Every morning, Ali would bring warm water to Yan Sikong's room for him to wash.

Yan Sikong would practice martial arts in the morning, so he would usually be awake by this time. But when Ali pushed the door open, the room was filled with a strong odor of alcohol, accompanied by even snoring, which showed how soundly and deeply the person who stepped in was sleeping.

Ali tiptoed to the bed, took a look, and almost dropped the basin in his hand.

But Yan Sikong and Feng Ye were seen hugging each other, sleeping in a messy manner on the bed. Their usual well-dressed, elegant appearance was no longer there, and they looked like two drunkards behind a dance floor.

Ali put the washbasin on the stool and turned his head, just in time to meet Feng Ye's cold gaze. Ali was frightened and looked at Feng Ye at a loss. The look in his eyes was as sharp as a wolf's, which made people feel cold from the bones.

Feng Ye glanced at him lightly and motioned for him to go out.

Ali bowed and walked out.

Feng Ye's sleep was very light. Due to marching and fighting, he always maintained a very high level of alertness. He was already awake when Ali pushed the door.

His arm was numb from being rested on by Yan Sikong all night, but he did not move. He just looked at Yan Sikong silently. His handsome and defenseless sleeping face seemed to carry a calmness that could freeze time.

Feng Ye was so absorbed in watching that when he came to his senses, he suddenly felt a mess in his heart and couldn't tell what was wrong. He couldn't help but reach out and lift up a lock of Yan Sikong's hair and hold it tightly in his hand.

I don’t know how long it was like this before Yan Sikong’s eyelids trembled slightly, showing signs of waking up.

Feng Ye quickly closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

Yan Sikong opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a pointed chin. He was stunned for a moment and stood up suddenly, only to see Feng Ye sleeping on his bed with his clothes in disarray.

Yan Sikong slapped his face in annoyance, then pushed Feng Ye: "Prince, Prince?"

Feng Ye opened his eyes and looked at him dazedly.

"Prince, wake up, we are all drunk."

Feng Ye said lazily: "If you're drunk, why do you want to get up?" He loosened his painful and numb arms, as if he was planning to stay put.

Yan Sikong didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Are you planning to lie in bed all day?"

"Why not?"

“That’s unbecoming.”

"What's the point of etiquette?" Feng Ye yawned.

"Then Prince, please have a good rest." Yan Sikong said as he was about to get up.

Feng Ye grabbed him and said domineeringly: "If I don't get up, you can't get up either."

Yan Sikong asked in surprise: "What's the reason?"

"It's the principle of hospitality." Feng Ye curled his lips and smiled, "You invited me first, so you should always do your best to be a good host."

Yan Sikong was helpless: "How can I fulfill my duties as a host while lying on the bed?"

Feng Ye suddenly pulled him towards him and whispered in his ear, "You can sleep with me."

Yan Sikong pushed Feng Ye away and said, "Sir, stop joking. Are you hungry? I'll ask Ali to get something to eat."

"Why aren't you as interesting as when we were kids?" Feng Ye pouted. "Back then you taught me to play this and that, and every day was different."

Yan Sikong thought that all those fun things were taught by Yuan Nanyu, as he only knew how to study when he was young.

Feng Ye sat up and said, "Don't live in this shabby house anymore. Come live with me and bring your servant with you."

"Thank you for your kindness, Prince. This is very inappropriate."

"What's wrong with that? Feng Mansion is big enough, and you don't need a room."

Yan Sikong said calmly: "I live comfortably here, thank you for your kindness, Prince." As a court official, he could not live under someone else's roof no matter how poor he was. Moreover, he had many secrets, and it would be inconvenient for him to be too close to others.

"Are you afraid of Fenghun?" Feng Ye asked jokingly.

Yan Sikong said honestly: "I'm afraid."

"I'll keep it away from you."

Yan Sikong just smiled and said nothing.

Feng Ye suddenly felt a little angry: "Why do you always reject my kindness? If you had agreed when I asked you to go to Datong with me, why would you have been wandering around like this?"

Yan Sikong said slowly: "Things in this world can never go as one wishes. The prince is blessed by nature, so I'm afraid he won't understand."

"You..." Feng Ye pushed him away and got out of bed.

Yan Sikong also stood up: "Is the prince angry?"

"Yes." Feng Ye threw down a stiff word and walked towards the door.

Yan Sikong chased after him, stood in front of Feng Ye, and said with a smile: "Why are you still like when you were a kid, getting angry at the slightest provocation?"

"Why am I the same as when I was a kid?" Feng Ye looked down at him, "You are the same as when I was a kid, making me angry at every turn."

Yan Sikong chuckled.

Feng Ye snorted, "When you were a kid, you always had the ability to make me angry. You beat me every time you saw me. It took me a whole day to wash the horse shit out of my hair."

Yan Sikong suppressed his laughter: "You still hold a grudge, Your Highness."

A gleam of light flashed in Feng Ye's eyes, and he suddenly grabbed Yan Sikong's arm and twisted his body back with a grappling move.

