Chapter 0283: The Calligraphy of Extreme Reversal, Shen Yuan in June Weather
When it was time for Xie Chengze to return indoors after sunbathing, Xie Jinyu was still asleep and hadn’t woken up. Wuji was about to toss him out directly when Xie Chengze raised his hand to stop her.
“Let him sleep a while longer.”
Wuji pursed her lips and muttered, “Your Highness, you’re just spoiling him.”
Xie Chengze beckoned and patted his other thigh.
Wuji immediately beamed with joy, trotted to the other side of the chaise lounge, and gently rested her head on it.
When Wuhen returned from washing clothes in the backyard and saw these two shameless individuals, her vision went dark. She stepped forward, grabbed both by the collars, and dragged them out directly.
Xie Chengze didn’t dare interfere in the slightest. Unlike Wuji who was easily fooled, if he told Wuhen not to disturb their sleep, she would directly remove her black eye mask and stare at him with extremely wounded puppy-dog eyes until he had no choice but to reluctantly and heartlessly wake the two.
If that tactic didn’t work, Wuhen would go straight to Shen Yuan to tattle.
Xie Chengze couldn’t risk letting Shen Yuan know he was giving Xie Jinyu special treatment. After all, Shen Yuan was an old stickler for rules. If he found out, he’d inevitably lecture him, and if he got emotional enough to start shedding tears, that would be disastrous.
Xie Chengze was completely vulnerable to tears.
He was someone who yielded to soft approaches but resisted hard ones.
Though, if the other party was too too too tough, he might yield anyway.
After all, a wise man knows better than to fight when the odds are against him~
Xie Chengze remained bedridden for another seven or eight days. The bone-regeneration medicine brought by San Niang was truly effective, and he was soon able to get up and move about.
Upon learning that Da Dangjia had traded his future happiness for the bone-regeneration medicine, Xie Chengze was deeply moved. With a grand gesture, he decided to personally inscribe three characters for Da Dangjia—”Qianjin Zhai”—so he could select a hill in Jingcheng to build a stronghold, developing it into a famous bandit fortress attraction for local tourists to enjoy ultimate kidnapping experiences, rent furry bandit coats, and pay for commemorative portraits.
Oh, what a genius he was.
When Da Dangjia and Er Dangjia heard Xie Chengze would provide the inscription, they gleefully brought paper, fantasizing about how much private savings they could earn once the Qianjin Zhai experience shop opened.
But when the three characters were completed, their fantasies shattered.
They felt they couldn’t afford the embarrassment.
Weren’t scholars’ calligraphy supposed to be elegant?!
They clearly thought their junior apprentice-brother’s son was much smarter than those scholars, so why was his handwriting so appalling, even worse than that of a beginner student?
Could this be the principle of extremes meeting?
Clutching the paper in silence, Da Dangjia and Er Dangjia listened to their junior apprentice-brother’s son enthusiastically explain how to develop Jingcheng’s tourism industry, privately deciding to just humor him for now.
This private savings money wasn’t absolutely necessary anyway.
Noticing Da Dangjia and Er Dangjia’s reluctance, Xie Chengze couldn’t help but pout.
They didn’t understand marketing! They simply didn’t understand marketing!
In a Jingcheng filled with exquisite literati brushwork, a shabby, wild-style stronghold experience shop with a signboard so ugly countless scholars would be compelled to ridicule it—how uniquely nonconformist and one-of-a-kind it would be!
Then, they could subtly release a few scholar plants who would adopt a condescending attitude to offer some criticism, then bring out paper and personally inscribe calligraphy for them. This would absolutely trigger a wave of imitation among literati, gradually evolving into a competition, ultimately becoming a must-visit check-in spot for all scholars and students coming to the capital.
This is the true way of marketing!
If the Prince Regent himself were to personally step in and praise the scholars with good handwriting, that would be the ultimate move!
It’s just a pity that the Prince Regent had kicked the bucket in the fire.
Xie Chengze, the Prince Regent himself, felt a slight pang of regret.
After resting for another two days, the Empress sent someone from Jingcheng to urge Xie Jinyu to return and prepare for the ascension to the throne.
