Chapter 13
Chapter 13
They had been on the road for barely half a day when an unending stream of wails began issuing from Xie Chengze’s carriage.
“These jolts are killing me, killing me! My poor old back – ”
“What kind of lousy carriage is this? What kind of lousy road? Sooner or later, I’m turning every last one of you into asphalt roads!”
“It’s so hot! How has it only been half a day? By the time we reach Yizhou, won’t I be a roast chicken falling off the bone? Boohoohoo – ”
Listening from horseback, Shen Yuan felt a headache coming on. At last, unable to bear it any longer, he lifted the side curtain and said irritably, “There is no need to wait until Yizhou. In this Shen’s opinion, His Highness the Second Prince will have fallen completely to pieces by nightfall!”
“Boohoohoo.” Xie Chengze clutched his waist and looked at him accusingly. “You’re being mean to me? I only agreed to travel south to Yizhou because of you!”
Because of him?
Shen Yuan laughed outright in anger. He was about to retort when his gaze slipped beneath the carriage curtain. At some unknown point, the figure inside had removed his princely robes and changed into nothing but thin red silk underclothes. Reclining against the table seat, he rubbed his lower back again and again with fingers lustrous as white jade. The red silk sash trimmed in gold had been tugged loose, pulling his underrobe open along with it and revealing a tantalizing glimpse of snowy chest.
It was the height of summer. Even the ice placed within the carriage could not dispel the oppressive heat. Seeking relief, he waved a gold-threaded fan to stir up a breeze, causing his already loose, near-falling underrobe to conceal even less of the tempting sight beneath.
The young man was not yet twenty, with a naturally tall and graceful figure. Worse, the soft, clinging red underrobe outlined his slender waist with devastating allure. Paired with that eye-catching flash of white, his heat-flushed cheeks, and a gaze that seemed both aggrieved and accusing, the sight made Shen Yuan’s heart give a sudden thud.
His eyes shifted away instinctively.
He had never seen Xie Chengze like this.
The Xie Chengze of his previous life had been like a mad dog who bit everyone he met. It had been easy to overlook the beauty of his face, which transcended distinctions between male and female, and remember only his cruelty and tyranny.
Extravagant by habit and despotic as ever, he did whatever he pleased and regarded himself as supreme. When the weather grew too hot, he would even cover all of Chenghuan Hall in blocks of ice and have water splashed around it day and night to keep himself cool, leaving everyone else furious but afraid to speak.
Yet the Xie Chengze before him now resembled a little wildcat newly raised in luxury within the capital, frail but armed with a trace of sharpness that somehow inspired no resentment.
He curled up miserably inside the carriage, hugging a bucket of small ice chunks to cool himself. No matter how Shen Yuan mocked him, he dared only flash his little claws and never truly scratch.
He was unbelievably pathetic.
Having witnessed his former extravagance and excess, then seeing him like this now, Shen Yuan found the contrast absurd and laughable.
Could a person truly change so much after being stabbed to death and reborn? Could he truly swallow such humiliation and assume before his killer the very manner he once despised most?
Shen Yuan lowered his dark eyes and idly toyed with the azure sword at his waist. In their previous life, if he had not secretly rescued the Crown Prince and stabbed Xie Chengze to death upon the dragon throne on the day of his ascension, Xie Chengze would have succeeded in becoming the new emperor.
A man so fiercely ambitious, yet so lacking in the ability to match that ambition, would never choose to give up when he stood a single step from success. He might even believe Heaven had granted him rebirth as a second chance to ascend the throne.
Ever since leaving Chenghuan Hall yesterday, Shen Yuan had suspected that Xie Chengze volunteered to travel south to Yizhou because he intended to follow the path the Crown Prince had taken in their previous life, imagining that doing so would allow him to become the “Crown Prince.”
Without question, so long as his disguise was convincing enough, he could win over Shen Yuan, who had “only just entered officialdom and harbored no wariness toward him” at this point in time. With Shen Yuan’s loyal service and his own foreknowledge of their previous life, his path to the throne would naturally be smoother than before.
To that end, he did not hesitate to curl up so pitifully in this carriage, displaying the charms of that enticing body to seduce Shen Yuan.
He claimed he was going to Yizhou for Shen Yuan, but it was clearly for his own selfish desires.
