One utterance brought silence to all four directions; one utterance stirred the tides of hearts.

In an instant, startling waves crashed against the shore, stunning the nearly blank minds of these several thousand people.

Unparalleled Talent!

The students were simply excited by these two pure, noble, and lofty words they had dreamed of. The great officials at court, however, exchanged meaningful glances with each other.

This young man’s luck was truly good… If it weren’t for the unrest at the borders and His Majesty’s negligence in government in recent years, leading to various defects in national affairs that caused popular unrest, and His Majesty urgently needing to stabilize the people’s hearts, how could the title of “Unparalleled Talent” be bestowed so quickly on this green youth?

Others thought even more deeply—the Crown Prince was mediocre, the various princes were powerful, court ministers each had their own factions, and talk of deposing the eldest to establish the worthy had never ceased. Some days ago when the Crown Prince’s seal was suspended, it stirred the princes to action even more. Competition among the princes for position was not a blessing for the imperial dynasty, yet the Emperor had never made any move. Now Qingming Academy was under the Crown Prince’s faction. The old master playing this move was invisibly a warning to the prince factions—the Crown Prince’s honor and favor had not declined, so stop!

If the nation needed an unparalleled talent, then even if this young man just drew a few random strokes, he would still be an unparalleled talent!

Some even began to wonder—was this arranged in advance?

Undercurrents surged, but on the surface all was harmonious and joyful as everyone greeted Feng Zhiwei with smiles.

Feng Zhiwei responded calmly, neither humble nor arrogant, with natural graceful bearing. Seeing this, the great officials who had originally harbored doubts began to doubt their own doubts—looking at this appearance, he really did seem quite like an unparalleled talent.

Several princes all cast their gazes over, but these gazes didn’t necessarily harbor good intentions—talented people from Qingming Academy were automatically considered the Crown Prince’s people.

Ning Yi sat to one side, having already regained his calm, leisurely drinking tea. His long eyelashes lowered, concealing a faint smile.

Good, very good. In a desperate situation you actually managed to forge a path for yourself. However… I just fear that having escaped the perilous cliff, you’ll encounter a dead end!

Because this was a temporary imperial audience, and because of being labeled an “Unparalleled Talent,” the etiquette of the audience was relatively simple. The Emperor and Crown Prince also appeared to treat scholars with courtesy and were very amiable, especially the Crown Prince. Holding Feng Zhiwei’s hand and asking after her welfare with such concern, one might think he and Feng Zhiwei had been separated for many years and missed each other terribly. Feng Zhiwei was made very uncomfortable by his damp, sticky, soft palm and smiled while subtly trying to extract herself bit by bit.

She hadn’t yet completed her great shift when someone had already lost patience.

“Move aside!”

A cold rebuke that had just been outside the arena—before the final sound ended, the person was already at the foot of the hall. In a blur, everyone only saw a shadow of sky-water blue, like a trace of starlight dragged out from the horizon, arriving in an instant. Wherever it passed, tree leaves within ten zhang silently floated up, then gathered together beside that shadow, like an enormous pale green folding fan unfurled between heaven and earth, fanning this visitor from beyond across the firmament.

“There’s an assassin! Protect His Majesty!”

The Imperial Forest Guards and the Emperor’s personal Eternal Tassel Guards stationed on all sides cried out in unison, leaping up to intercept. However, they couldn’t even touch the edge of that whirlwind before being scattered aside, rolling like gourds into a pile. Countless refined steel long sabers with red tassels shot out in all directions, flashing blinding light in the sunlight.

Yet there was a deep black and brownish-red figure that silently emerged from behind Xin Ziyan. Raising a hand to intercept that sky-blue shadow, when that person’s hand extended, the sky full of green shadows immediately withdrew. However, the sky-blue shadow seemed to have some apprehension of him and actually twisted at a strange angle to avoid him.

With this evasion, covering a thousand li in an instant, it had already reached before Feng Zhiwei.

With a “whoosh,” a golden light struck, the wind fiercely assaulting the newcomer’s face—it was Ning Yi instantly throwing the teacup in his hand to block.

The newcomer deflected with a hand, and the teacup flew back. Remarkably, through this exchange, the tea in the cup didn’t spill a single drop.

These several interceptions and exchanges all happened in the blink of an eye. Before most people could react, that person had already reached before Feng Zhiwei. Long sleeves extending, snow-white fingers flashing then disappearing, Feng Zhiwei had already been snatched from the Crown Prince’s clutches.