Over the past few days, Shen Yuan had been discussing the Pingcheng earthquake with Xie Jinyu. Xie Jinyu clearly had no interest in handling court affairs, but with Shen Yuan’s remark that Xie Chengze wanted to manage it, Xie Jinyu had no choice but to suppress his irritation and discuss the relocation of citizens affected by the earthquake with him.
When urged by the Empress to return to the capital, Xie Jinyu insisted on taking Shen Yuan along, unwilling to leave him alone with his second brother. He also left his trusted aides behind to ensure Xie Chengze wouldn’t sneak away again.
Before setting off, Shen Yuan went to bid farewell to Xie Chengze, earnestly instructing Wuhen and Wuji to keep a close watch on him, not allowing him to worry about court affairs or teaching plans, and to ensure he rested and recovered properly at the county office.
He also reminded Zhu Xiaobiao to carefully monitor the preparation of medicine, to test it before feeding it to Xie Chengze, to allow him some pastries but not too many, and strictly forbade Xie Chengze from secretly eating spicy food—even if he pretended to be pitiful and shed tears.
After giving all these instructions, he still felt like he had forgotten something.
After pondering for a moment, Shen Yuan finally realized what was amiss. He looked around and asked, “Where’s Hu Lai?”
Why did it feel like he hadn’t seen him for several days?
Lying on the reclining chair, Xie Chengze guiltily averted his gaze to the sky.
Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes, leaned down right in front of Xie Chengze’s face, and looked at him with deep suspicion. “Did you send him to Pingcheng?”
The man’s expression darkened, clearly angry. “Xie Chengze, you’re not behaving.”
Xie Chengze rubbed his nose. “No, really, I swear, I’m not lying to you.”
He really hadn’t sent Hu Lai to Pingcheng—at least not yet.
“Then where did he go?” Shen Yuan grasped his hand, his demeanor tinged with an unshakable sense of restlessness and anxiety, as well as a helplessness at his own inability to stay angry at the disobedient Xie Chengze. “Tell me, I’ll listen before I leave.”
Xie Chengze couldn’t stand him like this—it was like dealing with a wronged little wife, so endearing it made him want to pinch him.
In fact, he did just that, delightedly pinching Shen Yuan’s cheeks and tugging at his skin, laughing at the distorted expression he caused. Then, under the man’s increasingly intense gaze, he quickly explained, “Alright, I was just thinking that Sheng Shihai, as the Salt and Iron Commissioner, must have embezzled a lot of silver, so I sent Hu Lai…”
He hesitated for a moment, then said sheepishly, “To, um, sneak into their hideout and, ahem, get some silver to spend before you guys confiscate everything.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Yuan fell silent for a moment.
Clearly, he hadn’t expected that Xie Chengze had sent Hu Lai out for such sneaky, underhanded business.
“You won’t tell Jinyu, right?” Xie Chengze blinked, shaking Shen Yuan’s arm coquettishly. “I promise, just this once! From now on I’ll be completely upright and never engage in underhanded methods again!”
Shen Yuan couldn’t help but laugh, then straightened his expression and said seriously, “Well, this subject will turn a blind eye just this once.”
Xie Chengze was rather surprised. After all, in his mind, Shen Yuan was still an old stickler who couldn’t stand people cutting corners. He had expected to be lectured about not lowering his moral standards, never thinking Shen Yuan would give in so easily.
This actually made Xie Chengze feel somewhat embarrassed.
“I’ll use the silver for the common people,” Xie Chengze promised.
Unexpectedly, Shen Yuan’s expression instantly darkened.
“Just use it yourself,” the man suddenly looked displeased again, his mood shifting as unpredictably as June weather. “Stop worrying so much about the common people.”
Xie Chengze: “…”
Xie Chengze couldn’t help but feel somewhat distressed.
He felt Shen Yuan had changed, no longer putting the common people first.
It was one thing for the future ruler to be unwilling to handle court affairs – after all, the other’s mental state wasn’t quite normal at the moment, which was somewhat understandable. But even the once righteous protagonist who had loved his people and country no longer wanted to work for the people’s welfare…
This dynasty was truly doomed.