The two of them left their seats without drawing much attention, but since Prince Su was sitting at the head of the table, it was hard for people not to notice. However, most of them were tactful enough not to make a fuss, and those who weren't were frequently hinted at by others not to speak out of turn.

Since Prince Su showed an unwillingness to attract attention, they had no choice but to cooperate and pretend to be blind.

It's just... looking at Young Master Xie's flushed cheeks and listless appearance as he was led away by Prince Su, who knows what unspeakable things might happen later on.

If this news reaches Marquis Xinyuan's ears, tsk tsk.

Everyone inwardly sighed with heartache.

Not to mention anything else, just in terms of appearance, there was indeed quite a gap between Xie Ming and Prince Su. The young master from a scholarly family was like a graceful jade tree in the wind. Although his temperament was a bit arrogant, he was a beauty after all. As long as he didn't go too far, he could be forgiven. A touch of arrogance would even add a few shades of charm.

In short, just looking at Young Master Xie was pleasing to the eye, but with Prince Su and his fierce warrior's face standing in front of him, the first impression people got was like a lush and tender cabbage being ravaged by a burly wild boar!

Such a fine beauty, ruined just like that!

Power and influence are indeed great things to have.

Xu Lingge stood at the edge of the crowd, playing the role of an unknown listener. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the movement at the head of the table. His expression shifted slightly, but he quickly lowered his eyes, concealing the emotions within.

Unlike the crowd's gossipy and regretful attitude, he actually felt a subtle sense of glee seeing Xie Ming being led away by Prince Su.

With Xie Ming receiving such attention from Prince Su, the Second Prince should know to give up on him, right?

In the past few days, watching the Second Prince chasing after Xie Ming all day, using all sorts of tactics to win his favor, Xu Lingge couldn't help but feel a bit jealous and develop a subtle hostility towards Xie Ming.

Because, although the Second Prince always had many male and female confidants besides him, there was no one else he was as obsessed with as Xie Ming. While Xu Lingge could control himself not to be jealous of those coming and going guests by the Second Prince's side, he couldn't force himself not to care about the person the Second Prince truly had in his heart.

Xu Lingge lowered his head and poured himself a cup of wine, inwardly sighing.

Even if the Second Prince gives up on Xie Ming, sooner or later there will be a new person he becomes infatuated with. He just knows that person will never be him.

The Fourth Prince exchanged a few pleasantries among the crowd and very skillfully brought up Prince Su and Xie Ming's departure. Everyone understood and tactfully glossed over the matter with a few words.

After extricating himself from the crowd, the Fourth Prince quietly approached Xu Lingge, who was silently drinking wine on the side, and gently asked, "Does Sir Xu have something on his mind? Why not join in the liveliness?"

In the bustling crowd, Xu Lingge stood apart in a corner. Although there was a smile on his face, his entire being exuded an air of detachment from the crowd.

His features were extremely delicate, even more feminine than Xie Ming's. Unlike Xie Ming's proud and dazzling beauty, his eyes were completely gentle and harmless, brimming with tenderness that could easily evoke a desire to protect.

But perhaps it was precisely because he was too serene and lacked a certain allure that he was cast aside by the Second Prince, who loved to chase after novelty.

However, for the Fourth Prince who had experienced all sorts of betrayals in his previous life, Xu Lingge's gentle and harmless appearance happened to strike a chord in his heart. Coupled with Xu Lingge's kindness to him in the previous life, the Fourth Prince found him more and more to his liking the more he looked at him. He wished he could immediately embrace him and dote on him.

He must bring this person to his side as soon as possible.

In his previous life, even his own princess consort chose to cut ties with him in order to protect their child. Although he understood that people have an instinct to seek benefits and avoid harm, and there was no deep affection between them, her actions were to be expected.

But after being reborn, every time he saw that woman, he couldn't help but feel a surge of resentment at being betrayed. So ever since he came back, he would rather stay with his few concubines than enter his principal wife's chambers again.

