Chapter 0087: Xie Jinyu’s Unchanged Nature, Consort Hua’s Mysterious Death

Both fell silent.

Xie Jinyu leaned over to feel the young man’s forehead, confirming he wasn’t feverish, then carefully bent down to lift him by the waist and carried him toward the bedchamber of Cheng Huan Palace.

The palace maids all tacitly lowered their heads, maintaining proper decorum.

This wasn’t the first time such a thing had happened. No doubt the Second Prince would throw another tantrum upon waking.

Xie Jinyu had trained in both literary and martial arts since childhood. Though his qinggong wasn’t as refined as Shen Yuan’s or Wuhen’s, carrying the young man steadily back to the bedchamber was effortless.

In his sleep, Xie Chengze could faintly sense someone moving him, but he was too exhausted to care. Reasoning that with Shen Yuan, Wuhen, and Wuji around, he’d surely be safe, he didn’t bother identifying who was carrying him. He nestled his head into a comfortable spot and sank back into deep slumber.

Seeing his utterly defenseless state, Xie Jinyu couldn’t help but lower his gaze slightly, a faint smile flickering in his eyes.

Noticing this, Shen Yuan’s eyes gleamed subtly as he stood and followed the two.

Xie Jinyu glanced at Shen Yuan but said nothing. After gently laying the young man on the bed, he lifted his robe and knelt on one knee, slowly removing the youth’s shoes and stockings.

The young man’s skin was pale all over, even his feet like polished jade. Xie Jinyu lowered his lashes, his slender knuckles lightly brushing the side of the foot. Feeling a chill, he called softly, “Wuji.”

Silence lingered in the bedchamber, the lack of response like futile resistance. After a moment, Wuji emerged reluctantly from a corner. “What does the Crown Prince command?”

“Fetch warm water. Second Brother has caught a chill,” he said tonelessly, not even sparing Wuji a glance.

Wuji rolled his eyes discreetly and went to prepare the foot bath.

Once the carved wooden basin was securely placed beneath the bed, he spoke again, his tone laced with barely perceptible sarcasm. “Your Highness’s status is far too exalted for such menial tasks as attending the Second Prince. Allow us lowly servants to handle this.”

Xie Jinyu ignored him completely, as if Wuji had vanished. Pushing up his sleeves, he tested the water temperature, found it acceptable, then immersed the young man’s cold feet in the warm water, washing them with gentle care.

In their childhood, he’d once misrecited a single character while memorizing texts. His mother, the Empress, had caned his palms so severely he couldn’t even hold a brush. To teach him a lesson, she’d dismissed all the palace attendants during a bitter winter, forbidding anyone to light the heating walls or leave him a single candle, forcing him to kneel in reflection in the deserted bedchamber.

Not even a soft cushion shielded his knees from the bone-chilling cold seeping through the floor.

Every time, it was Second Brother who’d sneak over, bringing Eunuch Zhao—whom he’d pilfered from the Imperial Study—to the kitchens to heat water. He’d wash his feet to warm them, using his own small, warm hands to gradually thaw his frozen knees.

That winter, Second Brother visited the Eastern Palace most frequently. Perhaps it was from then on that his health began to decline, leaving him with chronically cold hands and feet every winter.

Returning to the present, after warming the young man’s feet, Xie Jinyu dried them with a nearby towel. Only then did he lift the youth’s legs to properly position him on the bed, tucking him snugly under the feather quilt.

His gaze lingering, he gently smoothed the stray hairs from Xie Chengze’s forehead before turning to face Shen Yuan, whose expression was complex. Softly, he said, “Shen Shilang, let’s go.”

Shen Yuan steadied himself with a final glance at the young man on the bed before following Xie Jinyu.

The two walked in silence until they neared the palace gates. Xie Jinyu halted, his profound gaze fixed on Shen Yuan. “I am aware of your vast knowledge and genuine capability to assist the Emperor, which is why I have treated you well, personally seeing you off after every discussion. I trust you are discerning enough to know what should and should not be spoken of.”

This was a warning to Shen Yuan—his thoughts were not to be disclosed.

Shen Yuan remained silent, studying the familiar features of the Crown Prince as if seeing him for the first time. Fragments of past memories pieced together, ultimately revealing the Crown Prince’s illicit feelings toward his own elder brother.

Shen Yuan held no prejudice against Long Yang’s Preference, but…

He was the Crown Prince.

The heir apparent, the undeniable future Emperor of the Jian’an Dynasty—how could he, for the sake of such a socially unacceptable affection, ignore the suffering of the people, repeatedly condone the other’s misdeeds, and lead to continuous disasters that left the dynasty exhausted for a decade?!

