Confession - The Dead Cannot Confess

The Prince Regent did as he said. Unannoyed at being ordered around, he walked to the kitchen with particular delight.

Lu Qing sat down dejectedly and took a few sips of tea to calm his nerves.

Sitting with the person the Prince Regent liked made him feel especially tense, and his posture involuntarily became a little more reserved.

Perhaps sensing his apprehension, Shen Mengzhi was the first to speak, "Lord Lu, would you like more tea?"

Lu Qing quickly waved his hands. "No, no, I drank a lot on the boat today."

Shen Mengzhi smiled faintly. He was naturally born with a quiet and elegant disposition, so his smile appeared exceptionally gentle. "In that case, since the Prince Regent is not here, is there nothing Lord Lu wants to ask me?"

Lu Qing was startled and mumbled, "What...?"

"Ask who I am, and what my relationship with him is," Shen Mengzhi said slowly, "...and if I like him."

Hearing those last few words, Lu Qing's heart leaped. He glanced outside the door, feeling quite guilty, afraid that the Prince Regent might be just outside.

Seeing that it was empty, he breathed a sigh of relief and said hesitantly, "These things... can you tell me?"

He was just a minor Vice Commandant of Justice; knowing too much could cost him his head.

"Since Chu Jin brought you to the academy, it means he doesn't mind," Shen Mengzhi said. "This is the first time I've seen him bring someone here."

His tone was nonchalant, and at first listen, it seemed like he didn't care. But from the moment he had started picking through the desserts on the table, Lu Qing knew that the Prince Regent's goal had been achieved.

If he truly didn't care, he wouldn't have punished Chu Jin by sending him to the kitchen to cook congee.

Lu Qing composed himself and said, "Actually, the Prince Regent just said he wanted me to help him test someone. He wanted to see if that person would get jealous because of him."

That's why he had been sent to the Leisure Moon Gazebo to buy a pile of food—for no other reason than to show it to Shen Mengzhi.

Now that the goal had been achieved and the Prince Regent was satisfied, Lu Qing felt it was necessary to clear up the misunderstanding.

Shen Mengzhi gazed at the cooled tea across from him and, after a long while, said, "I know."

Now it was Lu Qing who was unsettled. "You know?! You knew and still... were you pretending?"

"Does Lord Lu want to hear the truth?" Shen Mengzhi's lips curled into a faint smile, and he gave him a fleeting glance. "I was indeed a little displeased."

Lu Qing: "..."

He shouldn't have asked that.

Even knowing it was a test, he still got angry. It seemed he liked him very much.

"The Prince Regent cares a lot about you," Lu Qing said. "Since you like him too, why don't you confess to him?"

The Firefly Study was exceptionally quiet, with only the sound of water boiling on the stove filling the brief silence.

Shen Mengzhi brewed a new cup of tea, the rising steam instantly blurring his vision. The clean, bitter aroma of the tea spread as he said slowly, "I have confessed before."

Under Lu Qing's puzzled gaze, he smiled. "The Heir of that time was my former lover."

"Due to a misunderstanding, our relationship fell apart." Shen Mengzhi's voice was calm. "Many things happened afterward, and I forgave him. At that time, an urgent summons came from Old Qin, and he was ordered to return to his country ahead of schedule. I didn't know. By the time I went to find him... Lord Lu, you should remember what happened next. A group of assassins intercepted the entire convoy—"

He paused for a long time this time, then closed his eyes wearily. "They told me that Chu Jin was dead."

Lu Qing shuddered violently. He suddenly remembered the question Chu Jin had asked on the painted boat—

'What if you learn of your beloved's death but don't shed a single tear?'

It turned out that when one is in immense grief, tears cannot flow.

Lu Qing hurriedly asked again, "Then what about now? The Prince Regent isn't dead, he came back to find you..."

"I didn't tell him my feelings in person that day, and after that, I never had the chance again." Shen Mengzhi clutched the teacup in his hand tightly, as if this was the only way to warm his ice-cold fingers, and said in a low voice, "The only person I could confess to is already dead. The one living now is the Prince Regent of Great Qin. Lord Lu, do you understand?"

Lu Qing said blankly, "...I don't understand."

"It's alright. You don't need to take these words to heart," Shen Mengzhi said. "And don't mention them to him."

Lu Qing looked at him and nodded hesitantly.

Only then did Shen Mengzhi withdraw his gaze. He suddenly reached out and took something from his robes. It was a sword tassel with a snow-white fringe, from which hung a piece of fine-quality black jade, warm and cool to the touch, extremely rare.

He studied the sword tassel for a moment, then handed it to Lu Qing. "Lord Lu, I'll have to trouble you."

Lu Qing took it. "What is this? Why give it to me?"

"This sword tassel might be useful in the future," Shen Mengzhi's gaze was heavy, "but it would be best if it's never needed."

Lu Qing was utterly confused, not knowing what these words meant, but he heard him continue, "Please keep it safe, Lord Lu. When I am not around, I'll have to trouble you to take care of the Prince Regent."

Lu Qing: "Me?!"

Shen Mengzhi smiled faintly. "Don't you like him?"

"No, no, no—" Lu Qing's face instantly flushed crimson. "I just admire him! Besides, the Prince Regent, he-he already told me to give up... Don't misunderstand!"

After hearing the other party's words, even if he had any feelings, they had turned to ash.

Shen Mengzhi said, "Just a joke, Lord Lu, don't be so nervous."

Just as his voice fell, there was a soft sound from the door, and a light fragrance wafted in. Chu Jin stood at the entrance, holding a bowl of congee, and looked over.

