Chapter 117

Chapter 117

Xie Heng felt a bit ashamed. After such a major incident, it took several days before Song Jin was the one to notice something was off about his younger brother.

Song Jin found it extremely unusual.

Just days ago, Xie Yuan had spent every waking moment focused on the unconscious Imperial Physician Shen. But ever since he went to "clear his head" at Prince Xi's residence and returned with a letter, he was a completely different person.

He was no longer anxiously waiting for Shen Lian to wake. Instead, he spent day and night handling minor matters.

These matters had little to do with state affairs.

Besides poring over Shen Lian's manuscripts, he also dispatched many Xuanlin Guards to investigate Shen Lian's third uncle, digging up every instance of bribery and abuse of power in Shen Zaishan's career, from the time he passed the imperial exam and became an official onward. He then submitted the mountain of evidence to the Censorate, ordering the imperial censors to bring charges against him immediately, with the Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review to jointly try and sentence him.

Additionally, he transferred the deed to a private estate on the outskirts of the capital to Shen Lian's father, and after making inquiries, gave the old man and his eldest son enough money to live comfortably for generations.

Xie Heng thought his fourth brother might be trying to carry out the young imperial physician's filial duties.

But Song Jin hit the nail on the head: "Shen Lian is still unconscious, and the fourth brother isn't rushing to find a doctor. He's suddenly busy with these trivial matters. They're important, sure, but why now? Why does everything have to be wrapped up so completely in a few days? Don't you think..."

Thinking about it that way, it was strange. Xie Heng asked, "What do you think?"

Song Jin said something that sent chills down his spine: "It's just weird! Like he's rushing to get his affairs in order before he dies..."

Realizing what he'd just said, Song Jin quickly corrected himself: "I mean, it feels like the fourth brother can't tell what's urgent from what's not. That's strange. He's not the type to do that."

Xie Heng felt like he'd been struck by lightning.

Even though it was just a metaphor, it sent a chill down Xie Heng's spine.

What exactly was his fourth brother planning to do?

All these years, he'd done whatever he pleased, carefree and heedless. He'd only just fallen for someone for the first time, and they hadn't been together for long. Surely he wouldn't die for Shen Lian's sake!

Xie Heng wasn't the eldest, but he'd raised his fourth brother since childhood, acting as both father and mother.

Xie Yuan had always had a certain world-weariness deep down, and Xie Heng knew it.

From a young age, the fourth brother had shouldered his mother's expectations and despair, too ashamed to express his pain, seeking only amusement and distraction no matter how much pressure he was under.

That adorable, straightforward young imperial physician had managed to make his cautious, suspicious fourth brother let down all his defenses and enjoy himself without a care, like he was back in childhood. He meant something extraordinary to Xie Yuan.

Not just a playmate, not just a brother, not even just a lover.

Shen Lian had taken his fourth brother by the hand and led him back to a world he could trust and love—the world Xie Yuan had loved as a child.

Xie Heng immediately rushed into his brother's bedroom.

Xie Yuan was holding the annotated manuscripts he'd organized, sitting by the bed, reading them aloud to the unconscious Shen Lian and going over the contents.

After reading a passage, he pointed at the young physician's manuscript and complained teasingly: "You just drew two triangles here. Who could possibly guess what that means? I went to look at the manuscript Han Wangchuan wrote for you—so precise and meticulous. Then I look at yours. Can you even understand these yourself? Just relying on memory? Now, in my hands, it's pure torture."

"Ah Yuan?" Xie Heng interrupted his brother's nervous muttering.

"Brother?" Xie Yuan set the manuscript beside the young physician's pillow and stood up to greet him: "What's with that expression? Did something happen?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just wanted to see you." Xie Heng walked over and put his arm around his brother's shoulders.

The gesture felt a bit awkward now—no longer like when his chubby little brother could be tucked under his arm anytime, anywhere. His brother was now half a head taller than him.

Xie Yuan looked at his third brother suspiciously out of the corner of his eye: "What's really going on?"

Xie Heng took a deep breath and looked at his brother, his eyes full of pain: "Ah Yuan, you... don't like talking about certain things from the past, but your brother knows it all. The maids and eunuchs in your mother's courtyard often talked to the ones in my courtyard about her, and I heard it all."