He was meant to be an Emperor! Not a stubborn child clinging to a plaything that did not belong to him, unwilling to let go!

A chill swept through Shen Yuan, every inch of his skin aching as if sliced by blades, the pain so intense it nearly drew cold sweat from his back.

Even if Xie Chengze had changed for the better now, Shen Yuan could not accept the absurd reality of the Crown Prince’s covetous intentions toward him.

To outsiders, they were blood brothers. If the Crown Prince openly coveted his elder brother, at best, it would invite ridicule from all under heaven; at worst, everyone would condemn the Second Prince as a seductive figure doomed to a tragic end. For both the Crown Prince and Xie Chengze, it would result in a bloody storm of criticism.

Moreover, Xie Chengze’s past merits might all be attributed solely to the Crown Prince. The Second Prince’s reputation for mediocrity and arrogance was already deeply ingrained—who could guarantee that those achievements were not merely penned by the Crown Prince out of favoritism?

Future historical records might misrepresent Xie Chengze, and later generations, unaware of the truth, could spread rumors for amusement, wrongly categorizing him among the ranks of beauties who brought ruin!

“Your Highness, consider carefully!” Shen Yuan did not wish to see the Crown Prince stray down this misguided path. He was the heir meticulously cultivated by Emperor Jian and the sovereign Shen Yuan had once served with mutual trust. Even if the Crown Prince was overly emotional regarding Xie Chengze, he was undeniably the most suitable prince to become Emperor in the entire Jian’an Dynasty.

Thus, Shen Yuan pleaded earnestly, “Have you considered whether the Second Prince is willing?”

From Xie Jinyu’s perspective, Shen Yuan had advised him too many times in the past. Only now did he realize that the perspective he should truly adopt was Xie Chengze’s.

Xie Jinyu’s eyes darkened, his tone displeased. “Shen Shilang, sometimes, willingness is not important.”

In this world, there was only one person worth striving for, even at the cost of the empire, to keep by his side.

Because in this empire, only this one person had ever remained by his side.

“Does Your Highness not fear that the Second Prince will hate you?” Shen Yuan demanded sharply, hoping to jolt Xie Jinyu to his senses.

“He has already hated me for ten years,” Xie Jinyu lowered his gaze, lightly adjusting his sleeve. “Or perhaps, he never hated me, nor will he ever hate me.”

Shen Yuan was taken aback.

What did that mean?

Seeing Shen Yuan’s confusion, Xie Jinyu curled a faint, enigmatic smile at the corners of his lips. “Shen Shilang, regarding palace secrets, I cannot say more. Let us end the discussion here. I believe Shen Shilang is a man who knows how to assess the situation and understands which side he should stand on.”

Having said this, Xie Jinyu spoke no further and turned to leave with long strides.

Shen Yuan remained standing in place for a long time.

The biting early winter wind harshly whipped against his face, freezing his chaotic mind awake, stripping away the layers of memories from two lifetimes, overlapping and intertwining.

In his previous life, although the Crown Prince had made countless concessions to Xie Chengze, there had never been rumors of that nature. After his rebirth, the Xie Chengze of the past ten years had been identical to the Second Prince in his memories—until he returned to the capital, when Xie Chengze in this lifetime suddenly changed his disposition.

The Crown Prince had just said that Xie Chengze had hated him for ten years, yet might never have truly hated him, nor would he hate him… This matter involved royal secrets—what kind of secrets were they?

Could it be related to Xie Chengze not being “Xie Chengze”?

But if “Xie Chengze” wasn’t Xie Chengze, why would the Crown Prince in the previous life make endless concessions to “Xie Chengze”?

What information had he… still missed?

As the midday light slanted faintly, Shen Yuan lifted his head, his gaze piercing through layers of palace walls, looking toward the deep, secluded inner palace.

If speaking of royal secrets, the only one that commoners could relish discussing was Emperor Jian’s marriage to his subject’s wife, Hua Ning, making her Consort Hua nineteen years ago.

It was said that Consort Hua had an exceptionally open-minded temperament and, because she was skilled with a whip, had trained her body to be extremely robust. Yet five years ago, she had suddenly died of illness, with no relevant records found in the Imperial Hospital’s medical logs.

In his previous life, Shen Yuan had secretly investigated this to deal with Xie Chengze, but those in the inner palace had been tight-lipped about the matter, refusing to speak of it.

Could it be… related to this?

Why did Consort Hua die?