In the end, only Xu Lingge was willing to give up everything for him.

Therefore, he must have this person.

He couldn't wait for Xu Lingge to become disillusioned and leave the Second Prince on his own. In his previous life, after Xu Lingge risked his life to save him, he truly placed this person in his heart. His person, of course, needed to be brought to his side as soon as possible for peace of mind.

However, in this life, the two of them were not yet familiar with each other at this point. So upon hearing the Fourth Prince's question, Xu Lingge only politely smiled at him and courteously explained, "It's nothing. I just feel that my knowledge is shallow and didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the talented scholars."

The Fourth Prince could see Xu Lingge's aloofness towards him and felt a bit wistful, but he knew that Xu Lingge was cautious and sensitive by nature, and this matter couldn't be rushed. So he didn't dare show too much eagerness and only smiled slightly, saying, "Sir Xu is too modest. I have heard some of Sir Xu's poems before and have been thinking of them for a long time. They can't be associated with the words 'shallow knowledge' at all."

Xu Lingge smiled in surprise and couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled. He was just an unfavored illegitimate son and didn't have much worth currying favor with. Why was the Fourth Prince being so friendly to him?

After much thought, he could only conclude that the Fourth Prince was indeed very good at dealing with people.

Among the many princes of the royal family, this Fourth Prince had the best reputation. Not only was he capable in handling affairs, but it was also rumored in the capital that he had no airs at all when interacting with others and was very willing to show respect to the worthy and learned. Now it seemed that the rumors did have some truth to them.

The Fourth Prince maintained an appropriate level of closeness while chatting with Xu Lingge for a while, and at the same time pondered how to make Xu Lingge give up on the Second Prince as soon as possible.

Originally, he had wanted to take advantage of the Second Prince's infatuation with Xie Ming and give them a push from behind to let them consummate their "good deed" in order to deal with the Second Prince. But now that Prince Su had suddenly shown a strong interest in Xie Ming, his plan seemed a bit inappropriate.

At least until Prince Su lost interest in Xie Ming, this plan would probably have to be temporarily put on hold.

If Prince Su were to find out about his involvement, given his uncle's temperament, the Second Prince would likely be beaten bloody just for having previously entangled with Xie Ming. If it was discovered after the fact that he was the one scheming behind the scenes, his uncle might very well tear him apart alive.

Although he had planned everything extremely meticulously beforehand, his wariness of Prince Su ultimately prevailed.

Unless absolutely necessary, he did not want to provoke his immensely powerful uncle.

Besides, apart from Xie Ming, it wasn't as if there were no other candidates. There were far more than just Xie Ming among the sons of prominent families in the capital; it was just that Xie Ming was the most suitable one.

While the Fourth Prince was pondering new candidates on his side, He Yan, who had "escaped disaster", was still shamelessly making a drunken scene with Prince Su, who had saved him from calamity.

Although Prince Su was aroused all over from the teasing, he had originally intended to virtuously escort the person back to the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion. However, after getting drunk, He Yan became extremely clingy, softly hugging his neck and repeatedly saying he wanted to go "play" at Prince Su Mansion.

Prince Su then immediately and unscrupulously changed his mind, instructing the carriage driver to turn around and head back to the Prince Su Mansion.

After painstakingly coaxing the especially willful drunk youth to drink half a bowl of sobering soup that calmed the stomach, the sky had already begun to darken. Prince Su thought for a moment, then sent someone to the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion to report that Xie Ming would be staying the night at the Prince Su Mansion.

He personally helped the youth wash up, a process that naturally cannot be described in detail. In any case, after expending much energy, he finally managed to embrace the cleanly washed, soft and fair youth onto the bed.

In order to let the youth sleep more comfortably, after the youth stayed over at his residence for the first time, he had replaced all the bedding in his room with the finest and softest silks.

