After Transmigrating Into A Love-Brained Scumbag Villain - Chapter 22

The gates of the Prince of Yingchuan’s manor had not been shut for many days before the Prince of Yiyang sent his manor’s Chief Clerk over with a visiting card, saying he wanted to come visit the sick.

As for this little tyrant troublemaker, who was right in the middle of his rebellious youth, spent all day causing trouble and getting into fights everywhere, and when he could not beat someone, went looking for the emperor to back him up—Zhao Shangrong did not particularly want to have too much interaction with him.

But his relationship with the Prince of Yingchuan had never been very good. For him to be so eager to visit the sick this time made one unable to help wondering whether he was truly concerned about his brother, or had some other motive.

Although the current timing was somewhat sensitive, the Prince of Yiyang had come to visit the sick out of concern and affection for his brother. If she shut him outside, it would easily make people suspect that she was doing something shameful inside the prince’s manor.

In the original novel, after the Prince of Yingchuan was disfigured, during those three years when she shut herself away and refused to go out, rumors spread outside that she was secretly producing weapons and armor inside the prince’s manor and preparing to rebel. Every time such rumors appeared, the emperor would inevitably refute them, fully displaying his trust and loving care toward his sibling.

From her God’s-eye view, Zhao Shangrong knew that this was because the emperor had planted spies by the Prince of Yingchuan’s side. Therefore, whether the Prince of Yingchuan had secretly plotted rebellion or not, the emperor knew best.

And every time the emperor dispelled the rumors, his method was extremely simple and crude, without any persuasive explanation to convince the court ministers. This made people suspect that the emperor had only refused to investigate because of his love for his brother.

By comparison, the Prince of Yingchuan, who did not submit congratulatory memorials during festivals and refused visits from her brothers, appeared increasingly heartless and ungrateful.

Zhao Shangrong did not want to draw unnecessary suspicion over such a small matter, so she had someone send a reply.

The visiting card had been delivered in the morning, and the Prince of Yiyang came over at noon. The timing was so perfect that Zhao Shangrong suspected he had deliberately come to freeload a meal.

Ignoring all attempts to stop him, the Prince of Yiyang had forced his way inside to look for his hawk.

This was one of the traditional competitions of the Dragon Boat Festival, very different from the dragon boat races of later generations. Later dragon boat races involved rowing forward, with the first boat to reach the finish line winning. But in this era, regattas were a martial confrontation competition. Four people formed one group and rode a light boat. They were divided into two teams, “water army” and “water horse,” which faced off against each other. The warriors on the light boats were responsible for defeating the enemy, and in the end, one side emerged victorious.

The noble clan sons in Jiankang also prided themselves on being from lofty and distinguished families, never deigning to associate with the Prince of Yiyang.

Zhao Shangrong had little interest in this and was just about to refuse when the Prince of Yiyang angrily began explaining why he wanted to form a flying-boat regatta team.

Xu Daoji’s elder brother had long since died of illness, leaving behind only one son, Xu Zhan, who happened to be at the estate holding a pure conversation with others.

“I came in a hurry and didn’t have time to prepare anything. I’ll make it up another day,” the Prince of Yiyang said, not particularly concerned.

“Flying-boat regattas” had been a training exercise used by Chu and Yue during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods to train armies for water combat. Later, it gradually evolved into a traditional Dragon Boat Festival entertainment competition.

Later, after Emperor Huang was deposed and killed, Xu Daoji had also contributed to supporting the new emperor. The new emperor relied heavily on Xu Daoji, and because of this, Xu Zhan gained the confidence to oppose the Prince of Yiyang.

The Prince of Yiyang was only fifteen years old, but he was already as tall as Zhao Shangrong.

Zhao Shangrong said flatly, “Aren’t you here to visit the sick? Why have you come empty-handed?”

As it turned out, this matter had to begin with how he had made enemies of the noble clan youths.

To Xu Zhan, this act was an enormous humiliation, but the emperor on the throne at the time had been Emperor Huang. Not only did Emperor Huang fail to seek justice for Xu Zhan, he even thought his younger brother’s behavior was amusing and told him to bring him along next time.

Zhao Shangrong: “…”

A few sparse hairs had grown on his youthful face. As if to show them off, he had not shaved his face and even very deliberately stroked them in front of Zhao Shangrong.

