OL CH14

Situ Chen hadn’t taken it seriously at first. His chess skills had always been formidable; in matches against the other imperial princes, he had never once lost.

Yet now, facing the labyrinthine web Bai Su had laid out, he was utterly powerless to resist, lacking the slightest clue how to break through. With only a brief lapse in concentration, his forces were routed without a shred of armor left standing.

“This… I’ve lost again!”

Dispirited, Situ Chen cleared away the chess pieces in his hand. When he looked up at Bai Su again, his eyes held two parts fighting spirit and eight parts admiration.

“How is it that I’ve never heard that the Heir possessed such brilliant chess skills!” the Fifth Prince asked with eager curiosity.

Hearing this, Chen Tian chuckled and chimed in, “Leading troops into battle is far more than just brute force. A general must command the whole situation and possess the means to devise strategies from within a command tent. Zisu earned his fame in his youth—he’s hardly one of those embroidered pillows you usually play against.”

Detecting the unmistakable pride in his tone, a ripple of amusement seeped into Bai Su’s eyes, shimmering like starlight, leaving Chen Tian momentarily entranced.

Regrettably, there was still a little brat watching from across the table; otherwise, he definitely would have given those enchanting eyes a proper kiss.

Clicking his tongue softly, Chen Tian suppressed the restless stirrings in his chest, only to see a layer of gravity settle over the Fifth Prince’s brow. Hesitating for a moment, the boy spoke up: “I wonder if the Heir could tell me a little about the frontier border?”

Bai Su noticed Chen Tian nodding slightly at him, instantly understanding his intent.

At present, the Fifth Prince was the most likely candidate to claim the throne. Though it was a bit early to pick sides, seizing the opportunity to showcase his capabilities posed no harm. Trusting Chen Tian and knowing the man had set this up deliberately on his behalf, warmth bloomed in Bai Su’s heart, and he slowly began to speak.

Bai Su’s tone was calm and understated, merely recounting his past of guarding the frontier alongside his grandfather. He spoke not only of the brutal hardships of the battlefield, but also of the customs and landscapes of the border lands.

Although life there was grueling, the people grew tenaciously like thorns, striving to defend their homeland.

Yet sometimes, even the most elaborately woven tales were never as gripping as raw reality.

When Bai Su recounted how they took desperate gambles to triumph over superior numbers with few troops, Situ Chen slapped the table in admiration.

When he described falling into an ambush—breaking through the siege only at the cost of grievous casualties, where countless heroic souls returned wrapped in horse hides—Situ Chen burned with fury and grief.

When he told of fending off enemy forces day after day with dwindling rations, supplies delayed indefinitely, forcing them to gnaw on tree bark and grass roots, even swallowing fresh soil to fill their bellies—yet remaining willing to fight to the death just to protect their wives and children back home, to defend this expanse of their realm…

Situ Chen clenched his fists, his eyes welling red.

No passionate rhetoric, no flowery embellishments—only one cold, hard fact laid bare after another before him.

For the first time, Situ Chen searched his conscience: Over all these years, had Imperial Father been wrong?

Yet that was the Emperor; who dared utter a single word of criticism against him?

Situ Chen didn’t dare either, yet in his heart he knew with absolute certainty that his high-and-mighty Imperial Father was truly in the wrong!

The soldiers starved yet still had to charge into battle to slaughter the enemy, enduring untold hardships to crush the opposing army only to receive no recognition or reward for their merits.

How could this fail to chill the hearts of military generals? When the future arrived, who would still be willing to defend the country!

At this very moment, a profound sense of duty surged within Situ Chen’s heart.

By the time the two finished talking, it was already late into the night.

Chen Tian had anticipated this and had his attendants turn away the guards searching for the Fifth Prince. Otherwise, with Situ Chen missing for so long, it would certainly have caused a major disturbance.

Although the Fifth Prince hadn’t gotten to play to his heart’s content as he had envisioned, he felt that being introduced to Bai Su through King Ning held extraordinary significance.

Escorted back to the palace gates, looking at the two figures standing side by side before him, the Fifth Prince couldn’t shake an inexplicable sense of harmony between them. He casually remarked, “Imperial Uncle and the Heir truly have quite a wonderful relationship.”

Bai Su nodded upon hearing this, but Chen Tian leaned in, patted the youth’s head, and whispered, “In private from now on, call him Imperial Aunt.”

Situ Chen’s eyes snapped wide open. Seeing Bai Su beside him blushing crimson yet offering no refutation, his astonished gaze darted back and forth between the two. But before he could process it enough to say anything, Chen Tian shoved him straight through the palace gates.

Chen Tian didn’t care about letting a little brat like the Fifth Prince know; the old Emperor knew already anyway.

Since he had let the world’s male protagonist witness Bai Su’s capabilities today, the boy naturally wouldn’t look down on him, so it made no difference if he found out. In fact, having an Imperial Uncle who was a cutsleeve would actually reduce the boy’s suspicions down the line.

Dragged away with a burning face, Bai Su couldn’t help stealing glances at the man beside him. He had never imagined the other would actually disclose their relationship to the Fifth Prince.

Though he worried about the potential trouble if others found out, what overwhelmed him far more was a secretive flutter of joy.

Bai Su suddenly felt that he was rather selfish and mean; perhaps he truly wasn’t as detached from worldly desires as he had imagined. Facing the person he deeply loved, he was just as desperate to declare sovereignty, yearning for all under heaven to know that Situ Chenye belonged to him!

