Chapter 51

Chapter 51

In a foul mood, Shen Yuan gripped the soap dish so tightly that his knuckles turned bluish white. Struggling to suppress his irritation, he turned his head and asked, “So you bought the sulfur powder to make gunpowder.”

Xie Chengze: “?” Why was he bringing that up again?

The mood had already reached this point, so Xie Chengze simply admitted it. “Yes! I intend to make gunpowder! What of it?”

“Do you have no fear of death?” Shen Yuan frowned and looked back at him with a complicated expression.

“I already told you I know how to make gunpowder. There won’t be any danger!” Xie Chengze suddenly found Shen Yuan unbearably stubborn. “Do you not understand human speech? I’m terrified of death. If I weren’t completely confident, why would I touch something so dangerous? I’m not a fool!”

“Is that what I’m talking about?” Shen Yuan snapped as well. The soap dish fell from his hand and struck the floor. He planted both hands on the rim of the tub and stared gravely at Xie Chengze. “Xie Chengze, I find you harder and harder to understand. Are you making gunpowder for the people of Yizhou, or for yourself?”

“What?” Xie Chengze shuddered. A sudden chill surged through him, and he stared at Shen Yuan in disbelief. “What did you say?”

He had thought Shen Yuan had changed. That he was beginning to understand him. Yet what had he just said?

Did Shen Yuan still believe everything he did was for power?

Seeing the hurt in Xie Chengze’s eyes, Shen Yuan felt a pang in his chest. His tone softened slightly, but his question remained forceful. “I do not believe you have never considered what will happen if His Majesty learns that you can make gunpowder.”

A Second Prince who commanded the people’s hearts and possessed devastating gunpowder would be enough to threaten the Crown Prince’s position.

Did Xie Chengze truly imagine that after creating a Land of Abundance and inventing gunpowder, he would win Emperor Jian’s favor and move one step closer to the position of Crown Prince?

He would plainly be one step closer to death.

At that moment, Shen Yuan was afraid. Not because Xie Chengze might be ignorant of his fate. If Xie Chengze did not know, then he was still a fool – a fool who deserved whatever happened to him, a fool who deserved to die. But at least Shen Yuan could pull him back and stop him from walking toward death again.

What Shen Yuan feared was that Xie Chengze knew exactly what awaited him and had still chosen to make gunpowder without hesitation.

If power were his goal, he could secretly cultivate his own forces and stockpile gunpowder. With such a killing weapon, he could carve a bloody path straight through the palace, seize the imperial capital, and replace the Jian’an Dynasty with a new regime.

The Xie Chengze of the previous life would certainly have done that.

But he had not. He wanted gunpowder solely to advance the Land of Abundance Plan, so Yizhou could prosper sooner and its people could eat their fill sooner. For that, he disregarded the risk that Emperor Jian might grow wary and decide to eliminate him.

How could he have become so… benevolent?

Pain seemed to twist through Shen Yuan’s organs. He bent down heavily and threaded his fingers into the wounded young man’s hair, holding half his head firmly within one palm. In a hoarse voice, he asked, “Xie Chengze, are you trying to die…?”

Had he… never intended to meet a good end?

Am I trying to die? Are you threatening me now because you’re afraid I’ll stand in the Crown Prince’s way?

“Ha.” Forced to tilt his head back by Shen Yuan’s grip, Xie Chengze gave a cold laugh. A mocking smile curved his lips. “What, are you afraid that if His Majesty learns I can make gunpowder, he’ll favor me more than your precious Crown Prince? Do you love Xie Jinyu so much that you think he’s the very best and won’t allow anyone to block his path? So much that you even want my life?”

