chapter 4. Honey Trap
It turns out that Concubine Shu was originally from a tea-picking family, with an exceptionally humble background. However, due to her good luck as a child, she did a good deed and was favored by an immortal, obtaining an Immortal Seeking Order.
That Immortal Seeking Order could only be used once, allowing her to receive an immortal’s help in solving a problem.
At that time, concubine Shu was still only a Noble Lady and was framed by a concubine and thrown into the Cold Palace, where she and Yin Junheng barely had enough to eat.
concubine Shu hated it so much that she used the Seeking Immortal Token.
However, she didn’t ask for help for herself but asked the immortal to help Yin Junheng ascend to the position of Crown Prince.
As a result, the immortal glanced at Yin Junheng and shook his head, saying that Yin Junheng didn’t have the destiny of an emperor. However, he could help concubine Shu give birth to a prince with the destiny of an emperor.
Concubine Shu was overjoyed and immediately agreed.
Afterward, Emperor Tai’an entered the Cold Palace as if possessed, and after a night of passion, concubine Shu became pregnant with Yin Junrong and regained favor from then on.
From that time on, concubine Shu showed extreme love and importance to the unborn Yin Junrong, while she became indifferent to Yin Junheng due to the immortal’s prediction.
Later, to consolidate her position, she even actively proposed sending Yin Junheng to the enemy country as a hostage.
Yin Junheng was abandoned by concubine Shu and Emperor Tai’an in this way.
For five years in the enemy country, his life was extremely miserable, but he didn’t give up on himself. Instead, he endured humiliation and secretly planned his revenge. Finally, through extraordinary means, he sent a message and cooperated with a general of the Xia Dynasty to destroy the enemy country.
However, on the way back, Yin Junheng was ambushed and surrounded in the snow-covered mountains, without a grain of rice for three days and three nights.
Yin Junheng thought he would die, but unexpectedly, the immortal appeared again.
In the heavy snow, he asked Yin Junheng if he was willing to be his disciple, but Yin Junheng refused.
The immortal didn’t say anything more, but still rescued Yin Junheng and sent him back to the imperial city of Xia.
His arrival was accompanied by dazzling light, shocking the entire imperial city.
Before leaving, Yin Junheng asked why.
The immortal looked at him and said, “If one day you can stand shoulder to shoulder with me, Then come to the Jade Balance Palace beyond the heavens and ask me in person.”
Yin Junheng was lost in thought.
Perhaps because the immortal’s appearance this time was too shocking, Yin Junheng was made Crown Prince by Emperor Tai’an as soon as he returned to the palace, and his position became stable and unshakable from then on.
The system stopped talking at this point.
After listening, Shen Mingyu was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, “No wonder he cares so much about that used Immortal Seeking Order.”
“I admire people who have their own ideals and pursuits, even if their actions are a bit extreme, as long as they don’t hurt others. He’s good.”
System: …
Listening to Shen Mingyu’s evaluation of Yin Junheng, the system wanted to say something but hesitated. It felt that if Shen Mingyu knew what the immortal looked like, he probably wouldn’t think that way.
Yin Junheng is really a madman!
But the system ultimately didn’t tell Shen Mingyu about this matter, and besides—Yin Junheng suddenly stopped the carriage.
Shen Mingyu stopped talking to the system and looked to the side.
A gust of cold wind lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and a tall, slender figure in black silently appeared beside the shaft. He leaned in and said a few words to Yin Junheng.
After the shadow guard finished speaking, Shen Mingyu saw Yin Junheng’s handsome face gradually freeze into ice, with a chilling aura.
After a long time, Yin Junheng raised his head and said in a deep voice to the coachman, “Go to Gold Jade Lane.”
The carriage turned around and left the wide road leading to the Crown Prince’s residence, heading quickly toward a smaller road.
At this moment, Shen Mingyu didn’t know what he would see next.
Gold Jade Lane, judging by the name, should be a very elegant and noble place, but after the carriage arrived, Shen Mingyu realized it wasn’t.
This place was a mixed place, filled with filth and chaos. Women in red sleeves waved from the high buildings, and touts from the gambling houses by the roadside shouted and pulled people in. The smell of cheap perfume mixed with the greasy smell of wine and meat rushed into the nose, making one uncomfortable.
The snow on the small road hadn’t been cleared and had turned into incredibly dirty mud after being trampled by countless people, splashing around the wheels of the carriage and staining the oak wheels black.
Finally, the carriage stopped in front of a narrow storefront.
On the wine flag hanging in front of the storefront were the words “Hu Er Eatery,” with a missing corner, fluttering in the wind.
A curtain hung on the storefront, and it was dark inside, making it impossible to see what was inside.
