The Beautiful Top Being Pursued Relentlessly [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 54

Five days after Xie Cheng and Jiang Yi officially reconciled, news broke from the Palace: the Emperor was gravely ill. Worse yet, the Crown Prince, while attending his father’s sickbed, had been ambushed by assassins and was now in a deep coma.

The news hit the Prince Zhao Manor like a sudden gust of the coming winter’s chill. The entire household was plunged into a state of mourning.

Xie Cheng: 

The Butler, usually busy with the manor’s daily affairs, stayed glued to Xie Cheng’s side. He wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve every few minutes, occasionally whispering, “My Lord, please do not grieve too deeply.”

At that moment, Xie Cheng was standing by a large stone basin in the courtyard, using a long blade of green grass to tease the koi fish inside. Jiang Yi stood beside him, idly tossing fish food into the water.

Hearing the Butler, Xie Cheng flicked the grass, carelessly stirring the clear water into a swirl. His expression remained entirely flat.

The Butler assumed his master was simply too devastated to speak. To lose both father and brother at once who wouldn’t be paralyzed by grief? He assumed the Prince’s calm was merely a mask for a shattered heart.

Nearby, Jiang Yi stopped feeding the fish. He glanced at Xie Cheng, looking a bit lost. After a moment, he leaned in, pressing his sturdy shoulder against the Prince’s.

“What are you doing?” Xie Cheng finally stopped stirring the water.

“Giving you a shoulder to lean on,” Jiang Yi murmured.

Xie Cheng let go of the grass. His gaze swept over Jiang Yi’s broad shoulders and firm chest before settling on the man’s eyes wide  wet, and filled with a raw, instinctive sincerity.

“I don’t need it. Move.”

“Just lean on me,” Jiang Yi grumbled stubbornly.

The Butler let out another sob and dabbed at his eyes.

As the tragic news spread, the stability of the Imperial City began to crumble. Everyone seemed to agree: the beloved Prince Zhao would have to shoulder the burden of the state. If he succeeded, he would be the new Emperor. If he failed, he would be the first head on the chopping block.

He was a piece on a chessboard with no way to retreat. The mastermind behind this plot, driven by wolf-like ambition, wouldn’t let such a massive obstacle stand in their way. And since the disaster was so sudden, Prince Zhao appeared completely defenseless.

The Butler couldn’t bear to look at Xie Cheng’s “haggard” face any longer. He turned away to rub his eyes, only to hear the sound of approaching footsteps. He looked up to see a group of eunuchs walking toward them.

They were unfamiliar faces none of them had ever been seen in the manor before.

The Butler immediately stepped forward, shielding Xie Cheng. “Who are you?” he barked.

Xie Cheng turned around, casually flicking his long sleeves behind his back.

The lead eunuch had a pale, clean-shaven face, but the powder on his neck was flaking off onto his collar. He greeted the Prince with a bow, but his expression was sharp and cynical.

“I am here on the Empress’s decree. Her Majesty requests Prince Zhao’s presence at the Fengyi Palace for a private audience.”

The Empress?

The Butler’s heart tightened. If the Empress truly wanted to see the Prince, she wouldn’t have sent strangers. This was a trap.

Fear cold as ice raced up the Butler’s spine. His raised arm began to shake violently.

Tremble, tremble, tremble/

Xie Cheng:

Xie Cheng stared at the nearly-fainting Butler for a second before pulling him aside. He knew exactly what was going on, but he chose to play along. “What urgent matter does Mother have?”

The eunuch lowered his head. “The Empress is sick with worry. She is in a trance-like state and keeps calling for Your Highness.” He paused, then looked up at Xie Cheng with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “My Lord, the Palace has been ‘haunted’ by ghosts lately. It’s only natural that Her Majesty might have been startled by one.”

“Impudent.”

Xie Cheng’s voice wasn’t loud, but it hummed with authority and cold fury. His face, previously indifferent, was now covered in a layer of frost. The eunuch’s fake smile froze on his lips.

“It seems you don’t know which words are meant to be spoken and which are not,” Xie Cheng said, taking a slow step forward. “Shuishi, teach him.”

A dark shadow dropped silently from the eaves like a phantom. A flash of cold steel followed.

The blade grazed the eunuch’s cheek so fast he didn’t even scream until Shuishi had already spun around, flicking his wrist.

Blood splattered. Two thin slices of flesh hit the ground with a soft thud.

Shuishi sheathed his sword and knelt before Xie Cheng. “As you command, My Lord.”

Xie Cheng nodded, pulling his cloak tighter around him as he walked toward the courtyard gate. “It has been a long time since I visited the Palace. Shuishi, prepare the carriage. Let’s go see what kind of ‘ghosts’ are lurking there.”

The Road to the Palace

Inside the carriage, Jiang Yi kept stealing glances at Xie Cheng. Whenever Xie Cheng looked back, he immediately sat up straight, looking incredibly suspicious.

He’s definitely hiding something, Xie Cheng thought. He took a sip of tea. “What do you want to say?”

“My Lord.  Aren’t you worried?” Jiang Yi asked.

“About what?”

