CH 65

Villainous Prince (7)

In October, the news of the new Crown Prince of the Wu Empire reached the Lishui Empire.

Naturally, the well-informed Wang Clan also received the news.

However, Nie Qian Yu continued to behave as usual, staying quietly and speaking little, as if nothing had happened.

But how could it be okay?

For the sake of the Wu Empire, Nie Qian Yu has left his homeland at a young age, living in seclusion and caution in the Lishui Empire, only to be completely abandoned by his homeland and to hear that his own brother has inherited the throne…

It is understandable that the country would have needed a new Crown Prince if Nie Qian Yu had not returned to the country, but the fact that Nie Qian Yu had only just arrived in Lishui less than 2 years ago was really chilling, and it is no wonder that Nie Qian Yu later returned to the country without any regard for his family and took over the throne in a bloodbath.

Song Xu Yi’s heart aches for Nie Qian Yu, and it so happens that the rations planted at this time are all ripe, and Wang Mian’s birthday is coming up, and Song Xu Yi thinks that the day when the clans of the land gather is a good time to promote these items, so she pettily and cheekily asks Wang Mian for the right to organize the birthday feast.

Having eaten the dishes prepared by Song Xu Yi’s cooks, Wang Mian felt that the other dishes were unpalatable, and nowadays, the clans were also competing with each other in terms of heritage, elegance, and food… Wang Mian knew that Song Xu Yi would probably surprise him with the banquet, which would add to the Wang Clan’s reputation, so he simply agreed to Song Xu Yi’s request.

So in order to prepare for the banquet and bring her new found food to the attention of the feast’s clans, Song Xu Yi took Nie Qian Yu with her into her acres of land to shut out all the unpleasant noises and concentrate on harvesting the crops…

Soon November arrives.

In Zhongzhou, the most famous academy where literary culture flourishes is called Bai Qiao Academy.

The Bai Qiao Academy has a long history and has produced many outstanding, highly distinguished and decorated figures, and there is a saying in the Jiangnan area——”Once you enter Bai Qiao, you have half a foot in the Inner Palace.”

Although this may sound exaggerated, it is a testament to the status of the Bai Qiao Academy among the scholars, and it is well known that the Academy is inextricably linked to the local ruler, the Wang Clan.

The school only admits students once every three years.

In early November, along with Wang Mian’s birthday, the world’s scholars rushed to Zhongzhou to await the examinations at Bai Qiao Academy on the 8th of November.

Wang Mian’s 60th birthday was on the 5th of November.

In order to demonstrate the generosity of the world’s most powerful clan, the Wang Clan hosted a banquet on the side of the road and waived a month’s rent for its tenants and slaves, which was praised by the people.

The guests, all of whom had seen the world before, were at first unimpressed by the unfamiliar dishes on the table, but they smelled so good! Some of the guests couldn’t resist taking a bite, and then they couldn’t stop…

Some talented guests even wrote poems on the spot to record the feast, praising the Wang Clan for being the No.1 clan of 100 years, and some unconventional ones asked to stay with the Wang Clan for a while to learn the skills of their cooks.

The banquet was an extreme success, not only bringing the new food to the attention of the rest of the clans as Song Xu Yi had expected, but also pushing the reputation of the Wang Clan as the No.1 clan to the top.

Watching his granddaughter do so much for himself, Wang Mian loved Song Xu Yi even more to the core of his heart.

As a result, when he saw Nie Qian Yu, who was “attracting butterflies” beside Song Xu Yi, making all the ladies blush, and whose two granddaughters even secretly looked at him, even though Nie Qian Yu’s face was expressionless, Wang Mian still felt that the boy with the facade was not good enough for his granddaughter, and he did not like Nie Qian Yu in any way.

However, his granddaughter is obsessed and seems to have fallen for this boy…

Wang Mian thought twice and even asked his family’s advisors to come up with a solution.

The next morning, Wang Mian summoned Song Xu Yi and Nie Qian Yu to his study.

