There were peach blossoms as far as the eye could see. Amongst the pleasant scenery, the crowd drank and chatted as they began to play various games with great interest. When it came to playing, no one could rival Liu Zhenqing.

The martial artists naturally pestered Huo Feihan to compete with them, and as for the students, Liu Zhenqing had a reputation among them and was invited to participate in various challenges.

Holding a small pot of wine, Liu Zhenqing dropped the sieve cup: “Don’t compete with me in this. Do you not take my reputation of winning every time I gamble seriously?”

“This student doesn’t believe it. It’s a matter of probability.” The young man was red in the face from arguing, but he was left with only one piece of underclothing on his body.

“Take off any more, and you’ll be naked,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile.

The boy was unafraid, but when Liu Zhenqing lifted the sieve cup, he saw another three sixes. The onlookers who had simply refused to believe it had to admire his unique luck.

His upper body bare, the boy could only drink the last sip of wine with a bashful face, then run away as everyone laughed.

Another person came forward at this time. Liu Zhenqing looked up and thought, wow, the top scholar!

Bai Yu’s face was red, whether because he was nervous or because he’d been drinking. But when Liu Zhenqing saw him coming over with a Rubik’s Cube, he knew what he wanted to play.

“This student would like to compete with the young master.”

“I’ve never lost at this. Do you really want to compete with me?” Liu Zhenqing asked with a smile.

Bai Yu was nervous under Liu Zhenqing’s gaze, and said shyly: “I’ll give it a try.”

Liu Zhenqing smiled and said: “That’s fine. Whoever loses…..can pinch the other person’s face.”

Bai Yu was momentarily dumbfounded. His cheeks grew even redder, and he hesitated for a long time, not knowing how to respond.

Liu Zhenqing almost died of laughter when he saw Bai Yu’s expression. Faced with such a cute, soft-natured scholar, the bad-natured Liu Zhenqing liked to tease this type the most.

“That won’t work.” A voice suddenly sounded from behind.

The deep tone of voice made Liu Zhenqing instinctively shiver. Turning his head, he found that it was Huo Fenglie, who had been quietly sitting beside him.

Liu Zhenqing: “If removing clothes is fine, what’s wrong with pinching someone’s face?”

Bai Su looked around from the sidelines. Although he knew his older brother was delighted to interact with his idol, he wouldn’t be able to bear such close contact. Besides, Huo Fenglie was a jealous person and wouldn’t even allow others to collect Liu Zhenqing’s paintings, much less something like this.

People could take their clothes off themselves, but Liu Zhenqing would use his hand to pinch. How could they be the same?

Huo Fenglie rarely opposed Liu Zhenqing’s ideas. When he was questioned, Huo Fenglie was unable to give an explanation, and could only lower his eyes and say: “It’s inappropriate.”

Seeing Huo Fenglie’s reaction, Liu Zhenqing felt a little uncomfortable for some reason: “Then how about drawing a few strokes on his face?”

Huo Fenglie was speechless, but Bai Yu nodded in agreement.

There was no suspense in this competition. Although it was a difficult Rubik’s Cube and a contest of restoration speed, Liu Zhenqing still completely crushed Bai Yu.

After three consecutive rounds, Bai Yu had a moon on his forehead and a flower on either cheek. Due to the red shade of Bai Yu’s face, they looked like roses in full bloom.

Liu Zhenqing smiled as he put down the brush. He wanted to have a few more words with Bai Yu.

At that moment, another person appeared: “Student Ji Qinglin would also like to challenge you.”

Liu Zhenqing recognized this person as the second place scholar, but he was a little perplexed. Was he trying to show off in front of the crown prince’s favorite? But this wasn’t a very smart way to do it. After all, Liu Zhenqing had just competed against Bai Yu, and his overwhelming prowess was evident to everyone. There would be no suspense in challenging him again. It was purely a waste of time. Anyone else would think that this student was a little stupid.

And judging by his essays, he should be a calm, thoughtful person, so Liu Zhenqing was a little confused by his rash behavior.

But it was just entertainment, so Liu Zhenqing didn’t think about it too deeply. Instead, he tugged at Bai Yu next to him and said jokingly: “What do you think? How does the second place scholar compare to you in this aspect?”

Bai Yu regarded Ji Qinglin with some surprise: “Ji-xiong doesn’t seem to have played this before? I have no idea.”

“Ji Qinglin, aren’t you always studying hard and doing odd jobs around the Imperial Academy? Do you still have time to play?”

“Sure enough, the runner-up is amazing. He dares to show off in front of the young master despite never showing up before.”

“Ji Qinglin, Bai Yu is the best at this. Are you sure you want to go up and embarrass yourself?”

Even when facing the second place scholar, everyone spoke in unfriendly tones. This was actually due to the atmosphere in the court. The old emperor had previously allowed the trend to shift toward relying on power, influence, and background, rather than ability, but the situation improved once the Crown Prince came into power. Otherwise, based on Ji Qinglin’s birth, he might not have been able to take the Imperial Examinations and achieve second place.

But even so, everyone saw this runner up as a nobody due to his lack of a family background. In the end, he would only be able to get a minor official position, and his future wouldn’t be superior to those of them with strong family backgrounds.

“Whether he embarrasses himself or not, you’ll know after the competition.” Bai Yu suddenly spoke out on Ji Qinglin’s behalf. “Ji-xiong is very capable. Even if he hasn’t played much, he may not be bad at it.”

Ji Qinglin immediately raised his eyes toward Bai Yu, but there were no extraneous emotions on his face.

