Chapter 3: 3

Xiao Weixin didn’t make a sound since he rarely takes the initiative to speak outside. He just lowered his head and took a sip from his teacup, as if he didn’t see the head hanging a little distance away.

Yong Wang Xiao Weijing is also an experienced person who moves around in the red-light district all year round.  He knew very well how to survive under Xiao Weishen: “I heard that Imperial Brother faced an assassination attempt last night?”

Qin Wang Xiao Weiming is not as well-informed and his eyes slightly widened upon hearing this.

“A bug indeed managed to sneak in.” Xiao Weishen’s frightened appearance from the previous night disappeared entirely as he put on a front of unaffectedness in front of his brothers: “However, my imperial guards quickly captured this person. Unfortunately, they were unable to interrogate him and couldn’t discover the hidden mastermind.”

“That is indeed unfortunate.” Xiao Weijing sighed.

Compared with Xiao Weixin, he had a more feminine appearance such that no one would doubt his gender if he wore women’s clothing. He is usually a carefree person who only knows how to live in a wanton and aimless manner, like a rich prodigal son. His frowning and worried appearance really made it seem as if he was concerned for his Imperial Brother: “This minister1 saw the head hung up for public display in the imperial garden. It seems that it is that foolhardy2 assassin?”

“Correct.” Xiao Weishen looked at them with a grave expression, “I’m still investigating this matter. As long as there is even a single clue…”

Even though he didn’t finish his sentence, everyone understood what he meant.

Qin Wang Xiao Weiming is the youngest of the late emperor’s surviving princes. He is only seventeen years old this year and is not as poised and perceptive as his elder brothers. He asked bluntly: “Imperial Brother, did you summon us ministers here because you want us to help you catch the culprit?”

Xiao Weishen looked at Xiao Weiming with a smile3: “No need for such trouble, Sixteenth Brother. Zhen4 just want to ask, who do you think may be the mastermind behind the scenes?”

Xiao Weiming was puzzled; how was he to know that?

Xiao Weishen turned his gaze to Xiao Weixin who had remained silent all this while: “What does Seventh Brother think?”

Xiao Weixin wasn’t let off the hook despite not having spoken at all. He unhurriedly put down his teacup, and shivered from the cool autumn breeze. Tightening the blanket around his body, he coughed weakly then replied: “This minister feels that this person must have planned for a long time. If the assassin can infiltrate the palace so easily, perhaps the people around the emperor have been bribed to become spies.”

“This minister also thinks so.” Xiao Weijing gave an absent-minded nod. ” Otherwise, how could a mere assassin have the ability to brazenly sneak in without the imperial guards noticing?”

Xiao Weiming sneakily glanced at his two elder brothers and then, not wanting to appear any less smarter than them, he quickly seconded: “Yes, yes, this younger brother also agrees!”

Xiao Weishen continued to scrutinize the three of them, as if waiting for one of them to slip up. ” However, the assassin died without leaving any evidence and the people around zhen have been unable to discover any clues. This is truly a perplexing matter. From where do you suggest zhen should start investigating?”

Xiao Weixin shook his head with a sigh, apologetically saying: “These ministers are all idlers who never take part in political affairs. This problem is indeed very confusing, and yet we lack the ability to provide any assistance to the emperor. If there is someone that the emperor finds suspicious, it is better to arrest them for interrogation.”

The smile on the corners of Xiao Weishen’s lips deepened. He looked calm and composed on the surface but he was actually very irritable and impatient in his heart, because all three cheap5 younger brothers looked innocent.

Xiao Weijing was an amorous flirt who wantonly indulged in pleasure.

Xiao Weixin’s continuous weak coughs made it seem as if he could die from his illness at any time.

Xiao Weiming’s big eyes were filled with innocent bewilderment like he had yet to wake up properly.

As a mediocre emperor who lacked any profound wisdom, Xiao Weishen really couldn’t discern whether this matter had anything to do with his brothers and uncle. In the end, he placed all the blame on the assassin for dying in such a simple and straightforward manner. The assassin carried nothing on his body that could be used to identify him and even the dagger used for assassinating him looked like it was casually bought on the street for five cents.

However, Xiao Weixin was indeed correct about one thing. As the emperor, the people around him are not completely trustworthy and there are definitely some traitors. Although he cannot determine their exact identity, his principle has always been to kill an innocent person by mistake rather than let any traitor slip through. Therefore, last night, excluding his closest and most trusted subordinates, all the palace servants around him had been executed without exception and even the old eunuch responsible for sweeping the floor of the garden had not been spared.

