When Gu Xichao woke up, he found himself tied to a chair, with a white cat perched on the table in front of him, tilting its head to look at him.

As his memories gradually returned, Gu Xichao recalled the events that occurred before he fell into a coma.

The Crown Prince's actions surprised Gu Xichao. According to the information Fu Zongshu obtained, the Crown Prince's martial arts skills were mediocre, and the lessons he attended were just ordinary courses.

As he was pondering, the Crown Prince's voice came from behind him, languid and tinged with drowsiness.

"You're finally awake... Shall we talk?"

His Highness the Crown Prince spoke in a very kind tone, but Gu Xichao could not see the Crown Prince's expression behind him, nor could he judge the Crown Prince's intentions.

He chose to remain silent.

“I know who sent you…”

The prince yawned, and the sound of fabric rustling came from behind him. The prince walked closer to him, and the drowsiness in his voice became more and more obvious.

"Is it Prime Minister Cai?... Or perhaps it's Secretary Fu?"

Cai Jing and Fu Zongshu did not appear to have a good relationship on the surface, and even seemed to be at odds with each other, but in reality, they had long been in cahoots and conspired together. Gu Xichao was puzzled by the Crown Prince's calm tone in determining the relationship between Cai and Fu, and at the same time, he increasingly felt that the Crown Prince was more than he appeared in court.

The Crown Prince is an unfathomable man.

Yan Liang wasn't annoyed that the assassin didn't answer. He strolled to the table, pulled up a chair, sat down in front of Gu Xichao, and leaned on the table to look at him: "What's your name?"

Gu Xichao remained silent, coldly staring at the young crown prince before him.

"You'd be better off working for me than for Fu Zongshu." Yan Liang was blatantly poaching him. Although his words were sincere, when he said them in a lazy posture while lying on the table, it sounded like he was joking.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up for an hour. In another two and a half hours, I have to go to the morning court," Yan Liang said slowly, taking out Gu Xichao's Divine Crying Axe from somewhere and placing it on the table.

"If you agree to do things for me, I will give you what you want; if you don't agree, Fu Zongshu probably won't lend a hand to a failed assassin."

Gu Xichao had to admit that Yan Liang's words made a lot of sense.

He knew Fu Zongshu's character very well. If the Crown Prince identified him in court, Fu Zongshu and Cai Jing would only kick him while he was down.

"Your Highness doesn't even know who I am, so why do you want to recruit me?"

He asked in a cold voice.

“I’ll know once you tell me,” Yan Liang said. “The people they can recruit are all talented, and I’m too lazy to find people to work for me… You’ve delivered yourself right to my doorstep.”

Gu Xichao was speechless for a moment, unable to find a word to respond to this unruly Crown Prince.

He paused for a moment, then finally revealed his name, saying, "I am but a commoner, and revealing my name would surely offend Your Highness's ears."

Yan Liang petted the cat and listened patiently to Gu Xichao's sarcastic words, then replied, "It's not vulgar, I'll listen to whatever you say."

"...My name is Gu Xichao."

Yan Liang read it aloud once and praised, "What a good name."

Gu Xichao simply smiled with a hint of sarcasm and remained silent.

"Well, have you agreed to work for me?" After praising me, Yan Liang brought up the old topic again and tried his best to promote himself. "I have no one on my own right now, and even the guards I chose are from other families. If you come and work for me, you will definitely get plenty of benefits."

"If I work for you because of your conditions, can't I guarantee I won't betray you for someone else's conditions in the future?" Gu Xichao said slowly and deliberately. "Are you really trying to win me over?"

“As long as I can meet your needs, you will not abandon me.” Yan Liang was very confident. “Since I have chosen you, I will trust you.”

Gu Xichao's heart stirred slightly, thinking that the Crown Prince's confident appearance was just like that of a fool.

Do you know what I want?

He asked.

"I'll know once you tell me."

Yan Liang answered his question using the same sentence structure as before.

Gu Xichao's eye twitched, feeling that the Crown Prince hadn't thought of anything and was just full of unfounded confidence.

Having witnessed the harsh realities of life since childhood and being adept at navigating social situations, he naturally understood that His Highness the Crown Prince's words were not untrue. The other party was clearly sincere and genuinely wanted him to work for them.

After weighing the pros and cons, Gu Xichao nodded in agreement. The Crown Prince, who valued him, was more appealing than Fu Zongshu, who distrusted him. Gu Xichao was not afraid of worldly judgment; if it could bring him success, he was willing to betray his country even in the face of adversity.

After Yan Liang saw that he agreed, he got up and untied him, his speed surprising Gu Xichao. Gu Xichao was still stunned and didn't know what to say until Yan Liang put the rope away on the table and sat back down.

Yan Liang called someone to lead Gu Xichao to a guest room next door, nodded to Gu Xichao, and then closed the door while yawning.

A moment later, the candlelight in the prince's room went out, and only the lanterns held by the servants in the corridors shone with warm light throughout the courtyard.

After a moment of silence, Gu Xichao followed the servant to his room.

His Highness the Crown Prince seems to have placed too much trust in him.

Gu Xichao didn't know whether this was a good thing or not.

＊

Emperor Huizong had slept late the night before and, fearing criticism from his court officials, stubbornly got out of bed and went to the morning court session, still half asleep.

Some people learned that the Crown Prince and the Emperor had met at a brothel yesterday, and some even approached today's morning court session with the intention of watching the spectacle.

To their disappointment, the Emperor remained silent during the morning court session and readily agreed to the Crown Prince's proposal, appearing quite satisfied with the Crown Prince.

Occasionally, she would glance at the Crown Prince, even revealing a very subtle expression, a mixture of thoughtful thoughts and other emotions, but not anger.