At this moment, the shadow guard lifted the curtain and lowered his voice to Yin Junheng, “Your Highness, this is the place.”
Yin Junheng’s face was ashen as he stared silently at the curtain for a long time, then said, “Enter.”
The shadow guard responded and jumped out of the carriage. Just as he jumped out, more than a dozen shadows, identical to him, suddenly appeared from all directions, surrounding the small shop.
Many passersby were startled by this scene and took a detour.
The leading shadow guard lifted the curtain and entered.
A terrified cry and cursing could be heard from inside.
Yin Junheng sat in the carriage, his expression still somber and cold, without any change.
Until he heard a voice, arrogant, drunken, and with a hint of panic, shout urgently, “I am the Seventh Prince, Yin Junrong! My brother is the Crown Prince! How dare you dog shadow guards arrest me?! What evidence do you have that I stole and hid the Longevity Elixir?!”
As soon as this voice was shouted, the onlookers were shocked and couldn’t help but stop.
The calmness on Yin Junheng’s face shattered at the moment the voice was heard.
The ten-thousand-foot ice surface cracked open, revealing the deep, turbulent ice sea, with lightning flashing between the cracks, sharp and astonishing.
He suddenly realized—this was a scheme of concubine Shu’s.
A scheme to force him to take sides, to force him to protect Yin Junrong.
The Longevity Elixir is a forbidden drug. Those who take it, even the most ordinary mortals, can cultivate, but the drug contains a demonic seed that gradually corrupts the taker’s heart as they cultivate.
Turning the taker completely into a minion of the demon race.
But people are greedy for the power brought by the Longevity Elixir and still secretly take it.
To consolidate the Xia Dynasty and to train himself, Yin Junheng personally took the imperial order to destroy the Longevity Elixir sales dens, and he even risked his position as Crown Prince.
But now, it seemed he was going to be framed by his own brother.
Once he protects Yin Junrong, he will be completely on concubine Shu’s ship; but if he doesn’t protect Yin Junrong, his position as Crown Prince will also be lost…
Yin Junheng’s fingers unconsciously gripped the armrest, and the veins on the back of his hand bulged.
But this hesitation only lasted for a very short moment, and a cold smile slowly appeared on the corners of Yin Junheng’s thin lips.
He said, “Bring everyone out.”
The clear, cold voice came calmly from the carriage, and the surroundings were silent.
Before long, the shadow guards dragged out a group of brightly dressed young masters and pressed them to the muddy ground. The young masters were still struggling.
Among them was Yin Junrong, wearing a purple-gold brocade robe, with a white jade crown tilted on his head. He looked quite handsome, but with dark circles under his eyes, swollen skin, and a complexion that showed he was indulging in excessive pleasure.
Yin Junrong was still stubbornly shouting and yelling, but when he came out and saw the carriage parked at the door, he instantly choked and fell silent.
He also knew that his Crown Prince brother was a madman! He might really kill him!
Yin Junrong was afraid, and he began to struggle backward, but he was pressed down hard by the shadow guard’s strong arm, unable to lift his head, and his black hair was pressed into the muddy water, looking extremely disheveled.
“Your Highness, everyone is here.” The shadow guard reported respectfully towards the carriage.
After a brief silence, the wind stopped for a moment.
The carriage curtain was lifted.
A tall figure in a black-gold python robe stepped out of the carriage, walking leisurely through the snow water, step by step, to the group of kneeling, trembling young masters.
Yin Junheng looked down at them, his eyes indifferent, as if looking at weeds.
Then, he asked, “Who is the shopkeeper selling the Longevity Elixir?”
The young masters exchanged glances and pointed tremblingly at one person.
Yin Junheng walked forward and suddenly raised his arm, drawing the saber from the shadow guard’s waist with a “whoosh”!
A flash of snow-bright silver light passed, and countless streams of hot blood splattered, scattering on the surrounding ground, mud walls, and the faces of the surrounding young masters!
Time stood still.
A bloody head rolled to the ground, its eyes still wide open, filled with disbelief.
The wind gently lifted the carriage curtain, and Shen Mingyu happened to witness this bloody scene completely from inside the carriage.
The system in his mind screamed, “Ahhhhhh! Murder! Murder!”
At the same time, the young masters were also scared out of their wits, bursting into whimpers of panic.
Yin Junheng pointed the tip of the long saber in his palm at the ground, the snow-bright blade dripping blood, gathering into a small puddle on the ground.
The blade reflected his handsome face, splattered with a few drops of blood, like a Shura.
He suddenly asked, “According to the laws of my Great Xia, what is the punishment for those who privately sell the Longevity Elixir to the people?”