After all the tossing about, He Yan had mostly sobered up from the alcohol. He lay sprawled on top of Prince Su, lazily tugging at his coarse hair, saying: "Not returning to the residence today, Father will scold me again when I see him tomorrow."

As he spoke, he seemed to completely forget that it was he himself who had insisted on coming to the Prince Su Mansion today. Pushing all the blame onto Prince Su, he huffily pinched the bulging pectoral muscles, "It's all your fault, always getting me scolded."

Prince Su had long gotten used to his unreasonable little fits. Very tactfully, he played along: "My fault."

He Yan seemed to find pinching his pecs quite enjoyable, so he pinched again.

But whether intentionally or not, the location he pinched this time was not very appropriate. Even Prince Su, who had extremely high tolerance, couldn't help letting out a muffled groan. He patted the youth's bottom and said hoarsely: "Do you still want to sleep tonight or not?"

He Yan narrowed his eyes and obediently retracted his hand, no longer teasing him: "I want to sleep. I don't know what you put in the soup you had me drink just now, but I'm feeling very sleepy."

Prince Su slowly caressed the especially protruding shoulder blades on his back due to his slenderness, thinking that he must find a way to fatten him up. He warned: "I was really too indulgent with you today. Next time, you are not allowed to drink so much."

Although Prince Su usually prioritized He Yan's wishes in everything, when it came to the youth's health, he couldn't help but become a bit more forceful.

"Right," Prince Su suddenly thought of something and brought up another topic: "You don't like the Fourth Prince? Did he offend you?"

The instant he saw the Fourth Prince, the flash of disgust that appeared on He Yan's face, although fleeting, did not escape Prince Su's notice, who was always attentive to him. The Fourth Prince had his head lowered at the time and didn't notice.

On the surface, it seemed his beloved Xie Ming and the Fourth Prince had no grudges...

Could there be something that he was unaware of?

He Yan had obviously already forgotten the minor matter of seeing the Fourth Prince at the Qionglin Banquet. Only when Prince Su brought it up did he barely manage to grasp a wisp of an impression in his mind. He casually said: "Mm, I don't like him. No grudges, I just find him unpleasant to look at."

Even if the Fourth Prince wanted to harm Xie Ming, that would be a future matter. He wasn't about to tattle to Prince Su over something that hadn't happened yet.

Let's see if the Fourth Prince will be tactless enough to provoke him this time. If he really dared to drag him down, he would definitely let this precious prince personally experience the trap he set himself.

Of course, if the Fourth Prince targeted someone else, he wouldn't mind lending a hand to help other innocent passersby.

After all, he was innately a rather kind person.

Seeing him answer this way, Prince Su patted his head and went along with his words: "If he's unpleasant, then we won't associate with him in the future."

The two of them were happily nestled on the bed chatting, but when the Xinyuan Marquis Mansion received word that Xie Ming once again would not be returning for the night, the Marquis and his wife's expressions turned unpleasant. The Marquis was so angry that he smashed the cup by his hand.

The only legitimate son of their marquis mansion was constantly staying overnight at the Prince Su Mansion, what kind of situation was this!

Although having relations with men nowadays was not a taboo matter - young people having some fun was no big deal - and Xie Ming finally coming around at this age was something of a relief for them, this couple who deeply doted on their son to the bone didn't intend to play the villains as long as their son wasn't being coerced.

But that wretched son of theirs, did he not see what kind of person Prince Su was!

If he had chosen someone without much power, then he could break it off whenever he wanted without impeding his future marriage and having children.

But now if Xie Ming really got in too deep and Prince Su was unwilling to let him go, even with his title as the Xinyuan Marquis, it would not be easy to interfere!

Author's Note: Eh, why do some people think I'm still in high school just because I mentioned homework? 2333

Actually, before entering university, I always thought university would be very relaxing. But the cruel reality told me that as long as you choose a good major, damn, university can be more packed than the third year of high school every single day...

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