Zhou Gu grudgingly believed Xie Lin’s words.
With a shrug, Xie Lin walked to the door and opened it. His usual smile was on his face. "Your Highness, what brings you here? I just quietly brought friends for a meal. Did the wind carry that to your ears?"
During his stay in Jiangning, he was eating and living at the Su Family’s. Naturally, he didn’t want Su Xingze to misunderstand and think that he was ungrateful. He also wondered how the Crown Prince had found out about Su Xingze being here with him today.
The Crown Prince, Yan Li, was tall and had eyebrows that somewhat resembled his mother, the virtuous concubine. He looked at Xie Lin and asked rudely with a hearty laugh, "Even with your little Prince’s face, sneaking in through the back door of the Juxian Building is quite noticeable. My men watching the rear window upstairs could see pretty clearly."
Xie Lin: "..."
So they’d been watching him from early on!
Xie Lin stepped aside, giving a helpless smile. "Your Highness, why didn’t you say so earlier? If I’d known you wanted to book the private room together, I wouldn’t have wasted my silver to reserve a place. All you needed to do was invite me and I would’ve come."
"It’s not too late. I’ll take care of the cost of this private room." Yan Li was very generous.
Xie Lin decided to just go along with it. "Since you’re so generous, Your Highness, it would be impolite for me to refuse! It so happens that things have been a bit tight for me recently."
"Say no more!" Yan Li walked into the room and his gaze instantly fell on Su Xingze.
Su Xingze greeted him, "Your Highness!"
Zhou Gu lazily raised an eyebrow, his words not the least bit polite: "And here I thought who it could be. It turns out to be Your Highness. My grandfather always has said I have no manners. As it turns out, it seems you’re no better. After all, I’ve never barged into someone else’s private room."
Compared to Xie Lin, he gave no face to Yan Li.
Yan Li’s expression turned stern, but only for a moment, before he impassively responded, "You may never have barged into someone’s private room, but you have certainly snatched a woman on the street, something even I have never done."
Xie Lin quickly countered, "Hey, hey, hey, Your Highness, that’s not fair! If you’re going to blame him, leave me out of it!"
Yan Li paused, turned his head to look at Xie Lin, seemingly puzzled. "Xie Lin, Zhou Gu steals your girl, you guys have a huge fight, and yet you guys can shake hands and make peace. I’m quite impressed."
Xie Lin coughed. "Who’s shaking hands and making peace with him? I simply can’t beat him, and I’m waiting for a chance to get revenge."
Yan Li gave a "Oh?" and commented, "Then I look forward to seeing your opportunity."
After he finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Zhou Gu again, a hint of a smile in his eyes, "Are you being so unwelcoming because of the Crown Prince?"
Zhou Gu retorted, "Your Highness is overthinking, I just simply think: I brought my future brother-in-law out for a meal, and you disturbed our peace." Zhou Gu truly didn’t like Yan Li, feeling he was hypocritical and pretentious. Even though Yan Li detested him because of Jiang Sheng, the former Inspector of Liangzhou, he still walked over to try to talk congenially.
"If you wanted a peaceful meal, you shouldn’t have come to the Juxian Building today." Yan Li’s goal was Su Xingze. He avoided unnecessary engagement with Zhou Gu, turning directly towards Su Xingze to examine him from head to toe, "Su Xingze, the promising talent from Jiangzhou, I have admired you for a long time."
Su Xingze generally knew why His Highness had come today. Ever since he arrived in the Capital City, he had kept his doors closed to study, with Zhou Gu always sticking close by his side. The guards inside and outside Xie Residence had tripled, overtly showing their intention to protect him. It was clear that Zhou Gu had seriously offended the Crown Prince. Unable to deal with Zhou Gu, the Crown Prince intended to regain face by targeting him, but he had never got a chance to meet him till now and could not hold it any longer.
He turned to Yan Li, seemingly ignorant of his sharp words, and smiled lightly, "His Highness is a paragon among men, someone I’ve frequently heard about. Today, upon seeing you, I can confirm the rumors hold true."
Yan Li laughed loudly, "In that case, would Master Su mind discussing the paper topic from today’s Juxian Building exhibition?"
Su Xingze nodded, "It’s an honor that Your Highness thinks highly of me and wishes to discuss the topic with me."
Upon hearing this, Yan Li quite bluntly took a seat, "In that case, Master Su, please."
Su Xingze also sat down. "The restive mind seeks tranquillity, dwelling signifies security. The contemplating mind seeks knowledge. Danger represents the risk of the tall tower collapsing. As the saying goes, only in danger can one find tranquility; if one is arrogant and reckless, it must lead to a collapse. Therefore, fear from beginning to end, prevent its disaster, hence, dwell in peace while thinking of danger."
Upon hearing this, Yan Li immediately sat up straight.
"A ruler’s policies must be based on the heavens and their laws. Hence, etiquette is the great scepter of rulers. If a government is not upright, then the ruler’s position is in danger. Thus, rulers are enlightened. Hence, they use the knowledge of others to eliminate deceit. A minister’s virtues are the virtues of the good, and the greatest among them becomes first among the common people of the world. Thus, the relationship between ruler and minister is one family, from the great nation to the small family. Thus, the ruler’s policies, the minister’s virtues."
After this discourse, the private room was very quiet.
After a while, Xie Lin gave a round of applause, exclaimed, "Master Su, brilliant indeed!"
