The Substitute Life of Shen Shuishui - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The Crown Prince’s white moonlight died, so in one breath, he found ten substitutes.

His days were terribly busy.

Starting around seven in the morning, he had to accompany Substitute No. 1 and draw her brows, eat with Substitute No. 2, appreciate poetry with Substitute No. 3…

I was No. 10. By the time it was my turn, the sky had already gone dark.

The other substitutes were all very jealous of me.

Because the Crown Prince came to sleep with me.

I had been reborn again. Again, again, again, again.

And once again, I was back in the Crown Prince’s bed.

“Sleep.”

Those were the two words Fu Yuan said to me the most.

This life was no exception.

“…”

Sleep, my ass. I just woke up, all right?

Still, I obediently closed my eyes.

Because Fu Yuan always said,

“You look the most like her when you’re asleep.”

So whenever he came, I had to sleep.

Even if I was bursting with energy, I had to pretend to be drowsy and half-awake.

After a while, never mind whether I looked like Su Qingyao or not.

I definitely looked like an emotionless pig that ate when it woke and slept when it was full.

At first, I would often get startled awake halfway through my sleep.

Because he was always right there beside my pillow, staring straight at me without blinking…

I thought there was something wrong with him.

But it was fine now.

Not because he had gotten better.

Because I had gotten used to it.

Considering that at the start of every life, my fate was in Fu Yuan’s hands, I would occasionally say things to make him happy.

“Your Highness, that tear mole of yours is truly beautiful. You’re like a male fox spirit from the storybooks, the kind who steals souls.”

“What fox spirit? I am the Crown Prince. Do not speak nonsense.”

Though Fu Yuan was scolding me, his tone would soften.

I knew he liked hearing me praise him.

However, what I was thinking was:

That tear mole was beautiful, yes. But on Fu Yuan’s face, it was always missing a little something.

I had once seen a young man far more devastatingly gorgeous.

He also had a tear mole.

That person loved wearing red, flamboyant as flame.

Mounted on his horse by a slanting bridge, he drew every beauty in the towers to lean out and wave her sleeves.

When his brows curved in a smile, that was what a true enchanting menace looked like.

…

I counted the days.

In this life, I would be able to see him again soon.

In early April, battles broke out frequently in the southern borderlands.

His Majesty assigned Fu Yuan no small amount of state affairs.

During the day, he always had to discuss matters with his subordinates, so for the time being, he had no time to come torment us substitutes.

I called over the other nine substitute sisters and began a new round of brainwashing.

“Why must women make life hard for other women?

“Since we are all substitutes cast adrift in this world, why should it matter whether we knew each other before?”

Perhaps they also felt that these wretched days were boring beyond belief.

So I successfully brainwashed them very quickly, and they began complaining to one another about the Crown Prince’s private secrets.

Substitute No. 1 said,

“He comes over every day to draw my brows. His skill is really something else. Once he finishes, anyone who doesn’t know better would think my name was Zhang Fei!”

Substitute No. 2 said,

“Drawing your brows is nothing. Just because that white moonlight of his liked eating lotus root, he makes me eat lotus root at every meal! Now when I look at him, he looks like a lotus root to me!”

Substitute No. 3 said,

“He makes me recite poems for him every day. Now the moment I see poetry, my whole body itches like I’ve broken out in a rash. I even gave this illness a name: poem rash… Sisters, do you think my poem rash can still be cured?”

…

When it was my turn, I rolled up my sleeve, revealed my chastity mark, and nearly blinded them all on the spot.

“He comes to sleep with me every night, but in the end, he’s slept with nothing but loneliness.”

A deathly silence fell over the room.

Then-

“You’re that miserable? Hahaha!”

“Thank goodness he never comes looking for me to sleep!”

“A moment of silence for you, Sister Shen… No, I can’t hold it in! Honk honk honk honk honk honk…”

The moment Substitute No. 7 started honking like a goose, none of us could keep it together.

Laughter filled the room.

I laughed along with them.

Fu Yuan did not touch me at all.

Rather than saying he came to sleep with me, it would be more accurate to say he came to “watch” me sleep.

No man whose head wasn’t half-filled with water could ever do such a thing.

Later, we cheerfully gave one another nicknames.

Substitute No. 1 substituted for Qingyao Commandery Princess’s eyebrows, so she became Li Meimei.

Substitute No. 2 was forced to eat lotus root every day, so she became Wang Xiao’ou.

Substitute No. 3 had originally been a talented woman, but now she no longer wanted to be talented. She only wanted to be illiterate, so she became Li Shizhen.

…

And so on.

When it came to me-

They called me Shen Shuishui.

Once the nicknames were given, the girls laughed so hard they doubled over.

Their poise was gone, but their voices rang like silver bells.

They shook like blossoming branches in the wind, and every flower bloomed at once.

Unfortunately-

The Crown Prince had never had the blessing of enjoying such a sight or sound.