Bai Choufei spoke very rudely, but Yan Liang, being very good-natured, did not pursue the matter, which made the three of them feel even more that the Crown Prince was not like a Crown Prince.

Su Mengzhen stayed at the Crown Prince's residence for dinner, and Yan Liang also invited Su Mengzhen's coachman to the residence for a meal.

The Crown Prince's residence, which used to be extremely quiet, was much more lively today, with five people and a cat gathered around an eight-person round table.

Da Xue was squatting on a chair next to Yan Liang, eating noisily. Bai Choufei couldn't see it, but he could hear the meowing coming from there. Yan Liang, sitting next to it, would occasionally pick up fish from the table for it.

Yan Liang noticed his gaze, looked up at him, waved his chopsticks, and said with a grin, "What are you looking at me for? Want me to pick food for you?"

Bai Choufei snorted coldly: "Eat yours."

Wang Xiaoshi laughed, laughing unabashedly. Su Mengzhen glanced at him, then lowered her head to cover the corners of her slightly upturned lips with the movement of her hands.

After they finished their meal, Yan Liang saw them off. After Su Mengzhen got into the carriage, she lifted the curtain and nodded to him. Yan Liang leaned against the door frame and looked at him with a smile, saying, "After I tell Pang Jin about my identity, please come again, Master Su."

Su Mengzhen asked in confusion, "What are you here for?"

"I'll grill fish for you," Yan Liang said with a smile. "You can all come to my residence then, and I'll let you taste my cooking."

Su Mengzhen recalled seeing the Crown Prince and Pang Jin fishing together not long ago and chuckled, "Alright."

Yan Liang watched Su Mengzhen's carriage drive away, then turned around and looked at the servant who had been sweeping the courtyard behind him. He stared at him for a while until the servant looked up at him before smiling and greeting him: "You did a good job, keep sweeping."

The servant nodded in response with a puzzled look, but after the Crown Prince passed by him, he frowned slightly and his heart sank—the Crown Prince's words seemed to be a warning to him, but he didn't understand why the Crown Prince would suddenly say such a thing.

The servant was completely bewildered and felt a growing unease. He only felt a little relieved after he relayed the news from the Crown Prince's residence late at night.

The Crown Prince has a good temper and never gets involved in affairs. There are so many people in the Crown Prince's residence, but he hasn't managed to catch many of them... Anyway, these are not his concerns. Let the young marquis think about them.

The night is deep and quiet, the moon is bright and the stars are few.

Fang Yingkan read the message brought by the carrier pigeon by candlelight. On his table were five slightly curled slips of paper, each with a different content, but they had one thing in common—the Crown Prince had stared at them for a while and then said words of encouragement.

Fang Yingkan unfolded a piece of paper, looking at the handwriting with a half-smile. He suddenly became curious whether the people planted by others in the Crown Prince's residence were treated the same way by the Crown Prince.

The crown prince clearly did this intentionally, to announce something to them.

Fang Yingkan, however, couldn't figure out what the Crown Prince was thinking. The Crown Prince had met Su Mengzhen today and had dinner with her. He guessed that the two of them might have talked about something that led the Crown Prince to do this.

Fang Ying counted and found that Yan Liang had unknowingly won over some unknown people.

For example, Gu Xichao, Bai Choufei, Wang Xiaoshi...

These people were previously unknown, but the Crown Prince's recruitment of him clearly showed that he valued some of their talents.

Fang Yingkan was deep in thought, and so were the others.

Yan Liang not only gave a warning to the people he should see, but he also said some warning words to people from different factions on the road, just to make them upset.

Yan Liang reprimanded Cai Jing's faction, the Six and a Half Hall, and the Youqiao Group.

This is Yan Liang's declaration that he is about to start causing trouble.

During the morning court session that followed, Yan Liang fully utilized his sharp wit from the previous world. In the previous world, he had Yu Huatian backing him up, and in this world, his status as the crown prince served as his support.

The court officials then realized that the previous crown prince was relatively mild-mannered, but now the crown prince had been provoked by something. Although he still had a smile on his face and spoke slowly and deliberately, his words clearly indicated that he wanted to oppose Cai Jing.

Emperor Huizong watched the spectacle with amusement. While experts see the intricacies, he, an outsider, only knew how to enjoy the spectacle. The Crown Prince's thinking was clear and logical, often leaving those who opposed him speechless, and even making them believe that what he said made perfect sense.

Someone subtly mentioned this matter to the Emperor, but Zhao Ji's reaction was very indifferent; he felt it was no big deal.

The Crown Prince's strategist, Gu Xichao, is making a name for himself on the border, possessing an imperial edict. Bai Choufei, a retainer of the Crown Prince's household, and Wang Xiaoshi are growing closer to the renowned martial arts sect, Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou, while also working for the Crown Prince. Meanwhile, the Crown Prince himself is in cahoots with Grand Tutor Zhuge in court. It's clear to everyone that the Crown Prince wields considerable power and enjoys the Emperor's deep trust; even Zhuge Zhengwo has sided with the Crown Prince.

The emperor even openly stated in court that if there were any issues, one could consult the crown prince, acting as if he were a hands-off manager.

Cai Jing and Fu Zongshu were furious, while Fang Yingkan and Mi Youqiao of the Youqiao Group watched coldly as the Crown Prince gradually encroached on the interests of Cai Jing's party. The Crown Prince had not yet taken action against them, but that day would come sooner or later.

The crown prince is young, yet he is as cunning as a fox.

The Crown Prince's actions were beneficial to the Song Dynasty, and not everyone in the court was unaware of the situation. People kept coming to him to pledge their allegiance, which truly proved what the Crown Prince had said to Zhuge Zhengwo earlier: "As long as he does a good job, people will naturally stand on his side."

