Chapter 106
“Your Highness, did you truly devise this heated brick bed?”
Elder Gu turned in shock, looking at Xie Chengze in utter disbelief.
At this point, Xie Chengze could not deny it. The emperor had personally confirmed it, after all. If Xie Chengze contradicted him, would that not openly undermine Emperor Jian and accuse the Son of Heaven of lying?
He could only rub his little nose and admit, “Yes, it was indeed my idea.”
No one here could investigate the origin of the heated brick bed. In his own world, people only said it had been invented by the Sushen people in ancient times. So Xie Chengze set his scruples aside and claimed the credit. “But it was only a chance inspiration. There are still many shortcomings I don’t know how to resolve.”
After speaking, he secretly glared at Emperor Jian. “Thinking that the Ministry of Works had many capable people, Elder Gu foremost among them, who could surely resolve those shortcomings, I had Father send the drawing to the ministry.”
“It was actually the Second Prince…” Elder Gu involuntarily took a step back and murmured under his breath.
Remembering how he had brazenly declared back at the ministry that the craftsman was some country bumpkin who had happened upon a flash of inspiration, and had inwardly criticized the Second Prince for pretending to understand a drawing he had never seen, he silently wiped a hand over his face, deeply embarrassed.
The thing was, who could have imagined the Second Prince was responsible for the drawing?!
Among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, merchants held the lowest status, with artisans only one rank above them. Even the Ministry of Works was scorned by the other five of the Six Ministries. Anyone with the slightest ambition would never abandon scholarly pursuits to learn an artisan’s trade, much less a prince of exalted status!
Moreover, the Second Prince had only taken up the craft without formal training, yet had created something so beneficial to the people. Elder Gu could not help feeling ashamed, as though he had ruined the Ministry of Works’ reputation himself.
He sighed. “Your Highness overstates the case. There are no real shortcomings in the heated brick bed, merely a few minor flaws. Even without this old official, craftsmen among the people could resolve them. Your Highness is truly a craftsman of ingenious ideas.”
“No, no, no. I merely got lucky.”
“If it was luck, why was Your Highness the lucky one, rather than someone else? Please be modest no longer.”
“Not at all, not at all. It was merely Luck going home on a day off, with Luck’s mother opening the door and telling Luck’s father that Luck had come all the way home…” Xie Chengze grew ever more humble.
Elder Gu: …
Your Highness, why don’t you just have this old official beaten ten times? This is much more frightening!
The old man and the young man exchanged compliments, leaving the officials beside them staring in astonishment, still hardly able to believe it. Standing behind Prime Minister Li, the Grand Preceptor prodded his back and asked, “Prime Minister Li, did the Second Prince really think of this heated bed?”
The ministers behind the Grand Preceptor also hurried to lean closer and listen.
Prime Minister Li gave them a cool look. “Who else? Would His Majesty lie?”
The Second Prince could invent blasting powder. How could a mere heated brick bed be difficult for him?
Thinking this, Prime Minister Li began criticizing them too, looking at them with distaste. “His Majesty was absolutely right. You truly cannot compare with so much as one hair on the Second Prince’s head!”
The officials: ?
Prime Minister Li! You’ve changed!
What spell had the Second Prince cast over both ruler and minister? You in particular, Prime Minister Li – hadn’t you looked down on the Second Prince before too? How could you have changed your tune so completely?
Yet every court official in the Jian’an Dynasty knew it was better to trust Prime Minister Li’s cunning tongue than Emperor Jian’s endless varieties of praise. Crafty though Prime Minister Li was, and though he did not state certain truths openly, he never lied. At least the core of what he said was always true.
So the Second Prince really might have devised this heated brick bed.
The officials could not help reflecting, “It seems His Highness is not entirely without merit.”
“Indeed. Those iron carts he proposed before that could travel a thousand li a day, and those roads of some sort – weren’t those imaginative ideas?”
“His Highness may know nothing about affairs of state, but he has quite a talent for engineering. Put that way, it isn’t surprising that he thought of the heated brick bed.”
Talking among themselves, the officials quickly persuaded themselves, then began flattering Xie Chengze. “Your Highness is truly a rare talent. We are most impressed.”
“Your Highness cares for all the people and has created heated brick beds to protect them. Truly, you are a blessing to Jian’an!”
Some even recalled the celestial pronouncement of years ago and poured forth praise. “Your Highness truly deserves to be called a lucky star sent down by Heaven. With you here, we will surely survive this mere snow disaster safely!”
Yet Xie Chengze was not remotely pleased by any of this praise. He was practically falling apart. He had been due to begin his time off the day after tomorrow, and now Emperor Jian had scheduled him for work again!
He glared at the officials and said unhappily, “If you truly wish to thank me, why not come to the Ministry of Works with me and learn to build these heated brick beds?”
The officials hastily lowered their heads and pretended not to hear.
What a joke. Who wanted to learn that? They were court officials, not craftsmen!
Xie Chengze had hoped to make one last desperate attempt to resist, but Emperor Jian rose as though his backside were on fire and immediately waved his sleeve. “We have largely finished discussing the snow disaster. The ministers of each ministry are to return and deploy their people at once, ready to depart with the Crown Prince and the others at any time! Court is dismissed!”
The officials hastily bowed and knelt. “We respectfully bid Your Majesty farewell – long live our emperor! Long live our emperor! May he live ten thousand times ten thousand years!”
Xie Chengze: … Wait, what?
Rotten old man! Don’t run!
Xie Chengze hurried after Emperor Jian, only to be stopped by Eunuch Zhao. By the time he finally got around Eunuch Zhao and reached the room behind the hall, Emperor Jian was long gone. He headed bitterly toward the Imperial Study. “Run? Where can you run? As if you won’t go back to the Imperial Study to review memorials!”
Reaching the Imperial Study, Xie Chengze kicked the door open, only to find the room empty. Coming back out, he saw two eunuchs passing with two large trays of memorials. He raised a brow with a cold smile and stepped forward to ask, “Where are you taking those memorials?”
“Your Highness, His Majesty ordered us to take them to the Eastern Palace,” the two eunuchs answered honestly.
The Eastern Palace?
Oh~ Got it. He had gone to hide from trouble at his other son’s place.
Rubbing his hands in anticipation, Xie Chengze set off for the Eastern Palace.
Come to think of it, this was Xie Chengze’s first visit there. Interestingly, in The Powerful Minister, the Second Prince had never crossed its threshold. Only when furious enough would he stand at its gates and hurl abuse at the Crown Prince inside.
The Crown Prince would then come out, first dismissing the guards at the entrance, then earnestly trying to reason with the Second Prince. Afterward, he would invite him inside to continue his tirade where outsiders would not hear. Yet every time, without exception, the Second Prince would keep berating him:
“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re plotting. You and Father are both rotten!”
This scene had occurred at least seven or eight times.
Xie Chengze did not know why the Second Prince had refused to enter the Eastern Palace. The book had never explained it, even by the ending. But he guessed that the Second Prince was rather stubborn and took things very seriously. Since the Eastern Palace was not yet his to command, he had been unwilling to set foot inside.
Just as the Second Prince had schemed all his life, yet had never secretly kept a dragon robe or sneaked onto the dragon throne.
Xie Chengze was different, however. He had no desire for the throne, but if circumstances allowed, he absolutely had to try on a dragon robe and sit on the dragon throne, just to experience how good being emperor felt.
After all, could anyone who didn’t want to experience being emperor even call himself human?