Chapter 0150: The Unaware Bandit Army, Pitiful Xie Chengze
After slipping the letter into the envelope, Xie Chengze sealed it with wax and called out, “Wuji.”
A gentle breeze stirred as a black shadow silently landed. “Your Highness.”
This wasn’t Wuji’s voice. Xie Chengze turned and saw it was Wuhen, confirming his earlier suspicion. “Why you? Where’s Wuji?”
Wuhen replied calmly, “He’s caught a slight chill and is recuperating. If you have any important matters, Your Highness, you may command me instead.”
“Very well.” Xie Chengze handed over the letter. “Return to Jingcheng and deliver this letter to my father. Additionally, while you’re there…”
Xie Chengze gave quiet instructions as Wuhen listened attentively. After receiving the letter and pondering for a moment, Wuhen added, “Actually, Wuji’s condition isn’t serious. Perhaps he should go instead.”
Xie Chengze: ?
“Either way, you two decide.” Xie Chengze stretched lazily. “I’m going to check on the ice rink’s progress. If you need me, I’ll be there.”
“Yes.”
After Xie Chengze left, Wuhen went to another room where Wuji was sitting on the bed meditating and practicing martial arts. Though physically unharmed, his face was covered in lingering bruises, making him quite unsightly.
“Wuhen!” Sensing his arrival, Wuji stopped his practice and glared angrily. “How dare you show your face! Look what you’ve done to me! We agreed not to hit the face!”
Taking advantage of his superior martial skills, Wuhen had targeted his face relentlessly, leaving him unable to appear before His Highness!
“You crossed the line first. If I ever do the same, feel free to beat me like this—I won’t fight back.” Wuhen handed him the letter. “His Highness wants you to deliver this to Jingcheng and handle some matters there.”
Wuji took the letter skeptically. “Did he actually assign this to you, and you’re pushing it onto me?”
“Of course not.” Wuhen’s tone remained steady, his expression unreadable. “His Highness specifically asked for you.”
Though there were some twists afterward, he wasn’t exactly lying, was he?
…
At the ice rink, everything was proceeding orderly.
The Standing Army soldiers had begun treating Xie Chengze with growing respect, stopping to salute whenever they encountered him. They held both affection and admiration for this approachable yet enigmatic Second Prince.
After bonding with the soldiers, they learned that the Second Prince had contributed to the Xiongnu’s surrender. Even as former bandits, they had heard of the Xiongnu’s ferocity and brutality. This seemingly delicate Second Prince had actually intimidated the Xiongnu king from a thousand miles away—truly, appearances could be deceiving.
Unlike that scheming, iron-faced Minister Shen, who had deceitfully used two imperial decrees to trick them into joining the Standing Army, forcing them into labor here!
In their view, working for this exceptionally skilled Second Prince was far better than serving that Shen fellow. Who knows—they might even earn merits and become generals someday!
Unaware that those cunning strategies had actually been devised by Xie Chengze, the former bandits all thought this way.
Equally oblivious to their inner calculations, Xie Chengze stood at the ice rink, surveying the gradually taking shape of the grand ice festival, and nodded slightly in satisfaction.
Er Dangjia was strenuously cutting ice blocks, exerting all his strength to create the largest ice sculpture figure for Xie Chengze. Su Qinghe followed the elderly master, learning carving techniques while calculating the ice usage for each sculpture to avoid waste. Sheng Yiren’s abacus never ceased its clattering, emitting invisible sparks as her slender fingers developed fine calluses. Every flick of the beads signified the outflow of money, making it unbearable to watch.
Yet no matter how unbearable, some things had to be faced.
“Second Prince!” After exchanging a glance with Xie Chengze and seeing him attempt to slip away, Sheng Yiren shot up like the weeping willow uprooted by Lu Zhishen, accurately grabbing the back of Xie Chengze’s collar. “Where are you trying to run off to this time?”
She had reminded him multiple times that funds were running low, yet the prince kept avoiding her, forcing her to intercept him at the ice field. Finally, she had caught him!
“Ahem.” Xie Chengze coughed lightly against his lips, feigning nonchalance. “Look at my memory—when I’m busy, I forget.”
Sheng Yiren narrowed her beautiful eyes, her expression clearly stating, “Do you expect me to believe that?”
Xie Chengze guiltily averted his gaze.
“Your Highness, if you’re short on funds, you could borrow from me. I can persuade them to charge you only ten percent interest,” Sheng Yiren said helplessly, shaking her head. “Why avoid me? Could it be you don’t see me as one of your own?”
“Of course not!” Xie Chengze immediately raised his voice in denial. “I’ve long considered you one of us, it’s just… just…”
He sighed with apparent distress, piquing Sheng Yiren’s intense curiosity. “Just what? Your Highness, speak plainly.”
“Ah, fine, I’ll tell you.” Xie Chengze leaned close to Sheng Yiren’s ear and whispered, “Have you heard of the Yangzhou Jiang family? Yes, the very one—Rou Fei’s maternal family, the wealthiest in both Yangzhou and Jian’an.”
“Their young master wrote to me, saying he’s undergoing a family trial to find a business opportunity as his foundation, proving he’s fit to inherit the family enterprise. He offered to sponsor me with thirty thousand taels of silver, but in return, the Jiang family must fund and manage the annual Ice Sculpture Festival in Liaozhou from now on, keeping eighty percent of the profits.”
“The money is on its way. Just wait a little longer—it’ll arrive soon~” Xie Chengze soothingly reassured her.
“What?!” Sheng Yiren’s eyes widened in fury, flames of anger blazing forth as she exclaimed, “How outrageous! That Jiang scion dares to be so greedy! A mere thirty thousand taels to monopolize future Ice Sculpture Festivals and claim eighty percent of the profits? Shameless!”
“Your Highness! You didn’t agree, did you?!” Sheng Yiren urgently stared at Xie Chengze. “The Jiang family monopolizing southern business is one thing, but now they’re targeting the north? If they succeed, Jian’an is doomed!”
The Jiang family’s wealth already rivaled the state’s. If not for Rou Fei’s affection for Emperor Jian, their riches alone could raise armies and sway hearts, toppling all of Jian’an. Only Rou Fei’s aversion to war and Jiang Henan’s doting on his sister had kept Jian’an—having seen just two emperors—from plunging into chaos again.
But such wealth concentrated in one family’s hands was no blessing for Jian’an.
If one day Rou Fei passes away and the new emperor dies, no one can guarantee whether the Jiang family in the future might become a fierce tiger, eyeing that high position covetously.
As the daughter of an official family, Sheng Yiren naturally understands the intricacies involved, which is why she advised Xie Chengze not to grant the Jiang family the right to host the Ice Sculpture Festival.
“Alas, the Ice Sculpture Festival is truly a troublesome affair that consumes both manpower and wealth. This prince cannot come here every year to oversee it with personal funds, so we must find a wealthy merchant capable of shouldering this heavy responsibility. Yet, in Liaozhou, there is no merchant strong enough to bear this burden…”
Xie Chengze secretly glanced at Sheng Yiren and, noticing she seemed moved, made his expression appear even more bitter and distressed. His already exquisite face looked utterly pitiable to the point where even women would feel heartache for him. “Most crucially, this prince is indeed short on funds. And these thirty thousand taels of silver would undoubtedly relieve my urgent needs!”
His gaze drifted sorrowfully toward the sky as he murmured wistfully, “Thirty thousand taels of silver… if it were to flow into the hands of the common people, wouldn’t it indeed revitalize the declining finances of the north?”