The Daily Life of a Depressed Salted Fish Chapter 26

When they left Yongyue Pavilion, Dingnan Wangfei was visibly troubled, her brows furrowed with worry.

“The Empress Dowager’s request is really a personal matter. She has no children of her own and has always treated the emperor as her own son… Ah Zhi, if you find it too difficult, you can refuse. We don’t have to get involved in this mess.”

“The emperor’s affairs concern the state. As a subject, now that I am involved, I cannot stand by and do nothing.”

“But you’ve barely had any dealings with him… How did he come to fancy you?”

Yin Wuzhi didn’t know how to explain.

In his memory, everything he knew about Jiang Wu came from others. Before entering the palace this time, his understanding of Jiang Wu had been very superficial. He only knew that Jiang Wu was the fourth prince, who later became the crown prince by luck, and then the emperor, again by luck.

Naturally, he had no idea when Jiang Wu started noticing him or when he developed feelings for him.

“Could it have been when you both studied at the Imperial Academy as children?”

Yin Wuzhi had been born in the southern regions. When he was seven years old, he had returned to Guanjing with his father and did indeed study at the Imperial Academy for two years, which was when he met Chen Ziyan.

But in his memory, Jiang Wu wasn’t someone he recalled at all.

“Did he also attend the Imperial Academy?”

“He was the fourth prince at the time. Of course, he attended the Imperial Academy,” Dingnan Wangfei said with a laugh. “You were born in the southern regions, and when you first returned to Guanjing, you struggled to speak the local dialect. Many people in the capital called you ‘southern barbarian.’ I remember him teaching you how to speak the capital dialect. You even said he was a kind person.”

“…” Did I?

What was wrong with this child? Lately, whenever the topic of the emperor came up, it was as if he had amnesia.

Suddenly, Yin Wuzhi felt a rub against his face. He snapped back to reality and instinctively stepped back. “Mother, what are you doing?”

“I thought there was some dirt near the corner of your eye.”

Could it be improper grooming? Yin Wuzhi thought of Jiang Wu, who had rubbed his eyes earlier, and immediately raised his sleeve to wipe vigorously, rubbing both eyes thoroughly before asking, “Is it clean now?”

“… Yes, it’s clean.” His reaction was so exaggerated.

After personally escorting his Mother out of the palace, Yin Wuzhi returned to the Taiji Hall, still occasionally rubbing the corners of his eyes with his sleeve.

As soon as he entered, he saw that the Pessimist had woken up and was sitting at the table being fed.

Yin Wuzhi took a couple of steps forward, casually pushing Qi Hanmiao aside, taking over the feeding duties. He asked, “Why did you sleep for such a short while?”

“The Emperor was hungry.”

Today, the Pessimist had woken up only to be sent to attend the osmanthus feast. After making a round and returning, he had overworked his brain and fallen into a deep sleep, without even having time to eat.

Yin Wuzhi raised an eyebrow and said, “So you do get hungry.”

The Pessimist had been sitting there with his eyes closed, focusing only on opening his mouth to eat. Qi Hanmiao, unlike Yin Wuzhi, didn’t dare sneak green beans into Jiang Wu’s food, so the emperor had been eating without any wariness.

But as soon as Yin Wuzhi pushed Qi Hanmiao aside, the emperor opened his eyes while continuing to open his mouth.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he noticed that Yin Wuzhi’s eyes were red.

“…Why are you staring at me?” Yin Wuzhi stuffed a spoonful of food into his mouth, frowning. “Stop looking.”

But the emperor wouldn’t stop. What if Yin Wuzhi put something strange in his food?

Ignoring Yin Wuzhi’s command, the emperor began to wonder who had made Yin Wuzhi’s eyes so red.

Not only were his eyes red, but his face was starting to flush too.

“…” How had he not noticed before? This incapable emperor only opened his eyes while being fed by him. He couldn’t care less about anyone else.

Did Jiang Wu really think he looked that good?

Yin Wuzhi’s face reddened further.

The emperor asked, “Are you very hot?”

“…No.”

“Oh.”

Yin Wuzhi began to sweat.

He could feel Jiang Wu’s gaze on him. This guy always liked to stare at people like that. Before, Yin Wuzhi had just found it shameless, but now he realized that to Jiang Wu, in front of someone more important to him than life itself, concepts like dignity and shame didn’t matter at all.

“Your Highness, Your Highness,” Qi Hanmiao whispered, “if you’re really hot, you can take off your outer robe. I can hang it up for you.”

Qi Hanmiao was quite adept at reading the emperor’s mood and knowing what he wanted. Although Yin Wuzhi had promised the Empress Dowager to help, he had his own way of doing things and wouldn’t stoop to shallow flattery.

If Jiang Wu wanted to see his body, he would be sorely disappointed.

“I said I’m not hot.” Yin Wuzhi set the bowl back on the table and used a handkerchief to wipe the emperor’s mouth. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”

The emperor rolled his eyes.

If there were ever a lifelike doll, it would be like this: lifeless yet exquisite, beautiful without knowing it, seemingly made to be admired and toyed with, yet with a contradictory, ruthless indifference.

It was as if, whether you liked or hated him, even if you stood in a position of judgment, thinking you were above him, to him it didn’t matter at all.

And yet, this person cared about him.

Yin Wuzhi’s breath was hot. “Why do you keep staring at me?”

“Are you sure you’re not hot?”

“No.”

“Shizi…” Qi Hanmiao chimed in, “You’re sweating profusely, yet you still say you’re not hot?”

Yin Wuzhi raised his hand to wipe his face, finding it drenched with sweat.

Only then did he realize that everyone in the hall seemed to be dressed lightly today.

