When the rain stopped, only six people remained standing in the ruins.
Yan Liang led Su Mengzhen to a vat outside the ruins of Kushuipu and found Hua Wucuo, who was unconscious, and the traitor.
Su Mengzhen coughed a few times, covering his mouth, barely suppressing the itch in his throat. He thanked Yan Liang, who looked at him and nodded slightly.
Yan Liang encountered Hua Wucuo outside the Bitter Water Shop. He saw through the trick and, just in case, drugged the two of them and stuffed them into a vat.
Su Mengzhen looked up at Yan Liang, remained silent for a moment, and then asked the question that had been on her mind: "Why does Young Master Yan know about the Golden Wind and Drizzle Pavilion and the Six and a Half Hall?"
He hadn't expected Hua Wucuo to be a traitor, but what he hadn't expected even more was that the Crown Prince would appear here to help him out of his predicament while searching for someone.
The crown prince seemed to know everything.
Yan Liang touched the snow and thought that if he told Su Louzhu, she probably wouldn't believe him. Besides, he couldn't say that directly—he couldn't just say that he had the surveillance cameras scouting the area to find someone, and then he saw two people huddled together, whispering and discussing something, could he?
Upon hearing Su Mengzhen's name, Yan Liang sensed something was wrong. He then heard the name "Six and a Half Hall." Yan Liang thought that even if the medicine was wrong, it wouldn't matter, since sleeping pills wouldn't kill anyone. So he quietly took action, drugged the two of them, and stuffed them into a vat.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
But judging from Su Mengzhen's appearance, it seems that she really did encounter that "what if".
Su Mengzhen looked serious, clearly recalling something suspicious. Yan Liang even sensed that he was somewhat saddened.
Yan Liang wasn't good at comforting people, and besides, Su Mengzhen wasn't someone who needed comforting. Therefore, Yan Liang pretended not to notice and seriously responded to Su Mengzhen's question: "I can't say."
Su Mengzhen answered him earnestly, replying with a crisp "Okay." Yan Liang liked this straightforward person. After chatting for a while, Yan Liang politely declined Su Mengzhen's offer to send someone to escort him back to his residence.
Although Wang Xiaoshi was listening to their conversation, his eyes were fixed on the white cat in Yan Liang's arms. Bai Choufei listened to Yan Liang and Su Mengzhen's conversation with a cold expression, guessing again and again about Yan Liang's identity, but still couldn't figure out what kind of person could be so well-received by the master of Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou.
There is no famous person with the surname Yan in the martial arts world.
Su Mengzhen led the prisoners of the Six and a Half Hall out of the Bitter Water Shop. Yan Liang told him that he wanted to talk to the two young men and told him to just go back and handle the affairs in the building.
He brushed past the two young men; Su Mengzhen didn't know their names, nor was it the time to ask. Therefore, Su Mengzhen simply nodded slightly to them and left with his entourage.
Yan Liang stood amidst the ruins, meeting the gazes of the two young men outside, and gave them a friendly smile: "My name is Yan Liang."
Wang Xiaoshi smiled brightly and said, "My name is Wang Xiaoshi."
The two looked at Bai Choufei at the same time. The young man frowned slightly, but still said, "Bai Choufei."
Yan Liang, carrying the cat, approached them, saying as he went, "My father wishes to meet Young Master Bai. Does Young Master Bai have some free time?"
Instead of answering, Bai Choufei asked, "Do I look like I'm very busy?"
Yan Liang thought to himself that this guy had a rather bad temper...
Wang Xiaoshi didn't understand why Bai Choufei suddenly became unhappy, especially since Bai Choufei had been laughing happily while they were sheltering from the rain. He gave Yan Liang an apologetic smile, which earned him a gentle smile in return.
Yan Liang didn't dwell on Bai Choufei's tone. Seeing that the other party didn't refuse the invitation to meet his father, he discussed the time to meet tomorrow and said that he would send a carriage to pick up Bai Choufei.
