open provocation
Tang Feng wanted to continue editing, but fearing Yang Fei would notice something, he sidestepped and moved closer to Zhang Mobai, saying, "Little madman, look at him, all he does is bully me."
Upon hearing this, Yang Fei's squinty eyes widened many times over. "Tang Feng, I swear to God, how did I bully you? Oh no! Bai Bai, please let me explain!"
Zhang Mobai glared impatiently at Yang Fei, ignoring Yang Fei's explanation, and went back to the room with Tang Feng, slamming the door shut behind them. Seeing Zhang Mobai leave, Yang Fei sighed and strode back into the room. "You're back, Senior Brother," Zhou Ziliang said, sitting on a stool, holding a military treatise.
"Don't even mention it, your wife will just complain about me to Bai Bai," Yang Fei said, scratching his head in annoyance.
Zhou Ziliang poured a glass of water and handed it to Yang Fei. "He complained about you? That's because you offended him. Otherwise, who would complain for no reason?"
"Look at you, you said you didn't like her, but you're still making excuses for her over such a small thing."
Zhou Ziliang looked up at Yang Fei but didn't say anything. Yang Fei thought he was angry, so he chuckled and said, "Oh, I was just kidding! Look at your long face, anyone would think I owe you a hundred taels of silver! Alright, alright, go to sleep early! You still have riding and archery class tomorrow!"
After hearing this, Zhou Ziliang got up and said, "I'm not sleepy yet, I want to go for a walk. You go to sleep first!"
"Hey? Didn't you sleep well last night? What are you going to do? I'm telling you, Tang Feng is probably asleep already, it's no use you going." Zhou Ziliang ignored Yang Fei's shouts from behind and walked straight out of the room. Zhou Ziliang wasn't angry just now, he was just pondering Yang Fei's words. Yes! Why was he always standing up for Tang Feng lately? He used to treat him like a younger brother, and this had never happened before. Even the night before, he had only gone out to wash up, but when he saw Tang Feng's room light was still on, he wanted to go and ask about his injuries. But when he opened the door, he saw Tang Feng sleeping soundly on the table. He couldn't help but pick him up and put him on the bed, and even helped him copy his punishment. He couldn't understand why. Zhou Ziliang lightly tapped the ground, gathered his inner strength, and flew up into a tree. He sat on a branch, casually picked a flower, and started playing with it in his hand.
"It's late and the dew is heavy, why aren't you resting?" Zhou Ziliang heard footsteps below, looked down, and saw Tang Feng with his hands behind his back, walking to the tree and looking at him.
"I... um, I'm here to return the book, thanks." After saying that, Tang Feng took out the book that Zhang Mobai had mistakenly taken from behind him and held it up.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziliang quickly jumped down from the tree, took the book, and said, "If there's nothing else, go back! It's windy tonight." He then turned and left. Zhou Ziliang didn't dare spend too much time alone with Tang Feng now. He was somewhat confused about himself. Yang Fei's words from this morning still echoed in his ears. Yes! Was he really making amends to Tang Feng because of what happened at the border? But thinking it over, he hadn't treated him badly all this time, swallowing his pride. That initial guilt might have been wiped away long ago, but why was he still being so good to him...? Zhou Ziliang didn't want to think about it anymore, nor dared to, afraid that in the end, he would get the answer he feared most and wanted to escape.
Tang Feng shrugged after Zhou Ziliang left. He then went back inside. "Little brother's back? How did your chat go?" Zhang Mobai, wearing a robe, knelt at the table, flipping through books.
"So what! What else could it be! I offered my warm welcome but got the cold shoulder, he just hung up on me with a long face and no expression." Tang Feng didn't really care, after all, Zhou Ziliang's attitude towards him was a good thing. Tang Feng just wanted to break off his relationship with Zhou Ziliang as soon as possible, and sending him the wine was just a way to hope that they could wipe the slate clean.
Hearing Tang Feng's words, Zhang Mobai frowned. "To dismiss you with a blank expression?" This shouldn't be the case! Ziliang shouldn't be this kind of person! And after the initial matchmaking, things should have changed, so why does it feel like the relationship has worsened? Zhang Mobai slowly stood up, somewhat puzzled.