He arched his neck high and stared straight into Shen Yuan’s eyes. One long, wet index finger swept across his own throat, leaving a faint transparent trail of water like a dark implication. “Lord Shen, I will give you an opportunity. Wuhen and Wuji are both away on missions. Kill me now, and no one will know.”
He laughed bitterly at himself. “Oh, I nearly forgot. If I die, Father will certainly grow suspicious. Whether you had anything to do with it or not, you would be guilty of failing to protect me. Given Father’s affection for me, the entire Shen family would be buried alongside you.”

The blood letter sent by mistake had probably drawn Shen Yuan racing back only because he feared being forced to die with Xie Chengze, not because he had truly worried for his safety.

Xie Chengze had thought the two of them could already be considered friends. Now it seemed he had merely flattered himself.

He gave a scornful laugh. “No wonder Lord Shen asked whether I wanted to die, rather than whether I deserved to die.”

“That is not what I meant.” Shen Yuan frowned. He wanted to explain his true intention, but Xie Chengze violently shoved his hand away and turned his back. His voice was colder than ice. “Get out. I don’t want to see you again.”

“Xie Chengze…” Shen Yuan stepped forward and reached to touch him, only to see him furiously raise a hand and smash it against the water, splashing the bath everywhere.

Xie Chengze roared with nearly all his strength, “Insolence! Who permitted you to address me by name? Get out!”

Shen Yuan hesitantly drew back his hand. After wavering again and again, he finally withdrew it completely.

So be it. Xie Chengze was in the heat of his anger. Shen Yuan could return and explain after he calmed down.

Shen Yuan turned and left the room. Passing the blue sword embedded in the floor, he frowned. With lingering irritation, he wrenched it free and slammed it back into its sheath with a hiss of steel, then pushed open the door and left.

In the tub, Xie Chengze instinctively hunched at the sound of the sword returning to its sheath. He silently cursed the bastard for threatening him again.

Had he not done enough? Why did Shen Yuan still believe everything he did was for power and the throne?

He had thought that if he behaved honestly and kept to himself, Shen Yuan would no longer be wary of him or want him dead.

He had thought Shen Yuan already recognized the difference between him and the Second Prince. Perhaps Shen Yuan was even gradually setting aside the grudges of their previous life and becoming willing to be his friend.

But he had been wrong. He had been too naive. How could he imagine that a powerful minister who had dominated the court for ten years would trust anyone so easily?

Especially when that person was his former archenemy.

At some point, the bathwater had grown cold. Xie Chengze curled against the side of the tub, secretly cursing Shen Yuan as a pigheaded fool while his eyes slowly reddened without his notice.

He missed home.

But no one was waiting for him there either.

…

“Your Highness, Your Highness…”

Urgent whispers sounded beside his ear. Xie Chengze slowly opened his eyes and realized he had fallen asleep at some point.

He was still in the tub, but somehow the water had grown warm again.

Had the cold stiffened him so badly that his sense of temperature was distorted? Xie Chengze shifted, then remembered something and turned toward the person who had awakened him.

Zhu Xiaobiao held two water ladles. He scooped two ladles of cool water from the tub, then added one ladle of hot water from a nearby bucket. In a quiet voice, he warned, “Your Highness, you can’t sleep any longer. You’ll catch a chill.”

Xie Chengze rubbed his eyes and nodded. His little fatty was still the best. “Go bring me my clo – ”

He paused, remembering that Shen Yuan had carried away the old robe he had removed. Only one other change of clothing remained in the room. “Bring me the other robe from the wooden cabinet.”

“But Lord Shen said you should wear the new one…” Zhu Xiaobiao had barely begun when Xie Chengze glared at him. “Are you mine, or his?”

Zhu Xiaobiao silently fetched the old robe and handed it over. “Your Highness, did you and Lord Shen have a fight? Just now, he…”

“Don’t mention him to me. Bad luck!” Xie Chengze snapped with the disdain of a close friend whose confidante had suddenly brought up an ex-boyfriend.

“Oh…” Zhu Xiaobiao swallowed the rest of his sentence: Lord Shen was afraid no one would attend you, so he sent me to keep your bathwater warm.