At the dog watch that night, in the eastern courtyard of the Shen residence.

Qing Song stood outside the bath chamber holding a set of clean casual clothes. He waited until his arms ached from holding them, yet the young master still hadn’t emerged.

Unlike the former eldest young master, the current young master had grown up at the frontier since childhood and hadn’t experienced much refinement in his life. Even in the prosperous city of Chang’an, he wasn’t accustomed to having others attend to his bathing and dressing. Every time, he insisted on being alone, and he bathed extremely quickly.

So quickly that Qing Song thought if a battle horn suddenly sounded during his bath, the young master could don his clothes and grab his sword in the blink of an eye.

Tonight, however, after returning from the academy, the young master had already been in the bath chamber for three-quarters of an hour.

Originally, the young master had planned that since he was attending the Tianchong Academy, he would reside in the dormitory there, only returning home during the ten-day breaks.

Unfortunately, man proposes, but heaven disposes, and heaven’s plans were no match for the princess’s. With the princess’s relentless pursuit, the dormitory was no longer suitable for residence.

If the princess also moved in, wouldn’t that give her a prime position, allowing her to pester him day and night without end?

After waiting a bit longer, Qing Song couldn’t help but lean in to listen for any movement inside the bath chamber.

It had been a while since he’d heard the sound of water being added, and the water must have turned cold by now…

“Young Master—” Qing Song cautiously called out, “Every problem has a solution. Please don’t think of doing anything drastic!”

“I believe that if you really can’t delay any longer and can’t escape this marriage pressure… since the princess currently has no doubts about your identity, why not find an appropriate time and give her some acceptable reason to end this relationship?”

“You see, you don’t like the princess, and the princess doesn’t like you either. In my humble opinion, if the eldest young master’s spirit is watching from heaven, he surely wouldn’t want to see you suffer, nor would he want to see the princess living in a lie, possessing false happiness…”

“Rather than continuing like this, it’s better to endure a short pain than a long one. The eldest young master would probably prefer you to be the villain who abandons her—”

With a snap, the screen door was suddenly pulled open, and Qing Song abruptly looked up.

The person before him wore only his undergarments, yet he stood there as if fully armored, emanating a cold, murderous aura.

Yuan Ce: “My elder brother would surely also dislike seeing his servant talking too much, chattering on endlessly. So tell me—what should be done about that?”

Qing Song immediately shut his mouth, not saying another word, and lowered his head to offer the clothes.

…He was only trying to help by offering advice. He’d barely said a few sentences, while the princess talked far more than he did when she got going.

Life was so difficult. Why was he called Qing Song (Green Pine)? He should change his name to Chen Zhong (Heavy Burden)!

Yuan Ce took the robe and quickly dressed himself, then casually picked up the clothes he had just removed and stuffed them into Qing Song’s hands.

Qing Song obediently accepted them. As he turned around, something silky suddenly slipped from his palm.

Looking back, he saw an ink-colored hair tie floating gently down.

Qing Song hurriedly reached out to catch it, but a hand moved faster than his, grasping the hair tie in mid-air.

“Please forgive me, Young Master. I’ll take this hair tie to be washed right away…” Qing Song quickly extended his hand to receive it.

He waited for a while, but the item wasn’t returned.

Looking up, he saw Yuan Ce staring rigidly at the hair tie in his palm, eyes downcast and motionless.

Just as Qing Song was about to ask what was wrong with the hair tie, he looked closer and noticed a distinct cut on the young master’s middle finger. The originally small wound had been soaked in water and now looked somewhat disturbing.

“Young Master, how did your hand get injured?”

Yuan Ce’s gaze slowly shifted from the hair tie to the cut on his finger, caused by a bowstring.

When was the last time he had injured himself by slipping while drawing a bowstring? At seven years old? Or eight?

“It’s nothing.” Yuan Ce lowered his hand and walked out, but after a few steps, he suddenly paused, stood silently with his back turned for a moment, then looked back. “What did you just say?”

“I asked how your hand got—”

“Before that.”

“Umm—please forgive me, Young Master?”

“Before that.”

Qing Song rolled his eyes, thinking hard for a moment: “Oh, I said it’s better to endure a short pain than a long one. The eldest young master would probably prefer you to be the villain who abandons her…”

“Do you think she’s the type who would willingly accept being abandoned?”

“…”

After a long pause, could it be that the quick-witted young master had taken all this time just to come up with a retort for him…?

After a moment of surprise, Qing Song let out a soft “oh.”

Well, it would indeed be difficult to find a reason the princess would accept to end their relationship.