Once, as usual, the Prince of Yiyang had released the hawks and hounds he raised and led a group of youths to chase after them. Unfortunately, one hawk happened to fly into the Xu family residence—the estate of the elder brother of Xu Daoji, the regent minister who held heavy military power.

As mentioned before, the Prince of Yiyang believed his status was noble, so he often chased hawks and hounds around Jiankang, causing chaos everywhere. Even after being complained about, he continued doing as he pleased.

Because of this, Xu Zhan held a grudge against the Prince of Yiyang.

Zhao Shangrong exposed him without mercy. “Enough. You are not here to care about me at all. Speak. What is your purpose?”

Zhao Shangrong, who possessed the Prince of Yingchuan’s memories, naturally knew what a “flying-boat regatta” was.

He truly was worthy of being a chuunibyou youth.

Not long ago, Xu Zhan had competed with the Prince of Yiyang in duck fighting. Seeing that his own duck was about to lose, he secretly had someone drug the Prince of Yiyang’s duck with laxatives, causing the Prince of Yiyang to lose the match.

Later, after the Prince of Yiyang learned that Xu Zhan had played dirty, he got into a fight with him. The two sides agreed to settle the matter with a flying-boat regatta during the Dragon Boat Festival.

Xu Zhan drew in a group of noble clan youths who had grudges against the Prince of Yiyang. Each person provided a light boat, forming a flying-boat regatta team.

Seeing this, the Prince of Yiyang refused to fall behind and began gathering his usual gang of worthless friends.

But once he started gathering people, he discovered that the other side was full of sons from high-ranking families, while his side consisted either of relatives by marriage of the imperial family or sons of commoner clans—landowning families who, although they had members serving as officials at court and holding important posts, had shallow foundations. Unfortunately, both groups were often looked down upon by the noble clans.

With the two sides compared, his side already lost a large part of its momentum. That was why he had come to Zhao Shangrong to form a team. Although this Seventh Brother of his did not have a very good reputation either, he was beautiful. Using his name could attract a large number of fans to wave flags and cheer for them!

Zhao Shangrong: “…”

What was this brat thinking?

The Prince of Yingchuan had desperately wanted the noble clans to put in a good word for her before the emperor so she could smoothly go to her fief. Did she look like someone who would agree to team up with him and get involved in his grudge against the noble clan youths?

He had come running over like this. Had he never considered that he might be refused at the door?

The Prince of Yiyang kept nagging, “We’re brothers from the same family. Seventh Brother, you can’t refuse to help me!”

Zhao Shangrong refused. “Your elder brother is unwell. My heart is willing, but my strength is lacking. I truly cannot help.”

It was not that she was afraid of offending noble clan youths. She simply had no interest in this kind of savage and rough confrontation match.

Moreover, having decided to live a low-key life, she did not want to be pushed into the spotlight because of this matter.

The Prince of Yiyang said, “Seventh Brother, you only need to provide the flying boats and warriors. You don’t need to personally enter the field!”

She pressed her hand on the Prince of Yiyang’s shoulder and said earnestly, “Eighth Brother, our brotherly affection cannot be measured by money, right?”

The Prince of Yiyang hesitated, then nodded perfunctorily.

Zhao Shangrong clapped her hands. “Look. Forming a regatta team costs money to build light boats, right? It requires training warriors who understand water, right? It requires discussing formations and strategies, which means repeated practice, right? Every practice costs a large sum. And if we lose the match, we lose both face and money. Talking about money easily hurts feelings. How could we brothers let money damage our harmony? Therefore, in order to avoid discord between brothers, I will not participate in this kind of project that requires spending money. See how much your elder brother is thinking of you!”

Prince of Yiyang: “???”

“Seventh Brother, it won’t cost that much! And who says we’ll lose?”

Zhao Shangrong sighed again. “But I have just suffered a serious illness. I cannot bear to watch such rough scenes now. During flying-boat regattas, warriors ram into and fight each other, beating each other until flesh and blood fly everywhere. How frightening! Aiyo, no, just thinking about that scene now makes my head ailment about to flare up.”

Prince of Yiyang: “…”

He muttered, “A grown man acting so delicate. No wonder people always think you’re a woman!”

Zhao Shangrong, who had suddenly become hard of hearing: “What did you say?”

The Prince of Yiyang stared at her face and came up with a plan. He deliberately said, “Those fellows like Xu Zhan are cursing Seventh Brother behind your back, saying you’re just like a woman. Back then, you refused to bow with Seventh Sister-in-law and enter the bridal chamber, so who knows whether you’re even capable as a man!”

