The Daily Life of a Depressed Salted Fish Chapter 19

He was really overthinking it.

No matter where he falls asleep, he will never catch a cold. Outside, there are countless palace servants, and in the imperial study, where the servants are not allowed to enter, there are shadow guards who follow him closely.

Sixteen stepped down the stairs, realizing that Yin Wuzhi had no intention of backing down.

“?”

Sixteen, a shadow guard and a death guard, half of his face concealed behind a mask, stood there. Someone like him shouldn’t appear in the daylight, nor act without his master’s summons.

Because doing so could expose his identity and bring hidden danger to his master.

Yin Wuzhi said, “In the future, leave things like this to me.”

He gazed at the shadow guard in the blue mask before him. The latter lowered his head slightly, obediently handing the emperor over to Yin Wuzhi. As soon as Yin Wuzhi’s arms took hold, the familiar fragrance of osmanthus filled his senses.

Yin Wuzhi looked down at the limp figure in his arms and said, “His head.”

Sixteen extended a hand, gently adjusting the emperor’s drooping head so it rested properly on Yin Wuzhi’s shoulder.

What a limp noodle of a person.

Yin Wuzhi observed the hand that had just fixed Jiang Wu’s head, missing half a pinky finger but still moving with extreme care, with an almost protective gesture.

Once the task was done, Sixteen faded back into the shadows.

Yin Wuzhi retracted his gaze from the shadows, carrying Jiang Wu back to the sleeping chamber.

How many people in this world silently protected him? And how many willingly laid down their lives for him?

He placed Jiang Wu’s head gently onto a soft pillow, brushed aside the long hair sticking to his face, and studied the wound on his philtrum for a moment.

Bringing over some fresh water, he carefully cleaned it and reapplied the medicine to the spots where blood had been drawn from pinching. Yin Wuzhi grasped Jiang Wu’s still bruised wrist, his expression slightly tense.

“Your Highness,” Qi Hanmiao’s voice came from outside, “The swallow’s nest brought by the Empress Dowager has been heated for you and His Majesty. Would you care for some?”

“Just leave it for now,” Yin Wuzhi replied absentmindedly. “Does Empress Dowager Yao not seem to like His Majesty very much?”

Qi Hanmiao placed the swallow’s nest down with a steady hand, turning back with a smile, “Whatever are you talking about, Your Highness? His Majesty is Empress Dowager Yao’s own son. Now that he has ascended to the throne, she couldn’t be more fond of him.”

Yin Wuzhi cast him a glance: “You are a loyal servant. If I were to remain in the palace in the future, we would inevitably have to work closely together. If you keep avoiding the truth, it will be hard for us to get along.”

Qi Hanmiao was taken aback: “Your Highness, have you decided to stay by His Majesty’s side?”

Yin Wuzhi’s expression darkened: “His Majesty insists on keeping me here. How can I refuse an imperial decree?”

“Your Highness speaks wisely,” Qi Hanmiao said, sighing. “Despite His Majesty’s insistence, you still take such care of him. Truly, Heaven must favor His Majesty.”

“…” Yin Wuzhi’s mood soured. “Stop changing the subject. What exactly is the situation between Empress Dowager Yao and His Majesty?”

This Yin Shizi was not easy to fool. Qi Hanmiao shook his head. “It’s not that I don’t want to speak, but the late emperor gave a decree before his death forbidding anyone from discussing the matter further. Even His Majesty swore never to mention it again.”

Yin Wuzhi ran his fingers over the scars on Jiang Wu’s wrist, ignoring Qi Hanmiao’s words. “Was she once very harsh with His Majesty?”

Are you not understanding my words?

Qi Hanmiao stepped closer and whispered, “Your Highness, be careful with your words. Such talk could bring disaster.”

Though Qi Hanmiao remained cryptic, Yin Wuzhi’s thoughts became clearer. Earlier that morning, when Yao Ji woke Jiang Wu, her pinching seemed like a subconscious action, and Yin Wuzhi had observed it all from the sidelines.

