Chapter 85
Chapter 85
The three men’s voices dropped lower and lower as they discussed the matter, as though afraid of disturbing someone. After an unknown length of time, Emperor Jian finally said gravely, “Then it is settled. Have the Ministry of Rites submit a memorial at court tomorrow. We will approve the proposal.”
“Then this subject takes his leave.” Before turning away, Shen Yuan cast Xie Chengze an apparently casual glance.
Xie Chengze, who had been peeking at him, received the signal and immediately said, “Father, the two hours are up! This son is leaving now!”
Without waiting for an answer, he hurriedly gathered his robes and chased after Shen Yuan.
After bowing, Xie Jinyu also quickly left the Imperial Study behind them.
Emperor Jian wiped a helpless hand over his face. “Does he truly like that Shen Yuan so much?”
Eunuch Zhao smiled. “Lord Shen is indeed a dragon among men. His Highness the Second Prince has excellent taste.”
“It is not that we cannot bear to give Shen to him. But the court is in turmoil. If he forms a marriage bond with Shen Yuan, schemers will inevitably incite him to fight for the throne.” Emperor Jian sighed. “We can give him anything but the imperial throne.”
“His Highness the Second Prince is intelligent. He presumably knows how to handle the situation,” Eunuch Zhao comforted him. “Did His Highness not pretend to be foolish at court before?”
“But he is no fool. Look at everything he has done lately. Which of those deeds has failed to win the people’s hearts? Those men want a puppet, not an enlightened ruler. What if they realize the truth and try to harm him again?” Emperor Jian asked anxiously.
Eunuch Zhao sighed. “The Crown Prince is benevolent. He will protect His Highness the Second Prince.”
“Let us hope so. If the two of them join hands and purge the court, we may not be unwilling to relent one day.” Emperor Jian reached for the memorial Xie Chengze had just reviewed, uncertain whether he ought to open it.
He feared that the pure devotion to the people between those lines would only deepen his guilt.
After a long while, he asked, “Zhao Quan, do you believe Ze’er truly has no interest whatsoever in the supreme throne?”
Eunuch Zhao considered the question. “If His Highness the Second Prince truly desired it, why conceal his abilities for so many years?”
Emperor Jian thought that made sense.
At last, he opened the memorial, ready to see what difficult problem had left Ze’er scratching his head and what dazzling solution the young man had proposed. His gaze landed upon a conspicuous greeting in the first line:
“Has Your Majesty’s imperial person been well of late? Have your meals suited your appetite?”
Emperor Jian: ?
A sense of foreboding came over him.
He continued reading leftward. The next several columns reported a plentiful autumn harvest and carts prepared with local specialties as tribute, followed by a request to know whether he enjoyed eating them.
Why had such empty drivel caused Ze’er so much distress?
Emperor Jian kept reading leftward. The corner of his mouth twitched: …
Xie Chengze had replied: Whether Father has eaten well, I do not know. But lately I have eaten crab-stuffed oranges, twin-style fried tripe, three-crisp soup, five-delicacy sliced fish, honeyed kumquats, crystal fish slices, crispy-boned fish, pickled melon, mountain medley, golden-jade soup…
The list sprawled across the page, nearly a hundred dishes long…
Emperor Jian finally understood why Xie Chengze had looked so troubled. Thinking up so many dish names truly had taxed him!
“Look at him! All he does is shirk and play tricks!” Laughing despite himself, Emperor Jian tossed the memorial to Eunuch Zhao. “In our view, the only reason he dragged out his reply was to run down the clock and avoid reviewing one more memorial!”
Eunuch Zhao skimmed the page and could not suppress a smile. “The Crown Prince is steady, benevolent, and measured; His Highness the Second Prince is intelligent but seeks no credit; His Highness the Fourth Prince is pure-hearted and has powerful support; and the Eldest Prince loyally defends the frontier. With all four princes working together, Your Majesty should rejoice.”