Besides, the young master had displayed such impressive skills at the academy today, captivating even those aristocratic young men, let alone the princess. Right now, the princess’s affection was at its peak, so it wasn’t a good time for a separation…

Thinking of this, Qing Song suddenly had a flash of inspiration and exclaimed, “I have a good idea! What if… instead of you abandoning the princess, we could make the princess abandon you?”

A quarter of an hour later, in the study, Yuan Ce looked at the stack of scrolls nearly half his height in front of him, crossing his arms in confusion and raising an eyebrow: “This is your good idea?”

The stack of scrolls contained portraits of all the young aristocrats at the Tianchong Academy. Each portrait included annotations about their identities, personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and their relationship with their elder brother.

In his role as his brother’s stand-in in Chang’an, he naturally had to understand all of his brother’s social connections, which included not only court officials but also these young men who would now be under the same roof with him.

Qing Song had just huffed and puffed to bring these portrait scrolls, saying his idea was right here.

“Yes, I think you needn’t bother trying to drive the princess away anymore. The academy presents both a challenge and an opportunity—you see, there aren’t just you in the academy, but other young aristocrats as well. Now that the princess is under the same roof as you, she’s also under the same roof as them. Perhaps with time, she might develop feelings for someone else and transfer her affections, thus abandoning you!”

Yuan Ce pointed at the stack of scrolls and laughed incredulously: “You think there’s someone here who could make her transfer her affections and abandon me?”

“Um… please don’t be angry. To be precise, she would be abandoning the eldest young master, not you. There was no beginning with you, so how could there be an abandonment?”

“…”

Qing Song: “As for these young aristocrats, don’t you remember that the princess previously accepted birthday gifts from many of them? At the very least, she wouldn’t dislike them as much as that elder cousin of hers!”

“Of course, if you continue to stand out like you did today, it will be difficult for the princess to notice anyone else. Perhaps you could restrain your brilliance a bit, let them shine, and highlight their qualities?”

“With just these people, even if I give them advantage with one hand…” Yuan Ce raised his left hand, paused, then added his right hand, “…with both hands, it would still be hard for them to shine.”

Qing Song flipped through the portraits and picked one up: “Well, if not in martial arts, what about appearance? This one is quite handsome, perhaps he has a chance to win the princess’s heart?”

Yuan Ce glanced at it and shook his head: “I met him in person today. He looks nothing like his portrait, I almost didn’t recognize him.”

“How could that be! General Mu’s investigation was too careless, this could expose your identity…” Qing Song continued searching and picked up another portrait. “What about this one? He looks quite docile. The princess often gets rebuffed by you, perhaps she would prefer someone obedient and well-behaved?”

Yuan Ce’s expression remained blank: “Someone who asks ‘Do all Northern Jie people have blue faces and fangs?’ obviously lacks intelligence.”

“That won’t do. Intelligence is essential. How could someone without intelligence be worthy of the princess…” Qing Song nodded and persisted, his eyes lighting up. “This one is intelligent! He’s one of the few at the academy with outstanding literary talent. The princess speaks so eloquently, perhaps they could find common ground in conversation?”

Yuan Ce: “He’s just showing off his learning, dropping book references everywhere. She’ll be lucky if she doesn’t glare at him.”

“What about this one…”

“His perfume can be smelled from ten paces away. She can’t stand that.”

“This…”

“He frequents brothels daily, cut from the same cloth as her cousin.”

…

The candlelight flickered, and Qing Song began seeing double. He rubbed his tired eyes and reached for the last unopened portrait scroll.

“Enough,” Yuan Ce pinched the bridge of his nose. “Take your terrible ideas back to your quarters.”

At noon the next day, in front of the Tianchong Academy, Gu Yu helped Jiang Zhiyi, dressed in men’s clothing, descend from the carriage.

The marquis’s mansion was truly far from the academy. Yesterday, the princess had already risen very early to make it to class on time. Today, she was too tired to get up.

Gu Yu had advised her that since the person was already there and wouldn’t run away, she might as well come at noon and bring a warm, affectionate lunch for Commander Shen.

The princess praised her thoughtfulness and slept soundly until the sun was high in the sky. Well-rested and refreshed, she brought a food box and came.

Gu Yu carried the food box in one hand and supported Jiang Zhiyi with the other, accompanying her inside: “I’ve already sent a message to Qing Song, telling him not to bring food today. Commander Shen must be hungry and waiting for you right now.”

“Then let’s hurry!” Excited to see him, Jiang Zhiyi smiled and quickly walked into the Tian Hall, but immediately noticed that the last row was empty.

Looking around, there was only one person in the entire classroom at the moment. It was the young man sitting in front of her seat.

Seemingly noticing her entrance from the corner of his eye, he raised his head from his book, his gaze briefly landing on her face. He nodded slightly to her, then lowered his head to continue reading.

