Chapter 395: Chapter 383: Brothers Talk
Fine, at least he didn’t beat me up in public!
"Second Brother, are you still mad? If you’re not done, keep hitting me. I promise I won’t fight back." Since childhood, Xie Xun always dreaded making Xie Jue angry. Whenever Second Brother was upset, it never ended well for him, so he always had to appease him.
But being beaten—this was the first time. Xie Jue was a man of propriety, hardly ever resorting to violence, even in anger. This time, he must have been truly enraged. That made Xie Xun even more cautious. Perhaps after letting out some steam, he might manage to skirt through this ordeal unharmed.
Xie Jue frowned, turned around, and sat down. He took a sip of tea and cast a cold glare at Xie Xun. "Get up!"
"Yes!" Xie Xun stood up at once, eagerly pouring him another cup of tea. Xie Jue eyed him icily. "If you dare seek your own doom like this again, I’ll personally send you off."
"It won’t happen again!" Xie Xun had perfected the art of apologizing on the way back. "Second Brother, please cool off."
Xie Jue was well acquainted with his temperament. Pressing his fingers to his temples, he remembered how he felt upon hearing the news that Yangzhou had been quarantined due to the epidemic and knowing Xie Xun was trapped inside. The anxiety had been unbearable. Yet this same source of worry now had the gall to offer such a nonchalant apology. "I was wrong; it won’t happen again"—that phrase had practically become his default excuse since childhood.
"How is Third Miss’s health?" Xie Jue asked. His younger brother looked full of life, but Third Miss’s frail health was another matter altogether. Who knew how she was faring?
"She caught the plague," Xie Xun replied. "Zhang Lingzheng came to Yangzhou, and she’s already improving. I also brought back the remedy for the epidemic. Jiaozhou’s outbreak should soon be under control. Second Brother, I’ve made mistakes, but I’ve also made contributions. Can’t we just call it even?" Xie Xun added with a sycophantic smile.
Xie Jue kept his face cold. "Get out of my sight. Go clean yourself up and change your clothes."
"Alright!" Xie Xun noticed the bloodshot state of Xie Jue’s eyes and felt a twinge of concern. "Second Brother, is there something wrong with your eyes?"
"Nothing." Xie Jue brushed off his concern impatiently. "Now scram, will you?"
Xie Xun dared not provoke him further and hurried off to freshen up. It was the third day of the lunar calendar. Jiaozhou was bitterly cold, being near the Bei River. The biting wind stung like knives on his face.
Qiuxiang was holding Fengyu, crying her heart out. Having been separated from Fengyu all this time, she had visibly lost weight. Fengyu, finding it both amusing and touching, comforted her until her sobs gradually subsided. After a hot bath, Fengyu quickly drifted off to sleep. After cleaning himself up, Xie Xun came to see her. Noticing she had fallen asleep, he refrained from going inside. Instead, he instructed Chunlu and Qiuxiang to take good care of her and then went to find Xie Jue.
In Xie Jue’s room, the air was thick with the smell of medicine. He was applying a hot compress to his eyes while a doctor was administering acupuncture around his eye area. Seeing this, Xie Xun’s heart sank. "What’s going on?"
"Your Highness..." The doctor stood to bow, but Xie Xun waved off the courtesy. "What happened to Second Brother’s eyes?"
"Second Young Master..."
"Don’t exaggerate—it’s not that bad." Xie Jue interrupted the doctor, already guessing what Xie Xun was worrying about. Doctors always left room for ambiguity in their words. "It’s just overwork. The doctor is helping to alleviate it, that’s all."
The doctor nodded, tacitly agreeing with Xie Jue’s statement. Xie Xun, however, remained doubtful and sat down by the bed, closely observing the doctor’s treatment. After fifteen minutes of acupuncture, the hot compress was removed. Xie Jue’s eyes, reddened and slightly damp from the treatment, made him look as though he had been crying. To Xie Xun, at that moment, his brooding Second Brother resembled the fragile, sensitive figure he and Fang Chuning had once jokingly envisioned.
Xie Jue grabbed a clean towel to wipe away the lingering medicinal smell around his eyes. Nuanyang had filled him in on everything that had happened in Yangzhou, except for the matter of taking the Soul Suppressing Pearl. As Xie Jue looked at Xie Xun, a deep, indescribable ache welled up in his heart.
Xie Xun had grown up.
What he accomplished in Yangzhou was remarkable. He acted selflessly for the people, undeterred by life or death. With the epidemic raging unchecked there, and without the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry by his side, he had not only suppressed the chaos at the State Mansion but also brought stability to the city, saving its people. It was something no one else could have achieved. Moreover, he had taken Third Miss with him, fully aware of her significance in his life.
Since childhood, his younger brother had always been daring. The first time he went to war, he led a vanguard force into the heart of the Beiman Army and successfully set fire to a ten-thousand-strong enemy’s supply depot with just five thousand troops. Fear was a concept foreign to him. But taking Fengyu into danger changed everything. He could never allow harm to come to her. This time, however, he took Fengyu to Yangzhou, and against all odds, they both returned unharmed.
Risky—and yet brilliant!
Hearing about it left Xie Jue both deeply shaken and intensely proud.
Of course, that didn’t stop him from beating Xie Xun.
