Chapter 658

The Great King rolled over on the bed, clearly writing that I have something on my mind, I couldn't sleep.

Xiao Jin had looked up at him several times; Sha Xiong lay on the steps beneath his bed, already getting up to start feeling the Great King's bed planks.

What's going on, is it hot enough to burn someone?

Bai Ze could no longer tolerate the jumping beans on the bed, finally speaking up: "Wasn't Zhou Ke supposed to personally watch those people? Even if those few grew wings they couldn't fly out of Youzhou—go to sleep."

"Could it really be that someone thinks I look like Si Pangzi?!"

Someone spoke up, and the Great King gasped and sat up; this guy had no aversion to the cold, seeming ready for a long night chat, making Bai Ze deeply regret it. Just hold on ten more minutes and it'll be fine……

"I don't know, I've never seen it before. Can you tell you're happy?"

"No way!"

The Great King got out of bed and grabbed someone's paw, posing as if to chat all night. Bai Ze regretted speaking up again—late-night talk must end with a period.

"What do I have to be happy about? Just looking at this strategically, once Si Pangzi is in our hands, the rest of Jingzhou will be nothing but rebels, and I can send people to reclaim it without any scruples—there won't be a single innocent! Only Si Pangzi is still young……"

Bai Ze's expression was too obvious, and the Great King changed his tone again: "Anyway, Si Pangzi isn't a good person either—I don't like him at all, unlike Lao Qi… Well, when he was little… before he started studying, he was actually quite good."

Back then the Empress wasn't entirely at ease letting him play with me, but he was silly, didn't understand these things, and every day he'd beg his wet nurse to bring him over to play. Back then he was truly obedient, like the present Lao Qi, having a pure sort of silliness—I felt he was like my real father back then…… Wait! Won't Lao Qi end up looking like that too in the future?!" The Great King began to worry.

Bai Ze saw the topic drifting off and hurriedly reminded him he was going off-track.

"Well…… Later, after being cute for just a few years, he started studying early, and the Cui family sent a tutor who only taught Si Pangzi to treat me as nothing…… Then we went off-topic again, and afterwards Si Pangzi changed. From a lovable plump top, he became a proud little rooster, every day treating his older brother me as an enemy, his life's goal being to step on me." The Great King sighed, one sigh after another.

Bai Ze was at a loss for words—you're also so young, yet your tone sounds like an old-timer recounting childhood stories with a sense of vicissitude! "It's perfect—if you catch him in this round of competition, you win."

The Great King's mouth corners shot up wildly, "hahaha"—his laughter was hearty, making the guards outside prick up their ears……

Bai Ze wanted to roll his eyes again, "Actually you don't dislike Lao Si; you're just defensive, thinking the Cui clan and the Empress spoiled him."

This Great King refused to admit it, "Si Pangzi annoys me; I only liked the plump top before he became sensible. But I love winning—alas, the last time I saw him was at an old man's longevity banquet, and back then I wasn't as thin as I am now~"

The Great King finally fell asleep, dreaming of avenging past shame; the next day was the third of the month, and he continued his sealing brush.

Yesterday's night talk gave the Great King a sense of crisis, so early this morning he brought Lao Qi Baili Zhang over. This guy held a child in one hand and a lollipop in the other, bringing Lao Qi to the Lantai Hall for earnest instruction.

"What is this?"

"Candy~"

"All right, you're not stupid either."

"Stupid."

"Remember, the only one who will unconditionally give you candy to eat is your Imperial Elder Brother. You must always obey his words, and not betray the candy you've already eaten just because you've grown up, understand?"

"Understood."

The Great King was very satisfied, "Good. Scribe? Did you call for him? If not, have him record everything word for word!" In the future, when Lao Qi becomes like Lao Si, he'll make him face this passage.

Xie Yuan, who had been waiting outside the hall: ……

Zhao Bao rushed in, "Your Majesty, today is a day off." Should we really summon a secretary over this?

「Forget it, you'll repeat it to him later. 」

Zhao Bao hurriedly took the opportunity to report that Minister Xie had arrived.

The poor student, upon hearing that the teacher had come, panicked reflexively for a moment, fumbled and pulled the lollipop from his mouth and shoved it into Lao Qi's mouth, then hastily rushed to sit properly at the table.

After sitting down, he finally realized, oh my, it's New Year now, and he had sealed his brush! Moreover, since returning from Youzhou and dealing with the mess in Wusun and Hengshan, he had unilaterally and silently stopped his daily big-character writing.

And Xie Yuan hadn't come to ask him for it either!

The king instantly straightened his chest, "I have no unfinished homework!"

「Summon～」

As Xie Yuan entered, he saw Bai Li Zhang's mouth stuffed full, bulging, unable to move, saliva dripping……

He tried hard to act as if he hadn't seen it, keeping his tone unchanged as he paid his respects to the king.

"Sir, why have you come? You've been working hard alongside me for a year, and only now, with the holiday break, you should be spending more time with your family."

Xie Yuan firmly refused to be taken in by sweet talk, producing two stacks of paper and handing them to the king.

"I have read Your Majesty's letter to the King of Wusun; I…… have no objections to the content. However, I believe that in relations between the two nations, the wording should still be a bit more cautious. I have already revised it for Your Majesty; please copy it again and affix the seal, would that be alright?" Feed him, feed him!

Even so, the king was still unhappy; he took it, thinking that since the meaning was the same, just a few sentences, what you wrote and what I wrote, how big could the difference be? He opened it and saw, huh… there is indeed a slight difference.

The king dutifully copied it, not forgetting his ulterior motive: "I'll finish writing soon; once done, sir, please deliver the letter to Xie Tu so he can publish it in the newspaper. I want to hype up this Wusun affair—how about the title "Western Regions Authority"? Isn't that mighty? While we're in chaos, if the Western Regions could busy themselves with an arms race, that would be even better."

Xie Yuan remained unmoved: "Your Majesty, don't get distracted; write the characters carefully."

The king habitually chattered: "No matter how well you write, the King of Wusun's old, dim eyes might not be able to make it out. Oh, maybe he doesn't even know how to read."

"Seeing the text is like seeing the person; when the person isn't present, the text is their face. The King of Wusun is just a petty king of the Western Regions; whether he recognizes characters or not is irrelevant—this is no excuse for Your Majesty's sloppy handwriting. By the way, I just remembered: I haven't seen Your Majesty's big-character writing in a long time."

The king: ……

Two tears as wide as noodles welled up in his heart, wishing he could go back to that moment and sew his mouth shut! How great it would be to stay silent and write!

The king's mind works fast—earlier, the big-character practice had been halted only because something major came up, and neither Xie Yuan nor he had had the chance to attend to it; he decided to break big news by pulling the same old trick, and immediately thought of Si Pangzi.

Xie Yuan definitely doesn't know about this!

He lowered his voice mysteriously: "Sir, I've got a big piece of gossip……"

Xie Yuan became alert the moment his eyes lit up; upon hearing this, he immediately bowed and said, "Winter fruits are precious, Your Majesty, keep them for yourself; I'll take my leave now."

The king: ……

No…… can it really be like this?!

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【As promised, an extra chapter for yesterday's top‑ranking big shot—please check it~】