The Sickly Beauty Substitute Called It Quits - Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Thanks very much to reader K. for the ko-fi! 

“Your Majesty, let’s just consider it one of my little secrets.” Shen Yu lifted his head and looked up at Shang JunLin from below. “One… as deep as any other Your Majesty chose not to delve into before.”

“Then Ah Yu understands how much you’ve concealed from this emperor.” Shang JunLin closed in on Shen Yu and kissed his forehead. He said dotingly, “Very well, this emperor won’t look into it more deeply. I’ll wait for the day you’re willing to tell this emperor yourself.”

Shen Yu was already stamped as his own. He had plenty of time to wait until Shen Yu opened his heart willingly.

Shang JunLin sat down next to Shen Yu and carefully read through the notes. “None of these things are available in Da Huan. Will they be difficult to make?”

“Not really. Shen Yue gave this list to me along with some recipes. It’s just that most of them aren’t suitable for the imperial court to promote directly.” Shen Yu took out another stack of paper, which contained detailed production information provided by Shen Yue.

“Ah Yu can handle it. If you need people or anything else, just tell this emperor. You’ve given me more than enough already. Take it into your own hands.”

Shang JunLin put his arm around Shen Yu’s waist and thought of the things Shen Yu developed before. The ones from Shen Yue were more suitable for private individuals.

“That’s fine.” Shen Yu didn’t refuse. “Anyway, everything that’s mine is Your Majesty’s too.”

Shen Yue mostly wrote about items that would be popular with women, such as lip wax, soap, facial tonics…. Shen Yu sorted them into categories and found an item that was a bit more interesting.

Alcohol.

A certain ratio of alcohol could be used as a disinfectant. Shen Yu remembered that the book described how Shen QingRan’s world possessed advanced medical arts. Shen QingRan himself had said that many diseases that killed people in this dynasty were easily curable in his time.

“Your Majesty, this is something that might be used by the army.” Shen Yu took out the recipe that described alcohol. “If it’s possible to prepare the alcohol mentioned here, it could prevent a lot of unnecessary casualties on the battlefield.”

Shang JunLin put down the memorial he was looking at and leaned over with interest. “Alcohol? Meaning wine? It turns out that wine has this kind of effect?”

“It’s a kind of wine, but it’s not the kind we usually drink. The general method of making it is described in here, Your Majesty.” He handed the recipe to Shang JunLin.

Shang JunLin read a few lines and frowned slightly. The process was described in detail, but it used words he’d never heard of before.

Such as “distillation”, “purification”, “dilution”…

“Does Your Majesty want to call Shen Yue here to ask her about it?”

“Doesn’t Ah Yu know about this too?”

“Your Majesty really thinks that I’m all-powerful.” Shen Yu’s eyebrows and eyes curved in a smile. “I don’t understand these things either.”

Shen Yue thought Shen Yu was a person like her, someone who’d crossed through time, so she wrote down everything from her previous life without concealment. She possessed some of the original owner’s memories, which was how she knew how to write Da Huan’s characters. Afraid that using modern simplified characters would cause trouble, she decided to write the notes with Da Huan’s characters.

The actual content wasn’t lengthy, but she fumbled around for quite a few days before finishing. Thanks to the novels she loved in her previous life, she was more or less familiar with some of the necessary skills for transmigrators and remembered some useful things.

Shen Yue was apprehensive after she handed her notes over to Shen Yu. She didn’t know whether any of it was relevant. If Shen Yu didn’t find a use for her information, what would she do?

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long before Yuzhang Palace sent someone to summon her.

The junior eunuch who led the way was the same one as before, but his attitude was a lot warmer this time. Shen Yue calmed down a bit.

After the junior eunuch led her into the main hall, he retreated quietly. Shen Yue steadied herself and formally greeted Shen Yu and Shang JunLin.

“No need to be so polite.” If Shen Yu cared to, he could give people a warm and welcoming feeling. “Today I asked you here to ask about alcohol.”

Shen Yue had anticipated something like this. She heard a lot about the current emperor from the dowager concubine and knew that he rose up from fighting on the battlefield. After considering this, she wrote the information about alcohol.

Making medicinal alcohol was a simple process in modern times, but that was because there were all kinds of precision instruments in that era. None of this existed in Da Huan. If you wanted to make alcohol, you had to make the corresponding equipment first.

“Regarding purification and dilution, do you have any ideas?”

“Actually, it would be possible to use baijiu to get the alcohol we want, but that requires knowing what degree of alcohol is in baijiu. This slave doesn’t know how strong the alcohol here is, so I can only choose another method. First we can make pure alcohol, then dilute it with water to a certain proportion.”

Once again there were multiple words that weren’t used in Da Huan. Shen Yu lowered his eyes. “Can you do it?”

“If I have the corresponding tools I can.” Shen Yue was familiar with the process because she’d once been obsessed with novels. She always fantasized about transmigrating someday and ended up learning about things that would be easy to make.

For example, the production of soap, perfume, and so on. Among other things, making perfume required alcohol.

“Describe in detail what you need. This emperor will have someone provide it for you,” Shang JunLin said in a deep voice.

Shen Yue rummaged through the original owner’s memory and found that Da Huan already had glass, but it wasn’t the same as what she needed.

”

”

“Replying to Your Majesty, the things this slave needs are made of glass, but it’s not the thick colored glass on the market now. It has to be transparent. This slave knows how to make transparent glass and will write it down also.”

Shen Yue sorted through the details she remembered. “By the way, regarding the alcohol this slave mentioned, it must be prepared in strict proportion to the formula in order to reduce wound infections.”

“This emperor understands.”

The palace servants brought paper and pens and led Shen Yue into the side hall.

