Chapter 39

Chapter 39

"What I mean is you don't have to emphasize 'small' and 'shabby'! And I never said it was an imperial garden!"

How could this young male concubine be this sharp-tongued?

The worst part was that his sarcastic style was so similar to that dragon-pride male lead.

And Shen Lian was a sucker for Prince Qi's dry humor.

So right now, his anger and his urge to laugh were at war, and he kept having to fight down a smile to keep his dignity.

The young male concubine was watching him closely, clearly checking whether he was still sulking or had been tickled by the "imperial garden" crack.

Shen Lian clenched his fists and glared, determined to defend the honor of his little donkey and his dumpy courtyard.

Xie Yuan picked up his teacup, pretending to look away and stop watching the young imperial physician.

The moment he tipped his head back to drink, the young imperial physician dropped the act, sighed in relief, and flopped contentedly onto the chess table.

Xie Yuan set down the teacup, leaned over the table, and got right in the young physician's face: "So you're pretty pleased with 'imperial garden'? Turns out you're a prince from Sweetwater Alley—my bad, Princess Consort of Xi has been remiss."

"Haha, who's satisfied with that!" Shen Lian, caught off guard, burst out laughing and, flustered, reached out to shove the young male concubine's shoulder.

He never learned—he forgot how fast this young male concubine was. The second his hand swung out, his wrist was caught and shoved back.

Shen Lian and his chair were about to topple over. Instinctively, he grabbed the edge of the chess table with his free hand.

The little square indoor chess table was super light, so in an instant he "uprooted" it, and the whole chessboard came flying at his own face.

Snapping back to reality, Xie Yuan turned the push into a pull, grabbed Shen Lian's wrist, and yanked him up and toward himself.

With a "shalala" of scattered pieces hitting the floor, the table crashed onto the chair Shen Lian had just been sitting in, black and white stones rolling everywhere.

Only the young physician ended up safe, pulled into Prince Qi's arms.

Shen Lian tracked where the pieces had rolled, feeling embarrassed as he turned around.

The young male concubine's chin was right by his forehead. At this range, he realized one of his hands was planted on Dian Xia's side.

Whoa, so this was what a martial artist's obliques felt like? Solid as hell—super reassuring as an armrest.

Shen Lian quickly stepped back. "Sorry, I'll clean it up."

But the young male concubine didn't let go of his other hand—he gripped tighter, tugged him toward the row of armchairs on the east side, and only then released him. "Forget it, someone'll come in and clean up. Go sit over there and think about how you're gonna repay me."

Leaving the scattered pieces on the heated floor of this fancy living room made Shen Lian super uncomfortable.

But this was someone else's place after all, so he couldn't just start picking up pieces. He went to another seat and sat down, unconsciously rubbing the wrist Dian Xia had squeezed.

Xie Yuan brought the tray of tea and snacks to the side table next to Shen Lian, then sat down nearby. "Thought of anything yet?"

Shen Lian couldn't hide anything, especially when he was worried he'd offended a friend with a social blunder.

Glancing at Dian Xia beside him, he asked quietly, "You're not mad?"

Xie Yuan turned his head to look at him: "Why would I be mad?"

Shen Lian thought for a moment, looking a little guilty: "My brother and I bicker all the time at home, and I'm used to shoving him without thinking—I didn't mean to attack you. Did I scare you just now?"

Xie Yuan's gaze dropped, noticing the young physician rubbing the wrist he'd grabbed.

"I didn't use that much force," he said.

But he didn't ask Shen Lian if it hurt.

His expression was guarded, like he thought Shen Lian was blaming him for his reflex.

Shen Lian took a breath and said quietly, "I was worried you thought I was attacking you."

Dian Xia had nearly sent him flying just now, then halfway through, pulled him into his arms.

Xie Yuan's expression soured a bit.

Shen Lian nervously picked up the teapot Xie Yuan had brought over and poured Dian Xia some tea.

Oh no, was his social game failing him again?

Rich people back then were probably super particular—even when joking, you couldn't shove or roughhouse.

"Don't just reach out and touch me. Either warn me first, or move slower." Xie Yuan's gaze dropped to a chess piece he was fiddling with, his voice low and flat.

"I have two older brothers at home who are a pain. When we were kids, they'd ambush me all the time, saying they wanted to test my reflexes, but they hit hard. If I wasn't careful, I'd get caught. Every time my mom saw bruises on me, she'd get anxious, couldn't sleep, and would cry at night."

Shen Lian's eyes went wide.

He'd always figured this young male concubine's wild, arrogant personality came from being a pampered hothouse flower since childhood.

He never imagined someone this cocky had been bullied as a kid.

A beat later, anger surged through him. Shen Lian slapped the armrest, jumping to the young male concubine's defense: "Didn't your mom give those two brothers of yours a good beating?"

Xie Yuan picked up his teacup and took another sip. "Let's not talk about such dreary stuff. Just be careful—don't suddenly touch me. The faster you move, the harder I hit back. If something happens to you, who's gonna redeem me later?"

"This is exactly the kind of thing you should talk about," Shen Lian shot back: "If you're still reacting this badly now, it means you've never gotten over it. This isn't something you can just not talk about and forget. Troublesome stuff should be said out loud. What exactly happened back then? Didn't your dad teach them a lesson? He just let two older brothers bully the youngest?"

Xie Yuan let out a cold laugh. "My father had time to care if I lived or died? It'd be a miracle if he even recognized me on the street. With that many kids, I make no difference to him—he never expected much from me anyway."

"Then he's got no vision!" Shen Lian said indignantly: "Someone as smart as you, if raised right, could've been the top scholar by now!"

Xie Yuan laughed. "Really?"

