While on the way to the safe house, Shen Ru refused to say no more, in case the coachman fails to forget the existence of Shen Yize after Shen Yufei's wish succeeds. When they arrived at the safe house, however, Shen Ru finally explained everything—about Shen Yufei's magic lamp that had a genie in it, Shen Yize's fated death, the marriage to Bai Mei, and the original Shen Ru's pitiful ending.
Of course, he repurposed this explanation as a dream that had come to him. He's not dumb enough to confess that this world was a novel.
"Royal Brother, I don't want my dreams to come true. At first, I thought that it was just a simple dream, but becoming a suitor for the Chuanli princess really did come true. And that lamp..." Shen Ru trailed off.
Shen Yize gave a deep sigh and patted him on the head. "I understand you, Xiao Ru. Even if we try to imprison him now, it would be dangerous as he still has that lamp. If I disappear for a while when that Shen Yufei person wakes up, he won't hesitate to make his original wish and we can wait until he finishes his three wishes before we take him down."
Shen Ru was genuinely surprised. "How did you know my plan, Royal Brother?"
Shen Yize chuckled. "How would I become the crown princess if I wasn't intelligent? Don't worry, Xiao Ru, I'm fine with laying low for a while. Taking down Shen Yufei is more important than some silly thing called pride."
"Don't worry, Royal Brother! Once I arrive at Chuanli Empire, I'll find a way to expose Shen Yufei," Shen Ru promised.
"Maybe you can get Princess Bai Mei's help. Although she did fall in love with Shen Yufei in the end, it would be easy to expose Shen Yufei's disguise considering he's not a real prince."
Shen Ru's eyes gleamed at that. He really quite liked this big brother of his. Both of them had the same thoughts in regard to Shen Yufei. He had a feeling that he was going to be vital in his future missions, which most certainly included Shen Yufei's real identity.
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As expected, when Shen Ru returned to the palace, he noticed his siblings talking with Shen Yufei as if he was their real eldest brother. When they noticed his presence, the second princess smiled and waved at him. "Xiao Ru, there's good news!"
Shen Yufei, however, had a frown on his face as he stared at Shen Ru. This practically confirmed Shen Ru's theory that he had some kind of deep hatred for him. The lamp had already erased his memories so he had no obvious reason to hate him upon meeting him immediately.
"What is it?" Shen Ru smiled back, feigning ignorance.
"The Chuanli Empire invited Royal Brother too as a suitor for their princess. You won't be alone on the journey anymore!"
Shen Ru inwardly sighed at this. This second princess sister of his really was naïve. His suitor status was his chance to gain a higher position, so now that Shen Yufei, the "crown prince", became a suitor too, it meant that his possible position is being threatened. When you think about it, this wasn't a favorable situation at all.
The second prince's face didn't look good too and he changed the topic, "Xiao Ru, have you already prepared your luggage? You should bring many snacks, it's not good to be hungry."
The frown on Shen Yufei's face deepened further as he watched the royal siblings fuss over Shen Ru. His glare was so fierce that Shen Ru could feel it. Nevertheless, Shen Ru merely gave him a small smile and continued to talk to his royal siblings.
Some things, like siblinghood and love, can't be stolen no matter how much you yearn for them. Even if Shen Yufei was the crown prince now, the love that their siblings had for him wasn't directed at him. It was for Shen Yize and not for him.
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A week passed and it was finally time for Shen Ru and Shen Yufei to leave for the Chuanli Empire. In the past week, from time to time, Shen Ru returned to the safe house to chat with Shen Yize and bring some books. After all, it would be a long time before Shen Yize can return to the palace, so it would be boring if he stayed alone during this period of time, although Shen Ru had hired a housekeeper who was paid generously for her silence to do the chores in the safe house.
Today, it was time to embark on a journey. Before joining the others in the palace, Shen Ru came to the safe house. Upon being informed that he was leaving, Shen Yize kept fussing over him—his health, bringing a blanket to protect himself from the cold, to not letting himself get deceived by liars. He was practically like this mother at this point.
Shen Ru couldn't help but chuckle. "Royal Brother, there's no need to worry about me. I'll be fine, really."
"It's still dangerous to travel with that Shen Yufei person. Who knows what he'll do to you if he somehow regains his memory?" Shen Yize then opened a box that was on the table and opened it, revealing a dagger in it. "Here."
Shen Ru was shocked. "What is this, Imperial Brother?"
"It's a dagger that Imperial Father had commissioned me when I turned 18. Although it doesn't look much, its blades have poisonous characteristics. The antidote is a plant called 'mugwort'. You can use it to defend yourself from harm."
Shen Ru was concerned. "Shouldn't you use it for yourself? It was Imperial Father's gift for you."
Shen Yize helplessly shook his head. "I'm not in real harm right now. I can defend myself pretty easily. My concern is you. You aren't trained in martial arts and have to depend on the bodyguards to protect yourself. Having this dagger around can be life-saving."
In the end, when Shen Ru set out for the palace, he had a dagger hidden in his clothes. When he arrived at the palace, the carriages and his luggage were all ready.