“It might be better for Your Majesty to set up an independent department to study these novelties. The Ministry of Works can’t do everything. If it’s handled by an independent group, they can work directly under Your Majesty and avoid interference from any other forces.”

In the final analysis, the Ministry of Works was subordinate to Da Huan. There were multiple people inside with multiple opinions. It wasn’t convenient to develop certain things under its roof. Shang JunLin thought for a moment and said, “What Ah Yu says makes sense.”

Shen Yue went to the side hall and wrote down all the methods she could think of. She even drew simple schematics that showed beakers and distillation flasks made of transparent glass.

After finishing everything, Shen Yue looked over the results of her labor and sighed to herself. She never thought she would actually transmigrate. The things she used to scold herself for because they were so useless had actually come in handy.

When Shen Yue returned with her notes, Shen Yu was there alone.

The young man dressed in blue stood by the window with his back to her. His bearing was exactly the same as Shen Yue once imagined an aristocratic young master from ancient times would have.

Did he really cross over from modern times like herself?

Shen Yue couldn’t help but wonder.

When Shen Yu turned around he saw the doubts in Shen Yue’s eyes. “Is there anything you’d like to ask me?”

There were palace attendants waiting in the room. Shen Yue was much more cautious than before. She didn’t ask him directly about transmigrating but said,  “Why did the noble monarch decide to give me this opportunity?”

Shen Yu knew she would be suspicious and had already decided what to say. “I used to be in poor health and rarely went out. My family was strict and I wasn’t allowed to do much. If I knew about the things you do, I would have produced them before.”

After saying this, Shen Yu gave a light sigh.

Shen Yue thought that she’d touched on a sore point. She bit her lip. “Sorry….”

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Shen Yu said. He changed the subject. “Would you like to see the newly-paved concrete road?”

“Can I?” Of course she wanted to see it. Setting aside everything else, the mere idea of leaving the palace was a huge temptation.

Shen Yu saw the hidden expectation in Shen Yue’s eyes and smiled slightly. “Of course you can. When I make the arrangements, I’ll send someone to call for you at the dowager concubine’s.”

“Then I’ll be able to walk around the rest of the capital?” Shen Yue’s mind was filled with the idea of leaving the palace. She’d totally cast aside her doubts about Shen Yu from a moment ago.

Besides, Da Huan had already built a concrete road. She had no reason to doubt anything. Shen Yu willing to help her—wasn’t it because of their shared affinity from coming from the same place?

When she thought of this, Shen Yue felt a little ashamed of suspecting him. She secretly decided to make something useful as soon as possible to repay Shen Yu’s kindness.

“Yes, you’ll be given some free time when it happens. If you’re worried because you’re not familiar with the capital, I can send Mu Xi to accompany you for a stroll.”

“Oh, great!”

Shen Yue was overwhelmed with happiness. When she returned to the dowager concubine’s palace, the dowager immediately noticed it.

The imperial concubine called her in. “What are you so happy about?”

“The noble monarch promised to take me out of the palace to see things. I’ve never had a proper look at the capital.” Shen Yue’s eyes revealed her yearning. This place was the site of her second life. What was it like?

“Leave the palace, eh.” The dowager concubine’s eyes softened for a moment. “It’s just as well to go out and see things. Fang Rong, give Shen Yue some silver. You may go outside and have fun, but remember not to cause trouble for the noble monarch.”

The dowager concubine didn’t suspect anything unusual. Many palace maids entered the palace at a young age. They came from all over Da Huan and hadn’t seen much of the capital. It was normal for them to yearn to see things outside.

Shen Yue solemnly nodded. “I promise!” 

It wasn’t difficult to make the items described in Shen Yue’s notes. Shen Yu owned multiple shops. After the items were finished, it was easy enough to put them in the shops for sale.

“Your Majesty, were the official positions of Young Lady Fang and the other two decided today?”

The matter had been delayed for more than ten days and today was the deadline. Shang JunLin wanted Fang JiaYi to enter the Hanlin Academy via the usual process, but the aristocratic families consistently fought him. Most of the positions they suggested for her were insignificant. It was obvious they wanted to stuff her somewhere unimportant.

“It’s been settled. As in previous years, she will join Jiang HuaiQing and Hè ChengYu in the Hanlin Academy.” Shang JunLin put down his pen and rubbed his brow. “As for the Yi family and the others, in light of the fact that the younger generation of their families were ignorant and acted in error, those who made mistakes will be punished.”

“What about Yi JianMing?” Shen Yu walked behind Shang JunLin and massaged his temples. He could tell how much effort Shang JunLin had put into arranging this.

“His examination result will be canceled as an example to others.” This was the final result after the nobles were forced to concede.

“It appears that Your Majesty has won this time. After such a long struggle, the dust has finally settled. Congratulations to Your Majesty.”

Although there would certainly be problems later on, at least the first step was successful. As for what happened with Fang JiaYi’s career in the future, that was ultimately up to her.

“How does Ah Yu intend to congratulate this emperor?” Shang JunLin grabbed Shen Yu’s hand, pulled him closer, and sat him down on his lap. Close to his ear he whispered intimately, “Speaking of which, you’re the one who suggested all this. Ah Yu’s wish has been fulfilled. Shouldn’t there be a reward?”

TL Notes:

Sorry if there are extra typos, I’m visiting family and working on chapters around the dinner table with lots of noise! ٩(✿◕▿◕)۶

baijiu – 白酒 – white alcohol – A clear liquor usually distilled from sorghum or other grains. One of the six major distilled spirits in the world alongside brandy, whisky, vodka, rum, and gin

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Fang Rong – 芳容 – Fāng Róng

[ Project Page | Ko-Fi ✿ | Other translations by Confectioner ]