He thought that any normal man who heard these words would surely become furious. Since it concerned the face of a proper man, he would have to regain his dignity no matter what.

Sure enough, Zhao Shangrong’s face turned cold, and she asked in a deep voice, “What else did they say?”

Tsk. With the Prince of Yingchuan’s appearance and frame, it really was hard not to make people suspect her true gender.

Fortunately, the social customs of this era were rather special, increasing the chances of a woman disguising herself as a man and successfully fooling the world.

Speaking of which, Hua Mulan seemed to have lived in a similar era. Some speculated that with her family background, bringing a group of private retainers to the battlefield was entirely normal. With everyone around her being her own people, no wonder she had served in the army for more than ten years without anyone discovering she was female!

The Prince of Yiyang, completely unaware of the true reason Zhao Shangrong’s face had turned cold, pressed on while the iron was hot. “A few days ago, when Seventh Brother and Seventh Sister-in-law returned to her maiden home, they hid outside watching the joke. They said Seventh Brother and Seventh Sister-in-law were a cracked pot matched with a rotten lid. One is incapable as a man, and the other looks short-lived. You definitely won’t have children, so when the time comes, Seventh Brother will have no sons or daughters and can use Seventh Sister-in-law as an excuse…”

Zhao Shangrong, who had just been mentally wandering and pondering whether Yan Kingdom might also have a Hua Mulan, suddenly furrowed her brows. “Who cursed the princess consort as short-lived?”

The Prince of Yiyang froze. He had said so much, and Seventh Brother had only heard that sentence?

Zhao Shangrong did not dwell on exactly which person had said it. Her expression was gloomy. “I’ll participate.”

Prince of Yiyang: “…”

The provocation tactic seemed to have worked, and yet also seemed not to have worked.

The Prince of Yiyang did not care whether Zhao Shangrong was rushing into battle in anger for a beauty. He said happily, “That’s great! I’ll call Ninth Brother too. Blood brothers will go into battle together!”

Zhao Shangrong quickly held him down. “Why are you in such a hurry? I agree to participate, but the rules must be changed.”

“Huh?”

—

Not long after the Prince of Yiyang arrived at the prince’s manor, Wang Yaoshuang received the news.

Since this was something that had never happened in her previous life, she also did not know the Prince of Yiyang’s purpose in coming.

After the Prince of Yiyang left, she leisurely went to His Highness’s place to ask about it.

Seeing her, Zhao Shangrong’s tone became somewhat livelier. “Princess Consort, did you not take your afternoon nap?”

“This concubine heard that the Prince of Yiyang came to visit Your Highness…” She pretended she had only received the news not long ago. “Has the Prince of Yiyang left?”

Zhao Shangrong had not the slightest doubt about Wang Yaoshuang’s words. She snorted. “He left after freeloading a meal.”

Hearing the disdain in His Highness’s tone, Wang Yaoshuang smiled. “The Prince of Yiyang still cares very much about Your Highness.”

Zhao Shangrong did not know that she had already fallen into Wang Yaoshuang’s trap for extracting information and said, “He was not here to visit the sick!”

She told Wang Yaoshuang about how the Prince of Yiyang and Xu Zhan’s group of noble clan youths had agreed to hold a flying-boat regatta during the Dragon Boat Festival, and how he had planned to pull her into it.

Wang Yaoshuang froze slightly.

The third year of Yuanxi, Dragon Boat Festival, flying-boat regatta…

This had indeed happened in her previous life. However, at that time, the Prince of Yingchuan had been disfigured and had shut herself away. The Prince of Yiyang had not dared to come provoke misfortune.

In this life, without the disfigurement stage, and with the Prince of Yiyang liking to pull in big banners, naturally he would not let go of the chance to drag His Highness into his group.

This was a very normal social activity, and Wang Yaoshuang should not interfere. Only…

The flying-boat regatta in the third year of Yuanxi would bring the conflict between imperial power and the noble clans, which had been hidden beneath a peaceful surface, into the open.

Any other year’s flying-boat regatta would be fine. Only this year—she did not want His Highness to participate.

Because this time, there would be no true winner.

Author’s Note:

His Highness: Who cursed the princess consort? Beat that bastard up!

Bihe: Your Highness, the princess consort said the budget approval for the flying-boat regatta did not pass.

His Highness: Meow meow meow???