Wang Xiaoshi stared longingly at Yan Liang. Yan Liang met his gaze, tucked a handful of snow into his hands, and said, "My dad doesn't allow strangers into his place, so I'm sorry."
Bai Choufei was momentarily distracted—he was wondering if there was any wealthy family surnamed Yan in the martial arts world or the capital.
When Bai Choufei looked at the two people beside him again, he found that Wang Xiaoshi had started to hug the white cat in Yan Liang's arms, stroking it and rubbing against it.
"Does it have a name?" Wang Xiaoshi asked.
"Yes, it's called heavy snow."
Yan Liang looked down at Da Xue, who was rolling around and acting cute in Wang Xiaoshi's hands, and was shocked by how familiar it was with people.
Bai Choufei: "..."
The three of them left the Bitter Water Shop. Yan Liang stood at the alley entrance and repeated that someone would be sent to pick him up the next day. Bai Choufei listened to him impatiently, and finally took Da Xue from Wang Xiaoshi's arms and stuffed it into Yan Liang's arms.
Yan Liang, still somewhat shaken by the heavy snow, exchanged a few more words with Wang Xiaoshi. Bai Choufei remained silent to the side, unsurprised that the straightforward Wang Xiaoshi could chat so well with Yan Liang.
Yan Liang chatted with Wang Xiaoshi for a while and learned that Wang Xiaoshi was a pharmacist at Huichuntang in the capital. He couldn't help but think of Pang Jin's previous mention of meeting a young pharmacist in a clinic.
He wasn't entirely sure, so he didn't mention it and parted ways with the two after saying goodbye.
Wang Xiaoshi clenched his fists, gazing wistfully at Yan Liang's retreating figure, seemingly recalling the feel of the heavy snow. Bai Choufei couldn't bear to watch any longer and pulled Wang Xiaoshi away from the place.
The two returned to the inn. Bai Choufei couldn't sleep that night because of what had happened that evening, and he kept thinking about it over and over again. Bai Choufei had lofty ambitions. Su Mengzhen was famous, and he naturally longed to meet her one day and become famous himself.
It's disheartening that Yan Liang, a young man, seems so familiar with someone like Su Mengzhen—what he so desperately seeks is readily available to others. He can easily associate with famous figures in the martial arts world, while Bai Choufei rarely even gets to see him.
Bai Choufei had a premonition that accepting Yan Liang's invitation might be a shortcut for him to rise above others.
However, no matter how much he speculated about Yan Liang's identity, he never expected that Yan Liang would be the Crown Prince of the current dynasty.
The next day, the carriage sent by Yan Liang picked up Bai Choufei and took him to the palace. Bai Choufei did not know where the carriage was going at first, and he did not want to ask the driver. So he lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and memorized the surrounding scenery.
The longer the carriage traveled, the quieter it became. Bai Choufei observed for a while, his heart gradually racing.
When the carriage stopped at the palace gate, Bai Choufei was too shocked to speak. He remained expressionless, calmly and composedly alighting from the carriage. He saw Yan Liang, dressed in formal attire, standing at the palace gate waiting for him. The guards on both sides kept glancing at Bai Choufei's face—they were curious about who this person who had made His Highness the Crown Prince wait was.
The coachman alighted from the carriage and bowed to Yan Liang, who slightly stepped aside to avoid it. Bai Choufei only heard the coachman address the young man who called himself Yan Liang as "Your Highness the Crown Prince."
Bai Choufei remained calm, walked up to Yan Liang, and remained silent for a long time.
There was no morning court session today, but in order to see his emperor father, Yan Liang had to temporarily abandon his loose and comfortable gray robe and put on a heavy formal suit.
He didn't wait here for long; he arrived almost exactly on time to wait for Bai Choufei.
Yan Liang nodded to the young man, his tone quite natural: "The carriage can't go in, so I'll trouble you to come with me."
Bai Choufei walked silently with him, glancing at Yan Liang's rather natural demeanor, almost suspecting that this man had revealed his true identity to him last night, which he had not heard.
“…You didn’t say you were the Crown Prince,” Bai Choufei said.