You Shu can read lips and roughly figured out what they were saying. It seems that the dog emperor still had his doubts. Xiao Weishen wasn’t so foolish as to really decide who the mastermind was based on this short discussion and he mainly wanted to observe their attitude. Unfortunately, he was up against two film emperors, an old fox and a genuine silly-white-sweet6, and he could discern nothing.

Due to this incident, Xiao Weixin’s carefully cultivated spies present among the palace servants serving in the emperor’s bedchamber had died, which was considered a heavy loss. However, knowing that this was just the beginning of the plot, You Shu was not worried about this. After all, the protagonist is not a careless and hasty person and this incident will teach him a profound lesson. In the future, he would exercise greater caution in his actions and not take risks lightly.

Xiao Weishen was unable to achieve his purpose and since he couldn’t directly accuse them without evidence, he had no choice but to stifle his anger. He then began to pretend to be a good and caring brother, showing great concern for Xiao Weixin’s health, asking him if he had taken the medicine.

“How could this younger brother dare to waste Imperial Brother’s good intentions?” Xiao Weixin frowned slightly and spoke in a weak and breathless voice: “It’s just that this minister’s physical foundation is too bad. And no matter how many tonics are taken, there is no effect. Imperial Physician Wang even said some time ago that…. this younger brother may never recover.”

Xiao Weishen feigned regret and said insincerely: “The words of Imperial Physician Wang can’t be counted. Zhen will order people to put up notices outside. Maybe an expert can be found among the people who has the ability to cure your illness.”

“Thank you, Imperial Brother.” Xiao Weixin had a melancholy expression on his face, obviously not believing that he would be cured. “My disease is heat poison contracted in the mother’s womb. Even the fortune-teller said that this minister is ill-fated and will remain childless for the rest of his life, with only the medicine as companion. This younger brother has long been resigned to his fate.”

There were some tears in his eyes and his frail appearance was so pitiful that even Xiao Weishen, despite his cruelty, could not help but be moved and have some compassion. Out of all his brothers, Xiao Weixin is the only one who didn’t cause any trouble since he was a child, and didn’t take any part in the power struggle between the princes. And it was most likely that the events of the previous night had nothing to do with him.

“Don’t believe that charlatan’s nonsense. With zhen here, there is no need for you to worry. Zhen has already asked the empress to properly look for a suitable match for you. Perhaps this marriage might prove to be a blessing and help you recover.”

Xiao Weixin coughed lightly, and shook his head with a wry smile: “Imperial Brother, don’t persuade me anymore. With a body like mine, how could I drag down some good girl’s future? Furthermore, didn’t you just give me a side concubine, Zhou shi7, last year? Imperial Physician Wang also said that I have a… weakness in my body so how could I have such good fortune as to marry?”

Hearing this, Xiao Weishen’s eyes clearly showed some complacence because by saying this, Xiao Weixin is practically admitting that he is incapable of doing it8. Zhou shi was the person he personally sent and even after having been in the mansion for a year, she had failed to consummate the marriage. Zhou shi had made several attempts to enter the prince’s courtyard to serve him but was angrily driven away by Xiao Weixin each time.

It is a matter of great shame and humiliation for all men if that thing doesn’t work. So, no matter how beautiful an appearance Xiao Weixin has, what’s the use?

Xiao Weishen likes to expose other people’s scars, to satisfy his dark obsession. The more painful others are, the more they suffer, the happier he is.

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After drinking tea in the Imperial Garden, this assassination incident seemed to have passed. Xiao Weixin got into the carriage with the help of his attendants. As soon as the curtain of the carriage fell down, his face darkened. Qi Han and Hua Chun didn’t dare to speak much, and remained silent all the way.

You Shu and Ying Wu had already returned to the carriage after changing back with the two stable guards. The two guards would only think that they accidentally fell asleep on the roadside and would not dare to tell anyone that they had slacked off while on duty.

After arriving at the inner courtyard of the mansion, Xiao Weixin locked himself in the study room. After all, the several people that he had cultivated with great effort and difficulty had all been lost, how could he not be angry?

Everyone inside and outside the study was kicked out by Xiao Weixin and only the shadow guards You Shu and Ying Wu remained. Ying Wu was outside on the roof while You Shu was inside the study room, perched on the ceiling beam. From You Shu’s perspective, he could clearly see all of Xiao Weixin’s movements.

