Proofread and Edited by April & Eden

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Rumor had it that Rui-wangye dianxia was unrestrained and willful, often mingling with all sorts of people of the .

Now seeing him in person, Shen Zhixiao pondered: rumors, which were often exaggerated, seemed entirely accurate in this case—perhaps even an understatement!

He had never seen any decent person who could sleep until three-quarters into sishi hour, then go out in untidy clothes and go to a restaurant with half his chest exposed! 

Although Rui-wangye looked charming and rakish, with unmatched elegance and a natural air of untamed charisma in his every move, and although his physique was tall and robust, he was far too… far too… How to word it? Ah, yes—far too unrestrained and carefree!

And as for the “Three Religions and Nine Schools”…

One only needed to look at the people accompanying Rui-wangye. There was a personal bodyguard in green Daoist robes, a bald-headed monk from Tianzhu, and a personal attendant with a fox-like appearance.

He had practically completed the set.

Hearing the fox-like attendant mention the matter of the escaped wangfei, Shen Zhixiao was utterly shocked and blurted out, “The rumors say that on the day of Dianxia’s wedding, the bride fled. Could it really be true?!”

The dignity of the imperial family could not be challenged. Which noblewoman would dare to act so recklessly? Was she not afraid her entire family would be implicated and sent to prison, all nine generations of her clan exterminated?

The fox-like attendant, named Yu Jiusi, laughed heartily upon hearing this. “Aiyo, so this matter has already spread all the way to Jiangnan. Wangye, this time your lost face has truly traveled far!”

Rui-wangye Dianxia, however, seemed completely unbothered. Leaning lazily against a round chair in the private room, his legs crossed, he spoke casually, “The disgrace of the master is the death of the servant. This wangye has lost face and, instead of dealing with the culprit, you’re here babbling and making fun of me. Truly, your wages are undeserved.”

Yu Jiusi stood by the banister of the private room, looking down into the restaurant’s main room. Pointing with his chin, he said, “The culprit is down there. How would Wangye like to deal with them? I’ll go and apprehend them right away.”

Shen Zhixiao, puzzled by the conversation, grew curious and quietly moved closer to the railing. Peering over, he saw two finely dressed young gongzis seated by a window in the main room, having their late breakfast or early lunch.

Shen Zhixiao vaguely remembered that these two young gongzis had entered Zuixian House just a step or two ahead of them. Oh! Could it be that, having seen these two enter, Rui-wangye Dianxia had deliberately followed them in?

Shen Zhixiao widened his eyes for a better look and suddenly realized—these weren’t young gongzis at all, but two women disguised as men!

Piecing together Rui-wangye and the fox-like attendant’s previous words, Shen Zhixiao quickly came to a conclusion and exclaimed, “Those two…!”

Among them, could one of them be the runaway wangfei of Rui-wangye Dianxia?!

Yu Jiusi, with his fox-like eyes seemingly able to see through people’s thoughts, grinned and interrupted, “Yes, just as Shen-sangongzi has guessed.”

Still in disbelief, Shen Zhixiao asked, “But why…?”

Why, having clearly spotted a familiar face like Rui-wangye Dianxia, could they remain so calm?

Yu Jiusi seemed to read his thoughts again and continued to interrupt, “Because they believe their disguises are flawless. Even if they encounter someone they know well, they’re confident they won’t be recognized.”

A bit of soot on their faces and a fake mustache—this counted as a flawless disguise?

Shen Zhixiao, worried on their behalf, muttered, “Two women traveling alone with such a careless disguise—this is…”

Yu Jiusi interrupted once again, “En, indeed unsafe. So, when you return to your residence, Shen-sangongzi, I’m asking you to inform your father, zhifu-daren, and trouble him to assign someone to keep an eye on them. After all, she is the daughter of Changping-hou, and Huanghou’s own zhiniu. She is also the Anyi-gongzhu, personally appointed by Bixia.””

