A subtle fragrance wafts
Perhaps fearing Qin Jiujiu's anxiety, Qin Liuliu and Liu Yiwan left after only a few days. Before leaving, Qin Liuliu clung tightly to Tang Feng, refusing to let go. Tang Feng looked helpless; how was Qin Liuliu any different from the morning he went to Lishan Academy years ago? Fortunately, he would be returning in just over six months. Tang Feng and Zhou Ziliang escorted Liu Yiwan and Qin Liuliu to the Jingdu Long Steps. Tang Feng gently stroked Qin Liuliu's head, urging him to hurry back so Qin Jiujiu wouldn't worry, and promised to return in a few days, telling him not to be stubborn.
After Qin Liuliu left, life continued at the academy. Since the arrival of Prince Duan and his entourage, Tang Feng had gradually gotten used to the custom of greeting each other upon meeting. Zhou Ziliang was quite gratified, feeling that his money spent on Liufuji Restaurant hadn't been wasted. Spring turned to autumn, and the leaves in the courtyard had almost all withered. Since his last encounter with Li Yunheng and Li Yunrui, Tang Feng hadn't seen them again. Zhou Ziliang said they had come to see him every now and then, but Tang Feng hadn't run into them. Tang Feng was now close to Li Yunye, and the two would chat occasionally. Tang Feng would tell him about his experiences in Daze, and Li Yunye was willing to listen.
"Your Highness, you summoned me?" Xu Chang'an bowed deeply at the door. After a long silence from Li Yunheng, he slowly raised his head and asked, "Does Your Highness have something troubling you? You may speak to me."
Li Yunheng slammed a stack of letters in front of Xu Chang'an. "Look at this! This is a secret report from a spy from the previous dynasty, saying that my father intends to appoint Li Yunrui as crown prince!" Xu Chang'an picked up the letters from the ground, examined them one by one, and breathed a sigh of relief. "Your Highness, don't worry. These letters only say there's a tendency to make Prince Duan the crown prince. We still have a chance."
"Opportunity? Where is the opportunity?!" Li Yunheng slammed his teacup on the ground. "Which civil or military official in the court doesn't speak in favor of Prince Duan? What opportunity do we need?"
Xu Chang'an closed the letter, bowed again, and said, "Your subject has a plan, but I don't know whether I should speak of it."
Li Yunheng looked down at Xu Chang'an kneeling on the ground, suppressing his anger. "Get up, tell me what happened." Xu Chang'an slowly rose and bowed to Li Yunheng. "Your Highness, sometimes the position of Crown Prince isn't necessarily a good thing." Seeing Li Yunheng's furrowed brows, Xu Chang'an quickly added, "What I mean is that everything has two sides. Letting the Prince of Duan become the Crown Prince isn't necessarily a bad thing."
"You mean you want me to give up my position as crown prince?"
"Yes and no. His Majesty is currently burdened with worries and suspicious in his actions. The Crown Prince is already in a precarious position, and even the slightest mistake will be magnified in His Majesty's eyes. Everything adds up, and even if Prince Duan is very pleasing, His Majesty will gradually distance himself from him. In contrast, your advantages will become apparent."
"this...."
Xu Chang'an noticed Li Yunheng's hesitation and immediately added, "Your Highness, the ministers in the court say they support Prince Duan, but I don't think so. Apart from a few who are loyal to Prince Duan to the death, the other ministers are just opportunists. If one day Prince Duan's party falls, they will scatter like leaves in the wind. At that time, will you still worry about not having anyone to support you?"
Li Yunheng smiled. "You certainly know how to give advice." Li Yunheng took out a few sheets of paper, quickly wrote a letter, and handed it to Xu Chang'an. "Go, send this letter to Xiling. Tell those spies to behave themselves. From today onwards, without my order, no one is allowed to say a good word for me in court. Oh, and tell my mother as well."
Xu Chang'an received his orders and left. Li Yunheng looked out the door and sneered, "Brother, since you like this position so much, I'll give you a push and help you succeed! After all, we're brothers, helping each other is only natural. Don't blame me for being ruthless later."
