CH 1

"Dong dong dong..."

There was a knock on the door, neither light nor heavy, waking up Rong Zhuo, who was dozing off beside the desk.

He rubbed his still aching head, and said in the direction of the door, "Come in."

Afterwards, a man who looked like a servant pushed the door with medicine in his hand and walked in. This person's name was Jin Douzi, and he was Rong Zhuo's personal servant.

"Young master, drink the medicine." Jin Douzi took a bowl of medicine and put it on the side of the desk.

Rong Zhuo frowned, looking like he didn't want to drink.

He didn't want to drink the medicine, firstly because it was too unpleasant to drink, and secondly because he was not sick.

He had a headache for the past two days, and others thought he was too tired to sort out the manuscripts. Only he himself knew that this was the consequence of him traveling to a book.

Two days ago, Rong Zhuo died tragically in a car accident in modern society. After his death, he was put into a book. In this world, he was also called Rong Zhuo, and he even looked exactly the same as before.

Rong Zhuo hadn't read this book before his death, but after passing through it, the content of this book appeared in his mind out of thin air.

In the book, he is one of the famous talents in the capital, now studying in the National Academy, and is one of the most popular students for next year's spring exams because he has won the attention of the great Confucian scholar Ji Xiunian. According to the book, he will shine in next year's spring exams, not only in the session exams, but also was selected by the emperor as the third flower in the palace examination.

The prince of the dynasty had a good relationship with him before the Spring Festival, and he had a good reputation for being an eye for talent.

But Rong Zhuo knew that behind all this short-lived scenery, there was the beginning of his tragic end.

The prince is a despicable person who befriends Rong Zhuo for his own benefit and will use him as a stepping stone after achieving his goal. And because the original inability to understand people, not only did he end up miserably, but he also brought misfortune to the whole family...

If Rong Zhuo wants to change the fate of himself and his family, he must make plans before everything starts.

Fortunately, fate was not too bad for him, and it was not too late to let him change it before he officially made friends with the prince.

In the original book, he and the crown prince met at the poetry meeting of Prince Yongan Hou Shizi.

When he crossed over, he had just received an invitation to the poetry meeting ......

To this day, he has not replied to Yongan Hou Shizi.

In other words, if he wanted to, he can completely turn down this invitation.

Rong Zhuo really thought so at first, as long as he didn't go, he could avoid the prince.

But who is the crown prince?

If he intends to befriend him, can anyone escape? I can avoided this time, but I can't hide for the rest of my life.

This time the poetry meeting was at least what was in the original book, and he could make some preparations in advance to deal with the prince. If he refuses it now, it's hard to say how he will be arranged by the prince next time.

Therefore, refusing to participate in poetry festivals is obviously not the best policy.

What he should do is to find a way to make the prince lose the idea of befriending him.

"What time is it today?" Rong Zhuo asked Jin Douzi.

"Today is the third day of the first month, and there are still six days left before the poetry meeting on the ninth day." Jin Douzi replied.

Rong Zhuo thought about it, asked the other party to find a blank post, and sent a letter back to the prince of Yongan Hou Shizi.

And thanks to the trend in modern society, when he was a child Rong Zhuo grew up in various hobby classes, so he learned calligraphy quite well, and wrote a handful of small regular letters in a neat and elegant way, not much different from the original master's handwriting.

"Young Master, are you planning to go?" Jin Douzi asked.

"Yes." Rong Zhuo handed the written post to Jin Douzi, "Send it to the Yong'an Marquis Mansion."

Jin Douzi hurriedly took the post and ran away in a flash.

After he left, Rong Zhuo quietly picked up the medicine bowl and poured the medicine into the flowers at the door.

"Yo, what is my cousin doing?" A yin and yang voice came from the door of the small courtyard.

Rong Zhuo had already guessed who the person was coming from listening to the movement. He hurriedly raised his head and smiled brightly at the other party, and obediently called out, "Cousin."

This person is the cousin of Rong Zhuo's uncle's family, named Duan Zheng, a famous playboy in the capital.

The Duan family has been a merchant for many generations and has a rich family background, because he is the only son, Duan Zheng was spoiled, he turn into an uneducated and unskilled dude. In the original book, Rong Zhuo and this person do not talk well, rarely take the initiative to communicate. In addition, scholars and playboys were born with a big wall difference, so the relationship between the two was not close.

The two are not close. Duan Zheng occasionally comes to the Rong House as a guest, and when he sees his pretty cousin who is gentle and elegant, he will be sprouting sarcastic comments, and in return, he is mostly treated coldly by the other one.

But today, it is rare for Rong Cuo to treat him so well, which is a bit surprising to him.

Duan Zheng's eyes fell on Rong Zhuo's face, and he saw that the youth's facial features were as delicate and beautiful as those carved out of white porcelain, especially those eyes were bright and clear, and the long eyelashes looked innocent and simple.

"I just saw your little servant holding a reply to Yongan Hou Shizi, are you going to participate in the poetry party?" Duan Zheng asked him.

"Well, the post from the Shizi arrived two days ago, and only today did I remembered replying."

"What's the point of this laborious poetry meeting? You might as well go play polo with me!" Duan Zheng said.

"Cousin has never been to the poetry festival, how do you know the poetry festival is boring?" Rong Zhuo asked with a smile.

"I don't want to make a fool of myself at a poetry meeting." Duan Zheng said in a disdainful tone, "I've already heard that the poetry party is full of white guys like you, there is no one interesting, it's boring!"

Rong Zhuo knew that he was not the only one who went to the poetry meeting, there were also many young talents who were probably the candidates the crown prince wanted to recruit.

But a dude like Duan Zheng, who never ever read a book, is invited.

