The Innocent Heart - Chapter 60

Though he hailed from a prestigious family of high-ranking officials, this was the first time Li Gan had ever walked along the corridors of Weiyang Palace.

The imperial city was silent and solemn, yet its magnificent clusters of palaces momentarily left him wide-eyed. He briefly forgot the etiquette he was required to follow, looking around in all directions.

Such a beautiful palace… who knows when I will have the chance to come here again? At this thought, a sudden sense of loss welled up in Li Gan’s heart. He instinctively withdrew his gaze and looked at the three teenagers walking in front of and behind him.

Perhaps because they had entered the palace many times, the scenery that left Li Gan in such awe was, in their eyes, a common sight no longer worth stopping to admire.

The three followed Grand Princess Pingyang with eyes fixed straight ahead. Walking side-by-side in front of him were Huo Qubing and Guan Yueyao, their heads turned toward each other as they whispered in secret.

He didn’t know what they were talking about, but he saw Guan Yueyao’s back trembling slightly, as if she were trying hard to suppress a laugh.

Li Gan was incredibly envious. Although he had made an effort to become familiar with Guan Yueyao and Huo Qubing over these past days, trying to be a mutual friend to both, he secretly sensed an invisible, untouchable membrane between him and the two of them. It kept him from truly integrating into their circle.

He felt like a “yes-man,” always blindly echoing the views of either Guan Yueyao or Huo Qubing.

Thinking of this, Li Gan felt the surrounding scenery lose its luster. He lowered his eyes and followed the group in silence. After an unknown amount of time, the person in front suddenly stopped.

He looked up and realized they had arrived before a magnificent hall.

“This is the Xuan室 Hall…” he whispered in his heart.

This was the palace that everyone under heaven yearned for. Currently, the mysterious Ruler of the World sat within, awaiting their audience.

“Your Majesty, Huo Qubing and the others have been brought,” a respectful report rang out from within the hall.

“Let them in.”

Li Gan’s ears twitched. The majestic voice was unexpectedly young, but his heart instantly jumped into his throat. Because they had just been in a fight and the Emperor’s summons was urgent, they hadn’t had time to tidy themselves up.

Is my current appearance too pathetic? What will His Majesty think of me? Li Gan thought with trepidation.

After a moment, the line moved again. He didn’t dare act rashly; keeping his head down, he looked only at the square inch of ground beneath his feet, using his peripheral vision to sneak a glance at Chen Zhi beside him.

Chen Zhi stopped walking, so he stopped as well.

“Qubing, A-Yao, you two brats! How have you caused trouble for me again?!” As soon as they stopped, a light scolding rang out from above their heads.

Yet, despite being words of reprimand, the voice carried a hint of a smile, with no actual trace of blame.

“And you, A-Zhi, you’d better be careful. Your grandmother is currently chatting with the Empress Dowager. When she comes out later, you’d better watch your skin.” The tone was similarly devoid of real anger.

Is this the treatment of those close to the Emperor? Li Gan couldn’t help but think. His hands hanging at his sides tightened slightly. He wondered if the Emperor would notice that there was a strange boy among the group.

“Are you Li Gan? The young son of Li Guang.”

Finally, the Emperor’s inquiry fell upon him. Li Gan’s heart surged with excitement, and his tone couldn’t help but reflect it.

“To answer Your Majesty, I am!” His voice was somewhat hurried, and his face flushed red, yet he still didn’t dare look up.

The Emperor seemed to have gotten the answer he wanted and stopped paying much attention to Li Gan, a youth who was still very much a stranger to him.

“Your Majesty, please don’t make things difficult for these four children anymore. I heard from Fan Xi just now that this matter wasn’t started by them. It was a senseless dandy from out of town who started a dispute over two slave girls selling themselves to bury their father, which triggered the incident.”

Grand Princess Pingyang smiled, effortlessly glossing over the events at the sheep market with a single sentence while subtly shifting all responsibility for the conflict onto the youth still detained at the Prefect’s office.

Hearing this, Liu Che turned his head, his gaze falling back onto Huo Qubing. “Oh? Tell me, did you win the fight today?”

“To answer Your Majesty, although Prefect Fan arrived before a victor could be decided, judging from the situation, had it not been for the Prefect’s intervention, A-Yao and I could have completely subdued them within fifteen minutes.”

Huo Qubing looked perfectly serious, delivering his analysis with a straight face. If one didn’t know the context, they might have thought he was analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the Han army versus the Xiongnu on the battlefield as he usually did.

A light cough sounded behind him. It was Chen Zhi. He seemed quite dissatisfied with Huo Qubing’s analysis. This way of speaking—wasn’t it completely ignoring the efforts he and the servants of the Tangyi Marquis household had put into the fight?!

Huo Qubing felt an urge to laugh. He paused and added, “Of course, regarding this matter, if the servants of the Tangyi Marquis household hadn’t been there to support us, it would have likely taken more effort to subdue that crowd.”

“I am curious, Qubing. Why were you and A-Yao in the sheep market to begin with, only to run into A-Zhi fighting?” And why did you step in to help?