Xie Yuan's eyes instantly turned wary and guarded. He fell silent, then said, "Why bring all this up now?"

Xie Heng hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

He knew all about the traumas his brother had endured as a child. When Mu Rongyao first fell out of favor, she had broken down, nearly gone mad, and done many extreme things trying to win back their father's sympathy.

Several times, she climbed onto a stool to hang a white silk sash from the beam, saying she was a cast-off who didn't deserve to live.

According to Consort Shu's maids, the eleven-year-old prince, terrified, knelt on the ground, desperately clutching both his mother's legs and the chair, pushing upward with all his might, frantically saying how wonderful and kind his mother was, how much he needed her, how grateful he was for her teaching him poetry.

Those desperate attempts to express love and need in terrifying situations had become taboo for Xie Yuan ever since.

The pain, bordering on humiliation, would trigger a visceral terror of helplessness.

So Xie Heng never forced his brother to express care or affection, letting him live the way he wanted.

Until the campaign half a year ago, when his brother seemed to fall in love with someone for the first time. But years of suppressed emotion left him unable to handle the overwhelming feelings, and he even came to watch how Xie Heng and Song Jin lived, which was a bit silly.

Xie Heng thought the time had come, so he tried to get his brother to open up. But Xie Yuan, who'd been poked right in the sore spot, flew into a rage.

Xie Heng chose to sweep things under the rug once again, letting his brother shut his heart off, and it had come to this day.

His brother seemed to be silently saying goodbye to the world, yet still appeared cold and unyielding, never thinking to ask his older brother for help.

"Your brother wants to hear about your troubles. Can't I?" Xie Heng's eyes reddened: "Before, you didn't want to talk, and I was afraid of bringing up painful memories, so I didn't push. You were still young—there was plenty of time, wasn't there? Last time at the military camp, I tried to have a heart-to-heart with you, but you got angry, so I dropped it. Ah Yuan, tell your brother—isn't it true that... as long as I'm patient enough, there's plenty of time? Once you forget all the bad things, you'll come running to your brother for help again when you want to play or eat something, just like when you were little. Isn't that right? Huh? Just say you can wait, and I'll keep waiting. I can say nothing at all, as long as you tell me now, in your own words."

Seeing tears streaming down his brother's face, Xie Yuan was shocked and panicked, his mind went blank.

Whenever someone he cared about fell apart emotionally, it filled him with fear and helplessness. But his third brother wasn't his mother—in all the years he'd known him, he'd never once seen his third brother cry.

Xie Yuan had never even imagined his third brother could be sad enough to cry.

Had he done something wrong? Why did he always make everyone who loved him sad and disappointed?

There was a long silence.

Xie Yuan's eyes, full of fear, regained their focus.

He chose his words carefully: "I... wasn't angry. Brother, you've never made me angry. That day at the camp, I was just... lashing out at you for no reason."

He lowered his head to think, then looked back at Xie Heng, speaking honestly: "You said that if I want people to care about me, I have to give my own feelings in return—true heart for true heart. Those words were right, I know that. But I was very scared at the time. If I have feelings for anyone, I wouldn't dare offend them, afraid they'd use that to threaten me. You asking me to give my true heart is like forcing me to act like a sycophant, adding another master to serve. So I lashed out at you, because you're the only one I can do that to."

Xie Yuan squinted, flashing a fawning, mischievous grin like when he was a child stealing his third brother's pastries: "Only with you, third brother. In all these years, you're the only one I've dared to both respect deeply and treat badly. Even Mother never spoiled me like you do."

Xie Heng's tears suddenly spilled over. His throat closed up, unable to speak. He pressed his lips together, held his brother, and patted his shoulder over and over. It took him a while to catch his breath before he said in a hoarse voice: "I thought I'd have to wait until I was on my deathbed, at the end of my life, to hear my fourth brother say something like this to me."

"Not necessarily." Xie Yuan's eyes were red as he grinned mischievously: "If you're still forcing me to talk about feelings on your deathbed, I'll definitely wave over a doctor to give you a quick end. I don't like saying these things—don't expect a repeat."

"Then it's settled!" Xie Heng said eagerly: "Your brother is waiting for you to take care of him in his old age."

