A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 499: A poor scholar was despised in front of the palace, Gong Liangzhao came to Liu Jiangxi&

In the first month of the year, the capital of Jingsong and Guoliang was immersed in the joy of the New Year. People greeted each other with smiles, bowed and sent blessings. In addition to visiting relatives and friends, the social etiquette was also in full swing.

The new upstart in Liangdu City this year is undoubtedly Prince Zhao, who is quite favored by Emperor Jing. At the palace banquet on New Year's Eve, Gong Liangzhao, who had always been able to sit silently in the corner at the end, was granted a seat by Emperor Jing behind Crown Prince Gong Liangming. This honor made him ecstatic, but on the surface he had to pretend to be flattered.

The other princes were all jealous, but since Prince Zhao had made great contributions in suppressing bandits, they could only complain in their hearts and had to be respectful to him in front of Emperor Jing. Gong Liangzhao was still gentle and respectful to his so-called brothers in front of others, and he never forgot to mention the deep brotherly love between the prince and his brothers.

Emperor Jing was delighted to see this. Crown Prince Gong Liangming was also not as wary as before because his sixth brother did not become complacent after gaining power and instead was always thinking of his kindness.

The importance that Emperor Jing paid to Prince Zhao at the palace banquet was noticed by all the civil and military officials. Therefore, on the day of New Year's greetings, the front of Prince Zhao's residence was crowded with people for the first time. Although Gong Liangzhao was happy about this, he was also worried that the prince would be dissatisfied with the limelight. So he only entertained a few important officials and then went to his teacher's house to avoid him. Although he was out, people who brought gifts to Prince Zhao's residence to pay New Year's greetings continued to come one after another, but when they saw that Prince Zhao was not there, they all left in a hurry.

By the time the number of people coming to pay New Year's greetings had gradually decreased, the scholar Liu Yin was also holding gifts and wandering in front of Prince Zhao's mansion in an awkward manner. When he saw the housekeeper of the mansion seeing off the guests, he boldly stepped forward and bowed, saying:

"Happy New Year, Steward. I, Liu Yin, have been favored by King Zhao, and today I come to wish King Zhao a happy new year."

Although Liu Yin was a stranger, he could only stay in the academy for the New Year because of his poor family and the long journey. He had seen the virtuous King Zhao in a teahouse by the lake in the suburbs. When he heard that King Zhao had successfully suppressed the bandits and received the emperor's grace, he was very happy. The virtuous man was not buried. Liu Yin seemed to see hope. He had great ambitions and wanted to realize his ambitions by relying on King Zhao. He should have come to visit earlier, but he changed his mind and was worried that he was just a poor scholar now, how could he be appreciated by King Zhao?

He was so troubled that it was the Chinese New Year. Seeing himself alone in the academy, he suddenly came to his senses. Even if he could get into high school after studying hard for more than ten years, Liu Yin had already spent several years in Liangdu City. How could he not know that the officialdom was always full of complicated relationships. It was undoubtedly naive for him to think that he could realize his ambitions only by his own talent and enthusiasm. Now that he had the opportunity, he should take the initiative to fight for it. Success or failure depended on fate.

"I'm sorry, my prince is out visiting people today and hasn't returned yet. I'm glad that you've shown your kindness. I'll let him know when he comes back. Your name is..." The old butler couldn't help showing some contempt as he looked at the shabby-dressed scholar in front of him. When King Zhao gained power, the servants in the mansion became arrogant and completely forgot that his master had once been in the same predicament as this poor scholar.

"Student Liu Yin." Liu Yin was a smart man and he could see the arrogance in the housekeeper's eyes. Although he was annoyed, he felt that it was not wise to leave in anger. Since he was already here, he might as well regard it as asking a favor of others. He then presented the gift together with the visiting card and said with a smile.

The old butler did not take the gift as he did today when receiving other guests. Instead, he glanced at the plainly wrapped gift with disdain before letting the servant beside him accept it. He then turned around and muttered to himself, "A poor scholar dares to marry my prince. Does he really think it's easy to get into Prince Zhao's mansion?"

