Chapter 0026: The Second Prince Covets the Throne, Xie Chengze Aspires to Ascend

Upon arriving at the governor’s office, Xie Chengze’s first order of business was to inspect the silver vault.

Liang Wan Da had long been prepared. Even though the vault contained only a few chests of silver, he declared without a hint of shame, “Nearly half of the 102 counties in Yi Province have suffered from floods. The closer they are to the middle reaches of the Min River, the more severe the damage. Once the silver is distributed, there’s hardly any left. In fact, I’ve even had to dip into my own pockets.”

Xie Chengze shot him a glance.

Although over half of Yi Province’s counties were affected, the 300,000 taels of silver allocated by the imperial court were primarily intended for the severely afflicted counties and the reconstruction of the Jiangdi. The lightly affected counties could manage on their own and didn’t require relief funds.

But Xie Chengze couldn’t care less.

He said to Liang Wan Da, “This prince trusts in Governor Liang’s capabilities to handle the relief efforts properly. You may proceed as you see fit from here on.”

“Your humble official will not fail Your Highness’s trust!” Liang Wan Da promptly bowed, though a flicker of understanding and disdain passed through his eyes.

He had figured it out: this Second Prince was merely here for a gilded experience. Once the Yi Province matter was resolved, he could claim all the credit and return to the capital to report to the Emperor.

He quite liked dealing with such an easily fooled figure. If it were anyone else, they might have inspected the grain reserves first.

“This prince will take his leave now. Governor, attend to your duties.” Xie Chengze waved a hand and sauntered lazily out of the silver vault.

He was only here for appearances. As for checking the granaries or such tasks—wasn’t there a perfectly good unpaid laborer for that?

No need for him to bother~

“Farewell, Your Highness!” Liang Wan Da hurriedly bowed deeply in send-off. After Xie Chengze departed, he couldn’t help but stroke his beard and chuckle, pleased and satisfied with how easily duped the prince was.

“What has Governor Liang so amused?”

Startled by the sudden voice beside him, Liang Wan Da turned to see Shen Yuan, who had accompanied the two princes to oversee the relief efforts.

He had already inquired about this Shen Yuan: grandson of the retired Shen Taifu, appointed as a Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites due to the Emperor’s favor, and now additionally serving as Shumishi to supervise here—a genuine newcomer to officialdom.

Newcomers were even easier to manipulate. Liang Wan Da didn’t regard him highly at all, but he still maintained a facade of courtesy. “This humble official was merely thinking how fortunate the people of Yi Province are to have a prince like the Second Prince, who cares so deeply for his subjects!”

Shen Yuan let out a derisive snort.

Hearing the mockery in that laugh, Liang Wan Da looked at the young Shumishi.

Could it be that this Lord Shen was at odds with the Second Prince?

As Liang Wan Da pondered, Shen Yuan said coolly, “This official is here by imperial decree to oversee the relief efforts. Judging by the current silver count in the vault, it seems Governor Liang has already distributed the relief funds and recorded the allocations to each county. I request that Governor Liang produce the account books for my review.”

Liang Wan Da smiled. “Of course, Lord Shen. Please wait a moment.”

Youth truly was youth. Even with a heart full of passion to benefit the people, understanding the intricacies of officialdom was no simple matter.

What could account books possibly reveal? It wasn’t as if he would take the books and verify them county by county, was he?

No one would undertake such thankless labor.

Liang Wan Da quickly fetched the account books and handed them to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan skimmed through the ledger briefly. Since the disaster relief funds exceeded the previous lifetime’s amount by one hundred thousand taels, the records showed some fluctuations. However, there was no doubt that everything recorded in this ledger was fabricated.

Excellent. As long as Liang Wan Da had still embezzled the funds, he could gather evidence and shatter Xie Chengze’s dream of ascending the throne.

Shen Yuan tucked the ledger into his robe. These ledgers all had duplicates, so taking one posed no issue. Still, to lower Liang Wan Da’s guard, Shen Yuan remarked, “Hmm, nothing seems amiss.”

Liang Wan Da immediately broke into a smile. “Naturally, this humble official would never dare engage in such corrupt and unlawful practices.”

