Chapter 0089: The Little Rumor Expert with a Surprisingly Advanced Mental State
Xie Chengze looked up at the sound and saw two little heads peeking over the wall, his eyes filled with confusion.
Princesses?
He vaguely remembered “The Powerful Minister” mentioning that the Jian’an Dynasty had several princesses, but in the original novel, only the eldest princess had any significant role. The other two were merely mentioned in passing. Since the original text was so lengthy, Xie Chengze had long forgotten what those brief mentions entailed.
“What were their names again?” Xie Chengze covered his mouth and whispered.
Zhu Xiaobiao: ?
Your Highness, are you serious?!
I’m the one who just entered the palace! Even I know the princesses’ names, and you don’t know your own sisters’ names?
“The one on the left should be Princess An He, and the one on the right is Princess Zhao He.” After a pause, Zhu Xiaobiao lowered his voice even further, “Ping An, Shu.”
He didn’t dare to say their full names outright—as a commoner, he truly lacked the courage to address the princesses so informally.
“Oh~!” Hearing these names, Xie Chengze finally recalled the long-forgotten memory. He remembered now: in the early parts of the original novel, when the Xiongnu invaded the border, the court officials proposed a marriage alliance with the Xiongnu tribe. However, the matter was eventually dropped. In the end, the eldest prince led his elite troops in a bloody battle against the Xiongnu. At the cost of his entire army being wiped out and himself being severely wounded, he captured a Xiongnu prince to serve as a hostage, thus halting the border conflict.
Let him think—this should be happening soon, right?
Xie Chengze scratched his cheek, somewhat puzzled. During the past few days at court, no one had mentioned anything about the Xiongnu. Had it already happened?
Well, no news is good news.
Xie Chengze waved to the two young girls, “Come over here~”
Seeing Xie Chengze’s invitation, Xie Ping An and Xie Shu exchanged glances. Initially hesitant, they soon nodded in unison, deftly climbing over the wall and landing with a cool flourish.
Xie Chengze: !!!
Xie Chengze stared in shock at the height of the wall, then at the two young girls who had landed gracefully.
They!
Are so strong!
The old-armed and old-legged Xie Chengze couldn’t help but cast an envious glance.
“Second Brother.”
“Second Brother.”
The two little girls called out obediently, standing stiffly across the stone table. They occasionally stole glances at Xie Chengze’s handsome features, then nudged each other’s arms, as if urging or yielding to one another.
Finally, Xie Ping An, as the older sister, cleared her throat softly and said, “Second Brother, we weren’t deliberately spying. We came specifically to see you about something.”
“What is it?” Xie Chengze patted the stone table, very friendly. “Sit down and talk.”
The two little girls exchanged another glance before obediently sitting on the stone stools. Xie Ping An cleared her throat and continued, “We came to thank you, Second Brother.”
“Thank me?” Xie Chengze looked at them in confusion. “What for?”
He didn’t think he had done anything worthy of thanks.
“If it weren’t for you, Second Brother, we would have been sent away for a marriage alliance two months ago!” Xie Shu blurted out impatiently. “Father said it was all because of your strategies behind the scenes that we escaped this fate!”
Xie Chengze: ???
Since when did I do that?!
Xie Chengze widened his eyes slightly, “Did Father tell you what plan I came up with?”
“That’s not it.” Xie Shu shook her head, then proudly puffed out her chest. “But I have my secret channels! I heard Second Brother developed something incredibly powerful and even boasted about blowing up the entire grassland! It’s spread all through the Xiongnu ranks—they’ve started calling you the Jade-Faced Ghost King, mmmph—”
The rest of her words were muffled by Xie Ping’an’s hand. “Third Sister! That part really isn’t necessary!”
Xie Chengze: “…”
Xie Chengze silently wiped his face.
That damned emperor! Spreading rumors about him again while he was away!
“So what’s the current situation at the border?” Xie Chengze inquired. After this incident, would the Crown Prince still follow the original course of events?
Since Emperor Jian had obtained the formula for gunpowder, he shouldn’t be foolish enough to fail dealing with the Xiongnu, right?
“They made peace long ago.” Xie Shu pulled Xie Ping’an’s hand away and said urgently, “I heard Big Brother will return to the capital for New Year’s! If it’s true, then our family banquet will finally be complete this year!”
Xie Ping’an kicked Xie Shu, who then realized her slip and quickly glanced at Xie Chengze’s expression.
