The Trick to Teasing a Noble Family's Son - Chapter 33.1

Xie Zichen’s words silenced the Crown Prince. He frowned, thinking for a long while before saying uneasily, “You said Wei Lan is Father Emperor’s man. If he placed Wei Lan at Third Brother’s side, wouldn’t that mean…”

“Your Highness need not worry.” Xie Zichen’s voice was calm, yet at this moment it became the Crown Prince’s greatest comfort. “You are the Crown Prince. As long as you make no mistakes, no one can depose you. So right now, the most important thing for Your Highness is not to make mistakes.

Whether those mistakes are your own, or someone else’s frame-up.” Xie Zichen looked steadily at the Crown Prince. Gradually, the Crown Prince regained his composure.

After a long moment, he said, “Yes. I am the Crown Prince. If I am without fault, not even Father Emperor can do anything. Besides, my maternal grandfather is the Duke Zhe. I am not a Crown Prince with nothing to rely on.”

“The urgent matter at hand,” Xie Zichen withdrew his gaze and spoke slowly, “is for Your Highness to strengthen your wings. As for Wang Xi, there is no need to say more. Huan Heng is unlikely to be His Majesty’s man, but could be His Majesty’s ally. Ji Shao and Lu Chen are fond of wine and women, unskilled in political manoeuvring, yet they hold great prestige among the scholars. If properly used, they too will be talents. The one most deserving of attention now is Lin Che.”

“Lin Che?”

“Lin Che is the eldest legitimate son of the Lin family, the maternal clan of the Empress; in other words, the Third Prince’s cousin. He now serves as the Crown Prince’s study companion. What does Your Highness intend?”

As he spoke, Xie Zichen looked at the Crown Prince and continued, “Will you draw him in, or suppress him? What is Your Highness’s plan?”

“You…” The Crown Prince looked a little troubled. “What do you think?”

“If he cannot serve me, then I’d kill him.” Xie Zichen spoke lightly. The Crown Prince’s expression tightened, suddenly feeling that the night breeze at the waterside pavilion had grown somewhat cold.

“Your Highness need not overthink.” Xie Zichen gazed out at the waterside pavilion, his eyes deep and steady. “All you need to do is give me men and money, and be a virtuous Crown Prince. Everything else, leave it to me.”

“If I give you men and money, won’t the investigation still trace back to me?” The Crown Prince gave a mocking laugh. “What talk is this of being virtuous?”

“I own many shops. Your Highness might let your people frequent them more often.” Xie Zichen took out a list and handed it to the Crown Prince. His tone remained even. “Some of these establishments hire shop boys all year round for odd jobs. Does Your Highness not have any friends hidden in the shadows?”

So, Xie Zichen was asking him for covert guards.

The Crown Prince understood at once. He slipped the list into his sleeve, gave a slight nod, and said coolly, “I understand.”

From a distance, the two saw Wei Lan walking towards the waterside pavilion. Xie Zichen followed without a trace. When Wei Lan spotted him, her gaze swept across to the Crown Prince in the distance. She curved her brows and eyes in a smile, cupped her hands in greeting, and said, “Brother Xie, was the lake view pleasing just now?”

“What does Shizi think?” Xie Zichen replied calmly. Wei Lan walked alongside him towards the pavilion. It seemed as if the two had been strolling together for quite some time, chatting idly.

Just as they stepped into the pavilion, Huan Heng shouted “A’Lan!” and came charging over, only to tread on his own robe hem and, in a spectacular dog-eating-shit fall, crash right down in front of Wei Lan.

Wei Lan’s heart tightened at once. She hurriedly crouched down to help Huan Heng up, her gaze falling on his handsome face.

Fortunately, the face was unharmed.

Wei Lan let out a small sigh of relief and said helplessly, “Why so reckless?”

“Happy!” Huan Heng lifted his wine cup, clearly drunk, and shouted, “A’Lan’s here, Heng is happy!”

Such a blunt declaration softened Wei Lan’s heart in spite of herself.