"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about me. Am I the kind of person who holds grudges? I don't care about these things at all."
Zhang Mobai felt a little embarrassed. "My little darling! It's precisely because you don't care that I'm worried." Zhang Mobai sighed and sat down next to Tang Feng. "Little brother, although there are some things I can't interfere with, I still want to talk to you. Your marriage to Ziliang has indeed been postponed for five years. You can refuse him now, but what about five years from now? The engagement will still proceed as planned. Imperial power is supreme; there's no room for you to refuse."
Tang Feng didn't care. "The key point is, Zhou Ziliang clearly doesn't like me, and I don't care about him at all. Even if two people like that got married, they'd probably be unhappy!"
"Can..."
"Alright, alright. Anyway, the engagement has been postponed for five years. There's no point in thinking about it now. Go get some rest! I know you mean well, but a forced marriage won't be happy!"
"You... never mind, I don't care anymore. Don't come crying to me later," Zhang Mobai pushed Tang Feng, who was clinging to him. "Being cute won't work! Don't come looking for me about this again, I'm going to sleep."
"Hey, hey, hey, why are you getting so worked up?" Tang Feng saw that Zhang Mobai was a little unhappy, so he quickly got up and followed him. "It's not that I don't want to talk about this, it's just that the two of us... we simply don't like each other, how could we be together, unless..."
"unless?"
"Unless Zhou Ziliang swore under the sacred tree during the last prayer festival that he liked me."
"Tch," Zhang Mobai, who had initially held onto hope, now realized Tang Feng was just joking. "Stop fooling around, stop fooling around, let's go to sleep."
Seeing that Zhang Mobai was ignoring him, Tang Feng stopped making a fuss. Seeing Zhang Mobai lie down, Tang Feng patted his shoulder, "Alright, alright, go to sleep! Don't worry too much about me."
"Who cares about you? I'm just destined to worry about you all the time."
Tang Feng smiled and said nothing more. Lying on the bed, he pondered, wondering how Qin Liuliu and the others were doing in Xiling. Lost in thought, he drifted off to sleep. In his dream, he was still in the Tang residence, with Qin Liuliu, Liu Yiwan, Zhang Mobai, Qin Jiujiu, and even Yang Fei sitting beside him. But who was sitting opposite him? Tang Feng couldn't see their faces clearly. Everyone was smiling happily. Qin Jiujiu was holding up a red wedding dress to herself. Tang Feng tried hard to make out the face, and gradually, the person's features became clearer. It was... Zhou Ziliang!?
Tang Feng sat bolt upright in fright. It was already getting light outside. He sat on the bed, hugging his knees, thinking about the dream he'd just had. Why would he have such a dream? Tang Feng rubbed his temples, trying to forget what had happened that morning.
"Good morning! Little brother... What's wrong? Headache?" Zhang Mobai quickly put down the washbasin and sat down next to Tang Feng. "Are you alright?"
Tang Feng shook his head. "It was just a nightmare, it's nothing!"
Tang Feng got up early today, and the group arrived at the corridor hall for breakfast. They ran into Lu Changyuan, who immediately became angry at the sight of him. Tang Feng couldn't forget the time a few days ago when Lu Changyuan had complained about him and he had been punished by having to copy texts. Tang Feng stretched out his leg and tripped Lu Changyuan, who was facing him, so much so that Lu Changyuan fell flat on his face.
"Who! Who tripped me!" Lu Changyuan, already bloated, now lay sprawled on the ground like a giant ball of flesh. Tang Feng covered his mouth, trying hard not to laugh. Seeing Lu Changyuan unable to get up for a long time, Bai Wuren and Shen Liang quickly ran over to help him up, muttering, "Oh dear, Brother Changyuan! How can our small bodies possibly lift you?" It took them a while to finally pull Lu Changyuan up, half-pushing and half-dragging. Lu Changyuan dusted himself off, his mouth twisting as if about to curse, but then he turned around and their eyes met. Lu Changyuan smiled sheepishly, "Isn't this... isn't this Brother Tang! It's truly a blessing to meet you in the corridor today! Hehe, hehehehe."
