Chapter 310: Chapter 300 Acting
Grandmaster Zhang, nearing seventy, had traveled all the way from the bustling Capital City to Ningzhou. The Yanyang Family disciples were mostly respectful of their teachers. Xie Jue arranged for Grandmaster Zhang to stay at the inn, assigning special attendants to care for him. Xie Xun glanced at the accompanying roster; several tutors from the Imperial College had come to Ningzhou with him, among whom he was most familiar with Grandmaster Zhang and Mr. Zhou.
Xie Xun truly found scholars troublesome—eloquent and sharp-tongued, capable of turning black into white and vice versa. He couldn’t bear to let Second Brother face Grandmaster Zhang and the crowd of tutors alone.
Second Brother was already taciturn by nature; interacting with them would surely drive him to the brink of frustration.
Xie Jue said, "Go handle military affairs. Don’t concern yourself."
"Second Brother, are you sure about this?" Xie Xun said, "Grandmaster Zhang and Mr. Zhou are not only pedantic but also rigid and annoyingly verbose."
Xie Jue didn’t bother replying, only giving him a cold stare. Taking the hint, Xie Xun said, "I’ll get lost now."
As soon as he stepped out, he ran into Grandmaster Zhang and Mr. Zhou leading five or six people toward the Prince Manor. Xie Xun looked up at the faint light breaking through the sky—were they this eager?
He had once burned Grandmaster Zhang’s hair and shot Mr. Zhou’s backside with a slingshot, causing mischief at the Imperial College. He had no desire to see them again, let alone greet these pedantic tutors. Turning his horse’s head, he took a detour to avoid them. From inside the carriage, Grandmaster Zhang spotted Xie Xun leaving the Prince Manor and hurried to call him back. However, before he could shout, Xie Xun had mounted his horse and ridden away with incredible swiftness, disappearing in moments.
Grandmaster Zhang was so furious, his beard practically stood on end!!!
Such flagrant disrespect for elders, completely lacking decorum!
When Xie Xun arrived at the camp, Zhang Boxin was waiting for him, rubbing his hands nervously. He came forward anxiously, with a trace of hopeful anticipation. "My prince, has Grandmaster mentioned me?"
Zhang Boxin was a descendant of Grandmaster Zhang and, by familial hierarchy, should address him as Granduncle. The Zhang Family had been implicated somewhat in the recent betrayal, though fortunately, not too seriously.
"I didn’t see him. Second Brother is entertaining them. If you want to see him, go to the Prince Manor yourself."
"Forget it, my legs are more important!" Zhang Boxin said, "He’d surely break my legs. If I piss him off to death at his age, wouldn’t you and Second Young Master have to take the blame?"
The crowd, "..."
Xie Xun’s personal guards came to report, "Master, Prince Kang is on a hunger strike at the manor and is demanding to see you."
"Hunger strike? Fine, let him. At least we’ll save on provisions," Xie Xun said nonchalantly. "Ignore him."
Prince Kang had been sent to escort Princess Huazhen to the Beiman, and the title of "playboy prince" wasn’t for nothing. He had actually stayed in Beiman for a while. Though he occasionally quarreled with Princess Huazhen, the two were siblings born of the same mother. Fearing the princess might be humiliated in Beiman, he lingered there. Had he returned a few days earlier, he wouldn’t have found himself trapped in Ningzhou.
Xie Jue and Xie Xun had been lenient, not throwing him into the dungeon but confining him in a courtyard near the Prince Manor, guarded by soldiers. Xie Xun knew Prince Kang was innocent and likely unaware of Yuwen Jing’s schemes. But Xie Xun harbored a deep-seated grudge against Yuwen Jing. Letting the only remaining blood brother of Yuwen Jing return to the Capital City was something he couldn’t bring himself to do.
"Wait... bring him to the war camp!"
"Understood!"
Xie Xun didn’t believe for a second that a pampered prince raised in luxury would starve himself to death.
When Prince Kang was brought to the battlefield, he was cursing up a storm. Though confined for days, he still looked full of spirit. Xie Xun thought, "Either he hasn’t gone hungry long enough, or he’s been feeding himself too well!"