Xie Chengze was tapping his chin in thought. In the original story, the Crown Prince did return to the capital around New Year’s—but only to demand pension funds for his fallen comrades, dragging himself back before his wounds had fully healed.
Unexpectedly, creating gunpowder during the Yi Province floods had inadvertently prevented a war.
“That does seem quite good indeed.” Xie Chengze lowered his hand. “As for saving you two, I just happened to be involved marginally. It wasn’t as miraculous as you make it sound.”
Blow up the entire grassland? Was he, Xie Chengze, someone who showed no care for flowers and plants—no, someone who didn’t value peace?
Xie Ping’an and Xie Shu blinked curiously. “So Second Brother, did you really develop something amazing?”
They’d noticed him whittling charcoal earlier. Charcoal meant fire, fire meant burning across the grasslands—seemed quite similar to blowing things up!
“I did indeed develop something remarkable.” Xie Chengze rubbed his chin. “Something that can blow people into pieces too small to gather.”
Xie Ping’an and Xie Shu: “Whoaaa!!!”
The two girls immediately widened their sparkling eyes, showing no fear whatsoever. Instead, they asked whether it could blow up the black bears during autumn hunts, whether it could destroy city walls across the lands, and whether it could demolish the imperial palace.
Xie Chengze: “…”
Were all princesses of the Jian’an Dynasty this mentally advanced?
Who upon learning about gunpowder would immediately think of blowing up their own palace and city walls?
Shaking his head helplessly, Xie Chengze lowered his head to continue writing when a guard rushed in to announce, “Your Highness, the Second Young Master of the Su Family has arrived.”
“Oh?” Xie Chengze immediately looked up with delight. “Bring him here at once!”
“The Su Family’s Second Young Master?” Xie Shu tilted her head thoughtfully before remembering. “Not that good-for-nothing second son of the Su family, is it?”
“Probably. Why would Second Brother invite him?” Xie Ping’an wondered too.
Xie Chengze flicked Xie Shu’s forehead lightly. “Watch your language. Who are you calling good-for-nothing?”
“It’s the second young master of the Su Family, what’s his name again?” Xie Shu began racking her brains to recall, and only after Xie Ping An reminded her did she go “Ah!” “Right, Su Qinghe. That’s what everyone outside says about him—that he’s a good-for-no… cough, a person with little talent.”
After saying this, she covered her mouth and defended herself, “I definitely didn’t sneak out of the palace to play with Second Sister!”
Xie Ping An speechlessly pressed his hand to his forehead.
“Everyone says that?” Xie Chengze frowned. How come he didn’t know about this? “Why do they say that?”
“Because everyone in the Su Family is a talented scholar, except for him—he’s mediocre and incompetent. He can’t even compose a decent poem, let alone write essays.” Xie Shu shrugged.
Xie Chengze: …
Xie Chengze couldn’t help but recall how, when he first met Su Qinghe, he had asked him to improvise a poem on the spot.
No wonder Su Qinghe knelt and refused to rise, unwilling to compose a poem. So it wasn’t because he looked down on him, but because he, like him, couldn’t compose poetry?
Xie Shu continued chattering, “Those frivolous young masters in Jingcheng all look down on him! They say he’s just a concubine’s son who relies on his face—which resembles his late mother’s—to win the family head’s favor in the Su residence. But in reality, he’s all show and no substance. He doesn’t even hold an official position in the court… Ouch!”
Xie Shu’s leg was kicked hard again by Xie Ping An.
Xie Shu glared: Why did you kick me!
Xie Ping An: Don’t you think you’re basically describing someone else right now!
Xie Shu: ?
Xie Shu: !!!
Oh, come to think of it, wasn’t Second Brother like that before too?
Xie Shu coughed twice and tried to make amends, “Of course, Second Sister and I just like to listen to some gossip, that’s all. What’s wrong with just having good looks? As long as someone is kind, they’re a good person!”
“You two sure have a lot of gossip.” Xie Chengze raised an eyebrow. “Young Master Su is my good friend. When he arrives later, both of you need to watch your words and show respect. Otherwise, don’t come to my Cheng Huan Palace anymore.”
Xie Ping An and Xie Shu immediately sat up straight, patting their chests and promising, “Don’t worry, Second Brother! You’re our marriage-saving benefactor, so your friend is our marriage-saving benefactor too!”
Xie Chengze: ?
What marriage-saving benefactor? Don’t just randomly make up strange idioms!