Xie Yuan's smile vanished as he studied his brother's face: "What are you really trying to say?"

"That depends on what you're really trying to do." Xie Heng got serious too: "What have you been up to these past few days? Running around like you're rushing to get your affairs in order before you die."

Xie Yuan was a little surprised. His third brother had never been this perceptive.

At least not on the battlefield.

Maybe Song Jin had discovered something.

"Don't overthink it," Xie Yuan said. "I'm not going to take my own life. Besides, Shen Lian hasn't left yet, has he? How could I go before him? I did come up with a way to save Shen Lian, but it carries some risk—it might not end in mutual destruction."

"Not necessarily?" Xie Hang frowned. "What kind of risk would make our Tianren risk his life? Just because Lord Shen is unconscious? Xie Yuan, you are the Crown Prince of Great Wei. For personal feelings, you'd disregard your own safety—how will you face the people of Great Wei?"

Xie Yuan shook his head and said softly, "Third Brother, my whole life I've been trapped by duty—to protect you, to protect Mother, to guard the borders, to make sure the common folks could afford food. But this time, I want to do something for myself. If I just stood by and watched Shen Lian slip away, that would be killing myself for real."

Xie Hang's eyes widened.

After a long moment, he rasped, "What exactly are you risking? Why must you do it yourself? Can I help?"

"No," Xie Yuan explained. "According to Shen Lian's account, the one who took him..."

"Your Highness!" A eunuch's excited, shrill voice called from outside the door. "That old gentleman, Master He, has arrived seeking an audience—he says he can wake Lord Shen!"

Xie Yuan and Xie Hang turned simultaneously.

"Bring him in!"

-

Huo Jinan was completely out of options. He absolutely couldn't accept that he was the one who'd killed Professor Shen, so he risked execution to find the overpowered protagonist of this timeline.

Shen Lian's consciousness had completely sunk into traumatic memories; even the calming device couldn't guide his consciousness to the next memory.

He was trapped in there.

Only by making his consciousness feel safe again could they reactivate all brain regions and stop the euthanasia.

But Shen Lian didn't know Huo Jinan at all. Even if Huo Jinan personally infiltrated Professor Shen's consciousness to try to wake him, it would only cause more panic.

Huo Jinan spent a ton of points calculating Shen Lian's current relationships.

The people Shen Lian felt closest to were his eldest brother, his father, and Xie Yuan.

In the system's relationship analysis chart, the emotional colors differed, but the scores were close.

But in the safety chart, Xie Yuan ranked first by a huge margin—his bar was twelve times longer than his father's and eldest brother's combined.

This was truly strange. Huo Jinan knew Xie Yuan was the most popular OP protagonist in this timeline. Professor Shen had been assigned to help Xie Yuan create a golden age because of his technical and scholarly expertise.

Great Wei's prosperity could nurture more legendary figures who'd go down in history, and this developmental path had an explosive energy supply rate.

Huo Jinan wanted Xie Yuan to agree to help rescue Professor Shen, but Huo Jinan wasn't the host assigned to assist Xie Yuan.

He couldn't check Xie Yuan's feelings toward Shen Lian in the system, and had no idea whether Xie Yuan would believe his "wild story."

How was he supposed to convince a future emperor of an ancient dynasty that he was from another world and could "summon Shen Lian's soul"?

Huo Jinan nervously followed the eunuch into the bedchamber, and before he could even kneel, Xie Yuan rushed over and grabbed him by the throat.

"So it's you!" The Crown Prince's eyes were practically on fire.

Huo Jinan's body was already that of a frail old man. Choked by the neck, his face turned purple as he stared in terror at this wildly popular OP protagonist.

He could lift him with one hand—was this guy even a carbon-based lifeform? Why would Professor Shen feel so safe with such a monster?!

Huo Jinan tried to explain, making strangled "uh-uh-uh" sounds.

But Xie Yuan was already snarling furiously: "I haven't even drunk the poison yet, and you're already at my door? If you really can foresee the future, then you should also know I'm not bluffing. If you want to negotiate, give Shen Lian back first—otherwise, I'll draw my sword and kill myself right now."

Huo Jinan struggled, making muffled grunts.

What kind of OP protagonist threatens his enemies by threatening to kill himself?!