Chapter 56: My Heart is Not a Stone
Xie Qianli’s heart was now full of weeds, but he also knew that misunderstandings should be resolved, not knotted. He immediately suppressed his thoughts, picked up the Danxin Stone Pendant, and raised it with both hands to the Emperor.
Xie Qianli said loudly, “This is not the Princess’s item! This is a pebble this subject picked up from the river beach on the return journey. The stone was round and pleasing, shaped like this without carving. This subject asked a craftsman to add some decoration, specially to present it to Your Majesty!”
“Present it to… Zhen?”
Since Great Qin’s national strength had recovered, Ying Xi constantly received rare tributes shipped from various places.
He didn’t like those treasures, but people always insisted on sending them.
Only a very few people understood that the things he truly liked didn’t need to be high in value, but needed to be quaint and interesting.
Ying Xi took the Danxin Stone Pendant.
The pebble felt warm to the touch, its surface still holding Xie Qianli’s body heat. The vermilion stone lay in Ying Xi’s palm, contrasting with his snowy skin.
The imperial yellow tassel hung down softly, the tassel fringes brand new. Where the hole was drilled in the stone, there was still some stone dust that hadn’t been wiped clean.
It was indeed newly made; Xie Qianli was not deceiving him.
And indeed, it could only be for him, because Huachao was not in the city recently, having long gone to the suburbs to play and hide from the Barbarian King.
That heart-shaped stone, accompanied by the warmth on it, ironed its way into his heart bit by bit, smoothing out Ying Xi’s inexplicable irritability. It made him slightly curve his dark grey eyes. His index finger hooked the loop of the Danxin Stone Pendant, lifting the whole thing up.
The stone swayed before Xie Qianli’s forehead.
Xie Qianli looked up, feeling that every strand of the tassel scratched his throat dry and tight.
Deeply ashamed, he lowered his head, avoiding the gaze.
But Ying Xi pressed, “You were running around outside; why did you still get Zhen a gift?”
Xie Qianli’s ears burned fiercely under the sunlight!
The tips of his ears were hot, his throat choked. He barely found an excuse: “This is a Danxin Stone (Loyal Heart Stone). During this trip to grant amnesty and suppress bandits, the people trust the Court more. The rivers flow eastward; the people’s hearts are settling. Great Qin’s fortune is prospering. Your Majesty is a sage ruler; this subject is willing to be a limb of the state.”
He seemed to hear Ying Xi chuckle lightly.
Regardless of whether Ying Xi believed it.
Since the words were out, Xie Qianli could only bite the bullet and continue, his voice gradually becoming steady: “That is the first reason. The second…”
“There is a second?” Ying Xi asked.
Xie Qianli said, “The situation of the Court is still not optimistic. Li Yilong occupies the commanderies of Yangzhou. While we suppress rebellion in the north, he is also developing his forces. Not to mention the border states like the Xiongnu and Southern Barbarians, who have always eyed our dynasty covetously.”
“‘The Xiongnu are not yet destroyed; how can I make a family?’ These are the deafening words of predecessors. Although this subject is untalented, I wish to emulate the sages and martyrs.”
“This subject does not wish to start a family, does not want that tie.”
He couldn’t resist raising his eyes to steal a glance at Ying Xi. His gaze touched the other’s pale chin—the outline clear, soft yet exquisite, delicate as jade carving.
As if burned, his gaze stopped at Ying Xi’s slightly red, thin lips, touching them only for a moment.
His heart beat like a war drum.
Yet he closed his eyes and answered, “This subject does not love Princess Huachao and has no one in his heart. This subject is willing to die on the battlefield wrapped in horse leather. I ten-thousand times hope Your Majesty accepts this Danxin (loyal heart) of mine.”
The Danxin Stone Pendant. My heart is not a stone. A heart of blood and loyalty.
Using the Danxin Stone to demonstrate a subject’s loyalty made Xie Qianli feel even more ashamed, yet on the surface, he concealed his thoughts almost flawlessly.
