Chapter 105: Enemies Often Cross Paths

Wen Xian was a woman he had taken into his harem for the sake of political interests. At the time, he was not yet the Emperor, but he was already possessed of great ambition. When his father selected consorts for him, he chose Xue Fanzhi because she lacked a deep, influential background. His father was satisfied, and he, naturally, was content as well; back then, he had never considered taking a secondary consort.

However, Xue Fanzhi had a fatal flaw: she could not bear children. How could a man aspiring to be Emperor be without a son? It just so happened that he also wanted to cultivate his own faction, so he privately contacted several families with significant influence, intending to leverage their power by taking their daughters as secondary consorts.

The negotiations were nearly complete when Wen Huayu offered to marry his daughter, Wen Xian, to him. Perhaps they believed he had chosen Xue Fanzhi merely as a distraction, or perhaps they were so confident that, one day, their daughter would ascend to the position of Empress. Regardless, Wen Huayu was one of those men. Having high regard for him—and perhaps for Wen Xian herself—he married her off, even as a secondary consort.

Wen Huayu and the other families he contacted were all in similar positions: they had merits, but were not deeply entrenched, aristocratic clans. They were useful without being overbearing, so he readily married Wen Xian. Yet, because he cherished his days with Xue Fanzhi so deeply, he could offer Wen Xian no affection as a husband. He could only compensate her with status—though never the position of Empress, for that belonged to A-Zhi, forever.

Wen Xian, however, seemed to think otherwise. Believing he could not do without her father and brothers, nor without her, she grew arrogant and indulgent in the harem, causing the deaths of his children and many other women. Out of respect for Wen Huayu’s early support, he had spared her, but Wen Xian had crossed his bottom line. She had done the one thing she never should have: she killed Xue Fanzhi. Did she know how much he suffered after A-Zhi’s death? Did she know how great his loss was? That agony made him care nothing for ambition, reputation, or unification; he wanted nothing at all, feeling only a profound and chilling despair.

Thus, he discarded the title of a sagacious ruler that had been within his grasp. He stopped fighting those in the north, crippled his own power by purging the Wen clan, and then begged for heaven’s lightning to strike him down. Everything was because of Wen Xian; it was Wen Xian who killed A-Zhi. How could he not loathe such a detestable woman?

In his previous life, he had killed Wen Xian once, which served as vengeance for A-Zhi. With that, he owed her nothing, and they were no longer linked. Therefore, in this life, he and Wen Xian were strangers. He, the Ninth Prince, was not so idle as to save a stranger for no reason.

***

His thoughts swirled, but in reality, Xiao Yi’s hesitation lasted only a moment. Seeing that Wen Xian was failing, he worried that Xue Fanzhi might be frightened. He pulled her to his side and told her to turn away. "Don't look. Besides, I don't know how to swim!"

He could hardly stand by and watch someone drown in front of A-Zhi; he feared she might call him cold-blooded. Xue Fanzhi was secretly astonished. Of all his talents, swimming was Xiao Yi’s weakest—he was, by necessity, merely average. But he wasn’t so incompetent that he couldn’t swim at all. At most, rescuing someone would be dangerous, but weren’t there boatmen? His sudden claim felt like a transparent attempt to cover something up.

What exactly was his grudge against Wen Xian? If there wasn't a grudge, would he really go so far as to watch her drown? But thinking carefully, they shouldn't have had any major conflicts—otherwise, why would he have married her in his past life? It was strange, truly strange.

Xue Fanzhi and Xiao Yi’s refusal to act did not mean others were equally heartless. The two boatmen, unaware of the history between their master and the drowning woman, kept calling out: "My Lord, someone has fallen overboard! Are we not going to save her?"

Xiao Yi found them annoying. Couldn't they see he didn't want to save her? It was hardly surprising; these boatmen were hired on the river—they were skilled in the water, but they were not his own men. He had hired them specifically for fear that if he or Xue Fanzhi fell in, there would be no one to help, but who would have thought someone would be foolish enough to fall off a boat while standing still? Xiao Yi acted as if he couldn't hear them.

Couldn't the boatmen Wen Xian brought with her save her? He didn't look closely, but for the sake of appearances, Wen Xian had brought only her maidservants. Those two maids had only just started learning to row, and they couldn't swim either—they had just arrived from the north.

In the blink of an eye, a splash was heard. Xiao Yi didn't think it was someone else falling in; it must have been a rescue. His boat was the closest, but it wasn't the direction of the two boatmen. Who was it? Xiao Yi turned his head, and Xue Fanzhi followed suit.

They looked over to see a refined and spacious pleasure boat approaching the spot where Wen Xian had fallen. It was someone from that boat who had jumped in. There were many people on board; the railing was crowded with colorful silks and fine attire, making the scene dizzying. After a quick scan, Xue Fanzhi counted at least eight people. Two women were looking down at the water with their heads bowed, so she couldn't see their faces.

A young man stood out most prominently, dressed in a golden-green spring robe, with a row of yellow gemstones embedded in his crescent-shaped belt. His attire alone signaled extreme wealth and status, and his tall, upright stature was quite striking. Unfortunately, his face detracted significantly from this impression; it was very long. It wasn't that he was ugly, just that his face was quite peculiar—most people didn't have such long faces, making him easy to remember. Of course, he wasn't as handsome as Xiao Yi. Regardless, he wasn't the type Xue Fanzhi liked. In fact, because of this man's relationship with Xue Jiaoyue in her past life, Xue Fanzhi found him deeply irritating. It was the Eighth Prince, Xiao Jian.

The others were not as high-ranking as Xiao Jian. Xue Fanzhi understood: it was he who had ordered the rescue. Wen Xian had already been dragged up by the person who had jumped in.

Across the water, Xiao Jian called out to Xiao Yi: "Ninth Brother, how can you be so cold-hearted? Someone has fallen into the water, and you refuse to save them?"

Xue Fanzhi looked at the person supporting Wen Xian—a woman in her twenties. It seemed Wen Xian would not lose her reputation or face gossip after all; Xiao Jian was quite thoughtful in his rescue.

Xiao Yi was much more indifferent. He smiled and replied, "I see that Eighth Brother has already saved her. How could I dare to steal the credit from you?"

Xue Fanzhi chuckled to herself. Xiao Jian wanted to expose Xiao Yi as cold-blooded and ruthless in front of everyone. After all, having a reputation for cruelty was detrimental to someone aspiring to be Emperor, as it would alienate benevolent civil officials. Without their support, how could one hope to take the throne?

Yet Xiao Yi did not suffer a loss; he retorted directly, not only indicating that he wasn't refusing to save her but was simply too late, but also subtly implying that Xiao Jian’s rescue was merely a ploy to steal credit and buy hearts. They had only just met, and already they were trading barbs; they were truly destined to be enemies.

However, Xue Fanzhi wasn't afraid of Xiao Yi losing out, for in their past life, Xiao Jian had never once bested him. She assumed it was a matter of innate capability, and in this life, he likely wouldn't win either. A proud smile played on Xue Fanzhi’s lips. A moment later, her face fell, and she asked herself, "Are you sick? Xiao Yi isn't anything to you, why are you feeling proud!?"