Chapter 114
Learning that Xie Chengze was going to Liaozhou, Hu Lai hurried to the main hall. With unmelted snow and ice on his boot soles and a wet, slippery floor beneath him, he slid across it and came to a kneeling stop at Xie Chengze’s feet.
He cried out with an earnest expression, “Your Highness! Your Highness! Take this subordinate to Liaozhou with you!”
Xie Chengze did not want to bring him, so he found an excuse. “Fourth Brother and I will ride ahead at top speed to Liaozhou. Could you withstand that?”
“Naturally! Before entering Your Highness’s service, this subordinate traveled all over the world. Riding at speed between different places is nothing to me. People call me Jian’an’s Little Iron Butt! A mere journey from the capital to Liaozhou is nothing to fear!” Hu Lai patted his old, perky backside proudly. “Your Highness may not know that my longest riding record was…”
Xie Chengze had no desire to hear these bizarre records and hastily interrupted. “Why not take paid leave like the other household retainers and stay in Chenghuan Hall to eat, drink, and enjoy yourself? Why follow me to Liaozhou to suffer?”
Hu Lai immediately raised his head to the sky and said bitterly, “Your Highness, bitter winter is approaching. It’s just the time for extra clothes and firewood. Those twenty-eight concubines of mine…”
“Stop!” Xie Chengze raised a hand, not believing this worn-out excuse at all. “Speak plainly.”
“All right…” Hu Lai rubbed his hands and told the truth. “This subordinate has a concubine in Liaozhou. I haven’t seen her in a long time and miss her terribly… I’m a man too. It has been a long time since I did that, and I don’t want to make do with a brothel…”
“Don’t you have a favorite concubine in the capital?” Xie Chengze asked in confusion.
“Working for the Second Prince is so dangerous! How would this subordinate dare leave a vulnerability in the capital? Especially as such a responsible man – how could I put my wife and children in danger…?” Hu Lai lowered his head bashfully.
Xie Chengze: … “Could the person who sent you gold before have come to see you and told you to follow me to Liaozhou and spy on me?”
Hu Lai: …
Hu Lai stroked his beard. “If Your Highness insists on thinking that, this subordinate has nothing more to say…”
Xie Chengze: “…” Hah! Scumbag! He really had taken money!
“Hand it over.” Xie Chengze beckoned mercilessly with his fingers. “Give me half.”
“Your Highness…” Hu Lai blinked. “They didn’t give me much. There really isn’t enough to share…”
“At your age, stop trying to act cute.” Xie Chengze held out his hand again and threatened, “No money, no trip!”
Hu Lai had no choice but to take out two gold discs and hand them to Xie Chengze.
Xie Chengze held out his hand yet again.
Gritting his teeth, Hu Lai handed over two more gold discs.
Xie Chengze held out his hand yet again, again.
With tears streaming down his face, Hu Lai took out the final gold disc and cried miserably, “There were only ten altogether! Your Highness, I truly have no more!”
Satisfied, Xie Chengze tossed the gold discs to Zhu Xiaobiao. “Xiaobiao, take this money and win over those confiscated household troops. Then hire some experienced armed escorts to help General Dingyuan take them to Liaozhou!”
“Yes, Your Highness~” Zhu Xiaobiao caught the gold discs and turned to carry out the task.
Hu Lai watched Zhu Xiaobiao leave with a wistful look, then muttered about him under his breath. “Your Highness, that fellow looks unreliable. Why not let this subordinate handle it?”
Xie Chengze gave him a cool look. “Let you handle it, and at least half those gold discs will disappear.”
“I’m wronged, Your Highness!” Hu Lai hastily protested. “I could clearly make ninety-nine point nine percent disappear! And I’m doing it to save Your Highness money. You must understand this subordinate’s painstaking concern!”
Xie Chengze gave a dry laugh. He was not afraid of Hu Lai saving money. He was afraid Hu Lai would abuse those household troops like enslaved Black people, denying them food and clothing all the way. On reaching Liaozhou, he might then trick them into believing there was food in the mountains and send them to fight the bandits to the death, leaving both sides badly wounded…
After all, that was indeed something Hu Lai was capable of doing.
In the original book, most of the Second Prince’s fierce, death-sworn retainers had been trained by Hu Lai.
Loyal they certainly were, but ruthless they certainly were too!
“Just stay obediently by my side.” Xie Chengze patted Hu Lai’s shoulder and said earnestly, “You won’t miss out on the benefits.”
He could not use this man, but he absolutely could not let anyone else use him either!
–
Yufu Palace.
“Mother, where’s my life-saving pill? Why can’t I find it?”
Xie Zimiao stuffed hundred-year-old ginseng roots into his bundle one after another. Unable to find his life-saving pill despite searching every chest and cupboard, he asked Consort Rou.
Consort Rou sat sipping tea on the tea couch, rolling her eyes in anger. “What do you want the life-saving pill for? Don’t tell me you’re giving it to that fellow in Chenghuan Hall?”
He was even taking so many hundred-year-old ginseng roots. Why not bring a hundred old hens too and nourish that ingrate to death?!
“It’s freezing cold, Second Brother is frail, and suppressing bandits is difficult. He might need it.” Xie Zimiao searched the chest again. Still unable to find the pill, he looked at Consort Rou and frowned. “Mother, Uncle gave that to me! We agreed on one each. Why are you keeping mine for yourself?!”
“Do you know how precious this life-saving pill is?!” Consort Rou slapped the tea table and said unhappily, “I couldn’t even bear to give one to His Majesty!”
“But you gave one to Aunt Hua.” Xie Zimiao pouted and muttered, “Then what’s wrong with me giving mine to Second Brother?”
Consort Rou: ???
“How can he possibly compare with your Aunt Hua? That little thing is an ingrate…!” Consort Rou lost her composure. “He even extorted three thousand taels of silver from me before!”
“That was money Second Brother used for donations. Besides, didn’t he give you the Cloud-Woven Brocade and the Azure Sea Pearl?” Xie Zimiao argued reasonably. “Mother! Where exactly did you hide my life-saving pill? Second Brother has probably been waiting ages for me outside the palace gates! Take it out quickly! Even if he doesn’t need it, what if I do?”
“Rotten brat, taking an outsider’s side!” Unable to win against her son, Consort Rou ordered someone to bring out the life-saving pill. Then she heard Xie Zimiao say, “Mother, has Uncle sent you any banknotes lately? Give me some?”
Consort Rou: …
Consort Rou hurled the little box containing the life-saving pill at him: Get out!
Outside the palace gates, Xie Chengze looked at the bruise on Xie Zimiao’s forehead and asked in confusion, “What happened?”
Xie Zimiao rubbed his head and smiled innocently. “I just bumped into something by accident.”
Xie Chengze leaned closer to look. The bruise had swollen into a lump. It clearly hurt. He blew gently on it, not forgetting to lecture him. “Why didn’t you have an imperial physician put some medicine on it? We can spare that much time.”
Xie Zimiao blushed, lowered his head, and answered obediently, “It’s fine, Second Brother. It’ll get better in a moment. Let’s hurry and go.”
Shaking his head helplessly, Xie Chengze mounted his horse.
In his previous life, he had been a wealthy young master, after all. With nothing to do during holidays, he had become a VVIP customer at all sorts of clubs. He occasionally rode at an equestrian club, so riding a horse was no problem.
He just did not know whether his backside could take it.
General Dingyuan and the hundred cavalrymen were left to escort the household troops to Liaozhou, while Xie Chengze rode ahead with Xie Zimiao, Hu Lai, Wuhen, and Wuji.