At this moment, Gu Ci desperately wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. Before he had even secured his hold on the big thigh, he had spilled all his secrets clean.
Gu Ci was terrified that the proprietor’s words would cause the big shot to harbor misunderstandings about him. If the big shot thought he was someone greedy for female beauty and idling his days away, and refused to let him be his study companion, it would all be over.
Blushing furiously, he pushed the proprietor out in three steps combined into two.
Only then did he stand opposite Jun Yichen with a bitter, awkward smile, a trace of embarrassment involuntarily coloring his voice.
“Your Highness, please don’t misunderstand. I simply like looking at beauties; I haven’t done anything truly!”
“Besides, I am not someone who lacks a sense of proportion. I only have a bad reputation; you must believe me, I haven’t even touched a girl’s hand.”
Watching his flustered, cornered-dog appearance, the smile at the corners of Jun Yichen’s mouth grew even more bright and alluring.
He had already investigated what kind of person Gu Ci was yesterday.
He was merely a big fool who had the heart for lust but lacked the nerve, holding the empty title of a dissolute young master while possessing a pure and untainted heart.
“Ah Ci is not that kind of person; I understand.”
The single sentence seemed to possess magic, instantly calming the young master who had just been jumping in agitation.
Gu Ci couldn’t quite articulate what he was feeling inside; it felt like a drowning person suddenly reaching the shore itchy, yet a little swollen with warmth.
Watching Gu Ci standing there looking as dazed as a puppy, Jun Yichen felt a slight stir in his heart, his hand unconsciously reaching out to gently rub the top of the youth’s head.
Just as he had anticipated, it was very soft.
Gu Ci was somewhat dazed by this gesture; deep down, he felt that this kind of action probably shouldn’t be performed on a guy.
Still, the feeling wasn’t bad.
It seemed his precarious reputation was saved after all.
He let out a long sigh of relief.
Neither of them noticed that their intimate interaction just then had quietly crossed the line.
Early the next morning:
“Your Highness, today is the day Marquis Gu’s Heir officially enters the palace as your study companion. Is there anything you need prepared?”
“This Marquis of Anguo’s Heir has a terrible reputation outside; he is likely a dissolute, good-for-nothing bag of straw. Keeping such a person around might affect Your Highness’s future grand enterprise. Should this subordinate…” A young man stood rigidly in the center of the hall, emanating a chilling aura.
His underlying meaning was glaringly obvious; after all, taking a life was merely a matter of raising a hand for him.
Jun Yichen stood with his back to him, making his expression unreadable, yet the icy sternness in his tone indicated he wasn’t just speaking idly.
“Mowu, you don’t need to follow along from now on unless there’s something important. Furthermore, you ought to rein in that murderous aura of yours; there are some matters this palace does not wish to complicate with extraneous troubles.” Especially regarding Gu Ci, he silently added to himself in his heart.
Hearing this, Mowu cast a surprised glance at his master’s back; a death squad member’s vocation was absolute obedience.
“Understood, this subordinate obeys!”
Jun Yichen waved his hand casually, dismissing him.
He couldn’t help recalling the scene from the other day when Gu Ci had fought the men in black single-handedly.
Mowu probably wasn’t a match for Gu Ci.
If he hadn’t intentionally let Gu Ci discover his injury that day, thereby interfering with his performance, he had no doubt that all the death squad members under his command would have been slaughtered by that youth’s sword.
Not long after, the remaining princes entered the study hall accompanied by their respective study companions. Jun Yichen glanced at their equally unremarkable faces, unable to muster the slightest shred of interest.
The study companions of the several princes were all legitimate sons of high-ranking court officials, so they naturally looked down upon an idler who possessed nothing more than a princely title.
However, he had no interest in manipulating the thoughts of these idle distractions; in his eyes, they were merely a group of breathing corpses.
The Sixth Prince walked past him, casting a casual glance filled with utter disdain, a mocking smile hanging from the corner of his mouth as he bantered, “Yo, Seventh Brother, hasn’t your study companion arrived yet?”
“Could it be that Marquis Gu’s Heir discovered your unsightly, grotesque side and got so scared he didn’t dare show up?”
With that, he deliberately burst into loud laughter, and several noble young masters around him joined in with snickers.
