Chapter 268: Extra Chapter 3: The Life of an Imperial Second Generation (Part 2)

When Xie Sheng entered, he bowed to his father, the Emperor, as usual and stood respectfully to the side.

“Sheng’er, do you know why I have summoned you?”

“I do, Father.”

The Emperor was taken aback. “Since you know, Sheng’er, does that mean you are deliberately defying me?”

“Father, I do not wish to work at the Ministry of Revenue.”

The Emperor asked, “Then where do you want to go? Tell me.”

The Emperor doted on all his children. He was the type of father who, if you asked for the stars, would throw in the moon for good measure. If his son was unhappy at the Ministry of Revenue, then he could just try another department. As long as it wasn’t something that would put him in mortal danger, the Emperor encouraged his children to try new things. He would be there to back them up no matter what.

‘It seems my second son has something he wants to do!’

The Emperor felt quite pleased at the thought.

But his second son’s next words were: “I just want to receive some Silver Coin from you and Mother Empress every year, stay in my Prince Mansion, and amuse myself all day. If you get bored, Father, you can summon me to the palace to entertain you. If Eldest Brother and Third Brother are both busy, I can perform their filial duties for them.”

“…”

His father, the Emperor, nearly choked. It sounded less like performing filial duties and more like he was waiting for a funeral.

The Emperor, thinking his son was just temporarily confused, said, “I am still young and have much to do, with very little free time. You need not worry about me. Now is the time for you to showcase your talents. Just tell me wherever you wish to go.”

“If I must say, then I wish to witness the grand landscapes of the Xie family on your behalf, Father, as you are busy guarding the Capital City.”

High EQ: Witnessing the grand landscapes.

Low EQ: Sightseeing and lazing about.

The Emperor flew into a rage, then remembered Xian’er telling him not to be hasty.

So he suppressed his temper and asked again. Xie Sheng said:

“I have thought it through—in fact, I thought it through many years ago. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have even wanted to go to the Upper Study Room. I only tolerated it because being with Eldest Brother and Third Brother was enjoyable enough. You are in your prime, Father. Eldest Brother and Third Brother are both capable. The entire court serves you, and even Consort Hao can share your burdens. In this vast Capital City, it makes no difference if one less person—me—is contributing. I beg you, Father, indulge your son this once. Let me be a carefree Prince and live a life of idle mediocrity.”

He knelt as he spoke.

‘My mother has been pushing me to compete with Eldest Brother, but I don’t want to compete at all. What’s the point of winning? To be like Father, waking before dawn for morning court and reviewing memorials by lamplight late into the night? That’s not the life I want.’

Xie Sheng listed all the places he wanted to travel to. He spoke for a long time, only stopping after he had even mentioned Shu, a land rumored to be full of miasma. He then looked at his father with hopeful eyes.

3

The Emperor looked at his second son, who was already a grown man, and found his thoughts drifting to Jiang Xian in her side palace.

He thought of the countless times he had tried to persuade her to travel with him, only to be refused.

People’s temperaments could be so different. ‘If only I could mix Sheng’er and his Consort Hao together,’ he mused. One lived too intensely, the other was far too relaxed. He then thought of the late Emperor, who had sired four sons. All four were promising, but in the end, two of them died in the struggle for power, leaving only him and his second elder brother.

If he had to choose, he would rather all three of his sons live long and well.

He could certainly afford to support one idle Prince.

4

Xie Sheng thought he was about to be punished.

A docked stipend and confinement for self-reflection were the basics. More seriously, he might be taken behind closed doors for a harsh lesson. Unexpectedly, after a moment of contemplation from his throne, his father said:

“Write down the travel itinerary you just described to me. You said you wanted to see the grand landscapes of the Xie family on my behalf, correct? Then go see them. Go and document the local customs, see if the local officials are corrupt or derelict in their duties, and right the wrongs of the world. Send letters home regularly so I know you are safe.”

Xie Sheng was stunned. He couldn’t process it for a moment. His father had actually taken his flippant words seriously!

In truth, when he talked about sightseeing and lazing about, he didn’t have a concrete plan.

After all, he had never even left the Capital City.

With his father indulging him like this, he suddenly felt a pang of apprehension. “Father, aren’t you going to punish me for my decadent attitude? Aside from reporting for duty on the first day, I never went back to the Ministry of Revenue…”

If it were his mother, she would have punished him severely.

