Chapter 0144: Tall and Sturdy Soldiers, Too Elegant Xie Chengze
Raising his hand to stroke the young man’s hair, Xie Shoujun said hoarsely, “Big brother missed you too.”
While drenched in blood on the battlefield, while his dark spear harvested enemy heads, he had wanted to ask the child left behind in Jingcheng: Why did you never reply to my letters? Why did you never come to see me?
Weren’t you afraid I might die on the battlefield and you’d never see me again?
But when he saw the smile on Xie Chengze’s face, all the questions he wanted to ask were swallowed back. Xie Shoujun thought, this is fine too – as long as he’s happy to see me.
After greeting him, Xie Chengze began feeling all over Xie Shoujun’s body.
Truly worthy of being a military general – this tight waist, these robust muscles, this sturdy chest – it’s absolutely extremely very suitable for being a ski companion!
And those soldiers following behind him, from afar they all looked tall and sturdy. To fight against the fierce and brutal Xiongnu, most soldiers recruited from the border regions were burly men from the north. One could imagine what a visual feast this was—
Wouldn’t this drive the rich ladies crazy?
He was certainly about to be mesmerized himself.
Xie Shoujun stiffened under the young man’s touch. Having stayed at the border battlefield for years, aside from carrying dead soldiers and having the military doctor treat his wounds, he rarely had such close contact with others. So he instinctively thought Xie Chengze was checking if he had any injuries, and said hoarsely, “Second Prince, I’m fine.”
Xie Chengze looked up at him with confusion, “What?”
Seeing his puzzled expression, Xie Shoujun realized the young man wasn’t checking for wounds, but something else.
What was it then…
Before he could think further, he heard Xie Chengze say, “Big brother, are there many unmarried men in your army?”
Why ask this?
Though confused, Xie Shoujun still nodded in response, “Quite a few. Why do you ask?”
“Well… I need them to help with some matters. Of course, I’ll pay them for it.” Xie Chengze held onto his arm, “Enough talk, let’s enter the city. We’ll settle the soldiers first.”
The army was stationed in the woods not far from the Hun River. For this return to the capital, Xie Shoujun had brought all his soldiers. Firstly, because the border Xiongnu had signed a peace treaty, eliminating the need for heavy garrison; secondly, because the imperial court needed manpower, and many border soldiers would likely be incorporated into the imperial guards, becoming capital defenders.
Therefore, the number of these soldiers was not insignificant. Even if Xie Chengze could provide their meals, he could only have them continue setting up tents for accommodation.
However, heating coal was provided in abundance. The temperature in Liaozhou was much lower than at the border. For the soldiers, the conditions here were already much better. Most importantly, they didn’t have to eat wild grass and tree bark here, and they heard they could even get paid for work.
“This thing really burns well,” the soldiers who had set up camp remarked while warming their hands around the coal basin, sighing, “If we had this thing while guarding the border city, we wouldn’t have frozen so miserably.”
“Exactly! I heard this thing called coal was also discovered by the Second Prince!”
“Wow! The same Second Prince who created the explosive gunpowder and vowed to blow up the grasslands?”
“That’s right, when we were at the city gate earlier, I was at the front of the troops and caught a glimpse of the Second Prince!”
“Really? Tell us quickly, what does the Second Prince look like? Is he as stunningly beautiful as the legends say?”
Everyone in the army knew that the Second Prince was nicknamed the Jade-Faced Ghost King on the grasslands, while among the border civilians, he was called the Jade-Faced Bodhisattva. Jade-Faced, jade-faced—such an elegant term could only describe an exceptionally handsome young noble. The Eldest Prince was already magnificently dashing, so as his younger brother, the Second Prince naturally wouldn’t be lacking.
“Heh, I have to say—” The soldier, who had only seen the Second Prince from afar, deliberately drew out his words mysteriously, “the title Jade-Faced Ghost King is absolutely fitting. The Second Prince’s face is as pale as the northern velvet snow, his lips are brighter than the blood on the Xiongnu’s necks, and his eyes are larger than the wildest warhorses on the grasslands! Especially when he moves—it’s like a ghost, he doesn’t even need to take steps, just glides from one end to the other!”
“Whoa!” The crowd listened in awe. “So impressive, I really want to see him!”
Thus, at noon that day, while supervising work by the river, Xie Chengze kept feeling someone’s gaze on him.
But every time he turned around, those stares would vanish instantly, as if they had never existed.
“Strange… am I imagining things?” Xie Chengze scratched his head and bent down to explain his desired effects to Xie Shoujun. “Later, we’ll place this here. Since it’s quite high, the young ladies might be scared when sitting up there, so we’ll need soldiers standing behind to protect them. Elder Brother, you’ll need to pick the most handsome and charming soldiers from the army who know how to woo girls. I’ll personally teach them what to do when the time comes.”
“And here, we need to select a group of agile soldiers for training. I hope both you and Shen Yuan can join as well. One of you is the Eldest Prince, and the other is exceptionally good-looking—having both of you will create the necessary buzz.”
“Then over here…”
The young man gave detailed instructions while Xie Shoujun listened attentively, though his restrained eyes shot warning glances toward the soldiers who kept trying to pass by and sneak looks at Xie Chengze.
The soldiers hastily pushed and shoved each other as they scattered.
“What’s wrong?” Noticing Xie Shoujun seemed distracted, Xie Chengze looked up and asked.
“Nothing.” Xie Shoujun withdrew his gaze and replied gently, “Continue, I’m listening.”
“Okay.” Xie Chengze went on assigning tasks to the soldiers. After explaining everything until his mouth felt parched, he listened as Xie Shoujun repeated the instructions back to him. Only then did he feel reassured enough to leave the ice rink and head to the military camp to warm up.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the camp, that sensation of being watched returned.
“Hey, hey, hey, is that the Second Prince…?”
“Seems like it? His attire looks similar, but he’s too beautiful, isn’t he? Wasn’t it said that the Second Prince’s eyes are larger than an ox’s, his face paler than snow, and he has a mouth like a blood-filled basin?”
Xie Chengze: ?
Who’s spreading rumors again?
“You heard wrong! Old Jia clearly said the Second Prince’s mouth can bite through Xiongnu throats, his glare can scare the wildest grassland horses to death, and his snow-white skin lets him vanish into the snow, secretly planting explosives in all the enemy camps!”
Xie Chengze: ?
That’s even more absurd, come on!
“You’ve all misheard. Old Jia was simply describing His Highness as being exceptionally handsome,” one soldier remarked calmly.
Xie Chengze nodded inwardly. At least this fellow had a clear head and understood not to create or spread rumors.
“If you say he’s handsome, then he’s handsome. But I recall Old Jia also said that the Second Prince’s lightness skill is like that of a ghost, capable of covering dozens of meters in a single step. Yet this person appears frail and doesn’t seem like someone who practices martial arts.”
“That’s where you’re mistaken,” the soldier who refrained from spreading rumors explained methodically. “As the saying goes, the more beautiful the person, the more hidden poison they possess. Since the Second Prince possesses such peerless beauty, it only proves he conceals his depths, easily deceiving his enemies. He doesn’t take lives with crude cold weapons but is renowned in enemy camps for his ruthless use of explosives, eliminating foes from a thousand miles away without a single drop of blood staining his person!”
The soldier swayed his head, “Elegant, truly elegant!”
The other soldiers couldn’t help but deeply agree.
“As expected of royalty, elegant, so elegant!”
Xie Chengze: …