Shen Yufei and the second prince were chatting happily when Shen Yufei turned his head to look at Shen Ru and said with an irritated expression on his face, "Oi, where did you come from? We were waiting for you,"
At this moment, Shen Ru really hated Shen Yufei. Even despite knowing that he was just a fake crown prince, he still acted like he belonged to the group of siblings. This was the most shameless person he had ever met, even worse than Hua Xiu.
"Xiao Ru, did you go out to eat candy again?" the second princess asked, laughing.
Shen Ru faked a laugh and replied, "I found a stall that sold delicious dumplings."
Soon, the emperor arrived to bid them goodbye. He patted Shen Ru on the head and told Shen Yufei, "Xiao Yufei, I'll depend on you to protect your little brother in the Chuanli Empire."
Then he turned to Shen Ru. "Even if you don't end up marrying the Chuanli princess, your family is still here for you. No matter who marries her, I'll still be proud of you as my son."
Shen Ru could tell that Shen Yufei was restraining himself from gritting his teeth in the presence of the emperor.
Soon, they entered the carriage and it started moving. Shen Ru poked his head out of the windows and waved at his imperial siblings and father with a smile. Realizing that doing this was polite and understandable considering the circumstances, Shen Yufei did the same and waved at them with a fake smile.
Shen Ru inwardly rolled his eyes and then settled his attention on a book. Fortunately for him, probably because he hated him, Shen Yufei didn't talk with him for the whole ride. Shen Ru silently gave him zero points for effort.
When the sky turned dark, the coachman stopped the carriage and their servants led them to an inn. While they were waiting for their room to be rented, a group of men with muscular arms and terrifying faces suddenly entered through the door.
"Oi, Old Zhang, don't they look rich?"
"Part of royalty I reckon."
"If we sold them, we could fetch a lot."
Shen Yufei furrowed his eyebrows and asked the receptionist, "Who are they?"
The receptionist hurriedly said, "The local hooligans, sometimes they come here to pester customers. No need to worry about this, your highness." Then, he called out, "Security, security, they're back!"
In an instant, men with lanky arms yet tall came to block the hooligans from entering any further. The receptionist obviously thought they were enough to have the hooligans leave. However, against their expectations, the hooligans actually brought knives and batons. They easily overpowered the thin men.
Seeing the situation, the royal bodyguards joined to stop them. While they were about to throw them to the ground, they were interrupted by a group of men in black.
"What is happening here?" A piercing voice sounded out. It was a man in luxurious clothes. He had wide shoulders, long flowing black hair tied on a jade crown, and cold peach blossom eyes. Although he looked like a scholar, one could feel a threatening aura coming from him.
Realizing that this could be their savior, the hooligans started wailing.
"They're going to kill us!"
"We weren't doing anything bad!"
"Please save us!"
Shen Ru sighed and cut in, "They were about to enter the inn to cause trouble. The people that are stopping them are our bodyguards. Mr. Receptionist can prove this for us."
The unknown man nodded and signalled his guards to leave them alone. The receptionist then hastily explained the situation, this time in more detail. It turned out that not only do these hooligans regularly come to the inn to disturb customers, but they also are gamblers and drunkards. The only reason they haven't been imprisoned yet was because the only physical harm they've caused was raping a few women.
These women usually come from distant places and have no families in this small town. Furthermore, they don't have the courage to accuse their rapists. Having people discover that they were raped would ruin their chances of marrying.
The man frowned when he heard this from the receptionist. He asked Shen Ru, "Can my men take them? They will be sent to the magistrate."
Shen Ru nodded and replied, "Of course, justice must be enacted."
Shen Yufei's face was ugly as he watched them converse freely. He was the crown prince, so why was this man talking to his lowly brother instead of him? Powered by the urge to prove himself, he demanded, "Who are you, anyway?"
The expression on the man's face became even colder, enough to cause snow to fall in the middle of summer. Shen Ru cursed inwardly. Considering that this man could send people to the magistrate, it was obvious that he had some status. It was very rude to demand the identity of such a powerful person!
"…And who are you to ask for my identity?" the man asked back.
Like a spoiled brat, Shen Yufei announced, "I'm Shen Yufei, the crown prince of the Shui Empire!"
Shen Ru couldn't help but break out of character and glare at Shen Yufei. If he wanted to be a crown prince, then do so and act like a true crown prince! Now that their real identities were exposed, potential assassins from other empires could attempt to eliminate them.
"I'd rather we talk about this privately," the man replied. He turned to Shen Ru, "Where are your rooms?"
The receptionist immediately approached them to inform them of their room numbers.
"You are Shen Ru, the third prince of the Shui empire, aren't you?" the man asked Shen Ru
While Shen Yufei glared at him, Shen Ru answered, "Yes, ben wang is."
"Let's talk in your room, I have a hard time conversing with your brain-deficient brother."
When they arrived at Shen Ru's room, a few servants served them tea as Shen Yufei shouted, "Who are you? How dare you disrespect the crown prince of the Shui Empire?"
