Chapter 53
Chapter 53
It was Xie Chengze’s voice.
Shen Yuan hurriedly turned. Xie Chengze stood with his arms crossed, staring at him in open displeasure. “It appears Lord Shen has also completely ignored my words.”
For some reason, Shen Yuan almost wanted to laugh.
“Does that make us even, Your Highness?” Shen Yuan stepped forward. His gaze fell on Xie Chengze’s sun-reddened cheeks, and he said helplessly, “Hide whatever you wish, but did I not tell Your Highness to carry an umbrella when you go out?”
“It’s too heavy.” Xie Chengze looked away and lifted his chin arrogantly. “Besides, I don’t want to touch anything you gave me. Bad luck.”
“Is that so…” Shen Yuan raised a hand to his chin as though pondering. “I placed several sweet pastries in the clothes chest I gave you. They may become inedible if left too long. Since Your Highness disdains anything from me, I should take them away.”
Xie Chengze: “…”
Xie Chengze said, “I didn’t eat any.”
Shen Yuan nodded cheerfully in agreement. “Of course Your Highness did not. You despise me so thoroughly. How could you eat something I personally gave you?”
Xie Chengze’s fists clenched. “…Then why exactly did you come looking for me? Surely it was not merely to mock me?”
“Of course not.” Shen Yuan chuckled and stepped aside, yielding the path into the room in a gesture of compromise. “There are too many eyes and ears here. Your Highness, let us speak privately inside.”
Xie Chengze gave a heavy snort, circled far around him, and strode into the room.
Shen Yuan followed close behind. After shutting the door, he turned and approached Xie Chengze, who had already seated himself at the table. In a grave voice, he said, “Regarding what happened earlier today, I wish to explain. My intention was absolutely not what Your Highness imagined.”
“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I don’t care.” Xie Chengze had no desire to listen. He did not want to cling to an empty hope only to be disappointed again, like every birthday when he had believed his parents might come home, only to light the candles alone late at night.
Birthday wishes never came true.
“Your Highness, once you make gunpowder, you will not win His Majesty’s admiration. You will attract his wariness and schemes.” Shen Yuan came directly to the point. “His Majesty recognizes only the Crown Prince. If you block the Crown Prince’s path, then no matter how dearly he loves you, he will never let you live.”
“And Your Highness must understand the power and terror this explosive gunpowder would hold if used in war.” Shen Yuan stared at him gravely. “Even without the Crown Prince, His Majesty is still in the prime of life. How could he tolerate anyone capable of seriously threatening his position? He will remain wary of you. He will test you…”
Shen Yuan looked at Xie Chengze with a complicated expression. “The moment you fail to conceal even the slightest thought, death will be your only end.”
Xie Chengze paused, then lifted suspicious eyes toward him. “Lord Shen, the way you’re putting it… almost sounds as if you’re telling me to hide my rebellious ambitions, quietly turtle up, and build my strength in secret.”
Shen Yuan: “?”
He did not quite understand. Frowning, he said, “Your Highness, mind your words. I did not tell you to rebel, and you must never say such a thing to anyone else.”
Xie Chengze gave a quiet snort and said mockingly, “But if I died, wouldn’t Lord Shen be the happiest of all? Why not stand aside and watch me bring about my own destruction?”
Shen Yuan froze. He raised his eyes and stared at Xie Chengze with a complicated gaze, as though trying to see through the skin he wore. In the end, however, he merely clenched his fist and said in a low, veiled voice, “I… would not be happy.”
Xie Chengze’s pupils flickered, and he sat a little straighter.
He said he would not be happy.
Shen Yuan had also said that if Xie Chengze failed to conceal even the slightest rebellious thought, death would be his only end.
So when Shen Yuan had asked earlier that day whether he was trying to die, he had not been threatening him. He had genuinely been worried about him?
Xie Chengze’s heart gave one sudden, hurried beat. His feathered lashes lowered, and beneath the cover of his long sleeves, his fingertips fidgeted against one another as he struggled to restrain the curve of his lips.
So he had misunderstood Shen Yuan.
But Shen Yuan was right. Xie Chengze also knew that once he made gunpowder, Emperor Jian would inevitably grow wary of him and fear that he might threaten both the emperor’s position and the Crown Prince’s.
This problem was not unsolvable, however.
As long as he handed the gunpowder formula to Emperor Jian, the emperor would be wary of him at most. He would not truly do anything to Xie Chengze and might even assign people to study and improve the formula. As for the fame of creating a Land of Abundance, that would fall upon Shen Yuan and Liang Wanda, who stood in the public eye. Xie Chengze would receive none of it.
He would remain the incompetent, mediocre Second Prince, the Second Prince who cared only for pleasure.
As long as his reputation continued to stink, no one could shake the Crown Prince’s position.
“Actually, I…” Xie Chengze began. But after only three words, Shen Yuan spoke at the same time. “However, if Your Highness willingly presents the gunpowder formula to His Majesty, there may still be room to turn the situation around. His Majesty may remain wary, but he will not truly harm you.”
After speaking, he looked at Xie Chengze and prompted with his eyes, “What did Your Highness wish to say?”
“…” Xie Chengze clenched his fists and swallowed everything he had intended to say. A lukewarm smile touched his lips. “Nothing. Many thanks for Lord Shen’s instruction. I am deeply grateful.”
He called me Lord Shen… Shen Yuan keenly sensed that Xie Chengze seemed angry again.
“What is troubling Your Highness now?” Shen Yuan did not want another baseless misunderstanding or rift to arise between them. “Which of my words was wrong just now?”
Xie Chengze tugged at the corner of his mouth. “None. How could there be? Lord Shen’s foresight is unmatched. I have benefited greatly and cannot thank you enough!”
Yet his face plainly declared his unhappiness. For some reason, Shen Yuan simply could not bear to see him look this way, as though he had suffered some monumental grievance. It made it impossible not to worry or intervene.
He reached for the young man’s shoulder. “Xie Chengze, speak properly. If you’re making that face, then clearly I’ve said something wrong again.”
“Don’t touch me!” Xie Chengze jerked his shoulder away. Anger made him as quick as a rabbit, and he cursed Shen Yuan without courtesy. “You told me to hand over the gunpowder formula. What, did you assume all along that I would refuse? Is that why you thought I was courting death? Deep in your heart, you truly believe I would rebel, so – mmph!”
Shen Yuan’s hand smothered every unfinished word. Irritated, he said, “Your Highness, mind your words!”
How could he speak the word “rebel” so casually? If this became a habit, it would cause another disaster when they returned to the capital. Did he place no value at all on his own safety?
Shen Yuan had once believed Xie Chengze cared nothing for human life. Now he realized Xie Chengze disregarded not only other people’s lives, but his own as well!
Xie Chengze lowered his eyes to the large hand covering his mouth, then looked at the man’s irritated frown. His mind went hazy with fury. The most vicious retaliation he could devise was to extend his tongue and give Shen Yuan’s palm one hard lick.
What was wrong with this man? How dare he cover Xie Chengze’s mouth while he was speaking? Had he forgotten their respective ranks and positions?!