Shen Zhixiao, cut off repeatedly and unable to finish a full sentence, looked a bit dazed. Inside, though, he was indignant. 

So what if the marriage arrangement broke down? Why did she flee to Jiangnan? Jiangnan is huge, but why did she end up in Jinling Prefecture? Isn’t this just causing trouble for others?!

Shen Zhixiao had a bad feeling that he wouldn’t have a moment of peace in the coming days. With the autumn examination next year, he needed all his time to study, but he wouldn’t be able to focus. How could he possibly compete with Liu Wenxuan then? Ah, these imperial relatives, why couldn’t they just stay put in the capital?!

Shen Zhixiao’s mind was shallow, and his emotions were written clearly on his face. A glance from Yu Jiusi and Rui-wangye was enough to discern all his anxiety and frustration.

The Daoist-robed bodyguard leaned close to Rui-wangye’s ear and whispered, “That mute wolf Unknown term unexpectedly raised such a clear-hearted son—it’s truly strange.”

Rui-wangye chuckled softly and replied indifferently, “The youngest child is naturally raised more leniently. Look at the eldest son: the little Unknown term in the capital is also a mute wolf who chases after people to bite them.”

Unfortunately, these two “mute wolves” had long pledged their loyalty, and their master was not Rui-wangye.

Rui-wangye wasn’t interested in recruiting talents. If he had the time to be idle, he would rather roam the mountains and rivers, seeking delicious foods across the world.

The braised pork from the northern gate was as good as its reputation. Even the small, seemingly unremarkable cuts of pork had a unique flavor.

Among the six-item braised platter, Rui-wangye especially favored the pig’s tongue. He ate two slices slowly and reached for a third, only to find it all gone—eaten entirely by the foreign monk Ajaro.

Rui-wangye didn’t reprimand the monk but instead turned his ire on Yu Jiusi. “Look at this drunken monk you’ve brought along. Free food and drink at my imperial residence in the capital was bad enough, but now he’s followed us to Jiangnan. When is he leaving?”

Yu Jiusi’s face immediately fell. Pretending not to hear him, he waved for the waiter and ordered another platter of braised meat.

Agraset down his chopsticks and, in clumsy, broken Da Min dialect, said earnestly, “This humble monk is traveling through the Eastern Lands. I had only just stepped into Da Min, when I encountered Jiusi-shizhu, and because of him, I broke my vow of celibacy. I believe this is Buddha testing this humble monk. If I do not overcome this tribulation, this humble monk cannot move forward.”

Yu Jiusi, both Rui-wangye’s personal attendant and the head of his secret guards. He hadn’t been careful, and had been hit with Love Poison. He had fled to a dilapidated temple, where he had encountered the wandering monk Agra.

As for the outcome… Naturally, the monk’s purity couldn’t withstand the teasing of an “evil spirit,” and he was Unknown term into surrender.

With the pig’s tongue replenished and entertainment at hand, Rui-wangye was once again in a cheerful mood, grinning wickedly. “Right! Right! In all this land under heaven, there’s no such thing as a free service. You must have had an ill-fated relationship with him in your past life; now he’s your calamity in this one. You must persist in redeeming him—hahaha!”

Shen Zhixiao couldn’t make sense of their words and didn’t want to try. He just felt that because he lacked that carefree and unrestrained attitude, he was completely out of place with people like Rui-wangye and his entourage.

Yu Jiusi, tired of hearing about his misfortune with the monk, turned to tease Shen Zhixiao instead, diverting the conversation. “Jinling’s Qinhuai River is renowned far and wide, full of beauty and charm, a place of endless delights. Let’s inconvenience Shen-gongzi to show us around. In a moment, we can go broaden our horizons and experience it for ourselves.”

Having witnessed their carefree antics, Shen Zhixiao instinctively assumed their interests were not in the waters of the Qinhuai River, the willows along its banks, or even the grass beneath the willows. Without much thought, he blurted out, “But it’s still broad daylight! The guniang in the pavilions must be resting. How about we go after sunset?”

