Chapter 111
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“War God.” Xie Duo lowered his eyes. “That’s right, no matter what, no one can erase my military achievements.”
“Of course!” Han Jiao quickly ran up to the big boss and flattered, “Your Highness is the War God who saves the country. Your name will be remembered for eternity!”
Chuckling, Xie Duo raised an eyebrow and asked him, “Han Xiaobai, what do you want?”
Han Jiao was taken aback. This was too polite for just a bit of flattery, and he hadn’t expected any rewards.
“I can grant you one wish.”
Han Jiao looked at him suspiciously. “Are you up to some mischief again?”
“Really, just say it.”
Han Jiao couldn’t figure out what Xie Duo wanted to do, so he proudly said, “Then, I wish for a thousand pieces of silver. Can I?”
“You can, but I only brought bank notes. You’ll have to go to the bank to exchange them for silver.”
Seeing the boss reaching for his purse, Han Jiao quickly raised his hand to stop him. “No! I was just joking with you!”
Xie Duo turned to look at him. “You don’t have a wish?”
“It’s not… ” Han Jiao was utterly confused.
What was wrong with this big boss? Why was he in such a good mood?
Could it be that he actually really wanted to be the Crown Prince, and his previous salted fish attitude was just an act?
Han Jiao, puzzled, asked, “Why are you in such a good mood today?”
“Whenever you’re by my side, I’m in a good mood.”
Han Jiao: “……”
Oh no, the signal lights disguised as ears just lit up again.
“You’re quite peculiar, unlike others.” Xie Duo’s calm eyes reflected Han Jiao’s surprised face. “Most people try to get close to me with hidden intentions, just to attach themselves. You came to me with a bag of moldy herbs, only to repay a debt you owed me.”
Xie Duo suddenly laughed and locked his gaze onto him with a mischievous look. “Han Xiaobai, I’ve saved you more than once. I won’t let you off so easily.”
Han Jiao’s face turned red from his ears to his neck all of a sudden. Why did this stinky little brother make his heart race even when he was up to no good?
He raised his eyes defiantly and stared at Xie Duo. “But I helped Your Highness cure Prince Duan’s illness. Isn’t that enough to settle things between us?”
“No,” Xie Duo coldly retorted. “Seven Brother owes you a favor, not me.”
“Then what does Your Highness want from me?” Han Jiao was already working as an accountant for the big boss. What more did this guy want?
“I don’t know.” Xie Duo eyed him. “Until I figure it out, you need to stay by my side.”
“Why does Your Highness like being around me? Is it because I never give you advice or lecture you?”
“Because you’re different.” Xie Duo looked at him seriously. “You don’t try to stop me from playing cuju or pester me with advice from ancient sages. I love playing cuju, and you wholeheartedly help me improve the game and the rules. You even envy my skills more than yours.”
Han Jiao quickly mumbled, “I’m not really envious… just a little jealous.”
Xie Duo smirked. “You take my strategic theories on paper as your guide, and without you, I wouldn’t have achieved these military feats. No one has ever fully accepted me for who I am like you. It’s like you’ve never wanted to change me. Being with you feels comfortable, and I don’t have to worry about acting like a scoundrel.”
Han Jiao: “……”
Is this the reason why you show your true stinky little brother self in front of me?
But why do I feel such an overwhelming, indescribable sense of gratitude?
Han Jiao raised his eyes to look at the big boss, responding with a slightly sulky tone, “Why would I want to change you? You’re the most outstanding person I’ve ever met in my life.”
Xie Duo’s eyes brightened. Revealing his sharp tiger teeth, he bent down, taking Han Jiao’s hand and leading him to the marketplace.
The warmth in his palm seemed to envelop his entire body. Han Jiao felt like he was floating on air, his brain momentarily losing its ability to think. Along the way, the big boss picked up various items and asked if he liked them, and he nodded to everything.
So, when they reached the doorstep of his home, Han Jiao was already carrying a mountain of shopping loot.
“I have to return to the palace.”
Han Jiao felt an inexplicable anxiety. The Xie Duo before him was like a beautiful dream, yet it gave him an unsettling feeling of fireworks fading too quickly.
But he couldn’t let the Crown Prince stay overnight at his place.
“See you tomorrow, Your Highness,” Han Jiao tilted his head, peering over the goods in his arms, and silently requested a response.
However, Xie Duo just smiled and turned away.
“Your Highness!” Han Jiao called out.
Xie Duo turned to look at him.
With a brave face, Han Jiao said, “You said you could grant me one wish.”
“Yes.”
Han Jiao stared at him and spoke earnestly, “I wish for you to be this happy every day and to live a long, healthy life.”
Xie Duo’s eyes drooped in disappointment, and he didn’t respond.
Han Jiao’s growing sense of unease suddenly surged. “Is it possible, Your Highness?”
•••
“Why did you take so long to come back?” The Empress’ slightly annoyed and anxious voice came from the side hall. “You can’t just slip out of the palace on a day like today! It’s really absurd!”
The woman, wearing a phoenix jade crown and a light apricot-colored gown, quickly passed through the curtains and walked out.
She stood almost half a head taller than the two maidservants accompanying her. When she reached the main hall, her hair bun was almost level with Xie Duo’s brow.
“This son has been cooped up in the room for a few days, so he wanted some fresh air outside the palace,” Xie Duo’s voice was very gentle. Since childhood, he had been accustomed to speaking to the Empress in this mild tone, and only to the Empress.
