Wei Yiyuan didn't bid farewell to Minister Sun before leaving the estate.
Just as he was about to board his carriage, Sun Qian hurriedly chased after him.
"Wait!"
Wei Yiyuan didn't get in the carriage. Instead, he turned to face Sun Qian, who was running toward him at a quick pace, and waited for him.
After catching up, Sun Qian immediately bowed and saluted. "Your Highness, please forgive us. My father, he..."
"No need for such formality." Wei Yiyuan raised his hand and smiled. "I can understand the Minister's mood. This Song clan jieyuan truly made a drunken scene."
Made a drunken scene.
Hearing these three words, Sun Qian detected a hint of something subtle.
Under what circumstances would someone say "made a drunken scene"?
Generally, it's when someone has committed an offense or said something wrong, and you're trying to excuse them by saying they weren't in their right mind, that they were talking nonsense while drunk, and asking for forgiveness.
But was that Song Shi'an really drunk?
Wasn't he arrogant from the bottom of his heart?
"Today was truly discourteous, we've been poor hosts to Your Highness," Sun Qian said with an embarrassed smile. "This banquet ended on such an unpleasant note."
"It's no matter. Today I came to celebrate the Minister's birthday. This prince has already come, and my goodwill has been conveyed. Moreover, seeing Minister Sun in such high spirits and good health brings great comfort to my heart."
After these pleasantries, Wei Yiyuan asked teasingly, "As for Miss Sun's marriage, is there a suitable candidate among the sub-yuan?"
"Originally that was the purpose, but after today's commotion... I'm afraid it may be delayed." Sun Qian said awkwardly.
"Haha, tell the Minister not to be angry. Don't bother arguing with such juniors." Wei Yiyuan said.
"Yes, I will convey this to my father," Sun Qian said earnestly.
"Then this prince still has some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."
"Respectfully seeing off His Highness, the Prince of Zhongping."
After the other party expressed his intention to leave, Sun Qian bowed once more.
Only after the prince's carriage had departed into the distance did he raise his head.
His brow furrowed slowly.
Something's not right.
Why wasn't the Prince of Zhongping particularly 'enthusiastic' toward me?
When we first met, he directly used a weighty phrase like "leading the capital's scholars."
That implied recognition of my status as a leader of the younger generation.
Coming from a prince, could those words be taken lightly?
But now, when I sought him out alone, there was no evaluation, no acknowledgment, no exhortations.
This Prince of Zhongping is planning to...
---
Sitting in the prince's carriage, Wei Yiyuan closed his eyes to rest.
"Your Highness, that person seems to be the Song clan's jieyuan," the guard riding alongside the carriage said softly near the carriage window.
Slowly, Wei Yiyuan lifted the carriage curtain.
By the roadside, that dissolute jieyuan was walking unsteadily, swaying back and forth. Even the strict protocol that "when a prince's carriage passes, commoners must kowtow and officials must bow" seemed to mean nothing to him.
"Your Highness, should we reprimand him?" asked the accompanying Imperial Forest cavalry.
"Can't you see the jieyuan is drunk?"
Wei Yiyuan responded coldly, then lowered the curtain.
The prince's carriage traveled on.
And Song Shi'an's drunkenness vanished in an instant, his expression returning to sharp alertness.
He stopped walking and turned to look back in the direction of the Minister's estate, his resolve absolute.
Fuck you, I'm going all-out against you.
---
The Prince of Zhongping's carriage arrived at the Prince of Jin's estate. After disembarking, he hurried into the manor.
"Where is the Prince of Jin?" Wei Yiyuan asked.
"Your Highness, he's in the study. This servant will go report—"
Before she could finish, he headed straight for the study.
Upon arrival, he pushed the door open with a "bang."
"Zishang is here."
Wei Yixuan, who was practicing calligraphy with brush in hand, didn't even look up. Just from this "presumptuous" commotion, he already knew who it was.
"Elder Brother, at a time like this, you're still here practicing calligraphy?" Wei Yiyuan walked to his side.
"Master Gu once taught that practicing calligraphy cultivates the heart and mind."
He continued copying Gu Yixin's calligraphy model, completely undisturbed. After finishing the last character, he looked up and asked, "A time like what?"
"Elder Brother, you definitely can't imagine what happened at Sun Yan's banquet!"
Wei Yiyuan said mysteriously, with somewhat excited gossip in his tone.
"What happened?" Wei Yixuan's curiosity was piqued.
So Wei Yiyuan recounted everything that had occurred at the banquet, from the initial seating arrangements all the way to the poem Song Shi'an had recited, leaving out not a single detail.
After hearing it all, the Prince of Jin was indeed shocked.
However, after calming down, he asked casually, "He didn't bow to your carriage—such disrespect, yet you did nothing?"
"If it were any other day and he acted like this, naturally it wouldn't be permitted."
