Prince Qie was a person of talent. He had been born into a minor family with no clan support behind him, but had reached the position of Minister of Dali Temple by his own effort. He had solved many major cases over the years and offended many powerful families, but no one had been able to shake his position.
It would indeed be beneficial to him if he could win people over, but he never thought of using Ye Yunting’s reputation to win over Prince Qie.
So when Ye Yunting said those words hesitantly, he was stunned for a moment. Then he raised his eyebrows and said with displeasure, “Is this the kind of person that I am in the Young Master’s eyes?”
If he wanted to win Prince Qie over, he would use his own strength to make him voluntarily stand beside him, rather than relying on Ye Yunting’s influence. Moreover, in the days since Ye Yunting entered the palace, no one from the Prince’s family came to ask after him. Although Ye Yunting never mentioned it, he also figured that Prince Qie must not care much about this nephew.
“That’s not what I meant,” Li Fengqi countered Ye Yunting’s statement. Seeing the concern in his face, he realized that he was thinking too deeply into this matter. When Li Fengqi mentioned Prince Qie to him, he probably just said it offhandedly and had no other intentions in mind.
He pursed his lips and sincerely apologized, “I was thinking too narrowly. Please forgive me, Wangye.”
When Li Fengqi saw this, he finally lost control of his expression and his eyes revealed a trace of laughter. “I’m teasing you, this is not something worth getting angry about. Besides…” He paused deliberately and stared at Ye Yunting, dragging out the tone of his voice as he said, “I will not be angry with the Young Master.”
But these days, Ye Yunting was avoiding him as much as possible during the day, and slept on the couch at night, making it difficult for him to catch him anymore.
Even if he really wanted to be angry, this was what he should be angry about.
Ye Yunting met his gaze and subconsciously averted his eyes, not knowing what to say. After a moment of silence, he added, “It’s good that Wangye is not angry.”
Seeing how Ye Yunting didn’t dare to look at him, Li Fengqi wanted to tease him even more, but he was worried that he would be the one to suffer if he teased him too much. In the end, he could only sigh sadly, and took out a letter from his sleeve. “I suddenly remembered something. When I returned home, someone from the gatehouse came to deliver a letter for you, so I’m bringing it to you.”
“A letter for me?” Ye Yunting looked at the letter with hesitation. Who would send him a letter at this time? Maybe it was just Li Fengqi coming up with a new way to tease him.
Seeing how Ye Yunting didn’t approach to take the letter, Li Fengqi let out a “tsk” sound, thinking that with how wary he was of him, it was no wonder he was so hard to deceive. He then pretended to open the envelope. “If you don’t want it, I will open it for you.”
Only then did Ye Yunting reach out to take the letter. He looked, only to see that the envelope was blank with no information written on it.
“The one who sent this is a tall, thin young man with a dark complexion and a scar on the left cheek. He had the air of a bandit.” Li Fengqi said from the side. “The gatekeeper said he was an old acquaintance of yours. Does the Young Master recognize this person?”
As he spoke, he observed Ye Yunting’s expression.
The young man looked about the same age as Ye Yunting. Although he was wearing coarse clothes, his appearance and demeanor showed that he was by no means an ordinary citizen.
A realization flashed across Ye Yunting’s face when he heard this description. “So it’s him. He’s returned to Shangjing already?”
He tore open the envelope and read the letter with a smile on his face.
Li Fengqi smacked his lips and did not show any expression. After Ye Yunting read the letter, Li Fengqi asked casually, “Is he really an old friend of the Young Master? Had I known this, I would have invited him into the house for a chat. If I go look for him now, I’m afraid he’d already have gone too far to find.”
“Indeed, he’s an old friend of mine.”
The smile on Ye Yunting’s face had not faded since he read the letter. He did not hide it, but explained openly, “Didn’t I tell Wangye before that I had a teacher named Chang Yu’an? When I was in the Duke’s Mansion, my teacher also had a disciple about the same age as me, named Yue Changgou. He’s the one who sent me the letter today.”
His teacher had been as kind to him as a mountain. When he left his home and traveled around, he often exchanged letters with him, teaching him to broaden his horizons. And Yue Changgou had been taken in by his teacher since he was a child. During the years in the Duke’s Mansion, the two of them studied and practiced essays together with his teacher. It could be said that the two were like brothers, and had a very harmonious relationship.
Over the years, the teacher had traveled far and wide and rarely returned to the capital. Only Yue Changgu would occasionally come back to check up on the shop and fields, so Ye Yunting’s relationship with Yue Changgou was not unfamiliar.
“Yue-shixiong said in the letter that Teacher has also returned to Shangjing this time and wanted to invite me for a chat.”
Ye Yunting’s eyes were sparkling, and Li Fengqi had never seen him look so expectant and yearning.
He twisted his fingers, and there was nothing strange about his expression, but in fact, he was already beating a drum in his heart. “In this case, why don’t we invite them to come and visit?”
These were a shixiong and shidi pair who had grown up together since childhood. They had met when Ye Yunting was going through difficult times, so it was no exaggeration to say that they shared hardships. In the opera stories, many emotions would be born from this, making people very reluctant to let go.
“They have shown kindness to you, and so they have also shown kindness to me and to the Yong’an Palace. Both logically and emotionally, they should be shown gratitude.”
Li Fengqi’s words were full of righteousness and uprightness, with no hint of selfishness or jealousy.
But Ye Yunting still refused. He pursed his lips and said, “Thank you, Wangye, for your kindness. However, my teacher and my shixiong are both gentle people and don’t like to impose… Besides, my teacher’s property has a restaurant, so we can have a small gathering there.”