“You…” Pleased by what he heard, Emperor Jian could only shake his head helplessly. “Very well. Since that brat hates reviewing memorials so much, we will not make things difficult for him again.”
Eunuch Zhao nodded. “Your Majesty is benevolent. His Highness the Second Prince will surely be delighted.”
…
Outside the Imperial Study, Shen Yuan stopped and waited for Xie Chengze to catch up before continuing forward at a leisurely pace.
Xie Chengze warmly linked arms with him. “Vice Minister Shen~ Are you free later? Why not come to Chenghuan Hall for tea?”
His winding drawl sounded like some wastrel harassing people in the street. Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow and reminded him, “Your Highness, our relationship does not appear close enough for us to take tea in private.”
Had Xie Chengze not feared that growing too close to him would bring danger? Why was he suddenly acting friendly? What game did he mean to play now?
“How are we supposed to become close if we never take tea together?” Under cover of their bodies, Xie Chengze pinched him at the waist, shot him a look, and whispered, “Play along.”
Shen Yuan lowered his eyes and indulgently refrained from pulling his arm free. “This subject obeys.”
Xie Jinyu approached. Seeing how familiar they appeared, he lowered his gaze to their entwined arms.
The guards he had sent to protect Xie Chengze in Yizhou had clearly reported that the two were distant. Why did they now seem so intimate?
Had the guards omitted something?
“When did Second Brother and Vice Minister Shen become so close?” Xie Jinyu stopped before Xie Chengze, his smile exceedingly warm and friendly.
“We spent half a year together in Yizhou. Is it not perfectly natural for us to be close?” Xie Chengze smiled at him. “I am borrowing Vice Minister Shen, little Crown Prince. You do not mind, do you?”
“Naturally not. But might you prepare one more teacup?” When Xie Chengze smiled, the false gentleness surrounding Xie Jinyu fell away. He was like a lone wolf shedding its sheepskin after the hunt, carefully hiding its edge as it nuzzled the kitten it secretly kept in a mountain cave. With intimate ease, he linked arms with Xie Chengze on the other side.
The backs of his long fingers slowly brushed across the young man’s pale, slender wrist, probing toward his palm. He tugged Xie Chengze slightly closer to himself before continuing with a smile, “Second Brother was wounded in an assassination. I feared seeing me would sour your mood and interfere with your recovery, so I never dared visit. Now that Second Brother has recovered, I finally dare beg a cup of Chenghuan Hall’s tea.”
Feeling Xie Chengze’s body tilt toward Xie Jinyu, Shen Yuan looked up in confusion and met the Crown Prince’s dangerous, warning gaze.
Shen Yuan: ?
Why was the Crown Prince looking at him that way?
Ever since his rebirth, Shen Yuan had vaguely felt that serving in the Crown Prince’s faction was becoming increasingly difficult. In his previous life, the Crown Prince had plainly been a humble man who welcomed talent and accepted honest advice. They had been sovereign and minister for ten years. Apart from occasional disputes over Xie Chengze, he had always been gentle and benevolent and had never once shown Shen Yuan a cold face.
Now, however, he treated Shen Yuan coldly at the slightest provocation, as though the minister had committed some grave taboo.
Shen Yuan glanced at Xie Jinyu again. This time, he saw nothing but delight and dependence in the Crown Prince’s lowered eyes.
Following the direction of that gaze, he found Xie Chengze’s small face.
It was unlike the gentle smile in his previous life that had always seemed laced with provocation and falsehood. Nor was it like the Crown Prince’s hollow, darkened look when Xie Chengze committed some grave wrong and then cursed him instead, as though the prince had lost something precious. At this moment, Xie Jinyu was truly looking at the man and openly radiating his dependence upon him.
Shen Yuan had never seen “dependence” in Xie Jinyu’s eyes before.
What could he possibly depend on Xie Chengze for?
Wait.
Depend on whom? Xie Chengze?
Shen Yuan felt as if something had struck him hard on the head. He looked between Xie Jinyu and Xie Chengze in astonishment, sensing that he had missed some crucial piece of information.