Fifteen minutes later, after changing into a new set of clothes, Yin Wuzhi emerged from behind the screen. Qi Hanmiao was still saying, “I was originally thinking of waiting another two weeks before we started heating the palace, but it seems like Your Highness Shizi had a better idea. The emperor might have been avoiding getting up because he was cold. Just look, today he’s eating better than usual, and his face looks so much healthier.”

Yin Wuzhi’s expression darkened. “Is the dragon heating system on in the imperial study?”

“Of course, it’s been turned on, and it should be heating up by now.”

Yin Wuzhi approached the emperor, who was sitting there peacefully. The emperor opened his eyes, and the next moment, he was lifted off the ground.

“Since the imperial study is warm now, there’s no reason for His Majesty to be lazy any longer.”

The emperor said, “Put me down.”

“You can jump down yourself.”

“…”

Yin Wuzhi glanced at him.

If he truly didn’t want to go to the imperial study, it wouldn’t take much effort to jump out of Yin Wuzhi’s arms. Compared to the excuse of being too lazy to jump, it seemed more logical that he simply didn’t want to leave his embrace.

The imperial study had a thick floor, and the heat from the dragon heating system had already filled the room, making it cozy inside.

The emperor was placed at the table, but instinctively leaned back. Once again, he was lifted up and seated in Yin Wuzhi’s lap. “I’ve taken care of everything else for you. These are the things you have to handle yourself; you can’t avoid them.”

The emperor tilted his head back, raising his chin to look at Yin Wuzhi behind him. The back of his head rested against Yin Wuzhi’s shoulder. When Yin Wuzhi glanced down, he could clearly see the emperor’s neat, thick eyelashes.

“…” Playing cute again.

Yin Wuzhi propped up his head and pushed him back. “Behave.”

The Pessimist looked dejected.

Whenever there was work to do, he always tried to slack off. A brush was placed into his hand by Yin Wuzhi, but he refused to hold it properly, instead bringing up a random topic. “Why did you stop me from selecting a consort today?”

He had wanted to ask earlier but had been too lazy. Now seemed like a good time to ask.

Yin Wuzhi replied, “Because you’re not worthy of them.”

That was very much in line with Yin Wuzhi’s character. In his eyes, the emperor was a lazy, incompetent ruler, and if those women entered the palace, their lives would be ruined.

Jiang Wu pondered this, while the pen he had dropped was once again placed back in his hand by Yin Wuzhi. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll punish you for saying that?”

Yin Wuzhi firmly grasped his hand, forcing him to hold the pen, while spreading out the document with his other hand. “Hurry up and write.”

The Pessimist: “…”

Yin Wuzhi was no longer afraid of him.

A faint air of resentment rose from the top of Jiang Wu’s head as he sluggishly asked, “Write what?”

“Look at the document.”

The lazy Pessimist closed his eyes.

Yin Wuzhi had no choice but to say, “Fine, I’ll speak, and you write.”

He rested his chin on Jiang Wu’s shoulder, carefully reading through the document, then, after some thought, pointed to a section and said, “Here, write: ‘I have observed that banditry in the Qi region is rampant…’”

Jiang Wu finally sat up straight, staring at the tip of the pen, but still grumbled, “Too fast.”

Yin Wuzhi was forced to slow down his speech, carefully enunciating each word. As he spoke, however, his thoughts began to drift away.

He had said that Jiang Wu wasn’t worthy of those women, but the emperor let it slide without really holding him accountable.

Jiang Wu merely mentioned punishing him in passing, without any real intention behind it. Now, he obediently began writing, following whatever Yin Wuzhi instructed, without asking any questions.

Yin Wuzhi gazed at his profile.

The sweet scent of osmanthus that clung to Jiang Wu had been completely washed away, leaving only the faint fragrance of incense that always burned in the Taiji Hall. It was a subtle scent, mingling with Jiang Wu’s own unique aroma, refreshing and alluring as it filled Yin Wuzhi’s lungs.

Yin Wuzhi, unable to help himself, leaned closer to Jiang Wu’s ear, inhaling lightly, savoring the scent, then doing so again.

“What comes after ‘observed the Qi region’?” Jiang Wu asked lazily. Realizing there was no answer, he turned his head, and his nose brushed hard against Yin Wuzhi’s cheek. Their eyes met, their noses touched, and their breaths mingled.

Jiang Wu: “?”

Yin Wuzhi: “…”

His heart pounded, and he quickly averted his face, staring at the document, saying, “Why did you stop writing?”

“I’m done.”

“There’s more.”

“You didn’t say.”

“Why’s your memory so bad?” Yin Wuzhi repeated what he had said earlier. “Hurry up and finish it.”

“I’m tired.”

“Tired from writing just a few words?”

Jiang Wu begrudgingly picked up the pen again, but his writing had lost its earlier elegance, becoming weak and shaky. Yin Wuzhi had to steady his wrist and said, “Write properly.”

“Tired.”

“….” Yin Wuzhi spread his fingers, wrapping his hand around Jiang Wu’s, and whispered, “Hold the pen properly. This document will be preserved. If future generations see crooked writing in your annotations, they’ll speculate endlessly, assuming you were illiterate.”

Jiang Wu, his head resting lazily on Yin Wuzhi’s shoulder, lifted his long lashes and asked, “Then what?”

“What what?”

“What happens if they speculate?” Jiang Wu continued to dawdle, unwilling to work. “What does it matter?”

“Do you want to be remembered with honor or to go down in infamy?” Yin Wuzhi held his hand, trying to mimic Jiang Wu’s handwriting as he half-joked, “If you want infamy, then feel free.”

Without hesitation, Jiang Wu said, “I want to go down in infamy.”

Yin Wuzhi chided, “Nonsense.”

“I want to go down in infamy.”

“Stop fooling around.”

“I want to go down in infamy.”

“…” Why are you always so different from everyone else?