Chapter 0059: The Charming Yet Ruthless Second Prince? Poor Little Zeze Suffers from Rumors!
Having witnessed the power of the explosive, Chanyu Er’s expression changed faster than the weather. He immediately put on a smiling face and said to Prime Minister Li, “The Second Prince is truly benevolent. This prince was merely joking earlier. Of course, we must discuss peace. Let us sit down and negotiate properly!”
But inwardly, he cursed: Damn it! These Central Plains people are indeed cunning and treacherous, especially that Second Prince. Though he appears physically weak, his heart is more vicious than the most bloodthirsty Jieyu tribe on the grasslands!
He must return immediately to inform his father that this Second Prince must either align with the Gerta tribe or absolutely must not become the next emperor of the Jian’an Dynasty!
After Chanyu Er hastily departed with his envoy delegation, Prime Minister Li, who had seen them off, finally breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the stone piles to be cleared away promptly.
The wooden crate sent by His Highness the Second Prince contained only three explosive devices. One had already been used by His Majesty in Jingcheng, and the second was the one just detonated.
On the journey to the border, Prime Minister Li had pondered how to intimidate the Xiongnu into retreating. Then he suddenly recalled how during a chess game, His Majesty had praised the Second Prince’s cleverness in devising the method of burning mountains and dousing them with cold water, which could make mountain rocks extremely fragile and easy to quarry.
Thus, upon arriving at the border, he immediately ordered the large stones to be treated—heated to high temperatures and doused with cold water.
When combined with the explosive’s detonation, the power of the explosive appeared to increase dozens of times instantly.
The result was just as he had anticipated: the deterrent effect on the enemy was excellent, leaving Chanyu Er utterly stunned and bewildered.
With the Xiongnu retreating, the border troops who received the news all cheered and jubilantly shouted, “Long live the Second Prince! May he live a thousand years!”
The Grand Prince ordered a celebratory feast in the military camp. Many soldiers had heard about the explosive’s power but hadn’t witnessed it firsthand, so they gathered around those who had been present, urging them to describe the scene.
Even the Grand Prince, Xie Shoujun, joined them. At the time, the Xiongnu cavalry had been stationed on a distant hilltop. To prevent a surprise attack, he had personally led troops to form defensive arrays nearby, so he hadn’t witnessed the explosion either.
At the banquet, a young soldier with bandages wrapped around his back gestured exaggeratedly as he recounted the event.
“You have no idea—after we lit the fuse, we ran back as fast as we could. But before we could get far, there was a huge ‘BOOM!’ behind us! I was the slowest runner, and I felt this tremendous force shoving me forward. I reckon it was stronger than a martial arts master using internal energy!”
“I almost fell, but I managed to steady myself and kept running. I thought I was safe, but guess what happened next?”
“What happened?” The soldiers all leaned in, eagerly awaiting the rest.
“Then something—probably a rock blasted into the air—smacked right into my back! You wouldn’t believe how many layers of hard padding I had on my back, and I even wore our general’s armor, but it still hurt like hell! I almost thought I was going to be crippled!”
“Luckily it was just a small stone, not enough to break my bones, but I suddenly had a brilliant idea – I immediately let out an intentional scream and fell to the ground playing dead!” The young soldier wiped his nose proudly. “That scared the little Xiongnu chieftain so much he thought I’d been blown up! They immediately sued for peace!”
The soldiers burst into laughter. “What a coward! He actually fell for that!”
“But that explosive powder was truly powerful. Those who weren’t there wouldn’t know – it actually shattered stones! Can you imagine what would happen if it hit a person?” The young soldier shuddered with retrospective fear.
“I heard that explosive powder was invented by the Second Prince?” a general asked curiously. “The Second Prince has such talent?”
“Yes, Prime Minister Li said it was made by the Second Prince. He also said this gunpowder has long been used in Yi Province for blasting mountains and digging canals! Once the canals are connected, growing crops in Yi Province will become much easier. We’ll never have to worry about hunger during campaigns again!” The young soldier spoke excitedly.
“Oh! The Second Prince is actually this capable?”
“Hey~ My hometown is in Yi Province! Our land is quite fertile, but we suffer from frequent mountain floods and disasters! If this problem can really be solved, to exaggerate a bit, feeding the entire Jian’an Dynasty wouldn’t be difficult!”
“I never knew the Second Prince was so talented. I saw him when he returned to the capital before, and I originally thought he…” Another general trailed off, suddenly remembering the First Prince was nearby, and quickly changed his tone. “…thought he wasn’t suited for military matters like ours.”
Xie Shoujun, sitting among the crowd, quietly listened to their chatter while wiping his dark-tasseled spear. A vague but delicate young face surfaced in his mind.
When he was twelve, his father had sent him to the border battlefield, making him pledge a military vow that he wouldn’t return to the capital until the Xiongnu problem was resolved.
In his memory, the Second Prince was only eight years old then – a soft-hearted, smiling child who often climbed over palace walls to reach his Wuling Palace, crawling into his bed to sleep together at night, only to be carried away the next morning by Consort Hua who came searching for him.
On the day he left for the border, the child had clung to his waist, crying loudly and promising to come find him at the frontier someday.
Yet ten years had passed in a flash, and Xie Shoujun never saw him come to the border.
He thought the Second Prince had been too young to remember, having long forgotten this childhood promise. Having seen too much bloodshed and filled with harshness himself, he hadn’t wanted him to come anyway.
And from the soldiers’ chatter just now, it seemed the Second Prince’s health was quite frail – likely another reason he couldn’t come to this harsh border region.
Understandable.
But… he had written him letters, yet received no reply.
Had he forgotten him entirely, or…
As this thought emerged, Xie Shoujun’s large hand wiping the spear tip suddenly paused.
…Or was he unable to keep his promise and didn’t dare reply, choosing instead to fulfill his vow in another way?
Such as… helping resolve this Xiongnu invasion for him.
Xie Shoujun suddenly chuckled softly. His tall, imposing figure sat on the long bench under the night sky, the tension between his brows gradually easing. His sharp, starlit eyes revealed traces of steady, gentle amusement, softening his normally cold and resolute battlefield countenance.
Perhaps this New Year, he could return to the capital.
He wanted to see him.
…
Far away in Yi Province, Xie Chengze remained completely unaware that he had been slandered by those two old fools, Emperor Jian and Prime Minister Li.
In the near future, he would even become the infamous Jade-Faced Ghost Prince—a name that would spread across the grasslands, whispered among Xiongnu tribes to frighten children into silence.
By then, he had already thrown himself into establishing gunpowder factories and recruited numerous craftsmen gifted in mathematics, accelerating the excavation progress at Yu Ji Mountain.
And at last, the dry season of the Min River arrived.
It was time to split the river.