Chapter 0166: Emperor Jian’s Unfiltered Remarks, Exchanged New Year Gifts

After sharing his reflections, Li Dongyao proceeded to award the winning team.

With a clap of his hands, drums and gongs immediately sounded, followed by an earth-shaking tiger’s roar from the ice rink entrance. The citizens turned to look, all stunned by the sight before them.

“What—what is that—”

“Heavens! That couldn’t be—”

Under the night sky, the ice rink was illuminated by countless lanterns, bright as the Milky Way. Among the magnificent ice sculptures of various shapes and colors, a majestic white tiger strode leisurely across the ice. It lazily yawned, white mist puffing from its nostrils and sharp fangs, exuding the domineering aura of the jungle’s king.

Seated on its back was Xie Zimiao, cradling an equally white tiger cub in his arms. Following behind the white tiger was the victorious ice hockey team, waving their flags with exceptional grandeur, instantly becoming the center of everyone’s attention.

“It really is a tiger! Good heavens! How is it so tame?”

“And who’s that riding the tiger? To actually tame a tiger—how incredible!”

“That seems to be the Fourth Prince. I heard the Fourth Prince can command two tigers! Who knew our Jian’an princes were so capable!”

“Indeed, the Second Prince is blessed with wisdom, the Fourth Prince commands fierce tigers, the Eldest Prince guards the frontiers, and the Crown Prince… well, the Crown Prince is quite good too. It seems our Jian’an is destined for prosperity!”

“May heaven bless our Jian’an! Long live the Emperor!”

The white tiger’s entrance undoubtedly elevated the award ceremony to imperial standards. As Li Dongyao distributed the rewards, fireworks once again shot into the sky, illuminating the night with dazzling brilliance and reflecting brilliantly in everyone’s eyes.

In that moment, they sensed that Jian’an’s future would surely be as magnificent as these glorious fireworks.

…

Xie Zimiao, clutching the tiger cub, huffed and puffed as he climbed up to the platform, making his way toward Emperor Jian and the others.

Emperor Jian hadn’t expected his fourth son to possess such tiger-taming abilities. Seeing him approach with the cub while the great white tiger remained completely unfazed, he couldn’t help marveling. Turning to Rou Fei, he remarked, “It seems our Xiao Miao has been hiding his talents.”

Rou Fei appeared equally perplexed. “This subject had no knowledge of this skill either!”

“He’s coming over—he must be presenting the tiger to Us.” Emperor Jian quickly straightened his posture, feigning composure.

He would probably be the first emperor in history to hold a tiger!

Heh, when this gets recorded in the history books, how impressive it will be!

Watching Xie Zimiao approach, Emperor Jian cleared his throat lightly, his hands growing increasingly restless, trembling slightly on his knees.

Unexpectedly, just as Xie Zimiao was about to reach him, the boy suddenly stopped, turned, and stood before Xie Chengze.

“Second Brother! This is your New Year’s gift from me!”

Xie Zimiao’s breath formed white puffs in the cold, his small face flushed red from the chill as he shyly shoved the tiger cub into Xie Chengze’s arms.

He had already trained the cub thoroughly. Every day, he’d used his second brother’s personal clothing as the cub’s warm bedding, making the young tiger thoroughly familiar with Xie Chengze’s scent. Thus, it wouldn’t attack the Second Prince but would instead grow attached to his smell.

However, the process of persuading the big white tiger was quite difficult. He had tried to sneak the little white tiger away several times before, only to be caught by the big tiger each time, leaving his buttocks swatted several times by its paws. As a result, he resorted to crying, kneeling, and playing pitiful, delivering goat milk to the little tigers every day until the big tiger finally relented and voluntarily carried the little white tiger over to him.

His buttocks still hurt to this day!

But seeing Second Prince’s delighted expression as he held the little white tiger, Xie Zimiao felt all the hardship was worth it!

“Tsk, tsk.” Rou Fei shook her head and repeated, “He’s coming over—he must be planning to present the tiger to His Majesty.”

