Chapter 0152: Insignificant Merits, Xie Chengze Deserves More Mention
The disaster relief grain transportation required separate documentation to track its origin and route for future audits. Thus, the Liaozhou Prefect was promptly summoned to affix the prefect seal on the transportation document.
The Liaozhou Prefect, named Li Dongyao, was a native of Liaozhou. His direct lineage elders had served two emperors in the court. As a junior collateral relative, Li Dongyao’s appointment as a local prefect clearly owed much to his family’s influence.
However, Liaozhou remained a remote and frigid land, far less prosperous and wealthy than Jingcheng.
Li Dongyao was not particularly outstanding in ability, but he had one notable strength: sharp insight. In the original text, he recognized Shen Yuan as a hidden dragon lying in wait, destined for great achievements. Thus, he secretly pledged allegiance, hoping to rise as a key court official when the new emperor ascended the throne.
He concealed his intentions impeccably, outwardly flattering and fawning over the Second Prince while secretly working for Shen Yuan and the Crown Prince. When the Second Prince finally resolved to assassinate the Crown Prince, Li Dongyao collaborated with Shen Yuan using the Golden Cicada Shelling Method to relocate the Crown Prince to Liaozhou. This allowed the Crown Prince to dramatically reappear in the Golden Luan Hall on the day the Second Prince assumed the throne.
In summary, he was trustworthy.
“Thank you for your trouble, Prefect Li,” Shen Yuan said, turning to Li Dongyao with a nod as the grain carts changed direction and departed.
“No trouble at all, no trouble at all.”
Li Dongyao, thirty-two years old and rather rugged in appearance, hurriedly bowed in response. When he looked up, his gaze drifted ambiguously between Shen Yuan and Xie Chengze. “The Second Prince and Lord Shen have borne the real hardships, laboring tirelessly for Liaozhou. This humble official is deeply grateful!”
“It’s not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning,” Xie Chengze waved a modest hand. “Worth mentioning more, worth mentioning more~”
Li Dongyao: ?
Shen Yuan chuckled softly, then leaned close to Li Dongyao’s ear. His expression mirrored that of a fawning, treacherous courtier as he subtly advised, “The Second Prince has always relished accolades. With the Ice Sculpture Festival approaching, drawing crowds and even distinguished guests, you must sing his praises generously, Prefect Li.”
“Oh~ This humble official understands, understands~”
Li Dongyao immediately winked and grinned. Over these days, he had clearly observed that both Shen Yuan and the Second Prince were no ordinary figures but possessed the makings of great achievers. They had cleared bandits from the mountains, excavated the coal mine, and even created ice sculptures to secure livelihoods for Liaozhou’s people—achievements that might even put the current emperor to shame.
If they were to ascend the throne in the future, Jian’an would surely thrive. Yet, to surpass the Crown Prince and win the emperor’s favor, merit alone was insufficient; they needed a reputation spread by the people.
Moreover, the Second Prince, young and impetuous, was at an age where he valued fame and enjoyed acclaim. Since there was no harm in it, Li Dongyao was naturally willing to comply.
He would do this and that, then that and this…
Li Dongyao quickly formed a plan in his mind.
After Li Dongyao left, Shen Yuan lowered his head and asked Xie Chengze, “These past few days, have you devised a plan to deal with that person?”
Delivering the wrong disaster relief grain was only the first step. The opponent’s goal was to provoke conflict between the Crown Prince and the Second Prince, and Xie Chengze must first gain absolute advantage before suddenly falling into disadvantage. This would make him addicted to the thrill of crushing the Crown Prince, increasingly eager to form factions and compete for the throne.
And this would be the perfect timing for that person to send assistance.
The opponent would surely exploit the Crown Prince to deliver a heavy blow to Xie Chengze when the ice sculpture event succeeded, then provide timely help, making Xie Chengze immensely grateful.
But before that… Xie Chengze would strike first.
Xie Chengze waved his hand, signaling Shen Yuan to lean closer. “Do you still remember that person’s unique mark…”
Shen Yuan nodded.
“Since His Majesty is coming, the snow along the route must be cleared to prevent carriage slippage. Using coarse salt for snow melting from Jingcheng to Tianshui City is a long journey. To ensure the snowy roads remain ice-free, the amount of salt required is substantial…”
Naturally, this presented the easiest opportunity for tampering.
“I’ve already sent Wuji to steal—ahem, to retrieve that item. When the time comes, we’ll…” The young man whispered conspiratorially, his face full of mischievous cunning. After listening, Shen Yuan gave him a deep look.
“You’ve ultimately resorted to Hu Lai’s methods.” Shen Yuan’s statement made it clear how unscrupulous this plan was.
Xie Chengze: ???
“Shen! Don’t slander me!” The young man immediately flew into a rage, fiercely defending his pure and virtuous reputation. “How could I possibly be the same as that deranged Hu Lai!”
Impossible! Absolutely impossible!
Meanwhile, Hu Lai writing letters at the government office: “Achoo—”
Hmm? Who was thinking of him? Must be one of his twenty-eight concubines~
——
Jingcheng, Imperial Study.
Emperor Jian held the letter chilled by the cold wind, read the icy words between the lines, and finally soothed his frostbitten heart struck by the content.
How utterly freezing!
“Look at this, just look!” Emperor Jian slapped the letter on the desk, heartbroken. “I’m frugal with the concubines precisely because I’ve sent all the good things to Cheng Huan Palace? And he turns around calling me a neglectful husband, saying I’m the root cause of his childless destiny!”
Eunuch Zhao: Ah?
It had escalated to this? Even involving lineage continuation?
Eunuch Zhao originally hadn’t intended to look, as when the Emperor said to read the letter, it didn’t necessarily mean he truly wanted it read. But since it concerned such important matters of procreation, Eunuch Zhao felt he should take a glance to prevent the Emperor from misunderstanding.
After reading the letter, Eunuch Zhao couldn’t help but chuckle. “Your Majesty must have misunderstood the Second Prince’s meaning. Between these lines, it’s clearly the young master’s whimsical nature – he wants Your Majesty to accompany him in Liaozhou for the New Year but feels too embarrassed to say it directly. Thus he uses local Liaozhou customs to hint that you should bring the consorts and princesses to visit him in Liaozhou.”
“All alone in distant, cold Liaozhou, how lonely the Second Prince must be! This is actually his first New Year celebration outside Jingcheng…” Eunuch Zhao sighed meaningfully. “Though the Second Prince has grown older, he remains a child at heart. What fault is there in a child missing his parents while far from home, yet feeling too shy to speak of it?”
Emperor Jian listened in dazed confusion. “When you put it that way… it does seem rather reasonable.”
This was indeed Chengze’s first time celebrating the New Year outside the capital. Having few friends there, he had likely invested considerable effort into organizing this Ice Sculpture Festival. Most importantly…
Tianshui City was Hua Ning’s hometown.
That rascal had deliberately chosen Tianshui City to host the Ice Sculpture Festival. Though he wouldn’t admit it aloud, his heart was surely yearning for his mother, wanting them to accompany Hua Ning for the New Year celebrations.
“Very well, I shall grace him with my presence.” Emperor Jian had never intended to refuse in the first place, merely feeling somewhat aggrieved by Xie Chengze’s accusation of stinginess. Lifting the letter again, he smiled benevolently, “If I don’t go, he’ll probably start weeping again.”
That child had always lacked affection since childhood, clinging to others most eagerly. He understood perfectly well the reasons behind this, yet he had never intervened.