Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Yizhou’s disaster still left countless details to resolve: rebuilding houses with river sand and stone, turning and drying fields inundated by floodwater, confirming the locations of the tributaries downstream, and protecting people from the heavy snows of winter. Xie Chengze offered every suggestion he could.
Fortunately, he had only just started university before transmigrating, so much of his knowledge of mathematics, physics, and chemistry had not yet been wiped from his mind. With gifted artisans discovered among the common people assisting him, they ultimately devised sound solutions to every problem.
Nor did he let Liang Wanda off. Every day, he lectured and supervised him, making him memorize every plan and principle.
Xie Chengze often said, “Old Liang, you must study hard and put what you learn to good use. Only then will you live up to this prince’s expectations in the future!”
Liang Wanda assumed the Second Prince was urging him to work hard so that when Liang later entered the central court, he could serve His Highness wholeheartedly. And after personally experiencing and witnessing tens of thousands of people struggling together to tame the Min River, it was impossible not to be moved and remember the ambitions of his youth.
He too had once hoped to serve as an official and bring prosperity to the people under his care. But the road through officialdom was thorny and difficult to walk alone. He had followed the wrong master and taken the wrong path. By the time he looked back, he had committed countless crimes and could no longer turn around.
Yet Heaven had given him another chance to choose a wise new lord.
Liang Wanda did not want to surrender that chance. Or perhaps he had no other road left to take. The moment he followed the Second Prince’s plan and used the scholars to build his own reputation, he had become a full-fledged member of the prince’s faction. All he could do now was work for His Highness.
At least he could survive and slowly scrub the grime from his hands, rather than be used as a pawn and made an example of, never knowing which day his head might part from his body.
Liang Wanda knew perfectly well that few men ever received such an opportunity. He had to cling tightly to this lifeline and diligently complete every task the Second Prince assigned him. Only then could he reverse his fortunes and change his fate.
As for why he was so confident the Second Prince would protect him, it was because he had happened to overhear His Highness speaking with Shen Yuan one day as he passed the rear courtyard.
Shen Yuan wanted to submit a memorial settling the account for Liang Wanda’s past corruption and perversions of justice. But the Second Prince refused in the strongest terms, declaring that Liang was his man and absolutely nothing could happen to him. He even demanded that Shen Yuan help conceal the matter. The two had quarreled so bitterly that they did not speak for several days.
Liang Wanda could now be certain that he truly belonged to the Second Prince.
In the end, Shen Yuan had also agreed to stop interfering and let the Second Prince decide how to handle him.
With His Highness protecting him so fiercely, Liang Wanda could not betray the prince’s expectations!
Thus, Liang Wanda grew even more diligent, studying Yizhou’s terrain day and night and successfully losing a great deal of hair.
Xie Chengze did not disappoint him either. One day, he sought Liang Wanda out and said, “Old Liang, now that you have become my man, your former master certainly won’t let you go. So when the time comes, write a letter and tell them this, then that…”
Xie Chengze leaned close to his ear and muttered at length, then patted him on the shoulder. “Do that, and they won’t touch you.”
Liang Wanda: Oh~ Ohhh~!
Your Highness! Brilliant as always!
That would indeed tempt those people. They might even believe that Liang Wanda still served them and that his earlier actions were merely a temporary defection forced by circumstance – one he had made after careful consideration, since the result would allow them to reap even greater profits in the future.
But…
Why had the Second Prince’s spiel and tone just now sounded strangely familiar?
Liang Wanda felt as though he had heard something like it before…
Having never heard of pie in the sky, Liang Wanda pondered in silence, but eventually gave up when he could not remember.
–
With every matter in Yizhou arranged, it was time for Xie Chengze to return to the capital.
The procession of imperial delicacies sent by Emperor Jian had caused such a spectacle that people throughout the counties now knew Xie Chengze was the current Second Prince. When they heard he was returning to the capital, they traveled in groups to see him off.
Many people also clung reluctantly to Zhu Xiaobiao, urging him to eat more after returning to the capital and not grow any thinner.
Xie Chengze smiled and waved goodbye. But the moment he returned to his carriage, his expression darkened.
Now that his identity had been exposed, the news had likely already reached Shangjing. The days ahead would probably not be peaceful.
Events proved him right. On the road back, no matter how often the carriages changed course, assassins attacked them again and again.
Most went straight for Shen Yuan with unmistakable purpose. But when they found themselves outmatched, they turned and fled. A few smaller, more scattered groups even targeted Xie Chengze, but Wuhen dealt with them. Not one assassin touched so much as the corner of Xie Chengze’s robe.
Shortly before they reached the capital, however, one man among the final wave of assassins possessed extraordinary martial skill. He not only suppressed Wuhen, but stabbed Xie Chengze as well.
Crimson blood instantly soaked Xie Chengze’s sumptuous robes. Already weakened by the arduous journey, his face turned white as paper, and he fainted on the spot from the pain.
Fortunately, the blade had not reached bone, and the accompanying physician promptly stopped the bleeding and bandaged the wound. Xie Chengze’s life was not in danger, though he remained unconscious, while the assassin escaped amid the chaos.
When news that the Second Prince had been attacked reached the palace, Emperor Jian flew into a rage. He ordered the Court of Judicial Review to investigate the attempt on the Second Prince’s life thoroughly and show no mercy to the mastermind.
Chenghuan Hall.
On an ornate ebony canopy bed, the “unconscious” Xie Chengze lay with one leg crossed over the other, staring at the ceiling. Wuhen and Wuji knelt on the floor. One had his head lowered as he peeled a tangerine, while the other lay at the bedside, sobbing and whimpering.
After a long while, Xie Chengze turned his head helplessly. “Buddy, aren’t you done crying yet? I’m tired of listening.”
“Your Highness…” Wuji raised his tear-filled peach-blossom eyes, his voice indignant. “It was all because this subordinate wasn’t at your side. That useless trash Wuhen couldn’t even defeat a single assassin! Dismiss him!”
Wuhen looked up blankly: ?
The corner of Xie Chengze’s mouth twitched: What is the real assassin doing accusing someone else?
Wuhen realized he was being blamed for Wuji’s crime. His voice turned cold. “Want to settle this outside?”
“Hah. As if I’m afraid of you?” Wuji hurriedly edged closer to Xie Chengze. “I simply know His Highness would ache for me if I were injured. That’s the only reason I won’t fight you.”
His movement arts might surpass Wuhen’s, but his martial skill did not. If Wuhen had not deliberately shown an opening at the time, Wuji could never have found the chance to truly stab His Highness.
“Your Highness, does it hurt?” Wuji poked Xie Chengze’s left arm, which was wrapped in white bandages. Xie Chengze sucked in a sharp breath and gritted out, “What do you think?”
Wuji’s eyes curved with his smile. “That’s what Your Highness gets for always coming up with rotten ideas. This time, you even used your own body as part of the scheme. If you’re afraid of them, why not let Wuhen and me kill them all?”
He and Wuhen had endured so much hardship to hone their martial arts. Wasn’t the whole point to allow His Highness to do whatever he pleased?
“Do you two really like killing that much?” Xie Chengze sighed. “I don’t want you to kill anymore. It gives you nightmares.”
Wuji froze.
After a moment, he lowered his lashes, rested his head against Xie Chengze’s fingertips, and whispered, “Your Highness, the nightmare is when you are gone.”