The two were looking at each other in silence when Yan Zilian suddenly came back and they all stood up and saluted.

Yan Zilian glanced at Yan Sikong and said, "Why, is the Ministry of Personnel too idle?"

Yan Sikong smiled bitterly: "To be honest, teacher, I am a little... free."

Yan Zilian looked as if he had expected this: "Come in with me and have a chat."

After entering the inner room, Yan Zilian closed the door, covered the window, and looked outside to make sure no one was there: "Sit down."

"How are you today, teacher?"

Yan Zilian shook his court robes, sat down calmly, and shook his head gently: "Not good."

"Why do you say that, teacher?" Yan Sikong felt nervous.

"Prince Jingyuan is at war with the Oirat, which makes people nervous. Although the reduction of the feudal system was implemented because of the failed rebellion of Prince Liang, the progress is slow. There is collusion between local officials and the feudal princes. The Empress Dowager has been ill for a long time and I am afraid she will not survive this winter. Concubine Wen is watching us covetously." Yan Zilian sighed deeply, "This is a troubled time."

Yan Sikong consoled him, "Teacher, don't worry too much. We have defeated the rebellion and have made steady progress in reducing the power of the feudal lords. I think Da Sheng's national fortune has come. However..." He changed the subject, "A few days ago, I went to the East Palace and ran into Concubine Wen. I heard from the Crown Prince that Concubine Wen has been trying to keep Concubine Hui in check recently. I don't know why."

"He definitely has no good intentions. I would like to remind Your Highness to be on guard."

"The students have already reminded Your Highness."

Yan Zilian looked at Yan Sikong and said, "I am old. When the weather gets cold, I feel depressed and sleepy. You must grow up as soon as possible and don't let my great country be destroyed by the hands of treacherous people."

"Don't worry, teacher."

"How are you doing in the Ministry of Personnel?"

Yan Sikong talked about his frustration in the Ministry of Personnel. In fact, he and Yan Zilian had expected all this. At first, he was just ignored, which was considered good. This proved that Xie Zhongren did not take him seriously. He now understood more and more why Yan Zilian wanted to put him in the Ministry of Personnel, because there was no better candidate than him. He had to have a low position, just enough to take over the position of the head, and he had to be smart and sharp, good at dancing with long sleeves, and able to bend and stretch in that dangerous place with ease. Among the young generation, only he and Shen Hexuan had this qualification, but it would definitely be a disaster if Shen Hexuan went there.

Yan Zilian patiently comforted him, asking him to restrain his edge and keep a low profile. As long as he could hold on for a few years, he would find a place to display his talents sooner or later.

Yan Sikong had also already prepared for a long-term confrontation.

Yan Zilian stroked his beard and said, "In fact, I have expected that you will not have an easy time in the Ministry of Personnel. You are very talented and you are the prince's tutor. Xie Zhongren will notice you sooner or later. I am also worried that he will make things difficult for you. Therefore, I have thought of a perfect plan for you."

"Teacher, please speak."

"I went to the palace to see the emperor today and brought up the matter of Princess Wanyang again."

Yan Sikong's heart skipped a beat, and his expression changed slightly: "Uh..."

Yan Zilian was delighted: "The emperor is very pleased with your victory in suppressing the rebellion. He has already agreed to arrange the marriage on a chosen date."

Yan Sikong felt his breathing tremble. He was stunned for a moment, then stood up and knelt on the ground. Not wanting Yan Zilian to see his expression, he whispered, "Student thanks the teacher..."

Yan Zilian thought he was just too happy, so he also laughed and said, "Get up quickly. After the New Year, Princess Wanyang will be seventeen years old. Your Majesty means that you should grant her a marriage first, and when the Empress Dowager's condition improves, you can choose an auspicious day to hold the wedding."

"..." Yan Sikong's mind was in a mess. He should have been happy. In the eyes of outsiders, a poor scholar from a lowly family could marry a princess worth a lot of money. It must be that his ancestors for eighteen generations had accumulated a lot of virtue to be able to have such a reward. In his opinion, the plaque of "Prince Consort" would not only be of great help to him, but also give him a golden ticket to avoid death.

But at this moment he was only thinking about how Feng Ye would react if he knew.

Yan Zilian said proudly, "That thief probably didn't expect me to come up with such a trick. Wanyang is your majesty's favorite princess. Your majesty once told me privately that Wanyang is innocent and frivolous, and he doesn't want her to marry into a rich family to avoid being wronged. You come from a poor family, but you have a promising future. You are exactly the son-in-law your majesty wants."

Yan Sikong stared at the ground blankly without responding.

Yan Zilian then noticed Yan Sikong's abnormality: "Sikong, what's wrong with you? Are you unhappy?"