"I didn't expect that King Zhao was gentle and respectful, but the servants in his family are so snobbish. Doesn't it disgrace King Zhao's reputation?" Looking at the old housekeeper's leaving figure, Liu Yin shook his head helplessly and sighed.

Gong Liangzhao saw that it was getting dark and thought that the house was almost quiet, so he said goodbye to his teacher and left Liu Mansion to go home. However, the carriage had only gone halfway when he heard the servant outside report:

"Your Majesty, Miss Liu seems to be in trouble."

Gong Liangzhao, who was resting with his eyes closed in the carriage, suddenly heard the report from outside and hurriedly got off the carriage. He saw the Liu family's carriage parked opposite him. The three servants of the Yan family were in a stalemate with the two servants of the Liu family. On the other side, the grandson of the Prince's tutor, Yan Cairong, was also entangled with the angry Liu Jiangxi:

"You are now a grown-up girl, and there are not many people in Liangdu who are willing to marry you. I have loved you for so many years but I still haven't married..."

"Whether you have someone or not has nothing to do with you, and whether you get married or not has nothing to do with me! It's New Year's Day, and Master Yan has to embarrass me in public. Is this the upbringing of the Yan family? If this matter gets out of hand today, it will be bad for both our families..."

"That's perfect. If your reputation is gone, you'll have no choice but to marry me!"

"Shameless!"

Seeing the shameless dandy boy in front of her, Liu Jiangxi was so angry that her brows were furrowed.

Seeing that her embroidery business was booming, Hong Qing simply moved out of the Liu family and lived in her own courtyard. This way, she didn't have to rush back and forth between the two places day and night. At first, Liu Jiangxi was worried that she would be in danger being alone, but seeing that Hong Qing had made up her mind, she couldn't say anything.

Today, Hong Qing came to the Liu Mansion to pay New Year's greetings to Master Liu. Liu Jiangxi then sent her back to the courtyard. She didn't expect that she was harassed by Yan Cairong on the way home.

"He is willing to ruin someone's reputation just to marry the girl he loves. I wonder if your grandfather knows that Master Yan is fooling around like this?"

Just when Liu Jiangxi was at a loss, Gong Liangzhao's stern voice sounded from behind her. She was overjoyed and turned around to deliberately get close to Yan Cairong in front of him and called him, "Brother Zhao."

Seeing Prince Zhao suddenly appear, Yan Cairong hurriedly bowed and saluted respectfully. Liu Jiangxi's intimate call reminded him that Prince Zhao was still Liu Jingxing's student. Although the Yan family had the support of the prince, Prince Zhao was now deeply favored by the emperor and could not be offended. Thinking of this, Yan Cairong's determination to win Liu Jiangxi over cooled down again.

"You're disobedient and running around during New Year's Day. Look, you're in trouble again!" Gong Liangzhao saw that Yan Cairong hung his head and said nothing and ignored him. He just put on the attitude of an elder brother and continued to speak seriously to Liu Jiangxi.

Liu Jiangxi nodded, lowered her eyes and remained silent. She understood that King Zhao was helping her.

"Aren't you going back yet?"

"Happy New Year, Brother Zhao!"

Upon hearing King Zhao's order, Liu Jiangxi hurriedly bowed to him and wished him a happy new year before getting on the carriage. The two servants of the Liu family also bowed to King Zhao and rode away. The servants of the Yan family had already been hiding behind their young master in a submissive manner.

"As the saying goes, a forced melon is not sweet. After all, the Yan family is a famous and prominent family in Liangdu City. Since Miss Liu is unwilling to marry you, why does Mr. Yan force her to do such a scoundrelly thing? You are not a child anymore. It is the job of a descendant of the Yan family to marry a relative and expand the Yan family." After the Liu family's carriage left, the smile in Gong Liangzhao's eyes disappeared in an instant, and he turned to Yan Cairong in front of him and said coldly. If he hadn't been concerned about the prince, he would never have just given a few words of reprimand today.

Hearing King Zhao say this, Yan Cairong felt disheartened. He just hung his head in dejection and left dejectedly.