Wondering how to casually inquire about Yuan Ce’s whereabouts, Jiang Zhiyi returned to her seat and exchanged a glance with Gu Yu before asking in a curious tone: “It’s just after class dismissal. How did everyone leave so quickly?”

As expected, like yesterday, the person in front of her didn’t turn around but volunteered an explanation: “Today the teacher dismissed class a quarter of an hour early.”

Jiang Zhiyi remarked with slight amazement: “The servants bringing food from home arrived quite quickly.”

The person in front continued to answer in a gentle manner: “Fearing their masters would go hungry and be punished, they usually arrive a quarter of an hour early.”

“Then where would those whose servants haven’t arrived go right now?”

“That would be up to each individual.”

After this three-question exchange, Jiang Zhiyi fell silent.

She couldn’t be too obvious, and probably couldn’t get more information anyway. Perhaps she should just wait a while.

With this thought, Jiang Zhiyi rested her chin on her hand in boredom and glanced at the scholarly-looking back in front of her: “Why aren’t you going to have lunch?”

“My younger sister is bringing my meal today. She walks a bit slowly, so I’m waiting for her here.”

Look how he knows his sister is coming with food and waits quietly for her. Look at her own person by comparison!

Jiang Zhiyi glanced at the empty seat to her right and gave a soft mental snort. As she turned her gaze, she saw a slender figure wearing a veiled hat carrying a food box entering the classroom.

“Brother, I encountered an elderly person with a sudden illness on the way and escorted them to a medical clinic, which delayed me. Are you hungry?” The young woman lifted the veil from her hat as she approached.

Almost immediately, Jiang Zhiyi recognized her—it was Pei Xueqing, the daughter of Minister Pei, whom she had briefly met on the day of Sister Bao Jia’s restaurant opening.

…So the person sitting in front of her was the son of the Prime Minister.

The eldest legitimate son of Minister Pei, instead of studying the classics, was idling away his days at this unremarkable academy?

As this doubt flashed through her mind, Pei Xueqing had already walked with small steps to her brother’s side and seemed to just notice someone sitting behind the pearl curtain. She hurriedly curtsied to Jiang Zhiyi.

Jiang Zhiyi nodded to her and listened as the siblings in front of her engaged in familiar conversation, casually taking a sip of the stomach-warming tea that Gu Yu had just poured.

When she looked up again, she noticed that while Pei Xueqing was talking with her brother, she was secretly glancing toward Yuan Ce’s seat.

Jiang Zhiyi followed her gaze to look to the right.

When Pei Xueqing turned back and noticed her watching, she quickly lowered her head.

“Brother, enjoy your meal slowly. I need to wash my hands first…” Shortly after, Pei Xueqing quietly excused herself from her brother, bowed respectfully to Jiang Zhiyi, lowered her veil, and hurriedly walked out.

Jiang Zhiyi frowned, holding her teacup.

She remembered that this Pei Xueqing had overheard her and Brother A-Ce’s private affection at the restaurant, and later at Sister Bao Jia’s banquet, she had continually cast glances at her.

Judging by the way Pei Xueqing had just looked at Brother A-Ce’s seat, there was something inexplicably strange about it.

That look was just like how she secretly glanced at Brother A-Ce’s seat…

An uncomfortable intuition surrounded Jiang Zhiyi, making her feel uneasy.

Looking at the specially prepared food box beside her, Jiang Zhiyi thought for a moment, then stood up and walked out of the classroom.

Crossing the threshold and looking around, she caught sight of the veil-wearing young woman and Yuan Ce standing face to face at the end of the corridor, engaged in conversation.

So her guess was right…

Since Brother A-Ce’s return to the capital, when had he ever looked at another woman, or stood so close talking to another woman?

Jiang Zhiyi felt a knot in her chest and walked forward with suppressed anger.

On the other side, Yuan Ce keenly sensed someone approaching and gave Mu Xinhong behind him a signal, glancing at her.

Just one glance, and then he seemed to be drawn back to what Pei Xueqing was saying—

“Xueqing knows some medicine and can bandage the General’s wound…”

Jiang Zhiyi barely heard what needed bandaging; her ears were entirely focused on that one word, “Xueqing.”

…Even in front of her brother, she only referred to herself as “I,” yet in front of an unrelated man, she used her name?

She had never addressed Brother A-Ce that way to his face!

Jiang Zhiyi took a deep, trembling breath and quickly walked to stand behind Pei Xueqing, approaching Yuan Ce with a menacing air and raising her chin sharply: “Zhiyi also knows some medicine. Let Zhiyi bandage the General’s wound!”

Mu Xinhong jolted forward with a start, raising his knife to protect Yuan Ce’s injured hand.