The Trick to Teasing a Noble Family's Son - Chapter 1

After the beginning of autumn, it rained continuously. The rainwater washed the blood down the Imperial Road, soaking the black shoes of the incoming figure.

“Oh, Lord Xie,” came the sly voice of a eunuch. Holding an umbrella and anxiously glancing at his wet shoes he said, “Your shoes are all wet! Someone, come and quickly bring Lord Xie a new pair of shoes and socks! What kind of eyesight do you all have?!”

The eunuch hurriedly attended to him, while a young eunuch beside him rushed off, his trembling body stepping through the puddles, splashing water all over the ground.

The guards stood in two rows; eyes fixed ahead. They occasionally glanced at the eunuch with disdain in their eyes, as if they were looking at a dead man.

Grand Eunuch Wang Guoliang, was once a figure of great power so much so that he was privately referred to as “Nine Thousand Years”. With his high position, he had a bad temper. He had orchestrated the downfall of countless loyal subjects, including the man standing before him, whom he had offended many times.

This illegitimate son of the Xie family had clawed his way up step by step from the bottom of the nobility. It was once assumed that becoming Prime Minister was his final goal, but who would have thought he would rebel?

Oh no, who would dare say he rebelled? Clearly, it was the princes who plotted treason, and he merely led troops to purge the imperial court.

In one fell sweep, he had eliminated three princes, leaving only an eight-year-old child and his mother trembling in the harem, awaiting this king of hell’s judgment. Everyone knew that the winds had shifted in the Great Chu, and from now on, this man would cover the sky with his hands. Even Wang Guoliang could only shine his shoes with his waist hunched over.

The rain started to fall even harder. The man ascended the final step and indifferently said to Wang Guoliang, “Stand down.”

Unable to see his expression, Wang Guoliang couldn’t get any information about his fate from the man’s face. He could only try to appear submissive, bowing as he said, “Yes, yes,” and hunching over, escorted the man to the door, closing it behind him. “Lord Xie, if you need anything, just give your command.”

The man said nothing, his beautiful eyes casting a sidelong glance at Wang Guoliang.

He was extremely handsome, with delicate features that from afar looked like a mountain but up close like water, carrying an indescribable charm, much like an ink painting—subtle yet extraordinarily timeless and captivating.

Twenty years ago, he was already a famous and distinguished figure in the capital, and now, twenty years later, he went from being the fourth son of the Xie family who was looked down upon to a powerful minister. However, his appearance had only become more striking, not showing any signs of ageing.

Wang Guoliang was stunned for a moment by his gaze, but his eyes did not linger, stepping into the grand hall.

The hall had long been empty and the sound of the man’s footsteps echoed especially loud in the hall. He frowned, lifted the bead curtain and saw the woman who was pretending to be calm behind it.

She wore a magnificent golden robe, a golden crown on her head, and golden finger guards, looking extremely opulent. She had clearly dressed meticulously before sitting here.

Beside her, a young boy clung to her hand, clearly terrified. He was trembling and did not dare to speak, occasionally glancing at the newcomer.

The man looked at the woman on the seat who was obviously frightened but feigning a calm demeanour and remained silent. After a long while, he finally spoke, and slowly said, “From now on, you will be the Empress Dowager.”

The woman was momentarily stunned, tears welled up in her eyes and she said in a hoarse voice, “Fourth Brother…”

As she said that, she released the boy, rushing forward like a young girl, throwing herself into his arms, and hugged him with tears streaming down her face.

“I knew you wouldn’t abandon me, Fourth Brother. No one can separate us again…”

“Wan Qing…” the man sighed, seemingly at a loss, his handsome brows furrowing. After a long while, he finally said, “In my heart, you will always be like my own sister…”

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt a pain in his abdomen, and before he could come to his senses, he was stabbed several more times.

He looked up incredulously to see the woman before him, smiling through tears, her smile hideous. “You…”

“Sister?” The woman laughed loudly, “Who wants to be your sister! If you can’t be my child’s father, then I’ll make Minister Zhang the father!”

Minister Zhang?

He looked up sharply, understood instantly and his heart filled with shock.

He never expected… she would actually do this…

Nor did he expect that Zhang Sheng, that servant would dare have such courage…

“Xie Zichen,” the woman said as he fell, thrusting the knife into the ground angrily, “Go to hell!”

“Wan Qing!”

With a cry, Xie Zichen woke up from the nightmare.

Outside, the autumn rain pattered, and the night wind was getting stronger, making the windows rattle. Xie Zichen lay in bed, gasping for breath when he heard someone outside the door, “Young master, did you have a nightmare?”

“It’s nothing.”

Xie Zichen slowly came to his senses and responded to the person outside. Then he closed his eyes and fell back onto the bed.

This was the second time he had dreamt of his past life. The first time was when he first returned to this body. At that time, he was just twelve years old, and he didn’t even have a servant by his side. Initially, he thought he might have had an incredibly absurd dream in which he had become a Regent and his fiancée had become the Emperor’s Noble Concubine. If this wasn’t a dream, what was it?

However, when he discovered overnight that he had read all the books taught by his Master, and the events from his dream started to come true one by one, he could no longer regard it as just a dream.

These were all things that were about to happen!

He would be betrayed multiple times in his life, and in the end, be killed by the woman whom he had treated like a younger sister since childhood!

Thinking about this made his emotions churn. However, after some quiet reflection, he realized that the more pressing issue at hand was not his betrothed, Wang Wanqing, but rather the matter of entering the palace to study as a companion, which he was about to face in the next few days.