"Students... of course students are happy, but students are afraid... students come from humble backgrounds, and they are afraid of wronging Princess Wanyang..."

"Sikong, there are thousands of young men and famous scholars of the right age in the capital, but which one can compare with your talent and beauty? How can any ordinary girl not be happy to see you? A hero does not care about his origins. His Majesty has taken a liking to you, so you don't have to belittle yourself and just be at ease as your future son-in-law." Yan Zilian said contentedly, "Your parents are both dead. As your teacher, I am very happy that I can find such a good marriage for you."

“…The teacher is like a parent to me, and I am grateful to him.”

——

After leaving Wenyuan Pavilion, Yan Sikong walked home in a daze. Should he tell Feng Ye? What was his position to tell Feng Ye?

Even if he didn't tell him, Feng Ye would know it soon.

What would happen if Feng Ye knew about this...

What can be done? The emperor personally arranged the marriage, so how can I disobey his order? Besides, Feng Ye will also get married one day. It would be a good thing for the two of them to go their separate ways here to avoid embarrassment in the future.

Yan Sikong was thinking in a turmoil when he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves coming from outside the carriage. It was the sound of a single horse. In the capital, riding a horse is not allowed unless there is a special pardon or an important matter. The hoof sound was neither fast nor slow, and the speed was relatively slow. It didn't seem like there was an important matter. The only possibility was...

Yan Sikong suddenly pulled open the curtain before he even had time to think.

A fiery red horse was passing by his carriage. He looked up and met a pair of extremely familiar eyes with a flash of surprise in them.

Yan Sikong and Feng Ye's eyes met in the air. Even though they only passed each other for a moment, their eyes had already frozen. Everything around them seemed to disappear, and only each other's faces were so clear between heaven and earth.

The two soon lost touch.

Yan Sikong forced himself to restrain himself and did not look back. He retracted his stiff neck back into the car, but he could not come back to his senses for a long time.

The sound of horse hooves faded away, and the tiny bud that had quietly sprouted in my heart, for some unknown reason, withered in an instant.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on Yan Sikong's face.

Suddenly, the distant sound of horse hooves came back hurriedly. Yan Sikong was still in a daze when his carriage was suddenly forced to stop. The two horses neighed briefly, and their hooves stomped on the ground impatiently and chaotically, causing the carriage to shake.

Feng Ye shouted loudly outside the car: "Yan Sikong, come out."

Yan Sikong's heart was pounding wildly. He grabbed the window frame, not knowing what to do.

Feng Ye called out again: "Come out."

Yan Sikong suddenly pushed open the door of the carriage, and looked at Feng Ye deeply from a distance of two meters, his eyes flashing constantly.

Feng Ye tilted his head: "Follow me."

The driver turned around and looked at Yan Sikong, and said in embarrassment: "Sir, this..."

There were not many pedestrians on the street at this time, but they were all looking sideways, puzzled by the tense yet inexplicable atmosphere between the two people.

Yan Sikong gritted his teeth secretly, walked out of the car, and jumped towards Feng Ye. Feng Ye grabbed his hand, turned his waist, and Yan Sikong sat behind Feng Ye.

Feng Ye grabbed the horse's belly and Zuihong trotted towards Prince Jingyuan's Palace.

Yan Sikong wanted to say something, but his throat seemed to be blocked and he didn't know what to say. Feng Ye also remained silent all the way.

After returning to the palace, Feng Ye pulled him towards the inner courtyard.

Yan Sikong finally found his voice again: "What are you doing, my Lord?"

Feng Ye turned a deaf ear.

"Prince...Feng Ye!" Yan Sikong shook off his hand, straightened his wrinkled court robes, and calmed down.

Feng Ye turned around and looked at him: "Are you going to talk about this here?"

There was a servant doing chores nearby. Yan Sikong coughed lightly and straightened his back: "Prince, please."

Yan Sikong followed Feng Ye into the study. Feng Ye picked up something from the table and threw it to Yan Sikong. Yan Sikong caught it and took a closer look. It was a wooden box. He looked at Feng Ye in confusion.

"Open it and take a look." Feng Ye looked at him expressionlessly.

Yan Sikong took a deep breath and opened the wooden box. There were several letters inside: "What is this?"

"You'll know if you open it and take a look."

Yan Sikong picked up the top letter and opened it. When he unfolded the letter, he was stunned.

It turned out to be a portrait of himself. To be more precise, it was a portrait of himself when he was sixteen or seventeen years old. It was also posted as a bounty by the government. The name was his pseudonym at the time - Nan Yu.

