Chapter 0190: Crispy Skulls and Shattered Dreams – Xie Jinyu
Ahem. Xie Shoujun raised a fist to his lips and coughed twice. “This is the skull of the first Xiongnu general I killed at the border. The Cavalry General said it’s the most symbolic object of honor and military merit for frontier soldiers.”
So, I wanted to give it to you.
To share my glory with you.
So this was actually the skull of a Xiongnu general, and it carried such profound meaning. Xie Chengze couldn’t help but look at the skull in the wooden box again.
Having seen skeleton models in modern times, Xie Chengze hypnotized himself into believing this was just a model. He then lifted the entire skull out of the box and placed it on his lap.
He reached out to touch it, then curled his fingers and tapped it.
It must have been treated with special materials—it felt incredibly smooth to the touch and produced a satisfying, crisp sound when tapped. Crack.
If he could collect seven of them, he might even be able to use them as musical instruments.
He imagined himself sitting on the city wall, playing a cheerful tune like the famous nursery rhyme Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star on seven generals’ skulls in front of the Xiongnu army. The thought made him burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Seeing that Xie Chengze showed no fear, Xie Shoujun felt a slight relief and revealed a gentle smile.
He had known Xie Chengze wouldn’t dislike this gift. After all, this was the same child who had remained calm and composed even under threat of death—how could he be afraid of a mere lifeless skull?
Stroking the smooth skull in his lap, Xie Chengze commanded, “Open the other boxes. Let me see more~”
Xie Jinyu, perhaps aware of his own misdeeds, promptly opened another box with unusual initiative.
The second box was filled with numerous smaller boxes. Xie Chengze randomly pointed at one, and upon opening it, discovered a simple string of wolf teeth.
“I obtained these when I led troops to scout the grasslands and encountered a pack of wild wolves. I pulled them out during the fight,” Xie Shoujun explained, looking at the string of wolf teeth. “But this string is quite old and somewhat worn. There are newer ones in the boxes below. If you like them, you can have the palace craftsmen make a beautiful necklace.”
Upon hearing this, Xie Chengze widened his eyes in astonishment. “Did you pull these out alive, Imperial Brother?”
Xie Shoujun cleared his throat lightly. “Not exactly. I removed them after killing the wolves.”
Xie Chengze lifted the string of wolf teeth, shaking it to produce a pleasant clinking sound. He put it around his neck and leaned forward eagerly. “What else is there?”
As the boxes were opened one by one, Xie Chengze’s eyes suffered repeated shocks. Xie Shoujun’s birthday gifts were truly… wild. There were sheep bone whistles, wolfskin drums, eagle bone flutes, and even a complete skeleton of a wolf cub. According to Xie Shoujun’s explanation, he had originally intended to bring it back to Jingcheng as a pet, but the cub unexpectedly fell ill and died. So, he had no choice but to clean off the flesh and preserve the skeleton.
Xie Chengze looked at Xie Shoujun with a subtle expression. “Imperial Brother, you’re more… than I imagined.”
Xie Shoujun, rummaging through the wooden boxes, looked up. “Hmm? More what?”
More perverted!
Fortunately, it was Xie Jinyu who was obsessed with him. If it had been Xie Shoujun, Xie Chengze truly feared that after his death, Xie Shoujun would have stripped all his flesh away, kept his bones as decorations, and made his skin into human-faced lantern drums or something…
Thinking this, Xie Chengze couldn’t help but glance gratefully at Xie Jinyu.
Xie Jinyu caught the look and tilted his head in confusion.
Why was Second Brother looking at him like that?
However, he hadn’t expected the birthday gifts sent by Xie Shoujun to be so peculiar. The gifts he had intercepted earlier had seemed quite normal.
Perhaps it was because the normal gifts had already been given, or perhaps because Xie Shoujun knew the birthday gifts wouldn’t be delivered, so he simply stored these frontier trinkets together in a box.