Liu Zhenqing smiled. He could see that Bai Yu wasn’t very fond of Ji Qinglin. Not that he disliked him – he just had no affection for him. But Bai Yu hated such oppression, and was still willing to speak up for him in the spirit of fairness and recognize his abilities. Liu Zhenqing was liking this pure, upright child more and more.

“Come, how do you want to compete?” Liu Zhenqing asked.

“Let’s compete by solving the Rubik’s Cube blind,” Ji Qinglin said.

Everyone exclaimed when he said this, and even Huo Fenglie behind him asked in surprise: “Solve it blind?”

Liu Zhenqing’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his smile grew even brighter: “Okay. Then whoever loses, their punishment will be the same as Bai Yu’s.”

Ji Qinglin nodded in agreement.

Blind solving required a person to quickly memorize the shuffled Rubik’s Cube, then restore it to its original state relying only on memory. The difficulty was many times higher than before.

When the memorization time ended, Liu Zhenqing asked Huo Fenglie to cover his eyes with a cloth. Ji Qinglin had a Rubik’s Cube in his hand, so it was inconvenient for him to blindfold himself, but nobody seemed to be willing to come forward and help him. Finally, Bai Yu stepped forward and blindfolded him with a handkerchief.

Then he said politely: “You can do it.”

Ji Qinglin tensed up for a moment before nodding.

At the word “start,” the two of them began to rapidly move their hands, fingers flying. The surroundings went from noisy to completely silent.

At last, Liu Zhenqing removed his blindfold and peered at the Rubik’s Cube in his hand without any surprise. Someone began to announce that the competition was over, but Liu Zhenqing stopped them.

Liu Zhenqing looked over at Ji Qinglin with a smile. The other party had a focused expression on his face, and was just moments away from finishing.

When the last twist was completed, he removed his blindfold excitedly, but when he looked toward the other side, he realized that he had lost and lowered his hands somewhat dejectedly: “I lost.”

But Bai Yu suddenly called out in amazement: “You were amazing. You were only a little bit behind!”

Stunned, Ji Qinglin stared up at the delighted Bai Yu. Bai Yu even approached him and clasped his arm, which became as stiff as stone.

Liu Zhenqing took the lead in applauding: “You’re the first person able to keep up with me to this extent.”

In the wake of Liu Zhenqing’s applause, the others could only do the same.

Huo Fenglie glanced at Liu Zhenqing when he heard this. If he could do it, he’d be able to earn Qing-ge’s appreciation? Had he known earlier, he would have practiced well.

Although this student was good, he had still lost. Liu Zhenqing called him over and drew a sun on his forehead since they had only played one round.

Liu Zhenqing didn’t play anything else after this, just leaving the two of them to talk.

Bai Yu clearly admired Liu Zhenqing very much, but Ji Qinglin didn’t seem to feel anything. He’d competed out of a genuine desire to defeat Liu Zhenqing, and had a competitive mentality.

Liu Zhenqing was of a mind that he couldn’t just come here to play without accomplishing anything. He still needed to look for talents for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, so the most important thing was to ask about future ambitions.

“Don’t talk about righteously petitioning on behalf of the common people. You’re so young – how can you understand their suffering? I don’t believe it.” Liu Zhenqing didn’t play by the rules, and immediately denied the conventional answer.

Bai Yu and Ji Qinglin were taken aback, and Bai Yu momentarily didn’t know how to answer. After all, he was still very nervous in front of his idol.

Ji Qinglin looked back at him and answered straightforwardly: “This student doesn’t know where to start. Asking about my future ambitions……”

Liu Zhenqing knew that this student was intelligent. Ji Qinglin had noticed that Liu Zhenqing was a casual person, and dared to speak in such a roundabout way because of this. Such a cautious person who knew how to read people’s expressions would surely rise and develop rapidly in a peaceful era. And if he encountered a turbulent era, he would likely choose to lie dormant and advance slowly.

With the Crown Prince ascending the throne in the future, it seemed there would be no problem for this person in terms of promotion. 

“As for me, I eat, drink, and have fun, and travel all over the world, helping others when I see injustice. I do what I want and go with the flow,” Liu Zhenqing said with a smile. 

When he said this, the other two instantly felt relieved. Since the Crown Prince’s favorite minister was so “unambitious,” they could say whatever they wanted.

“In fact, I don’t know what I’m going to do in the long run. If my father agrees, my one ambition right now is to complete a map of the country. Great Zhou has vast mountains and rivers, and beautiful scenery. I want to make a record of it.” Bai Yu wore a look of longing as he spoke of this.

The reason Bai Yu admired Liu Zhenqing so much was not only because of his superior intelligence, but also because of his free and easy personality. It could be said that he did exactly as he pleased. Such a free-spirited person was very precious to Bai Yu, who didn’t want to follow the traditional path of his family, and wanted to pursue his ideals, but lacked the will to fight.

Liu Zhenqing nodded and said: “I hear you’re good at painting, right? Painting also requires traveling – perhaps we can travel together.”

“Really?” Bai Yue was instantly energized.

Liu Zhenqing smiled and nodded: “Then we’ll plan on it.”

However, Huo Fenglie and Qi Jinglin on the side went tense.

Liu Zhenqing couldn’t see Huo Fenglie behind him, but he noticed Ji Qinglin’s reaction. He seemed to have realized something, and asked with a smile: “What about you?”

---

Consider donating via Kofi here!

(Alt Universe) Extra 15 << Table of Contents >> (Alt Universe) Extra 17