Wei Yiyuan said with a smile, "But today, he just used drunkenness as an excuse to act wild. Such a fine performance—how could I bear not to let him exit gracefully?"
"You've become somewhat more humble."
"Then, Your Highness the Prince of Jin, how do you view this?"
Wei Yiyuan asked curiously.
"'Why should a man not carry the Yu saber, to conquer the passes and mountains of fifty provinces? I invite you to ascend the Cloud Pavilion—which scholar has been enfeoffed with ten thousand households?'... It truly is a poem of grand vision and grand spirit," the Prince of Jin said after carefully savoring it, offering this high praise.
"At the banquet he was neither servile nor arrogant, yet displayed his talent to the fullest. Without a doubt, he'll immediately become the capital's number one topic of conversation," Wei Yiyuan said with certainty.
"He's also thoroughly offended Minister Sun."
"That was precisely his goal. And it was also Minister Sun's goal."
"What's your assessment?" the Prince of Jin asked.
When asked, Wei Yiyuan, who had already formed his thoughts, spoke frankly: "Second Brother, at this moment you must show courtesy and respect for the worthy, personally receive the jieyuan, and do so grandly. Of course, grandly doesn't mean with lavish gifts—just meeting him gives him face. The main thing is to let everyone in the capital know that Song Shi'an has already joined your camp."
"But recruiting this wild character... won't it bring trouble?"
"He's not wild at all, Second Brother."
Wei Yiyuan argued earnestly, "If he were truly an arrogant scholar, he should have gotten angry when the seating was arranged. Why would he endure all the way to the end?"
"He just wants to become famous."
"Second Brother's brilliance is unmatched."
Wei Yiyuan nodded, then continued, "Military farming—that's what Father Emperor wants to do, and it will inevitably harm the interests of the Sun clan of Yangzhou. In a few days when he reports for duty, Father Emperor will definitely select a county for him to earn enough political achievements, then in a few years, entrust him with important responsibilities. Since he's someone Father Emperor wants to use, Second Brother, you should use him too."
After deep thought, the Prince of Jin said, "Then choosing him means I can't choose Sun Qian."
"Abandon Sun Qian."
Wei Yiyuan said decisively.
Today he had gone with the original intention of recruiting Sun Qian.
But along the way, he had changed his mind.
"No, no." Raising his hand, the Prince of Jin said after some struggle, "I can't make this choice between the two. Meet with Song Shi'an."
"..." Hearing this, Wei Yiyuan became somewhat anxious and asked in return, "What if Fourth Brother goes to meet him?"
"Then let him go."
In this regard, the Prince of Jin appeared very composed. "This reputation of 'welcoming retainers broadly'—give it to him."
Father was already old, and his health wasn't so good.
At this critical juncture, if Zisheng dared to touch such a controversial figure, it would be tantamount to writing the word "ambition" all over his face.
This was what the Prince of Jin thought.
Wei Yiyuan also knew what he was thinking.
As long as you do nothing, you can't do anything wrong.
But Fourth Brother was also a legitimate son with legal grounds to inherit.
How could he just do nothing?
"Second Brother." Wei Yiyuan looked at him, his tone urgent. "You can't just wait for Father to pass the throne to you."
Hearing this, the Prince of Jin's face darkened. He raised his finger and seriously lowered his voice. "Zishang, you must never say such words again!"
---
"'Why should a man not carry the Yu saber, to conquer the passes and mountains of fifty provinces?'"
"'I invite you to ascend the Cloud Pavilion—which scholar has been enfeoffed with ten thousand households?'"
"The jieyuan's poem truly reaches the clouds with its heroic spirit!"
"And at the Minister's estate, he actually said something as wild as 'your birthday is none of my concern'—has he always been this brave?"
"This person wants to be a hero!"
"Could the Most Beautiful Woman in Jiangnan really hold no temptation for him at all?"
"He's still too frivolous, too arrogant—youth doesn't understand propriety! That Minister is one of the Three Excellencies of the current court—how many people can't even curry favor with him!"
"Does this mean the Song clan of Huai Commandery is going head-to-head with the Sun clan of Yangzhou?"
Before long after the banquet, news of what had happened at the birthday celebration had already spread everywhere, becoming the talk of the markets.
Wei Wusheng, who was "conducting a private inspection" in an elegant room by the window of a wine house, listened while his heart burned with passionate fervor.
The female guard in men's clothing sitting across from him maintained her customary cold silence, acting as a quiet listener.
"His Majesty's military farming reforms need a sharp blade, and he became that blade!"
Wei Wusheng was no longer merely interested in or admiring this Song Shi'an.
He wanted to see what kind of face this person had.
What kind of heart he possessed.
To be able to speak such words.
"Xinyue."
After intense internal struggle, Wei Wusheng looked up at the young woman before him and said, "Go meet him for me."