Chapter 0005: The Wicked Second Prince, The Blushing Xie Chengze
In his previous life, Xie Chengze had committed far too many atrocities.
He was corrupt and bent the law. He embezzled from the state treasury, and he embezzled from the imperial privy purse as well. Later, he embezzled disaster relief funds, and he even embezzled military pay.
He disregarded human life. He treated the common people struggling to survive as worthless grass, and viewed the soldiers guarding the borders as expendable slaves. Later, he went so far as to persecute loyal officials, killing indiscriminately and leaving no survivors to eliminate any future threats.
He even committed treason by colluding with the enemy. To completely overthrow the Crown Prince, he began forming cliques for personal gain, intending to cut off the Crown Prince’s left and right arms. Later, he colluded with the Northern Di, causing the death of the eldest prince who guarded the borders, allowing the Northern Di to exploit the weakness and invade, bringing disaster to the people of several cities—
Day after day, he stood in the imperial court, his Scarlet Court Robe that should have been as bright as the sun instead resembled a sea of blood beneath a demon’s feet, with white bones weeping in sorrow and tragedy.
Shen Yuan had come a long way, rising from a commoner to stand in the imperial court. By the time he thrust that sword into Xie Chengze’s chest, too many innocent loyal officials had already been tragically sacrificed, and too many pitiful commoners had perished in the wilderness, with no one to seek justice for them.
How could Shen Yuan not grieve, not hate, not regret?
Since he had been given a second chance, even if it meant being crushed to pieces, he would restore peace to the world, bring clarity to the imperial court, and ensure the well-being of the common people!
What did it matter if Emperor Jian was biased? What did it matter if the Crown Prince was soft-hearted? What did it matter if corrupt officials ran rampant?
If no one dared to become Xie Chengze’s abyss, then he, Shen Yuan, would become Xie Chengze’s abyss. If no one dared to seek justice for the loyal officials and common people, then he, Shen Yuan, would seek justice for them!
With a heart of loyalty, he would pacify the troubled times; with the long sword in his hand, he would stabilize the nation!
Xie Chengze had no idea that the protagonist beside him was fervently thinking about how to tear him to pieces.
Instead, he was mischievously tattling to Emperor Jian, “Your son believes that, even though I am foolish, I know I should make a donation of silver to relieve the common people. It’s understandable that the fourth brother is too young to understand, but the third brother, as the Crown Prince, should set an example for the officials by taking the lead. He truly deserves punishment!”
Although Xie Chengze had no major flaws, he shared one particularly similar trait with the original host.
That was holding grudges and being extremely vindictive.
Since Emperor Jian was well aware that the original host’s foolish nature was prone to offending upright and incorruptible officials, leaving a tarnished reputation, yet still made him clean up the Crown Prince’s mess, he would make this biological father hoist himself with his own petard and punish his own beloved son.
At most, it would be half a year’s salary. If the Crown Prince’s residence ran out of money, it would quiet down for a while, and he could nestle in Cheng Huan Palace, lazing around and living the luxurious life of an imperial second generation.
Unexpectedly, Emperor Jian beside him laughed uproariously, tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He slapped the table and exclaimed, “Hahaha— excellent, excellent! I also think the Crown Prince deserves punishment!”
Emperor Jian was overjoyed. In the past, although Xiao Ze’er had openly and covertly belittled the Crown Prince, it was always baseless, like meaningless barking, making it obvious that he was deliberately targeting him and utterly lacking in sophistication.
But today, he was so eloquent, cleverly using the officials and common people as shields and leveraging the emperor’s words to make the Crown Prince truly suffer—
Emperor Jian grew increasingly curious about the strategist behind Xie Chengze. What kind of talent could he be?
“My little Ze’er!” Emperor Jian raised his hand and affectionately patted Xie Chengze’s empty little head, “I believe that when the Crown Prince makes a mistake, it is more serious than when ministers err. A six-month salary deduction is still too lenient. How about entrusting you with supervising next year’s Spring Examination instead?”
Xie Chengze was startled.
Wait—was this punishing the Crown Prince, or punishing him?