"Xie Xun, you’ve finally come to see me! You treacherous rebel..."
Prince Kang stormed up in a fury, hurling insults. The words "treacherous rebel" stabbed at Xie Xun’s heart. Without hesitation, Xie Xun swung a heavy fist directly at Prince Kang’s chest, sending him flying three meters back. If not for needing him alive to face the Beiman, that punch would have shattered his ribs.
Prince Kang spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground. His vision darkened, and the world spun. Faintly, he saw Xie Xun striding over, gripping his collar with one hand like picking up a chicken.
"You Yuwen Family’s members have no right to call us traitors!" Xie Xun’s expression was as dark as ever, his gaze fixed on Prince Kang’s reddened eyes. "Your wonderful elder brother Yuwen Jing murdered your own father, framed the Marquis Mansion for treason, and orchestrated the slaughter of my father, my mother, my elder sister, my elder brother, and even my aunt. He pursued us tirelessly, leaving not even the dogs and chickens of the Marquis Mansion untouched. It was your Yuwen Family’s doing that forced us down this path! My family has guarded Ningzhou for five generations with unwavering loyalty—tell me, how did we become traitors? Someday, you’ll ask your beloved brother face-to-face! The throne your father sat upon was handed to him by my father. My father believed that, as a former Ningzhou Prince, the late emperor understood the pains of war and would care for the soldiers and the people. His only mistake was believing in your family."
Prince Kang’s mind buzzed. He wanted to refute Xie Xun’s words but couldn’t muster a response. "I... I don’t believe that my brother would stoop so low as to commit patricide. I don’t believe it!"
Yet he suddenly recalled the cruel glint in his brother’s eyes on Xiyanshan.
Would his brother really stoop to such treachery just to frame the Marquis Mansion and seize ultimate power?
"Yuwen Zhao, listen carefully. Today, the Beiman will deliver 30,000 red sand mines to the battlefield. The red sand mines Yuwen Jing used in his ambush in the Capital City—he got them from the Beiman. He’s been in league with them for a long time, scheming against the loyal. The Beiman know as well as we do what he’s plotting. Today, it’ll likely be Dugu Jing bringing the red sand mines. Whatever grievances there are between our families, that’s our matter. No matter what doubts you carry in your heart, today you must uphold the demeanor of a prince. If Dugu Jing finds out the Marquis Mansion has fallen and Ningzhou has rebelled, the Beiman will invade. If the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry retreats, the Beiman will advance unchecked. Do you understand?"
"I...I..." Prince Kang’s animosity toward Xie Xun ran deep. Since Xie Xun’s return to the Capital City, they had clashed numerous times, and Prince Kang utterly despised Xie Xun. Yet he had never held a grudge against the Marquis Mansion. Now, staring into Xie Xun’s cold, menacing eyes, Prince Kang felt a pang of fear. "If the Beiman invade, will you retreat from Ningzhou?"
"What else?" Xie Xun sneered. "Guard the empire for your Yuwen Family?"
"But what about the people of Ningzhou?"
Xie Xun released him, straightening the prince’s wrinkled robes. "If you don’t want the people to suffer, Your Highness, then play your role well."
The battlefield was in a state of heightened vigilance. Today was the day the Beiman were transporting 30,000 red sand mines to the frontline. Red sand mines... they were Xie Xun’s constant torment. Yuwen Jing’s ambush in the Capital City had capitalized on the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry’s defensive prowess, using arrows forged from red sand mines. Dugu Jing had even smuggled a batch into the Capital City.
The so-called peace negotiations were nothing but a trap!
The Crown Prince had long conspired with Dugu Jing to destroy the Marquis Mansion!
Dugu Jing, with his personal vendetta against the Marquis Mansion, would never miss this spectacle. The turmoil between the Marquis Mansion and Yanyang, the smoke of war rising—these only served to let the Beiman reap the benefits.
Red sand mines...
They were the prize his Second Brother and Fang Chuning had risked their lives to claim at Xiyanshan.
With the red sand mines delivered to the frontline and both his father and elder brother absent, suspicions would undoubtedly arise in Dugu Jing’s mind. Xie Xun could not, under any circumstances, let him see through Ningzhou’s insurrection.