"Your Highness, we met a wandering sorcerer on our study tour. He was incredibly skilled at reading faces. I studied under him for a while, and he even praised me for my talent!"

During the meal, as they talked about what they had seen and heard along the way, Yun Shu suddenly spoke to Ye Jingchen in a mysterious tone.

"Really?" Ye Jingchen's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Then can you take a look for me?"

In the novel, face reading is Yun Shu's specialty. He excels at using his facial features to charm the noble ladies and wives in the capital, easily winning them over with just a few words and getting them to tell him all their secrets.

Ye Jingchen wanted to see if he was just naturally likable or if he really had some skills.

"Do you need to look at your face?" Xie Chang'an, who had been silent all along and had only been listening to their conversation, suddenly spoke up.

"As the saying goes, appearance reflects the heart, not what is born, so why is it unnecessary to look at it?" Ye Jingchen said emphatically.

"Your Highness is right!" Yun Shu was moved by Ye Jingchen's words. "Then Your Highness, look at me and don't look away—"

Ye Jingchen looked at him cooperatively.

Yun Shu scanned Ye Jingchen's facial features with a serious gaze.

Ye Jingchen had never seen Yun Shu so serious before, and he almost laughed.

But before he could even laugh, someone else got upset.

"How much longer are you going to watch?" Xie Chang'an asked Yun Shu with an unfriendly expression.

"I was looking at His Highness the Crown Prince, not you. What are you unhappy about?" Yun Shu withdrew her gaze and looked at Xie Chang'an with a puzzled expression.

He had a feeling that Xie Chang'an suddenly disliked him after returning from this study tour. What had he done to offend Xie Chang'an?

Xie Chang'an glanced coldly at Yun Shu, "He has to go to the government office this afternoon. If he doesn't eat soon, he'll be late for his shift."

"Your Highness is the Crown Prince, can't you be late for your duties?" Yun Shu asked nonchalantly.

"Did you see anything from my face?" Ye Jingchen interrupted their pointless conversation and asked.

"Your Highness has a full forehead, a square jaw, a straight nose, and bright eyes. You look like a reincarnation of the Purple Star!" Yun Shu said excitedly.

"Ha! All nonsense!" Xie Chang'an said with a sneer.

"Can you see anything else?" Ye Jingchen asked with a smile.

Yun Shu thought for a moment and said, "It's been more than a year since we last met, and I feel that Your Highness has changed a lot. You seem very different from the one I remember."

"But it's also possible that I'm mistaken. After all, I have a bad memory and didn't know anything about face reading before, so it's normal that I can't remember the changes in facial features," Yun Shu added somewhat embarrassedly.

What was said unintentionally may have been taken to heart by the listener.

Ye Jingchen's heart stirred. He couldn't see the difference when he looked in the mirror every day, but he might not be able to say for sure that his appearance would be different from the original Ye Jingchen.

Thinking this, Ye Jingchen glanced at Xie Chang'an and found that Xie Chang'an was also looking at him.

Xie Chang'an has met the original Ye Jingchen, so perhaps he can ask him about it later.

Why don't you take a look at him too?

Why don't you take a look at me too?

Ye Jingchen and Xie Chang'an spoke at the same time.

"Xie Chang'an, didn't you not believe me?" Yun Shu asked, flattered.

Xie Chang'an glanced at him, "Are you going to look or not? If not, forget it."

"Look, look!" Yun Shu said quickly.

“Hey—Xie Chang’an, I noticed that you have a very good face too. How come you also have an Emperor—” Yun Shu suddenly fell silent, then looked at Ye Jingchen with some panic, and then looked back at Xie Chang’an with some doubt.

Although he didn't say it aloud, Xie Chang'an and Ye Jingchen both knew what he wanted to say.

Xie Chang'an also has the appearance of an emperor.

In Xie Chang'an's original destiny, he would eventually become an emperor!

It's said that nine and a half out of ten wandering sorcerers are fake, but Yun Shu was quite lucky to encounter a real one and even learned some skills from him!

"How good is Xie Chang'an's face? Is it as good as mine?" Ye Jingchen asked deliberately.

"Then naturally, I am no match for His Highness the Crown Prince!" Yun Shu said hastily, her expression somewhat unnatural.

"Xie Chang'an, did you hear that? I'm luckier than you!" Ye Jingchen joked with Xie Chang'an.

“Who in the whole world is luckier than you?” Xie Chang’an retorted.

"Xie Chang'an, your face looks a bit strange. You don't look like a teenager at all!" Yun Shu stared at Xie Chang'an for a while, as if she had discovered a new continent, and said in a puzzled tone.

Xie Chang'an and Ye Jingchen's expressions changed, but they quickly recovered and returned to normal.

"Are you saying I look old?" Xie Chang'an asked Yun Shu through gritted teeth.

"I'm not!"

"I don't!"

"I'm just telling the truth!" Yun Shu quickly said.

"The saying goes that your appearance reflects your heart. Perhaps it's just because you, Xie Chang'an, have such a mature-beyond-your-years appearance that you look older than you are?" Ye Jingchen said, suppressing a laugh.

Xie Chang'an glared at Ye Jingchen, "You're even more cunning than me, so why don't you look old?"

"Maybe it's because I have a good mindset that I don't look old!" Ye Jingchen offered himself a reason.

"Because you're heartless!" Xie Chang'an said irritably.

"Although Your Highness and Xie Chang'an don't look alike, their facial features are quite similar. Indeed, the world is full of wonders!" Yun Shu suddenly exclaimed.

Ye Jingchen and Xie Chang'an's expressions changed again.

The two exchanged a glance and realized that the topic was becoming too risky and they couldn't continue.

"Yun Shu, what do you want to do in the future?" Ye Jingchen changed the subject and got down to business.

He invited Yun Shu to dinner today not only to welcome him back, but also to ask about his future plans.

"I'm thinking of setting up a stall in the busiest part of Zhuque Street, specializing in fortune telling and palm reading. Your Highness, do you think I can make money doing this?" Yun Shu asked excitedly.

“You might be able to make money, but—” Ye Jingchen looked at Yun Shu with a somewhat unspeakable expression, “As the young heir of the Marquis of Zhongyong’s mansion, the only son of three generations, if you were to set up a fortune-telling stall on the streets of the capital, would you be prepared to have your legs broken by your father or be kicked out of the house?”

Yun Shu flinched and chuckled awkwardly, "That's just what I was thinking."

"You're old enough to enter the imperial court now. Anyway, you already have the title of Xiucai. As long as you ask the Marquis of Zhongyong to find someone to recommend you, you can become an official in the court. Which of the Six Ministries, Nine Temples, and Five Directorates do you want to go to?" Ye Jingchen didn't expose him and asked with a smile.

"Do I really have to choose one of these?" Yun Shu asked, somewhat hesitantly.

He doesn't want to be an official; he just wants to be free!

Ye Jingchen could see his reluctance, but the title of Marquis of Zhongyong could only be inherited for three generations. By Yun Shu's generation, he would be demoted from Marquis of Zhongyong to Earl of Zhongyong.

If Yun Shu cannot gain a foothold in the court, the future of the Marquis of Zhongyong's mansion is worrying.

"If you still don't have any ideas, you can ask your father when you get back. You're all grown up now, it's time to make plans for yourself and the Marquis's mansion!" Ye Jingchen told him.

"Okay," Yun Shu agreed, but she looked visibly dejected.