“Master Nie,” Wang Mian said, smiling as he stroked his beard, “I only have one granddaughter, and I am partial to her, so I always want her to do what she wants. Since Xu Yi likes you, I will treat you like a son or nephew in my family…”

“A man’s ambition is to go forth in all directions, not to be confined to a harem all day. I can see that you have a good face and are a good student. This time, the Bai Qiao Academy is recruiting students, and I happen to be an old acquaintance of the head of the academy, so would Prince Nie like to study at Bai Qiao Academy?”

Nie Qian Yu did not answer, but Song Xu Yi’s eyes lit up, “Grandfather, can Brother Nie… enter the Bai Qiao Academy too?”

In the plot summary, Nie Qian Yu did not receive formal education, yet he still became the Emperor, which meant that he had a talent for politics, and the Bai Qiao Academy, as a training ground for officials, would not only teach the students the ways of literature and martial arts, but also the ways of ruling the country and the skills of managing people. Nie Qian Yu would have fewer kills…

But… Nie Qian Yu was from the Wu Empire after all.

“That’s no big deal,” Wang Mian naturally understood the meaning of Song Xu Yi’s words, stroking his beard and smiling, “The old Prince Nie… might have been a bit of a problem, but now…”

In the eyes of rulers like Wang Mian, status symbolised everything, and now that Nie Qian Yu had lost his status, the rulers would no longer focus their attention on him.

However, only Song Xu Yi knew that Nie Qian Yu was a wolf with hidden fangs, he didn’t need status to get what he wanted, he could get everything he wanted even by himself.

“Brother Nie, what do you think?” After Wang Mian said this, Song Xu Yi turned her eyes to look at Nie Qian Yu, her eyes clearly containing some expectation.

Wang Mian looked at Song Xu Yi’s expression and slightly curled his lips.

This was the plan that Wang Mian and his advisor had worked out: if Nie Qian Yu only wanted fame and fortune by Song Xu Yi’s side, Nie Qian Yu would naturally agree to enter the Bai Qiao Academy, which would require 3 years of study, 3 years which would separate him from Song Xu Yi, and their relationship would naturally fade; if Nie Qian Yu did not agree to enter the Bai Qiao Academy, it would mean that he wanted something more, most likely to use Song Xu Yi as a springboard, and that was something that Wang Mian would never allow to happen. that would never happen. And once Nie Qian Yu had made that choice——now that he was no longer the Crown Prince, there were plenty of ways to make people disappear silently…

Nie Qian Yu pursed his lips and glanced at Wang Mian.

Nie Qian Yu had beautiful peach blossom eyes, with a red mole at the end of them, and even if he was expressionless, his eyes would naturally show a bit of affection. If it were anyone else, Wang Mian would have praised his good looks, but since it was Nie Qian Yu who had these eyes, Wang Mian felt that he was too sultry and his eyes were unpleasantly demonic.

For a moment, Wang Mian felt that Nie Qian Yu’s eyes seemed to have seen through his intentions, but then Wang Mian thought that he was overly worried: no one else was present when he and his advisor discussed their plan, and there was no way that the advisor would betray him.

“Thank you for your consideration,” Nie Qian Yu finally curled his lips as he met the eyes of Wang Mian and Song Xu Yi, “As you said, a man’s ambition is to go forth in all directions, to stand on top of the sky. I’ve been studying poetry and literature since I was young, and even though I want to enter the Bai Qiao Academy, I want to do so on my own merit…”

Wang Mian didn’t expect Nie Qian Yu to have such ambitions, so he froze for a moment. Song Xu Yi, who had seen Nie Qian Yu’s ambition on a rare occasion, quickly praised him, “I’m sure brother Nie will get into the academy!”

Nie Qian Yu’s lips curved once again.

When he came back to his senses, Wang Mian could barely maintain his amiable expression: this kid is too ungrateful! How many people have studied hard day and night to get into Bai Qiao Academy, and he dares to speak so shamelessly!

However, he had made his choice after all!