Most of the time, he wouldn’t resist the Empress’ commands. Even if he did, he wouldn’t express it in his words and actions because that would make the Empress break down in tears, or even scold him for having no conscience, just like Seventh Brother.
When he was little, the Empress wouldn’t even allow palace maids or nurses to hold Xie Duo. Whether it was for a walk in the garden or watching a play in the theater, the Empress would personally carry her son, as if fearing that someone else’s touch might make him forget her.
Since Xie Duo’s birth, the Emperor, who had rarely seen her for months, suddenly became extremely caring, as if everything she had lost had returned with the arrival of this child in her life.
She had a kind of unhealthy dependence on this child. Even before Xie Duo could walk, she would wake up three or five times every night, anxiously checking if the child was still in the cradle.
Xie Duo naturally had no memory of these things, but he had long been accustomed to the Empress’ dependence on him. Even now, he couldn’t believe she would harm him.
So he rejected Senior Minister Li’s plan.
No matter what, he didn’t want to harm the Empress or Sixth Brother first.
The Empress moved behind Xie Duo and gently pressed his lower back, looking up with concern, “Does it hurt? Did you obediently apply the medicine today?”
Xie Duo’s usual impatience was absent. Instead, he observed the Empress’ expression seriously, responding softly, “I just got a couple of hits with a paddle. As soon as you arrived, I didn’t feel pain at all.”
The Empress sternly said, “The Imperial Physician said you should apply the medicine for half a month, so you must do so every day without exception!”
Xie Duo nodded.
The Empress turned and led him to sit on a cushion before getting to the main topic, “Why did you so obediently respond to the imperial decree early this morning? What happened to your usual stubbornness in front of your Father Emperor?”
Xie Duo had a strange feeling. It was as if he had never looked at the Empress so seriously before, even though her features were so familiar. Now, there was a scary sense of unfamiliarity.
Her pupils were very dark, just like Sixth and Seventh Brothers’, bright and full of life when she looked at someone. Her nose was tall and wide, giving her an imposing and even slightly fierce look, especially on the Empress’ face.
Xie Duo only realized the imposing expression on her face today, at this very moment. In the past, he didn’t even understand why the imperial concubines and his siblings were all so fearful of the Empress.
There was a faint vertical groove in the center of her chin, just like Sixth Brother’s.
Xie Duo only now noticed how much of Sixth and Seventh Brothers he could see in this face before him, but there was no trace of himself.
“What’s wrong?” The Empress saw Xie Duo staring at her so intently, his eyes seeming to hold a hint of distress. She smiled and asked, “You received the imperial decree early this morning, and now you want to change your mind?”
Xie Duo lowered his gaze and replied softly, “No.”
The Empress took a deep breath and comforted him, “Becoming the Crown Prince is a big matter, and your Father Emperor acted impulsively. You can’t be stubborn in front of him. You need to persuade him slowly.”
“Father Emperor has appointed me to temporarily handle state affairs,” Xie Duo looked up at her.
“I heard about it,” the Empress said, displeased. “It must be the idea of those ministers. I’ve already sent someone to have your Sixth Brother stay in the palace for a while. He’ll take care of state affairs for you.”
“I can handle them myself.”
The Empress was momentarily surprised, then looked at Xie Duo and quickly smiled. “Did the sun rise in the west today?”
Xie Duo gazed at her and said solemnly, “Anything Sixth Brother can do, I can do, and I can achieve what he can’t.”
The Empress smiled. “You’re still competing with your brothers, even at this age.”
“It’s not competition,” Xie Duo’s gaze hardened. “I can do it better than him.”
The Empress shook her head in a somewhat helpless manner, then turned to instruct a maidservant to bring a bowl of medicinal soup, which she presented to Xie Duo.
“This is wild mountain ginseng with bird’s nest, newly offered from a foreign nation. I’ve had it warmed for you for quite a while.”
Xie Duo lowered his eyes to look at the bowl but didn’t touch it. He raised his eyes to look at the Empress and whispered, “It’s been a long time since you sang that little tune for me.”
“Which little tune?”
“The one that goes, ‘A smile as enchanting as a lotus flower in bloom’.”
“Why suddenly bring up this matter? You’re already so grown up, and you still want your mother to lull you to sleep?”
“No matter how old I am, I will never forget,” Xie Duo stood up, took two steps forward, knelt on one knee in front of the Empress, looked up at her, and spoke softly, “When I was a child, every time there was thunder, I used to pester my Mother Empress to sing a little tune. In truth, I didn’t want to listen to the tune. I just didn’t want to see my Mother Empress trembling under the covers.”
The Empress was stunned.
Xie Duo looked up at her. “Back then, I secretly swore that when I grew up, I would lead an army to catch the Thunder and Lightning Deities in the sky and never allow them to frighten my Mother Empress again.”
The Empress chuckled, but her eyes were slightly red as she smiled at Xie Duo.
“I’m grown up now, but I still can’t catch the Thunder and Lightning Deities,” Xie Duo promised solemnly, “but I will never let anyone harm you, Mother Empress.”
“You foolish boy,” the Empress turned her head, quickly wiped away the tears at the corner of her eye, looked down at the bowl of soup, and said softly, “Quickly drink the soup. It’s getting cold.”
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