The moment he finished speaking, Shen Zhixiao came back to his senses and wanted to slap himself. Even if Rui-wangye Dianxia was as uninhibited as the rumors said, he shouldn’t speak so disrespectfully. Had he studied the principles of “rulers and ministers” for nothing?

Fortunately, Rui-wangye didn’t get angry. Stretching lazily, he said indifferently, “Alright then. This wangye will go take a nap first. It’s best to roam freely after sunset.”

Shen Zhixiao: “…” Didn’t you just get up?

The taciturn bodyguard in Daoist robes took the initiative to say, “While Wangye goes to make up for lost sleep, this subordinate won’t go back as well. I’ve heard that the eight helmsmen of Jinling’s Canal Gang are all skilled in martial arts. This subordinate intends to challenge them one by one.”

The bodyguard was surnamed Liu, named Pengyue, and had the courtesy name Xiake. He was from an influential family but had grown up on Wudang Mountain. Other than being a martial arts fanatic, he had no other shortcomings.

Rui-wangye Dianxia, a tolerant master, simply said, “Don’t kill anyone,” and approved his plan.

Shen Zhixiao thought with shame that he himself had too little experience of the world; otherwise, he wouldn’t have made such a fuss about nothing earlier.

After finishing their meal, the group left the private room and headed downstairs.

The two “young gongzis” by the window hadn’t left yet. They glanced briefly at Rui-wangye and his entourage, pretending they didn’t know them.

However, Shen Zhixiao noticed with a sharp eye that the “young gongzi” in the plain blue robes seemed subdued, with a few hints of nervousness on her face.

The other, wearing moon-white brocade robes embroidered with gold and silver patterns, was brash and willful. In her eyes there seemed to be an air of smugness, like she had gotten away with a practical joke and could hardly hide it.

Shen Zhixiao guessed that the “young gongzi” in the extravagant robes was probably the runaway wangfei of Rui-wangye Dianxia, while the nervous one in blue was likely just a maidservant or someone of lesser status.

Rui-wangye seemed uninterested in exposing them. Treating them as strangers, he didn’t even spare them a glance and left with a carefree air.

In Jinling, there were residences to temporarily house members of the imperial household, and a number of imperial estates. There happened to be one near the north city gate. 

After escorting Rui-wangye back to the northern city gate’s estate, Shen Zhixiao quickly took his leave.

At the prefectural yamen, Shen-zhifu was busy handling a brawl-and-assault case. Shen Zhixiao didn’t dare interrupt and waited obediently in the rear hall.

Once the case was resolved, with the guilty admitting their crimes and those to be detained taken into custody, Shen Wei finally had time to listen to his son’s report. However, after listening, he did not express any opinion, and calmly commanded, “The way Rui-wangye Dianxia conducts himself is none of your concern. Just serve him well.”

Shen Zhixiao reluctantly replied, “…Do I really have to keep serving him? The autumn examination is next year, and I still have so many books to study. Isn’t this wasting my time?”

Shen Wei was somewhat at a loss for words. His youngest son was diligent and hardworking to the point of making one feel heartache, but the reality of the Imperial Examinations was that the higher you went, the more it depended on innate talent. A slight delay might actually do him some good, so he wouldn’t take failure so hard later.

Of course, Shen Wei couldn’t openly say his youngest son lacked the talent for higher exams. That would be too demoralizing.

Instead, he took another approach. “Rui-wangye Dianxia is of noble status. Now that he’s in Jinling, he can’t be treated negligently. If you’re unwilling to serve him, weifu will have to do it personally.”

Shen Zhixiao lived up to his name as a filial child and quickly disagreed. “Diedie, you’re already busy with official duties. How can you manage both? This son will serve him. The Imperial Examination isn’t just this one time. If it’s delayed, so be it.”

Shen Wei thought to himself: It’s for the best that he sees it this way. Given his ranking in the academy examinations and his rigid knowledge base, he’s unlikely to pass the autumn examinations next year anyway.