"Are you sure the fourth brother didn't say anything?" Li Yunrui's hand, which was writing, suddenly stopped. "Qinghang, get up and answer me! Tell me everything in detail."
Shen Qinghang stood up and sat down in front of Li Yunrui, saying, "My father sent a letter this morning, saying that the matter of you being named Crown Prince is already a done deal with His Majesty."
"It's nothing serious, I know what's going on, but the lack of any activity from the fourth brother doesn't feel like a good thing."
"That's true. So what are your thoughts now?" Shen Qinghang had a plan in mind but wanted to hear Li Yunrui's opinion first. "I think... let it go." Li Yunrui put down his pen and looked at Shen Qinghang. "If the fourth brother really doesn't make any moves, then I plan to stop targeting him. After all, I've already gotten what I wanted."
"Your Highness, you mustn't be soft-hearted!" Upon hearing this, alarm bells rang in Shen Qinghang's mind. The most taboo thing in the struggle for the throne is being soft-hearted and indecisive. If Your Highness acts like this, wouldn't you be letting a tiger return to the mountains? Shen Qinghang quickly got up and knelt on the ground. "Your Highness, we've already come this far. If you're soft-hearted, you'll be raising a tiger to cause future trouble! Prince Cheng grew up with you since childhood. Don't you know what he's thinking? This is definitely a trap!"
“It’s precisely because I grew up with him that I trust him, Qinghang! He’s my younger brother,” Shen Qinghang opened his mouth, but in the end, he didn’t say anything. He raised his head and asked softly, “Your Highness, what about Young Master Zhou?”
"Let's leave that aside for now. If I become the Crown Prince and continue to associate with Zhou Ziliang, wouldn't I appear to my father as a criminal who staged a coup? But what about Tang Feng..." Li Yunrui stood up and helped Shen Qinghang to his feet. "Go and make arrangements. Arrange for Tang Feng to be by my side as soon as possible. Don't give him a high-ranking official position, and don't place him too close to me, so as not to arouse suspicion."
"I'll send a message to my father right away and tell him to get started," Shen Qinghang said, bowing slightly. He took a few steps back and went out, glancing briefly at Li Yunrui inside the room at the doorway. He sighed deeply and shook his head.
After leaving Li Yunrui's villa, Shen Qinghang planned to find Zhou Ziliang and Tang Feng. Although Li Yunrui had said she didn't want any contact with Zhou Ziliang, Shen Qinghang still felt it was better to be safe than sorry. Even though Tang Feng had been placed by Li Yunrui's side to indirectly maintain a relationship with Zhou Ziliang, Shen Qinghang still felt uneasy. He had stayed in Xiling for so long and had never heard of any rumors of Tang Feng and Zhou Ziliang being a loving and harmonious couple.
At this moment, Tang Feng was playing chess with Zhang Mobai. According to Zhang Mobai, exams were coming up soon, and it was best to catch up quickly. Where he was assigned to a position didn't matter, but failing to graduate would be a real headache. Zhang Mobai took out the chess pieces, set up the board, and asked, "Let's play Rao Ziqi. I'll give you a two-piece handicap. If you lose again, even a celestial being can't save you." Tang Feng slumped on the table, listlessly opening the chess box, picking up the pieces and placing them haphazardly. Zhou Ziliang, sitting beside him, said, "It's alright, just play. Brother Mobai's chess skills aren't exactly that great."
Tang Feng frowned. "You're just showing off your skills. Get out of my way! Don't bother me."
Zhang Mobai had just placed a piece when there was a knock at the door. Yang Fei stood up, looked outside, and said, "I'll go see. You guys continue with your moves." Yang Fei walked to the door and asked, "Who is it?"
"It's me, Shen Qinghang." Yang Fei opened the door and saw Shen Qinghang standing there. "Brother Qinghang? You're such a busy man! What made you think of coming here?" Shen Qinghang shook his head. "What busy man? I need to see Brother Ziliang."