Emperor Jian: “…”

Hahaha, fine, if he won’t give it, then he won’t. Anyway, this little white tiger is quite ordinary. Hilarious—I actually didn’t want the little white tiger that much! I’d never set my sights on such a creature!

Xie Chengze held the little tiger, his eyes filled with delight and caution. He gently stroked its fur, watching as it snuggled into his arms and stretched comfortably. His bright eyes lifted, sparkling like stars. “It’s so well-behaved.”

“Do you like it, Second Brother?” Xie Zimiao curved his lips, his admiration and affection for his elder brother overflowing in the young man’s gaze.

“Mhm, mhm.” Xie Chengze nodded eagerly. After petting the little tiger a few more times, he suddenly remembered something and called out, “Wuhen! Bring my box over.”

In no time, a shadowy figure silently descended. Wuhen, holding a red sandalwood box, handed it over.

Xie Zimiao was puzzled. “What is this?”

“A New Year’s gift for you,” Xie Chengze said with a smile.

Xie Zimiao hadn’t expected to receive a gift himself and immediately opened it eagerly. The next moment, his eyes widened in astonishment. “This is—”

“A sleeve arrow.”

Xie Chengze explained cheerfully, “It’s an arrow that can be hidden in your sleeve and fired. Since you don’t practice martial arts, this can help protect you.”

With that, he picked up the sleeve arrow, fastened it to his own wrist, and demonstrated it for Xie Zimiao.

As the young man pulled his ring finger, a sharp, small arrow shot from his wrist and embedded itself firmly into the railing of the pavilion, instantly catching the attention of Emperor Jian, Rou Fei, and the others.

“This is a fine item!” Emperor Jian exclaimed in admiration, his eyes fixed intently on the compact sleeve arrow. “Did you invent this too, Ze’er?”

The elderly Gu, standing nearby, spoke up, “Indeed, it was designed by the Second Prince. Three years ago, His Highness tasked this old servant with creating an arrow that could be fired from a sleeve. Unfortunately, my abilities were limited. I never imagined the Second Prince would design it himself.”

Later, with the combined efforts of him and Su Qinghe, they managed to produce this unique and highly accurate sleeve arrow.

“So, Second Brother, you’ve been planning to give me this gift since three years ago?” Xie Zimiao asked in surprise.

The inner palace had always been reluctant to let their children get close to Second Brother, and Second Brother himself had grown distant, rarely interacting with his siblings after court sessions, often speaking only with the ministers.

As for himself, since he was frequently taken to live with the Jiang family, he had few opportunities to spend time with Second Brother.

He never expected that, even though Second Brother seldom spoke to him, he had been thinking of him all along!

“Wah! Second Brother, you’re so good to me!” Xie Zimiao threw himself into Xie Chengze’s arms, his eyes reddening with emotion. “From now on, I’ll be even better to you!”

“Ah, haha…” Xie Chengze laughed awkwardly, a hint of guilt in his expression.

Actually, this wrist crossbow was originally made for my own use. As for the real New Year’s gift, I had prepared lucky money…

But he never expected that Xie Zimiao would actually gift him the little white tiger.

In that case, his return gift simply couldn’t be something as shabby as lucky money.

As for the wrist crossbow—he could always make another one later! Making his younger brother happy was what mattered most!

So he patted Xie Zimiao’s back and declared righteously, “This is what your second brother ought to do!”

Old Gu standing nearby wore an indescribable expression.

He certainly didn’t recall the Second Prince asking for this wrist crossbow three years ago with the intention of gifting it to the Fourth Prince.

After all, back then the Second Prince had appeared both flustered and agitated, radiating an overall sense of unease. That was precisely why he had flown into a rage and ordered Old Gu beaten with ten strokes when told the device couldn’t be manufactured.

Su Qinghe watching nearby gazed at the two with undisguised admiration. “The fraternal bond between the Second Prince and Fourth Prince is truly remarkable.”

Old Gu internally sighed: Oh… and here’s my foolish apprentice actually believing it.