No, it would be even worse.

She would be stunned, then break down in tears, feeling that all hope for her life was lost.

But Xie Sheng had been patient for many years. After leaving the palace to establish his own mansion, he hoped to live life for himself.

“If you don’t want to go, then don’t. Even if I forced you, you would be unwilling,” the Emperor said, beckoning his second son to sit beside him. “I learned ten years ago that persuasion is useless.”

Xie Sheng held a deep affection and admiration for his father, but rarely had the chance to be close to him. Now, being beckoned over, his heart pounded in his chest. He scooted closer and sat down, asking curiously, “Who else has given you such a headache, Father?”

‘It definitely isn’t Eldest Brother.’

‘Third Brother is reliable too, just a bit reckless. He fell off his horse and was injured two years ago, which scared Ma Ronghua so much she couldn’t sleep at night, personally tending to her son by his bedside without even changing her clothes.’

“Who else could it be?”

The Emperor sighed softly and, in front of Xie Sheng, mentioned a name he wouldn’t have dared to imagine. “How can that be? Mother Empress Hao is the most capable person in the harem. Don’t you often say you can’t do without her assistance, Father?”

“But I just wanted to take her to Jiangnan for a trip. She said the late Emperor once made an eastern tour to Qufu, and that the current Emperor hasn’t been to Jiangnan in a long time. She argued the salt merchants would surely be eager to donate silver to welcome me, and moreover, it would be a good opportunity to finalize the details of water conservancy projects after a field inspection, to protect the common people from floods.”

Both father and son were fun-loving by nature. After hearing this, they both showed identical expressions of dismay.

5

Although Guo Xiao Yi was worried when Xie Sheng was sent away on assignment, she wasn’t terribly sad.

After all, for a Prince to be sent out to gain experience was a sign of being valued. She would have preferred her son to secure a post in the Six Ministries and get more exposure before the Emperor, but the imperial decree was set and she couldn’t change it.

The one who was most upset was the Eldest Prince.

He frequently sent letters, asking if his second younger brother was well.

Xie Sheng wrote back—of course he was well. Father had assigned him so many elite soldiers and Hidden Guards that he couldn’t even visit a brothel comfortably. He feared he would have to give up such pleasure districts for good.

6

When he first set out, Xie Sheng was truly like a wild horse that had broken its reins, intent on having the time of his life.

Unexpectedly, after seeing his “travel itinerary,” Mother Empress Hao summoned him to the palace and entrusted him with a few matters. She had spent a great sum to purchase the distribution maps of some resource crops in Yan Chi from her system, and she gave this to Xie Sheng as both homework and a mission to complete.

Consort Hao was something of a mentor to him, so he dared not refuse.

‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘just playing around all the time would be boring. Finding some new and interesting things along the way would be more fun!’

Once he agreed, he saw Aunt Zhenqiu present a loose-leaf notebook, as thick as her palm, with both hands and place it in his.

Xie Sheng: …

‘I’m starting to regret this. I shouldn’t have underestimated Consort Hao’s workload.’

7

The Second Prince left the Capital City and, unexpectedly, did not return for several years.

Although he didn’t return in person, letters to his family arrived frequently—along with the seeds, metals, and books that Jiang Xian had asked him to find.

Word also came that during his low-profile travels, he had exposed a local tyrant who was exploiting the common folk. His letters home detailed how he had played the fool to catch a knave, before majestically revealing his father’s identity.

The elite soldiers and Hidden Guards the Emperor had assigned him were certainly not for nothing. Half a year later, he wiped out a den of rebels. The letter home this time was even more incredible—Xie Sheng claimed he had fought a master from the martial underworld for three hundred rounds before cutting him down from his horse. This got the Third Prince so fired up that he insisted on adding a line to the reply, saying he looked forward to leading troops with his second brother, and that their father would soon have another fierce general!

But when Xie Sheng’s next letter arrived in the Capital City, he wrote that he didn’t want to be a general. Leading troops into battle was too much hardship.

He wanted to be a wandering hero, righting wrongs, and would trouble his father, Eldest Brother, and Third Brother to please send more silver.

It was said that when Guo Xiao Yi read the letter that was passed to her, she fainted on the spot.