"Therefore, Your Highness does not need to rush to fight with the Third Prince, nor does Your Highness need to suppress the Third Prince in the Qin family matter. At this time, Your Highness may wish to show the tolerance of the Crown Prince. Instead of arguing with the Third Prince, Your Highness may wish to show more filial piety to His Majesty and make His Majesty think more about your father-son relationship."
The prince felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his mind became clear.
"Thank you, Brother Zhao. I will never forget you when I achieve something in the future."
As he spoke, the prince gulped down the tea.
"I have urgent business to attend to today. I'll drink with Brother Zhao another day."
Zhao Shi'an rose and gave a symbolic bow to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince had barely stepped out of his courtyard when Fang Dashu arrived.
"What does the Crown Prince want with you?"
Zhao Shi'an tidied up the teacups on the table without replying to Fang Dashu.
"Everyone says you're arrogant since you left the Qionglin Banquet today, and they've started gossiping about your background. If you ask me, what you did today was indeed a bit too much. You don't have a fiancée? How come I didn't know?"
Zhao Shi'an glanced at him.
“You know.”
"What do I know? Do you think I can't tell you're lying to them?"
"It's Fang Qing."
"What Fang Qing? What... what do you mean?"
Fang Dashu stood up abruptly.
"When did you two get engaged? How come I didn't know?"
He had expressed his feelings for Fang Qing several times before, but Fang Qing always brushed him off. Fang Dashu knew that he had no chance with Fang Qing.
Moreover, with Zhao Shi'an around, his brilliance would always be overshadowed, so he would be too embarrassed to think about these things anymore.
Moreover, he was well aware of Zhao Shi'an's feelings towards Fang Qing.
"They're not engaged, but Uncle Niu and the others know about it."
Zhao Shi'an calmly drank his tea, while Fang Dashu was so anxious he was scratching his head.
"Fang Qing found out too?"
"Um."
"She likes you too?"
Zhao Shi'an gave him a look as if he were an idiot.
"nonsense."
Fang Dashu sat down beside him, looking utterly exhausted.
"You bastard, Zhao Shi'an!"
Now there's absolutely no chance left.
Zhao Shi'an raised his eyebrows, looking quite pleased with himself.
"So if someone asks you about me in the future, you'll know what to say?"
"have no idea!"
Fang Dashu was annoyed.
He got all the good things, so Fang Dashu didn't want to talk to him anymore and got up and left.
A few days later, the imperial court was to arrange for the newly appointed scholars to take up their posts.
All three top-ranked scholars entered the Hanlin Academy, the second-ranked scholars were assigned to various ministries, and most of the third-ranked scholars were sent to other regions.
Zhao Shi'an started his career at the Hanlin Academy as a sixth-rank compiler, where his daily work consisted of proofreading books or participating in the compilation of documents.
Fang Dashu entered the Ministry of Revenue as a seventh-rank official, a junior official. He was not qualified to make decisions on major matters, but he had a lot of minor ones to deal with.
After Fang Dashu finished dealing with the trivial matters at hand and handed them over to his superiors, he walked out of the Ministry of Revenue and was greeted by several people he had met before at the Examination Hall.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Fang Dashu followed them to a restaurant for drinks.
At first, everyone was complaining about their own jobs, but then someone suddenly shifted the topic to Zhao Shi'an.
After everyone took office, the Ministry of Personnel allocated courtyards to officials who did not own property in the capital. Zhao Shi'an and Fang Dashu's courtyards were adjacent to each other.
"I saw the top scholar again a few days ago. He walked right up to me but didn't even glance at me."
"That's still the good thing. I heard that last time someone tried to get on his good side, he just had them kicked out."
"Hey, I've heard that our top scholar is no ordinary person. He lost his father when he was young, and I heard that he pushed his father into the water and killed him. Brother Fang, is that true?"
Fang Dashu paused in his drinking motion.
"Who told you such nonsense? Zhao Shi'an's father was a drunkard who fell off the bridge and drowned when he was drunk. He was only seven or eight years old at the time. He couldn't live after his father died, but fortunately, a kind family in our village took him in."
"I see. What about his mother? I heard she ran away with someone else. When she went back to find Zhao Shi'an, he didn't even acknowledge her. He's so unfilial."
If this accusation is proven true, Zhao Shi'an could be impeached to death by the censors.
Fang Dashu finally understood why these people had invited him for drinks today.
He put down his wine glass, his expression still serious, and said, "His mother did indeed run away with someone. Later, when Zhao Shi'an was living a good life with the family he had taken in, she came back. At that time, the whole village disliked that woman. They didn't want the child when he was young, but now that the child is successful, they come back to take what's readily available. There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world."
"So it's true that Zhao Shi'an doesn't acknowledge his mother?"
“That’s his own mother, how could he not acknowledge her? He even rebuilt a new house for her. But the relationship between the mother and son was rather cold. Later, when his mother realized she couldn’t get anything out of Zhao Shi’an, she ran off with someone else. Zhao Shi’an even sent people to inquire about her whereabouts, which can be considered as doing his best.”
Fang Dashu spoke with a mix of truth and falsehood, trying his best to avoid implicating Zhao Shi'an.
When the group didn't hear what they wanted to hear, their interest waned.
The group then asked Zhao Shi'an other questions, but Fang Dashu brushed them off.
After they dispersed, Fang Dashu, carrying a pot of wine, turned into the winding alley and soon knocked on Zhao Shi'an's door.
A young man opened the door. Fang Dashu remembered Zhao Shi'an saying that this was a servant he had found, named Seventeen. He was efficient and had some skills, which made Fang Dashu quite envious.
Is Zhao Shi'an here?
"The master is here. Please come in, Lord Fang."
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