Chapter 50
Chapter 50
“Shen Yuan…”
Xie Chengze shrank his neck. The sound of the man inhaling beside his ear was low and heavy, and the two large hands around his waist tightened further, as though they meant to crush and snap him in two. The pressure nearly stole his breath.
Realizing that Shen Yuan was angry, Xie Chengze swallowed and said with a slight tremor, “Well, I can explain…”
Shen Yuan’s eyes remained dark and silent. After a long moment, he scoffed, his tone dangerous and faintly mocking. “It appears the Second Prince did not take my words to heart.”
Sulfur had a powerful odor. He could hardly pretend not to smell it.
“I bought sulfur powder for bathing. Truly!” Xie Chengze tried to bluff. “You must know that putting sulfur powder in bathwater cleanses and refreshes the body!”
“Of course I believe you.” Shen Yuan released him and stepped back, clearly believing none of that nonsense. “As it happens, I brought Your Highness a new outfit, and the kitchen is heating water. Why not take that sulfur powder and bathe and change clothes right now?”
“What?” Seeing Xie Chengze drag his feet, Shen Yuan arched a brow and sneered. “Or does Your Highness admit that you meant to make gunpowder?”
Xie Chengze: “…”
Xie Chengze could never stand that mocking, provocative manner. His stubborn temper flared at once. “Fine, I’ll bathe! You think I’m afraid of you?”
Fuming, he ordered the servants to prepare a wooden tub. He watched them pour bucket after bucket of hot water inside. Only when the tub was nearly full did he finally lose some of his courage and sneak a glance at the man who had watched coldly from beginning to end.
Noticing his gaze, Shen Yuan turned his head with a sneer. “What is it? Does Your Highness regret your decision?”
Xie Chengze gripped the rim of the tub and frowned. “I’m going to bathe. Shouldn’t all of you withdraw?”
Shen Yuan gave a soft scoff. Folding his arms, he tapped his fingers and said leisurely, “How could Your Highness bathe without someone present to attend you? I will remain here, ready to answer your summons at any moment.”
He deliberately reminded him, “Do not soak too long, Your Highness. You might faint in the bath and forget to add the sulfur powder.”
Xie Chengze said, “…I don’t need your reminder!”
Shen Yuan shrugged, turned his back, and fell silent. Seeing that he was determined not to leave, Xie Chengze could only grit his teeth, remove his old clothes, and climb into the wooden tub.
Still fuming, he flung the discarded robe onto Shen Yuan’s head to vent his anger. “Dog official!”
Shen Yuan: “…”
The robe drooped over his head. Torn between anger and amusement, Shen Yuan pulled down the dark-red garment, its worn fabric rough as grit, rolled it up, and wound it around his arm. “Your Highness, I have repaid the clothing I owed you.”
Xie Chengze did not understand at first. Then he remembered Shen Yuan was referring to the red ceremonial robe he had scrubbed to ruin on their journey to Yizhou.
Xie Chengze grunted twice. “One isn’t enough.”
He splashed the water twice, then glanced toward the spot where he had hidden the paper packet of sulfur and cleared his throat. “Well, Young Master Shen~”
The moment Shen Yuan heard him use that address, he knew Xie Chengze was up to no good again. “Your Highness, one does not speak while eating or while bathing.”
Xie Chengze: “?” Then he said, “Isn’t the saying ‘one does not speak while eating or sleeping’?”
Shen Yuan chuckled as though Xie Chengze were being utterly unreasonable. “When two people share intimate affairs, passion is difficult to restrain. How could they remain silent? Even if Your Highness has never tasted the forbidden fruit, surely you have heard of such things.”
Xie Chengze: “???”
Did a carriage loaded with filth just run straight over his face?
Xie Chengze touched his face in disbelief. He opened his mouth, then slumped lifelessly against the rim of the tub. “…That truly is the first I’ve heard of it.”
Shen Yuan offered no comment.
After soaking for a while, perhaps because the tub held too much water, Xie Chengze felt a slight discomfort in his chest. He raised his bottom a little to ease the water pressure against his heart.