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Yang Fei saw Shen Qinghang pushing open the door and about to go in, so he quickly stopped him outside. "They're playing chess inside! Observers of chess don't speak. If you barge in like this, you know my Bai Bai's temper. He'll definitely jump up and down cursing. What do you want? Just tell me." Yang Fei knew that the court was in turmoil recently, and Shen Qinghang must have come to talk about this matter again. The situation was different now, so it was best to avoid it if possible. If he got involved in trouble, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.
"It's like this," Shen Qinghang said, standing at the courtyard gate, glancing inside every now and then. "My father recently sent a message saying that His Highness Prince Duan becoming the Crown Prince is a foregone conclusion." Yang Fei smiled. "Isn't this what you've always wanted? Then why did you come to us?"
"It's hardly a good thing," Shen Qinghang shook his head. "If the position of Crown Prince were so easy to seize, there wouldn't have been so many tragedies throughout history. I'm afraid it's Prince Cheng who's trying to trip me up, but... but the Prince is a soft-hearted man."
Yang Fei finally understood. Wasn't this just a cover for their master, a way to curry favor? After a moment's thought, Yang Fei said, "His Highness Prince Duan is known for his kindness and soft heart. What do you want to see Zhou Ziliang for? I'll pass on your message."
"I have no other request, only that one day, if Prince Duan is in trouble, I will lend a helping hand." Shen Qinghang bowed to Yang Fei, who quickly helped him up, saying, "Whether you agree or not is Ziliang's business, but I will still convey your message." Shen Qinghang nodded. "I am relieved to hear you say that." After saying that, he turned and left.
After Shen Qinghang left, Zhou Ziliang came out of the house. "He was looking for me?"
"That's right," Yang Fei peeked out the door, making sure Shen Qinghang was far away before saying, "Tell me, what's going on here? This is a crucial time; who would dare take on such a thing?"
Zhou Ziliang smiled. "They won't do anything to me. They'll use Xiao Feng to their advantage, to control me."
"Hiss, using your wife to control you? Let's see why you're not nervous."
"Xiao Feng has never been interested in these things, and he's not the Tang Feng of the past anymore. I believe that even if they try to manipulate him, Xiao Feng can handle it head-on."
At this moment, Tang Feng shouted from the doorway, "The game of chess has been over for ages, what are you all doing!"
"It's nothing!" Zhou Ziliang turned around and smiled at Tang Feng. "It's nothing serious. Tell your senior brother about that terrible game you just played. You played three games and didn't win a single one against Rao Ziqi." Tang Feng walked up to Zhou Ziliang, pinched his arm, and whispered, "Why are you telling people this?"
“Senior brother isn’t an outsider. Shen Qinghang just came by.” Tang Feng was surprised to hear Zhou Ziliang mention Shen Qinghang. Zhou Ziliang had always been reluctant for Tang Feng to get involved with these people, so most of the time when they talked, Zhou Ziliang would find various reasons to make Tang Feng leave. However, Tang Feng didn’t care. After all, he really didn’t want to mingle with these people. He came to Lishan Academy purely to investigate the Sixteen Riders of Yanshan. Now, with graduation approaching, he hadn’t found anything. The only progress was that he had a pretty good relationship with the Eldest Princess and the Third Prince.
"Why are you suddenly bringing this up with me?" Tang Feng hadn't missed hearing people come and go. Yang Fei hadn't returned for a long time after leaving, and Zhou Ziliang had rushed over, so he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. But since Zhou Ziliang hadn't brought it up, Tang Feng hadn't wanted to ask. He just hadn't expected Zhou Ziliang to bring it up himself.
“This matter is somewhat different from before,” Zhou Ziliang said, placing his hands on Tang Feng’s shoulders. “The Crown Prince has fallen into the hands of Prince Duan.”
"That's great! I quite like him." Tang Feng was a little excited when he heard that Li Yunrui had become the crown prince. After all, among these people, Tang Feng admired Li Yunrui quite a bit; he was neither arrogant nor spoiled, gentle and refined, and a true gentleman.
"It's different. To become crown prince so smoothly, Prince Cheng must have been pulling the strings behind the scenes. He probably has something big up his sleeve! Xiao Feng, promise me, no matter what, don't get involved here. I'm worried."
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