Chapter 0184: The Cunning Shen Yuan, the Xie Family’s Tradition of Clinginess
“You came so early—is there something you need?” After pouring tea, Xie Shoujun sat down on the wooden chair beside him and asked.
Xie Chengze took a sip of tea and countered, “Can’t I come to hang out with my imperial brother without a reason?”
“If I recall correctly, you’re supposed to be under house arrest,” Xie Shoujun chuckled. “Aren’t you afraid the ministers will impeach you again if they find out you’ve sneaked out?”
“Couldn’t you just keep it a secret for me?” Xie Chengze grinned mischievously. “Staying alone in Cheng Huan Palace is utterly boring. I was wondering if you’d be willing to let me stay with you for a few days?”
“Stay if you wish. Coincidentally, Wu De Hall is quite desolate, and I’ve been feeling rather lonely by myself.” Xie Shoujun took a sip of tea, his fingertips tracing the rim of the cup as the pale tea reflected his dark eyes. “However, many rooms in Wu De Hall haven’t been tidied up yet, and cleaning them would be troublesome. You’ll probably have to sleep in my room tonight.”
“No problem at all! It’s been ages since I last shared a bed with you,” Xie Chengze waved dismissively.
In his memory, when Xie Jinyu was still too young to speak, he had always clung to his elder brother Xie Shoujun to sleep. As for why he didn’t sleep with Consort Hua, it was because a certain despicable emperor found him bothersome and always used the excuse that “a real man should sleep alone” to prevent him from sharing a bed with his mother :).
But little Chengze had no desire to be a “real man”—he simply preferred having a bedmate. Especially since his imperial brother was exceptionally caring; no matter how mischievous or unruly he was, even if he stuck his cold feet on him, Xie Shoujun never got angry. Truly the model of a gentle elder brother.
Xie Shoujun nodded, not finding it inappropriate either.
With no military affairs to handle at court temporarily, he didn’t need to attend the morning assembly. After breakfast, he planned to head to the training ground to supervise the daily drills of the border defense troops.
Xie Chengze wanted to tag along, but since he was under house arrest, he couldn’t wander around openly. Thus, he disguised himself as a little eunuch and followed Xie Shoujun to the training ground.
On the training ground, the border defense troops had already begun their drills. The sounds of their exercises could be heard from afar. In contrast, the imperial guards stood around in small groups, watching the training soldiers with disdain while gossiping about recent rumors they’d heard—completely lacking discipline.
“These imperial guards in the palace are far too lax,” Xie Chengze whispered disdainfully from beside Xie Shoujun. “How can they protect the emperor properly like this?”
“These men are all officers of the imperial guards, and most are sons of officials. Even if an emergency occurs, they won’t be the ones rushing to protect His Majesty,” Xie Shoujun shook his head and explained. “It’s the ordinary imperial guards without influential backgrounds who will.”
Xie Chengze scratched his head. “You’ve only just returned, yet you already know all this?”
He distinctly remembered that in the original work, Xie Shoujun had no interest in such matters.
Xie Shoujun chuckled but didn’t respond.
To avoid exposing Xie Chengze’s identity, Xie Shoujun only circled the outer perimeter of the training ground twice. His soldiers were relatively self-disciplined and under the supervision of their captain, requiring little extra attention from him.
“Captain He is my trusted aide. If you need manpower while in the capital, you can go directly to him,” Xie Shoujun pointed to a middle-aged man on the training field. “I’ve already informed him.”
“Ah? This isn’t quite appropriate, is it?” Xie Chengze was somewhat surprised and quickly waved his hands. “No need, no need. Privately mobilizing military authority is a serious offense. If Father finds out, you’ll be punished.”
“It’s fine.” Xie Shoujun appeared remarkably calm and composed. “For as long as he can’t find a replacement to guard the border, he can’t do anything to me. Besides, I still have the authority to casually mobilize a few soldiers.”
