Chapter 16: Revenge

Chapter 16: Retaliation

As expected.

Shen Yunhe entered the Fifth Prince's residence.

No wonder he had to travel late at night—such underhanded dealings naturally had to be kept from prying eyes.

In his previous life, Cheng Yi had spent years on the battlefield and had little contact with most officials, but he still had a solid read on the whole court.

This Shen Yunhe had initially been a staunch supporter of the Fifth Prince, but after the Fifth Prince fell from grace, he decisively abandoned him and instead maneuvered between several equally matched princes.

It wasn't until the Seventh Prince, Xie Yulin, rose powerfully with Cheng Yi's support that Shen Yunhe unhesitatingly chose the Seventh Prince.

From this, one could see that the man was highly adept at reading the times—a pro at playing it safe and chasing what benefits him.

The Ministry of Personnel was the top of the Six Ministries, and his position was extremely important.

Cheng Yi filed that away and planned to have Wei Xiao and the others dig deep into this guy once he got back.

Know your enemy and yourself, and you'll never lose a hundred battles.

As for why Shen Yunhe was visiting the Fifth Prince's residence late at night—wasn't it because of that troublesome spouse of his?

After Cheng Yi and his mother had left today, the couple had a massive blowout.

After twenty years of marriage, how could Shen Yunhe not know exactly what his spouse was like?

Thus, his first suspicion fell on Wang Shuci.

A few petty squabbles were one thing, but what happened today had flat-out wrecked the Fifth Prince's big plan—how could he not be pissed?

But Wang Shuci not only refused to own up to it, he flipped it around and accused Shen Yunhe of being ungrateful. He was so stubborn about it that Shen Yunhe started second-guessing himself.

With the Wang family's power on the rise and Empress Wang running the harem with the emperor's favor within reach, even a minister like him—never mind the Fifth Prince—had to tread lightly around them.

So no matter how suspicious he was, he couldn't push it any further.

Moreover, shortly after that mother and son pair had left, the young servant who'd snuck Zhu Dazhuang into the residence was found hanged in his room.

Dead men tell no tales, so Shen Yunhe had no choice but to drop it.

But the Fifth Prince had specifically told him in private to make sure this got done right.

Even just getting on good terms with Cheng Yi would give the Fifth Prince a foot in the door with Duke Zhenguo.

Maybe that alone could make the Fifth Prince the final winner.

That's why the Fifth Prince took it so seriously.

But one marriage proposal had turned into this whole mess—Shen Yunhe's head was pounding.

So it wasn't until late at night, when no one was around, that Shen Yunhe slipped quietly into the Fifth Prince's residence.

Standing before the young man—pale as jade with those brooding phoenix eyes—Shen Yunhe respectfully recounted the day's events in detail.

Xie Yuxuan's eyes went dark. But instead of getting angry, he calmly poured Shen Yunhe a cup of hot tea.

"Lord Shen, don't be so upset. Have some tea to warm up."

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness."

Shen Yunhe put on a grateful face as Xie Yuxuan spoke in a low, measured voice:

"Duke Zhenguo's always been a tough nut to crack—everyone's learned that by now. I just didn't expect that Cheng Yi guy to be just as much of a pain."

"But then again, military types are all the same—stubborn as mules with a temper to match. No point working yourself into a rage over some blockhead and ruining your health."

"Besides, he didn't back out of the engagement even when he had the perfect chance. That means it's already a done deal."

"Lord Shen, you're his future father-in-law! Plenty of chances to deal with him down the road, right?"

Shen Yunhe nodded along in agreement, but inside he couldn't help but badmouth the prince.

The Fifth Prince had always been a hypocrite—putting on this act of being this gracious, talent-hungry leader, when in reality he was the coldest, most ruthless bastard around.

Sure enough, the prince said with a thin smile:

"Worst case scenario, he's just some greenhorn who's barely made a name for himself. If he really gets in the way, we can just kill him."

Back then, that kid was well shielded by Duke Zhenguo, and everyone figured he was just some spoiled brat.

Besides, all eyes were on Duke Zhenguo's eldest branch—Cheng Jiyuan's family. Who would've thought a good-for-nothing would go off to war and actually make a name for himself?