Wang Mian was so relieved that he didn’t care when he heard Nie Qian Yu say that he wanted to bring some attendants with him once he got into the academy, so he waved his hand and agreed: Young people don’t know how to behave, so it’s good to let him try and learn his lesson!

However, Wang Mian did not expect that Nie Qian Yu would actually be admitted to the Bai Qiao Academy and become the youngest of the current batch of students.

What’s more, Wang Mian didn’t expect that the people Nie Qian Yu said he used as his attendants would be the beautiful young men he had arranged for his granddaughter!

However, as the words that he said spilled out of his mouth, Wang Mian could only watch as Nie Qian Yu took the beautiful youths with him on the journey to Bai Qiao Academy.

Wang Mian was so angry that his face turned blue, while Nie Qian Yu was still saying goodbye to Song Xu Yi, his eyes welling up with a thousand emotions, his heart rippling in the same way, which eventually turned into a sentence, “Take care, Princess.”

Nie Qian Yu had never imagined that he would ever be able to attend a school again, this was the most precious opportunity for him, to learn literature and martial arts as soon as possible, to make friends with the best and brightest at the school…

Everything he had been waiting for had suddenly come to him, and all this… Nie Qian Yu pursed his lips: all because of the little princess in front of him.

Nie Qian Yu originally thought he would be happy to get all of this, but when it came down to it, his heart wasn’t as happy as he thought it would be.

Nie Qian Yu couldn’t figure out why he had to take the youths with him, and he couldn’t figure out why his heart was so full of reluctance…

The young princess, however, was smiling, and she was extremely happy, patting his shoulder and telling him, “Don’t worry, brother Nie, you will be the most outstanding student in this year’s class.” The smile did not contain a trace of concern or sadness.

The world says she adores him like a madman, but Nie Qian Yu knows she is the biggest liar in the world!

What she loved most was her acre of land, the new rations she had planted in it, the stragglers who were about to die of hunger… and he, himself, was just a passing concern of hers.

Nie Qian Yu’s eyes suddenly went cold, pursed his lips and handed Song Xu Yi a bag, turning around and getting on the carriage.

When the little princess went into the mountains, her skin was so tender that it attracted mosquito bites, so Nie Qian Yu made a private ointment to protect her from mosquitoes and snakes…

The little princess had been looking for a plant called radish, and Nie Qian Yu had communicated with the animals to find it for her and draw a map.

After hearing from the animals that Wang Mian wanted to send her to Bai Qiao Academy, Nie Qian Yu had been preparing for the separation, yet… Song Xu Yi was not sad at all.

……

“I’m just returning the favor.”

Nie Qian Yu told himself, but as he looked at Song Xu Yi’s bright smile, Nie Qian Yu’s eyes continued to sink, feeling as if a shovelful of cotton had suddenly been stuffed into his heart, inexplicably clogging it.

As the carriage gradually began to move forward, Nie Qian Yu pursed his lips, but he saw Song Xu Yi suddenly run two steps forward, waving her hand and shouting towards him, “Brother Nie, I’ll wait for you to come back from your annual break to cook you something delicious!”

That’s some conscience!

Nie Qian Yu thought to himself.

This time, Nie Qian Yu fought to control the smile at the corners of his lips. He waved his hand in a cold and perfunctory manner, but his voice clearly reached Song Xu Yi’s ears——”Yes!”

Seeing the curtains of the carriage drawn shut and the jade-like person in the carriage no longer visible, Song Xu Yi began to turn around and walk back.

The system stammered out in Song Xu Yi’s mind, “Are you so willing to… let him go?” It was clear that when He Siyu went to school, she would keep bugging her, afraid that He Siyu would have the slightest problem…

“What about it?”

“Aren’t you the least bit upset? He’s all alone in the mountains in that cold…”

“Why should I be upset? He’s a boy, he has to go through the wind and sun and study hard to grow up——” Song Xu Yi frowned, “Why are you acting so strange?”

“Nothing!” The system immediately denied it, “I was just seeking you out for a casual chat!”

“You deserve special recognition for this state of affairs,” the system exclaimed in quick succession, “Please keep it up, and never mind the boy…”