"What happened in Yangzhou—you handled it beautifully," Xie Jue praised him for once. "If anything happens to me in the future, you’ve proven you can stand on your own. Originally, I thought I’d have to spend the winter across the Twelve Prefectures, demonstrating the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry’s determination to protect the people in order to peacefully consolidate control. But now, it seems unnecessary. Your rise as ruler of the Twelve Prefectures is inevitable. Even our cousin’s cunning and influence can’t defy the will of heaven. Zhongzhou won’t send troops, and we’ll have two to three years of brief peace. Ningzhou’s defenses must remain tight. You’ll return to Ningzhou, and I’ll stay in Jiaozhou, collaborating with Fengyu to implement agricultural and commercial revitalization across the Twelve Prefectures."
"Fine!" Xie Xun had no objections to this arrangement. Ningzhou had already stabilized over the past six months. Xie Jue had left behind capable personnel to continue implementing reforms. With only Fengyu working across the Twelve Prefectures, her efforts would be spread too thin. Xie Xun could handle military affairs in Ningzhou while Xie Jue and Fengyu focused on economic recovery, which would not only defend against the Beiman but also guard against Zhongzhou. "Second Brother, this trip to Jiangnan... the hatred in my heart—it’s like something else has replaced it."
"Tell me about it."
Xie Jue guided him to a seat by the window, opening it slightly. Snow drifted in the air, and an icy wind howled outside. The courtyard was buried beneath a thick layer of snow. Draped in a white fur cloak, Xie Jue took the kettle from the warming rack on the brazier and began brewing tea.
Xie Xun reached for the tea set to assist. "The night I arrived in Yangzhou, all I wanted was to get Fengyu out of there. I didn’t want to get stuck in the quagmire. I thought to myself, Yangzhou is so vast—a thousand-year-old city like heaven on earth, blessed by spring breezes and the Jiangnan troops stationed just nearby. Why should I try to play the hero? But you don’t know how horrifying that night in Yangzhou was. Lin Cheng ordered the massacre of unarmed refugees. The streets ran red with blood, corpses were piled high, and the epidemic, death, and terror suffocated the entire city. The State Mansion was in complete disarray. When I decided to stay, my heart was in turmoil. All I could think about was you, and I felt terribly sorry. I thought that if Fengyu and I were to die in Yangzhou, the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry and our family’s revenge would rest solely on your shoulders. You’d have to bear it all alone. That thought made the decision agonizing."
"Then why didn’t you leave?" Xie Jue didn’t look at him as he poured hot water to warm the tea set. His pale face stood out starkly, like snow in the cold light.
"I lost my family once already. I didn’t want the plague and violence to take others’ families from them. I didn’t want anyone else to suffer what I did—losing everything and everyone they loved. I couldn’t save everyone. One day, three thousand people died in the epidemic zones. The garrison worked from dawn to dusk carrying corpses, and the mass graves outside the city overflowed. The smoke from the cremations darkened the skies over Yangzhou with a persistent haze. There was a six-year-old boy whose parents died on the road as refugees. His younger sister was trampled to death in the Yangzhou riots that night. He survived the plague, barely clinging to life. He didn’t even understand what it means to hate, yet he had already lost his entire family. I couldn’t save everyone, but I could save as many as I could. Standing by the mass graves, watching the ashes rise into the sky, I realized something: hatred couldn’t save me, and it couldn’t save the people of this city. It only consumes. I had to let go of the resentment that had eaten away at me day and night. Of course, it doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven Yuwen Jing. I’ll kill him—avenge Father and Eldest Brother. But hatred shouldn’t dominate my life. I have you, Ayu, and ambitions left to fulfill. I want to unify the land under peace and give the people a life of prosperity. I don’t want to see them endure another catastrophe like Yangzhou’s. I want a world where people can truly live without fear, without hunger. If I let hatred consume me, I’d see nothing but vengeance—and I’d have abandoned the people of Yangzhou to their fate."
"If you had died in that epidemic, would you regret it?" Xie Jue asked, setting the warmed tea set down and beginning to prepare the brew.
"I’d have regrets. So much left undone. I haven’t taken Ayu as my wife. I haven’t seen you with a family of your own. I haven’t truly done enough for the people. I haven’t killed Yuwen Jing... So many regrets," Xie Xun said. Then, with a smile, he added, "But no, I wouldn’t regret it!"
The brewed tea was placed before Xie Xun.
The amber tea reflected Xie Jue’s face, lending warmth to his sharp features. The Second Young Master’s smile softened, like snow finally melting. "This is why you’re the commander of the Ningzhou Iron Cavalry—and I’m not."
From a young age, Xie Xun had carried an excess of courage and an overwhelming protective instinct. As a teenager, he had harbored dreams of heroism. His heart was a wellspring of vitality, compassion, and drive. Hatred might temporarily sway him, but it could never fully consume him.
He cared for the weak and shielded the people. He had the heart of a ruler.
"Let go of hatred and move boldly forward. Second Brother has your back," Xie Jue said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle. "Don’t be afraid, and don’t feel like you’ve wronged anyone. You’ve done right by everyone. This is Father’s hope for you as well."
Though they were brothers and bore a striking resemblance, their aspirations had always diverged. Xie Jue could never embody Xie Xun’s compassion for humanity, nor did he share his fierce protective instincts.
His own emotions were far too barren to encompass the will of the people.
He and Xie Xun were like ice and fire.
For the first time ever, the brothers sat down to have such a calm, honest conversation. Xie Jue said, "Now that you’ve braved life and death in Yangzhou, the whole of Yanyang must know what kind of Prince Xie Xun is and what kind of emperor he will become in the future. I’ll commission someone to write an ode and spread it across Yanyang."
"Won’t that be a bit... embarrassing?"
"With a face as thick as yours, when have you ever been afraid of that?"
Xie Xun: "...Alright, fine."