She reached out to brush the dust from Huan Heng’s face and said gently, “Come on, I’ll take you back.”

At that moment, the Crown Prince stepped into the pavilion. Seeing the mess of bodies sprawled all over, he sighed. “How did you all drink yourselves into this state? Attendants—”

At his command, the palace servants filed in. The Crown Prince ordered, “See these young masters back to their courtyards.”

The attendants stepped forward to lift the still-drinking revellers. The others were manageable, but Huan Heng, once drunk, was uncontrollable. He shouted towards Wei Lan, “I only want A’Lan to help me! No one else can touch me, get the hell away!”

Wei Lan found it amusing, yet in truth, she dared not help him at this moment. Who knew if he might, in his drunken stupor, pull something like groping her or tugging at her clothes? So she kept her hands tucked into her sleeves, smiling as she watched the others struggle with him.

Huan Heng was a military man, trained in martial arts; as such, ordinary palace servants were of no match. In two or three moves, he shook them off and staggered towards Wei Lan. She smiled without speaking, watching him draw near.

Just as Huan Heng grinned and said, “A’Lan, I—”

Before he could finish, Xie Zichen, standing beside him, struck the side of his neck with a swift hand chop. Huan Heng’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed instantly.

Wei Lan and the Crown Prince looked at Xie Zichen in mild surprise. Xie Zichen shook out his hand and told a nearby servant calmly, “Carry him away.”

With that, he saluted the Crown Prince and turned to leave. Wei Lan smiled at the Crown Prince, then caught up to Xie Zichen, shaking her folding fan. “To knock out even A’Heng with a single strike, Fourth Young Master Xie, your martial skills are impressive.”

“I studied the sword from . My father’s kindness was great, so I dared not be anything but diligent.”

Xie Zichen spoke lightly, but could not help recalling that this belonged to another lifetime.

As a bastard, in his childhood, he too longed for affection. When his father hired the renowned swordsman Li Xun to teach his second brother, he secretly learned from the shadows. He was clever and more diligent than others. At a young age, he not only wrote fine essays but also mastered elegant swordsmanship. Yet all these accomplishments carried only a humble wish, that his father might look at him a little more.

But such a simple wish had long been buried with the passage of many, many years. In this life, he practised the sword diligently not for favour, but because he knew that in years to come, Great Chu would be engulfed in war, and he might well be sent to the battlefield, so he prepared in advance.

His expression remained as calm as still water, yet Wei Lan somehow sensed a shift in his emotions. She glanced at him, tapping her palm with her fan before lowering her gaze.

“Zichen,” she said slowly, “sometimes I feel that if you were not so determined to excel, it would be much better.”

“What does Shizi mean?” Xie Zichen asked, a little surprised.

Wei Lan turned her head to look at him, her eyes full of tenderness. “If Zichen did not carry the world in his heart, Lan would wish to be a great tree, to shield you from wind and rain, to guard you all your life in peace.”

Wei Lan spoke so earnestly and movingly that, if this person were a woman, any man would have been touched.

Even Xie Zichen, long accustomed to her eccentric words, felt that Wei Lan was speaking from the heart. He was faintly moved. After a moment’s silence, he said quietly, “Shizi overestimates me.”

“But don’t worry, Zichen.” Wei Lan’s smile turned bright. She looked ahead as she spoke slowly. “You have the talent of a virtuous minister and care for all under heaven. I am merely lamenting the pity of it, nothing more.”

Xie Zichen nodded and murmured, “Mm.”

The palace attendants, supporting the drunken young masters, gradually overtook the two. They strolled through the forest. Having drunk, and with the wine taking effect, there were fewer winding turns. Unable to hold back, Xie Zichen asked directly, “It was His Majesty who sent you out, wasn’t it?”

Wei Lan arched a brow. “So what if he did?”

“Then what does Shizi intend?” Xie Zichen looked up at her. “Do you truly plan to be nothing more than a pair of eyes?”

“And you, Fourth Young Master Xie?” Wei Lan smiled. “Do you truly plan to be nothing more than the Crown Prince’s blade in the shadows?”