Gong Shilin had thought he’d finally gotten rid of that troublesome Li Cheng.

Little did he know—

The Li family carriage came chasing from behind.

Drawing alongside him.

He saw Li Cheng lift the curtain, half his body leaning out the window.

He said, “Hey, do you have to be so petty? So you were locked up for a bit—you didn’t lose an arm or a leg. What’s there to be unhappy about? A grown man—is it really necessary?”

Necessary!

If word got out, how embarrassing!

Gong Shilin ignored him.

He continued walking straight ahead without looking sideways.

The carriage kept pace alongside him.

When he slowed down, the carriage slowed down.

When he sped up, the carriage sped up.

The scene was both harmonious and slightly comical.

Li Cheng still had half his body hanging out the window, talking nonstop. “Come on, let’s just consider this matter closed. Don’t feel bad about it! Because the person who should feel worst is me. You know I care most about my elder sister—I can’t stand to see her wronged. For her to marry someone like you, who could stand it?”

Gong Shilin’s footsteps suddenly halted.

The carriage stopped too.

What did he mean by “someone like you”?

Gong Shilin’s face darkened.

Then he looked at Li Cheng.

Very seriously, he said, “Li Cheng, I’m telling you one last time—my marriage, your sister’s marriage, neither of us can make our own decisions. This is perhaps the helplessness of being born into the Li and Gong families. Perhaps one day, you won’t be able to control your own fate either.”

With a stern expression.

Li Cheng froze.

He had never seen Gong Shilin so serious before.

These words also churned in Li Cheng’s mind.

Before he could continue processing them, Gong Shilin had already walked away.

Li Cheng jumped directly down from the carriage and chased after him, blocking Gong Shilin’s path. “I already said we’ll treat today’s incident as if it never happened. I’ll temporarily stop interfering with you and my sister’s matter. But what you owe me—how do you plan to repay it?”

What?

Gong Shilin thought he’d heard wrong.

Owe?

Where did this debt come from?

Since childhood, it had always been Li Cheng chasing him to curse at him, chasing him to beat him.

Making everyone in Gaoding know they were like fire and water, and know that the young master of the Gong family couldn’t beat the young master of the Li family and was often bullied.

So if anyone owed anything, it should be Li Cheng who owed him.

How had it gotten reversed?

“When did I ever owe you anything?” Gong Shilin asked.

“When we were young!”

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

“If it weren’t for you, would I have been laughed at back then? Even now, those people still often mock me. And if you hadn’t tattled, I wouldn’t have gotten beaten by my father. Do you know I was nearly beaten to death? All because of you!” Li Cheng demanded justice.

His face full of resentment and anger.

Gong Shilin finally understood—this fellow was still holding onto that childhood grievance.

“Li Cheng, I didn’t tattle. What happened back then wasn’t me who told.”

“If not you, then who? You little punk, you dare do it but won’t admit it!”

Gong Shilin was too lazy to get entangled with him. “Think whatever you want.”

He walked around him to leave.

Li Cheng reached out and caught Gong Shilin’s clothing in time.

Pulling him toward himself.

“Get in the carriage with me!”

He hauled him up into the carriage.

“What are you doing?” Gong Shilin shouted.

“With snow this heavy, you still expect to walk back?”

“That’s none of your business.”

“If you freeze to death halfway, then it becomes my business.” Li Cheng said.

Gong Shilin was utterly speechless. Due to insufficient strength, he ended up being dragged into the carriage unable to get out.

Li Cheng told the driver, “Go, to Minister Gong’s residence.”

“Yes!”

The driver acknowledged.

Gong Shilin sat inside adjusting his clothing, his face written with discomfort.

And helplessness.

Li Cheng said, “Continuing from before—what you owe me, it’s time to repay.”

Gong Shilin said, “Just speak plainly.”

“Fine!” Li Cheng moved closer to him. “Aren’t you employed at the Hanlin Academy?”

Hmm?

Why suddenly bring up official positions?

Gong Shilin asked, “So what?”

He had a vaguely bad premonition!

He felt Li Cheng was up to something.

Li Cheng said, “Your Hanlin Academy handles civil affairs. You must frequently need to look up various records, right?”

“So what?”

“And you must frequently go to the Ministry of Personnel, right?”

“So what?”

“So… I need you to give me an imperial decree!” Li Cheng said domineeringly.

Gong Shilin knew his scheming mind, but was confused. “What do you need an imperial decree for?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. In any case, I need to go to the Ministry of Personnel’s archive vault, so I need an imperial decree. People from your Hanlin Academy enter and exit the Ministry of Personnel most frequently, so obtaining your imperial decrees is most convenient. Moreover, only your Hanlin Academy can issue imperial decrees directly without requesting permission. So you just need to write me one.” His tone brooked no refusal.

“Why should I write one for you!”

“Because you owe me.”

“Li Cheng, I don’t owe you anything. What happened back then had nothing to do with me. I wasn’t the one who told.”

“Enough, stop shirking responsibility. If not you, then who else could it have been?”

“In any case, it wasn’t me.” Gong Shilin was indignant.

“Don’t change the subject. The imperial decree—will you write it or not?”

Gong Shilin told him seriously, “Li Cheng, when will you finally grow up? Do you know what an imperial decree is? What it signifies?”

Li Cheng folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the carriage wall. “I don’t care about all that.”

“You truly are unteachable.”

“So will you give it or not?”

“No!”

“You…”

Gong Shilin remained “unyielding unto death.”

Completely unmoved by Li Cheng’s threats.

In the end, he had to change tactics.

Li Cheng softened as well.

He said, “Gong Shilin, the grudges between us have gone on for so many years. Although I’ve hit you and cursed at you, we at least grew up together. If not friendship, we have some connection, right? Won’t you help with even this small favor?”

“This isn’t a small favor.” Gong Shilin explained the situation clearly to him. “An imperial decree can’t just be written casually. It’s not something you can have just because you want it. Every department is closely connected. You’re not personnel from the Six Ministries, nor from the Hanlin Academy. To obtain an imperial decree to go to the Ministry of Personnel requires approval. Besides, the Hanlin Academy and the City Department aren’t connected—how could we give you an imperial decree?”

He laid out the situation clearly.

But Li Cheng didn’t care about all that.

“I believe you must have a way!”

“I can’t help you.”

“You don’t need to be so rigid, do you? If it were for official City Department business, I could go anytime. But this matter isn’t official business, and I can’t request an imperial decree. The only one I could think of was you. Only your Hanlin Academy can issue imperial decrees directly without requesting permission from the king. I really had no other option, which is why I thought of you. Otherwise, do you think I’d want to ask you for help?”

“So what exactly are you trying to do?”

“It’s nothing illegal anyway, and it won’t affect your Hanlin Academy. I just want to go in and look up some things.”

Gong Shilin remained silent.

“Just tell me—will you help or not?”