In all of Chang’an, who didn’t know that the Tangyi Marquis household and the Wei household got along the least? Furthermore, Huo Qubing and Chen Zhi had been in plenty of fights in the city before. For them to join forces this time to deal with outsiders… Liu Che stroked his chin, unable to figure it out.

The deeper meaning in the Emperor’s words might have been lost on the oblivious Guan Yueyao, but Huo Qubing understood. He couldn’t help but smile. “No matter what, Chen Zhi is a comrade I train with in the same military tent. In the future, we will go to the battlefield together. If I see him in trouble now and do not help, how could I dare trust him with my back on the battlefield in the future?”

Huo Qubing spoke sincerely, causing even Chen Zhi to look up at him. He hadn’t expected Huo Qubing to say such a thing; his heart felt a bit sour. Although he still couldn’t say he liked this boy who had stolen his spotlight since childhood, he seemingly couldn’t bring himself to hate him as much as before.

“Alright, alright. When you men get together, all you talk about is fighting and killing; it’s quite dull. These children have been training in the camp all day and then encountered this mess; they must be exhausted. Your Majesty, let them go back and rest early,” Grand Princess Pingyang suddenly interjected.

Liu Che was somewhat surprised. His sister was usually the most perceptive and tactful; why was she speaking such “dismissive” words today just as he was enjoying the conversation?

Liu Che looked at his sister and saw that her face was heavy with worry, as if she had something important to tell him.

His heart sank. His sister was not one to fear trouble; for her to be like this, it must not be a trivial matter. With this thought, Liu Che lost his interest in joking with the juniors. He followed Pingyang’s lead and let the eunuch Wang He escort the four boys out of the palace.

“Th… thank you.” Just as they stepped out of the gates of the Xuan室 Hall, Huo Qubing and Guan Yueyao heard a voice behind them, as soft as a mosquito’s hum.

Guan Yueyao knew immediately it was Chen Zhi, and she heard his thanks.

However, she suddenly recalled Chen Zhi’s reaction in the carriage earlier. Seized by a playful whim, she pretended not to have heard clearly. She turned around to look at Chen Zhi. “Huh? Who was talking just now? What did you say? I didn’t catch that.”

Chen Zhi saw the mischievous grin on Guan Yueyao’s face and knew she was teasing him. He instantly bristled.

“If you didn’t hear it, then forget it!” he said huffily.

The sounds of the teenagers joking and laughing outside reached the Xuan室 Hall, making Liu Che’s lips curve into a smile. The simple minds of the young were amusing, which was one of the reasons he enjoyed their company.

“Your Majesty…” Grand Princess Pingyang’s voice called back his thoughts. He straightened his expression and looked at his sister.

“Speak, Sister. What exactly did you discover?”

“That youth who fought with Chen Zhi and the others on the street… I suspect he is related to the Prince of Jiangdu…” Grand Princess Pingyang took a deep breath before speaking. The predatory, beast-like gaze of that boy surfaced in her mind again, making her shiver.

“Liu Fei?” Liu Che was also a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected to hear that name from his sister’s lips at this time.

The Prince of Jiangdu, Liu Fei, was his half-brother. In Liu Che’s mind, the man’s face had gradually grown blurred. He only vaguely remembered him as having some physical courage and being relatively well-behaved in his fiefdom.

Brave but lacking in strategy—that was his only impression of this elder brother.

“The Heir of Jiangdu… I recall he is about fifteen or sixteen now,” Liu Che mused. He had heard reports from the Chancellor of the Jiangdu Kingdom and knew that the Prince and his Consort were extremely indulgent toward this eldest legitimate son, never placing any restraints on him.

This had led the Heir of Jiangdu to be eccentric and prone to rebellious behavior, despised by the officials and people of his kingdom.

Could it really be such a coincidence? That the unlucky brat Chen Zhi had run into the Heir of Jiangdu, Liu Jian, who had sneaked into the capital for a visit?

“I understand, Sister. Rest easy. I will make my own judgment on this matter; you don’t need to worry anymore.” A smile returned to Liu Che’s face, and he even felt in the mood to joke with her. “It’s so late and Sister is still in the palace; I’m afraid if my brother-in-law finds out, he’ll blame me again.”

“Your Majesty, what are you saying? Cao Shou is currently busy teaching Xiang-er martial arts; he has no time to mind me.” But Pingyang could clearly hear the unspoken implication in her brother’s words. She hurried to find an excuse and took her leave.

The Xuan室 Hall fell into complete silence as the sky grew dark. Liu Che paced with his hands behind his back, walking to the map spread out on a nearby table, staring at it in deep thought.

This was a map of the Han Empire’s territory, with several vassal kingdoms of varying sizes dotting his land. He couldn’t help but think of the Rebellion of the Seven States that had erupted during his father’s reign.

He had been in swaddling clothes then and had no direct memory of it. But as a King, listening to the accounts of those who had lived through it made it difficult not to remain wary of these existing vassal kingdoms.

“To ensure peace under heaven, there is no better way than to establish many vassals while weakening their power… Jia Yi, oh Jia Yi, if only you had been born in my era, how wonderful it would be.” Liu Che looked at the map and sighed softly.

“Someone, go and summon Zhang Tang and Zhao Yu for me.”