Yan Liang apologized to Zhan Zhao and Pang Yu. Before that, Zhan Zhao took Pang Yu and Fang Yingkan to the street and learned about Yan Liang's past from Fang Yingkan.
Thank you.
Zhan Zhao thanked Fang Yingkan. He believed that Yan Liang must have his reasons for not telling, but as a friend, he still wanted to know what Yan Liang had experienced. Fang Yingkan's explanation also prevented Yan Liang from being troubled.
Fang Ying accepted the offer readily, and together with Zhan Zhao looked at Pang Yu in front of them, but what he was thinking about was Yan Liang's reaction when he learned of this.
Although it was something that was forbidden to be spoken of, only Yan Liang was not allowed to say it; Fang Yingkan could say whatever he wanted.
If Yan Liang were to learn of this... he would surely just smile helplessly and let it pass, treating him as usual.
As Fang Yingkan expected, when the three of them returned to the Mu residence, Yan Liang, who was grilling fish, clapped his hands when he saw them and solemnly apologized to Zhan Zhao and Pang Yu. Bai Yutang stood aside with his arms crossed and nodded in satisfaction.
Yan Liang didn't bring up their previous agreement with Fang Yingkan. Just as Fang Yingkan had guessed, he smiled helplessly and said, "Want to eat fish?"
"..."
A sense of powerlessness and frustration welled up inside Fang Yingkan, who sighed inwardly but smiled in return.
"It's been a few years since I've tasted Your Highness's cooking."
Yan Liang: "...I am neither the Crown Prince nor the Emperor now, so you don't need to be so insistent, young marquis. Just call me by my name."
Fang Yingkan readily agreed: "Then I will call you Yan Liang."
Yan Liang was a little surprised. For the past twenty years, he had been pestering Fang Yingkan relentlessly, but Fang Yingkan had always insisted on his own way and never called him by his name. He never expected that they would change their way of addressing each other so easily so soon after they met again.
Fang Yingkan was simply thinking that they would probably never see each other again, so he might as well go along with Yan Liang's wishes and change his form of address. He found it amusing to see Yan Liang relax after hearing this. As he watched the other turn around and go back to grilling fish, Fang Yingkan's gaze met that of the girl in yellow. She was sitting side by side with Dongfang Bubai, and both of them were looking at him thoughtfully.
Fang Ying smiled at the two men, stepped forward, and sat down at the table, looking calm and composed.
At this moment, Bai Yutang, still uneasy, pressed Yan Liang to tell him if there was anything else he was hiding from them. Yan Liang retorted that Bai Yutang was trying to interrogate the wife of her husband's mistress, then smiled and shook his head: "Why would I have so many things to hide from you? No, nothing—"
His voice stopped abruptly as he uttered the last word.
Hua Guniang and Dongfang looked at the speechless Yan Liang in perfect unison, and Yan Liang returned the gaze without a word.
Fang Yingkan leaned back in his chair with great interest and began to watch the show.
Bai Yutang sensed the subtle shift in the atmosphere: "...Could it be that there's more?"
Zhan Zhao: "...Brother Yan?"
Pang Yu: "...Yan Liang???"
Pang Yu was a little flustered. He didn't care whether Yan Liang was hiding anything from them; what he cared about was Master Bai, who was already reaching for his knife hilt.
Yan Liang, if you don't prove your innocence, Fifth Master really will chop you up!
Yan Liang was even more flustered than him. He glanced at the flower girl and Dongfang to his left and right, then at Master Bai, who was holding a knife in front of him. He made a difficult choice—he chose to hand over the decision to the two people to his left and right, with whom he had a melodramatic and vulgar connection.
"I do have something I'm hiding from you, but it involves Miss Hua and Dongfang. If they don't tell me, I can't tell you either."
Yan Liang spoke with deep feeling and earnestness.
Bai Yutang then looked at the two of them and asked, "Are you willing to talk?"
The young woman said, "I don't want to."
Dongfang Bubai glanced at Yan Liang and Wang Lianhua respectively, and then said, "I will speak when Miss Hua is willing."
Bai Yutang turned his face and looked at Yan Liang again, who looked back innocently.
He let go and said, "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't."