Shen Lian pressed on: "Don't sell yourself short just because your parents ignored you. I'm a good judge of people—from your speech and insight, you're no ordinary guy. Once you're redeemed, you'll get your chance to shine. Remember that Prince Qi I told you about? He was also ignored and cold-shouldered by his father when he was young. Everyone thought he'd never amount to anything, but he proved himself, seized his chance, won a big victory, and became a hero everyone admired! He had it way worse than you as a kid—even as a prince, he could only eat the leftovers other consorts picked over..."

"That's enough—" Xie Yuan cut off the young physician's comforting: "I've already heard the rest from you—leftovers, couldn't afford imperial physicians. Thinking about how even a Great Wei prince lived that miserably does cheer me up. Lord Shen is most thoughtful."

"That was only temporary!" Shen Lian hurriedly defended his dragon-pride protagonist: "What I mean is, Prince Qi was also overlooked by his father when he was young. Who would've thought that now, at just seventeen or eighteen, he'd command the Xuanlin..."

"Nine—teen." Xie Yuan shot a sharp glare at the young physician, warning in a low voice. "Nineteen in nine months."

"That doesn't matter, let me finish." Shen Lian was a bit annoyed at being cut off, blinked as he remembered what he wanted to say, then went on: "At just nineteen, he already commands the Xuanlin Guard. Even Brother Lu says everyone fears and respects Prince Qi more than the eldest and second princes."

Xie Yuan shot back: "Your Brother Lu doesn't seem to fear him much."

"How could that be?" Shen Lian said. "Brother Lu said the real master of their garrison is actually Prince Qi, but Brother Lu only recently returned to the capital after earning merit in the south and got promoted to Deputy Guard Commander! He doesn't know when he'll get a chance to show his stuff in front of Prince Qi. A capable, good man like him—Prince Qi will definitely put him to good use."

Xie Yuan smiled, lips pressed together.

Capable indeed—he'd take on any drinking game, always cutting in line ahead of his master.

I wonder which clueless idiot transferred him to the capital.

"So, Prince Qi's years of lying low were actually just him hiding his light under a bushel." Shen Lian looked expectant. "Now that the foundation is solid, His Highness Prince Qi has quietly cast his net far and wide, slowly swallowing things up bit by bit. When the time is right, it'll be a thunderbolt—one strike, one kill."

A beat of silence.

Shen Lian turned his head.

The young male concubine was propping his elbow on the tea table, his cheek resting on his palm, watching him with a peculiar look.

"Dian Xia? Why are you so quiet?" Shen Lian asked.

Xie Yuan thought for a moment, then said softly, "Have you said these things to anyone else? This is basically saying Prince Qi is plotting to take the throne. If one of Prince Qi's spies caught wind of it, they could kill you without even reporting it up the chain."

"Of course not." Shen Lian grew a bit nervous. "I only said it to you as a joke."

"Only to me?" Xie Yuan asked.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

Shen Lian thought about it. "Because you're pretty blunt with me too, right? You always say whatever pops into your head. I feel like when I'm around you..."

He stopped himself just in time.

He'd almost blurted out some of the mushy stuff from that farewell letter.

Shen Lian blinked, scrambled for a better way to put it, and rephrased: "You said you'd have my back through thick and thin, and you even risked faking the prince's orders to get me out of a jam. Anyway, I trust you. But if you think I'm too loose-lipped and might get you in trouble, I'll think before I talk from now on."

The young male concubine didn't commit to an answer, but he kept studying Shen Lian's face. "That stuff you just said—did you read it in some storybook, or did you make it up yourself?"

Shen Lian: "..."

It was from the plot of *Contending for the Realm*.

But he couldn't exactly say he'd read it in a book. If the young male concubine started digging deeper, he wouldn't be able to produce the book, and the young male concubine would think he was hiding something on purpose.

"Let's just say it's my own guess," Shen Lian said.

The young male concubine's gaze suddenly went a little distant.

Shen Lian tilted his head. "What's up, Dian Xia? Why are you acting so weird?"

Xie Yuan lowered his head, thinking, then asked again, "What if Prince Qi spent those years lying low just sitting around doing nothing, and only happened to win a few battles by luck? Would you be disappointed?"

"He wouldn't just sit around doing nothing." Shen Lian immediately jumped to defend him. "The people of Great Wei are still waiting for him to bring in a golden age."

Xie Yuan closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Well, they'll be waiting a while. Even his own mother won't let him stick his nose into the affairs of Great Wei's people."

Shen Lian was curious. "What affairs?"

Xie Yuan's face visibly turned impatient.

He'd come to see the young imperial physician to unwind, but the conversation kept getting dragged toward stuff he didn't want to deal with.

He wanted to change the subject, but the young imperial physician had just said that when he was with him, he didn't have to watch his words.

And that nagging worries should be said out loud to get past them?

"Trade stuff." Xie Yuan sounded like he was talking to himself. "He wants to throw a fortune at poaching the craftsmen from Chu State's Ying'an Water Mill, and within two years get Great Wei's grain prices below what Chu State smuggles in through the black market. That's the only way to get trade going again."

"What water mill?" Shen Lian asked, looking eager. "Do you have blueprints? Multi-stage gear systems are my specialty! What kind of design is it? Has anyone sketched it out? Put in a good word for me with Prince Qi! I'd cost way less than hiring talent from another country!"

Xie Yuan shot a sideways glance at the young imperial physician. "Lord Shen really is a jack-of-all-trades. The Imperial Medical Academy isn't enough to keep you busy—now you can build Chu State's mills too? What a shame. Where would Prince Qi scrape up ten taels of silver to buy out your contract?"