Yan Sikong shouted: "Your Highness..."

Feng Ye joked, "Speaking of this, I just remembered that you beat me up at that time, and my father told me to practice martial arts diligently and to get my revenge in the future."

Yan Sikong gritted his teeth and said, "How can I be a match for Your Highness now, hiss..."

Feng Ye quickly let go of his hand and helped him up: "Does it hurt?"

Yan Sikong smiled bitterly and said, "I am just a scholar. Your Highness, please forgive me and let me go."

"Scholar?" Feng Ye raised his eyebrows. "Xue Bo has tested your kung fu. Why are you pretending to be with me?"

"It's just for self-defense. If you run into an expert, self-defense won't be enough."

Feng Ye pretended not to hear the sarcasm in that remark and changed the subject: "On the first day of next month, I will hold a banquet in my mansion to entertain the officials and nobles of the capital. You must come too."

"yes."

"Also, come to my house openly next time." Feng Ye grinned, "If you want to see me, there's no need to beat around the bush."

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "Okay."

——

After that day, Feng Ye really did send out many banquet invitations, saying that he wanted to apologize to all the celebrities who were turned away due to his poor health. Feng Ye provided the stage, and those who were invited naturally followed suit. The Feng Mansion dinner immediately became the hottest topic in the capital in recent days.

Yan Sikong did not mention that he had been invited, for fear that Liang Sui and others would ask him questions. Besides, he had more important things to prepare, which was to give lectures to Crown Prince Yin.

For his first class, he got up before dawn and waited in the East Palace when it was just daylight.

Prince Yu did not keep him waiting too long and even invited him to have breakfast together.

Yan Sikong declined and said, "I dare not overstep my authority. Your Highness, please have your meal first."

"Sir, you don't have to be so polite." Chen Yu patted the stool beside him and said, "Please sit down."

Yan Sikong declined twice or three times before sitting down.

"Have you had breakfast, sir?"

“Not yet.”

"Thank you for your hard work, sir." Chen Yu took the initiative to pick up a piece of meat for Yan Sikong and put it in his bowl. "Only when you are full, sir, can you teach me more attentively."

"Thank you, Your Highness." Yan Sikong had some appreciation for the little prince in his heart. It must be because he had seen the warmth and coldness of human nature in the harem over the years, which made him particularly sensible. If he could sit firmly on the throne, he might become a wise ruler.

"Mr. Shen gave me a lesson yesterday. He taught very well, but he was a little serious." Chen Yu said.

"Lord Shen is a well-educated man with a talent for fighting. Your Highness is also extremely intelligent. As long as you study hard, your knowledge will surely improve by leaps and bounds."

Chen Yu nodded and looked at Yan Sikong with a faint smile: "I heard that in the imperial lecture, your talent and learning are not inferior to Mr. Shen, and the emperor likes you more."

Yan Sikong bowed and said, "I am ashamed. Your Majesty may be busy with many things and a little bored. I said something funny to win your favor. That's all."

A hint of sarcasm flashed across Chen Yi's face. Yan Sikong was not sure if he had seen it wrong, but Chen Yi did not say anything else.

During the lecture, Yan Sikong, in his usual style, made the little prince laugh from time to time, which made him very focused. He had listened to his biological father's lectures in a private school since he was a child. His father was a humorous man, and the private school he ran was famous in the surrounding area. Every time he gave a lecture, whether it was to teach the emperor or the prince, or to teach children to read for a living, it seemed like he was continuing his father's talent.

After the morning class, Chen Yi couldn't help but praise: "The teacher's lecture is really good, more interesting than anyone else's, and the knowledge is much more."

Yan Sikong smiled and said, "I am very honored to have helped the Crown Prince gain something."

"With your talent, how could you not be among the top three?"

"Those who passed the exam at the same time as me are all well-versed in the classics. I am nothing compared to them."

"I don't think that if you just study those boring eight-part essays, you will definitely get a top three score. But if you do that, you won't have such rich thoughts from hundreds of schools of thought, and your lectures won't be so interesting. You are really a genius."

Yan Sikong said humbly, "Your Highness, I am very honored. I am very humbled."

Speaking of this, Yan Sikong couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone, the glorious era of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, when hundreds of schools of thought contended with each other, has gone forever. Fame has become the only way out for scholars, and to achieve fame one can only read the Four Books and Five Classics. Thus, from generation to generation, the various schools of thought that once had their own merits have gradually withered and been swept into a corner that is not worthy of being in the hall of elegance.

When he was young, he was devoted to the teachings of Confucius and Mencius. When he grew up, he had time to read some "miscellaneous books and evil books" because of his extraordinary talent. The great changes in his youth destroyed everything he had believed in in the past. Ten years of wandering made him truly see the world. If the only benefit brought to him by those nightmarish experiences was that he broke out of the limitations of his previous thoughts, he would use his actions to let this corrupt dynasty see how "treasonous" his ideas were.