The emperor's reason for arranging the marriage wasn't hard to figure out, and the Fifth Prince had planned to use this chance to sink his teeth into that tough bone.

He'd figured Cheng Yi would be their stepping stone into Duke Zhenguo's household—who knew the stepping stone would end up kicking them in the face?

As for today's little show, the Fifth Prince figured it was either the Second or Third Prince—either way, it was one of his brothers pulling the strings.

Shen Yunhe wasn't stupid enough to bring up his suspicions about his own spouse. After their private chat, he slipped back to the Minister's residence before morning court.

As for Wang Shuci—after the fight, Shen Yunhe had stormed off with a black look, and Wang Shuci went ballistic, throwing and smashing everything in sight.

He was already stewing over today's mess, and now his rage had hit a boiling point.

He'd planned to have that little bastard publicly shamed and defiled. Then all he had to do was drag that mother and son to the small ancestral hall to see it for themselves—whether the marriage went through or not wouldn't matter anymore.

If the engagement fell apart over it, worst case the old man gets chewed out by the emperor and the Minister's residence becomes a laughingstock for a while.

But so what? Hadn't the Minister's residence been a joke for years because of that bastard anyway?

That way, not only would the bastard lose his purity, but the scandal would reach the emperor's ears—Shen Yichen would never live it down.

And if that Second Young Master of the Cheng family was dumb enough to swallow that kind of disgrace, fine.

After something like that, he'd never look at that bastard with anything but disgust.

So the bastard wouldn't just fail to win his husband's love—he wouldn't even get a chance to have a kid.

And even if he did marry into the marquis's household, wouldn't he still be stuck in a life of endless misery with no hope at all?

He'd planned it all so perfectly—who could've guessed that bastard would torch the ancestral hall, or that Cheng Yi would be such an unpredictable wild card?

Both of them had completely blindsided him.

Now, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and the less he could sleep.

What he didn't know was that something even more sleepless-inducing was still coming his way.

The next morning, at the crack of dawn, a piercing shriek suddenly rang out through the entire Minister's residence.

Wang Shuci had just dozed off when he was rudely yanked from his slumber.

His personal attendant looked frantic and tongue-tied, his face a mess of conflicting emotions.

That familiar look immediately made Wang Shuci's stomach drop.

When he hurried to Shen Qinglan's courtyard, what he saw nearly made him choke on his own fury.

"Bastard... bastard! I want him dead!"

Wang Shuci was shaking like a leaf.

The room was an absolute wreck, and his precious boy Shen Qinglan was bawling his eyes out under the covers, like the world was ending.

On closer look, Shen Qinglan was clutching a fistful of loose... chopped-off hair?

And sure enough, the bed and floor were littered with clumps of sheared hair.

"That goddamn little bastard!"

Wang Shuci's blood boiled as he ripped the quilt off with shaking hands.

He let out a sharp shriek and stumbled back a few steps.

Shen Qinglan, already a mess, wailed even harder at his father's reaction.

"This... this cursed act—it has to be that bastard Shen Yichen! I want him dead... I want him dead this instant!"

"My poor Lan'er..."

Even though he'd braced himself, the sight of the few scraggly tufts left on his son's head nearly made Wang Shuci pass out from rage.

That bastard was so cruel, hacking his Lan'er's hair off like that.

Everyone knows your hair and skin are gifts from your parents—what a full head of hair means goes without saying. And his Lan'er was only sixteen, not even married yet, right at the age when looks meant everything. How could he take this?

"This is payback—he's getting back at me!"

Wang Shuci's eyes were dripping with poison as he gritted out each word.

"Father... boohoo my hair boohoo... I don't want to live anymore boohoo..."

Shen Qinglan flung himself at Wang Shuci, genuinely wishing he were dead.

When he woke up, he felt a draft on his head and reached up to touch it—only to grab at empty air.

Even scarier, his fingertips seemed to graze... bare scalp?

Big, naked patches of scalp.

"Ahhhh!"

He'd bolted upright in bed, terrified.

He figured it was a nightmare, until he saw the horrified looks on his servants' faces, and then he spotted the chopped hair all over the bed.

That was... his hair?

When he finally got a shaky look at himself in the bronze mirror, Shen Qinglan passed out cold.

After all the chaos, Shen Qinglan came to but still couldn't accept what had happened.

