Chapter 3
Chapter 3
When they reached the Ministry of Revenue, the civil and military officials – apart from the Second Prince’s faction – truly had no pleasant looks to spare for Xie Chengze.
After all, the man had first spouted the outrageous suggestion of confiscating their estates. Then he had threatened to carry the name of whoever donated the least to His Majesty and whisper against him, costing the unfortunate official half a year’s salary. Naturally, they were furious yet unable to voice their grievance.
Faced with the officials’ hostile expressions, Xie Chengze did not grow angry in the slightest. Instead, he said with a beaming smile, “Don’t leave after making your donations, everyone. Let’s all stay and see who gives the least, shall we?”
One minister snorted and flung his sleeve, but stopped where he was and glanced toward the donation register.
The other ministers also halted one after another. Most of those who had donated modest sums thought that if they landed in last place, they could add a little more silver and avoid being docked half a year’s salary as well.
The ministers who had donated generously merely gave Xie Chengze lazy glances and left. In their eyes, Xie Chengze was nothing but a buffoon prancing on a beam; his petty tricks were not worth watching.
Still, a few who enjoyed a spectacle remained behind.
Xie Chengze took no offense and continued smiling as he watched. At last, the Ministry of Revenue read out the final result. “Investigating Censor Chen donated forty taels of silver.”
Investigating Censor Chen Wenkang was responsible for monitoring the conduct of all officials. He had always been incorruptible and upright, with clean hands and empty sleeves, and his annual salary amounted to only a little over eighty taels. That he had donated the least came as no surprise whatsoever to Xie Chengze.
At the sound of his name, Censor Chen gave a defiant snort. “My household is poor, and I have already given everything I can! Your Highness may impeach this old minister before His Majesty as you please!”
Everyone knew how foul the Second Prince’s reputation was. With his temperament, he was certain to make a grand display before His Majesty of condemning Censor Chen for showing no compassion toward the people, all to highlight his own benevolent virtue.
One minister could not bear it. “Old Chen, why don’t I lend you some? You can pay me back when next month’s salary comes.”
“No need!” Censor Chen remained unyielding. “If I do not enter hell, who will?”
Some sighed, some rejoiced in their escape, some remained indifferent, and some sneered with disdain.
Xie Chengze turned to look at Censor Chen.
This veteran minister was honest and unbending, unafraid of the powerful. In the original novel, the protagonist Shen Yuan had capitalized on Censor Chen’s upright refusal to fear the Second Prince and joined forces with him to seek evidence of the original Xie Chengze’s crimes.
They found the evidence, but Censor Chen’s entire family died in a single night. The proof was quietly downplayed, and although Emperor Jian punished every corrupt official implicated in the affair, the Second Prince emerged without a scratch.
That had only hardened Shen Yuan’s resolve to see the original Xie Chengze dead.
At the thought, Xie Chengze stepped forward.
“Lord Chen speaks a little too soon. The Ministry of Revenue merely named the person who has donated the least *so far*.”
Confusion crossed Censor Chen’s face. Everyone had already donated, and even he, at the bottom of the list, had no intention of adding more. Who could possibly give less than him?
He was about to ask what Xie Chengze meant when Xie Chengze walked up to the junior clerk from the Ministry of Revenue. Pointing at the donation register, he said evenly, “Write this down. His Highness the Second Prince, Xie Chengze: thirty-nine taels, nine mace, and ninety-nine copper cash.”
The officials froze.
It was neither more nor less than one copper cash short of forty taels, making him the smallest donor.
Since when had His Highness the Second Prince known so well how to spare another man’s dignity?
Censor Chen was surprised as well. His face filled with suspicion as he stared at Xie Chengze.
He might stand straight and have no fear of a crooked shadow, and he might not fear the Second Prince speaking against him, but losing half a year’s salary would inevitably affect his entire family’s livelihood. Censor Chen certainly did not wish to be fined so much money.
Yet he had never expected the person to help him now would be not His Highness the Crown Prince, who had always shown concern for the people and officials, but His Highness the Second Prince, whom he regarded as spoiled and foolish.
Xie Chengze smiled and said with complete openness, “Lord Chen is an honest man. He can take half a year’s salary and donate it to the people of Yizhou, which shows far more care and compassion for the people than those who possess ‘fortunes beyond counting’ yet give only a hundred taels. How could this prince criticize Lord Chen before Father? Would that not chill the hearts of all the people under heaven and damage my own virtue as well?”
He bent forward slightly. “Now that the smallest donor has been found, and this prince remains unwell, I shall take my leave. Please carry on as you please.”
With that, the slender, willow-like figure seemed to lose all his strength at once. He raised a hand lightly to his lips and coughed twice with all the delicate frailty of Lin Daiyu mourning fallen blossoms, then left the Ministry of Revenue on steps that seemed slightly unsteady.
