Good Man Operation Guide

Shen Hu’an’s road to Nancheng wasn’t very peaceful. After all, what they had to do was vital, so they couldn’t take a leisurely pace as if it was a spring outing.

The group of people rode their horses day and night, only resting for two hours each night before waking up and putting something in their mouths, eating as they continued their way atop their horse.

To be honest, don’t assume just by seeing how Shen Hu’an was unloved by his Emperor Father, criticized by his brother, and treated coldly by the imperial concubines, that he must’ve been quite pitiful. In fact, as one of the mere five princes within the palace, his food and clothing were naturally exquisite.

The reason why he wanted to take part in the battle for the throne, aside from the bullying by his brother when he was younger and how they despised and exploited him now that he was older, the most important was just so his Elder Sister could have a backing and be supported.

He wasn’t stupid, the four brothers above him were nothing good. Each one was more narrow-minded than the one before. Even though he hasn’t done anything towards them, he still had been repeatedly schemed upon. This quickly forced Shen Hu’an, who originally only wanted to grow up to be an idle Prince, to become a teenager who thought ‘I, this Master, must become the Emperor and trample you under my feet!’ every day.

After all, no matter which Elder Brother won, he and his Sister wouldn’t end up well, so what was he waiting for?

Clear the obstacles, drive the elder brothers away, then enjoy the throne alone.

It was all quite perfect. And the idea really was great, but it was difficult to realize.

Since he was young, Shen Hu’an had already acted as if he didn’t like to study in order to protect himself. But while he was pretending before, now that he had pretended for so long, he really didn’t like to study.

The only thing left for a Prince to rely on besides an Emperor Father’s favor was his mother’s family, but his mother died young, and his Grandfather, though he was a great scholar, also died young. Thus now, only his grandmother and uncle were still left in Nancheng.

His sister’s marriage was hastily arranged. Although he went to lead the soldiers in the early morning the day before yesterday and didn’t manage to see the appearance of the future fuma, he still knew that the other was a commoner’s son.

So regarding external forces, there wasn’t anyone who could support him.

Thus he can only rely on himself.

In fact, Shen Hu’an wasn’t very afraid when he set out for Nancheng this time. He naturally knew that he wouldn’t be able to get the throne simply by living safely within the palace every day. Therefore, although he was worried about his Sister and hated Emperor Father, he still had some expectations for this trip.

At least, he could take the lead in saving his grandmother and uncle’s family.

The idea was beautiful. Shen Hu’an was helped off the horse when the day and night journey finally reached its destination.

Everyone knew that it was faster to ride a horse, but a horse couldn’t be ridden for an extended amount of time. Otherwise, the sides of the two inner thighs would be sore and painful, then because of the position of the wound, to lessen the pain, you would have to spread your legs to walk.

Spreading one’s legs was indecency.

And he was the Fifth Prince, so even if it hurts to death, he wouldn’t spread his legs.

Shen Hu’an, with a cold face, took the sword handed to him by his subordinates with one hand, then looked around at the subordinates whose thighs were slightly separated, though you couldn’t really see them without looking carefully. With disdain, he withdrew his eyes.

As it turned out, it wasn’t just him who was in pain, but others as well.

Thus before even taking two steps, he also spread his legs a little wider.

***

Shen Hu’an nearly threw up as soon as he entered Nancheng.

He had originally thought the smell was a bit odd when he was outside, but because the gates were closed and the place where they dismounted was a bit farther away, his mind didn’t consider that the smell actually came from within the city.

The smell was very strange. Generally speaking, it was the smell of burnt corpses, rotten meat, and other excretions of the human body.

Although his face was covered with a white cloth to prevent infection, which covered the nose and mouth, the smell still drifted into Shen Hu’an’s nose along with the wind.

He had thought this was already his very limit.

As a result, when he bowed his head, the ground was scattered with ‘nuggets’ along with other messy bits and pieces of stuff.

At that moment, he was still an innocent young Prince who had never seen filth except his own since he was a child. Although he forced himself to learn and read about a variety of things in order to become an Emperor, and he showed a steady and reliable appearance in front of his Elder Sister, he was still only a prince who had never left the Imperial City.

The good news was that although curious, Shen Hu’an didn’t go to the unacquainted soldiers to ask but asked the guards who had been following him, “Why didn’t they find a gong-bucket?”

(TNote: Gong-bucket = bodily waste bucket a.k.a ancient toilet, the waste is thrown out later because there was no plumbing yet.)

It’s all over the floor, okay?!

The guard looked slightly embarrassed but also whispered back, “Your Highness, I’m sure, there are no gong-buckets here.”

You can’t just leave it on the ground like that even without a bucket!