“Might I ask what joyous occasion the Sixth Highness has encountered? Why not share it so I can partake in the joy as well?” A youth’s uniquely crisp, clear voice pierced through the palace path, transmitting accurately into the ears of everyone present.
The crowd raised their eyes, yet no incoming person was to be seen.
This was actually voice transmission across a distance! To know, voice transmission was an extremely profound martial arts technique requiring a remarkably high degree of internal energy control and application capability.
Generally speaking, only masters who had practiced for many years and possessed deep internal energy could accomplish this. Yet Gu Ci had already mastered such a technique at this tender age, truly making others feel a sense of awe and trepidation.
The study hall, which had just been filled with laughter, grew as silent as a falling pin.
Everyone harbored their own distinct thoughts.
The Crown Prince’s expression was already exceptionally unsightly by now. He had originally planned to recruit Gu Ci to his own side; who would have guessed that for some unknown reason, Gu Ci had chosen Jun Yichen this good-for-nothing right before the civil and military officials and His Imperial Father, causing him, the dignified heir apparent, to lose all face in public.
And now, he had once again made Lao Qi lose face in public.
Gu Ci’s martial arts attainments were extremely high; if he could be utilized, it would be like adding wings to a tiger, but if he couldn’t, then the only option would be…
Roughly the time it took to burn a single stick of incense later, the crowd finally caught sight of the youth in brocade clothes wearing a high ponytail, looking unrestrained and flamboyant as he stepped into the inner hall against the morning sun.
That radiant, smiling face inadvertently flashed straight into someone’s heart.
Upon catching sight of Jun Yichen, Gu Ci broke into a wide smile and hurried over. “Morning, Your Highness! I didn’t arrive late, did I?”
Jun Yichen smiled and shook his head slightly. “Not late, your timing is just right.” More than just right, this fellow probably did it on purpose.
During their first meeting, he had intentionally or unintentionally displayed his strength to make those harboring malicious intentions weigh their own skills against his and judge whether they were his match.
Gu Ci acted as though he hadn’t noticed the obscure and ambiguous expressions of the others.
He looked straight toward the Sixth Prince, exaggeratingly arching an eyebrow with a teasing smirk, “Sixth Highness, are you alright? Why has your complexion suddenly turned so poor?”
He was, after all, Gu Ci the notorious, dissolute good-for-nothing young master of the capital’s aristocratic circle.
Forget about ridiculing him in public; even if he were to beat the Sixth Prince to a pulp right today, the Emperor would still exercise leniency toward him, the sole surviving seedling of the Gu family, out of respect for the generations of Gu men who had given their lives for the country without exception.
After all, all the military generals of Daqing were watching.
They certainly couldn’t let their loyal hearts turn cold.
“Ah Ci, stop messing around; the Grand Tutor is about to arrive.” Jun Yichen looked at him with doting fondness, the intimacy in his tone escaping even his own notice.
Watching their intimate interaction, the Crown Prince gripped his palm tightly, a flash of murderous intent crossing the depths of his eyes.
If Gu Ci were to be utilized by Lao Qi, that would spell serious trouble.
The Grand Tutor was an old man of over sixty years with white hair and a white beard.
The moment he opened his mouth, Gu Ci grew drowsy.
Jun Yichen closely monitored the movements on this side, letting out a helpless sigh as he witnessed this state of affairs.
Finding it utterly impossible to bear looking any longer, the Grand Tutor walked over to Gu Ci’s side and slammed his palm heavily onto Gu Ci’s desk, lamenting with grief and indignation, “Marquis Gu’s Heir, you are the hope of the Marquis’s estate! How can you degenerate yourself to this extent?”
“Though you are destined to be a military general who expands our territory in the future, if you remain illiterate, wouldn’t you become the laughingstock of everyone?”
Gu Ci impatiently dug at his ear, sleepily replying, “Everything the Grand Tutor says is correct.” With that, he dropped his head and fell right back asleep.
An explosion of laughter erupted across the study hall.
Driven to exasperation by him, the Grand Tutor repeatedly shouted several times, “Rotten wood cannot be carved! A worthless boy is difficult to teach!” such classical Confucian phrases.
This once again triggered a fresh wave of roaring laughter from the crowd.