Song Qingzhang had barely arrived at Heling, and before he could even make a move, Wei Qinglou had already taken Song Baopu back to Yujing, leaving him empty-handed.
However, if he were to return to Yujing like this, Yan Feng and the others, who already harbored many grievances against him, would surely take the opportunity to cause him trouble.
Just when he was at a loss for what to do, he unexpectedly received an invitation from Gu Zhongyi. For him, this was undoubtedly a stroke of good luck – he had only been in Heling for a few days and was completely clueless. No matter what Gu Zhongyi's reason for inviting him to the banquet, this was a good opportunity for him to understand the situation in Heling.
He couldn't refuse.
However, as he stroked the invitation with its subtle floral pattern, he couldn't help but ponder: Gu Zhongyi and Yan Feng had a long-standing feud. To put it bluntly, Gu Zhongyi and Wei Qinglou were in the same faction and didn't favor any particular prince. In fact, only the Crown Prince was somewhat valued by them. And since he was close to Yan Feng, he had already been labeled as the Third Prince.
If he were to attend this banquet, Yan Feng and the others, who were far away in Yujing, would likely question his loyalty to the Third Prince.
However... even a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders to some extent. If he is forced by the current situation to make the choice that is most advantageous to him, it is probably not something worth criticizing.
He flicked the invitation card with his fingers, turned to the servant and said, "Go and tell the servant who delivered the invitation that His Highness is very kind and I will definitely be there."
Soon, the day arrived for Gu Zhongyi to host a banquet for Song Qingzhang.
Song Qingzhang attended the banquet with great enthusiasm, but after only a quarter of an hour, he was already getting restless. If it weren't for the need to save face for both parties, he would have even stood up immediately and said goodbye to Gu Zhongyi.
The reason was simple: Gu Zhongyi's banquet was just too boring—there was no singing and dancing, no opera troupe, only a calligrapher, supposedly a renowned master whom he had invited from who-knows-where, wielding his brush in the hall.
Gu Zhongyi had only invited him today, so even if he wanted to chat with someone to get information out of them, he couldn't find a way. As for Gu Zhongyi, it was even more impossible. As soon as he opened his mouth, Gu Zhongyi said to him with a solemn expression, "Young Master Song, you must respect art."
Song Qingzhang then hesitated to speak again. He felt he had respected art, but he was also being driven crazy.
It was at this moment that he finally realized that Gu Zhongyi's banquet today was a trap. He had even hoped to use Gu Zhongyi's influence to gather information, but instead, his sincere attendance at the banquet had turned him into Gu Zhongyi's prank!
He frowned deeply, beginning to ponder who could have given Gu Zhongyi this idea. After all, given Gu Zhongyi's intelligence, this was not something he could have come up with.
The thought that all his efforts had been in vain, and that Yan Feng might even suspect him of betrayal, made Song Qingzhang's expression turn sour.
Seeing that the calligrapher had finished his sixth piece and was preparing to spread out the Xuan paper and grind the ink for the seventh, Song Qingzhang could no longer sit still. He stood up with a broad smile, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Gu Zhongyi, who was seated in the main seat, and said through clenched teeth, his voice laced with laughter:
“Your Highness, I have just remembered that I have important matters at home that require my attention. I am afraid I will not be able to accompany Your Highness to appreciate the art. I hope Your Highness will understand.”
Gu Zhongyi waved his hand magnanimously: "Since that's the case, I won't force you to stay. But it's alright. Mr. Cai will be staying in my residence for a while. If Young Master Song is interested, he can come to my residence at any time to learn from Mr. Cai."
Upon hearing this, Song Qingzhang's face almost turned green, but he understood the truth that when one is inferior to others, one must humble oneself. He managed to politely say "yes," appearing genuinely sincere.
But Song Qingzhang wasn't the only one suffering at the banquet. Gu Zhongyi also felt miserable, but seeing how miserable Song Qingzhang was, he felt that it wasn't so unbearable after all.
But after Song Qingzhang turned and left, he slumped down and let out a long sigh of relief.
Upon seeing this, "Mr. Cai" in the audience hall couldn't help but stop writing and asked, "Your Highness, shall I continue writing?"
"No need, no need, just go back to where you came from!" Gu Zhongyi said weakly.
Zhu Jiayu's scheme was truly despicable; he actually found an illiterate vegetable farmer to impersonate a calligraphy master. Song Qingzhang was really stupid; after so long, he couldn't see anything wrong with it and even praised his writing.
It was thanks to her dirty tricks that Gu Zhongyi was able to have some fun during this time, at least not to be bored. Thinking of this, Gu Zhongyi felt that Zhu Jiayu was indeed a wonderful person.
He patted his head and muttered to himself, "How come I never noticed this before?"
Zhu Jiayu was unaware of what was happening at the Gu residence. She was sitting in a carriage parked at the alley entrance, waiting for the next show to unfold.
Where her gaze was fixed was the only route Song Qingzhang could take on his way back to the Song residence from the Gu residence.
She wondered how well Shu Lan was preparing, and whether she would slip up in front of Song Qingzhang... Just as she was thinking this, she suddenly saw a carriage approaching from the front. She immediately held her breath and waited quietly for what would happen next.
At that moment, Shu Lan seized the opportunity and rushed to the front of the moving carriage.
Her sudden action startled the driver, who quickly tightened the reins to prevent the horse from trampling over the woman's unrecognizable corpse.
However, after his initial shock subsided, he couldn't help but burst into a tirade: "Where did this lowly hussy come from, daring to block our young master's path! What are your eyes for!"
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