Now that he was fourteen years old, he clearly remembered that when he was fourteen, the palace had selected study companions from the children of noble families. There were only two eligible candidates in the Xie family: Xie Jie, the legitimate son from the third branch, and himself from the second branch.

After all, Xie Jie was the legitimate son, so no matter what, all of this had nothing to do with himself. But unfortunately, just a few days before the selection, the teacher from the family academy praised his literary talent to the family head. When Xie Jie learned about this, he was worried that Xie Zichen might compete for the position. So, he invited him for an autumn outing and tampered with his horse, causing him to fall and cripple his leg.

A lifelong limp made it much harder for him to enter officialdom than ordinary people. If he hadn’t sided early with and rendered advice to the Third Prince, who later ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor…

Thinking of this, Xie Zichen closed his eyes and made his decision.

In this life, he was far more outstanding than in his previous one. Not only the teacher from the family Academy but also the teachers from the Imperial Academy had praised his literary talent. Xie Jie would definitely not give up. Only this time, he didn’t plan to wait for Xie Jie to act. He’ll take action first.

But he had no one he could use at the moment. If he wants to take action, it’d be best to find someone unconnected to him…

Xie Zichen looked at the bed curtains, seriously considering everyone in the capital.

He needed to find someone who had never interacted with him before so that it would be difficult to track back to him;

Someone who did things efficiently, and with capable subordinates so that things could be done easily;

Someone currently in a weak position and in need of help, allowing for negotiations and potential alliances;

Someone who could have a good end in the future…

As he went through all the Young Masters in the capital with these criteria, Xie Zichen suddenly had a headache and found that no one seemed to meet all his requirements.

He tossed and turned in bed and when he got up early in the morning, his servant, A’Lai saw his bloodshot eyes and quickly asked, “Young master, what happened to you?”

Xie Zichen didn’t respond, waved his hand and asked A’Lai to tie his hair. He then got up and said, “Will go to the Wang residence.”

He had a good relationship with Wang Ning, the illegitimate son of the Wang family. Wang Ning had a much wider circle of friends, so he might be able to get some information.

A’Lai prepared the horse-drawn carriage, and Xie Zichen sat inside as they slowly made their way to the Wang residence.

The capital was always bustling, full of people coming and going. Xie Zichen closed his eyes to rest, but the noise outside made his head ache. He raised his hand to rub his temples when he suddenly heard a horse neighing outside, followed by the carriage coming to a sudden halt. Xie Zichen grabbed the wall of the carriage and before he could speak, he heard A’Lai angrily say, “Which family’s Young Master are you; how can you ride a horse like this?”

“Apologies.” A clear voice came from outside, its tone like jade striking porcelain, making it hard to distinguish whether it belonged to a man or a woman. The voice was warm and polite: “This one is  Wei Lan from Changxin Marquis Manor. I had an urgent matter and inadvertently bumped into your young master. I hope for your forgiveness. I will certainly visit personally to apologize another day.”

After saying that, the person rode off again.

A gust of wind lifted the curtain, allowing Xie Zichen to see the young man outside.

He wore a moonlight-coloured robe with wide sleeves, his hair half-tied with a jade crown. Although he rode in a hurry, the man on the horse had a calm demeanour, exuding the refined grace of a century-old noble family and he just rode in a casual posture. It was exceptionally charming and captivating.

A’Lai spat softly outside and drove the carriage forward again. Xie Zichen rubbed the jade pendant at his waist, carefully recalling the name Wei Lan.

Changxin Marquis Manor, Wei Lan…

He pondered seriously.

Most of the marquises of Great Chu were granted titles during the founding of the dynasty. The ancestor of the Changxin Marquis Manor was a famous general of the Great Xuan Dynasty, highly valued by the emperors. However, the current Changxin Marquis was a taciturn man, poor at socializing, and knew nothing but warfare. He hadn’t helped the current emperor during the battle for the throne, causing the emperor to hold a grudge and assign him to guard the border, where he remained for over a decade without returning to the capital.

Later, the Changxin Marquis had died unexpectedly on his way back to the capital. His eldest son inherited the title but contracted tuberculosis and passed away in less than two years, leading to the second son, Wei Yan, taking over. Wei Yan was a traitor, pretending to support the Crown Prince while acting as a spy for the Third Prince. He was greedy and lawless, and when he served as the local governor, he was executed by Xie Zichen, who was then the Minister of Justice. The Changxin Marquis Manor had been in decline since then…

However, that was in his previous lifetime.

In this life, the heir Wei Lan did not follow the same path. He had appeared suddenly in front of the world, already laden with military achievements. It was said that at twelve, he had run away from the Changxin Marquis Manor to the frontier, starting as a lowly soldier. At the age of fourteen, he personally killed a great enemy general in a battle, earning a first-class merit, and making him known. Recently, he had been summoned back from the frontier by the emperor.

Realizing this, Xie Zichen abruptly opened his eyes and coldly said, “Return to the residence!”

“Huh?” A’Lai was stunned for a moment but quickly responded, “Yes, yes.”

He speculated that the young master, on a whim, intended to emulate the carefree young masters who turned back halfway through an outing after having lost their interest.

But Xie Zichen in the carriage had only one thought.

——It was Wei Lan.

He had no past ties with Xie Zichen, did things cleanly and efficiently, commanded private soldiers, and had two uncles eyeing the position of the Changxin Marquis. Their inner courtyard was also said to be a tangled mess…

He was the perfect person to carry out the task!