What nonsense about waking at dawn since the age of three? No child, no matter how studious, could be that disciplined. Especially not this lazy… lazy person, whose current state must be the result of the emotional and physical harm inflicted by his own Mother.

He glanced at the scar on Jiang Wu’s neck.

In a palace as heavily guarded as this, who could get close enough to harm him? If it had truly been an assassin, the incident would have caused an uproar by now, and security in the palace would have been tightened. The leader of the guards would have lost his head or, at the very least, been stripped of his position.

But from what Yin Wuzhi had seen in the palace these past few days, everything seemed perfectly normal, and the head guard remained in place as always.

Yin Wuzhi edged closer to the sleeping Jiang Wu, carefully tilting his chin upward.

The knife scar ran diagonally across the left side, clean and sharp.

“?”

Something’s not right.

If it had really been a clean and decisive strike, Jiang Wu would have been beheaded already.

This “clean and decisive” action felt more like it had been abruptly stopped.

Was the assassin shot with an arrow just as they were slitting his throat? That doesn’t fit with my earlier theory.

What could have made someone who dared to place a blade against the emperor’s neck suddenly lose the will to attack?

And how did things return to normal afterward, with the palace acting as if nothing had happened?

A long silence followed, and Qi Hanmiao, standing nearby, held his breath. “Your Highness, what are you looking at?”

Yin Wuzhi withdrew his hand and said calmly, “It’s nothing.”

Now it was Qi Hanmiao’s turn to feel uneasy. “If Your Highness has any suspicions, you can share them with this humble servant. I’m afraid I might not be able to keep up if something unexpected happens.”

“Bring me the bird’s nest soup. I’m hungry.”

“…”

Meanwhile, Empress Dowager Wen arrived at the Great Empress Dowager’s palace. Avoiding the scene at the Imperial Study, she first ensured everything was well and then gently said, “Lately, His Majesty has been showing too much interest in the shizi.”

She thought of Yin Wuzhi’s flushed face. Though the boy had grown up in the southern frontier, after all, he was her sister’s child. Keeping him in the palace indefinitely was hardly appropriate.

The Great Empress Dowager sighed. “Seeing Wu Er this time, it’s like he’s become a different person.”

Empress Dowager Wen remembered something but remained silent.

The Great Empress Dowager’s expression darkened. “If the late emperor hadn’t shielded her, I would have charged her with conspiring to harm the emperor and beaten her to death!”

“Please calm down, Royal Mother.” Empress Dowager Wen gently stroked her back. “In my opinion, the most urgent matter is for His Majesty to find an emotional anchor. The shizi cannot stay in the palace forever. His Majesty must marry soon. If he has a wife to share his life with and a few children in the future, perhaps he will no longer be so distracted.”

After some thought, the Great Empress Dowager agreed and patted her hand. “We’ll do as you say. Send someone to choose some good candidates. No, don’t choose portraits; bring the girls directly to the palace. I’m sure there’s a girl out there more to His Majesty’s liking than the shizi.”

When Jiang Wu woke up, he noticed that Yin Wuzhi’s attitude toward him seemed to have changed.

For several days, Yin Wuzhi hadn’t forced him to do anything. After a nap that day, Jiang Wu was carried from his bed, served some tender fish soup with tofu, and Yin Wuzhi, oddly enough, cut the tofu into small pieces and cooled it before feeding him.

After the meal, as usual, he asked for Jiang Wu’s preference: “Shall we go to the study?”

Jiang Wu, as usual, responded without hesitation: “No.”

“Alright,” Yin Wuzhi said. “Shall we go to the imperial garden for a swing?”

Jiang Wu: “?”

Although Yin Wuzhi had been treating him nicely these past few days—letting him lie around inside or bask in the sun outside—Jiang Wu couldn’t help but feel something was off.