Xie Jinyu leaned toward the latter explanation, as the box contained not only those strange items but also many seemingly normal gifts. These normal gifts were clearly the kind one would give during festivals, while things like skulls, wolf teeth, and eagle bone flutes were the rare treasures truly meant for birthday presents.
Watching Xie Chengze fondle Xie Shoujun’s birthday gifts with delight, Xie Jinyu couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy, his tone turning odd. “Elder Brother should perhaps thank that person for intercepting your letters and gifts. Otherwise, this sincere affection might have been misplaced.”
His words came out of nowhere, and Xie Shoujun looked at him puzzled, not understanding what he meant.
Xie Chengze, however, paused slightly, catching the possible implication in those words, and couldn’t help but look up at Xie Jinyu.
Xie Jinyu gave Xie Chengze a gentle smile. “Since Elder Brother left the palace, Second Brother’s temper has grown increasingly worse. Every year, the birthday gifts I sent were thrown into the lake by Second Brother.”
He reached out and pressed Xie Chengze’s fingers firmly against the bed, smiling as he said, “I suppose this year, Second Brother won’t throw away the birthday gift I sent, right?”
Xie Chengze recalled that the Second Prince did indeed order people to throw the Crown Prince’s birthday gifts into the lake every year after receiving them.
He suddenly felt a pang of regret. “They must have been quite valuable, right?”
Xie Jinyu narrowed his eyes and nodded with a smile. “Mhm.”
I’ll have to find time to fish them out.
Xie Chengze thought to himself secretly. After unpacking all the gifts in the box, he finally stroked the skull in his arms and very honestly said to Xie Shoujun, “By the way, Imperial Brother, I accidentally saw the letters in your study.”For a moment, the air fell into a subtle silence.”
A short while later, a suspicious blush swept across Xie Shoujun’s face. He feigned calm and nodded. “Oh? Oh, you… saw them…”
There were a full two thousand letters. He couldn’t possibly have read them all. Maybe he only saw the “To Be Opened Personally” on the envelopes and didn’t see the contents inside…
“I will never become distant with Imperial Brother,” Xie Chengze said earnestly, his small face serious as he promised. “And I won’t let Imperial Brother’s hands tremble while writing letters, unable to send them to me again.”
“Cough, cough, cough—!”
Xie Shoujun coughed violently, his ears turning red from the fit, his sturdy frame trembling along.
He—he saw them!
And he saw those two extremely embarrassing letters he wrote!
“You didn’t… read all of them?” Xie Shoujun asked between coughs.
“Not at all,” Xie Chengze quickly waved his hands. “I felt quite shy reading them too. I only read a few before stuffing them back.”
After speaking, both of them blushed simultaneously and began coughing together.
The atmosphere between these two was far too harmonious. Xie Jinyu pressed his lips together, fiercely pinching the fingers he held captive in his palm as he vied for their owner’s attention. “I truly envy the brotherly bond between Eldest Brother and Second Brother. Unlike me—I get scolded by Second Brother every single day.”
Xie Shoujun, however, disagreed. “Regardless of whether you’ve done anything wrong, at least you get to see Xiao Ze every day.”
Xie Jinyu let out a soft scoff, lowering his gaze to toy with the young man’s slender, elegant fingers beneath his palm as he murmured, “It’s not the same.”
It wasn’t until that day when Second Brother looked at him without hostility—his eyes filled only with affection and favoritism for a younger brother—that Xie Jinyu finally realized Consort Hua might have been right.
That person… was fundamentally not his Second Brother.
His real Second Brother would never avoid or detest him without reason. If Second Brother ever grew displeased with him, he would frankly say so and find ways to resolve their conflicts—unlike that imposter who only grew increasingly hostile and targeted him.
He had always told himself, “The master would not speak of ghosts and gods,” believing this world held neither demons nor immortals, much less deities.
But when Second Brother once again revealed that clear, radiant smile, he finally understood: perhaps this world truly contained strange arts beyond his knowledge—methods that could allow a wandering ghost to seize his Second Brother’s body.
If this were truly the case…
Then ten years of companionship had all become empty delusion.