Emperor, Your Son Is Into Men! - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The moment I said it, I regretted it.

Qin Yuanxi, that closed-up gourd of a man, closed right back up and said nothing.

He narrowed his eyes and stared at me for a long while, then turned and left.

He even said,

“The common folk’s Qiqiao Festival is nothing interesting.”

“We might as well go back and study.”

Fine.

Capitalism.

You win.

Qin Yuanxi seemed determined to torment me on purpose. Even after we went back, he refused to let me untie that red cord.

He insisted I stay within one foot of him.

I couldn’t even slack off properly.

When I transmigrated into this book, I’d just started university.

I’d finally escaped high school, only to turn around and be forced to study these damned Four Books and Five Classics.

In agony, I sprawled over the desk and said pitifully,

“Do you want to hear a story?”

Qin Yuanxi said nothing.

So I tried tempting him again.

“Then do you want to hear some gossip about scholar-officials?”

He was dead set on keeping his mouth shut.

This was pure torture.

Whining under my breath, I shuffled closer to Qin Yuanxi’s ear and deliberately draped myself bonelessly over his shoulder, patiently coaxing him.

At last, he deigned to glance at me.

Only, his eyes flickered, his Adam’s apple bobbed, and he coughed very softly.

I seized the opportunity and begged for mercy.

“Hey, hey, hey, Young Master Qin~ Brother Crown Prince~ I was wrong, all right?”

I refused to believe any man could withstand the power of the word “brother.”

How could he not soften?

How could he not let me off?

Sure enough, even the Crown Prince was no exception.

He suddenly shifted his leg and pushed me away from his side.

Then he shot to his feet.

He said,

“Let go.”

“I need to relieve myself.”

He didn’t even wait for me to look more closely. As if hiding something, he walked off with a strange gait.

Just like that, he hurried away.

Before leaving, he threw one last line over his shoulder.

“Don’t even think about running. I’ll deal with you when I get back.”

He had barely left.

And right after, the emperor’s lackey arrived, summoning me to the Imperial Study.

Thinking back over the past few years,

I’d been neglecting my duties,

doing anything but my proper work,

and arranging everything for the Crown Prince far too perfectly.

I had even snuck into the Crown Prince’s bedchamber at night to cause trouble and tell him ghost stories, all so he would doze off in class the next day.

Of course, even if the Old Emperor called me in for questioning,

he would probably just turn a blind eye and ask a few perfunctory questions as a matter of routine.

The imperial family was terrifying.

Treading as if on thin ice, I ran headfirst into the Crown Prince, who had also rushed to the Imperial Study.

He stared at me with a dark expression, as if I had committed some unforgivable crime.

That look made me even more afraid.

But who would have thought that the moment I dropped to my knees with a thud,

the Dog Emperor would suddenly say,

“Shen Tao, if I recall correctly, you’re nearly eighteen?”

I was puzzled.

Why was the Dog Emperor asking that?

Could there be some wonderful ancient custom where turning eighteen meant you received a reward?

That would be fantastic.

I hurriedly said,

“This humble subject is seventeen by full years and will turn eighteen next month.”

I saw the emperor nod in satisfaction after hearing that.

He praised me a few times, saying I had done well as the Crown Prince’s Study Companion.

Then, as the Crown Prince’s expression grew uglier and uglier,

he said with a beaming smile,

“Lady Tan is virtuous and gentle, a worthy match. I shall bestow a marriage upon the two of you.”