Ying Xi naturally sensed nothing.
Xie Qianli had come specifically to confess honestly that he had no sweetheart, didn’t want to marry Princess Huachao, and was willing to work for the Court. Naturally, Ying Xi was happy, his mood even relaxing significantly.
Ying Xi sighed longly, “Minister Xie, Zhen will certainly not force you. Rise.”
Xie Qianli also heaved a sigh of relief.
Standing up, he and the falcon rose from low to high. He hurriedly saw a smile playing on Ying Xi’s lips. He was repeatedly struck by that smile, forcing himself to look at the flower bushes and tree groves. But it was too rude; in front of the Emperor, he dared to be absent-minded.
Sure enough, Ying Xi noticed: “Is there an assassin?”
“There is no assassin.”
“Then why look at the bushes?”
Pressed by Ying Xi until his soul was lost, suddenly, he only hated that he didn’t grow eight hundred heads. It was truly difficult to deal with the overly sharp Ying Xi.
Even his pores were trembling. This Shanglin Park was lethal; he truly couldn’t stay for another half moment!
Xie Qianli could only answer with a mix of truth and falsehood: “‘The peony is on the verge of withering, spring is gradually fading.’ Your Majesty sent a letter ordering this subject to return to the capital early. This subject failed to do so, returning to Chang’an only in early summer. Thus, seeing the peony bushes with only leaves, this subject asks Your Majesty for forgiveness.” Xie Qianli cupped his hands.
Ying Xi clearly showed a puzzled expression: “What are you saying…”
When had he ever written such words?
And Xie Qianli, currently melancholic over his life’s trajectory going astray, had no mood to investigate the letter.
Information flowed between the two sides. Ying Xi was ice-snow clever; after a thought, he understood most of it. The corners of his mouth slowly hooked up.
However, he was in a good mood now, temporarily suppressing the urge to settle accounts with the Dating System, deciding to settle it later.
Ying Xi waved his hand and called Yu Jing over: “Yu Jing.”
“This servant is here!”
Yu Jing trotted over from afar, carefully examining the Emperor and the General. Seeing the Emperor playing with a stone pendant in his hand and the General remaining respectful as always, he couldn’t see anything unusual. “What are Your Majesty’s orders?”
“Zhen said to prepare a banquet. Set it here. Keep Minister Xie for the evening meal.”
“Yes.”
Xie Qianli was stunned.
Pitifully, he had long wanted to flee in defeat, but the farewell on the tip of his tongue was cut off.
He was dragged back into the eye of the storm, forced to continue interrogating his already fragile soul at the banquet.
Zongzheng Temple.
The evening dungeon was damp and sultry. The environment of the cell was half-light, half-dark, like a place between the mortal world and hell.
Imperial clan children locked up here had basically committed grave crimes and would inevitably lose the Sacred Favor from then on. So the jailers were rough, and screams echoed everywhere.
Only the Sky Number Two cell was different.
There was a plank bed in the cell, but that plank bed was now upright. Prince Yong, Ying Dang, was tied to the bed from chest to abdomen. Prince Yong looked imposing.
The two jailers responsible for guarding were serving Prince Yong, moving this lord’s arms and legs for him.
“Your Highness, does your back still feel stiff?”
“Your Highness, this leg isn’t swollen; this slave is taking care of it. Do you feel comfortable now?”
“Comfortable my ass! Are you a damn courtesan?” Prince Yong said. That magnificent voice was so high-profile it was out of place in the prison. Someone who didn’t know better would think he was the Chief Minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan.
Prince Yong yawned lazily. “You tied Gu too tight. Loosen it a bit.”
The jailer immediately became alert. “This… we dare not.”
Another jailer hurriedly said, “Your Highness has high martial arts skills and beat up all the Imperial Guards before being locked in here. We are just small shrimp; we can’t handle Your Highness’s tossing about. Please forgive us, Your Highness!”