The Crown Prince cried out in alarm, his body leaning backward, but was gently supported by someone. That person stood before the Crown Prince, turning sideways to shield the Emperor who also showed a startled expression, only then scolding lightly, “Audacious! Seize him!”

It was precisely Ning Yi.

And the one who led Feng Zhiwei away was naturally the Gu family’s young master, just awakened from his drunken stupor.

The Imperial Forest Guards and Eternal Tassel Guards all rushed over, swords unsheathed and arrows nocked, all aimed at Gu Nanyi.

Gu Nanyi didn’t even look. He brushed aside the Crown Prince’s hand, grabbed Feng Zhiwei, and said indifferently, “Mine.”

“…”

In her heart, Feng Zhiwei only wanted to wail—Young Master Gu, are you protecting me or making things difficult for me? Why didn’t you appear earlier or later, but only emerge just when the dust had settled…

Also, what do you mean by “mine”?

Feng Zhiwei believed that Young Master Gu’s statement must be another abbreviated phrase. It should have had a few words added in the middle, such as “the one I’m protecting,” “the one I’m following,” or like what the booklet’s owner often said, “the one I’m covering for,” and so on, to be correct.

Saying it this way would cause misunderstanding!

Ever since Gu Nanyi appeared, Ning Yi’s expression had been quite spectacular—if he remembered correctly, that wretched woman had disappeared together with this person back then!

That time, that wretched woman and this person together had injured him. This time, that wretched woman and this person together were ruining his plans.

No wonder he had always felt this young man seemed familiar—so it was her, it was her—

In great fury, Ning Yi’s expression was calmer than usual, his breathing slower than usual. Beneath his slightly slanted long eyebrows, his black jade-like eyes looked at Gu Nanyi with a gaze like needles buried in snow for a thousand years.

This needle had broken through the skin from the moment he saw Gu Nanyi appear, and by that direct and powerful statement “mine,” had been sharpened to its most piercing point.

Feng Zhiwei suddenly shivered, thinking why had the surroundings become so cold in the blink of an eye?

Looking up again, she saw Ning Yi’s expression—the handsome and romantic Prince Chu, casual and at ease before others, deep and cold before her, but she had never seen such an expression, as if he could squeeze out countless ice beads at any moment to smash down on her head and face.

Forget it… Their fates were incompatible. Let him be as angry as he wanted. The urgent matter at hand was still to save Gu Nanyi.

Looking at the Crown Prince slumped in his chair with unfocused eyes, then at Ning Yi standing calmly before the Emperor, Feng Zhiwei sighed inwardly, stepped back, and bowed, saying, “Your Majesty, Your Highness, can you overlook this commoner’s friend’s few martial arts moves?”

At these words everyone froze. The Crown Prince finally recovered and said suspiciously, “…Your… friend?”

“A mountain rustic who doesn’t understand etiquette, offending His Majesty deserves ten thousand deaths.” Feng Zhiwei lowered her brows and eyes, wishing she could express all the respect and humility that Gu Nanyi couldn’t manage on her own. She said solemnly, “But having learned literary and martial arts, one naturally hopes to sell them to the imperial family. This friend of mine has always admired the court’s civilizing influence. Though his pure nature makes him unaware of proper advancement and retreat, he absolutely has no intention of offense against His Majesty… I humbly beseech Your Majesty’s sage heart to discern and show mercy.” As she spoke, she kowtowed.

The Crown Prince immediately felt relieved, thinking that warriors with superior martial skills were mostly eccentric in temperament. Now it seemed this was indeed true. Moreover, this person’s martial arts were far superior to those expensive martial world retainers he had hired in the past. If he could recruit him, wouldn’t it be a great asset? He immediately smiled and said, “If this gentleman truly intended to assassinate, why would he not even bring a weapon? And why would he stand here so calmly? No harm, no harm.”

He answered too hastily. The Emperor glanced at him again indifferently, then said to Feng Zhiwei, “Have him withdraw.”

Feng Zhiwei breathed a sigh of relief and assented. Then she heard the Emperor instruct Ning Yi, “You withdraw as well.”

This tone was the same as when speaking to Feng Zhiwei just now, even more indifferent. Clearly Ning Yi had protected with his own body in the face of danger, yet the Emperor seemed not to have seen it, remaining aloof. Yet Ning Yi’s expression remained calm as usual as he bowed and assented.

And the Crown Prince had already risen with a smile, personally taking the teacup from the eunuch’s hand to change the Emperor’s tea.

It was just as the Crown Prince rose to leave his seat, and Ning Yi was about to withdraw.

A shocking change suddenly erupted!