Chapter 28: “How to Wear One Pair of Pants”

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Zhuang Xiaoyu sat in a chair, munching on sunflower seeds, casting a sideways glance at Murong Ze, who was hiding in the corner of the wall. What a fool—did he really think she wouldn’t notice him?

“Come out.”

“Little Fish, you noticed me?” Murong Ze awkwardly stepped out.

“With that behavior of yours, it’s hard not to notice you.”

“Little Fish, I mean no harm. Even if we can’t be husband and wife, we’re not enemies, right?”

“You’re right. We’re not enemies, and we can still be friends.”

“Really? Little Fish, you’re willing to be friends with me? Does that mean you’re willing to teach me martial arts?”

Murong Ze’s eyes lit up, just like a child who had gotten a piece of candy.

“Murong Ze, you’re in your twenties, right?”

Why does he act like a child? People in ancient times mature early; he shouldn’t be acting like this.

“Twenty-three. I was born in the same year as the third prince. I’m three months older than him.”

“You’re still saying you’re three months older than him? Murong Xuan was already leading troops and fighting wars at the age of five. What have you been doing all this time?”

“I… I’ve just been eating, drinking, and playing. I thought, with the emperor above me and the younger prince below me, I was just the second son. I didn’t need to work too hard, so I wasted some time.”

“You really are the second son.”

Zhuang Xiaowan, who was squatting in a horse stance, suddenly spoke up, “Sister, am I also the second son?”

Zhuang Xiaoyu: Well, you’re not wrong.

“Now that you’re the second son for so long, shouldn’t you do something meaningful?”

“What do you want me to do, Little Fish?”

“You’ve been in court for a while now. Haven’t you found some little secrets about the officials?”

“Yes.”

“How many?”

“Quite a few.”

“What are you keeping them for?”

“I was thinking that if I ever need them, they’ll be a backup plan.”

“Wow, that’s not too bad. You can use them now. Give those things to the emperor and let him investigate them.”

“……”

“Why are you staring at me? Aren’t you supposed to be practicing? Get down and do it.”

“Little Fish, I’ll listen to you. Does this mean we’re on the same side now?”

“Mm, you need to follow orders properly.”

“Alright, I’ll go back tonight, organize everything, and handle it tomorrow.”

Zhuang Xiaoyu yawned, ready to sleep. As long as she created trouble for the emperor, he wouldn’t have time to trouble her. This fool wasn’t completely useless; she felt like she should cultivate a few underlings to work for her.

In the yard, the two of them were squatting in the hot autumn sun, holding water bowls while practicing the horse stance.

“Wan’er, why do you think Little Fish likes to sleep so much?”

“Maybe she didn’t sleep well at night.”

“Why doesn’t she sleep well every night?”

“I don’t know.”

I need to find a remedy to help her sleep better. If I please Little Fish, it’s like pleasing Zhuang Xian. After that, I can go flatter her future father-in-law, and as long as the third prince doesn’t oppose me, I can sit securely on the throne. As for who Wei Ying likes, I don’t care.

Murong Ze’s little plan was clinking away in his mind, but he completely ignored Murong Chen, whom everyone looked down on.

Zhuang Xiaoyu had no interaction with Murong Chen, only hearing from Zhuang Xiaowan that he liked to travel and didn’t get involved in politics.

Her intuition told her that people in the royal family weren’t simple, so one evening, when she went for a walk, she decided to visit the Fourth Prince’s residence.

It was quiet in the residence, nothing seemed unusual. Murong Chen was alone in the courtyard practicing swordplay. The sword flashed with a cold light, rising and falling gracefully, like flowing clouds and water, his robes fluttering in the wind. What excellent swordsmanship.

Zhuang Xiaoyu stood on the roof and clapped her hands. Murong Chen sheathed his sword and looked up at her.

“Is that Miss Zhuang on the roof?”

“You could tell from up here?”

Although Zhuang Xiaoyu didn’t intentionally hide her identity and was in the moonlight, they weren’t familiar with each other. How did Murong Chen recognize her?

Murong Chen leapt onto the roof and sat down two meters away from Zhuang Xiaoyu.

“In the capital, only Miss Zhuang has such skills and… such interests.”

“Heh, you really know me well.”

“We met last time.”

“Which time was that?”

“It was when we watched Murong Xiao and Sun Yulan’s live performance in the Spring Palace.”