Hearing “beat up all the Imperial Palace Guards” was quite satisfying.
Ying Dang felt smug. “When is Imperial Brother going to poison me to death?”
The two jailers were so scared they knelt, hurriedly bowing toward Weiyang Palace. “The Holy Driver only ordered the Zongzheng Temple to punish Your Highness according to the law; nothing else was said! Please do not overthink, Your Highness!”
Ying Dang sneered, his smile gradually becoming complex.
He had entered the Zongzheng Temple unconscious. When he woke up, all the cuts on his body had been carefully bandaged. Now, the wounds had long healed.
These jailers wouldn’t let him move, yet they obeyed him in everything. The Chief Minister of the Court of the Imperial Clan had visited him a few times, but each time was just going through the motions, reciting Great Qin’s laws to him.
There was only one possibility for this situation: they were obeying the Emperor’s instructions to take extra care of him.
Ying Dang felt very bitter in his heart.
Surely to outsiders, Imperial Brother was always the model of a good brother in the mortal world, and he himself was just the tool to display His Majesty’s sagacity.
—Couldn’t I just listen to Imperial Brother’s instructions and live in harmony with him?
Impossible!!!
Prince Yong ruthlessly drew a clear line.
He knew the Ying Xi that outsiders didn’t know.
The Ying Xi outsiders hadn’t seen—selfish, despicable, playing with power, unscrupulous… he had seen it all.
He knew how Ying Xi walked out of Guangling Commandery in Yangzhou, climbing from a mere commandery prince’s heir to the throne of the Great Qin Emperor. Prince Yong had always been shameless, but thinking about it still made him feel ashamed.
Prince Yong sneered. He wouldn’t be won over by the Emperor’s small kindness.
But in his mind, the image of that night’s fierce battle at Weiyang Palace appeared—the half-step his brother took forward at the moment he was injured.
Ying Dang frowned fiercely!
At this time, there was a rustling of chains outside the cell door, and a key was inserted into the lock hole.
Ying Dang narrowed his phoenix eyes.
As soon as the jailer delivering dinner entered the cell, he seemed to shrink by half, bowing and scraping. “Prince, Your Highness, dinner is here. This little one will feed you; will you have a few bites? This is food brought from the Prince’s Manor. We asked the cook, guaranteed to suit your taste…”
The jailer babbled for a long time, hung the key on his waist, took out two sets of tableware, and separated a little bit of the food in front of Prince Yong.
The jailer tasted it for poison first.
No poison. No irritating foods. There was black fish soup, suitable for the injured, which made Prince Yong even more unhappy.
Reflecting the glint of that brass key in his eyes, Prince Yong remained calm, arrogant as ever: “The fish smell is heavy, take it away. I won’t drink the soup.”
“Yes, yes.”
“Wash your claws clean, use a napkin, and feed Gu a silver thread roll. Don’t poke Gu with the chopsticks,” Prince Yong ordered.
“Yes, sir! Will do!”
As long as this lord was willing to eat, they would do anything.
The jailer had already washed his hands. He scrubbed them vigorously with a hot towel in front of Prince Yong again. Wrapping the steaming pastry in a brand-new clean cloth, the jailer brought it to Prince Yong’s mouth.
The change happened in a flash of lightning!
Ying Dang extended his long arm. The chopsticks and the silver thread roll fell simultaneously. Transforming his palm into a claw, he accurately clamped the jailer’s throat. The force was so great the jailer couldn’t even make a sound.
The two jailers beside him were shocked and were about to shout for help.
Ying Dang said ruthlessly, “Stand still.”
The jailers stopped, turning to see the dissolute Prince smiling yet not smiling, his expression in the dim light chilling. “Gu is the Emperor’s own brother. You know that even if you complain, the benevolent Emperor won’t do anything.”
His tone was mocking, and the two jailers agreed deeply.
Ying Dang added, “But you lot are different. If you dare call for help, Gu will claim you were trying to harm me. Can you bear the charge of murdering a Prince then?”
