Shu Zhan knew from a young age that he was a very smart child, although his intelligence was not very obvious, so much so that others could not see it. But he knew it himself, and that was enough.

He initially felt his name was hasty, sounding like a verb. His sister's, on the other hand, seemed more sophisticated. So he asked his mother how she chose it.

He wouldn't ask his father, who had always been powerless. Even though his father always emphasized that he and his mother each had half the power in the family, he knew his father had no status.

His mother said that the author chose this character, and she didn't know why he chose it; she guessed it was just a random choice.

Oh, he knew! It was all that wicked author's doing. Shu Zhan clenched his little fists and ran to the despicable author, demanding, "Why did you give me this name?"

The author gave him a cold look, pushed up his contact lenses, and casually touched his smooth little face, saying, "Zixiang, you must remember, your name is not like that of a eunuch like Wuchang; it has a meaning."

Shu Zhan's round little eyes lit up. "What does it mean?"

"I only wish that the Qing Dynasty would be restored to its former glory, and that all burdens could be removed soaring among the clouds."

Shu Zhan didn't understand, and the author didn't tell him what it meant, because the author didn't know either. To avoid the little devil from asking any more questions, the author ran away quickly.

Although Shu Zhan didn't understand what it meant, he felt it was very sophisticated, even more sophisticated than his sister's. Overall, he was very happy.

So when he met new children, he proudly introduced himself.

“My name is Shuzhan, the same Shuzhan as in the line ‘I hope the Qing Shang will be a false one, and I can soar among the clouds without all my burdens.’”

As luck would have it, the person standing in front of him was none other than little Lu Huai.

Lu Huai was the same age as Shu Zhan, so at this time Lu Huai was only five years old. He didn't understand what Shu Zhan was saying, and wrinkled his cute little nose, "Why is it fake, not real?"

Shu Zhan didn't understand. "What?"

"I'm saying," Lu Huai said, his little face round and chubby, "why do I wish it were fake rather than real?"

Shu Zhan understood, but he couldn't answer. He scratched his head, "I don't know." The author hadn't mentioned this question to him, because even the author didn't know; perhaps only Liu Zongyuan knew.

Although they messed up on their first try, they became good friends. No, they became best brothers, half-brothers!

Ever since Minister Lu brought Lu Huai to his shop to buy something, Shu Zhan had been waiting for him to come again every day. However, Lu Huai forgot about it in the blink of an eye; what did it matter if they were brothers?

As the two grew older, their friendship deepened because they shared similar interests. He also learned where Lu Huai lived, so he often went to find him, and the two would happily fight crickets together.

Cricket fighting is much more fun than studying by rote. Shu Zhan and Lu Huai hit it off immediately and made the first important choice in their lives—to become playboys.

Although they were known as playboys, they only enjoyed cricket fighting and drinking a little wine. They rarely went to gambling dens, let alone brothels, where they had never been involved with girls.

Of course, male prostitutes were even less common.

However, Lu Huai was truly outrageous; even though he was almost twenty, he was still wicked.

Shu Zhan never expected that Lu Huai, who originally climbed over the wall of the Prime Minister's mansion to resist marriage, would develop feelings for the Prime Minister's daughter the very next day and even dare to come and ask him about it.

Hmph, what's the point of asking him? He wouldn't understand anyway!

Shu Zhan was furious, made up a quick excuse, and then dragged him to drink. But to his surprise, Lu Huai seemed genuinely distressed, and he drank bottle after bottle of wine until he got drunk.

Fortunately, his guard, Ayu, also came and took him back. Shuzhan waved to them without any psychological pressure and went home.

The next day, news came that Lu Huai had been summoned by Minister Lu for family discipline, which shocked him so much that he almost fell off the bed.

It wasn't because he got beaten up; after all, he'd been beaten up many times before. Especially whenever he found out they'd gone to a gambling den, Lu Huai felt uneasy if he wasn't beaten up.

What surprised Shu Zhan was that they had only gone to drink and hadn't gone to the gambling den, so why were they beaten up?

He was very puzzled, so he dressed and ran to the Minister's residence, only to be stopped at the gate, where several large, crooked characters were pasted—

Dogs and other animals are not allowed inside.

Shu Zhan: "..."

Of course, Lu Huai's worst behavior wasn't even there. What was even more outrageous was that, ever since then, every time Lu Huai saw him drinking, he would frown and say with a troubled expression, "Oh dear, I really want to drink with you, but my wife at home is keeping an eye on me, so it's not really appropriate."

I don't know how he manages to feel superior even when drinking plain water.

hehe.

Shu Zhan really wanted to point at his face and tell everyone that this was a typical case of "forgetting brothers after getting a wife," and that they should never learn from him, or they would have no friends in the future!

However, Shu Zhan proved himself capable and soon found a wife. Of course, he couldn't have done it on his own; he owed a great deal to his sister.

He couldn't remember what kind of poetry gathering his sister had attended. Listening to poetry always made him sleepy, and he had absolutely no interest in it. But what he didn't expect was that his sister would be so capable, managing to find him a sister-in-law even from attending a poetry gathering.

At that time, Lu Huai was worried about Qin Xi, so he went to pick her up. He looked at the sun and, having nothing else to do, decided to go pick up Shu Hua as well. When he arrived at the bamboo forest, he climbed into the carriage marked with his family's insignia.

He lifted the carriage curtain, but froze.

Shu Hua hadn't come out yet, but the room wasn't empty as he had expected. A pretty young girl was lying there, looking like she had sweated a lot. He paused for a moment, then calmly stepped out and said, "Sorry, wrong place."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!