Yan Liang was slightly moved, and Bai Yutang continued, "Whether you tell me now or later, I will still compete with you. It doesn't matter when you confess."
Yan Liang: "..."
Zhan Zhao and Pang Yu cast sympathetic glances at Yan Liang, while the two behind him gloated. Only Fang Yingkan seemed to be pondering what the three of them were hiding. He had a vague idea, but even after Yan Liang finished grilling the fish, he still didn't understand what was going on.
With so few clues, Fang Yingkan naturally couldn't imagine that the flower girl was actually a man.
"Speaking of which, where has the Crown Prince gone?"
Yan Liang remembered Gong Jiu.
Dongfang replied, "He's with Mu Rufeng."
Yan Liang seemed to be deep in thought, and then he thought of Mu Rufeng. He had almost forgotten about that person these days, and Tang Yang would be arriving soon.
While a few people were eating grilled fish together, Gong Jiu and Mu Rufeng were catching up on their relationship.
Of course, in Mu Rufeng's view, Gong Jiu's arrival was more like a mockery.
"Tang Yang will be here soon," Gong Jiu said. "Why are you making such a long face?"
Mu Rufeng gritted his teeth: "It's none of your business!"
"Is this how you treat your allies?"
Gong Jiu asked a counter-question.
"...That's my question!" Mu Rufeng shouted. "You stood by and watched me die, what right do you have to call yourself my ally?"
Mu Rufeng's guard stood quietly to the side. His acupoints had been sealed, preventing him from using his internal energy. He was only responsible for taking care of and serving Mu Rufeng.
Gong Jiu calmly said, "Yan Liang would disdain to kill you, so I can't be considered to have stood by and watched you die."
Mu Rufeng was furious and grabbed a teacup from the table, throwing it at Gong Jiu. However, he was too weak to throw it, and the teacup shattered at Gong Jiu's feet with a piercing sound.
Many years ago, when Gong Jiu first met this person, Mu Rufeng was putting on a great show and was even quite spirited. Now, he has become a useless person who can only smash teacups.
...The world is unpredictable.
Gong Jiu lowered her eyes, took a step back out of the room, locked the door again without hesitation, and left with the key in her hand.
A furious shout erupted from inside the room, but Gong Jiu pretended not to hear it.
Although he felt bad for his ally Tang Yang, Gong Jiu didn't like Mu Rufeng much at first. He only wanted to watch the show to avoid Yan Liang humiliating Mu Rufeng.
——————
Perhaps because he hadn't changed his clothes immediately after falling into the water that day, Yan Liang started to have a fever that night, and the next day he felt dizzy and weak all over.
"Ah—it's all your fault."
When the young woman came to visit him in the hospital, everyone gave the two of them some space to be alone, but Yan Liang ruthlessly shifted the blame.
"It's you who's clumsy."
Wang Lianhua retaliated.
Yan Liang sniffed, not wanting to speak.
"...You are too weak this time."
After a moment of silence, Wang Lianhua said in a low voice.
Having witnessed Yan Liang's gradual decline and knowing that he wouldn't live much longer, Wang Lianhua immediately sensed something was amiss.
In the past, whether Yan Liang was getting wet in the rain, playing in the snow, or even falling into the water, he was always perfectly healthy and unharmed, unlike this time when he developed a fever simply from falling into the water.
Yan Liang thought for a moment and said, "It's probably the price we paid."
Wang Lianhua lowered her eyes.
"...But I'm still very happy to see you all."
He added.
Wang Lianhua said lazily, "You've thought things through quite clearly."
Having thought things through, Yan Liang laughed and urged him to leave: "I need to rest now and try to recover by tomorrow. You can go out and have some fun."
Wang Lianhua was too lazy to nitpick the mistakes in his words. After clapping her hands, she got up and left. As expected, she saw Dongfang Bubai outside the door after closing it.
The two began to talk after they stepped out of the courtyard. Wang Lianhua asked, "Did you hear that?"
"I heard you."
Dongfang Bubai readily admitted it.
Wang Lianhua then told Yan Liang about his later encounter with him. When Dongfang Bubai heard that Yan Liang had become the third-ranked scholar, he raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised but also feeling that it was expected.
"You kept it from me for so long."