Shen Hu’an’s heart was full of sorrow for the unsanitary people of Nancheng.

But he could only look ahead and try his best to put on a face appearing as if he didn’t care about the mess on the ground at all.

It was well known that Nancheng had two gates.

He currently stood between the first gate and the second gate, while the rest of his soldiers were behind him, all of them uniformly wearing a white cloth around their lower face. After ordering the people inside to have the gate opened, an even stronger smell immediately invaded everyone’s nasal cavities.

Soon Shen Hu’an couldn’t be bothered to condemn how unhygienic the people of Nancheng were anymore.

Countless people wore dirty clothes mixed with dirt and filth. Some had fallen to the ground and some weakly leaned against the wall, but everyone’s faces were lifeless. Except for a few low wails that seemed to be a little louder, no one responded to the military forces sent by the capital who had entered.

No one greeted them and no one was happy, because they were all going to die.

Not only them but also their relatives.

Shen Hu’an stood dumbfounded as he took in the sight of the people everywhere, and the light-hearted words of a strategist he knew appeared in his head, ‘If His Majesty orders the diversion of water, the people of Nancheng, who have already suffered natural disasters, will suffer another man-made disaster, and no one will be able to survive’. It was only now that he was finally able to tear off such an understating assumption as this was nakedly exposed to him.

These were all living people and not just a number of deaths reported to the court.

He was scared.

At this moment, Shen Hu’an even wanted to go back to the capital to find his Sister, who would surely tell him not to be afraid as she comforted him.

But he couldn’t.

So Shen Hu’an could only move forward as he hardened his courage and walk past the death-stricken people with their emotionless eyes.

But when he reached two children, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

They were two commoner children, the older one appeared 7 or 8 years old, while the younger one seemed 4 or 5 years old. They should be a brother and a sister because the younger boy has been shouting ‘Sister, it hurts’. The older girl’s lips were dry, but she still tried to hug her younger brother to appease him as her hand patted him on the back.

Both of them had pockmarks on their faces, which was obviously the plague.

A guard beside him asked doubtfully, “Your Highness?”

Shen Hu’an looked at the scene in front of him. “Didn’t the imperial physician say he was looking for someone to test the medicine? Go ask them if they’re willing.”

The guard agreed and went forward to ask a couple of questions. The younger brother only knew how to cry out in pain, but the sister was already considered a half-grown child. She raised her dirty face, a pair of pitch-black pupils looked at the crowd in front of them who were still magnificent despite their armor, then hugged her brother tightly and nodded her head.

Even if they didn’t try the medicine, eventually they would still die… So why not give it a try?

With this pair of siblings, a group of people arrived at the Governor’s residence. No one stood guard at the entrance and the door was closed, which was obviously due to the plague disaster.

Shen Hu’an, who had been trying to keep his face aloof so that he wouldn’t be treated as a child by the soldiers behind him, paused in a rare and somewhat tense manner, then clenched his fist and beckoned his subordinates to knock on the door.

Nancheng’s Governor was his and his Sister’s biological uncle.

It was just that the area of Nancheng was small and also happens to be next to the border, so even if it was the New Year, Uncle wouldn’t be able to visit the capital without an imperial edict. While his Aunt-in-law could as a female, outside women weren’t allowed to enter the palace without an imperial consort’s summon. Shen Hu’an’s biological mother had died young, so where would there be an imperial concubine kind enough to help the duo’s external family by summoning them into the palace? Thus, Shen Hu’an had grown up without ever meeting anyone from his maternal family.

His sister had told him that before Mother died when he was a child, Aunt-in-law would come at times to the palace to see them and hugged him, but he couldn’t remember.

As he and his Sister had yet to marry, they lived in the palace. At the end of every year, the courtiers would be able to receive gifts from all over, contrary to them, the princes and princesses who live in the palace, who can’t receive anything at all. Therefore, in all these years, not to mention seeing the appearance of his maternal uncle, he hadn’t even received a single letter.

The emotions from seeing the victims faded a little at the moment as Shen Hu’an began to feel a little nervous that he was about to meet his unsuspecting relatives.

He had once heard from his Sister that his Grandfather was a renowned scholar, that when he was still alive, he had countless students. And although he didn’t want to be an official in the Imperial Court, his disciples were all officials, which was very impressive.

But Grandfather himself was unconcerned with fame or fortune and didn’t care about it. His Sister said that Grandfather had a long white beard, gray hair, and always wore a robe with two fluttering sleeves. He was old but in good spirits, and while he was just a bit careless, he was very loving to them two, and once taught her how to write with his own hands.

Although Grandfather has passed away, Uncle was his own son, so he must be similar in appearance and manners…