Chapter 146
The blades beneath his shoes scratched white lines into the ice. After scraping across it a few times to get used to the feel, Xie Chengze let go of Shen Yuan and glided toward the center of the rink.
In his red riding clothes, the young man swung his long arms lightly at his sides. As his legs crossed, his blades left two flowing lines on the ice, like the trails of shooting stars. He skimmed over the rink like a Vermilion Bird spreading its wings in flight. At the edge, he crossed his legs again and swept along the banked snow toward the center. His movements were fluid and natural, a spectacle of elegance and strength.
After a brief trial, he began skating faster and attempting more varied moves. Amid the white world, he was as breathtakingly beautiful as a spirit born of ice and snow. Everyone nearby stopped to watch, their faces filled with admiration and amazement.
The rink wasn’t entirely smooth after the snowfall. As he skated, Xie Chengze struck a rough patch and pitched forward. The watching soldiers drew sharp breaths.
Shen Yuan had been so absorbed in watching him that he couldn’t reach him in time as he began to fall. Yet the dazzling young man braced his weight on one leg and, gathering speed, bent and tilted his entire body down. His right hand narrowly skimmed the ice as he smoothly completed the rest of the glide without falling at all.
Such agile movements made the watching soldiers clap and cheer.
“Wonderful! That’s incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it. Is this the latest pastime in the capital?”
“That move His Highness just did was amazing. He leaned right over without falling!”
“Stop, you’re making me want to try it! But I suppose this is a game only the nobility can play,” a soldier said with regret and envy.
Xie Chengze finally came to a stop before Shen Yuan. Seeing the admiration in the man’s eyes, he somehow felt a little shy instead. Fortunately, the cold wind had reddened his face, making it impossible to tell whether he was blushing or simply chilled.
He lifted his head and asked with a slightly smug smile, “Well, Lord Shen? Dazzled by how handsome I am?”
Shen Yuan came back to himself and gave a light cough. Draping the fur coat he was holding over the young man, he replied so softly he was barely audible, “Mm…”
He turned his head slightly. The bases of his ears were probably red from the cold wind, too. “Put this on. Don’t catch a chill.”
Xie Chengze obediently wrapped himself in the coat, then pressed his advantage. “Don’t just give me an ‘mm.’ Aren’t you the capital’s greatest literary talent? Put all that learning to use!”
Beside them, Su Qinghe looked at Shen Yuan in confusion. Since when had Big Brother Shen become the capital’s greatest literary talent?
In the original novel, of course. When Shen Yuan took over as examiner for the spring imperial examination, his abilities were challenged. He composed a poem every seven steps, astounding every civil and military official at court in seven times seven, forty-nine steps. From then on, he was known as the capital’s greatest prodigy.
This was supposed to happen in the future. Mentioning it now was a little private amusement between Xie Chengze and Shen Yuan, understood only by the two of them.
Seeing the undisguised teasing on Xie Chengze’s face, Shen Yuan tightened the ties of his fur coat, amused and resigned. With perfect seriousness, he said, “Your Highness’s grace is unmatched in all the world. My words cannot describe it. I know only that it will linger in my mind for years, and that I shall savor the memory until I die.”
Su Qinghe beside them: …?!
Had he heard that correctly? Could those words really have come from the upright Big Brother Shen, who never flattered anyone?
Xie Chengze couldn’t help laughing. He patted Shen Yuan’s shoulder and said solemnly, “Since you appreciate my skating so much, Lord Shen, you must master the art yourself. Then you can display your skills before His Majesty and the visitors, and earn His Majesty’s praise.”
Shen Yuan: …
Suddenly finding himself with a new assignment, Shen Yuan thought he shouldn’t have offered any praise.
Still, since Xie Chengze would be teaching him personally, he complied. Skating wasn’t as difficult as he had imagined. For someone trained in martial arts, with such a solid stance, it was easy to pick up. Before long, he could glide smoothly over the rink.
At first, he had thought Xie Chengze really wanted his skating to be an attraction for visitors. But once Elder Gu had the blacksmiths work overtime to finish making the skates, Xie Chengze immediately selected twenty soldiers with steady footing and put Shen Yuan in charge of supervising their skating practice.
Meanwhile, Xie Chengze vanished again. Who knew what he was off doing?
Shen Yuan began training the soldiers without complaint. Elsewhere, however, resentment among the standing troops was growing by the day.
After taking command, Xie Shoujun imposed strict military discipline on the former bandits. It was easy to imagine how fiercely men accustomed to running wild resisted. They threatened to strike and refused to work. A few blunt-spoken soldiers mocked them as useless, and the enraged former bandits got into a physical confrontation with them. A fight broke out.
When Xie Chengze heard, he hurried over with Zhu Xiaobiao. On arrival, he found everyone tangled together, rolling around in the snow in a thoroughly undignified spectacle.
Xie Shoujun stood calmly to one side, steady as a mountain. His black spear was planted in the snow. With his arms folded, he watched the two forces brawling, showing no inclination to intervene.
Only when Xie Chengze arrived did he lower his arms slightly, ready to reassure him that there was nothing to fear. Once they finished fighting, everything would be fine.
Instead, Xie Chengze jogged up, bent over, and patted his chest as he caught his breath. “Thank goodness! They haven’t finished yet!”
Xie Shoujun: ?
Looking delighted, Xie Chengze sat on the little stool he had brought, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted, eager to stir up more trouble. “Get him! Get him! Tsk, kick him in the crotch! You used to be a bandit, and you don’t even know that little dirty trick?”
“Hey, hey! If you can’t beat him, bite his face! Or kiss him, if you have to! Can’t you at least disgust him if you can’t beat him?”
“Hey, buddy! Sore loser, aren’t you? Nobody else is using weapons, but here you are, fighting dirty! I bet you don’t have a wife. What girl would want you? I’m embarrassed for you!”
The former bandits: …
They were in the middle of a fierce fight. Could he stop ruining the mood?!
Tired of sitting, Xie Chengze stood and took a few steps. With his little hands clasped behind his back like a homeroom teacher supervising an exam, he offered his critiques. “Tsk, tsk. Look at you. All you can do is bully defenseless civilians. The moment you meet regular troops, they roll you around like walnuts in their hands.”
“No, wait. Walnuts at least have hard shells, and what’s inside is good for your brain. Your shells aren’t necessarily hard, and your brains don’t seem to work very well either.”
“Alas, you’re the worst group of prefectural troops I’ve ever taught! Don’t ever tell anyone you’re standing troops trained by me!”