Chapter Twenty-Eight: Women Only Slow Down My Draw

[Page 1 of 3]

Zhu Di’s decision to have people watch Chen Kan’s every move was naturally not because he had nothing better to do.

The main reason was that three days earlier, after Monk Daoyan returned from the prison, he had said to Zhu Di, “This Chen Kan fellow is worth making use of.”

Three days ago, Zhu Di had instructed Zhu Gaoxu to go to the imperial prison and persuade Fang Xiaoru to draft the edict announcing Zhu Di’s accession.

But when Daoyan, who had just entered the city, learned that Zhu Gaoxu had been sent there, he was horrified.

He bluntly pointed out that the Prince of Gaoyang had a violent temper, while Fang Xiaoru was equally unyielding by nature.

There was a good chance Fang Xiaoru would end up dead at Zhu Gaoxu’s hands.

Without even having time to eat, Daoyan hurried off to stop Zhu Gaoxu’s misdeeds.

Sometimes things simply happened to fall into place. Daoyan arrived a step too late and happened to hear Chen Kan’s speech, in which he had morally blackmailed Fang Xiaoru.

When Daoyan returned, he repeated Chen Kan’s words to Zhu Di without omitting a single syllable.

Before leaving the subject, he even praised Chen Kan to Zhu Di, saying that the young man was meticulous, sly by nature, and worth employing.

But Zhu Di could not possibly decide whether Chen Kan was useful based solely on Daoyan’s opinion.

That was why he had arranged for secret agents to investigate Chen Kan’s background.

Once they began looking into him, the reports landed on Zhu Di’s desk: Chen Kan had gone to view a residence, been rejected by the Prince of Jin’s household, spent money in the Eighteen Wards, and refused Zhu Gaoxu’s recommendation.

After learning all this, Zhu Di could not help thinking that the boy was truly unlucky. At the same time, however, he had to admit that Daoyan was right. The young man really was talented.

This was especially true of the way Chen Kan had handled the Prince of Jin’s broken engagement, as well as his conversation with Fang Xiaoru afterward.

He was practically the very embodiment of clear-headedness.

Combined with the nonsense he had used to deceive Zhu Gaoxu, it was not difficult to see that the boy was a refined pragmatist.

He knew when to advance and when to retreat, understood gains and losses, possessed a sharp mind, and already had the achievement of persuading Fang Xiaoru to his credit.

Those were the main reasons Chen Kan had caught Zhu Di’s attention.

Of course, Zhu Di still did not know that this supposedly sensible young man had slapped his daughter on the backside that very morning.

Otherwise, he would not have been lecturing Chen Kan here.

Before employing someone, Zhu Di always gave them a warning. That was his unique way of managing people.

And the more talented the person, the more necessary the warning.

After all, those who could be called talented were usually intelligent people.

The more intelligent they were, the less awe they tended to feel toward imperial authority.

If Chen Kan did not feel a certain fear of imperial power, how could Zhu Di trust himself to employ him?

As for Chen Kan’s claim that Fang Xiaoru would not allow him to become an official, Zhu Di had not taken it to heart at all.

Did he need Fang Xiaoru’s permission to appoint someone?

Naturally, Chen Kan, the person at the center of all this, knew nothing about it.

At that moment, Chen Kan deeply understood one principle:

Serving beside the emperor was like accompanying a tiger.

[Page 2 of 3]

And accompanying a tyrant as temperamental and unpredictable as Zhu Di was even more like keeping company with a five-hundred-kilogram striped tiger.

Chen Kan wanted to go home.

“Your Majesty, was there anything else you wished to discuss with this commoner? If not, may I take my leave?”

“What? Is my imperial palace making you feel as though you are sitting on a bed of thorns?”

Chen Kan was speechless.

Was there any reason in this world? Any law at all?

Chen Kan decided that when he returned, he would find a temple and become a lay disciple, devoting himself to the practice of silence.

From then on, whenever anyone spoke to him, he would say nothing. He would simply raise one middle finger and let them figure out the meaning for themselves.