Tang Feng rolled his eyes, then sneered, "Since we're so destined to meet, why did you report me for talking in class, Brother Lu?" Lu Changyuan wanted to retort, but the oppressive atmosphere emanating from Zhou Ziliang made him tremble, and he didn't dare utter a word for a long time. Seeing this, Tang Feng wiped his hands, which were covered in crumbs from the steamed bun he had just eaten, and stood up, saying, "I didn't provoke you or do anything to you. Why are you picking on me?" Tang Feng leaned down, squinting at Lu Changyuan, "How about this? You go and copy down the academy's rules, hand them to me, and I'll wipe the slate clean of our past grievances, how about that!"
"Brother Tang!" Just as Lu Changyuan was about to say something, Xu Chang'an walked in from the door and bowed to Tang Feng. "Brother Tang, although it is not gentlemanly for Brother Changyuan to report behind someone's back, your father is, after all, a Grand Master of the Purple Light. You should at least give him some face."
Tang Feng rolled his eyes when he saw it was Xu Chang'an. He thought to himself, "Did I forget to check the almanac before going out today? I've run into two such unfortunate people." But even so, he couldn't neglect his manners. Tang Feng returned the greeting, "Brother Chang'an, you're mistaken. Nowadays, it's said that princes are subject to the same laws as commoners. You might think his father has a high rank and deserves respect, but my father isn't bad either! Does that mean he can bully me at will?"
Xu Chang'an wasn't angry after hearing this, and said with a smile, "Since that's the case, it's not impossible for Brother Tang to want fairness. If it's a fair competition, and Brother Tang wins, I won't interfere anymore. What do you think?"
"I don't think so! This has nothing to do with you. What, just because your father is the prime minister, do you think you're the prime minister too? Your father controls all the officials in court, do you want to be a king of the kids?" Tang Feng was so angry at Xu Chang'an that he almost laughed. What was originally a very simple problem had been made so complicated by Xu Chang'an's arrangements.
Xu Chang'an ignored Tang Feng and instead walked to Zhou Ziliang's side, asking, "Young Marquis, what do you think? Brother Tang is your future wife, so you should be in charge of his affairs. I'm sure Brother Tang won't say anything!"
Zhou Ziliang glanced at Tang Feng, who was standing to the side, frowning and glaring at him angrily. Zhou Ziliang sighed helplessly and said, "Xiao Feng is young and doesn't understand the rules. Plus, he was injured in a fall from his horse, so it's understandable that he's a bit impulsive. Please don't take it too seriously, Brother Chang'an." Zhou Ziliang wasn't unaware of Tang Feng's grievances, but Xu Chang'an's presence today was clearly an attempt to retaliate for Tang Feng's rudeness a few days ago. Although Zhou Ziliang didn't want to bow down to Xu Chang'an, he had a long time ahead at the academy, and he feared Xu Chang'an would frame Tang Feng again, so he had no choice but to agree to this arrangement for now.
"Of course I'm not angry, but Young Marquis, you know that insubordination is a breach of etiquette, a grave taboo! Your wife, the son of a mere historian, actually uttered such heinous words as 'a prince is subject to the same laws as a commoner.' If this gets out... But don't worry, as long as Brother Tang competes with Brother Changyuan, I certainly won't let any gossipy fellows in the academy leave alive."
Zhou Ziliang pondered for a long time, then sighed, "I understand. Everything will be done as Brother Chang'an wishes. However, I'd also like to remind you, Brother Chang'an, that you know what I want, and conversely, I know what you want. As the old saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.' I hope that Brother Chang'an won't regret what he says and does today."
“I, Xu Chang’an, never regret my actions. I know Brother Tang is talented, and a gentleman is versed in the Six Arts. Let’s compete according to the academy’s rules! The academy is closed the day after tomorrow; let’s meet at Xiong Hu Hunting Ground.” Xu Chang’an finished speaking and turned to leave.
Lu Changyuan, as if he had found a powerful patron, snorted at Tang Feng, puffed out his belly, and then nudged Tang Feng, saying, "See! Your father is utterly useless. Send a letter home now and then and ask him to get a promotion!"
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