The two jailers were scared out of their wits, instantly falling silent and kowtowing repeatedly: “Your Highness, spare us! Your Highness, spare us! We are at Your Highness’s disposal; please spare our lives…”
Ying Dang said, “Untie Gu.”
“This—” How dared the two jailers?
Ying Dang applied force with his hand, producing the creaking sound of muscle compression, as if someone’s neck bone would snap in the next moment.
The jailer he held hostage turned purple, his fingers weakly trying to detach the ring of keys. “Help… beg…”
The other two jailers looked at each other, knowing Prince Yong’s notoriety well. He really killed people. Angering him would lead to no good end; they would only be killed by him.
So the two jailers split the work; one untied the ropes, the other opened the cell door.
The hard plank bed crashed to the ground!
Ying Dang limbered up his stiff muscles and tendons, raised his hand to throw the meal-delivering jailer into the straw pile in the corner, and said loosely, “Good job, Imperial Brother’s stupid dogs.”
The three jailers knew they had caused a huge disaster but couldn’t handle Ying Dang at all. The three crawled and rolled to block the cell door, begging, “Prince, spare us! If Your Highness has orders, we can arrange to do them! Your Highness must absolutely not break out of prison; breaking out is a capital crime!”
Only a few thud-thud sounds were heard in the cell. Ying Dang instantly knocked the three out. They fell to the ground, clearing the cell door.
Ying Dang retrieved his weapon from one of the jailers. The short knife was plain silver, the pigeon-blood ruby dazzling. He hid the knife back in his sleeve.
Too lazy to conceal it.
Twirling the brass key around his finger, Prince Yong fought as he walked. Zongzheng Temple wasn’t the Heavenly Prison anyway; there weren’t many jailers, and their combat power was mediocre.
Ying Dang swaggered out of the Zongzheng Temple.
Outside the Zongzheng Temple, the sun was setting in the west. The last afterglow of the sunset dyed everywhere as if with blood. Looking out, Chang’an was awash in deep and light reds.
Ying Dang bought a pot of wine casually. His steps were erratic as he drank while walking.
With drunken eyes, he looked at the lively streets, the crowds coming and going everywhere, the buildings high and low, prosperous and extravagant. This place the rebels coveted, the Barbarian King admired, the Xiongnu yearned for—this was his brother’s world.
Ying Dang took a fierce swig of wine, the spice almost bursting his chest!
Since entering Chang’an, despite the life of luxury and dissipation, Prince Yong felt he hadn’t merged with this damn place for a single day.
Chang’an took away his parents, took away his former brother, caused his closest kin to separate, his flesh and blood to become estranged, and got him constantly lectured by censors.
Who the hell liked Chang’an?
Only my brother likes it, likes being Emperor. Screw your Chang’an City!!!
Ying Dang kicked a small pebble on the ground fiercely and headed towards the flower streets and willow lanes with familiar ease. The brother he once respected and liked only existed in memory; the current brother was at the highest level of the Nine-Fold Palace.
He guessed Ying Xi should be in the palace right now, marking memorials that could never be finished, playing politics, calculating hearts, enjoying the pleasure of being an Emperor high above holding the power of life and death. He was keen on that.
Prince Yong absolutely couldn’t have imagined that more than ten miles away in Weiyang Palace, Ying Xi had just finished banqueting Xie Qianli and returned to the Weiyang Palace bedchamber.
He brought that Danxin Stone Pendant back to the dragon bed.
Lying down while playing with the stone pendant, the Emperor was rarely at leisure. Having drunk a few cups of wine at the palace banquet, his cheeks were flushed red, his hair scattered romantically, soft strands like a waterfall.
The Emperor hooked the corner of his mouth, watching the imperial yellow tassel sway without any purpose. His gaze gradually lost focus.
At this time, Sweet System finally bubbled up, asking in a small voice: “Is Your Majesty moved by the Big Wolf Dog?”
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