At worst, if things went south, Shen Yuan was as cunning as a demon—he could always ask him to come up with some way to muddle through.
Xie Chengze was astonished by his boldness. He didn’t understand why the originally low-key eldest prince in the original story had suddenly become so audacious. Could it be that staying in Liaozhou for too long had been influenced by the local customs?
That shouldn’t be the case.
Weren’t the Xiongnu on the border even more brutal? Yet Xie Shoujun showed no signs of brutality.
Xie Chengze scratched his head again.
Forget it, no use worrying. If something happened, he could just go to Shen Yuan for a solution~
Both the older and younger had the same thought.
In the prison, Shen Yuan sneezed and counted on his fingers that his release date should be coming soon.
…
On the way back from the inspection, light snow began to fall. After strolling back to Wu De Hall with Xie Shoujun, Xie Chengze saw someone he never expected.
“What are you doing here?” Xie Chengze asked in surprise, looking at Xie Jinyu standing at the entrance of Wu De Hall.
His shoulders and head were dusted with a light layer of white snow, clearly indicating he had been waiting there for a long time.
Xie Jinyu’s dark eyes fixed intently on Xie Shoujun, filled with heavy hostility. This inexplicable animosity left Xie Shoujun momentarily puzzled.
He hadn’t been close to Xie Jinyu in his childhood, only remembering that when he left the capital, this half-grown child had tightly clutched Xie Chengze’s clothes, staring at him in much the same way, as if he had stolen something from him.
Back then, he hadn’t paid it much mind, only worrying about whether Xie Chengze would forget him later.
“I’d like to ask why Second Brother is here instead,” Xie Jinyu retorted, shifting his gaze from Xie Shoujun’s face to Xie Chengze, his expression cold. “Isn’t Second Brother under house arrest?”
Shen Yuan had asked him to check who had “picked up” Second Brother. He had considered every possibility but never imagined it would be Xie Shoujun.
Why him?
Was it because of what happened to his mother that he conspired with those corrupt officials to erode the entire court?
If the Minister of Revenue and others were really his allies, then he had been hiding his capabilities too well. And Second Brother… Was his purpose in getting close to Second Brother to obtain the gunpowder?
No, until he uncovered the truth, he absolutely couldn’t let Second Brother get too close to this person!
Just as Xie Chengze was about to explain, he saw Xie Jinyu stride over, seize his wrist, and pull him away. “Come, let’s return to Cheng Huan Palace.”
“I’m not going back!” Xie Chengze tried to break free but unexpectedly found Xie Jinyu’s grip unusually strong, instantly turning his wrist red.
After all, he had trained in martial arts—restraining him was effortlessly easy.
“Jinyu,” Xie Chengze had no choice but to soften his voice. “Cheng Huan Palace is so boring. I don’t want to go back.”
As soon as he spoke gently, Xie Jinyu’s heart softened. Turning to look at Xie Chengze, a warm, obedient smile reappeared on his face. “If Second Brother is bored, why not come to the Eastern Palace? What’s so interesting about an empty hall like Wu De Hall?”
Xie Shoujun, standing nearby, couldn’t help but frown slightly.
What did he mean by that? How could Wu De Hall be uninteresting?
“How could Wu De Hall be uninteresting? With the Crown Prince there, Wu De Hall is more than enough,” Xie Chengze also frowned, displeased with his tone and attitude. He withdrew his hand slightly and said coldly, “Is your Eastern Palace any more interesting? Oh, it must be quite interesting indeed—probably filled with nothing but spies from the Cao family!”
The gentle smile on Xie Jinyu’s face instantly froze. “Second Brother… that’s not what I meant.”
Xie Shoujun, watching the scene with his arms crossed, found it rather amusing.
It seemed this third imperial brother was quite attached to the second imperial brother. He recalled that back in Liaozhou, the fourth imperial brother also seemed very attached to the second imperial brother. Could it be that all members of the Xie family had a tendency to cling to their elder brothers?