Dongfang Bubai sighed.
“This is a secret between me and Yan Langjun, why should I tell you?” Wang Lianhua smiled.
Dongfang Bubai: "The young lady is deeply in love with him. Was I just an outsider all along?"
Wang Lianhua: "Yes, an outsider."
Dongfang Bubai snorted lightly, too lazy to bother with his concealment.
——————
When Yan Liang was almost fully recovered, Tang Yang arrived late. Cold and ruthless, she led her men to kick open the gate of the Mu residence without hesitation, leaving gray footprints stained between the vermilion paint.
Yan Liang stood in the center of the courtyard with his hands tucked in, giving him a friendly smile.
This situation is somewhat similar to what happened before, only the roles have been reversed.
Tang Yang stared at Yan Liang through gritted teeth for a while. He immediately recognized that this was the same person who had Mu Jiangchuan's face back then. The smile on the other person's face was as annoying as ever.
"Where is Mu Rufeng?" Tang Yang asked in a deep voice.
Yan Liang pointed to the side, and Tang Yang looked in the direction he was pointing. Mu Rufeng and his guard pushing a wheelchair slowly appeared.
Mu Rufeng looked annoyed, and the guard lowered his head, not daring to meet Tang Yang's gaze.
"...What do you want?"
Tang Yang paused for a moment and then asked.
"I hope you will promise that you will not pursue any matters related to me in the future." Yan Liang smiled. "Whether it is me, or Lu Xiaofeng and Hua Manlou, as long as they have ever had any interaction with me, you cannot pursue it."
In short, and to elaborate further, Yan Liang believed he had explained himself very clearly.
Tang Yang sneered: "How long can you live? After you die, I can do whatever I want with you."
"I trust you more than Mu Rufeng, after all, I only wrote a letter with conditions, and you agreed."
When Yan Liang brought up the past, Tang Yang's face instantly darkened.
"It seems I'm going to have to betray your trust." Tang Yang smiled sarcastically. He wasn't usually easily angered, but when it came to Yan Liang, just looking at that smiling face made him unable to contain his anger.
When he saw Gong Jiu appear silently, he became even angrier.
"—Gong Jiu!"
Tang Yang called his name, too angry to speak.
"What is it?"
Gong Jiu lifted his eyelids slightly and responded casually.
"……you!"
Despite her anger, Tang Yang knew that her cooperation with Gong Jiu could not be interrupted, so she could only swallow her anger, glare at Yan Liang, and then push Mu Rufeng away, reluctantly agreeing to the agreement.
Yan Liang watched him leave, surprised that things had gone so smoothly. As they crossed the threshold, Yan Liang thought for a moment and shouted, "Setting fire to a house is illegal!"
Tang Yang turned and glared at Yan Liang again before angrily pushing Mu Rufeng away.
This Mu residence was originally a house he bought with his own money, but Yan Liang and his ilk have shamelessly taken over it.
Tang Yang came and went quickly. After closing the door, everyone sat together to discuss where to go next. Except for Gong Jiu, everyone else had to follow Yan Liang.
Gong Jiu and Yan Liang were talking to each other. He glanced at the people in the courtyard, then looked at Yan Liang and said, "You have quite a few friends."
Yan Liang smiled and said, "Isn't it good to have many friends?"
“You’ve probably forgotten Tang Tianzong and his two older brothers,” Gong Jiu continued. “I’ve never heard you mention him.”
Yan Liang said earnestly, "I won't forget, and I haven't forgotten."
"There will naturally be time to meet with them later."
Gong Jiu looked at him for a while, then looked away.
"Tang Tianzong is not often in the Tang Clan these days. If you want to know about him, you can come and find me."
Yan Liang asked in surprise, "You know his whereabouts perfectly well?"
Gong Jiu said, "From the beginning, whenever he met me, he would come to me to spar, so naturally I had to know his whereabouts."
Yan Liang gave an "Oh," a meaningful "Oh."
—It seems that Tang Tianzong's stubbornness, which has not been seen for many years, has only intensified.
Author's Note: Trying to reach seven characters _(:з」∠)_ Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2020-05-21 19:06:49 and 2020-05-22 19:03:48!
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: Xu Zeqing (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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