The reason is that, although Duan Zheng is not well educated, but his family is rich, he’s not without a value.

The prince is so smart, what is the reason that they are not ignored?

Naturally, because he has a good reputation for being upright and loving.

So no matter what the prince's real preference is, at least on the surface he won't like a dude like Duan Zheng.

This is exactly what Rong Zhuo is thinking now...

The actual fact is that you can't change his mentorship, his talent can't be overturned in a second, but his reputation can be manipulated.

As long as his personality changes from a gentle and elegant talent to a playboy like Duan Zheng, the prince will voluntarily give up on him as his chess piece.

More importantly, at present, the prince has not officially pick or even knew him, he only has interest in him from the words of his subordinates.

If he hadn't known the content of the original book, he would never have known that the prince would go to the poetry meeting. Therefore, he deliberately ruined his reputation, so that the prince would not be suspicious. The other party would only think that his subordinates were negligent in their duties.

At that time, although the crown prince will be disappointed with Rong Zhuo, he will not be embarrassed.

After thinking about this event, Rong Zhuo said to Duan Zheng: "Cousin said it very well, I also think poetry will be boring."

"Ah?" Duan Zheng probably didn't expect that his normally serious cousin would make such remarks, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

"I'm tired of studying in my room all day long." Rong Zhuo pursed his lips and put on the attitude of a good little brother, "Cousin must know a lot of interesting things, right? Can you take me when you have time?"

Obviously, to learn to be a dummy, it would be more suitable to find his cousin.

Sure enough, Duan Zheng's eyes lit up when he heard the words, and he immediately became interested.

He has been a playboy for so many years, and he has played with many people, but only this cousin of his, never looked at him. Unexpectedly, the sun came out from the west today, and his little cousin, who is so square and polite, actually took the initiative to get to know him.

"You are asking me!" Duan Zheng went into the room and sat down, counting the fun things at him with his fingers, "Flowers, casinos, playing polo, fighting crickets... these are the best things to do. Basically, there is no place I am not familiar with, where do you want to go, tell me?"

Rong Zhuo smiled at him, "Can you go all over again?"

Anyway, he still has six days to work, and he doesn't want to waste a day.

Duan Zheng:  …

This beautiful cousin of his with thick eyebrows and big eyes, is he suddenly enlightened?

"Why don't we start by visiting the Flower House (Hualou) today?" Rong Zhuo asked him.

"Do you know what the Flower House (Hualou) is?" Duan Zheng asked.

Duan Zheng stared at Rong Zhuo, and saw that the young man's eyes were clear and his face looked simple and obedient, but he couldn't see the slightest bit of lewdness. He even suspected that if his beautiful cousin had gone to the Flower House (Hualou), only to be taken advantage of by others. And he’s the one who’s going to suffer!.

"Do you know what the Flower House is?" Duan Zheng asked.

"I know, drinking and listening to music to see beautiful women..." Rong Zhuo said, "As for the other things, I'm still young and don't want to touch it."

Rong Zhuo knew that Hualou, strictly speaking, was an ancient version of a nightclub. On the bright side, it is a place to drink wine and listen to music. In fact, eating, drinking, prostitution and gambling are indispensable. It is precisely because of the complexity of such a place that people who are pure and clean will never set foot there.

After all, even if you go in just to drink a wine, when you come out, in the eyes of outsiders, it is no different from whoring.

Rong Zhuo has absolutely no interest in breaking the law, but he doesn't mind polluting his reputation.

"Drinking, well said." Duan Zheng immediately made a promise to him, "Wait for me to go back to the house and change my clothes, I'll have someone pick you up before dusk."

Before dusk that day, Duan's carriage specially came to pick up Rong Zhuo.

In order to match his upcoming dandy status, Rong Zhuo deliberately pulled out a red robe from the closet.

The original Rong Zhuo was used to being plain on weekdays, and most of the clothes he wore were moon white and light blue. In particular, he spent most of his time in the National Academy (Guozi), where the students wore uniform gray robes. If anyone wore this, they would definitely get a dignified reputation.

Today, the robe he wore was bright and eye-catching, which caused him to immediately attract countless eyes after he got off the carriage at the entrance of Hualou. Even Duan Zheng, who had been waiting outside Hualou, was stunned when he saw his red cousin.

At a certain window on the third floor of Hualou, a sharp gaze fell inadvertently, and stopped for a moment on the beautiful young man in red robe. As the sun went down, the soft and bright rays of sunshine generously sprinkled on the boy's body, making his more eye-catching.

The young man seemed to be aware of it, swept his head up this way, and was caught off guard by the man's gaze.

"Today is really lively." The man retracted his gaze, and his voice was casual and cold.

"Young Master is not in the capital all the year round, so he don’t know. There is no time when Xunhuan Tower is not lively at the end of the year." The man behind the man said, "Otherwise Young Master Jiang would not dare to come here to see you rashly."

This kind of mixed place seems to have the most flaws, but it is also the easiest place to hide oneself.

No matter what kind of person enters here, it's like a fish in the water, it's easy to lose track.

"What were you going to say?" The man asked.

"My subordinates have obtained the invitation list for the poetry club. If nothing else, the Fourth Young Master should pick the one he likes from these people and use it for himself." Another person said and handed a list to the man. The current prince ranks fourth, and it is self-evident who the fourth prince is in this population.

The man took the list and looked down, and saw Rong Zhuo's name written at the top of the list.

"This Young Master Rong is Ji Xiunian's proud disciple. He is a well-mannered person and extremely talented." The man just said: "If Young Master is interested in him, his subordinates can also arrange to recruit him in advance, so that he will not be caught by the Fourth prince."

The man's eyes stayed on Rong Zhuo's name for a moment, and said lightly:

"No interest, keep it for the fourth brother."