Yan Li squinted his eyes, also applauding, "Indeed, you’ve lived up to your name as Jiangzhou’s Su Xingze, I have learned much."
Su Xingze calmly accepted the proposition with a slight bow, "I look forward to your insightful advice, given my shallow understanding."
"If what you’ve said is shallow, then I would really have to admit defeat and dare not speak today." Yan Li fixed his gaze on him, straightforwardly inviting, "I deeply admire the talent of Young Master Su. I wonder if you would be interested in a late-night talk with me?"
Su Xingze chuckled and declined, "Your Highness is too kind, but I don’t usually enjoy late-night conversations with others."
Yan Li arched an eyebrow, "Is it that you don’t enjoy it, or do you look down upon me?"
"No offence meant, Your Highness. I just prefer quiet nights studying alone rather than engaging in disruptive discussions."
Yan Li immediately replied, "That can be arranged. We can have our discussions during the day when I have time."
He was staring at Su Xingze, "Let’s do this: I’ll host a banquet at my residence in a few days and extend an invitation to you, Young Master Su. We can have an enlightening discussion then. I hope you won’t decline."
After he finished speaking, he didn’t wait for Su Xingze to respond and turned to leave.
The door was closed once again, and Su Xingze furrowed his brows.
Xie Lin gave Su Xingze a thumbs up, "Brother Su, with your outstanding talent, you’ll undoubtedly pass the Imperial Examination with flying colors in the autumn." Then he turned to Zhou Gu and asked, "Do you agree or not?"
Zhou Gu rolled his eyes at Xie Lin, "Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. The important thing is, Yan Li will create trouble before the exam. Establishing a banquet is just a prelude, he’s aiming to cause problems. It will most likely be a trap, aimed at Brother Su. His visit today was just a probe."
He turned to Su Xingze, "I’m sorry for dragging you into this, Brother Su."
Su Xingze casually responded, "Since when did you realize that you’ve gotten me involved? You could just call off your engagement to my seventh sister."
Zhou Gu was stunned and immediately retorted seriously, "Brother Su, are you saying this offhandedly or do you mean it?"
Su Xingze picked up his tea cup and took a sip, not answering his question but instead asked, "The Crown Prince is going to host a banquet and invite me to his residence. Do you have any ideas on how to decline the invitation?"
He stated calmly, "Before the imperial examination, I really don’t want to get into any controversy. As you know, after many years of diligent study, my sisters at home are relying on me."
Zhou Gu’s heart hung in mid-air as he listened to Su Xingze’s words. Su Rong had also mentioned their elder sisters back home were waiting either for their marriage to be settled or for Su Xingze’s outstanding performance in the examination. Su Xingze couldn’t afford any mistakes.
Zhou Gu gritted his teeth, wracking his brain for a solution. After all, Crown Prince Yan Li’s status was not to be underestimated. If he insisted on inviting Su Xingze, only the Crown Prince could intervene. Otherwise, there was nothing they could do to stop him.
However, intervention from the Crown Prince would complicate matters.
He gave Su Xingze a tentative look, "After I returned to the Capital City, I went to the Eastern Palace once. His Highness, the Crown Prince, asked about you. Should we ask His Highness, the Crown Prince, to intervene in this matter?"
"If the Crown Prince intervenes, won’t it alert His Majesty?" Su Xingze didn’t need take time to ponder because when he left Jiangning, his sister had already mentioned cooperating with the Eastern Palace. If that were the case, they’d align with the Su family to support the Crown Prince.
"Perhaps," Zhou Gu knew that His Majesty was always monitoring his princes’ activities, especially the Crown Prince.
Su Xingze shook his head.
Zhou Gu suggested again, "What if you stayed at the Duke Residence? My grandfather could naturally block the Crown Prince."
"Didn’t the Duke stop involving himself with court affairs a long time ago? Isn’t His Majesty constantly monitoring the Duke Residence?" Su Xingze shook his head again, "The current situation with the Duke Residence is no different than with the Eastern Palace."
After saying that, he seemed to think of something, "Before coming to the capital, my tutor gave me a letter of recommendation to visit the Minister of Personnel. I wonder if I could ask Minister Shen for assistance to oppose the Crown Prince?"
Zhou Gu was surprised, "Certainly. Minister Shen is upright and has always been an independent character. Over the years, he has neither formed cliques for personal gain nor joined any factions, earning the Emperor’s trust. One of his strong points is that he never does anything he is unwilling to do, regardless of whose face is involved. And no one can do anything to him since he holds direct control over the officials’ performance assessment."
He looked at Su Xingze, "Is Master Xie well acquainted with Minister Shen?"
Su Xingze nodded, "If Master Xie has given me this letter of recommendation, Minister Shen should not mind my visit or imposing on him. If that’s the case, I’ll visit Minister Shen tomorrow and ask for his help."
Zhou Gu nodded, "That’s the best option."
Facing the upcoming Imperial Examination, they feared any unexpected mishap. The closer the Duke Residence and the Eastern Palace were, the more likely it would cause an adverse reaction. The thing they feared most was His Majesty’s intervention. After all, Jiang Sheng’s downfall was still fresh, and his positions in Jiangzhou and Jiangning County were already filled with people from the Eastern Palace. His Majesty was already displeased. It was best to wait until after the examination when Su Xingze would shine, then even His Majesty would have no objection. Even if they had to fight fiercely in the future, they would not fear.
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