Chapter 0254: Father Was Willing, I Am His Legacy
Xie Chengze trembled violently, his gaze filled with shock and fury as he stared at Xie Jinyu.
“Why?”
“Why?”
Xie Jinyu repeated the question softly, then let out a light laugh, unable to conceal the madness in his tone. “Because I hate him.”
He hated him for turning a blind eye to the abuse Cao Qingran suffered. He hated that despite having endured similar treatment in his own childhood, he heartlessly inflicted the same upon him. He hated that while hoping he would have the ability to protect Second Brother, he still pushed Second Brother into the arms of others.
He was anxious, he was uneasy. It was only because the soul within Second Brother might not be Second Brother’s that he tolerated Emperor Jian remaining on the throne and endured being unable to monopolize Second Brother’s attention.
But this lifetime was different.
Second Brother had returned, and he could no longer wait to seize that position, to lock Second Brother by his side forever, ensuring he would never leave again.
He could not bear to see his father using imperial power to arrange marriages and concubines for Second Brother.
He could not bear to see his father using imperial power to repeatedly send Second Brother on missions away from the capital, while keeping Xie Zimiao and Shen Yuan by his side.
He could not bear to see his father using imperial power to shamelessly monopolize Second Brother, dumping all state affairs onto him.Clearly, he had deliberately allowed his childhood self to be saved by Second Brother, yet now he feared his own emotions would harm Second Brother, attempting to let others have him and protect him.
He deserved to die.
This was what he owed him.
Xie Jinyu had never experienced paternal love. All of Emperor Jian’s fatherly affection was given to Second Brother. To him, Emperor Jian was merely a tutor assigning him court duties—there was no father-son bond between them.
Naturally, he could be ruthless.
“Smack—!”
A heavy slap landed on his left cheek. Xie Chengze, eyes red, roared in anger, “Xie Jinyu! Have you gone mad? How could you do this?!”
Xie Jinyu began to laugh, at first intermittently like testing strings, then freely, throwing his head back in hearty laughter. He gripped the young man’s wrist tightly, his gaze deranged and morbid. “Yes, I’ve been mad for a long time.”
But was he wrong?
No one loved him—not his father, not his mother. The only one who had loved him, Second Brother, was dead.
Even this Second Brother standing before him had changed, no longer doting on him unconditionally as he had in childhood.
But he did not blame him, for he himself had changed too—become ugly and vile, unworthy of Second Brother’s affection.
So his demands were very, very small: as long as Second Brother had returned, as long as Second Brother would stay by his side from now on.
He could no longer bear the pain of losing him.
“Second Brother, don’t resent me.” He slowly rose, his strength so great that he dragged Xie Chengze onto the bed, pressing a hand against his neck to keep him from getting up. “Father was willing.”
“A martial artist—how could he not notice the poison spreading? He could have stopped drinking the tea I handed him after detecting it, but he didn’t.”
“He knew he owed me, and he knew his lung disease and migraines wouldn’t let him live much longer. So he chose this way to atone, hoping I would protect you in the future.”
Xie Jinyu met Xie Chengze’s eyes without a trace of remorse. “You’re so angry precisely because Father was good to you, aren’t you? He gathered all the treasures and luxuries of the world for you, let you wield power in the court. I can do that too—I can even do it better than he did.”
“I am the legacy he left for you!”
“So, Second Brother, there’s no need for you to hate me.”
Tears welled up in Xie Chengze’s eyes as he roared, “His Majesty may be willing, but I am not!”
Since the Emperor was willing to take poison and end his own life, naturally he would also be willing to abdicate and yield to a worthy successor. The throne would still belong to Xie Jinyu, who could do as he pleased. So why did he have to resort to poison?
Xie Jinyu lowered his gaze, staring into Xie Chengze’s eyes brimming with fury. “What’s done is done.”
At nineteen, Xie Jinyu was too young and impulsive, his heart filled with pent-up resentment and anger with no outlet, which led to this catastrophic mistake.
If he had arrived earlier, he would never have chosen such a childish method. Now, he could only make the best of a bad situation and try to make his second brother hate him less.
Hatred was no different from loss.
“And what about Shen Yuan?” Xie Chengze looked at him with grief-stricken eyes. “Second Brother accompanied you for five years, but Shen Yuan stayed by your side for a full decade—offering strategies, shielding you from arrows, and fighting your battles. How could you bear to kill him?!”
“He did it for the common people. What does that have to do with me?”
Xie Jinyu’s expression turned mocking. “If the one in Yu Fu Palace had been willing to support Xie Zimiao or back Xie Shoujun, do you really think Shen Yuan would have chosen me?”
Shen Yuan was consumed by grand ideals. His heart held only the common people and a vision of a peaceful, prosperous era.
For that, he had persisted in his mistaken course, killing the only person who gave his second brother the will to live.
Xie Jinyu could only think that Shen Yuan had died too easily.
Xie Chengze had nothing more to say. He turned his head away, refusing to meet Xie Jinyu’s gaze, unable to comprehend how things had spiraled to this point.
Where had it all gone wrong?
Was it when he crossed over, or even earlier?
Seeing Xie Chengze fall silent, Xie Jinyu’s eyes darkened slightly. He reached out to gently wipe the tears from Xie Chengze’s face, but the other man turned away to avoid his touch.
His tone softened involuntarily. “Second Brother, don’t hate me…”
“You loved me most when we were children, didn’t you?” He knew exactly where the young man’s weaknesses lay. Untying his robe to reveal the crisscrossing whip scars on his body, he feigned vulnerability. “No one loves me except you, Second Brother… You’re all I have left…”
“Don’t let me become an unloved wretch.”
Xie Chengze opened his mouth, then bit his lip and sealed it shut.
What could he say?
That he wasn’t really his second brother? That the one who cared for him as a child wasn’t him at all?
That would be like testing his own mortality or handing his captor the scissors to clip his wings of freedom.
“Get off me,” he said as coldly as he could manage. “You’re crushing me.”
Xie Jinyu paused, as if gauging whether the young man would flee the moment he rose. In the end, he tightly grasped Xie Chengze’s wrist and pulled him up to sit together.
Xie Chengze tried to tug his hand back but couldn’t break free.
A wave of regret washed over him—he shouldn’t have let his anger drive him to verify whether Xie Jinyu had also been reborn.
But how had he been reborn?
It sounded like a deliberate act.
What did he know? Did he also know how to return to the modern era?
If only…
Xie Chengze’s mind raced, completely unaware that Xie Jinyu was scrutinizing his every expression. Those deep, dark eyes seemed to see right through him.
By the time Xie Chengze realized how unusually quiet Xie Jinyu had become, the elegant young man had shed all traces of his earlier irritability and hostility, fully reverting to the nineteen-year-old Xie Jinyu. Leaning his head dependently on Xie Chengze’s shoulder, he murmured, “Second Brother…”
“Stay by my side forever from now on, won’t you?”
The submissive appearance was so well-behaved that Xie Chengze couldn’t resist testing his luck at the edge of danger. “Jinyu, your second brother is human and has the right to freedom.”
The gentle, obedient kitten instantly unsheathed sharp claws from its paws, its body swelling into a massive tiger’s frame. The formerly delicate feline teeth transformed into savage fangs capable of easily tearing through a prey’s throat. With a low, panting breath, the tone brimmed with threat.
“Then I can only apologize to Second Brother.”