Bai Choufei only saw that he was working hard and asked him, "What are you doing this for?"

As the crown prince, he enjoyed endless wealth and luxury. He could even be like his father, neglecting his duties and pursuing something he liked. For example, raising cats, making friends, or going out for walks.

Yan Liang simply smiled and said, "Since I am the Crown Prince, I naturally have to shoulder this responsibility."

"Just because you are the Crown Prince?" Bai Choufei asked. "If you weren't the Crown Prince, you wouldn't have done this?"

Yan Liang looked at him with a troubled expression: "What do you want me to say? Do you want me to say that I did this for the sake of all the people and the common folk, for the prosperity and eternal glory of the Song Dynasty?"

Bai Choufei pursed his lips and remained silent. He had been in a lot of contact with Su Mengzhen these days and knew that Su Mengzhen was a man of great vision and a man with the world in his heart. Yan Liang and Su Mengzhen seemed to have something in common on this point, and even Wang Xiaoshi was the same.

Is the world really that important?

They are born with fame and fortune that they have longed for but could never attain, so why bother to work hard for the world?

Bai Choufei works for the Crown Prince solely to rise above others and one day become famous. His actions are nothing more than a means to achieve success; he neither understands nor comprehends the thoughts of Yan Liang and the others.

Yan Liang leaned back in his chair and stared at him intently until Bai Choufei grew impatient. He turned his head and glared at him before Yan Liang slowly said, "If you can't figure it out, then don't think about it... After all, you're too young to understand. You'll understand when you're older."

Bai Choufei was so angry that he laughed. He looked the boy up and down and sneered, "...Do you have the right to say I'm young?"

Yan Liang answered frankly, meeting his gaze: "Yes!"

Bai Choufei: "Get out!"

This conversation was just a brief interlude in their busy schedule. Once Yan Liang got to know someone, it was no problem for him to put his arm around their shoulder and call them brothers. Bai Choufei would always get so angry at him that he would utter vulgar words—such as "Get out," "Get out," "Get out"... Well, all he could say was "Get out."

The crown prince is liked for his approachable and easygoing nature, but sometimes he is too irritating.

Wang Xiaoshi always secretly chuckled when he saw Bai Choufei yell "Get out!" in anger. Bai Choufei was usually calm, self-controlled, arrogant, and unruly, and rarely got so angry.

Yan Liang treated them as friends, and Wang Xiaoshi knew this, which made him even more relaxed around Yan Liang. Just as Yan Liang said, in the palace he was the crown prince, but in daily life he was simply Yan Liang.

Gu Xichao and Yan Liang continued to correspond. Gu Xichao wrote about his experiences in the army, how having the Emperor and the Crown Prince as his backers made his work much easier, and how he came to appreciate the allure of power. Yan Liang replied, offering words of comfort and instructions before writing about recruiting new talent. He wrote casually about his good relationship with Prince Bai and mentioned that Bai Choufei would tell him to "get out" whenever he angered him.

After receiving Yan Liang's letter, Gu Xichao felt a sense of crisis. When he replied, he wrote even more carefully, reporting everything in detail, perfectly demonstrating his loyalty to Yan Liang.

Yan Liang replied again, enclosing two sheets of paper. First, he expressed his satisfaction with Gu Xichao's actions, and then wrote some military arrangements. On the second sheet of paper, he wrote: "Hahahaha, I know you feel threatened, but don't be afraid. Just do your job well. After all, you and they are the talents I recruited, hahaha."

That's the gist of it; in short, he's incredibly deserving of a beating.

As Gu Xichao read the letter, he picked up a pen to write a reply. But when he saw this part, he choked for no reason. After deliberating for a long time, he found another piece of paper and wrote the word "get lost" with a heavy heart.

After receiving the letter, Yan Liang looked at the large characters and sighed, saying that he had completely lost his dignity as the crown prince... His words were full of extremely fake melancholy.

Bai Choufei wanted to say, "Have you ever had that kind of thing?", but after glancing at Gu Xichao's "Get lost," he decided to keep quiet.

Others had connections to know about everything that happened in the Crown Prince's residence. Fang Yingkan thought that the Crown Prince knew there were people in the residence but didn't clean it up. At the same time, he found the way Yan Liang interacted with the people he had recruited quite interesting.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this aspect of the Crown Prince that Zhuge Shenhou and Su Mengzhen decided to support him.

Fang Yingkan thought casually.

Mi Youqiao's group was neutral in the court. Mi Youqiao, Cai Jing's faction, and Shenhou Mansion kept to themselves, but Fang Yingkan was not.

He was a neutral party between the Jurchens and the Song Dynasty.

Fang Yingkan is known as "the young marquis with a sword in his sleeve, laughing and wielding blood, turning his hand to make clouds and rain, and possessing both divine spear and blood sword." Among his skills, the Blood River Divine Sword was inherited from his adoptive father, Fang Juxia, but the ultimate skill of the Wuri Divine Spear was a secret technique of the Jurchen royal family, given to him by a wealthy patron.

If the Song Dynasty were to fall one day, Fang Yingkan would still be his young marquis thanks to his relationship with the Jurchen royal family.

Whether the Song Dynasty perished or not was none of his concern.

Therefore, Fang Yingkan simply watched with a cold eye as the Crown Prince's faction engaged in a battle of wits and courage with Cai Jing in the court, treating it as nothing more than watching a monkey show.

Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 19:13:42 on March 27, 2020 and 14:47:25 on March 29, 2020!

Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: 1 empty space;

Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Who, God, 10 bottles; I caught a live little angel, 5 bottles;

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