His Highness the Crown Prince smiled and politely rebuked a group of people, then gave Fu Zongshu a meaningful look at the end.

Fu Zongshu's heart skipped a beat. He had been staring at the peaceful and lively Crown Prince for a while, but now, receiving the Crown Prince's ambiguous gaze and thinking of Gu Xichao's long absence, he felt curious about what had happened last night.

Even after the morning court session ended and the Crown Prince was summoned to the inner palace by the Emperor, Fu Zongshu did not hear the Crown Prince mention the assassination attempt. He couldn't help but wonder if Gu Xichao had deserted or been captured by the Crown Prince.

Zhuge Zhengwo observed the interaction between the Crown Prince and Fu Zongshu, and noticed the displeasure on Cai Jing's face. He was puzzled and worried at the same time—the Crown Prince's sharpness was too much and would inevitably attract resentment. Perhaps he should have a deep talk with the Crown Prince.

Yan Liang followed Zhao Ji to the Imperial Garden and presented him with the painting he had bought the night before. Zhao Ji was still thinking about the young man who had accompanied the Crown Prince the night before. After receiving the painting, he did not rush to open it. Instead, he asked thoughtfully, "Which minister's son was the young master who accompanied you last night?"

Yan Liang said, "He is not the son of any minister. He is a friend I made in the capital and does not know my identity."

Zhao Ji was somewhat surprised. He suddenly realized that since the establishment of the crown prince, he had rarely seen the crown prince get very close to any court official. Even Zhuge Liang had only spoken with the crown prince once or twice, and that was all.

“I see… Since you’ve become friends with him, then get along well. I won’t interfere.”

He nodded absentmindedly, not continuing the topic, but instead opened the scroll that Yan Liang had presented. After glancing at it, he couldn't look away and exclaimed in surprise, "Which master painted this?"

Yan Liang raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "I bought it at the night market last night."

Emperor Huizong was captivated by the flower-and-bird painting, examining it for a long time before exclaiming, "The peacock is so delicate and lifelike, and the flowers and plants are so vibrant. It's clear that this is the work of a master. Perhaps you've met a highly accomplished person with a refined taste and leisure."

Yan Liang remained noncommittal, thinking about the young man's appearance, and didn't think the man had any leisure or refined tastes.

Emperor Huizong was delighted by the sight of the painting and admired it for a long time. He then asked Yan Liang to let him meet the master of flower-and-bird painting.

Yan Liangdao said that the young man selling paintings might not have a fixed location, but he would keep an eye on him from now on and make sure he met that master.

After their conversation, Yan Liang casually mentioned that a man named Gu Xichao had come to his residence. He only mentioned it briefly, and Zhao Ji, eager to examine the painting, simply nodded, not taking it to heart. While he didn't think much of it, Mi Youqiao, standing nearby, did.

Mi Youqiao felt a sense of familiarity with the name Gu Xichao, but couldn't recall where she had heard it before.

When the news spread that the Crown Prince had recruited a strategist named Gu Xichao, different people reacted in different ways.

Fu Zongshu was so angry that his heart ached—he never expected that Gu Xichao would not desert his post but instead defect to the enemy!

Fang Yingkan learned about what happened that night from the guards who were with Yan Liang. Upon hearing this news, he couldn't help but laugh when he thought about the possible reaction of Cai Fu's faction. At the same time, he was also somewhat unsure about the Crown Prince's strength.

After learning about this, Su Mengzhen and Zhuge Zhengwo investigated who this person named Gu Xichao was, and the result was surprising.

Two years ago, Gu Xichao achieved the third-highest rank in the imperial examination, but was exposed as having a lowly birth and was stripped of his academic honors on the spot. After that, he remained unknown and faced setbacks everywhere until half a year ago when he joined Fu Zongshu's tutelage and became Fu Zongshu's retainer.

Su Mengzhen didn't know how Gu Xichao went from being Fu Zongshu's retainer to becoming the Crown Prince's strategist. She couldn't figure out what had happened no matter how hard she thought about it, but the only thing she was sure of was that His Highness the Crown Prince knew about Gu Xichao's background.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen Gu Xichao.

Zhuge Zhengwo also concluded that the subtle confrontation between the Crown Prince and Fu Zongshu at the morning court that day must have been related to Gu Xichao.

However, Su Louzhu and Zhuge Shenhou only got half of it right.

Yan Liang did know that Gu Xichao was a member of Cai Fu's faction, but he did not know that Gu Xichao had once passed the imperial examination as a third-place scholar.

"You once ranked third in the imperial examination?"

Yan Liang chuckled as he listened to Gu Xichao recount his past stories. Gu Xichao, however, was puzzled to see both the man and the cat staring at him intently.

"yes."

Yan Liang smiled, which made Gu Xichao even more puzzled.

After Gu Xichao agreed to work for Yan Liang, Yan Liang readily fired the previous guard and made Gu Xichao his guard, while the previous guard continued to work at the Crown Prince's residence as before.

The crown prince trusted him greatly, but this trust was without any apparent reason, which made people uneasy.

Yan Liang said, "Originally, I only thought that you were a talent that Fu Zongshu had taken a liking to, but I didn't expect that you had actually become a third-ranked scholar in the imperial examination... It seems that I have a good eye for people."

Gu Xichao: "..."

He had doubts about Yan Liang's "eye for talent." No matter how you looked at it, the Crown Prince had simply snatched the prize from him, hadn't he?

Author's Note: #TheThreeRankedPlayers#

#TeamDebut#

#He's a total jerk, what kind of sparks will fly between him and them?

To find out what happens next, stay tuned for the next installment.

[Just something I wrote (doge emoji)] Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2020-03-20 18:25:52 and 2020-03-21 18:11:56!

Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Shi Lanxi, 2 bottles;

Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!