. He bit his lip and tried to push Yin Qingxuan away to ask Huang Gonggong. Perhaps Huang Gonggong knew if He Xulan would return.

But wait—would Huang Gonggong really know?

If He Xulan didn’t return, he and Huang Gonggong, along with the others from Ningfu Palace, would all be abandoned. If He Xulan had truly rebelled, then, just as Yin Qingxuan said, death would be their only fate.

No, He Xulan wouldn’t abandon him! He wouldn’t! He Xulan had been willing to die for him before, and even now, while away fighting, he’d taken the time to write Xueya a long letter. In the letter, He Xulan had told him to eat well, to sleep well…

Wait, did He Xulan say in the letter that he’d return soon?

It seemed not. No—it wasn’t just “seemed”—he hadn’t written that.

Xueya had nearly memorized the contents of the letter. He Xulan hadn’t said he’d come back.

Xueya recalled He Xulan’s strange behavior the night before he left. They hadn’t engaged in intimacy for some time because He Xulan’s wounds hadn’t healed, but that night, He Xulan had insisted, despite Xueya’s objections.

At the time, Xueya had thought He Xulan had just drunk too much, but looking back, it didn’t seem that way. Though He Xulan had reeked of alcohol, he hadn’t been drunk.

He’d promised to take Xueya with him out of the palace, but by morning, he’d said he wasn’t taking him anymore. Was it because He Xulan had decided to leave him behind? Was it because he thought Xueya would die and that this would be their last time together?

No! He refused to believe it! Yin Qingxuan was lying to him!

“My lord, please let me go. This servant needs to leave.” Xueya tried to push Yin Qingxuan away, but his hand was caught instead.

Yin Qingxuan’s sneer deepened. “How pathetic. Just because you’ve been slept with a few times, you’ve become utterly devoted. Even now, you refuse to see the truth. Oh, I can’t entirely blame you for being foolish. I too once believed he truly cared for you—enough to give you the birthday gift from his mother. Now it’s clear: it was all part of his plan.”

He ignored Xueya’s struggles, yanking open his collar to reveal the warm jade pendant.

When Xueya had been performing a ritual, an eunuch had taken the pendant while bathing him. Later, when Xueya was brought to Fengrui Palace to recover, the eunuch had returned the jade to him.

“This… this wasn’t a gift from the Empress Dowager. It was…” Xueya stopped mid-sentence. He couldn’t say it was a gift from Liang Mu.

Yin Qingxuan gently stroked the jade with his finger. “Madam He was a skilled carver, especially in jade, and her son always liked to hide a small orchid in the designs he made.” He flipped the pendant over, showing Xueya the pattern on the back.

Xueya had always known there was a faint design on the jade, one that required careful examination to see. But he’d never known about the tiny orchid. Now, seeing it for the first time, he was rendered speechless.

Seeing Xueya’s silence, Yin Qingxuan remarked coldly, “So you didn’t know it was from him. Clearly, this jade wasn’t meant for you to see, but for me. He wanted me to believe he cared for you, so I’d treat you as his weakness and think that as long as I kept you in the palace, he wouldn’t act.”

With those words, he suddenly ripped the jade pendant from its string. As it broke, Xueya winced in pain. He watched Yin Qingxuan take the jade and desperately tried to snatch it back. “That’s mine!”

But Yin Qingxuan tucked the pendant into his chest, gripping Xueya’s outstretched hand. “It was never meant to be yours.”

Xueya froze at those words, looking up at Yin Qingxuan’s face, suddenly understanding.

Yin Qingxuan liked He Xulan. That’s why he was jealous—jealous enough to want to kill him, jealous enough to take the warm jade away.

Xueya clenched his teeth, trying to pull his hand free, but Yin Qingxuan’s grip was tight, worsening Xueya’s frustration. His eyes welled up with tears as he leaned forward and bit down on Yin Qingxuan’s hand. He bit hard, and as soon as Yin Qingxuan let go in pain, Xueya tried to run. But he failed.

Yin Qingxuan glanced at the bloody bite mark on his hand, then looked at the boy still struggling to escape, a cold smile curling his lips. He pinned Xueya against the door and bent down to bite his shoulder.

Xueya hadn’t expected him to bite back, and he bit down hard enough to make Xueya tremble in pain. Before Xueya could recover, he was forcibly turned around.

His face had gone pale from the pain, and a fine sheen of sweat covered his forehead. Leaning against the door, he stared at the cold-eyed Yin Qingxuan and suddenly thought of Cui Lingjing. At this moment, all he cared about was saving his life.

“You can’t kill me. The emperor won’t allow it. If the emperor finds out you killed me, he’ll punish you… mmm…”

Before Xueya could finish, Yin Qingxuan kissed him, leaving him stunned. When he realized what was happening, he immediately tried to push him away, thinking Yin Qingxuan must have gone mad—he’d just been threatening to kill him, and now he was kissing him.

This sudden intimacy made Xueya feel sick, but he couldn’t push him off. In a panic, he bit down hard again.

Yin Qingxuan frowned, lifting his head. Seeing the obvious disgust in Xueya’s eyes, he reached down and yanked at the ties of Xueya’s skirt.