Hearing the movement, Shen Yuan casually asked, “Is Your Highness about to add the sulfur powder?”
Xie Chengze: …Sulfur powder, sulfur powder. That’s all you ever think about! Is your brain stuffed with sulfur powder?
“Wait a little longer! Soaking in that stuff too long is bad for the body. Once I’ve soaked enough, I’ll mix it into the sandalwood soap and use it then!” As soon as Xie Chengze finished speaking, inspiration struck. He cleared his throat and said with ill intent, “Since Lord Shen said he would answer my every summons, why don’t you start by chopping up the sandalwood soap on the rack?”
Shen Yuan arched a brow. “Your Highness, I do not have a suitable blade at hand.”
Xie Chengze’s gaze dropped to his waist, his meaning obvious. “I think your sword would work quite well…”
Shen Yuan looked down: “…”
“Ah! All that talk about answering my every summons was nothing but sweet words meant to deceive me. I knew Lord Shen never held me in his heart…” Xie Chengze sighed at length, clutching his chest and speaking as though his heart had been torn apart.
Shen Yuan: “…”
The man drew a deep breath and shook his head in surrender. He took the sandalwood soap from the rack, drew the blue sword at his waist, and began shaving it for the exceedingly difficult Second Prince.
In the original novel, Shen Yuan’s blue sword had slain only treacherous ministers and foolish sovereigns. It swept every last remnant from the Crown Prince’s path through court and was jokingly dubbed the “Jian’an Sword” by readers.
Yet now, that world-renowned Jian’an Sword was reduced to crouching in a shabby little room while its tip shaved sandalwood soap. Xie Chengze found the sight amusing, but at the same time, he felt Shen Yuan seemed… a little different toward him now.
He could not say exactly how. Perhaps it was because, upon discovering that Xie Chengze was making gunpowder, Shen Yuan’s first warning had been not to risk his own life, rather than not to risk the people’s lives.
Xie Chengze could not tell whether Shen Yuan had been sincere, but at least he liked hearing it.
If he were an emperor, he would surely be a foolish sovereign who loved the flattering words of treacherous ministers.
“Shen Yuan.” Xie Chengze rested both arms on the rim of the tub, his fingertips tapping lightly and unconsciously against the wood. “If I told you I know how to make gunpowder and there won’t be any danger at all, would you believe me?”
Bang! The blade slipped through the middle of the sandalwood soap, then shot diagonally away. With a heavy clang, it buried itself at an angle in the floor. Half the severed soap fell beside it, speckled with dust, looking pitifully small and helpless.
Shen Yuan turned with a sinister smile. “What did Your Highness just say? I was concentrating so intently on cutting the soap that I failed to hear.”
Xie Chengze: “…”
Xie Chengze silently covered his mouth and sank deeper into the bathwater.
A threat! This was a threat! A naked threat!
“Your Highness should be done soaking by now, shouldn’t you?” Shen Yuan picked up the soap dish filled with shavings, turned, and walked to the tub. Looking down at Xie Chengze hiding inside, he said, “Soak any longer and Your Highness will turn waterlogged.”
“I think I can hold out a little longer.” Xie Chengze forced himself to continue. “If we don’t blast through the channel with gunpowder soon, excavating Mount Yuji may take seven or eight years, to say nothing of the branch channels that must follow. We cannot remain here that long. Once we leave, the person behind Liang Wanda will inevitably have him eliminated, and the Land of Abundance Plan may never be completed.”
No matter who was sent to Yizhou to replace Liang Wanda in the future, as long as the figure behind everything remained, the Prefect of Yizhou would inevitably be assimilated – and anyone who could not be assimilated would die. The people of Yizhou had already built their confidence around Liang Wanda as a spiritual pillar. His death would deal them a devastating psychological blow.
Thus, gunpowder was indispensable if they wanted to complete the Land of Abundance Plan quickly.
Shen Yuan lowered his eyes and said nothing. Of course he understood all of this. How could he not?
But when Xie Chengze considered these matters, had he ever considered what fate awaited him once the gunpowder was made?