“The situation in the Palace, obviously.”

Xie Cheng let out a soft chuckle. “How stupid do you think my father and brother are? To let an enemy get that close without noticing?”

Jiang Yi’s head snapped up. “So, they’re doing this on purpose?”

Xie Cheng didn’t answer, continuing to enjoy his tea.

“No wonder you didn’t cry,” Jiang Yi muttered.

Xie Cheng: 

“Why would I cry?”

Jiang Yi scratched his cheek. “In this kind of situation, most people would cry.”

“I never cry,” Xie Cheng stated. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, he added, “I didn’t even cry when I was born.”

“Huh?” Jiang Yi covered his mouth in shock.

“What now?”

Then, did the midwife have to hit you really hard on your. You know, that place?

Xie Cheng: 

“That must have hurt so much. Next time.  I’ll blow on it for you to make it feel better,” Jiang Yi said, his shoulders hunching shyly.

Xie Cheng: 

After a moment, Jiang Yi started whispering again. “My Lord, are we going to the Palace to just catch the bad guys and kill them?”

“We’ll see,” Xie Cheng replied.

“Don’t wait and see. Let’s just catch them and kill them.”

Xie Cheng found this strange. The sword isn’t at your throat. Why are you in such a hurry?

I am! Of course I am! You can’t drag these things out. Any delay invites disaster.

The carriage hit a bump, and Jiang Yi’s voice went up an octave as he tumbled into Xie Cheng’s lap.

“What happened?” Xie Cheng was nearly crushed. He patted the man on his lap and pulled back the curtain.

“My Lord, someone is blocking the road,” Shuishi reported.

Xie Cheng looked out. A massive warrior stood in the middle of the path, holding a heavy blade as tall as a man. He glared at the carriage, his presence alone blocking most of the narrow street.

“My Lord.” Jiang Yi clutched his sleeve.

“It’s unlikely the mastermind has control over the entire Palace yet, but the people blocking the road definitely want me dead,” Xie Cheng said airily. He patted Jiang Yi’s hand. “Oh, wait. I just thought of another possibility.”

“What?” Jiang Yi asked.

“The situation changed, and they’ve become desperate. They probably want to take me hostage,” Xie Cheng replied, completely relaxed.

Jiang Yi didn’t relax at all. He looked more frantic by the second. “Then what do we do? I’ll lead them away, and you run!”

“Tsk.” Xie Cheng extended a finger and poked Jiang Yi’s forehead. “Jiang Yi, it’s three against one. You really think we’d lose?”

Jiang Yi didn’t dodge. Instead, he leaned into the finger, his eyes narrowing into happy crescents. He let out a few exaggerated, dramatic “Ay-yahs.”

“You’re right! You’re brilliant, and you have a master like Shuishi. Why would we be afraid?” Jiang Yi’s cheeks flushed. “And most importantly, I am a master of martial arts.”

He was not modest in the slightest. Xie Cheng chuckled, his finger itching at the man’s antics. He ignored the “assassin” outside and gave the order: “Make it quick.”

“Yes.” Shuishi’s voice faded as he leaped from the carriage.

“Bringing a showy brute like that to deal with me.” Xie Cheng poured himself more tea. “Let’s see. He’ll be dead in three moves.”

Jiang Yi suddenly froze. The assassin’s charge was cut short instantly. Shuishi’s sword pierced the man’s heart in a single, fluid motion.

“How many moves?” Xie Cheng asked.

“Exactly three.”

Outside, Shuishi flicked his wrist. His soft sword retracted, not a single drop of blood clinging to the blade. He returned to the driver’s seat in silence. The whole affair had taken mere seconds.

Xie Cheng finally lazily lifted an eyelid to glance at the warm corpse in the middle of the road. “Drive over it.”

Shuishi didn’t hesitate. The carriage jolted slightly as it rolled over the body, like hitting a large stone, before smoothing out again.

Xie Cheng leaned back against Jiang Yi, closing his eyes. “What do you think is happening in the Palace right now?”

Jiang Yi was still reeling from the sudden violence. ” I don’t know.”

“If it’s all just an act, why even bother having me come back?” Xie Cheng mused.

Jiang Yi tilted his head. “Since it’s a play, they probably want you to see the most exciting scene. They want you to witness the climax, not just hear the ending.”

“Then tell me, what’s the ‘exciting scene’?” Xie Cheng shifted until he was lying across Jiang Yi’s lap, using the softest part as a pillow.

“Um.” Jiang Yi swallowed hard, trying his best not to look down. “They’ll be caught. and then the Crown Prince and the others will suddenly ‘wake up’.”

I am a gentleman. I am a gentleman. Jiang Yi chanted internally.

“My Lord.” His breathing hitched.

“When did I ever say the Crown Prince ‘died’?”

“I  must have misheard.”

Xie Cheng opened his eyes. His voice was soft and slow. “What were you just thinking about?”

“Wh-what?” Jiang Yi stammered.

“What was going through your mind just now?”

Jiang Yi looked up. Under Xie Cheng’s demanding gaze, he blurted out, “I was thinking. My Lord, you are so mighty.”

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