No one responded, only the shadow guard bowed and said, “Death without pardon.”
He then asked indifferently, “According to the laws of my Great Xia, what is the punishment for those who knowingly take the Longevity Elixir, knowing it is a forbidden drug?”
The young masters trembled madly, began to sob, kowtow, and beg for mercy.
The leading shadow guard replied calmly, “Detention for three days, without food or water, fifty lashes with the heavenly whip, and paraded through the streets.”
Yin Junheng: “Take them away.”
The shadow guards responded and acted.
The young masters woke up as if from a dream, and while shivering, they turned to Yin Junheng and smiled obsequiously. Only Yin Junrong, shrinking at the back of the crowd, clenched his teeth, not daring to make a sound even when he was kicked and dragged away by the shadow guards.
And Yin Junheng never looked at his younger brother once.
When Yin Junheng lifted the curtain and leaned into the carriage, the smell of blood and the killing intent rushed at him.
Especially when he raised his face, revealing his handsome face splattered with blood.
And his narrow phoenix eyes, devoid of emotion, shone coldly, as if he were a Shura ghost who had just climbed out of the eighteenth level of hell.
The system shivered and wished it could immediately tell Shen Mingyu to run away.
This madman is too crazy!
Although the shopkeeper deserved to die according to the law, what was the meaning of killing someone in the street?
But the system didn’t notice that Shen Mingyu’s expression towards Yin Junheng at this moment was unusually calm, even with a hint of inexplicable gentleness.
Everyone around was coerced by Yin Junheng’s killing intent, trembling and afraid.
Only Shen Mingyu was like a quiet wooden house in the cold wind.
Open it, and it can completely block the wind and snow, warm as spring.
Yin Junheng naturally noticed this subtle point, and he raised his sword-like eyebrows slightly, looking at Shen Mingyu.
Shen Mingyu met Yin Junheng’s gaze for a moment, and his gentle autumn-water eyes suddenly lowered quietly.
Yin Junheng smiled slightly, “Are you afraid?”
His voice was hoarse with a hint of mockery.
Shen Mingyu didn’t answer, but his long eyelashes fluttered for a moment, and he took out something from his arms, quietly handing it over.
The atmosphere in the carriage froze strangely at that moment.
Because in Shen Mingyu’s slender, jade-like hand was a snow-white handkerchief.
Yin Junheng looked at Shen Mingyu in front of him expressionlessly.
The killing intent on his body had quietly faded a lot.
Until Shen Mingyu spoke softly, asking, “Your Highness, would you like to wipe your face?”
Yin Junheng’s brow jumped involuntarily.
After a long time, he stared at Shen Mingyu’s gentle and quiet face, then raised his eyebrows and said, “Isn’t this the Crown Prince consort’s duty?”
Shen Mingyu was speechless.
Then, he said softly, “It was Mingyu who was not thoughtful enough.”
Hearing this, Yin Junheng wanted to see what Shen Mingyu was up to, but he didn’t expect that, in the next moment, Shen Mingyu didn’t show any fear or disgust and leaned over just like that.
When the thin, soft handkerchief touched Yin Junheng’s blood-stained cheek, it was like a flash of lightning, as if his whole body was numb. He frowned and avoided it subconsciously.
But at this moment, Shen Mingyu gently grabbed his wrist and said seriously, “Your Highness, don’t dodge.”
Yin Junheng: …
For some reason, Yin Junheng felt for the first time in his life that he was at a disadvantage in front of a sickly person.
But Shen Mingyu’s hand was very soft, very delicate, and light as nothing.
As long as he squeezed it back, he could crush this exquisite and fragile wrist bone into pieces…
That’s right, Yin Junheng was used to killing people, so he often had such bloodthirsty fragments flashing in his mind.
But at this moment, he actually endured it.
Only the back of his hand was slightly tense.
Allowing the sickly beauty in front of him, who seemed to break at the slightest touch, to focus on approaching him, using the handkerchief to wipe the blood off his face little by little.
With each breath, Yin Junheng could see Shen Mingyu’s slender, curled eyelashes, dense and boundless, hiding a pair of watery, affectionate eyes, even when pursing his lips, as if he was smiling.
A faint fragrance lingered, diluting the bloody killing intent.
Yin Junheng’s heart beat quietly.
After a long time, Yin Junheng indifferently retracted his gaze, thinking: Shen Songting’s honey trap is really something.
Even if he doesn’t like him, he still feels a little reluctant to kill him.
Well, anyway, Shen Songting also sent someone to send a message to Shen Mingyu in the palace today.
It’s not bad to keep him by his side first, know yourself and know your enemy, and plan for a long time.
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