After Chen Tian escorted him back to the Marquis of Zhongyong’s estate, not a single person came looking for trouble.

It seemed that ever since King Ning appeared by his side, his life had become markedly peaceful, and today was enriched with the sweet taste of happiness.

Returning to his room, he couldn’t help brushing his fingers against his lips, feeling a slight stinging sensation as expected. That was from being pinned in King Ning’s embrace and kissed thoroughly on the journey back. The man’s kisses had been deep and heavy; his lips were bound to be swollen by now.

A dense wave of joy welled up in his chest. Looking at the boots on his feet, Bai Su was reluctant to take them off for the longest time.

Although King Ning had stated that today’s pair was primarily a trial fit—and that since there were no issues, plenty of new boots would soon be delivered—this particular pair still held extraordinary significance to him.

Yet beyond joy, other emotions stirred within Bai Su—especially after meeting the Fifth Prince today.

Even though his affection with King Ning was flourishing, he knew thousands of mountains and rivers lay between them as obstacles. Therefore, he had to strive to stand at the heights of power. Only by possessing absolute authority and status could he withstand future storms and truly remain with his beloved forever.

At this moment, Bai Su made up his mind!

In the days that followed, Chen Tian continued to meet with Bai Su almost daily as usual. On the surface, he was merely an idle prince with few responsibilities anyway.

A few days later, however, Bai Feizhang made a monumental laughingstock of himself.

Those so-called “ancient texts” Chen Tian had 009 compile and place in bookshops were finally discovered by scholars. Now, everyone realized that the poems Bai Feizhang had claimed to compose were plagiarized straight out of these ancient volumes!

As fervent as their past adoration had been, their current disgust and fury were doubly fierce. Those who had once championed him resented his deception and despised his conduct even more, unleashing a storm of verbal and written denunciations against Bai Feizhang, scoffing at the thought of associating with him.

Because of this affair, Bai Heguang was mocked by his court colleagues after morning assembly, causing him to lose immense face. Returning home, he gave Bai Feizhang another furious tongue-lashing, completely unaware that Bai Feizhang was currently living in sheer shock and fury.

Before publishing those poems, he had thoroughly combed through bookshops and ordered subordinates to scout for information.

This was blatantly a dynasty completely unrelated to ancient history from his past world, completely devoid of those famous literary masters—how could such an ancient tome suddenly appear out of thin air?

Bai Feizhang suspected another transmigrator like him might exist in this world. But if there was another transmigrator, was he still the protagonist he imagined himself to be? And why was that person targeting him!

Racking his brains and even dipping into his substantial savings, he tried to track down the origins of this abruptly unearthed ancient book, yet came up empty-handed. Meanwhile, as the situation developed, his reputation grew increasingly foul.

Were it not for the Marquis of Zhongyong’s estate backing him—and the commoners still remembering the Old Marquis’s grace in guarding Xiling—the estate’s main gates would likely have been buried under rotten vegetables and smelly eggs.

His birth mother, Madam Liu, was merely an inner-courtyard woman, versed only in insidious schemes of manor squabbles; faced with public disgrace of this magnitude, she was powerless, reduced to washing her face in tears daily. Bai Heguang no longer showed him any warmth either, leaving Bai Feizhang so humiliated he dared not even step out of his courtyard.

The storm surrounding Bai Feizhang blew up into quite a spectacle, but neither Chen Tian nor Bai Su paid it any heed. The servants in Bai Su’s courtyard, however, found it exceptionally gratifying, going about their chores with far more vigor than usual.

Chen Tian knew in his heart that Bai Su was worried about the soldiers at the frontier. Fortunately, the original host possessed abundant private businesses. He inspected the shops under his name and proposed several improvements, which quickly yielded impressive results.

He thought to himself that once he raked in even more silver, he could present it to claim credit when his lover needed it most. Perhaps, swept up in excitement, Xiao Bai would take the initiative to give him lots of sweet kisses and hugs.

When that time came, while Xiao Bai was in high spirits, he could do this and that, and then that and this…

Watching his Boss’s expression grow increasingly lecherous, 009 shrank into the deepest recesses of the sea of consciousness, mourning in deep sorrow over the fact that it wouldn’t be seeing its own wife anytime soon.

One night, just as Bai Su returned to his courtyard, he saw Xuan Er follow him inside.

Once inside the room, Xuan Er spoke to Bai Su with a dejected face: “Master, the imperial merchant connection that Old Eighteen mentioned before… fell through.”

“What happened?”

Bai Su’s tone was calm. Xuan Er hesitated before replying uneasily, “The guide was originally Old Eighteen’s close friend, and he truly tried his best. But later, word suddenly came that it couldn’t be done—someone higher up was suppressing it, and they simply couldn’t afford to offend them. Old Eighteen means that we’ll likely have to give up on it!”

“Mm.” Bai Su nodded, roughly guessing who was pulling strings behind the scenes—none other than Prime Minister Yan’s faction.

Although the Emperor had indeed suppressed military commanders over the years, the Yan clan had certainly fanned the flames along the way.

At this thought, Bai Su’s gaze darkened considerably. He summoned Xuan Wu directly, picked up a brush to write a letter, and handed it over, instructing him to take it to the frontier and deliver it personally into General Shang’s hands.

In the past, he might have been reluctant to scheme against the imperial court like this. But if the court gave them no way to survive, they could not simply sit waiting for death.