Xiao Weixin sat on the chair with a blank expression, fiddling with the jade cup in his hand. Outsiders couldn’t tell what he was thinking in his heart, but You Shu could still decipher several emotions from his expression. Probably because he has trained his dog leg skills9 to perfection.

The silence in the study remained for about ten minutes. Then, Xiao Weixin suddenly tightly clenched the jade cup in his hand, and within a few seconds, the jade cup was crushed into pieces in his palm. Blood trickled down the palm of his hand drop by drop, and dripped onto his crescent-white robes. But he didn’t even notice it or react, as if he didn’t feel the pain at all.

You Shu can understand the protagonist’s mood at this moment. Years’ worth of forbearance, planning and effort had nearly been ruined and he had even lost his manpower, which greatly damaged his self-esteem and pride.

But it doesn’t matter. With the protagonist’s halo, even if one subordinate dies, he can be quickly replaced by someone else. As a reader with omniscient vision, You Shu is not worried at all and even silently cheers him on in his heart.

“Come.” After Xiao Weixin calmed down and settled his emotions, he opened his mouth and said a word to the empty study. But he forgot that everyone had been sent out by him, and no one outside the house obeyed.

You Shu waited for a while but no one came, so he lightly jumped down in front of the desk, knelt down on one knee and said in a low voice, “What orders does the lord have?”

Xiao Weixin originally wanted to call someone to treat his wound, but at this moment he also remembered that everyone around him was sent out by him. He looked at the shadow guard kneeling on the ground, and said lightly: “Come here and bandage this king.”

“Yes.” You Shu stood up from the ground.

These people10 wandered on the edge of death all year round and treating wounds is as common as eating. He found the medicine11 and gauze on the bookshelf and walked back respectfully.

Xiao Weixin’s entire palm had been pierced by the porcelain. You Shu didn’t have any tweezers, so he used a silver needle to pick out the tiny fragments one by one. Looking at the bloody state of his palm, he sighed slightly in his heart.

Why are these people like this? They never consider their hands to be made of flesh.

Xiao Weixin, who was thinking about his next action plan, inadvertently raised his eyes and saw the shadow guard bandaging himself.

In all honesty, not to mention among the shadow guards but even when placed among a group of handsome men, You Shu’s appearance is truly outstanding. Although his looks are not as exceptional as Xiao Weixin’s, he is also an extremely handsome man. With his sword eyebrows and starry eyes that are as clear as a breeze, no matter how one looks at it, it is a pity to only be a mere shadow guard.

Xiao Weixin had never paid attention to the group of shadow guards. In his eyes, they were just a group of dead men who lived in the dark and could not see the light, but he had never expected that there was such a person in his shadow guards. But his amazement lasted for only a moment and he became calm again.

You Shu didn’t know what he was thinking, but he tried his best to control his emotions and display his most perfect side for Xiao Weixin to see.

After all, in the 14 years since he came to this world, this was his first time meeting the protagonist in person!

The business opportunity is here!

 

T/N: Hi people! Hope you like the translation so far. And Happy New Year in advance <3

 

1

He calls himself 臣弟 (Chén dì). 臣 translates to minister/subject while 弟 means younger brother. I thought it was better to translate to minister since minister younger brother would just sound awkward.

2

不知死活 is a Chinese idiom which transliterates to “not knowing whether to live or die”. It means not knowing the benefits and harms, and taking the liberty to do it and is used for a reckless, impetuous and impulsive person with a devil-may-care attitude.

3

The meaning implied is a fake or false smile. It seemed awkward to put that in so I just left it as smile.

4

朕(Zhen) is how emperors address themselves. It means I (imperial). Just like how ministers call themselves chen (this subject) in front of the emperor.

5

Cheap here literally means cheap, conveniently obtained, insignificant. From my knowledge of c-novels, this is usually used to describe someone disliked or redundant like cheap shou, cheap gong, cheap stepmom etc.

6

Silly White Sweet (傻白甜) is Internet slang for someone who is really innocent and naïve. Usually used for silly girls. Here, I think we can all guess who’s the innocent baby among all these old foxes: Xiao Weiming.

7

shi (氏) basically means nee like maiden name. Usually used for concubines because actual wives are mostly referred to as furen or in the prince’s case, wangfei. Zhou shi means that she is a married girl from the Zhou family.

8

It as in sex.. the weakness before meant sexual dysfunction.

9

I mentioned it in the previous chapter. Dog leg skills= skills of hugging a golden thigh

10

Shadow guards

11

The raws used (金创药) which is used specifically for the treatment of blade wounds.

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