“Let’s proceed to inspect the granaries,” Shen Yuan said, turning to exit the silver bureau with a detached tone.

Liang Wan Da: …

The Second Prince didn’t even bother checking the granaries—what’s a newcomer like you trying to prove? Acting smarter than the Second Prince?

But even if he looked, he’d surely find nothing unusual. Liang Wan Da hurried after Shen Yuan, wearing a meaningful smile. “This humble official will lead the way. Please follow me, sir.”

…

That night.

After bathing and changing, Xie Chengze sat with his ink-black hair cascading like a waterfall, delicate tips dripping water droplets that bloomed into translucent pear blossom patterns on his snow-white inner robe.

Seated at his desk, he clutched an unwieldy thin brush, struggling to scrawl on hemp paper. Suddenly, the candlelight flickered as a dark figure materialized beside the desk, handing him a letter.

Wuhen: “A letter from His Majesty. Delivered by urgent courier.”

Xie Chengze: ?

What does the old man want, writing to me? And with such urgency? He didn’t recall any major palace affairs at this time.

Puzzled, Xie Chengze opened the letter. After a quick glance, his young face twitched with exasperation.

The letter roughly read: My son, since your departure, I’ve missed you dearly. Recently, the court encountered such-and-such matters, blah blah blah… What are your thoughts, my son?

My thoughts? What thoughts could I possibly have? All I see is the Jian’an Dynasty heading toward utter darkness!

You’re the emperor! Solve your own problems instead of sending urgent letters across vast distances to ask me! Are you insane?!

Xie Chengze directly wrote his reply on the back of the letter: Busy! Ask the Crown Prince! Balding—do not disturb!

Having never practiced calligraphy, his handwriting appeared particularly ferocious, perfectly mirroring his helpless fury.

Surely Emperor Jian would understand the sentiment.

Satisfied, Xie Chengze sealed the letter and handed it to Wuhen. “Send it back.”

As the candle flame wavered, Wuhen vanished into the shadows. Moments later, a bluish-white figure slipped through the window. Wuji, absent for over a month, knelt on one knee beside the desk and produced a ledger from his robe. “Your Highness, the item you requested.”

Xie Chengze set down his brush and flipped through the ledger.

After a long pause, he sighed.

“If I don’t claim the throne, it’d be a waste of top-tier assets like you and Wuhen,” Xie Chengze couldn’t help musing aloud.

Wuji tilted his head. “Your Highness wishes to reign? Should this subordinate return and behead Emperor Jian?”

“No, no! Absolutely not! That’s completely unnecessary!” Xie Chengze hastily declined. “I was just thinking out loud. Only a brain-dead fool would want to be emperor!”

Far away, Emperor Jian: ?

Xie Chengze maintained that he only wanted to preserve his current leisurely life. His visit to Yi Province wasn’t for political achievements—he simply feared Shen Yuan and the Crown Prince joining forces. If they teamed up to marginalize him, his comfortable days would be over.

Emperor Jian would eventually pass away from illness. If Xie Chengze wanted to maintain his life of luxury and avoid being purged by the reborn Shen Yuan, he had to keep a low profile—avoid provoking corrupt officials while winning over honest ones, leaving Shen Yuan no justification to take action against him!

That stubborn traditionalist couldn’t kill him without evidence!

Hmph!

What a clever fellow he was!

Xie Chengze continued burying himself in the sketches on his desk. Wuji knelt behind him, meticulously drying his damp hair. Out of curiosity, Wuji stole a glance but was utterly bewildered by the scribbles.

His Highness’s drawing skills… truly showed no improvement at all.

“Your Highness, what is this?” Wuji asked.

Xie Chengze set down his final brushstroke, held the paper up to the candlelight to admire it, and revealed an inscrutable smile. “This… is something that can lead to immortality!”

Wuji: ?

No wonder His Highness had no interest in being emperor—he had found a path to immortality instead.

Wuji studied the painting with a slightly solemn expression. Unfortunately, even after staring at it for a long time, he still couldn’t grasp its profound meaning.

It seemed he lacked the aptitude for immortality… Unacceptable. He would have to ask Wuhen if he could understand it when he returned.