Watching his frail back recede, the officials exchanged glances. Only then did they remember that the Second Prince had indeed said during court that he was unwell.
None of them suspected a lie. Everyone knew how diligently the Second Prince attended court. For him to request several days’ leave all at once proved his illness must be severe. Even so, he had forced his weakened body through the entire court session, then waited until the ministers finished donating so he could clear the smallest donor of disgrace before finally dragging himself away. It was difficult not to feel solemn respect.
The Second Prince might indeed be quite detestable at times, but no one could fault his dedication to duty.
“I wonder what illness has befallen His Highness the Second Prince. I remember he once fell from a horse and broke his leg, yet still refused to take leave.”
“His Highness even voluntarily yielded the spring imperial examination matter to the Crown Prince today. That would have been utterly impossible in the past, wouldn’t it?”
“Hiss – could his end be near, making his deeds turn kind…?”
“Brother Wen, mind your words. Mind your words – ”
Listening to them, Censor Chen’s gaze fell on the last entry in the officials’ donation register: thirty-nine taels, nine mace, and ninety-nine copper cash.
Was His Highness the Second Prince nearing the end of his life?
Remembering the trace of sincerity in Xie Chengze’s earlier words, Censor Chen felt strangely conflicted. *Very well. I have accepted His Highness’s kindness, after all. I ought to visit his residence, offer my thanks, and bring a gift for the invalid.*
…
The Imperial Study.
At the entrance, Eunuch Zhao saw Xie Chengze arriving for an audience and hurriedly bent in greeting. “Your Highness, His Majesty left instructions that you may go straight inside.”
“All right, Eunuch Zhao.” Xie Chengze nodded to him before entering the inner chamber.
Eunuch Zhao glanced at Xie Chengze in mild surprise.
Why did His Highness seem a little different today?
In the past, whenever he delivered those words, the Second Prince would walk directly into the Imperial Study without even acknowledging him. Today, he had answered with perfect courtesy and even addressed him warmly as Eunuch Zhao.
It had been nearly ten years since Eunuch Zhao last heard the Second Prince call him “Eunuch Zhao.” As a child, His Highness had been sweet-tongued and impeccably mannered, calling him Eunuch Zhao at every turn and secretly slipping him sweets. Nothing like later…
Ah. Better not to speak of it.
All the way there, Xie Chengze had been recalling the plot of the original novel.
The Xie Chengze of the novel might have been somewhat mediocre in ability, but he was ruthless enough to compensate. Emperor Jian indulged him, and two experts remained constantly at his side, killing, burning, and disposing of corpses on his behalf. Thus, there was nothing he set out to do that he could not accomplish – until he encountered Shen Yuan, the powerful-minister protagonist, and began suffering setback after setback.
And today marked Shen Yuan’s first appearance.
Shen Yuan was the grandson of the Grand Tutor, who had once overseen the Crown Prince’s studies. Shen Yuan had therefore enjoyed many opportunities to meet the Crown Prince in childhood. Later, however, the Grand Tutor retired and returned to his hometown, taking Shen Yuan away from the capital to travel through mountains and rivers. Shen Yuan had only recently returned to the capital, prepared to embark on a career in officialdom.
The Grand Tutor possessed great learning, while Shen Yuan had been remarkably intelligent from childhood, capable of composing elegant lines whenever he opened his mouth. Emperor Jian was extremely fond of him, so the moment he heard Shen Yuan had returned to the capital, he immediately sent a verbal summons ordering him into the palace.
On his way to the imperial audience, Shen Yuan was then supposed to run into Xie Chengze, who had come to ask the emperor for the post of proctoring the spring imperial examination.
In their first confrontation, Shen Yuan was astonished by Xie Chengze’s androgynous beauty, while Xie Chengze dealt with him in false courtesy and attempted to recruit Shen Yuan as a capable minister under his command.
But when the original Xie Chengze proposed overseeing the spring imperial examination during their audience, Emperor Jian asked Shen Yuan’s opinion on a whim. Shen Yuan’s single remark – “His Highness the Second Prince is far too beautiful. He may distract the scholars and disturb the atmosphere of the examination compound” – utterly enraged the prideful, grudge-holding original.
More than anything, the original hated hearing that he was prettier than a woman. How was that any different from calling him effeminate? From then on, he constantly tripped Shen Yuan up from the shadows and sought all manner of ways to humiliate him.
Today, however, Xie Chengze had gone to the Ministry of Revenue first, so they did not meet along the way.
But the moment he stepped into the Imperial Study, Xie Chengze saw an elegant figure in white standing tall and straight before the writing desk.