Before he could refuse, Shen Yuan, standing nearby, immediately stepped forward and protested, “Your Majesty! Absolutely not!”
“Oh?” Emperor Jian didn’t mind Shen Yuan’s sudden interruption, instead looking at him with interest. “Young Master Shen, what do you mean by that?”
“The Second Prince’s appearance is too strikingly beautiful, which may distract the scholars and disrupt the atmosphere in the examination hall!” Shen Yuan said coldly with lowered brows. “I beg Your Majesty to reconsider!”
Emperor Jian glanced at Xie Chengze.
Like father, like son—he knew Xie Chengze detested nothing more than being praised for his “beauty.”
It seemed his little Ze’er would hold a grudge against this Grand Tutor’s grandson.
Unexpectedly, Xie Chengze turned his clear, bright eyes toward Shen Yuan, his phoenix-shaped pupils burning intensely for a moment before he shyly asked Emperor Jian, “Father, is he praising your son for being good-looking? How embarrassingly sweet~”
Emperor Jian: ?
Shen Yuan: ?
…
Shen Yuan felt that something had gone wrong.
In his previous life, Xie Chengze had been most infuriated by comments about his beauty. After becoming sworn enemies, whenever Shen Yuan grew angry at Xie Chengze’s actions yet found himself powerless, he would use elaborate, flowery language to “praise” Xie Chengze’s feminine beauty, provoking the prince into furious outbursts.
He knew exactly where to step on Xie Chengze’s tail to cause the most pain.
But now, looking at the blushing, bashful Xie Chengze, Shen Yuan felt a chill crawl up his spine—cold and nauseating.
He grew increasingly suspicious that Xie Chengze had also been reborn. Perhaps that fatal sword thrust in the throne hall had finally sharpened Xie Chengze’s mind, teaching him to conceal his weaknesses before enemies.
He stared intently at Xie Chengze, searching for traces of his former self, but the more he looked, the more alarmed he became.
Xie Chengze… was disguising himself too perfectly.
His gaze toward Shen Yuan appeared completely natural, devoid of any vigilance or fear, as if Shen Yuan had never killed him. Shen Yuan refused to believe that someone like Xie Chengze could instantly possess such flawless acting skills after being stabbed to death.
Unless… Xie Chengze had been reborn earlier than him, possibly even returning to childhood, learning to conceal his abilities and bide his time, enabling him to catch the Crown Prince off guard today?
No, that couldn’t be. Yesterday, upon returning to the capital, he had made inquiries—Xie Chengze was supposedly still the same Xie Chengze, as domineering and impulsive as ever.
Yet Shen Yuan couldn’t rule out the possibility that this was an illusion deliberately created by Xie Chengze. After all, if he could guess that Xie Chengze might have been reborn, couldn’t Xie Chengze equally suspect the same of him?
Perhaps, at this very moment, both were testing each other.
Whoever revealed their hand first would lose.
Shen Yuan didn’t want to expose his rebirth—this was his advantage for eliminating Xie Chengze early, his lifeline for saving countless loyal subjects from Xie Chengze’s clutches. He absolutely couldn’t let Xie Chengze discover it.
Taking a soft breath, Shen Yuan raised his hands gently before his chest and spoke with sincere concern, “Your Majesty, the Spring Examination draws large and disorderly crowds. Although the scholars of our dynasty are well-educated, courteous, and possess both virtue and talent, it is inevitable that some ill-intentioned individuals might mix among them, seeking to make inappropriate remarks about the Second Prince’s appearance…”
The Jian’an Dynasty had an open social atmosphere where scholars traditionally spoke freely. Even Long Yang’s Preference was considered commonplace and could be casually discussed in conversation. For someone like Xie Chengze, whose beauty rivaled that of the Goddess of the Luo River, appearing at the examination hall would be akin to inviting slanderous gossip and willingly becoming inspiration for folk tales.
As long as Xie Chengze still cared about this matter, he would no longer insist on overseeing the Spring Examination.
Emperor Jian’s gaze, filled with theatrical interest, shifted toward Xie Chengze.