How sanctimonious.
Having seen through Xie Chengze’s disguise, Shen Yuan gave a cold laugh, his tone growing even more distant. “If His Highness the Second Prince cannot endure such hardship, you are welcome to change your mind and return to the capital by the same road. I am certain His Majesty and the court officials would never laugh at you!”
His mockery was so obvious that Xie Chengze could not possibly miss it.
Xie Chengze did not understand. How had he offended Shen Yuan this time? He was simply hot and suffering from an aching back. Was he not even allowed to speak the truth and complain a little?
Already tormented by the heat, Xie Chengze bristled at Shen Yuan’s barbed ridicule. His temper flared, and he gave a heavy snort. “Then should I leave?”
“If His Highness the Second Prince wishes to leave, how could this Shen possibly stop you?” Shen Yuan shot back.
“Fine.” Xie Chengze sat up, stuck his head straight out the carriage window, and shouted, “Wuhen! Wuhen!”
A black shadow landed soundlessly before the carriage, presenting his broad, lean back without reservation. “Your Highness.”
Xie Chengze promptly wriggled through the window and climbed onto Wuhen’s back. He pulled a face at Shen Yuan. “Lord Shen certainly throws his official weight around. This prince quits. So long, and good riddance~”
In the next instant, Wuhen activated his lightness skill and raced away with Xie Chengze on his back.
Shen Yuan: “???”
Shen Yuan stared in astonishment. Once he recovered, he hurriedly lashed his reins and spurred his horse after them.
However much he despised Xie Chengze, the man was still a prince. If Xie Chengze left after quarreling with him and suffered some accident on the road, the entire Shen family would be buried alongside him!
Damn Xie Chengze! He had been vicious before; now he was utterly shameless!
Shen Yuan charged after them, only to remember something and wheel his horse back toward the carriage. He snatched up the gold-threaded red princely robe its owner had heartlessly abandoned on the table seat, stuffed it haphazardly into his arms, and only then hurried after them again.
As the pursuit continued, Shen Yuan realized Xie Chengze was not heading back toward the capital at all.
Wuhen’s lightness skill was inferior to Wuji’s, but he was still faster than a horse. Shen Yuan soon fell behind. Judging by the direction the pair had taken, however, they were clearly bound for Zhuolu County.
Zhuolu County…
As something occurred to him, Shen Yuan’s eyes flickered.
…
Zhuolu County was a fairly prosperous county town in the northeastern corner of Jizhou. Because it lay only half a day’s ride from the capital, its people followed much the same trends as the capital’s residents. Any new fashion popular in the capital would spread through Zhuolu County within half a day.
Carrying Xie Chengze on his back, Wuhen entered a ready-made clothing shop with practiced ease. When the door opened again, only Xie Chengze emerged. He wore a fitted robe of dark red brocade, understated and restrained, while an exquisite black jade crown held his waist-length black hair high. He cut an exceptionally graceful figure.
With a snap, he opened the gold-threaded fan in his hand. Standing outside the clothing shop, he raised it to shield himself from the glaring midday sun. Men and women passing by could not help stopping to stare, marveling inwardly at the young gentleman’s extraordinary beauty.
News that a beautiful young man as stunning as a celestial had arrived in town soon spread throughout the entire county.
By the time Xie Chengze sat sipping tea on the second floor of Mingxiang Teahouse, a commotion erupted below. A squad of yamen runners in official uniforms forced their way straight inside, swaggering along so arrogantly that they knocked over several tea tables. The patrons were furious, yet none dared speak.
“Let me see where this little beauty is!”
A chubby young man covered in gold and silver swaggered upstairs, lifting the hem of his gold-threaded robe. He immediately spotted Xie Chengze by the window, savoring the fragrance of his tea. Even subdued, dark clothing could not conceal that breathtaking face.
The chubby young man stared stupidly, rooted to the spot. “So… so beautiful!”
Xie Chengze slanted him a glance before indifferently looking away. In the chubby man’s eyes, however, the beauty was sending him a flirtatious look, shyly pretending to refuse while secretly inviting him closer.
He ran over in excitement. Being too fat, he lost his footing and fell on the stairs, but quickly scrambled upright and strode toward Xie Chengze.