Wang Shuci barely got Shen Qinglan settled before storming off to Shen Yichen's courtyard in a rage.

No matter what, he was going to beat that lunatic to death today, no matter the cost.

But when he stormed into the room, it was empty. With nowhere to unleash his fury, Wang Shuci nearly suffocated on his own rage.

Just then, a servant came barreling in, yelling.

"Bad news, my Lord! Something awful's happened!"

"What is it now?"

The servant gasped: "The eldest young master has climbed up onto the courtyard wall and won't come down, no matter what anyone says."

Wang Shuci's vision went dark.

The whole group marched off toward the wall.

Sure enough, there in the distance, that lunatic was perched on the high wall, looking totally relaxed and full of himself.

A crowd of servants had gathered below the wall.

When they saw the Lord coming, they parted to let him through.

He looked up and locked eyes with the little psycho—half-smirking, sneering, smug, and insufferable.

"Shen Yichen! What kind of crazy stunt is this now?"

The wall was so tall that Wang Shuci had to tilt his head way back.

Shen Yichen looked genuinely confused. "Who's the one acting crazy here, exactly?"

"You did this, didn't you?"

Unlike Wang Shuci's frantic rage, Shen Yichen stayed totally chill, a smug smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Old poison-mouth, what are you on about? I have no idea what you mean."

Shen Yichen's disrespectful mouth was nothing new to the servants, but it never failed to push Wang Shuci to the edge.

"Lan'er's hair—was that you?!"

Wang Shuci ground his teeth, regretting the outburst the second it left his mouth.

He was too pissed to think straight—who else could it be but this lunatic?

"Guards! Are you all useless? Get this psycho down here right now!"

The guards looked uneasy, the servants kept their mouths shut, but Wang Shuci's old personal attendant suddenly spoke up:

"My Lord, look—what's that in front of the eldest young master?"

Only then did Wang Shuci see that Shen Yichen had a dagger in his left hand, and in his right... a wooden scoop?

On second look, there was a wooden bucket sitting right next to him.

A stomach-turning stench hit Wang Shuci's nostrils.

It was the reek of spoiled slop.

So that was a bucket of slop?

A moment ago, Wang Shuci had been so pissed and frantic that he'd missed it.

Now that it hit him, a wave of nausea rolled over him, his stomach doing backflips. And with his rage boiling over, he was practically swaying on his feet.

"You lunatic! You bastard! Kill him—ugh... kill him now, all of you!"

"Ugh—beat him senseless..."

He was done.

He'd kill this lunatic, no matter what it took.

Two guards leaped up to fly onto the wall, but the next second, a ladleful of stinking slop came splashing straight down on them.

The two swerved sharply out of the way, pure instinct.

But the hems of their robes still caught some splatter, and the stench rode the wind, slapping them in the face.

"Gag—"

The servants' faces went pale, and in a flash they scattered every which way. Even Wang Shuci nearly got bowled over by the stampede.

The foul, sticky slop—who knew how long it had been rotting—came crashing down, reeking of decay.

Black sludge, mixed with sour leftovers, food scraps, slippery grease... a whole mess of filth poured down like a waterfall.

The double whammy of stench and sight hit him right in the skull.

This was basically a shit-storm from the heavens.

"Gag—"

"Ahhhh gag... so nasty, gag..."

"Bleh gag, he's lost it... gag, the eldest young master's gone nuts..."

For a moment, all you heard was a chorus of gagging, rising and falling in waves.

Shen Yichen sat on the wall, howling with laughter.

He doubled over, laughing so hard he nearly choked.

"A bunch of useless trash, can't even take a splash, hahahaha, I'm dying, hahaha..."

It took Wang Shuci a hot minute to recover. Face ashen, he pointed at the lunatic on the wall.

"He's lost it, totally lost it! Why haven't you grabbed him yet?!"

"Kill him right now, beat him to death with clubs... chop him into a thousand pieces!"

Wang Shuci shrieked like a maniac.

If he didn't kill him soon, Wang Shuci would be the one going crazy.

But just then, Shen Yichen leaned back a bit, turned his head toward the wall's other side, and said with a grin:

"You heard that, right? The Lord of the Minister's Estate wants me dead."

Wang Shuci's face dropped. There was someone out there?

Who the hell was it?