Had Yin Wuzhi finally understood the art of subtlety in killing a king? Was he slowly boiling the frog, trying to make him lower his guard?

No matter. As long as he wasn’t being forced to work, it didn’t matter if there was a trick. Jiang Wu nodded and was taken to the imperial garden.

Excitedly, Jiang Wu arrived at the swing, was lifted onto it, and noticed something different about the swing this time.

First, it was wider, larger, and softer, allowing him to curl up comfortably. Second…

Jiang Wu looked up at the woven net slowly rising around him, made from thick ropes.

The large net formed a bag-like enclosure around him and the swing chair, and then the top was sealed.

Jiang Wu hesitated and glanced at Yin Wuzhi, while Qi Hanmiao, nearby, beamed in satisfaction.

“Your Highness is brilliant. Now we won’t have to worry about His Majesty falling off.”

Jiang Wu hugged his knees, sensing that something was wrong.

The swing began to move, and Jiang Wu, like a fish trapped in a net, swayed back and forth.

He turned over on the chair and, through the woven net, looked at Yin Wuzhi expressionlessly: “Let me out.”

Yin Wuzhi gently pushed him: “What’s wrong? Not high enough?”

The swing rose higher, and although Jiang Wu’s body seemed to be thrown off the chair, he was securely held by the net and returned safely to the seat.

Yin Wuzhi called out, “Is this high enough?”

Jiang Wu: “.”

He tumbled around like a boneless doll, flopping about in the net. Soon, he was dizzy and disoriented. “Yin Wuzhi, you fool.”

The wind was too strong, and Jiang Wu’s voice was weak as usual, so Yin Wuzhi couldn’t hear clearly. “What did you say?”

Qi Hanmiao chimed in, “He must be praising Your Highness’s cleverness.”

Yin Wuzhi felt a little more at ease.

Everything had been meticulously arranged; it would be perfect if he liked it.

Although Yin Wuzhi didn’t know what had happened to Jiang Wu in the past, staying by his side long enough would reveal everything.

Growing increasingly dizzy, Jiang Wu weakly murmured, “Yin Wuzhi, stop.”

Qi Hanmiao said, “His Majesty looks like he’s about to fall asleep again.”

“Is he a reincarnated sleeping bug?” Yin Wuzhi muttered, staring at Jiang Wu’s lips. The man always spoke softly, slowly, and unclearly. Yin Wuzhi had no choice but to stop the swing and ask through the net, “Your Majesty, are you sleepy again?”

Jiang Wu barely opened his eyes, his gaze hazy: “Idiot.”

“…” Was that an insult or some sort of teasing?

Yin Wuzhi got up, untied the net, and carried him back to the Taiji Hall, lost in thought.

Qi Hanmiao pushed a wheelchair behind him. “Your Highness, Your Highness, I can push him.”

Yin Wuzhi ignored him.

Jiang Wu, nestled in his arms, slowly pondered why Yin Wuzhi had to be so wicked.

After thinking it over, he could only come up with one reason—because he had refused to go to the study for several days.

Yin Wuzhi had turned the swing into Jiang Wu’s nightmare.

So dizzy… and nauseous, too. He felt like he might throw up.

“Yin Wuzhi.”

“Hm?”

“Bad guy.”

“…”

Yin Wuzhi blushed. “No, I’m not.”

“Go back,” Jiang Wu said. “Kneel as punishment.”

“…Why?” Yin Wuzhi’s voice was still very low, very soft. Qi Hanmiao, who was following behind, only vaguely knew they were whispering, but couldn’t hear what they were actually saying.

“I’m going to punish you. Dare to disobey?”

“Hm.” Yin Wuzhi’s voice became even softer. “How long?”

“One hour.”

“Too long.”

“Two hours.”

“…I just knelt all night a few days ago.”

“Then kneel for another night.”

“…Alright.” Yin Wuzhi looked at him for a moment and said, “Fine.”