Ji Lian used to go to that restaurant to deliver letters and pick up things, but Ye Yunting himself had never been there. Now that he was finally free, he still wanted to go there in person.
With Ye Yunting saying this, Li Fengqi had to rest his mind, but in the end he was still not assured. He still searched out the name of the restaurant through indirect means.
The next day, Ye Yunting took Ji Lian out. Before going out, he specially picked out his favorite smoky-blue cloud thunder-patterned robe to put on, and even carefully selected accessories to wear.
Li Fengqi watched him leave the yard and asked Zhu Lie, who was looking for him, “What does Wangfei look like he’s going to do today?”
Zhu Lie scratched his head, thinking that he was dressed so handsomely, as if he was going to meet his lover.
But this was Wangfei. If Wangfei was going to meet his lover, wouldn’t the Prince be wearing1… In a rare moment of cleverness, he considered and said, “He’s dressed so elegantly, so he must be meeting friends, right?”
Li Fengqi snorted, his dissatisfaction evident. “Do you need to dress up so carefully to meet friends?”
He never dressed up so carefully in front of him. Was he not worthy it?
“Maybe they are more important friends…” Zhu Lie was worried, thinking that this was not what he meant.
Also, you didn’t say anything when Wangfei was here, but now here you are complaining to me. I don’t know anything.
Zhu Lie felt bitter.
Li Fengqi glared at him and turned his wheelchair back to the house unhappily.
Zhu Lie followed behind with a grimace. “Wangye, I still have something to report!”
*
Meanwhile, Ye Yunting got on the carriage and left the palace, still a feeling little uneasy.
He scrutinized himself again and again and asked Ji Lian uncertainly, “Am I dressed properly today? It should be obvious that I’m doing well, right?”
In the past, he was detained in the Duke’s Mansion and had almost no chance to meet his teacher and shixiong. When exchanging letters, Teacher would asked him how he was doing. He didn’t want them to worry about him, so he always said that he was well.
But Teacher and Yue-shixiong were both perceptive people who could see through things without being told. In the letter yesterday, he asked Ye Yunting tactfully if it was convenient for him to go out so that they could talk to each other. If it was inconvenient, Yue Changgou would find a way to hand over the books and gifts that Teacher had brought to him.
The reason the two asked this was obviously because they had heard the rumors in the capital and were worried that he would not have a good life in the palace, just like he did in the past at the Duke’s palace.
Therefore, this time when he went out to meet each other, Ye Yunting was afraid that if he was only casually dressed, his teacher and shixiong would think that he was not doing well. That was why he tried his best to dress up in a more refined manner.
Ji Lian looked at him up and down and praised highly, “Young Master is so handsome and charming today. You look very proper.”
The Young Master was already well-born, and since he had been living comfortably in the palace for a while, he looked better as well. In Ji Lian’s opinion, with Ye Yunting dressed in such gorgeous clothes, there was no one in the entire capital more handsome than his young master.
Ye Yunting relaxed slightly after hearing this, and waited with anxiety to meet his old friends.
…
The restaurant where they met was on Zhaole Street. The carriage passed through Zhaohe Main Street, turned right, and crossed two alleys to reach Zhaole Street.
Zhaole Street was close to the market, where three religions and nine streams gather. Compared to the main street, it was a little messier and noisier.
Wangyue Restaurant was located in the middle section of Zhaole Street. When the carriage of the royal palace stopped at the door, the noisy voices of the people inside paused for a moment. They all looked at the carriage with closed curtains in surprise, wondering which noble person would stepped into this little restaurant.
Ye Yunting got off the carriage, followed closely by Ji Lian.
The waiter in the restaurant didn’t know Ye Yunting, but he knew Ji Lian who often visited. After a moment’s reaction, he guessed Ye Yunting’s identity, and greeted him with a smile. “So it’s Young Master Ye. Master Chang and Young Master Yue are waiting in the private room upstairs.”
Ye Yunting nodded to him and went upstairs under his guidance.
When he arrived at the door of the private room, he paused, suddenly feeling a little shy.
While he was hesitating, he saw the door of the private room being opened, and a hearty smiling face poked out from behind the door. “Shidi, why don’t you come in? What are you staring at?”
Ye Yunting looked at his face, so reminiscent of his childhood days but having undergone great changes. After so many years, it was staggering, but not unfamiliar. He stepped inside and, with a smile, called out, “Shixiong.”
Yue Changgou called Ji Lian behind him to follow, grabbed his shoulder and led him inside. “I haven’t seen you for so many years, but you haven’t changed.” After saying that, he looked him over again and added, “You seem to be in better shape. It looks like Teacher and I made this trip for nothing.”
Ye Yunting, who had been pressed downwards to sit in front of the table, said in surprise, “What do you mean?”
Yue Changgou sat down on his right side and shrugged. “After Teacher and I heard that you were sent to be married to Prince Yong’an palace, we rushed back to Shangjing with no rest. As soon as we arrived yesterday, we went to the Prince’s palace to deliver a message to you.”
Only then did Ye Yunting realize that this sudden return to Shangjing was because of him.
===Author’s Notes===
The author has something to say:
77: Ji Lian can go, why can’t I? Am I not worthy?
Ji Lian:? ? ? Don’t cue me, it will rebound.
——————
Draw 100 red envelopes~
There have been a lot less comments in the past two days. Isn’t 77 worth it? !
===Translator’s Note===
…Um, sorry for the delay? *hides*
- He’s starting to say here, “wearing a green hat”, which is an expression used when someone cheats on their husband or boyfriend. ↩︎
thank you for the chapter!
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