Seeing Chen Kan standing before him, trembling like a quail, Zhu Di felt that the warning had achieved roughly the desired effect. He waved a hand.

“Very well. You may go.”

As though pardoned by heaven, Chen Kan hurriedly bowed to Zhu Di.

Noticing that Ru Chang and Monk Daoyan were still standing nearby, he gave them a hasty, careless salute as well.

Then he turned around and ran for his life.

His movements were astonishingly smooth and decisive.

Watching Chen Kan sprint away at full speed, the three men were left speechless.

With a helpless smile, Daoyan said to Zhu Di, “Your Majesty, I think you may have overdone it. You frightened the boy.”

Ru Chang’s fleshy face twitched, and he hurriedly turned his head away.

Only Daoyan would dare say something like that.

Meanwhile, Chen Kan summoned the strength of nine bulls and two tigers and finally sprinted all the way to Hongwu Gate at the end of the imperial road. He had not even had time to collect the pastries Zhu Yuelan had given him.

The little eunuch carrying them came running after him in a panic, gripping the pastries as he shouted, “Young Master Chen! Young Master Chen! Please wait for me!”

As he ran, Chen Kan muttered, “Damn, that was terrifying. There’s something terrifying in the imperial palace.”

This time, the guards stationed at Hongwu Gate did not stop him.

Only after he had run far beyond the imperial palace grounds did Chen Kan suddenly remember that his pastries seemed to be in the little eunuch’s hands.

“Oh no! The adorable big-eyed girl’s pastries…”

Chen Kan began to pace anxiously in circles.

Should he go back for them? The imperial palace was no less dangerous than a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den.

No—the imperial palace was a dragon’s lair! Zhu Di himself was coiled up inside, baring his teeth and waving his claws. It was far too frightening!

But if he did not go back, those were pastries given to him by an adorable big-eyed girl. They were filled with her deep affection for him.

“Young Master Chen! Young Master Chen…”

The panting little eunuch finally caught up with him.

When Chen Kan saw what he was carrying, he was overjoyed.

The little eunuch gasped, “Young Master Chen, your things.”

“Hahahaha! I searched everywhere and found nothing, yet here they are without any effort at all!”

[Page 3 of 3]

The little eunuch fell silent.

Chen Kan patted him on the shoulder with one hand, snatched the pastries with the other, and said solemnly, “Thank you. I, Chen, will certainly repay you generously in the future!”

The little eunuch shrank back nervously.

“N-No need!”

What a strange young master Chen!

Why did he talk like a bandit?

Wasn’t he supposed to be the student of a great scholar?

Could it be that this was what happened when one’s learning reached the highest level?

After attaining the ultimate depths of scholarship, did one return to one’s true nature?

Truly astonishing.

Holding the pastries given to him by the adorable big-eyed girl, Chen Kan abandoned the little eunuch, whose inner monologue was growing ever more elaborate, and headed toward the Fang residence without the slightest hesitation.

Yet after walking for a while, he began to feel that something was not quite right.

Could it be that Zhu Di had summoned him today solely to make him watch a grand spectacle in the eastern suburbs—someone being draped in imperial robes and elevated to the throne—and then frighten him afterward?

That…

Surely Zhu Di was not so bored?

Probably.

Then what deeper meaning was hidden behind his actions?

Chen Kan knitted his brows tightly. The more he thought about it, the more suspicious the whole matter seemed.

At Zhu Di’s position and rank, everything he did and every word he spoke must have a purpose.

What exactly was Zhu Di trying to accomplish?

Forget it. He would go back and ask his teacher.

As the saying went, having an elder in the family was like having a priceless treasure.

Thinking about such things was too exhausting, and Chen Kan could not be bothered.

It would be more reliable to ask his teacher after returning.

Once he thought of it that way, Chen Kan felt considerably more enlightened.

He carried the pastries in one hand.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered Zhu Yuelan’s bouncing, lively figure.

“No. Women will only slow the speed of my sword draw. An adorable big-eyed girl is especially dangerous.”

He shook his head, driving Zhu Yuelan’s image from his mind.

Then, without realizing it, he began imitating her and hopped all the way toward the southern city.