Yan Liang looked around and, seeing no one nearby, tucked his hands into his sleeves and walked lazily. Hearing Bai Choufei's words, he replied, "I don't need to tell you, you already know."
Bai Choufei thought to himself, "How can these be the same?"
“But you didn’t even give me your real name,” he continued. “‘Yan Liang’ is an alias.”
Yan Liang argued confidently, "Outside the palace I am Yan Liang, but inside the palace I am Zhao Huan. Didn't you see that Su Louzhu calls me that too?"
Bai Choufei didn't want to talk to him anymore.
This person always manages to find a tricky angle to respond to his words.
Zhao Ji received the Crown Prince's message in advance and excitedly waited for Bai Choufei in the Imperial Study. Upon meeting Bai Choufei, he was overjoyed and felt even more admiration for him.
The reason was simple: Bai Choufei was handsome and talented, exactly the type that Zhao Ji admired.
Zhao Ji wanted to exchange painting techniques with Bai Choufei, but Yan Liang, seeing that he had nothing to do, took his leave. Before leaving, he gave Bai Choufei an encouraging look: "Brother! Believe in yourself, making it big is not a problem!"
Bai Choufei twitched his lips, pretending not to notice.
Emperor Huizong of Song (Zhao Ji) was a man who couldn't resist anything he liked, especially since he was obsessed with painting. Now that someone was talking to him about this topic, he couldn't stop talking and kept chattering away with Bai Choufei. Bai Choufei knew this was his chance, so he patiently exchanged painting techniques with the Song emperor, sharing almost all of his life's knowledge with him.
The two of them chattered away in the study. Yan Liangchao, who was guarding outside the imperial study, smiled and then quickly left the palace and returned to the Crown Prince's residence.
With Zhao Ji watching over Bai Choufei, he was either sent back to the inn by Zhao Ji's men or kept in the palace by Zhao Ji. In either case, Yan Liang didn't need to worry about Bai Choufei.
On this rare day without the morning court session, Yan Liang decided to go out and play with Pang Jin again. Pang Jin, who had been chased home, might have even had his family's wealth extracted from him. Although Yan Liang wasn't worried about that, he still felt it necessary to ask Pang Jin how much he had revealed—to see who was easier to fool, Pang Yu's grandson or Pang Yu himself.
He happily returned to the Crown Prince's residence, changed into a gray robe, and went out again with a heavy snow in his arms. As fate would have it, Fang Yingkan finally came to see Yan Liang a month later, bringing with him the "high-quality wolf hair brush" that he had "finally" found.
Yan Liang looked at the magnificent carriage in front of him and felt a dull ache in his liver. He was extremely curious about the specific people Fang Ying had planted in the palace and the Crown Prince's residence. How could it be that every time he came back, it was such a coincidence?
Fang Yingkan held up the curtain with one hand, peeked out and smiled at Yan Liang: "Your Highness."
His smile was innocent and naive, making it easy to deceive people.
Yan Liang and the cat in his arms looked at him together, both silent. Yan Liang and Fang Yingkan stared at each other for a moment, then Yan Liang, regaining his Oscar-worthy acting skills, gave the other a gentle and sincere smile: "Young Master Fang, what a coincidence."
Fang Yingkan nodded in agreement without blushing, "Yes, what a coincidence."
Author's Note: [After parting ways with Bai Wang]
Yan Liang: Oh, I forgot to mention I'm the Crown Prince.
Bai Choufei (confused and puzzled): Who is that person?
Wang Xiaoshi: I want to pet the cat again.
＊
When we met again the next day
Yan Liang: Oh, I am the Crown Prince. You know that now.
Bai Choufei: ...You should have said so earlier!
＊
[Blocked by Young Master Fang]
Yan Liang (laughs): What a coincidence.
Fang Yingkan (laughs): What a coincidence.
Yan Liang: You're kidding me! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2020-03-22 23:29:30 and 2020-03-23 21:43:41!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Flower said he's not bald (10 bottles); it's just that friend A used 5 bottles;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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