Chapter 0227: The Prince Regent of Both Virtue and Talent, an Unprecedented Publicity Campaign

After leaving the palace, Sheng Shihai boarded his carriage back to his residence. From a trusted subordinate who had come to deliver a message, he learned that the answers to the Yi Province flood examination question had been completely leaked. Many candidates who had painfully spent silver to purchase the answers now wanted refunds, but the woman who had distributed the answers had long since vanished into the streets, making finding her as difficult as fishing for a needle in the ocean.

“Sir, I heard it was leaked from the circle of esteemed daughters in the capital. They overheard the solution at the Peach Blossom Banquet, said to be the work of a woman named Shen Yuanyuan, and she seems to have a very close relationship with Shen Yuan.”

Shen Yuanyuan?

Sheng Shihai raised an eyebrow.

“Sir, could this affect…” the messenger asked, “our plans?”

“It’s fine.” Sheng Shihai said indifferently. The reason he had leaked the Yi Province flood examination question was merely inspired by Xie Chengze, realizing that women from the common folk could also be utilized. Thus, he had tried to explore a new transaction channel through them.

If he truly wanted to amass wealth by leaking examination questions, he wouldn’t have sold the answers at such a low price to so many people.

“Go and arrange to build momentum for the Prince Regent. Spread his achievements in Yi Province and Liaozhou, and guide the discussions among the candidates,” Sheng Shihai instructed.

During the Spring Examination period, it was the best season to harvest reputation. If they wanted to ensure Xie Chengze’s ascension to the throne with greater certainty, his fame among the candidates must surpass that of the Crown Prince.

The common people didn’t really care who the emperor was, as long as they could have enough to eat. But the candidates were different—they would nitpick the emperor’s literary and military strategies. If the emperor was mediocre and tyrannical, he wouldn’t be able to attract talented candidates to serve him loyally, and the court would be filled with incompetent officials, which was clearly detrimental to the dynasty.

The better the emperor’s reputation, the more it would attract ambitious individuals to serve as officials. Therefore, Sheng Shihai had to create publicity for Xie Chengze, steering the candidates’ opinions toward him and ensuring Xie Chengze could ascend the throne legitimately.

Unexpectedly, the subordinate said, “Well… Sir, someone has already taken action.”

“Hmm?” Sheng Shihai looked up, seeming not to understand his words.

The subordinate fell into a subtle silence, then lifted the carriage curtain. “Sir, you’d better see for yourself.”

Sheng Shihai turned his gaze outside the carriage. As the carriage entered the city streets, he was surprised to find that many shops and inns along the street, and even in the air, had hung long, wide red banners at some point. These banners were prominently inscribed with large characters in ink, attracting the attention of passersby and candidates on the street, who stopped to look.

He couldn’t help but read them softly.

“The galaxy is scorching, you are the ideal of this world; the bright moon is cool, you are the dawn of humanity. Ask who you are—the Prince Regent of both virtue and talent.”

“Blossom honey is a bit sweet, but not loving the Second Prince is a bit risky.”

“Unparalleled in wisdom and courage is the privilege of the Prince Regent; falling in love with the Prince Regent is your instinct…”

“Once you fall for the Second Prince, your life is over. You’ll belong to the Second Prince for life. Knowing the Second Prince’s goodness early on, you’ll never see anyone else as worthy again. Your life will be elevated to an unreachable height, saving you at least twenty years of detours…”

Sheng Shihai: …

Sheng Shihai silently closed the carriage curtain, unsure whether to wash his eyes first or his mouth.

Hmm, that sounds exactly like something Xie Chengze would do.

Sheng Shihai couldn’t understand how that walnut-sized brain of Xie Chengze’s managed to conceive… such an bizarre method of building momentum?

It was truly unprecedented in history.

“My lord, should we add more fuel to the fire?” his trusted aide cautiously inquired.

“…” Sheng Shihai rubbed his temples. “No need. Have you found the formula for the explosive?”

“Not yet. We’ve searched everywhere in Cheng Huan Palace, except for the bedchamber that no one can approach.”

“The bedchamber…” Sheng Shihai pondered briefly before saying, “Send the Crown Prince to search for it. Since he wants evidence of how his mother was forced to commit suicide back then, he’ll have to exchange it for the explosive formula.”

“Yes.”

After the trusted aide withdrew, Sheng Shihai lowered his gaze, gently rubbing the jade ring on his thumb, lost in thought.

After a long while, he suddenly snapped back to reality.

Should he send someone to prepare dragon robes for Xie Chengze?

…

“Oh, that… No problem. We’ll just have dragon robes made for you, Ze’er!”

In the Imperial Study, Emperor Jian said cheerfully while watching the restless Xie Chengze. “Since you’re worried the Crown Prince no longer wants to become emperor, I’ll immediately send someone to take your measurements for dragon robes. This way, when the Cao family hears the news, they’ll inevitably pressure the Crown Prince to deal with you.”

Xie Chengze: …?

What robes? Have you gone mad!

“Isn’t there any more diplomatic approach?” Dragon robes were always a sensitive matter. Xie Chengze felt that if they weren’t meant for the legitimate Son of Heaven, they’d become a death warrant.

Moreover, how could Emperor Jian come up with such a method? Wasn’t it too radical!

“I find it quite diplomatic,” Emperor Jian stroked his chin.

“But…” Xie Chengze hesitated. What if the Cao family overreacted and decided to force their way into the palace directly?

“Ah, you…” Seeing how foolish he appeared, Emperor Jian sighed helplessly and turned to Eunuch Zhao. “Go to the Imperial Wardrobe and announce that I intend to prepare dragon robes for the new emperor. Then secretly give Ze’er’s measurements to the wardrobe supervisor. Tell him to make the robes approximate these measurements—not too similar, yet not too different.”

Creating dragon robes was no trivial matter. The Cao family would inevitably learn of it, and given their suspicious nature, they would certainly assume the emperor had chosen the Second Prince as the new emperor.

The Second Prince was the whetstone for the Crown Prince, but in the Cao family’s eyes, the Crown Prince was equally the whetstone for the Second Prince. Emperor Jian had always doted on the favored consort’s son. Had the Crown Prince not been faultless and the consort not fallen ill and passed away, it was uncertain who would have held the crown prince position.

Now that the Second Prince was revealing his talents, even shining brilliantly, the Cao family would naturally assume Emperor Jian was planning to pave the way for the Second Prince.

Just as Xie Chengze was thinking this was moving too fast, Emperor Jian suddenly patted his head.

He looked up and met Emperor Jian’s affectionate gaze.

“Ze’er,” the emperor said softly, with a barely detectable note of reluctance in his voice. “Promise your father that you will live a very, very long life—longer than your father.”

Xie Chengze was taken aback.

“Why say that so suddenly?” he asked, not understanding. While everyone wanted to live long, being specifically asked to do so by Emperor Jian felt strange.

How long he lived wasn’t something he could decide anyway.

Emperor Jian withdrew his hand, his expression returning to normal as he declared righteously, “Your late father feared you’d descend too soon, disturbing the time he spent with your mother. He also worried your mother would learn too early about your lust for men, leaving no heir, and then blame it on your father!”

Xie Chengze: …

Who’s lusting after men here! Don’t falsely accuse people! I’ve already said the truth isn’t what you think!

After Xie Chengze left the Imperial Study, Emperor Jian finally couldn’t suppress violent coughs. With three light taps of his fingers on his chest, a mouthful of bright red blood mixed with vomit sprayed from his throat onto the floor.

His vision swam with dizziness and darkness, blurring once again. Rubbing his aching temple, he sighed softly.

“Karmic retribution…”