Yan Sikong trembled as he opened the other letters. There were some files about when he was arrested for smuggling salt, as well as content about his former boss and She Jun.

"I investigated She Zhun and you." Feng Ye said calmly, "You and him were in the coastal area of ​​Jiangnan back then, following a private salt dealer known as the 'Six Holy Buddhas'. Later, the 'Six Holy Buddhas' were arrested, and you and She Zhun took all his dirty money and ran away. The government wanted you for three months, and you were eventually caught, but you spent 120,000 taels of silver to bribe several officials, and found a death row prisoner to be beheaded in your place, and then changed your name and surname, and transformed yourself into the Yan Sikong of today."

In late autumn, Yan Sikong could still feel the cold sweat running down his back, but the more Feng Ye saw his true face, the more relieved he felt. After all, he didn't have to pretend anymore. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then slowly opened his eyes and smiled: "I got caught on purpose, so that 'Nanyu' would disappear from now on."

Feng Ye clenched his fists: "You admit it? You did all this?"

"You have already investigated so clearly, how can I make excuses?"

"You are an official appointed by the imperial court, but you are a death row inmate who sold contraband salt and bribed his way out of prison!" Feng Ye said fiercely, "Aren't you afraid that I will report you?"

"You won't." Yan Sikong said firmly, "Otherwise, what are you still standing here for?"

"You..." Feng Ye pointed at him, "Yan Sikong, how many aspects of you are there that I don't know?!"

"What you see now is the real me." Yan Sikong smiled faintly, "I am a scheming villain who will do anything to get revenge. As long as I can avenge my father and my family, smuggling salt is nothing, and conspiracy and framing are nothing. I am already in hell, and I will definitely drag my enemies down with me."

"What about me?" Feng Ye growled, glaring at Yan Sikong fiercely, "What am I in your eyes? You said you were in hell, so your joy in being with me was all fake, right? Just like your past, your words, your schemes and tricks, they're all fucking fake."

Yan Sikong yelled, "You are real!"

Feng Ye looked at Yan Sikong in a daze.

Yan Sikong's nose was sore and his lips trembled slightly. He blinked hard and whispered, "Feng Ye, you are... an accident. You were not in my revenge plan, but you... but you still showed up... I didn't tell you because I didn't want to involve you. Why did you force me?"

"…What do you mean when you say I'm real?"

Yan Sikong lowered his head, his heart torn, he said hoarsely: "Since I was thirteen years old, I have hardly told the truth, and I have never treated anyone sincerely. Only you, I thought you and I were real..."

Feng Ye cursed softly, "You are full of lies, how can I believe you?"

"You... don't have to believe it." Yan Sikong raised his head, his eyes red. "Feng Ye, just be a good prince. You and I shouldn't be like this. We shouldn't be like this. I have to do something, and it has nothing to do with you. I only ask that for the sake of our past friendship... just pretend that nothing happened." After he finished speaking, he turned around and was about to leave.

Feng Ye quickly stepped forward and hugged him tightly from behind.

Yan Sikong bit his lip, his eyes full of pain and struggle. A voice in his heart was shouting "no". He must reject all of this. He couldn't let Feng Ye control his mood. He couldn't let himself have a weak spot. He must be invincible. But his body couldn't exert any strength.

Feng Ye gritted his teeth and said, "Yan Sikong, you are such a fucking bastard. If I had known that you were such a sinister and cunning person, I would never have been tempted by you, but now..." He tightened his arms, almost embedding Yan Sikong into his body. He let out a long breath and said bitterly, "I think about you day and night."

Yan Sikong opened his eyes wide to stop the tears from falling. He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"Kong'er, I'm angry with you, but I also feel sorry for you..." Feng Ye trembled, "You must have suffered a lot. You lost everything when you were so young. You have been wandering alone for all these years. You still want to seek revenge on those powerful people by yourself. I couldn't protect you in the past. Can't I let you rely on me now?"

Yan Sikong could no longer control himself and tears burst out. It had been eleven years, and this was the first time someone offered him someone to rely on.

Yan Sikong struggled and turned around, holding Feng Ye's face and blocking his lips with force, the two of them kissed wildly and roughly, slightly salty tears flowed into their mouths, filled with a bitter taste.

"Feng Ye, don't be nice to me..." Yan Sikong said vaguely with sobs.

“Why?”

"Don't be nice to me, I'm not a good person... Don't be nice to me..." Yan Sikong buried his face in Feng Ye's chest, wishing he could hide in this warm place forever.

Feng Ye said softly: "You may not be a good person, but you are mine."

Yan Sikong closed his eyes and let the tears flow.

The two hugged each other tightly. At this moment, they wished they could merge into one, just to feel each other's warmth and affection.