Chapter 0243: Taking Sides with Xie Shoujun, Unflappable Xie Chengze
As the words fell, within the imperial guards, some suddenly tied red cloth strips around their arms, turning their blades—originally aimed at Xie Chengze and others—toward their fellow soldiers.
Cao Qingran’s face instantly changed. Realizing these were the elite troops under the Crown Prince’s command, he couldn’t help but roar angrily, “Xie Shoujun!”
“No need to raise your voice so, Mother.”
From among the imperial guards, Xie Shoujun, clad in a dark imperial guard uniform, slowly stepped forward. His handsome, steady face carried a trace of the grim, blood-soaked aura from the battlefield, all former gentleness gone, revealing the true demeanor of a war god.
A general who had fought the Xiongnu for ten years, a warrior who could battle wolves single-handedly—how could such a man be pure-hearted and kind?
Forced to face bloody and terrifying scenes at a young age during his first time leaving the palace, the young son practiced martial arts and spear skills day and night to survive, fearing he would die on the battlefield and never return to avenge his mother.
Over those ten years at the border, the psychological trauma of war gradually washed away the hatred from his mother’s suicide in his childhood. He had wavered, felt lost, grown numb—the reasons to keep fighting changed again and again.
From avenging his mother, to protecting the people of Jian’an; from wanting to see his second royal brother again, to merely surviving for survival’s sake, and finally to living to protect the soldiers under his command.
Until he left the battlefield.
Returning to the long-awaited palace, he watched officials scheme and plot in the Golden Luan Hall, saw those who feared him disband and reassign his elite troops far away. He thought of the court’s neglect of the border armies over the years, how his own troops nearly starved to death on their journey back to the capital…
He remembered how the Crown Prince had personally schemed to send him to the border.
How could he not resent it?
The palace had long become a pool of filthy black water, everyone covered in mud—except for that one white lotus, unstained by the filth.
He thought, why should the throne be occupied by the Xie and Cao families?
He commanded heavy troops; with or without the military tally, his elite soldiers were willing to follow his orders. Emperor Jian’s wariness was not unfounded—he truly had the intention to disrupt the court’s peace.
Every debt owed to him in the past, he would collect one by one.
If they wanted to fight, let them fight more. In the end, wouldn’t they still need his support?
Who would become emperor—he would have the final say.
And now, the man had chosen to stand by Xie Chengze’s side.
Not just because of their childhood bond—ten years could fade many things, including that warmth in his heart. But the young man had saved his soldiers, skated with wild joy and vitality on the ice, his smile as pure as a child’s, his heart simple and kind, making him willing to protect this hard-won purity.
Those who walk in darkness always yearn for that touch of white.
Xie Shoujun gently patted Xie Chengze’s head. Beneath such a murderous aura, a trace of tenderness unique to the young man was unmistakable. “Don’t be afraid. Your big brother is here.”
Then, he cast a cold glance at Sheng Shihai. “We’ll settle this score with you later.”
He was referring to the debt of Sheng Shihai stabbing Xie Chengze.
Sheng Shihai shrugged, moving the dagger away from Xie Chengze’s neck while quipping, “Your Highness is more precious than I thought.”
Not only under the Crown Prince’s protection, but even the Crown Prince was willing to stand by his side.
He really hadn’t guessed wrong.
Sheng Shihai was no fool.
He had long coveted the throne and had been entrenched in the court for many years—how could he be intimately familiar with every minister yet overlook the Second Prince?
Moreover, the Second Prince was an excellent candidate for a puppet.
So how could he have failed to notice the sudden change in the Second Prince?
Even if this Second Prince still acted recklessly and spouted arrogant words, the difference was undeniable. The Second Prince was truly mediocre—a mediocrity that those with innate wisdom could never feign. One had arrogant eyes yet concealed deeply ingrained inferiority, while the other had proud eyes brimming with unshakable confidence, like a newborn calf unafraid of anything. There was not a trace of the inferiority that comes from mediocrity.
And Xie Jinyu’s shifting gaze toward the Second Prince was even harder to ignore.
It was as if he had recovered a long-lost treasure, or like his own covetousness for the throne—believing it rightfully belonged to him.
He understood this look all too well; no matter how deeply hidden, he could empathize with it.
Xie Jinyu’s weakness was none other than the current Xie Chengze.
Although Sheng Shihai did not know why Xie Chengze’s temperament had changed so drastically or whether he had been replaced, it didn’t matter.
The throne was what mattered most.
As long as he controlled Xie Chengze, Xie Jinyu was hardly a threat.
Sheng Shihai considered Crown Prince Xie Jinyu a failure—how could an emperor afford to have a weakness?
This was a grave taboo.
The situation in the palace had shifted dramatically. The imperial guards, long stationed in Jingcheng, were no match for the elite soldiers tempered in the blood of battle, especially with the sounds of clashing armies echoing from outside. Before long, another troop of soldiers stormed into the Hall of Mental Cultivation, led by Da Dangjia, Er Dangjia, and Gu Ying.
Da Dangjia had brought the brothers of Qianjin Zhai. Striding over to Xie Chengze, he threw an arm around his shoulder and declared boldly, “Nephew! I’m here to help you! The imperial guards outside have been taken care of by us and those bandit soldiers from Liaozhou!”
Hearing this, Cao Qingran’s expression darkened further, while Sheng Shihai had already turned the tables, throwing Cao Qingran’s earlier words back at her.
“Seize the Crown Prince’s faction!”
“Protect the Crown Prince and the Empress!” Seeing the situation deteriorate, Cao Que immediately drew his sword, positioning himself beside Xie Jinyu and Cao Qingran, and ordered the surrounding imperial guards to resist Xie Shoujun’s elite troops.
Xie Chengze quickly patted Sheng Shihai, urging him, “Hurry! Go kill Xie Jinyu! Big brother, you go too!”
Just as Sheng Shihai was about to refuse, Xie Shoujun grabbed his arm and pulled him, dragging him in the direction the Crown Prince had fled.
Sheng Shihai: …
Xie Chengze waved his hand, wearing an expression of complete trust. “Go with confidence! Wuhen and Wuji will protect me!”
Then he rushed toward his ministers with a look of self-sacrifice. “My dear ministers! Stay close to me! I have experts protecting me! Don’t get accidentally injured—I’d be heartbroken if even one of you were hurt, OK?”
The ministers were deeply moved by his words.
They had truly chosen the right side! Although the Prince Regent was occasionally unreliable, he genuinely cared for his ministers like his own children!
Trembling, the ministers surged toward Xie Chengze.
In the courtyard of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, the two sides clashed. Soldiers’ blood splattered across the red pillars and windows like an artist’s expressive ink splashes. From time to time, soldiers wailed and fell, clutching their bleeding throats as they convulsed before ceasing to breathe.
Many ministers were so terrified that their faces turned green and pale. Having long resided in high halls, some had never witnessed such a scene before and immediately bent over to vomit.
The merit of protecting the dragon is not so easily obtained—it requires not only risking one’s life but also enduring the urge to retch.
Yet, looking at the Prince Regent, he remained completely composed, exuding the demeanor of one who could ascend to the Dragon Throne, unshaken by the chaos around him.