"Ben wang has heard that the crown prince of the Shui Empire was intelligent, a genius, and had an elegant bearing. Ben wang didn't expect that it would turn out the opposite." The man then finally introduced himself, "Ben wang is Jun Qian, the crown prince of the Lixin Empire."
Shen Yufei was caught off-guard, staring at him, speechless. The Lixin Empire could be considered the richest and most prosperous empire in the East. It was said that merchants in the provinces of the Lixin Empire were richer than the merchants in the capital of the Shui Empire. Normally, their riches would attract other empires' desires to take over their empire. However, the military of the Lixin Empire was even stronger than their wealth. In the past decades, they have won various big and small wars between other empires.
The crown prince of the Lixin empire, Jun Qian, was awarded the title of 'Prince An' when he was just at the age of 12. At that time, the poems and paintings that he had made were praised to the heavens by renowned scholars. Over time, he'd gotten involved with political affairs and no one in Lixin Empire dares to cross his way.
Shen Ru sighed, taking over the conversation. "We're sorry for offending you, your highness."
"You're not the one that should apologize," Jun Qian said.
The both of them turned to the still-frozen Shen Yufei, who hesitantly apologized after a few seconds of silence, "I…I'm sorry."
Jun Qian simply ignored his apology and said, "Ben wang assumes that you two are on your journey to the Chuanli Empire?"
"How did you know about that, your highness?" Shen Ru asked.
"Ben wang is one of the suitors of Princess Bai Mei of the Chuanli Empire. Ben wang has a list of the other suitors."
Shen Ru nodded in understanding but he had some misgivings. Even the Shui Empire didn't receive a list of the suitors for Bai Mei, how did Jun Qian get it? Because of the dog-blooded plot points that he had encountered in his past life, he suspected that Jun Qian was obsessively in love with Bai Mei and was so jealous that she was searching for a husband to the point that he had her suitors investigated.
Come to think of it though, shouldn't such an interesting plot point appear in the original plot? Furthermore, Jun Qian's visuals were really too strong. He was more handsome than Shen Yufei, so handsome that Shen Ru was confused that Bai Mei didn't fall in love with him first.
Not realizing the dog blood plots inside Shen Ru's mind, Jun Qian continued talking, "Are you taking the Zhong road?"
Shen Ru nodded. "Yes, it is the shortest way to the Chuanli Empire."
"Ben wang going through the Zhong road too. Ben wang suggests we travel together. The other day, a group of men tried to assassinate ben wang. All of them except one poisoned themselves. The survivor confessed that he was from the Ming Empire."
The Ming Empire was the neighboring empire that had tried to pressure the Chuanli emperor into marrying their prince. Shen Ru didn't need to ask further about the implications. He nodded and replied, "Ben wang agrees, it would be dangerous to stay alone."
Shen Yufei was utterly confused by their tacit conversation and said, "What does it mean if the assassin was from the Ming Empire? They probably just targeted you because of your position. They don't have anything to do with us."
Jun Qian gave Shen Ru a glance and announced, "Ben wang will retire to his room now. Ben wang will meet the two of you again during sunrise." With that, he left the room.
"He's too rude. Just because he has the Lixin Empire's backing, he thinks he can do anything. We're both crown princes, he doesn't have the right to lord over me!" Shen Yufei began ranting. Then, he turned to Shen Ru and said, "And you! You're not like a prince at all, don't you have some shame? Calling a foreign prince 'your highness' like you're his subject, you really have no shame."
Shen Ru sighed. "Even though we are royalty, we should also show fellow royalty respect. When you spoke back at his highness, didn't you think about the consequences if he took your words seriously? Even though our Shui Emperor is strong, the difference between Lixin Empire and our empire is like heaven and earth. It's better for us to befriend his highness than make enemies that will put our empire at risk."
Probably because Shen Ru, in the past, has stayed meek and docile in front of his royal siblings, Shen Yufei never expected that Shen Ru could argue with him logically and reasonably. He coughed nervously and said, "I'm leaving."
When Shen Ru was finally alone, he called out to the system, "System."
[What is it, Host?]
"Open the system store, I want to look for items I can use."
Holograms of various items quickly appeared in front of him. Shen Ru scrolled through the items with a gleam in his eyes. Although he acted like he was decided on finding and buying an item, in reality, he just wanted to take this opportunity to get himself familiar with the system items so that he can know immediately when to buy an item if the situation gets too dangerous. For the matter of acting too authoritative, he just wanted to boss around this system that dared to call him brain-deficient.
There were various weapons in the system space, from a bow and arrow to a gun and to a bazooka. The more dangerous a weapon is, the higher the price. There was also some medicine with varying sizes and prices, which could prove useful. He even found a magical pill that can make someone change their appearance.
[You're not buying anything, Host?] The system asked when Shen Ru closed the system store.
"I was planning to buy some brain cells for you, then I realized that it still wouldn't be enough," Shen Ru deadpanned.
[Ahhh, this is system abuse!]
Shen Ru merely chuckled and grabbed the book that he had been reading during the ride.