“Oh, that was you? You… you went out in the middle of the night to watch someone’s live performance?”

“Miss Zhuang, you were the one who told me about it. Otherwise, how would I have known?”

“……You’re right.”

“Those two getting together was also something you arranged, wasn’t it?”

“Stop making things up. They’ve been together for a while now, and it has nothing to do with me.”

“Is that so? I thought Miss Zhuang disliked the eldest prince’s entanglements, so you did all that to get back at him.”

“I was getting revenge on Sun Yulan, and I just happened to run into it. You’re the one who got the advantage.”

“…………” Getting the advantage? He was worried about getting a stye in his eye! He only went to verify the truth.

“I heard the Fourth Prince enjoys traveling. Have you gained any insights from it?”

“I’ve been trapped within the walls of the palace since I was little, reading the Four Books and Five Classics. Although I studied ways to rule a country, it was all just theoretical. I’ve wanted to see the world for a long time, but never had the opportunity. Finally, when I was able to leave the palace, I couldn’t wait to get out of the capital. What I saw outside was indeed a different world. The common people aren’t as content and prosperous as people say, and the officials aren’t as upright and clean as they seem. There’s so much wrong with the world that needs to be changed, and it’ll take time to do so.”

The two of them, despite having no real connection, sat together and chatted about the world. Every word Murong Chen said seemed heartfelt.

“In the Great Zhou, the one who cares most about the world is the unremarkable Fourth Prince. My apologies.”

“I’m just a small person, and my advice still hasn’t been answered. I feel helpless.”

Zhuang Xiaoyu had heard of this Fourth Prince. His mother died early, and although he was fostered under the Empress’s care, he was never truly valued. The Empress had her own biological son and couldn’t possibly treat him as one of her own. She only maintained the image of a kind mother in front of the emperor.

“What advice did you give?”

“The officials in the court are corrupt, and this has spread to the local officials as well. To root out the corruption, we need to start with the court officials, especially the Ministry of Revenue, which is the most corrupt.”

“Only when officials are clean and upright can policies for the common people be implemented. Otherwise, it’ll just give corrupt officials an opportunity to take advantage.”

“I see. You’ve been sneaking around at night to gather evidence on corrupt officials.”

“I’m ashamed. My efforts have been limited, and I haven’t gathered much.”

Murong Chen looked a bit dejected, his expression falling.

“You’re too much. Why don’t you get someone to help you? Don’t you know that strength lies in numbers? Don’t you know that unity is power? Don’t you know that brothers, united in heart, can break gold? …Forget it, maybe you don’t know.”

“I’ve been away from the capital for the past few years, so I don’t have many connections. I’m also afraid of dragging them down. If I anger the emperor, he might think I want to take his throne.”

“You have an opportunity now.”

“What opportunity?”

“Tomorrow, Murong Ze will be impeaching the corrupt officials in the court. You can also take part and help pull down those corrupt officials.”

“How do you know the second prince will be impeaching tomorrow?”

“Why ask so many questions? Tomorrow, you two should work together. If you do this well, your grand ambitions will soon be within reach.”

“How will we work together?”

“……You take turns wearing the same pants—each of you wears it for a while. Do it well, young man. The world is yours, just grease the wheels.”

It seems that not all the princes of the Great Zhou are useless. If they can unite, the future is still promising.

The next day, during the morning court, Murong Ze presented all the accumulated evidence of corruption, bribery, the abduction of common women, and the abuse of power by officials. The emperor was taken aback. This young man was eager to make a name for himself, but did he really need to implicate so many people at once? Was he planning to offend half the court?

Not only did Murong Ze have the evidence, but Murong Chen, who rarely attended court, also stepped in, strongly demanding punishment for all the corrupt officials. Without removing the corrupt officials, the country would be doomed.

The emperor had work to do now. The Ministry of Justice had work to do. The governor of Jingzhao had work to do. Everyone was busy, all working to restore a clean court for the Great Zhou.

In no time, the capital was in turmoil. Officials, both big and small, feared being dragged into the mess. After all, in the capital, how many officials were truly clean, with no stains on their reputation?

Only Zhuang Xiaoyu, who had stirred up the court, was happily going to find Liu for some questions.

She heard that a handsome young male attendant had arrived at Qingfeng Pavilion. She had to go take a look. Since Murong Xuan left, she felt like there was no longer any visual enjoyment, so she was curious to see how good-looking this new attendant really was.