Lu Qing immediately stood up, tucked the sword tassel away securely, and backed away repeatedly. "I won't disturb you any longer. I'll wait for you outside!"

After speaking, he scurried away with a hurried expression. Chu Jin raised an eyebrow, watching Lu Qing's particularly hasty figure, and asked, "What did you say to him? Why did you scare him like that?"

Shen Mengzhi looked at the bowl of steaming Laba Congee in front of him, took the porcelain spoon, slowly scooped a little, blew on it, and put it in his mouth. It contained a generous amount of lotus seeds and red dates, tasting sweet and refreshing, leaving a fragrant aftertaste.

After finishing a mouthful, he finally said, "I asked him if he likes you."

Chu Jin laughed and sat down across from him, tilting his head to watch him eat the congee. "He likes me, so you're unhappy?"

Shen Mengzhi said, "The Prince Regent's cooking is quite good. The congee is delicious."

"Changing the subject again." Chu Jin snorted with a laugh and picked up an untouched pastry from the table to eat. "You're too thin, eat more. How is Qi Yu taking care of you? He's truly not attentive at all."

Shen Mengzhi's hand paused almost imperceptibly, then he said, "It's just that I have no appetite and don't feel like eating."

Hearing this, Chu Jin frowned and suddenly raised his hand to feel his forehead. "Are you sick?"

His palm was warm and dry, very comfortable against the cool forehead. Shen Mengzhi gently stirred the congee in the bowl, his eyelashes brushing against Chu Jin's hand as they trembled.

"I was sick for a while a few years ago," he said. "I'm better now."

It was an old ailment left over from the War of Yan-Qin. In reality, it was not an illness, but an injury. It wasn't that he had recuperated for a while, but for several years. Even now, it would often flare up every winter.

But he didn't plan to mention these things to Chu Jin, nor could he. Otherwise, his identity as Jiang Zhen would surely be questioned.

Shen Mengzhi bit into a lotus seed. It was a little bitter.

Chu Jin withdrew his hand, instead brushing it past the corner of his lips, wiping away a drop of water. "Your complexion is worse than before. In a few days, I'll find an imperial physician from the palace to take a look at you."

Shen Mengzhi hummed in acknowledgment, then asked, "Did things go smoothly for you at the Qiu Jiang today?"

"I watched a rare and wonderful show," Chu Jin said. "The Grand Censor's Master of Guests disguised himself as me and colluded with him from the inside, acting out a play of treason and adultery to try and convict me."

Shen Mengzhi frowned slightly. The way he spoke of it in a few words seemed casual, but upon careful thought, one could sense the bloody turmoil behind it; it must have been fraught with danger.

"They were so brazen because they thought you weren't there?" he couldn't help but ask. "Did they make a move on you beforehand?"

Chu Jin looked at his almost focused expression and his eyes curved into a smile. "Yes."

"However..." he added, "I had my personal guard pretend to be me and get captured by them, making them think they had succeeded. Then, I knocked out a minister and disguised myself as him to sneak onto the boat."

This move was extremely risky, but the effect was also exceptionally good. Not only did it make it easy to understand the opponent's intentions, but it also allowed him to strike unexpectedly and defeat them in one move.

Shen Mengzhi said thoughtfully, "The Grand Censor, why does he want to kill you?"

The rumors outside were that Li Sheng resented Chu Jin for taking his position as Vice Prime Minister after becoming Prince Regent, but his intuition told him it wasn't that simple.

Chu Jin let out a cold laugh and said slowly, "He's wanted me dead for a long time. The enmity between us is deep-seated and can no longer be resolved."

After a pause, he added, "However, the only thing I didn't expect was that a serving of Silver Lake Snow Lotus Soup on the painted boat had been poisoned. But Li Sheng seemed to have known about it in advance; he didn't touch a single dish throughout the whole event."

Shen Mengzhi's expression remained unchanged. "You suspect he colluded with the assassins?"

"No, impossible." Chu Jin pondered. "No matter how ruthless he is, he wouldn't poison court officials. Those assassins were remnants of Yanling. Where did Li Sheng get his information..."

Shen Mengzhi remained silent, slowly eating his congee.

"Forget it, let's not talk about this, it'll only upset you." Chu Jin came back to his senses and rubbed his brow. "My mind is just a bit of a mess."

Only now did a trace of fatigue show on his face. He had hidden it well before, which made his weariness all the more apparent now. Shen Mengzhi put down his porcelain spoon, sighed, and reached out to gently touch his face, as soft as a caress.

"Are you tired?" he asked.

Chu Jin covered his hand, pressing its palm tightly against his own cheek, and closed his eyes, murmuring, "With you here, I'm not tired."

Shen Mengzhi hummed softly.

"The thought of being separated from you"—Chu Jin rubbed his fingertips, his voice suddenly deepening—"irritates me to no end."

Shen Mengzhi listened quietly as he continued, "But I can't let you follow me. The path I've chosen is too difficult, I absolutely cannot risk you."

"Jiang Zhen, stay here. Wait until everything has settled, and I will come for you." Chu Jin opened his eyes, his tone gentle. "Alright?"

The candlelight flickered, casting a soft, almost reverent glow on his face.

Shen Mengzhi gazed back at him for a long time before saying, "Alright."

The author has something to say:

The reason Zhizhi doesn't confess is that he and the Prince Regent are now in different factions. During their time at the academy, they walked the same path, but now they walk different paths, so he cannot confess T_T